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Dinners with Ruth
Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships | Nina Totenberg
21 posts | 17 read | 14 to read
Celebrated NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg delivers an extraordinary memoir of her personal successes, struggles, and life-affirming relationships, including her beautiful friendship of nearly fifty years with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 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 Ruths legal brief, asking the Supreme Court to do something revolutionary: declare a law that discriminated on the basis of sex to be unconstitutional. In a time when women were fired for becoming pregnant, often could not apply for credit cards or get a mortgage in their own names, Ruth patiently explained her argument. That call launched a remarkable, nearly fifty-year friendship. Dinners with Ruth is an extraordinary account of two women who paved the way for future generations by tearing down professional and legal barriers. It is also an intimate memoir of the power of friendships as women began to pry open career doors and transform the workplace. At the storys heart is one, special relationship: Ruth and Nina saw each other not only through personal joys, but also illness, loss, and widowhood. During the devastating illness and eventual death of Ninas first husband, Ruth drew her out of grief; twelve years later, Nina would reciprocate when Ruths beloved husband died. They shared not only a love of opera, but also of shopping, as they instinctively understood that clothes were armor for women who wanted to be taken seriously in a workplace dominated by men. During Ruths last year, they shared so many small dinners that Saturdays were reserved for Ruth in Ninas house. Dinners with Ruth also weaves together compelling, personal portraits of other fascinating women and men from Ninas life, including her cherished NPR colleagues Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer; her beloved husbands; her friendships with multiple Supreme Court Justices, including Lewis Powell, William Brennan, and Antonin Scalia, and Ninas own familyher father, the legendary violinist Roman Totenberg, and her best friends, her sisters. Inspiring and revelatory, Dinners with Ruth is a moving story of the joy and true meaning of friendship.
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BkClubCare
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Current #NonFicNov read. A book about friendship. Has already made me tear up, (sniff🥲 ) This should be a doozy, hitting me in all the feels.

all_4_kb Ohhhh looks good! I love RBG 12mo
Megabooks I loved this! 12mo
43 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Jen2
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Pickpick

Wonderful

lynneamch I know I'll love this one. 1y
RebelReader My IRL is reading this in July. Looking forward to it. 1y
58 likes2 comments
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mcctrish
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Pickpick

This was delightful. I so enjoyed learning more about Ruth, Nina and Cokie Roberts. It was educational for me as a Canadian to learn more about the Supreme Court and how it works. Mostly it was about the power of friendship ❤️

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mcctrish
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It‘s was super hero day at school so I wore my Notorious RBG tee ( I think the judge emoji should be RBG imo) I‘m alomost done this audio book and I have enjoyed it immensely

Tamra Fab! 😍 1y
kspenmoll I love this!!!! 1y
mcctrish @Tamra it was a great conversation starter today 1y
jlhammar How awesome! 1y
50 likes5 comments
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mcctrish
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Serious gardening went down today ( it‘s 🇨🇦 long weekend ) and I‘m exhausted but happy that the majority of the work is done ( more weeding and soil top up plus mulch to put down, but does the weeding ever end 🤣🤣 no) I am really enjoying this audio book - I should have finished it today but my husband was blaring soccer games off his phone and it was too much

ShelleyBooksie Looks great!! 1y
Tamra Fabulous!!! No, the weeds survive hail, fire, drought, flood, and serious neglect. 😜 (edited) 1y
jlhammar Looking good! We just enjoyed our first garden radishes of the year. Excited for all the veg coming our way! 1y
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mcctrish Thx @ShelleyBooksie I can‘t wait to just relax and read outside 1y
mcctrish @Tamra ain‘t that the truth 1y
mcctrish @jlhammar how awesome!!! 1y
dabbe Gorgeous! 💚🌿💚 1y
51 likes8 comments
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mcctrish
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Started this in the drive to work this morning ❤️

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Lcsmcat
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Pickpick

I love that Totenberg read this - I would have heard it in her voice had I read the book instead of listening to it - and there were so many historic moments that she referred to for which hers was the voice I remembered (Anita Hill, the return of her father‘s Strad, Obergefell). But really this was a love song to friendship. Friendship with Ruth, but also with many others, men & women, famous and unknown. Loved it!

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Blaire
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Pickpick

A lovely comforting read about the friendship between Nina Totenberg and Justice Ginsburg and about friendships more generally, as well as love, grief, and navigating a heavily male profession.

sarahbarnes I heard Nina talking about this book on NPR when it came out. ♥️ 2y
Cathythoughts And your picture is so comforting too❤️ 2y
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CoveredInRust
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Mehso-so

Finished this one yesterday. It's not quite what it says it is and is more of a memoir of Totenberg that frequently mentions RBG. Yes, they were friends, but the title and what it implies leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it's really just a memoir of the author's own life. Still had interesting information and I'm glad I listened to it.

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CoveredInRust
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It's been pretty okay so far but not much about RBG.

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BookNAround
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One of my book clubs does a holiday book exchange and brunch. We all choose a book we‘ve loved the past year that we did not read together. This is the book I came home with this year.

Mitch Good choice! 👏🏼👏🏼 2y
keithmalek Last week. They did a segment about this on WNYC. https://www.wnyc.org/story/nina-and-ruth/ 2y
56 likes1 stack add2 comments
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actualdisneyprincess
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RBG was everything I‘d like to be in life: fierce, fearless, and an unapologetic defender of her beliefs - and of those who were not permitted, or were otherwise unable, to speak for themselves. This memoir by her longtime friend Totenberg, NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent, is a beautifully-intimate look at the extraordinary person behind the icon. May her memory be a blessing. 💖 #dinnerswithruth #ninatotenberg #ruthbaderginsburg #rbg #memoir

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Suelizbeth
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Pickpick

Did I cry? Yes, many times. But this is a book about hope. Nina Totenberg has led an amazing life and had an amazing career. I love her voice on NPR. I had little idea that she had such a close friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and with the other Justices of her generation. This is a lovely tribute to Justice Ginsberg. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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JenReadsAlot
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Pickpick

Oh RBG how I miss you...

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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Journalist Toternberg met and befriended RBG in the 70s, and they maintained that friendship to the end of Ruth‘s life. Initially, this book was more about the author‘s own story and didn‘t excite me much until she broke the Anita Hill story. But as it moves forward, there‘s more Ruth and a really lovely look at their friendship.

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MallenNC
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Pickpick

As an avid NPR fan, I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. Despite the title, it‘s about a lot more than just friendship with RBG. She does weave that through the book, but it‘s also about her career and how her circle of friends have enriched her life.I think this would benefit from a different title so NPR nerds like me will be drawn to the book more than those who just want to know about Justice Ginsberg.

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BookBosomed1
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My Vermont trip is coming to an end. It has been amazing. Last evening, I stayed in an adorable mountain lodge. I enjoyed a glass of cold, local beer and some reading in the downstairs lounge (which includes a self-serve coffee and tea bar). The lounge has a Scandinavian, rustic vibe so it‘s definitely my style. Add me on Instagram if you want to see more pics from VT (@lharness0329).

BarbaraBB I hope you‘ve had a wonderful time! 2y
BookBosomed1 @BarbaraBB Vermont captured my heart and soul. I love it! 2y
26 likes2 comments
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Megabooks
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Pickpick

Nina is just fantastic, and this book about her friendship with RBG (and other women) was lovely. She also wrote about the difficulty climbing the ladder as a woman in the 1970s and how friendships with women like RBG and Cokie Roberts got her through. She gave interesting insights into the court and its other justices, too. Great reflections on a life well lived. Still missing you RBG!! 😢

actualdisneyprincess This is next on my library pile after Mercury Pictures Presents!!!! 😍😭 2y
Megabooks @actualdisneyprincess enjoy!!! (edited) 2y
JenReadsAlot I can always count on you for finding me great NF reads! 2y
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Megabooks @JenReadsAlot thank you!! My library is awesome with the NF! 2y
Cinfhen It‘s on #Scribd so maybe for #NonFictionNovember 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I think it would be a GREAT choice for then! 2y
75 likes3 stack adds6 comments