Linked for Life: How Our Siblings Affect Our Lives

Rating:
Summary: Your Brothers, Your Sisters, YOU!!
Review: An absolutely phenomenal book about the various relationships among and between brothers and sisters -- all ages, all kinds, from twins to blended (step-) families. The author uses illustrations from his own family of four brothers and a sister for a personal touch. He has interviewed scores of sibling groups and interweaves their stories to make his points about the importance of siblings in each of our lives -- even those who died young or were stillborn! I must admit I wept over some of the tales. He points out that the sibling relationship is the longest-lived of all in our lives, from the cradle to the grave -- and beyond.

Rating:
Summary: Not What It Could Be
Review: I had high hopes for this book because the subject vitally interests me. But I was greatly disappointed. It is mainly a compilation of stories gleaned from author's counseling practice, with very little effort to generalize from the stories to make points that could be useful to a broader audience. Authors very occasionally cite names and dates of other research, but there is no reference list on which to check those citations. Seems very unprofessional. Sketchily written; seems like author just gathered his years' worth of notes together, outlined, and made a minimal effort to integrate them. Once again, what may have made an interesting article in a magazine has been padded out to get a book.