Who among us, especially single mothers, have not feared that our children might make the same mistakes we do? Who among us, wives, mothers, and sadly enough daughters, have survived so well when our hearts have been broken by the men in our lives who've left us? Who among us want to validate our lives by sharing our and their mistakes with others so that others can learn from us? Who better to be an advice columnist and author than the strong woman who has experienced mistakes, shared them with the older, wiser women in her life, and learned from them? This book is a casual, relaxing read that makes us realize the need to be grounded in our strongest roots. It is a simple pleasure to be enjoyed in solitude; like sipping red wine and nibbling chocolate while contemplating life.

Your favorite bathrobe, your Birkenstocks, a bowl of Tapioca, whatever your favorite comfort is that is what I felt I was getting as I read more and more of Amy Dickinson's, The Mighty Queens of Freeville.

I read a lot of books of varying genre and topics, literary fiction, lots of memoirs, mysteries, and on and on. It seems that the subject matter can be more and more dramatic and touch lots of raw nerve these days. It seems the more dicey the subject matter, the more attention the press gives it, and it becomes the latest syndrome that everyone pulls up from their or their own family's past.

What I realized early on as I read Amy's memoir, was there were still everyday people out there that may have had the regular ups and downs in their lives but not the heavy, heavy, earth-shattering kind of drama that seems to be coming up on a regular basis. They weren't completely free of pain or grief but the majority of their life was committed just sharing and learning from one another the value of family, of supporting the ones you love and caring about them to the best of your ability.

It was refreshing, and reaffirming to read about "normal" people across this land. And I don't mean that in a negative way. Maybe because "reality" TV tries to make us think we are "not normal", it was time for this book to come along and remind us what normal family life can be like. Thank you Amy, for bringing back some normalcy to my reading life.

I don't think it is fair to judge another persons life, so I guess I am on the fence with giving a complete positive review. It was interesting till it seemed predictable and ho-hum. It played like a serial from a radio show of times long ago. I was bored with it. Perhaps I do NOT identify with the narrator, or that sister thing. It was trying to be too cute for it's own good. It got old fast. Sorry, but I am glad it is your life and not mine. When I write my memoirs then you can judge me too.

How disappointing. I really wanted to like this; I live in Chicago and always read Amy's column so I thought it would be interesting to see how she got to where she is today. I found no insights here - just someone still bitter about her ex-husband leaving her (get over it please) and who lucked into a great gig after many years of half-hearted attempts to get meaningful work. It's nice that her daughter seems to have turned out so well, but that's about the only nice thing about this book.

I really, really wanted to love this book. I liked it! Unfortunately, there was not enough emphasis on the queens being so mighty. These women were just practical good loving women! Maybe...that's what mighty queens are.