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197th out of 211 books
—
108 voters
The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the People Who Raised Them
Amy Dickinson has made a career out of helping others, through her internationally syndicated advice column "Ask Amy." Readers love her for her honesty, her small-town values, and for the fact that her motto is "I make the mistakes so you don't have to." In The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson shares those mistakes and her remarkable story. This is the tale of Amy...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
February 3rd 2008
by Hyperion
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Oct 23, 2008
Wrighty
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Wrighty by:
bookclub read (ARC)
This was a good story about an extended family of strong women. Amy Dickinson was left by her husband early in their marriage. Alone with a young baby she had to rearrange her life. She left their home in London and returned to her childhood home in Freeville, NY. She surrounded herself with her family which happened to largely consist of other single women. "Divorce runs through my clan like an aggressive chromosome" states Amy in the earliest chapters. Fortunately she wasn't witness to her par...more
Oct 23, 2008
Pamela Pickering
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Pamela by:
BN ARC
Shelves:
memoirs,
non-fiction
3.5 Stars. I'm not sure why but this book didn't really hold my interest yet I certainly seemed to enjoy Amy's personality. Maybe it is just me, and my mood isn't what it should be to read something right now. At any rate, the book had some very charming, and humorous moments regarding Amy's quest to bounce back after a divorce. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Amy and her daughter--her daughter taught Amy many a lesson regarding the curves life throws us.
(So far, the only BN ARC I...more
(So far, the only BN ARC I...more
I'm a regular Ask Amy reader and on that basis knew a little bit of her background as a single mom but nothing like the whole story of her extended family of (almost entirely) women living generation after generation in a very small town in upstate New York.
Book has little to do with the advice column, other than one chapter about her foibles in the career-building phase and the circumstances under which she got the job. Instead it deals with everyday issues [seeing her daughter off to college,...more
Book has little to do with the advice column, other than one chapter about her foibles in the career-building phase and the circumstances under which she got the job. Instead it deals with everyday issues [seeing her daughter off to college,...more
The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter, and the People Who Raised Them – A Memoir by Amy Dickinson
A wonderful, honest and heartwarming memoir of author and advice columnist Amy Dickinson (the replacement for Ann Landers after her death), and her family of women. The tale flows with a very comfortable voice, albeit a story of survival not only for Amy but for her entire family who, one way or another become single mothers over generations, the “Mighty Queens of Freeville”. The famil...more
A wonderful, honest and heartwarming memoir of author and advice columnist Amy Dickinson (the replacement for Ann Landers after her death), and her family of women. The tale flows with a very comfortable voice, albeit a story of survival not only for Amy but for her entire family who, one way or another become single mothers over generations, the “Mighty Queens of Freeville”. The famil...more
DATE: March 15, 2009
TITLE: The Mighty Queens of Freeville
AUTHOR: Amy Dickinson
PUBLISHER: Hyperion
COPYRIGHT: 2009
RATING: 4 out of 5
Your favorite bathrobe, your Birkenstocks, a bowl of Tapioca, whatever your favorite comfort is that is what I felt I was getting as I read more and more of Amy Dickinson’s, The Mighty Queens of Freeville.
I read a lot of books of varying genre and topics, literary fiction, lots of memoirs, mysteries, and on and on. It seems that the subject matter can be more and mor...more
Nov 27, 2008
Jean
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
all women everywhere
Recommended to Jean by:
advance reading copy
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is an easy read and quick. What I truly loved about it is hearing about Amy Dickinson's family and just how regular and everyday they are. It is refreshing to read about people and their everyday lives and know that they are just like you and me. No "stars", no fakeness, no primadonnas, just people. It encourages one to know that nothing special has to happen in order for your own life to blossom. Family love and togetherness does count, whether it is a family...more
Strong Women Bounce Back could be an alternate title for Amy Dickinson's memoir. When her marriage fails, Amy's thrust into an unexpected new life as a single mom- a mirror image of her mother's life a generation earlier. But Freeville, her small rock of a hometown, is her cocoon and comfort. The hamlet is just as strong a character as any of the family members or residents who populate it. It's no wonder Amy's nationally-syndicated advice column oozes common sense. Reading this book, it's clear...more
This was a pleasant little book of essays featuring Dickinson's appreciation of her close-knit family and lifelong affection and tie to her hometown of Freeville, New York. We should all feel such support and love in our lives.
This was a great read of a mother and daughter and how they lived both without a father figure in their lives. Some funny moments and some serious ones make a special blend for a heart warming story. This is certainly a book of strong women and it illustrates it from the start. Most women will find it inspiring..... Linda Huff
"This memoir is a perfect blend of storytelling and reflection. Amy takes on some of the tough things she's faced in her life (divorce, single-parenting, taking care of parents, her own father leaving). You might expect to read this and feel down or sad but Amy shares her story in a way that leaves the reader feeling uplifted and thoughtful. I enjoyed her honesty and humor. I also had a strong urge to move to Freeville myself and visit with those kindhearted Mighty Queens."
Amy Dickinson is the advice columnist who took over from Ann Landers. This is her story.
Amy is a strong woman surrounded by strong women. When dumped by her husband, Amy had to be strong as she had a young baby. What was she to do? She went back home to her small up-state New York hometown of Freeville and got the love and support of her family. Surprisingly, a family full of women. Divorce is like a contagious disease in her family. Amy's father walked out on her mum, forcing her mother to rais...more
Amy is a strong woman surrounded by strong women. When dumped by her husband, Amy had to be strong as she had a young baby. What was she to do? She went back home to her small up-state New York hometown of Freeville and got the love and support of her family. Surprisingly, a family full of women. Divorce is like a contagious disease in her family. Amy's father walked out on her mum, forcing her mother to rais...more
Oct 25, 2008
Pamela Trawick
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Pamela by:
B&N First Reads
Shelves:
2008
Advance Reading Copy. This is an enjoyable memoir by Ask Amy. She is humorous, unassuming, and accessibly honest. She's the type of friend we all love to have.
I couldn't make up my mind during most of this book whether I liked or whether I was merely okay with it. I really like Amy Dickinson's voice and her other writings a lot, so I was primed to really like the book. I think perhaps I was expecting something a bit different, and once I got over that, I really DID enjoy the book. From the promo, I was expecting a bit more about the town and bit more cohesive narrative. Instead, think of this as a splendid conversation with some fascinating who is tel...more
These are the loose memoirs of Amy Dickinson, the woman chosen to replace advice columnist extraordinaire Ann Landers. Her childhood, failed marriage, single motherhood and wayward pets are all fair game for this humorous look-back at her life before and after Ask Amy.
Billed as a memoir, Dickinson's book is perhaps better described as a loose collection of cute anecdotes about her family, her divorce, her pets, or anything else that comes to mind. Pieced together a bit haphazardly, Dickinson non...more
Billed as a memoir, Dickinson's book is perhaps better described as a loose collection of cute anecdotes about her family, her divorce, her pets, or anything else that comes to mind. Pieced together a bit haphazardly, Dickinson non...more
Amy Dickinson, the author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter, and the Town That Raised Them, is probably best known for her advice column, “Ask Amy,” which replaced Ann Landers’s column in the Chicago Tribune.
In this memoir, Dickinson traces her life from her divorce to being chosen as the next Ann Landers. I liked Dickinson’s voice quite a lot. The writing is unassuming and clear. The stories were entertaining. Yet, it seemed like I was getting a look at the stories Dickins...more
In this memoir, Dickinson traces her life from her divorce to being chosen as the next Ann Landers. I liked Dickinson’s voice quite a lot. The writing is unassuming and clear. The stories were entertaining. Yet, it seemed like I was getting a look at the stories Dickins...more
The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter, and the People Who Raised Them is The Chicago Tribune; advice columnist, Amy Dickinson’s memoir. Amy shares with readers and fans an in-depth and personal look into her live. Nothing is keep back from her divorce to her ex-husband, being a single mother, friends, family and her job. Mainly though this memoir is really about Amy, her daughter, Emily and how they raised and took care of each other.
Amy takes us back to her hometown of Freeville...more
Amy takes us back to her hometown of Freeville...more
In the 1980’s, Amy Dickinson was married with a young daughter and living in London when her husband decided he wanted a divorce. Since she came from a family of strong women (many of them single parents), she blossomed after she got over the pain of the divorce. In The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter and the People Who Raised Them you learn about Amy and her strong family. These women are loyal, supportive, loving and there for each other. There are some amazing women in the fa...more
This shouldn't come as a surprise that Amy Dickinson, the woman who "replaced" Ann Landers as the advice columnist for the Chicago Tribune, has a flair for writing. From time to time when I pick up a print newspaper, my eye has been drawn to her column and I've enjoyed her advice. So when she decided to write about her life, no one should be surprised that it's also enjoyable. That her marriage fell apart turned out not to be a huge surprise to her since there's quite a legacy of divorce in her...more
While I don't think I've ever read a single "Ask Amy" column, I do sometimes hear and enjoy Amy Dickinson on NPR. And the pre-pub word was strong, so I requested an arc of this one and finally got around to reading it last week. It's a super fast and enjoyable memoir, mostly about Amy's post-divorce life. The subtitle is really a good indicator ... in fact, I'm thinking that I'm probably going to send this book to my mom, even though it isn't necessarily the sort of thing she normally reads. Thi...more
I love love love LOVE this book. I had completely abandoned the memoir genre but I'm glad I came back for this one. This book is probably more relevant if you are, or have been, a single mom, but I wouldn't say it is limited to that group. If, like me, you believe in the singular power of women to boost up, help out, and provide love when you need it most, this book will affirm all of those beliefs.
I loved this charming little book. It was funny and sad and smart and very poignant. I read it because I used to live in Freeville and my sister, whose name is the same as the author's sister, Rachel, lives there now. When I go home to visit we always eat at the Queen Diner. Good fun to read a book about the old stomping grounds.
Baed on the title, I was hoping this would be a little more Gilmore Girls-y, but it was still cute and worth the read. To me, the best part is the last page that just contains two pictures: one from 1989 and one from 2008, both showing Amy and her daughter walking down a street. It makes me realize how the time really will fly by with my boys.
Enjoyed this book and thought it was a nice story of a small hometown girl who made it big, but still held onto and came back to her roots.
Amy Dickenson (Ask Amy & NPR radio) grew up in quaint Freeville, NY (population 458) and came from a family of women who usually raised their families without husband/father help. Amy was determined to break the chain and when she found her prince charming she thought all was well. When her daughter Emily was a toddler she found herself in the same singl...more
Amy Dickenson (Ask Amy & NPR radio) grew up in quaint Freeville, NY (population 458) and came from a family of women who usually raised their families without husband/father help. Amy was determined to break the chain and when she found her prince charming she thought all was well. When her daughter Emily was a toddler she found herself in the same singl...more
This memoir is centered on Dickinson's life between the end of her first marriage and the start of her second. During these 16 years the central relationships in her life were her daughter, followed by her mother, aunts, and sisters in the village of Freeville, NY. Her family, as she notes, was generally devoid of husbands and adult males; her father had abandoned her mother when Dickinson was 12 in the early 1970s. Although after the end of her own marriage Dickinson lived and worked mainly in...more
A friend of mine asked me recently what was up with all of the memoirs--perhaps they're tied to our voyeuristic obsession with reality television? We just can't get enough of the lives of others? Regardless, this seems to be the era of the memoirs, and The Mighty Queens of Freeville is Amy Dickinson's ("Ask Amy") story of raising her daughter as a single mother. Amy Dickinson comes from a family of strong women who share one unlucky trait: They've all been left by men. Dickinson divorces when he...more
This hopeful and touching book is like an antidote to Silicon Valley, and Amy Dickinson is like a well-adjusted, not-quite-as-funny Anne Lamott.
Listening to Dickinson on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" got me interested enough to pick up this book. (Dickinson is an advice columnist, the replacement chosen for Ann Landers.) This book describes her post-divorce single parenthood and life, which revolve around her family and small hometown in upstate New York. After her divorce, she finds herself...more
Listening to Dickinson on NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" got me interested enough to pick up this book. (Dickinson is an advice columnist, the replacement chosen for Ann Landers.) This book describes her post-divorce single parenthood and life, which revolve around her family and small hometown in upstate New York. After her divorce, she finds herself...more
After a national search, The Chicago Tribune selected Amy Dickinson to be the new Ann Landers. Her advice column called "Ask Amy" is currently syndicated in over 150 newspapers nationwide. Her motto is, "I make the mistakes so you don't have to". In this memoir, Amy celebrates the small town of Freeville in upstate New York and pays tribute to the strong women who taught her what family means. Amy was married and living in London when her husband abruptly left her for another woman and moved to...more
NPR commentator and 21st century advice columnist Amy Dickinson may not have had a perfect life, but she has had a perfectly fine time making the most of it.
Leaving the ashes of a marriage gone bad half a world away from home, baby daughter in tow, Dickinson found the place to heal. With her estrogen-laden family, filled with quiet wisdom, concern for each other and gallons of coffee.
Despite the title, Dickinson's book spends far more time on herself and the life she and her daughter carved out...more
Leaving the ashes of a marriage gone bad half a world away from home, baby daughter in tow, Dickinson found the place to heal. With her estrogen-laden family, filled with quiet wisdom, concern for each other and gallons of coffee.
Despite the title, Dickinson's book spends far more time on herself and the life she and her daughter carved out...more
"The Mighty Queens of Freeville" by Amy Dickinson
(from the inside page)
Like all good monarchs, the Mighty Queens of Freevile rule fairly and from a distance. Amy's memoir is in part a love letter to her hometown of Freevile, NY (population 458), a small town in upstate New York that satys simple and pure while the world changes around it, and in part iit is a tribute to a family of women who support and draw strengh from one another.
This is a memoir about the people and animals who have trampled...more
(from the inside page)
Like all good monarchs, the Mighty Queens of Freevile rule fairly and from a distance. Amy's memoir is in part a love letter to her hometown of Freevile, NY (population 458), a small town in upstate New York that satys simple and pure while the world changes around it, and in part iit is a tribute to a family of women who support and draw strengh from one another.
This is a memoir about the people and animals who have trampled...more
Amy Dickinson seems like a nice enough person, but you really don't get to know her in her memoir. For example, both her father and her husband abandoned her for other women, but Dickinson doesn't talk about the impact these men had on her life. (She never even gives her ex a name.) Is she bitter? Does she fear commitment? She doesn't tell us. Her mother somehow put 4 kids through college and then went to college and grad school herself. How did she afford that when her ex, Dickinson's dad, sold...more
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Amy Dickinson joined Chicago Tribune in July 2003 as the newspaper's signature general advice columnist, following in the tradition of the legendary Ann Landers.
Prior to the Tribune, Dickinson was a frequent contributor to Time magazine, where she penned a column about family life, often drawing from her experiences as a single parent and member of a large, extended family.
In addition to writing f...more
More about Amy Dickinson...
Prior to the Tribune, Dickinson was a frequent contributor to Time magazine, where she penned a column about family life, often drawing from her experiences as a single parent and member of a large, extended family.
In addition to writing f...more
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Mar 16, 2009 12:44pm