Friendships Don't Just Happen: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of Girlfriends

Admitting to a lack of friendships is difficult for those who see their own desire to overcome the problem as desperation. Once a woman finds reasonably good friends, going deeper can prove difficult, particularly if the friends regularly spend time together. Nelson, a public speaker and the founder of www.girlfriendcircles.com, has a solution for women in search of close, lifelong friends and offers these clueless friends-to-be advice on what to do to make existing relationships more meaningful: all parsed down as time, respect, "sharing questions" and direct honesty. Nelson's platonic girlfriend-matching website plays second fiddle here; this tome is a stand-alone compendium of tips, research, and wisdom that will help women who want more from their friendships with other women. She refrains from excessive pop psychology, outlines important distinctions in otherwise mundane concepts like "forgiveness", and readers will learn about her central model of "frientimacy". Much of the advice is original and of Nelson's own design and readers will be pleasantly surprised by the depth of her knowledge about what makes healthy friendships work. (Feb.)