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Mar 15, 2009

Sfdreams rated it:

I have wanted to read this book for a long time, so was very excited to win an advance reading copy on Goodreads. The book did not disappoint! I read it in a day and a half—I couldn’t put it down. I debated whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars, and finally decided to give it five stars, since I felt like this book would stay with me for awhile.

Read the blurb about the book on Goodreads—I won’t repeat the information, and it gives a good overview of the book. I was born seven years More...

12 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I was able to borrow this from a long distance friend (thank you Terri!) who won it from Goodreads First Reads giveaway program. It’s an advance readers’ copy, paperback, 317 pages. I’ve grown addicted to ARCs since joining Goodreads, my preference being to read actual to be published copies sufficiently ahead of the official publication date.

Except for the front cover, there are no photos included so I’m very glad my friend included information about the web site http://www.girlsfromames.com/ More...

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Sara rated it:

3.5 stars. Written by the co-author of The Last Lecture, which is why I think this book drew my attention in the first place, The Girls from Ames chronicles the friendship between eleven girls from (where else?) Ames, Iowa, from their childhood to adulthood today. The story is definitely inspiring, hearing how these women have managed to create and maintain such strong bonds of friendship. There are stories from when they were young, stories from when they were in high school, then college, a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 08, 2011

Ann rated it:

I'm reading this purely because my sister DESPISED it and I have to know why.

Oh. My. Gosh. I rarely read books that I can't understand how they were published. I usually can see some audience for it or some purpose they fulfill. This book, however, is just dreadful. It had to be published solely on the author's reputation for The Last Lecture, because no self-respecting publisher would agree to print this. I read this because my sister needed someone to make fun of it with her, and I More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2010

Monika rated it:

update: finally got a chance to sit down and read, and finish this book. overall, it was a great great read, and made me wish that growing up i had so many girlfreinds who would stand by me regardless of anything. Sure they disagreed sometimes, but overall, they we're the true epitamy of best friends.
Great, great read! SO glad i got this as a first reads!

update: So I started the book last night, and put it down @ page 140 because it was really late, and I had to get to bed---o More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 26, 2011

Judy rated it:

I love this book so far, it is non-fiction and is about 11 girls who are now in there mid forties and have remained friends for decades. Their stories of life and friendship... it is wonderful and I can't wait to read more. Gotta love a real story about women and their friendships thru the years as well as remaining close.

Ok I have finished it I really enjoyed this book. I think all u girls and many in book club will as well. If u want to borrow it just let me know.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Katherine marked it as to-read

This came up as a "featured book," on my page; it's probably just coincidence that it's about my hometown! Not necessarily a book I'd go for otherwise, but I have to read anything about Ames.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

Leigh rated it:

The Girls from Ames is a great story. There are few women who could read this book and not be a little jealous of the love and support these ten women have provided each other for decades. Female friendships are truly unique, and the girls from Ames have graciously opened theirs to the world. This book is an honest look at both the joys and the heartache, the laughter and the tears. I truly enjoyed this book, and in turn value my own friendships that much more.

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

From my blog...[return]The Girls From Ames by Jeffery Zaslow is an in-depth and intriguing look at the social and behavioral traits that brought these particular eleven girls together as friends, maintained their friendships spanning decades, states, marriages, divorces, and even death. While they were a unit, each girl had at least one defined role. To fully understand the Ames girls, Zaslow takes an in-depth look at the beginning of each girl's family life and how their families impacted their More...

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Aug 10, 2011

Diana added it

What is remarkable about this story is not the individual trials and tribulations that these women face in their own lives. And it isn't even really the fact that a woman can have such a deep and meaningful bond of friendship with another woman. What struck me as remarkable - astonishing really- is that a group of 11 women can share such a deep friendship that transcends the group as a whole. And more, sustain it. Having not grown up in one town my entire childhood, I can't conceive of this bein More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Carol rated it:

So how could I like this book when I grew up outside of a clique in junior high? I could easily understand the pain of rejection and the meanness of the rejecters as in the chapter titled” Intervention”. To me this book is a window into what was happening inside a closed circle of girls.
This group of girls met in kindergarten and before the same as the group I knew in junior high. They developed ties that were like invisible glue that sealed them together and cut others off.
Even though I was a More...

2 comments like

Sep 08, 2011

Joanne rated it:

I am blessed to be part of a similar group of girls from the class of 1978. Starting out as a high school sorority, I’ve been privileged to know wonderful girls/women like the Ames FBB (Fabulous Best Buddies circa theirs 30’s on – previously Farts, Burps and Boobs! LOL) girls have experienced. And yes, we still refer to ourselves as “the girls.” After a rough year of unexpected loss (two brothers) we decided to have monthly “sorority meetings” instead of funeral home reunions and 2011 has bee More...

0 comments like

Aug 30, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

I admire Zaslow for delving so deeply into these women's relationships, and I admire the women for letting him. The book is a profile of the girls from Ames, Iowa, now women who have known each other most of their lives and who continue to gather yearly. In one book, it was hard for Zaslow to do justice to each of the eleven women, and I was alternately annoyed by trying to keep track of who was whom and curious to know more about certain incidents. By virtue of the book focusing on all the w More...

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Aug 22, 2011

emi rated it:

My mom always told me she chose to go to Ames, Iowa for her spring break, and I never heard anything more wholesome sounding; I read a glowing review of this book, and its subtitle is A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship. The subject matter is fine (a group of 11 childhood friends who remain tight through adolescence and beyond, despite obstacles like distance and differing viewpoints); it's just the delivery that I find fault with. The writer Jeffrey Zaslow, is a Wall Street Journal col More...

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Jun 18, 2011

Britni rated it:

Meet Karla, Kelly, Marilyn, Jane, Jenny, Karen, Cathy, Angela, Sally, Diana, and Sheila. Eleven girls that all grew up together in Ames, Iowa and forty years later are still friends today. Jeffrey Zaslow spent a year visiting each of these women in their homes and listening to their stories. Voted as one of the top 10 books of the year by People Magazine, The Girls from Ames is a true story about these women and the lives they have shared together from childhood to now into their forties.

More...

0 comments like

Jun 15, 2011

Katherine rated it:

I picked this up at the library thinking it was fiction, however, it is the true story of a 11 girls from Ames, Iowa who became close friends in elementary school and despite the fact they are spread out all over the country are still extremely close friends in their mid-forties. Interspersed with the details of their lives are passages about studies which show that a close group of female friends is one of the contributing factors to being healthy, happy and living a long time at least for wome More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2011

KIM rated it:

I had mixed feelings about this one. I really enjoyed some aspects of this book, and what Zaslow was trying to get across about friendship. I thought these women were wonderfully supportive of each other, especially given the changes they've been through and challenges they've faced. There were times I felt envious of their relationships. It made me think about friendship differently and how it can have an impact on family life and vice versa. There were some details I didn't want to know More...

0 comments like

May 28, 2011

Patricia rated it:

This is a true account that follows a group of 11 girls who become friends while growing up in Ames, Iowa, during the 1960s through the early 1980s. What is unusual is that all of the girls (except for one who died young) remained close friends even into their early forties, when the author met them and recorded the major events of their lives. The book claims that it is the story of a 40-year friendship, but that's a bit of an exaggeration. The circle of friends solidified to include 11 girls b More...

0 comments like

Feb 19, 2011

Paul rated it:

This is not a guy book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a fascinating story that will keep youj spellbound from the first page to the last page. A story that will tug at all your emotions and leave you wanting for more.

In the small town of Ames, Iowa, population of 53,000, half of which are Iowa State students, a friendship was formed by eleven young girls. This friendship spanned from the late 1950's to the present day. The friendship, for some, began in grade sch More...

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Aug 05, 2010

Mandy rated it:

I thought this book was an interesting idea, in concept. It was a quick, easy read. It would be good for a book club book or for a group of girls who have or appreciate long lasting friendships.

In my opinion the stories of the women and the sociological reflections by the author were often jarring and not seamless. Sometimes you felt like you were reading an email, other times you felt like you were reading a textbook. I also had a difficult time getting into the writing. I come fro More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 01, 2010

Cindy rated it:

I picked this book up, not realizing it was non-fiction. But something about it drew me in, and I found myself absorbed in this true story of 11 friends, and all that they have been through over the years, while still maintaining their nearly 40 year friendship.

Yes, it's sappy, and yes, there are some tear-jerking moments. But in reading it, I found myself thinking about my own friendships and wishing I had friends as close as these. It's almost inevitable that you'll find yourself c More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 25, 2010

Jo rated it:

Enjoyed it. Made me think of my own girlfriends and our history and how blessed I am to have so many long term friends throughout the different facets and time periods of my life. It also made me realize some of the hurtles we've yet to face. I was touched at many points during the book, but it could maybe have been organized better or the characters could have been introduced in a more memorable way. I did find myself flipping back frequently to see who was who again. Of course, organizing t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2010

David rated it:

The setting is a long-weekend reunion of the 10 surviving (of 11) women from a tight group of lifelong friends from Ames, Iowa. Nothing much happens at the reunion, so that functions mostly as a scene-setter for flashbacks and commentary about their lives and friendship.

The book was a mixed bag for me. On the minus side, it's poorly edited -- repetition is unwelcome when the subject is interesting (e.g., dying words of the one who died young from a possibly drunken fall) and indefe More...

0 comments like

Jun 03, 2010

Jennie rated it:

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. However, the writer was a man and while that shouldn't be a problem, it kind of was for this book. Maybe a different man would have done a better job, but honestly, there was too much bewilderment from the author coming through the narrative. If I had to make a guess about this author, I'd guess that he likes and respects women, but is one of those men who find women to be an "other" some kind More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 21, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

I has taken me many months to read this. I read a little of this book at a time in between novels because it just wasn't compelling enough to hold my attention.

I'm not much of a non-fiction reader, but having spent the first 12 years of my life in Ames, I was intrigued by this book. Sadly, it is not very well written, and I was also a little turned off by what these girls were like as teenagers (though I think I'd like most of them as grown women). I realize that many people lacked g More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 11, 2010

Kate rated it:

I have, for basically as far back as I can remember, had more guy friends than girl friends. I don' know why and usually I don't care why. Sometimes an offhand comment will be made ("She's one of those girls who doesn't have girlfriends") and I get all paranoid. What is one of those girls??? I never want to be that girl!

In reading The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship, I'm not sure I want to be the kind of girl who has a lot of girlfriends, either. More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 06, 2010

Kate rated it:

Exactly what makes a good book a good book? How is it defined? Do we base it on an inspiring writing style? Or something that leaves you with a message sunk deep into your bones? Or is a good book something that has stood up to the passing years, surviving fads and unpopularity? I suspect that critics and lay people have been debating this since the advent of the printing press, but I only bring it up because I am unsure of how to judge this particular work.

I’m referring to The Girl More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

Huh?? How is this book popular!? It was poorly written, uninteresting, and shallow. I know that is harsh, but I would truly add this to a "10 most disliked books" list if I had one.

There are books I don't like, but I can see why other people do. This does not fall into that category. It was awful. I didn't grow to care about the women in the book at all, and again, the writing made me want to throw it in the garbage. I'm not familiar with Zaslow's articles for the WSJ, and More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2010

Lisa rated it:

I didn't finish this book. I read about half of it, and was interested in the stories of the eleven friends who make up the group and how they got together when they were chldren and became "the Shisters." (That's a moniker I'll leave the book to explain, and I got tired of reading the vulgar word that led to the group name.) I was also interested in the author's insertion of results of studies that have researched friendship and how they compared to this group of friends. As they left More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2009

Theresa rated it:

Jeffrey Zaslow writes about 11 girls and the 10 women they became.

The eleven girls all graduated from Ames High School in 1981 and then went their separate ways for college and the rest of their lives. During that time they maintained their close relationships with each other through annual reunions and weddings. The advent of the internet and e-mail has helped them become even closer despite the fact that they are now spread throughout the US.

He writes stories about each More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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