Member Reviews

I received an electronic ARC from Workman Publishing Company through NetGalley.
Practical information on all aspects of friendship. Bane and Garritano offer common sense advice for those who are struggling to find time to establish and maintain relationships. Timely book as so many feeling isolated. This book can be read straight through or by selected portions. It makes a great primer or refresher read with workable suggestions. Their writing style works and the examples and scenarios they share are realistic. This is one to own and refer to as needed.

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An optional buy for public libraries, in a way I think that the list of people interested in this book would be the most helpful thing about it. There are lots of tips and encouragement here, and it's refreshing to hear other adults admit how hard it is to make friends as you get older. A lot of it comes down to people still being as nervous about wanting to be accepted no matter what their age!

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This book is great for younger readers who are yet to have or make friends since, for someone who's already in their 20's and above, I think this book doesn't offer what we don't know. I read this book since I'm an introvert and maybe get some new insights on making friends and all, but unfortunately, I already know the things and concepts mentioned in this book. It's not a bad book, though. And I would still recommend this for everyone struggling to make friends and keep friends.

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I am a very awkward person and it is so much easier to have no friends, truly. This book really helped me to see some easy steps to make new friends in awkward situations and keep the meaningful friendships I have. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Friendship as an adult is hard and heartbreaking so I am so grateful to the publisher for my advanced copy . I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. It focuses and has beautiful ideas on how to improve relationships and this beautifully illustrated guide offers tips,step by step guides on how to make small talk. After I was finished with this book I felt like I could have wonderful friendships . Highly recommend this book to EVERYONE and the cover is so gorgeous

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This was a really cute and interesting read. As I’m about to leave my 20s, this made me reevaluate some of my feelings towards friends and was strangely reassuring.

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This is a breezy, appealingly written book by the Friendshipping podcasters. They give a wealth of suggestions about how to find and develop good friendships in a variety of situations. They also encourage avoiding uncomfortable situations or unpleasant "friends" -- complete with ways to determine if a situation or person is not healthy and ways to escape. The text acknowledges specific situations for members of minority and vulnerable groups. They even offer some advice for pandemic-era friendships! And as icing on the cake, the ilustrations are adorable and inclusive.

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OK, I'll admit it, I was sceptical at first. 30 years a therapist and relationship consultant has taught me that there are no shortcuts to friendship, and that it takes more than a self-help book with the mandatory bulleted lists to make a difference. But I was wrong.

Friendshipping is both a manual on making friends and a guide to the etiquette of friendship. As loneliness is a growing phenomenon for all age-groups, with the concurrent risks to mental health, both are needed now.
There's a stigma associated with being perceived as friend-less or lonely. Ironically, this is fuelled in part by social media which is founded on the idea of 'friending'. The movies too have romanticised and over-simplified what it means to have friends. We are shown the successes and failures but never the intricate footwork that has to be mastered as we dance through life.

Paradoxically, the more we crowd together in cities, at work and in transport, more we have also become more isolated. Loneliness, we are told is now an epidemic. This has been made worse by Corvid, lockdown, and social distancing rules.

You want to make friends? This book has detailed instructions on how to go about it. If you want to keep friends, sort the reliable ones from the dodgy ones, and avoid the pitfalls that could push you back into the closet, then that's where the etiquette comes in. There's a full inventory of the dos and don'ts.

Until the 1950s, etiquette was a popular topic. The industrial boom, increased urbanization, prosperity and social mobility meant that people were thrown together in unfamiliar ways. As the railways opened up travel for the public, 'penny guides' flourished to explain the social dos and don'ts to rail travellers. These advised against swearing, spitting or drinking, for example, and encouraged 'gentlemanly' and 'ladylike' behaviour, if you wanted to be accepted, or at least tolerated, by your fellow travellers.

Social aspirations played their part as well. To secure your place on the ladder it was vital to know how to behave in 'polite' company. Using your fork the wrong way or an inappropriate form of address could ensure that you never rose higher than the lower rungs.

You might think that today the quaint rules of earlier generations have gone away, but you'd be wrong. As Friendshipping points out, there are as many rules about the first steps towards social connection as there ever were.
To start, you need to know where to find potential friends, how to identify and approach them, when to advance if it's going well, and when to back off if it isn't. Then there's conversation; how do you start one and what can you discuss?

As a much-needed resource for a widespread social problem this book deserves five stars. One thing knocks it off the top perch though, and that is the language. That it is written for the American market with no acknowledgement (apparently) that there are other English-speaking cultures is not the real problem (publishers take note). What really grated with me was the 'down-with-the-kids argot. The book must have been written with only the under 25s in mind. For example, having accepted your first invitation, the advice given for a suitable complement and parting remark is "...your granola really rocked my ass"!

If you can tolerate weirdness like that and sift the common-sense guidance, then this is for you. What you'll get is a roadmap to help you increase your social circle Be prepared, as the authors emphasise, to put in the work. This is not a quick-fix guide, but a carefully detailed guide to the social protocols around making friends.

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A wonderful read focused on friendship.
In this book, despite the title we see on the cover, it treats the subject in such a realistic way and does not allow delving into imaginary things.
First it is done in parts, giving the first part as: knowing yourself, without looking for friends, and giving importance that you deserve to know yourself.
The second is to try to find friends, see if those old friends can become the new best friends, and also find new friends.
The third tells how to maintain or eliminate the poison and how to do it.
The important part is: "If you want a good friend, you must be too"
It tells you that nothing would be perfect or easy, but you will find that some of them will be worth it.
It is a book with which you can feel relieved, since it is one where it gives you explanations about almost everything about friendship, how to be healthy, how to give and receive in those relationships, since sometimes the amount matters more than the amount.
It's a read where you can have fun and learn, one of the best readings I've ever had.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this wonderful book about friendshipping.
Let me tell you one thing: this book is lot more than what it might make you think from the title. It is so realistic and won’t let you get into imaginary things.
📚It is divided into parts. The first one is all about knowing oneself which is quite important with our without you looking for a friendship.
📒The second one is about finding friends, knowing them, dealing with them, checking if your old friends could be your best friends etc.
📙The third one tells you about keeping them or removing the toxic one and how to do it.
📋 the important point is that in addition to telling you keeping high standards for friendship, it also tells you to be a friend of high standard yourself as well. In simple words, if you want a good friend, you should be good one too. It tells you nothing would be perfect or easy but you will find out that some of them will be worth the effort.
There is a lot of explanation in this book about almost everything. I don't think they have left any loopholes. Everything in this book shows the sincerity of authors. It is so fun reading it. I learned a lot from it. I could write pages about it but long review would bore everyone out so the short one will do.
But I LOVED IT, Loved each and every page of this book. hank you Jenn and Trinn. I feel like I already know you.
5 stars from my side and if I could give any more stars, I definitely would. TI highly recommend it to everyone.

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FRIENDSHIPPING boasts a host of ideas to improve your relationships, based on the same-named popular podcast.

How do you define friendship? Find kindred spirits online and off? Grow and keep those connections? Eliminate toxic people from your lives?

The answers are here in FRIENDSHIPPING! This beautifully illustrated guide offers tips, scripts, and step-by-by-step directions for making small talk, getting to know someone better, even becoming friends with the opposite sex.

I learned a lot and highly recommend this fine friendship guide!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 22 Dec 2020

Thanks to the authors, Workman Publishing Company, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#Friendshipping #NetGalley

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A very helpful primer on making and keeping friends.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

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