Wonderfully written and a touching story all at once. It was a great collection of stories and history all rolled into one.

Nina Totenberg shares not only her remembrances of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but also her own journey breaking ground in the news business. Loved reading about their lives - how they intersected and the struggles both had to overcome to succeed in their fields. Totenberg's personal touches gave a great sense of what RBG was really like without making the reader feel uncomfortable with too many revelations. She also details how both dealt with the loss of a spouse and how they each found a path forward. It's an uplifting book, with a great storyteller and compelling subjects.

At a time when we sorely need it, Totenberg offers examples of how to live a life well lived, and one where complexity and nuance are championed. Bravo.

This book was a bit more about Nina Totenberg than I was expecting but I didn't mind! It seems that Nina and Ruth almost lived parallel lives and it was so interesting to compare and contrast the journeys of these trailblazers. For reasons I don't understand, this book didn't completely grab me. It's a shame because I am generally a fan of Nina's reporting and I am of course a fan of RBG. This is a great dose of feminism and history but it just didn't blow me away.

Dinners With Ruth by Nina Totenberg is one of my favorite books ever. One I will reread and will share with friends and family. A book for women.

Nina Totenberg’s memoir is thoroughly enjoyable. The book is mis-marketed as her tribute to her beloved friend and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It’s really a memoir of Totenberg’s personal and professional life using her friendship with the Notorious RBG as a loose framework. I enjoyed hearing the familiar RBG stories and the insight Totenberg provided into the Justice’s later years and battles with illness. Where this book shines, however, are the sections about Ms. Totenberg’s life and work. I enjoyed hearing about her earlier years as a young reporter and her involvement in bringing Anita Hill’s story to the attention of the public in 1991.

The biggest disappointment I had with the book was the tone in which Ms. Totenberg discussed the Kavanaugh hearings. She criticized Kavanaugh’s demeanor and tone and said he should have simply apologized and that would have been sufficient. She didn’t seem to think that committing a sexual assault as a young adult is sufficient to keep someone from a lifetime appointing to SCOTUS.

This was a lovely read. If you like Nina Totenberg and are interested in learning more about her (very interesting) life as a pioneering female political journalist, and some of her many deep friendships with fellow legends and pioneers Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer, and others, you'll really enjoy this.

Other reviewers have said that the title feels misleading, and I do have to agree. Undoubtedly, Nina and Ruth shared a beautiful lifelong friendship - but it almost feels like the Ruth themes were added to this book as an extra selling point because she's such a cultural icon. However, I think Nina Totenberg is such a name in and of herself that I would have happily read a book solely called her own memoir. On the other hand, it's clear that Nina takes such pride in her friendships as bringing out the best of her and showcasing the true relationships she built over career. RBG is not the only friend she dwells on in this book - she talks at length about her relationships with other Supreme Court justices, politicians, journalists, and more - and focuses on how those friendships made her life so much richer, especially when she was going through tough times.

Plus, we get some insight into more of the story behind her father, violin virtuoso Roman Totenberg, and his famously stolen Stradivarius violin!

I don't think this was a hugely groundbreaking title, but it was definitely a cozy recollection of a friendship packed with nostalgia.

I have long been a fan of both Nina Totenberg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but this memoir was such a personal tribute to a dear friend. I loved learning more about Ruth's background and personality, as well as her early friendship with Nina. Even more than that, I truly enjoyed hearing about Nina Totenberg's journey to legal reporting for NPR.

This memoir is more than just an autobiography or biography of a friend, it is a testament to the power of love and friendship, the strength that it takes to forge a new career, balance family needs with work and socializing, and create found family along the way.

I loved reading about former supreme court justice's opinions and the nuanced look many of them took on major laws. She took a topic that could have been very dry and created a fascinating memoir. I highly recommend this for every library and fan of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and/or Nina Totenberg.

Dinners with Ruth, by Nina Totenberg, is a terrific read if you still miss RBG, are interested in law, journalism, the experiences of professional women then and now, and the trauma of so many women who choose both work they profoundly care about and families they love. Without question, this is Totenberg’s book, and we see the world through her eyes. Fortunately, that world included Justices Ginsberg, O’Connor, Brennan, Scalia, and others. It was a time when friendships, formed by chance or intent, deepened over dinners, shared experiences, and commitment to being present. Totenberg is eloquent and generous as she shares her love and grief for the two friends she lost, RBG and Cokie Roberts. I found myself grieving for her loss and our own. I could not help but reflect on my own friendships, some that span decades and others relatively new, and be grateful for their presence in my life. This was a five-star read for me, but in the interest of full disclosure, I’m a lawyer who started college wanting to be a journalist. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review a digital ARC.

"Dinners" is an intensely personal memoir of the author's friendship with "The Notorious RBG." NPR correspondent Nina Tottenberg writes of the decades long personal and professional relationship she had with Ginzburg, other members of the US Supreme Court, and colleagues from NPR. She offers funny and heart-breaking stories of lives lived and deaths suffered. She builds a wonderful intimacy with the reader that gives us a glimpse into the personalities as well as the professional lives of her friends.

This is a lovely book that unsentimentally hearkens back to a less polarized political time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book. Totenberg is one of my favorite news correspondents and RBG was one of my favorite justices. Totenberg is an excellent writer and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about their friendship.

Nina Totenberg is an excellent writer and she most definitely did justice to her friendship with RBG. If you are of an age, you'll really enjoy delving into their lives. It was a different time; a better time, really, and this book can be appreciated in a number of ways.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this sweet book!

Nina Totenberg, famed NPR political/judicial reporter reflects on the meaningful friendships in her life in Dinners with Ruth. She is known for her friendship to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in which she always had to walk a thin line between the personal and professional as she covered the Supreme Court. Totenberg tries to fit a lot in this book, and at times I am unsure where the focus is meant to be. She has lived an interesting life, being a trailblazing journalist when women had a difficult time breaking through. Her career as a journalist alone would be book worthy (she highlights some noteworthy stories she broke during her career), but in this book she really emphasizes the importance her friendships had in her life. She recounts the strong bond she had with other trailblazing female journalists like Cokie Roberts and how they supported themselves (and lifted up junior female journalists) through the ups and downs of careers and in their personal lives and health. A friendship that takes center stage is with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband Marty. Nina and her second husband would frequently get together with them- out to an opera at the Kennedy Center or home cooked meals. And after Marty died, they continued this tradition with Ruth, especially as her health became more of an issue. The reader gains new insight on Ruth as a person outside of her robes, and it was fascinating. I came away from this book feeling quite reflective on my own friendships, how meaningful they are, and how they could be improved.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of Dinners with Ruth! I initially was drawn to this book to learn more about the truly iconic, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While this memoir certainly provided little tidbits and even further humanized an incredible woman and pioneer in justice, it was so much more. Nina Totenberg’s writing is so personable and interesting. Her friendships with not only RBG but other Supreme Court Justices were fascinating to me. There’s so much of Nina’s life that grounds this book and makes the reader feel like they’re speaking with a dear friend. Frankly, The title is misleading and while it will certainly sell books this memoir is much more than just dinners with Ruth and could stand up without the RBG framing as it details so many moments in the author’s life and highlights her relationships with other prominent political figures including several other Supreme Court Justices. This is not to diminish Totenberg’s insight into and friendship with RBG, as it’s clear she wrote this with the utmost love and respect. This was an excellent memoir and one I’d recommend not just to fans of Totenberg’s or RBG.

Felt like I was sitting at the table during these beautiful dinners - the writing is lovely, of course - it’s the brilliant Nina Totenberg! I learned so much and profoundly respect the relationships described between people who are opposed politically. Wish it was longer. It’s that kind of book. Loved it. Go read this one. Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy.

Nina Totenburg is my favorite NPR Correspondent of all time. Her ability to report facts translates perfectly to this memoir on friendship—specifically her friendship with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A must-read for women of all ages—as this allows the reader a look into the lives of women who paved the way for the liberties that women enjoy today.

I'm a longtime NPR listener, and *of course* a fan of the strong and mighty Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Author (and NPR journalist) Nina Totenberg and Ginsburg had been friends for nearly 50 years at the time of RBG's death, and I had read this book assuming that it would give more insight into the private life of RBG. It did not.

Instead, "Dinners with Ruth" is Totenberg's own memoir and ode to friendship. She shares the hardships that she and Ginsburg experienced as young women in male-dominated industries in the 1970s, and the how the sisterhood (including RBG, Cokie Roberts, her own sister Amy, and many others) carried her through her first husband's illness and death and celebrated with her as she found love again. While Totenberg seemingly knows everyone in Washington and has dined with nearly all of them, don't expect this book to dish any scoops. She's a consummate professional, painting her colleagues and friends in kind and generous light. Expect a slightly bland, but lovely, read.

Amazing read. I loved seeing RBG through a friend’s eyes. Not many people get a friendship like the one Nina and Ruth shared. They saw each other at the most difficult times in their lives and they become closer and stronger because of this. Nina’s words about Ruth and her other friends are powerful and moving.

Dinners with Ruth: a Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg, Totenberg’s debut celebrates her friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and her husband and her bonds with other friends. It’s a love letter to our need for friends in tough times and just for fun. Watching the sue women support each other when they lose their husbands and as they enjoy shopping and gossip is revealing. It also affords a view of a time when political life was kinder. Recommended for those interested in government, the Supreme Court, and journalism as well as those looking for a loving tale of kindness and support.