Calling All Mothers and Daughters

I don't think everyone reads our book blog, so I decided this was an important one that I wanted you all to know about. There's a funny story here - especially since the book is about communication - that I will tell on myself.

Harry bought this book for me - he'd heard Diane Rehm interviewing the author and thought I'd enjoy reading and discussing it with our daughters. Sounded like a good idea to me - this was about 2 or 3 years ago - so I added it to my stack of books.

Then I saw the same book in a store a few months ago - and bought it - when I brought it home, Harry said, "I already bought that book for you. Did you lend it out and can't remember who you gave it to?" Boy, did I feel foolish - and forgetful!!

So I finally got around to reading it this week, and said, while reclining on the couch, "This is a pretty good book. I'm not sure where I got it or who recommended it, but I should have the girls read it with me." And Harry said, "Don't you remember that's why I got it for you in the first place?"

I am really losing it!! I need to start keeping track - actually I have about a gazillion book journals - they are all so fetching, that I don't just keep one - I keep starting another one. I've even tried a personal library system. Somehow though, I just seem to read books and put them back on the shelf.

But I digress. However I ended up with this book, it is a good read - and my girls do need to read it so we can discuss it - and maybe my sisters should read it too.

Anyway, I have two copies - one is relatively small and paperback - I think I should send it to Hannah to read on the plane to France. And when she gets home, she can give it to Eliza. And I will give the hardback to Phoebe when I go up there and when we go in August for the Hood to Coast, I can get it back for Bonny.

Sound like a plan? Or give me your plan.

Let me give you a snippet that touched me, from a chapter entitled, "Blending Intimacy and Independence: New Ways of Talking"

"As my mother grew progressively weaker from lung disease, I visited her and my father more and more often. The weaker she got, the more time I spent helping her, caring for her. One afternoon, during a visit, I lay down on the couch to take a brief nap. Before succumbing to the plunge into sleep, I felt a movement at my legs. Briefly opening my eyes, I saw my mother, one hand on her cane, the other carrying a small blanket she had brought from the foot of her bed. Still gripping her cane, she used the other hand to spread the blanket over my legs. I can't tell this story with out tearing up. It is one of my most precious memories from the last years of my mother's life."

And this passage from the beginning of the book sums up what I think it is all about,

"Because talk plays such an enormous role in women's lives, understanding how conversation can lead to frustration and finding ways to improve conversations is key to more satisfying, less frustrating relationshipips between adult daughters and mothers. Our deepest wish is to be understood and approved of by our mothers and our daughters. We can get closer to that goal by listening to the ways we talk to each other, and by learning to talk to each other in new ways."

Are we ready for a Group Read??