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Friendship for Grown-ups: A Look Back
Three years ago, I reviewed a book by Lisa Whelchel called Friendship for Grown-ups: What I Missed & Learned Along the Way. Lisa talked about how she was on this show that was all about the strength and support that comes from having close female relationships, yet she was all alone. Lisa’s words spoke to me at that time. I remember I was going through a period of deep loneliness. I was surrounded by people {family, an online community of friends, coworkers} but I was living this incredibly solitary life. This life that made me feel like I was somehow incomplete… Recently, during a phone conversation, a friend mentioned that she’d had an experience that…
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Book Review: What to Read When by Pam Allyn
Even though I’m a librarian, I sometimes have trouble finding age appropriate books. Don’t believe me? Then read this post. I mean, I know how to help college students conduct research, I know how to preserve documents and I know how to make early American history relevant to today’s present but sometimes finding a children’s book stumps me. That is where What to Read When: The Books and Stories to Read with Your Child ~ and All the Best Times to Read Them by Pam Allyn comes in handy. Pam Allyn is the the founder and executive director of LitLife, an internationally recognized organization that trains hundreds of K~12 teachers…
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Book Review: The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty~Year Friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow
The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty~Year Friendship is an intimate look at the friendships of eleven women over a forty~year period. Interspersed with studies that highlight the importance of the development and maintenance of close relationships in the health and well~being of women, The Girls from Ames is part sociology study, part biography and part cultural reference book. The women came of age just at the tail end of the Baby Boom, so they are the immediate benefactors of the women’s rights movement and other social changes that marked the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was fun to read about the different hairstyles and clothes…
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Book Review: The Revolutionary Paul Revere by Joel J. Miller
Have you ever wondered about the back story of one of America’s greatest revolutionary heroes? Then The Revolutionary Paul Revere by Joel J. Miller is the book for you. It’s an irreverent look at an American hero who always seemed to be in the thick of things. The book is a quick and easy read that follows the life of Paul Revere from the immigration of his father, Apollos, in 1716 to Revere’s death in 1818. Miller highlights every day events in Revere’s life that propelled him into the limelight. For example, his work as a goldsmith granted him access to key people in his community which led to his…
