Gayle read and liked Lisa Vegan's review of The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and Friendship:

"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 prefer...more 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/ in her review. There are at least some photos there, and I printed them out and referred to them as I read. When I read memoirs, it really helps me to see photos and not have to imagine people’s appearances. This is one book I might have appreciated more if I’d not read an ARC. I hope the hardcover first edition copy is full of photos, of the 11 girls but also of their family members and others in their lives.

I wasn’t enamored of the format of the book at first. It was difficult for me to become acquainted with each of the eleven girls when so much was written about their relatives and ancestors, but I eventually saw the wisdom of the author’s decision to write the book this way. Although it took me longer to remember each of them, it was a richer experience once I was able to do so.

Also, it turns out I was most interested in some of the peripheral people.

I was most deeply touched by the story of Christie, the first child born to any the Ames girls. (This book was only a 3 star book for me until that part. I continued to enjoy the book more and more all the way through the postscripts.) I also really liked Marilyn’s father. Elwood Koelder, who was connected with Marilyn’s brother, was an interesting story line. A few of the events that happened in the most recent past were of most interest to me.

I had mixed feelings about these individuals and their group. They are ten years younger than me but, possibly given they came of age in the small town Midwest and I in a big city on the west coast, they seemed old fashioned, albeit racy. I ended up liking some more than others, but liked some aspect of each of them, although they felt sufficiently different from most of the friends I have that it was a slight stretch to think of being friends with any/most of them. Also, as I got further and further into the book I understood the friendship(s) better.

When their friendships were forming, I’m sure these girls would have considered me extremely backward and I would not have been welcome in their group.

Reading this book is bound to make women and girls think about their female friendships.

I am lucky to have a few continuing overlapping groups of women friends from my childhood/adolescence/early adulthood, made all the more precious to me because of my lack of family. My groups consist of no more than four each and the most intimacy comes from the one on one relationships. I am somewhat in awe of these 10-11 women staying in contact as they have, especially considering geographical distance, families, their differences.(less) "