Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg


Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Historical, Contemporary, Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Celebrated NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg delivers an extraordinary memoir of her personal successes, struggles, and life-affirming relationships, including her beautiful friendship of nearly fifty years with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Four years before Nina Totenberg was hired at NPR, where she cemented her legacy as a prizewinning reporter, and nearly twenty-two years before Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court, Nina called Ruth. A reporter for The National Observer, Nina was curious about Ruth’s legal brief, asking the Supreme Court to do something revolutionary: declare a law that discriminated “on the basis of sex” to be unconstitutional. In a time when women were fired for becoming pregnant, often could not apply for credit cards or get a mortgage in their own names, Ruth patiently explained her argument. That call launched a remarkable, nearly fifty-year friendship.

Dinners with Ruth is an extraordinary account of two women who paved the way for future generations by tearing down professional and legal barriers. It is also an intimate memoir of the power of friendships as women began to pry open career doors and transform the workplace. At the story’s heart is one, special relationship: Ruth and Nina saw each other not only through personal joys, but also illness, loss, and widowhood. During the devastating illness and eventual death of Nina’s first husband, Ruth drew her out of grief; twelve years later, Nina would reciprocate when Ruth’s beloved husband died. They shared not only a love of opera, but also of shopping, as they instinctively understood that clothes were armor for women who wanted to be taken seriously in a workplace dominated by men. During Ruth’s last year, they shared so many small dinners that Saturdays were “reserved for Ruth” in Nina’s house.

Dinners with Ruth also weaves together compelling, personal portraits of other fascinating women and men from Nina’s life, including her cherished NPR colleagues Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer; her beloved husbands; her friendships with multiple Supreme Court Justices, including Lewis Powell, William Brennan, and Antonin Scalia, and Nina’s own family—her father, the legendary violinist Roman Totenberg, and her “best friends,” her sisters. Inspiring and revelatory, Dinners with Ruth is a moving story of the joy and true meaning of friendship.

Two people and a remarkable friendship. Everyone should be so lucky.

When seeing the title of this book, one might think it’s political, but it’s not. Truly. This is the story of two friends and their times together. There’s quite a bit about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but also a lot about the author, too. Through the author’s writing, the luck of having a good friend shines right through.

This isn’t just about dinners, as the title might suggest. It shows the strength of women and how we can be together–strong and supportive. I liked how Ginsburg was shown, not only as a judge, but as a person. The reader gets to know her on a more personal level–her love of opera, her need for the collars and her stubbornness to stand up for what she saw was right. It also showed her struggle with cancer and the inevitability of old age.

The author shows the same struggle–not with old age per se, but with seeing her friends and loved ones go ahead of her. The author writes about her first husband dying and his many mishaps, then about Ginsburg’s passing and it did bring a tear to the eye. I felt like I was there with them.

If you’re looking for a biography that’s not just another bland story, give this one a try.

Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell


Do Let’s Have Another Drink!: The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

During her lifetime, the Queen Mother was as famous for her clever quips, pointed observations, and dry-as-a-martini delivery style as she was for being a beloved royal. Now, Do Let’s Have Another Drink recounts 101 (one for each year of her remarkable life) amusing and astonishing vignettes from across her long life, including her coming of age during World War I, the abdication of her brother-in-law and her unexpected ascendance to the throne, and her half century of widowhood as her daughter reigned over the United Kingdom. Featuring new revelations and colorful anecdotes about the woman Cecil Beaton, the high society photographer, once summarized as “a marshmallow made on a welding machine,” Do Let’s Have Another Drink is a delightful celebration of one of the most consistently popular members of the royal family.

A woman made of steel wearing a crown and holding her own.

I didn’t know much about the Queen Mother when I picked up this book. I saw the title and thought it’d be a rollicking good time kind of book. It’s so much more, just like the Queen Mother. Sure, she had her faults, but she went through a lot in a long lifetime.

The writing flows along well and kept me entertained. Honestly, the fascination of the woman was plenty. She lived through two wars, bombings, the death of her husband, his rise to the throne and seeing her daughter do the same. She had a lot to handle and seemed to do it with grace. She might have spent a lot of cash along the way and loved her racehorses, but honestly, she was very much of her time. This book showed me that in so many ways.

If you’re looking for a book about the Queen Mother that’s not a run-of-the-mill biography, give this one a try. It’s worth the read.

Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown


Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction, Fiction
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

A witty and profound portrait of the most talked-about English royal

She made John Lennon blush and Marlon Brando tongue-tied. She iced out Princess Diana and humiliated Elizabeth Taylor. Andy Warhol photographed her. Jack Nicholson offered her cocaine. Gore Vidal revered her. Francis Bacon heckled her. Peter Sellers was madly in love with her. For Pablo Picasso, she was the object of sexual fantasy.

Princess Margaret aroused passion and indignation in equal measures. To her friends, she was witty and regal. To her enemies, she was rude and demanding. In her 1950s heyday, she was seen as one of the most glamorous and desirable women in the world. By the time of her death in 2002, she had come to personify disappointment. One friend said he had never known an unhappier woman. The tale of Princess Margaret is Cinderella in reverse: hope dashed, happiness mislaid, life mishandled.

Such an enigmatic and divisive figure demands a reckoning that is far from the usual fare. Combining interviews, parodies, dreams, parallel lives, diaries, announcements, lists, catalogues, and essays, Craig Brown’s Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is a kaleidoscopic experiment in biography and a witty meditation on fame and art, snobbery and deference, bohemia and high society.

Full of quips and whimsy.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. I thought it would be more of a biography, but it’s a bit more like a love story written for the Princess. Really. There were moments of whimsy – fictitious spots where the author takes liberties about whom she’s married and quips – she could be quite funny, but at other times downright mean. This gave an interesting view into her life, but it’s not complete.

If one is wanting to read a proper biography on the Princess, then this isn’t it. Like I’ve mentioned, there are bits of fiction in there and some conversations recorded that probably didn’t happen that way. There are lots of bits and pieces of Margaret being quite rotten to people, too.

I liked that she could be quite snide and quick-witted. She knew how to take people down. But she also showed she wasn’t exactly a person of the people. She liked her lavish things and had little to do. She truly was the spare and she felt it. In that respect, I felt sorry for her. She had little to do and no one really gave her much direction.

If one goes into this book with the notion that it’s not all fact, then it’s a fun book. Why not give it a try? There truly are glimpses of the Princess, but it’s not always what you might think.

The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen’s Childhood by Her Nanny, Marion Crawford by Marion Crawford


The Little Princesses: The Story of the Queen’s Childhood by Her Nanny, Marion Crawford by Marion Crawford
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Once upon a time, in 1930s England, there were two little princesses named Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Their father was the Duke of York, the second son of King George V, and their Uncle David was the future King of England.

We all know how the fairy tale ended: When King George died, “Uncle David” became King Edward VIII—who abdicated less than a year later to marry the scandalous Wallis Simpson. Suddenly the little princesses’ father was King. The family moved to Buckingham Palace, and ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth became the heir to the crown she would ultimately wear for over fifty years.

The Little Princesses shows us how it all began. In the early thirties, the Duke and Duchess of York were looking for someone to educate their daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, then five- and two-years-old. They already had a nanny—a family retainer who had looked after their mother when she was a child—but it was time to add someone younger and livelier to the household.

Enter Marion Crawford, a twenty-four-year-old from Scotland who was promptly dubbed “Crawfie” by the young Elizabeth and who would stay with the family for sixteen years. Beginning at the quiet family home in Piccadilly and ending with the birth of Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace in 1948, Crawfie tells how she brought the princesses up to be “Royal,” while attempting to show them a bit of the ordinary world of underground trains, Girl Guides, and swimming lessons.

The Little Princesses was first published in 1950 to a furor we cannot imagine today. It has been called the original “nanny diaries” because it was the first account of life with the Royals ever published. Although hers was a touching account of the childhood of the Queen and Princess Margaret, Crawfie was demonized by the press. The Queen Mother, who had been a great friend and who had, Crawfie maintained, given her permission to write the account, never spoke to her again.

Two little princesses and their life with their nanny – what could be sweeter?

I picked this up because it was recommended to me and I’m glad I did. It’s an original look at the princesses, one who would become queen, when they were small, through the eyes of their nanny.

I have to admit the writing is good, but it’s not as flowing as it could be. It comes off a bit pretentious at times because of the circumstances – these girls are the princesses, and the nanny is in a place she never expected to be. I did like that there were glimpses into who the girls were as individuals. There are some nuggets of info, like how the future queen really got into organization and her ponies, then her dogs. Princess Margaret, to my dismay, is labeled as plump rather often and I know I’m looking at this through the lens of current times, but it seems like it wasn’t a kind thing to say or think about the little girl. Still, I liked seeing how the girls handled the War, handled growing up in the spotlight, dating, and one marrying before the other. It was interesting.

There were times when the writing did get bogged down in details of furnishings and food eaten, but it wasn’t as much of a distraction as it could be. Others might love the descriptions.

If you’re looking for another perspective into the little princesses, then this might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Cybersafe for Humans – A Simple Guide to Keep You and Your Family Safe Online by Patrick Acheampong


Cybersafe for Humans – A Simple Guide to Keep You and Your Family Safe Online by Patrick Acheampong
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Are you ready to protect your online life but don’t know where to start?

From keeping your kids and finances safe on the internet to stopping your sex toys from spying on you, Cybersafe For Humans gives you examples and practical, actionable advice on cybersecurity and how to stay safe online.

The world of cybersecurity tends to be full of impenetrable jargon and solutions that are impractical for individuals. Cybersafe For Humans will help you to demystify the world of cybersecurity and make it easier to protect you and your family from increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals.

If you think you’re secure online and don’t need this book, you REALLY need it!

Everyone could learn a little something about how to be safer online.

Some of my favorite passages were the ones that included lists of information about trustworthy websites, apps, security devices, and other helpful tools. This became even more true once I realized that Mr. Acheampong would share detailed reasons why he recommended them and what, if anything, he’d change about them if he could. It was exactly the sort of stuff I was hoping to find, and I have multiple pages bookmarked for future reference.

I was impressed by the breadth of information shared here. For example, I didn’t realize that filling out online quizzes or publicly sharing family photos can be incredibly dangerous. Other readers should discover for themselves why that is so and what they should do instead. These were only two examples of the many security tips the author shared that may not be common knowledge but should certainly be paid attention to when deciding what sorts of virtual activities to participate in and which ones to avoid.

Mr. Acheampong had a friendly and conversational writing style that pulled me into his book by the time I’d finished the first paragraph. He didn’t make a lot of assumptions about how much his readers already knew about cybersecurity, so he took the time to explain what various acronyms meant and how thieves use all sorts of tools, both technical and psychological, to trick people into clicking on suspicious links or sharing sensitive information. This was an especially good read for anyone who is comfortable surfing the internet on various devices but who maybe hasn’t thought about how it all works.

Cybersafe for Humans – A Simple Guide to Keep You and Your Family Safe Online was excellent.

The Coffee Lover’s Diet: Change Your Coffee, Change Your Life by Bob Arnot, M.D.


The Coffee Lover’s Diet: Change Your Coffee, Change Your Life by Bob Arnot, M.D.
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Improve your brain. Extend your life. Enhance your health. Discover the power of Polyphenols. Drop those extra pounds.

Dr. Bob Arnot, the bestselling author of The Aztec Diet, shows you how to use the power of America’s favorite drink—coffee—to achieve improved health, longevity, mental clarity and weight loss in this unique, groundbreaking wellness guide.

For years, we’ve been told that coffee was bad for our health. But new research reveals that, consumed properly, coffee can be the healthiest, tastiest part of your day. It can sharpen your focus, jumpstart your workout, help you lose weight, and even help fend off disease, from diabetes and liver disease to heart disease and Parkinson’s.

In this revolutionary handbook, Dr. Bob Arnot explains how coffee became a staple of the human diet, and reveals why having a cup is the best thing you can do each day. He also teaches you how to find the best beans from around the world and how to create the best brew and food pairings. The Coffee Lover’s Diet includes a full diet plan with corresponding recipes to ensure you get the full benefits of this miracle bean—in the right amounts and in a variety of ways—as well as tips for putting all of this invaluable information and advice to work to help you shed pounds, gain energy, and make the healthiest choices every day.

What if you discovered that one of your favorite drinks–coffee–could actually be good for you? Would this be inspiring? Dr. Bob Arnot has traveled the world in search of the best coffees. He has looked for not only quality, including excellent taste, but for other benefits as well.

Coffee is not all equal. Some is actually quite good for you. Arnot explains and gives evidence that one can enjoy a great-tasting coffee while also receiving health benefits. He talks of his experiences on coffee farms and in labs and offers plenty of charts with ratings. He discusses coffee equipment and water as well.

The book is entertaining and fun to read. As a bonus, the doctor gives readers plenty of delicious-sounding coffee-related recipes. Included are calorie counts. For those who want to take off a little weight, or even if not, this is a great book to check about and learn some surprising things about coffee.

Deep, Deep, Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench by Lydia Lukidis


Deep, Deep, Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench by Lydia Lukidis
Publisher: Capstone
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Deep, deep down, at the very bottom of the ocean, lies a secret world. Through lyrical narration, this spare-text STEM picture book takes readers on a journey to a place very few humans have ever been–the Mariana Trench. The imagined voyage debunks scary myths about this mysterious place with surprising and beautiful truths about life at Earth’s deepest point. Deep, Deep Down shows a vibrant world far below, and teaches readers how interconnected our lives are to every place on the planet.

Let some of the mysteries of the ocean be revealed!

Surviving in such an extreme environment isn’t easy. I was intrigued by the many different adaptations the fish and other animals in the Mariana Trench had evolved in order to withstand things like limited food supplies and heavy underwater pressure. These were some of the most educational and descriptive lines of the tale. I could easily imagine exactly what the author was talking about, and it made me want to dive even deeper into this subject.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this picture book was the deep respect it held for nature and other living beings. Whether it was describing specific creatures who live in the Mariana Trench or discussing how dark and freezing cold it is there, the narrator always spoke gently of the topics at hand and gave them the attention they deserved. There was no need to sensationalize what’s down there because the truth was more than incredible enough on its own.

What happens on the surface or in shallower waters trickles down to life at the bottom of the ocean. I should leave the specifics of that up to other readers to discover for themselves, but I can say that I learned a few new things about how connected we all are on this fragile planet. It’s amazing to think that one decision or event can echo so far through the food chain, yet that is exactly what happens every single day.

Deep, Deep, Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench was a lyrical read that I’d heartily recommend to kids and adults alike.

Going Dry – My Path to Overcoming Habitual Drinking by Sean Robinson


Going Dry – My Path to Overcoming Habitual Drinking by Sean Robinson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Do you want to take a break from alcohol easily and safely? Reading Going Dry will inspire you and change the way you look at drinking.

When COVID-19 shut down Canada and countries worldwide, Sean Robinson experienced a dark year. His drinking habit was one constant he could continue in an otherwise pandemic-disrupted routine. But at the beginning of 2021, he decided to make a change.

In Going Dry: My Path to Overcoming Habitual Drinking, Sean tells his story of choosing, one day and one month at a time, to carve a new lifestyle for himself. Despite growing up in a home where drinking was a normal part of life and being surrounded by constant social pressure to drink, Sean surprised himself and those around him.

His story provides inspiration and strategies for eliminating bad habits and replacing them with a more positive outlook and approach to life.

Going Dry is a testament that anyone can change, and it’s worth the effort.

Now is the perfect time to make healthier choices.

Alcohol misuse comes in many forms, not all of which are necessarily easy to recognize without some education on the topic. Some of the most interesting passages were the ones that explained the author’s relationship with alcohol, why he thought it was becoming unhealthy for him, and what subtle signs lead him to this conclusion. Alcoholism, and even an unhealthy relationship with that substance in general, can exist in people whose lives are otherwise pretty well put together. This isn’t the case for everyone, of course, but it was interesting to confront my own assumptions about this illness and what sort of person might develop it. I thought I already had a decent understanding of this topic, so I was surprised by how much more there was to learn about it.

I would have liked to see a little more time spent on the coping mechanisms Mr. Robinson leaned on to help him stop drinking and change his relationship with alcohol. These were such an important part of the process that I was surprised by how quickly those sections ended. This was a minor criticism of something I otherwise found well worth reading.

As someone who has medical reasons for not drinking alcohol and who therefore has never had a problem with this substance, I was surprised by how much overlap I noticed between the author’s experiences as an ex-drinker and my own as a non-drinker. Some folks become very uncomfortable in social gatherings if everyone isn’t drinking even if those of us who are abstaining have excellent reasons to order a soda or something instead. The peer pressure to drink is real, and Mr. Robinson had some fantastic tips for holding boundaries with friends or relatives who have trouble with this concept. Honestly, it made me want to go out to an alcohol-free dinner with him and dive even more deeply into the question of why some folks become so agitated by non-drinkers and how they can be redirected or deflected when necessary.

You don’t need to have a history of drinking alcohol or of misusing it to get something out of this book. Everyone has at least one bad habit they’d like to change, and Mr. Robinson found many similarities between the decision to stop drinking and the decision to replace any other number of habits with healthier life choices. Figuring out what to do instead and how to deal with peer pressure to fall back into old patterns is important for everyone who is trying to improve something about their lives.

Going Dry – My Path to Overcoming Habitual Drinking was a thought-provoking and educational read.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn


The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Rating: 5 stars
Review by Snowdrop

The true story of a couple who lost everything and embarked on a transformative journey walking the South West Coast Path in England

Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of thirty-two years, is terminally ill, their house and farm are taken away, along with their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, through Devon and Cornwall.

Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea, and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable and life-affirming journey. Powerfully written and unflinchingly honest, The Salt Path is ultimately a portrayal of home—how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.

Do you think you could come to a point in your life where you lose your home? Could that happen? How could it be possible? Was it irresponsible? Could you just take off and wild camp with very few plans? For that matter is hiking and wild camping along the 630 mile coastal path near Cornwall even a plan?

Each of these thoughts were a few of those running through my mind when I began this memoir by Raynor Winn. The story seemed far-fetched to me. What couple, at fifty years of age, would decide to take off to hike a trail with very little money and backpacks on their backs. Packs that I’m sure I couldn’t even carry. Just take off and leave the area they had lived in, the familiarity of their surroundings, and their family.

But all the while this fog of questions was swirling around my head, the author snuck up on me. She snatched up my interest, and I was off and running with a book I couldn’t put down. I’m not even sure how to explain it to you. It’s well written and the reading flows well. It is not a descriptive account of the beautiful coastal path of Wales. There isn’t even a map in the book to give you an idea of the beautiful, rugged places and the quaint villages this National Trail passes. It is more the bare bones story of two people trying to hike a 630 mile path while knowing one of them is very sick and both hoping that a plan will come to them in the end. At times it seemed as if it couldn’t be non-fiction. I was on the edge of my seat, hanging on at every twist and turn. As sad as could be that they couldn’t afford a lovely cream tea in a small village. Horrified that they had to walk wet for days or couldn’t shower for weeks at a time.

This is an extraordinary book. It is an honest accounting of a search for “what’s next.” Sometimes we fall into trouble, and we aren’t sure what step to take. That’s what this book is about. It most certainly isn’t something I would decide to do, but I loved reading about the experience.

Making Your Mark, Leaving A Legacy, And Then . . . A Grand Exit That’ll Have Their Tongues Waggin’ by Peter Davidson


Making Your Mark, Leaving A Legacy, And Then . . . A Grand Exit That’ll Have Their Tongues Waggin’ by Peter Davidson
Publisher: Sweet Memories Publishing
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

If you want your life to amount to more than just anonymously passing through this world unnoticed, this book is for you. It describes how you can make your mark on your family, friends, and society and how you can create a legacy that will benefit future generations.

When the time comes for you to leave this world, you can go out with class, style, and pizzazz, just like you lived your life, There are many options, possibilities, and decisions involved in planning a final farewell as we will see as we watch the Grand Exit of Timothy A.B. Smythe. Timothy’s Grand Exit will have people’s tongues waggin’ for a long time and it can serve as an inspiration for your final farewell, when the time comes.

Much of the information in the book is presented in true stories, scenarios, and examples that are upbeat, often humorous, and fun to read.

Who says that the end of life has to be a somber affair?

Some of the most touching ideas were ones that talked about writing memoirs, autobiographies, or other works. I have several ancestors who wrote down the stories of their lives, and those memoirs have been cherished for multiple generations in our family. There are so many small but fascinating details about the lives of regular people that are generally not recorded in history textbooks. It’s incredibly important to preserve them for the future in my opinion.

I appreciated the wide variety of suggestions here in general. The author was careful not to make any assumptions about how much disposable income his readers had or what kind of legacy they’d want to leave. Plenty of his ideas didn’t require spending any money at all, and many others could be scaled up with repeated modest investments if needed. This was something I’d feel perfectly content to recommend to people from any background or social class. There truly was something here for everyone.

Mr. Davidson had a playful sense of humor that was woven into every chapter of this book. For example, some people might be remembered for the flamboyant clothing they wear or the funny quips they were known to make under all sorts of circumstances. The author even mentioned funny ways that someone can be remembered for their personal shortcomings like the guy who ate a burrito and then attempted to light his flatulence on fire. While I certainly wouldn’t recommend that anyone else attempted it, that was definitely the sort of story that would be passed down to future generations.

Making Your Mark, Leaving A Legacy, And Then . . . A Grand Exit That’ll Have Their Tongues Waggin’ was a thought-provoking read that I’d recommend to everyone.