The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us Audiobook

" This book was slightly entertaining at first- I enjoyed the memoir portions. However, I gave up on it half-way through because I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of it. He presents research that contradicts each other and the only conclusion to draw is that no matter what you do, your kids are going to be messed up. I don't believe this, since I know many functional families. I was hoping for some helpful information, not just a lot of speculation. "

" This book had some interesting ideas and many things that I already knew about siblings. It included information on birth order, sibling rivalry, and many other things that have been studied by doctors and psychologists. The problem was that there was too much information and so much speculation thrown in with some personal stories about the author and his own siblings that it was very convoluted and didn't really keep me interested. I did enjoy the author's personal examples however. Maybe he should have included more of those. "

" I was disappointed. It felt disjointed. The author's use of his family to illustrate points was a nice idea, but was forced at times. "

" I read this thinking it would give me insight about my own siblings, but I really liked applying some of the ideas to my own kids. It's good to know that each of my children, because of their gender or birth order, is a likely candidate to be my favorite child. So, I'm off the hook with that one:) "

" Was excited to read this after seeing the author's TED Talk. It's just ok. Lots of random studies mentioned, not very cohesive. Have to say I don't remember anything of the book, nothing notable -- and I just read it. See the TEDTalk, skip the book. "

" Good read. The author chronicles most of his life and not necessarily case studies. "

" This was interesting until about half-way through when I found that it was reading like a memoir. If it was to be a memoir, I wish it had been billed as such. "

" An interesting but at times simplistic view of siblings- I was most impressed by the ideas about the closeness between siblings. "

" Somewhat helpful in my research. "

" Interesting book covering the different sibling interactions (same and different sex broods, twins, step, siblings), birth order, singletons, and the effects of family trauma. It made me reflect on my own relationships with my siblings. "

" A fascinating look at the sibling relationship - only children, twins, oldest, middle, youngest. Covered a lot of stuff. I thought it was a great read. "

" This book is quite enjoyable, if you're willing to accept it for what it is: a mix of memoir, scientific review, and journalistic flair. "

" As the eldest of three brothers, I'm right in the demographic sweet spot to love this book, which I did. Kluger smoothly weaves all kinds of research about sibilings (and only children) throughout anecdotes of his own experience as a brother. "

" Not as interesting as I thought it would be - a lot of fairly obvious stuff, but a few surprises. "

" well organized w/ interesting study citations "

" An interesting blend of science and the author's personal experience. A family with four boys later became a "blended family" after their father's divorce and remarriage. The book examines the effects of birth order, favoritism and sibling rivalries. "

" I wanted conclusions, and there weren't any. The book is part memoir, part anecdotal research. It was an interesting read, but ultimately kind of a frustrating one. "

" A few interesting points but mostly repetitive of things I already knew. "

" I'm only a couple chapters in, but I am loving it. His style of writing is immensely readable - what else would you expect from a Times journalist? I'm excited to hear what he has to say about fourth-born daughters in families of five ... "

" I was interested in this book because of my large family, and a curiosity of how I turned out the way I did. While it offered me some new insights, much of it is stuff I already knew. This is a low 3. It was interesting enough to finish and I did like all his personal anecdotes. "

" A few interesting points but mostly repetitive of things I already knew. "

" Being a middle child, I had to see if what my family has been telling me all of these years is correct. His anecdotes are interesting and he has done research so his conclusions are scientific. Ultimately he did prove the "black sheep syndrome" plus, it was an easy read. "

" This gets a little technical but the stories are funny and I can definetly see how birth order affects someones personality. Interesting read. "