In this book, Dr. John Townsend explores how we can be better friends to our peers as well as what qualities in others makes a good friend for us. He talks about how friends should share our core values, but for our context values, the more minor things in life, it's actually good to disagree. We need someone whose opinion differs from ours to keep us grounded. He also explores the pros and cons of having family as our best friends. Townsend does highly stress that we should not only have family as friends but have those outside our family as friends too.
I did agree with most of the concepts of this book. There were some good points that Townsend made.
"Best friends are the first place your brain should land when something important happens. We are not designed to go through landmark events and difficult times alone..."
"Do your best friends have to know all your flaws and wounds? Ideally, yes, the more a person knows your real self at a deep level, the more whole you become."
"Be a person who cares about many people, but has invested deeply in a few..."
Despite the few points that I highlighted, overall I thought the book was a little too sterile. I enjoy reading non-fiction but I was a little bored while reading this. I got a few good pointers to use in my friendships, but most of the time I felt like I was reading a psychology textbook that was dissecting friendship. If you have trouble making or keeping friends, this book would definitely be one you might explore. For me, it was just OK.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
I was provided the Kindle version of this book by NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.
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