Where are all the nonfiction books geared to my fellow
Millennials: the single, late 20s/early 30s, Christian, hipster
women? Where are all those books? The ones that confront the tension that it is
to be a dangerously close to 30, single, Christian, a woman, and longing for
happiness, career fulfillment, and eventual marriage.
I read a lot of books so naturally I have stumbled upon a
lot of “Christian” books. Over the last year I have read a lot of nonfiction books
and each time I read anything by a female, Christian author I am told stories
about their marriages, their children, their faith journeys, and how they cook
their enchiladas. And while I can discern meaning from each of these stories, I
am getting tired of reading the same thing. That being said, these women are stepping into a male dominated arena and I think it is important to acknowledge and celebrate that they are doing something great and perhaps even creating a shift in the Church, but I want to challenge it a bit. I do not want to discount their
stories as impactful, but it is getting harder and harder to read and identify
with a story about a mom who gets four hours to write each day and talks about
running kids from soccer practice to violin lessons.
Where are the Millennial, single, female writers? Where are
those women? Oh right, they are working jobs they may not enjoy, exploring
their passions on the weekends, trying to navigate the monster that is 21st
Century dating, volunteering at church, spending time with their friends,
sitting in coffee shops working on their Linkedin profiles, and trying to
squeeze in time at their mom’s house for dinner. These women, that I so badly
would like to read a book by, are trying to live their lives, which I guess
does not leave a lot of time for writing.
But even though they are living their lives, I want to read
about them and how they are dealing with life. I want to read about how to live
a graceful life as a single woman. I want to read about how female Christian
Millennials are growing and challenged in their faith. I want to read about how
dating Christian guys is a lot harder than one might think (e.g. dating apps).
I want to read about how social issues impact women my age specifically. I want
to read about how being financially responsible is imperative to single women
my age. I want to read about how difficult it is to navigate relationships,
romantic or otherwise. I want to read about how trends in art, music, beer, novels,
coffee, shoes, etc. can reflect my faith and still be deemed “cool”. I want to
read about how the job market is frustrating and redeeming at the same time. I
want to read about how joy is achievable, albeit difficult at times, in the existence
of a late 20s/early 30s life.
And yes, I subscribe to Relevant Magazine and I read various blogs regularly, but that is not enough. I want shelves of books written by women that are attempting to realistically figure out this existence. It is nice to get advice and seek wisdom from married, kid-toting female writers, but I would like to see how women similar to myself are learning, growing, and engaging in this often uncertain and confusing life. I realize that might be pigeonholing to only write for young(ish), single, Christian Millennials but I believe that is the point. I fit that criteria and I want someone who is like me speaking into my demographic. So I’ll keep searching on, scouring Amazon and Barnes and Noble, whilst I wait for a book to appear with which I connect. Also, I would prefer if the books were made of eco-friendly paper, but hey, beggars cannot be choosers.
