Friendship Development

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. That call launched a remarkable, nearly fifty-year friendship.

"Friendshifts" is a word Dr. Yager coined to denote how sometimes our friendships may shift throughout our lives, and even how we define a friend. Fortunately, in some instances, lifelong friendship does happen. The examples, anecdotes, quotes, and studies cited throughout the audiobook reinforce the notion that the right friends will help you get ahead or be happy in life, and even live a longer life; whereas the wrong friends can sabotage you or even get you hurt or killed.

Do you long to connect more deeply with other human beings? Do you wonder if you're living up to your human potential to make these deep connections happen - and perhaps missing out on this most compelling aspect of a vital life? In this groundbreaking new book, best-selling author Stephen Cope invites us to explore the most important questions in this domain: What is the nature of human connection? Why, precisely, is a capacity to connect deeply so important to the development of our minds, bodies, and spirits?

Have you ever had a friend in your life that caused you more misery than happiness? Maybe this friend is constantly asking to borrow your things. They tell you that it’ll just be one time, except that it’s not. It’s several times. And then your friend ends up needing more than just your time. It turns into your finances, your personal objects, and your obligations outside of the time that you spend with them. But you assure yourself that things will change.

More than six million readers can attest to the heartbreak and courage of Dave Pelzer's story of growing up in an abusive home. His inspirational books have helped countless others triumph over hardship and misfortune. Now this former lost boy, who defeated insurmountable odds to emerge whole and happy, at last takes us on his incredible odyssey toward healing and forgiveness.

Although Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee had been reading each other’s books for years, the two writers did not meet until February 2008. Not long after, Auster received a letter from Coetzee, suggesting they begin exchanging letters on a regular basis and, “God willing, strike sparks off each other.” Here and Now is the result of that proposal: the epistolary dialogue between two great writers who became great friends. Over three years their letters touched on nearly every subject, from sports to fatherhood, film festivals to incest, philosophy to politics....

In this “entertaining mix of social science, memoir, and humor, as if a Daniel Goleman book were filtered through the lens of Will Ferrell” (The New York Times Book Review) a middle-aged man embarks on an entertaining and relatable quest to reprioritize his ties with his buddies and forge new friendships, all while balancing work, marriage, and kids.

When Max Dickins decided to propose to his girlfriend, he realised there was no one he could call on to be his best man. He quickly learned that that he wasn’t the only man struggling with friendships. For decades, countless studies from across the world have confirmed that men have fewer close friends than women–and the problem gets worse the older men get. But what goes wrong? And what can men do about it? Dickins is going to find out. His funny and charmingly candid search takes him to the doors of world-leading experts.

For many, friends now play the role of family, but often our friendships don't turn out quite as we envisioned or hoped. Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world's constricted, small view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship. In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham takes a close look at what scripture says about friendship. She reveals the distorted view most of us have of it and recasts a glorious vision for a Christian understanding.

Do you find it hard to connect with other people? Do your relationships feel stale and lack real, meaningful connections? Do you wish you were more confident, charismatic, and likable? How to Make People Like You is a book with detailed insights on everything you need to know when it comes to going from a shy, anxious, and awkward individual and transforming yourself into someone who can unapologetically be your real, genuine, and authentic self.

Briallen Hopper's Hard to Love honours the categories of loves and relationships beyond marriage, the ones that are often treated as invisible or seen as secondary - friendships, kinship with adult siblings, care teams that form in times of illness, or various alternative family formations. She also values difficult and amorphous loves like loving a challenging job or inanimate objects that can't love you back.

Griefland. It's a place no one wants to visit - a place without borders where language is inadequate and pain is constant. It's a place where every morning, one awakens to the stark reality that a loved one will never be seen, heard - or embraced - again. This is a place that Armen Bacon and Nancy Miller know all too well, for both of them, when they met, had lost a child to drug addiction. Both of them had also enjoyed a comfortable, middle-class life - until it was rocked by the sudden death of a son Alex, and a daughter, Rachel.

Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it - the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow" - as Samantha Jones dubs her - to the person she always wanted to be.

We all know that gratitude is good for us - but the real magic comes when we express it. Writer Gina Hamadey learned this life-changing lesson firsthand when a case of burnout and too many hours on social media left her feeling depleted and disconnected. In this engaging book, she chronicles how 12 months spent writing 365 thank-you notes to strangers, neighbors, family members, and friends shifted her perspective.

The Big Cheese is the best at everything, and brags about it, too. When the annual Cheese-cathlon comes around, the Big Cheese is prepared to win, as always. But what happens when the quiet new kid, Wedge Wedgeman, comes out on top? Is a slice of humility all the Big Cheese needs to discover that some things are better than being the best?

You'd love to have a "ride or die" posse like you see on social media, but instead you have a host of really good...acquaintances. After all, trying to find a soul friend in the midst of dirty dishes, deadlines, and, oh, a crazy busy life can be overwhelming. But what if developing great friendships was actually easier than we thought? And what if finding a "soul friend" wasn't necessarily our highest goal? In The Life Council, Laura Tremaine tells us what we've been hoping was true all along: making, keeping, and even releasing friends doesn't need to be as hard as we make it.

Author and pastor David Kim shares his experiences with loneliness as a Korean American immigrant and delivers compelling research about belonging that includes the revolutionary five anchors for developing meaningful relationships.

Do you want to improve your communication capabilities but don't know where to start? If yes, then this book on How to Talk to Anyone is perfect for you! How to Talk to Anyone: Master Small Talk, Improve your Social Skills, and Build Meaningful Relationships will be your full, one-stop guide in improving your communication abilities. If you're struggling with communicating or connecting with others, don’t fret! You have the power to change. It is never too late to focus on improving yourself. The first step is to arm yourself with the right information.

When Craig Cooper and Walker Hayes met, Walker was an alcoholic atheist reeling from the backlash of a failed music career. Through their unlikely friendship, Craig’s life demonstrated the love of Christ in a way that shattered Walker’s misconceptions of Christianity, ultimately leading him down the path to a dramatic conversion. The two are now close as brothers, choosing to be next-door neighbors, and ripped out the fence between their homes as a testament to the power of the gospel to break down barriers and unite people together in Christ.

In this wise and insightful audiobook, psychologist Michael Thompson, PhD, and children's book author Catherine O'Neill Grace illuminate the crucial and often hidden role that friendship plays in the lives of children from birth through adolescence. Best Friends, Worst Enemies brings to life the drama of childhood relationships, guiding parents to a deeper understanding of the motives and meanings of social behavior.