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nicoletallywhite's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of underlining - but also several things that made me question…??? I couldn’t decide between 3 or 4 stars. Not quite a 4 star book for me, but gave the benefit of the many highlights.
mary00's review
4.0
3.5 Stars
This book's valuable message about recognizing the shared humanity of every individual we encounter resonated with me. It is certainly a message that the world needs more of. The book contains helpful information about how to navigate different relationships in our lives where there is a difference of opinion.
I'm glad I read this book. However, I was not compelled to pick it up often, so it took me a while to get through it. I'm not certain why the book did not engage me as much as I had hoped. I feel like it probably has more to do with my own mental distraction of late then with any problems with the book itself.
This book's valuable message about recognizing the shared humanity of every individual we encounter resonated with me. It is certainly a message that the world needs more of. The book contains helpful information about how to navigate different relationships in our lives where there is a difference of opinion.
I'm glad I read this book. However, I was not compelled to pick it up often, so it took me a while to get through it. I'm not certain why the book did not engage me as much as I had hoped. I feel like it probably has more to do with my own mental distraction of late then with any problems with the book itself.
fromsarahsbooknook's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
jordanlillie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
- Liked more than the first book just bc it felt more timely with reference to covid and 2020 election
- really good perspective continued from their first book and podcast
shirleytupperfreeman's review
I read this for two different book groups somewhat simultaneously and really liked it. Holland and Silvers developed a popular podcast called Pantsuit Politics about 7 years ago. The original idea was for two thoughtful, articulate people, one nominally from the left and one from the right, to discuss the politics of the day in a civilized manner - each giving the other plenty of listening time. Their book provides examples, suggestions, and ideas for how each of us can work through some of our political differences while building and maintaining relationships. The chapters move from family of origin, friends, and the families we create to local politics, national and global politics and social media - all the ways we interact for better or for worse. The7 offer discussion questions and things to try (Now What?) ideas at the end of each chapter.
cici_christianson's review
2.0
I love listening to the pantsuit politics podcast, and you can tell this book doesn’t fail to come from the heart of Sarah and Beth. I love hearing their unique voices. The book does an excellent job of talking about how to navigate complex relationships that are normal and healthy and where each party has an underlying mutual respect for the other. However the problem is that most relationships that have conflict are not coming from a healthy background. This is only addressed in an afterword with very limited information and acknowledgement of this fact. Given how well researched these two normally are I was very disappointed on how little research appeared to go into this book.
Don’t get me wrong it was still a good book, however I was hoping for more of a hard-hitting, research-based guide on challenging relationships than the feel good beach read this came across as. It just didn’t have a lot of information in it that I didn’t already know, or a lot of information at all.
There needed to be more acknowledgement of underlying conflict (both good and bad) that already exists in normal relationships. The relationship you have with your parents is completely different if you are living with them or if you are financially independent, if they are co-signers on your mortgage and your primary source of babysitting, or if you are their primary source of medical support in their old age. The relationship you have with your coworkers changes if you are both up for a promotion, or are dependent on them to finish an important part of a project, or if you are having to be in a supervisory role over them. These are not necessarily bad dynamics, but they change the nature of the relationship completely and this says nothing of the truly bad dynamics that could exist in a toxic or unsafe family, work environment, etc. They could have talked about how to identify healthy dynamics in relationships, they could have talked about how the conversations change during the different seasons of life they kept referencing over and over again. They could have thrown in some statistics about how the polarization of America has changed over time. This was what I was hoping for and didn’t get.
Don’t get me wrong it was still a good book, however I was hoping for more of a hard-hitting, research-based guide on challenging relationships than the feel good beach read this came across as. It just didn’t have a lot of information in it that I didn’t already know, or a lot of information at all.
There needed to be more acknowledgement of underlying conflict (both good and bad) that already exists in normal relationships. The relationship you have with your parents is completely different if you are living with them or if you are financially independent, if they are co-signers on your mortgage and your primary source of babysitting, or if you are their primary source of medical support in their old age. The relationship you have with your coworkers changes if you are both up for a promotion, or are dependent on them to finish an important part of a project, or if you are having to be in a supervisory role over them. These are not necessarily bad dynamics, but they change the nature of the relationship completely and this says nothing of the truly bad dynamics that could exist in a toxic or unsafe family, work environment, etc. They could have talked about how to identify healthy dynamics in relationships, they could have talked about how the conversations change during the different seasons of life they kept referencing over and over again. They could have thrown in some statistics about how the polarization of America has changed over time. This was what I was hoping for and didn’t get.
jeansbookbag's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I've only listened to the authors' podcast Pantsuit Politics a few times, but I've enjoyed it and I liked their first book, so when I saw the library had this available I picked it up. Overall I liked it, but it felt pretty shallow. A good primer, but not a deep dive really into any facets of the topic. A fine read, one I would particularly read for someone who is just dipping their toe into the water of conflict (particularly in families) around politics.
3twirlygirls's review
5.0
One of my favorite podcasts! This book is such a helpful read right now. My two big takeaways - reject easy certainty and lean into humanity at all costs.