Rating: 
Summary: Pass the Gentility, Please
Review: After reading Rhonda Rich's book "What Southern Women Know . . .", it occured to me that it has been a long time since anyone stood up in favor of good manners and gentility. And, in today's world I imagine we'd be hard pressed to find someone under twenty who A)could define it and B)aspires to it. Rhonda Rich's book is the perfect marriage of refinement and honesty to common sense and sensitivity. I heard Barbara Walters on The View with Rhonda imply that southern women were fake. In a classic display of bad manners, Ms. Walters imitated Rhonda's authentic southern accent and generally did her best to undo Rhonda's natural poise. She did NOT succeed. Ms. Walters' behavior is precisely why this country needs the lesson in deportment that Ms. Rich's book so gently and humorously offers. I agree with Ms.Rich - good manners are quite simply the moisturizer of life. Ms. Walters should really adjust her estrogen - my dear! Such hostility! Ms. Rich should write another book as fast as she can. Don't read it - memorize it!
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Summary: This book is worth the money
Review: This book has more substance than Southern Belle Primer or The Rules. What Southern Women Know is full of simple straightforward good advice that's actually suitable for men as well as women.
Rating:
Summary: Charming, entertaining, and a must have guide for all women
Review: This is one of the most charming and unique books I have ever read. The chapter names are wonderful and the stories Ms. Rich tells had me rolling with laughter. I read the entire book in one sitting because I could not put it down. Each chapter contained not only great stories of real life characters but important lessons on how to achieve everything a woman wants in life with class and femininity. The author's writing style and use of words are beautiful and make the book even more enjoyable. I highly recommend this book to both women and men everywhere. It is a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Review: I found this book to be amusing, but something surely to be taken lightheartedly. I was born and raised in the South and still live in Louisiana. I am very pleased and proud to be a "Southern woman". I have traveled extensively and have met some of the "characters" from this book. It is accurate (to my knowledge and experience)in its description of them. There are certain truisms in this book about Southern women. I actually found some of myself in them, but there are also some that do not apply. This is an entertaining read for a day of sipping iced tea (or mimosas), but do not buy it if you are expecting to really learn something. Just have fun with it! A good weekend combination with "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood", one of my favorites for years before the movie! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A man's point of view
Review: Okay now, don't get all uppity. I know, I'm not supposed to be reading this, but heck, my wife had a copy and there was nothing on the TV, it not being Monday night and all, and so I picked this little book up and started in, thinking to myself, "Okayyyy, let's just see what the ladies are up to." Two hours later I had finished it (yes, contrary to popular belief, ladies, we CAN read--just don't tell our golfing buddies we do this). Anyhoooo, I now find myself skimming Cosmo, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya thing, and a host of others, trying to figure out exactly how y'all think. To be honest, I find it fascinating and a great education. So I'm giving this one five stars. Two other great books the little woman, uh, I mean WIFE brought home were also great. One was something called The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and the other was The Bark of the Dogwood--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens. She does have good taste--what can I say?
Rating:
Summary: A true representation
Review: This book is a true representation of Southern women of the past, present, and future. The lessons in this book are re-enforced through delightful as well as painful stories about life. I have always appreciated the positive AND strong spirit that Southern women are taught to have. This book is an explanation to all those who weren't born in the South of why Southerners hold fast to their roots and traditions. I felt that Ms. Rich was sincere and enlightening in her guidance on how and why Southern women are so captivating. I love the comparing of Southern women to the strong, thriving kudzu of the South. This book was not only entertaining but inspirational as well.
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Summary: Simply Perfect!!!
Review: I signed on to buy a few more copies for gifts and just had to write a few words about the book that has become my absolute favorite. I know I have bought at least two dozen copies of What Southern Women Know as gifts for both my southern friends and four or five of my Yankee friends. They all think this book is absolutely adorable, funny and a warm invitation to a way of life that is gracious, thoughtful and kind. Readers with a harsh or bitter look at life will not like this book. Trust me. Don't even consider buying it, if you're cynical and always looking "for a gimmick." It's too uplifting, positive and funny (often in a tongue-in-cheek manner). My first copy is dog-earred and marked in highlighter with passages that have seen me through some rough times.You don't have to be southern to adore this book but you do have to be a feminine, frilly kind of woman who loves family, nesting and/or creating a career. If you finish the book and have learned one piece of advice that puts a upswing on things, you're in good shape. But if you're willing to learn and are open-minded, my guess is that you'll walk away with several wisdoms that will be unforgettable. I buy this book for young women graduating from college, setting out into the business world or getting married. It's the perfect catch-all book. I not only recommend it highly, I have put my money where my review is, having bought at least two dozen copies. I like to enclose a piece of lingerie, china or perfume along with the book. Ronda Rich speaks the gospel in this book and I, for one, am a devotee of the words she writes.
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Summary: Too much fun! A sequel, por favor!
Review: What a charmer...the book, and the author, I mean! Those too brittle to enjoy it are missing out on a ton of fun and a call to a more civiled, fun way of life. This book had me rolling, and I've lost my copy amongst friends who have shared it with one another, so I'm ordering another today. The perfect pick-me-up for this Southern Gal in an increasingly non-Southern world.
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Summary: Amen to the Secrets of Southern Sisterhood.
Review: Take it from this southern gal, Ms. Rich captures the essence of what Southern grandmothers, aunts and mothers have been successfully teaching their daughters for years; femininity is a powerful force.
Ms. Rich eloquently pegs the unwritten codes of behavior behind the powerful yet charming, Southern belle. If you live in Dixie, you know the importance women place on home, family and friends, but Ms. Rich captures the simple secrets that can be applied to add charm and grace to homes all across America.
An easy read, my favorite chapter, The Artistry Behind A Southerner's Flirtatious Ways, offers the key elements to proper social flirting. A warm openness and sincere appreciation for an individual's talents, is a "scrumptious felling" that no one can resist.
Just the refresher course needed to buff my "sparkle" and get my tushy (southern ladies DO NOT use foul language), off the pity pot of self-indulgence.
Thank you Rhonda Rich for reminding this gal of the fragrant honeysuckle that dwells within all women!
Angela
Rating:
Summary: And God created a woman
Review: The main theme of the book runs along the lines of "seduce and enjoy, and if you can't - seduce and destroy" - in other words it's charm all the way with great zest; fighting spirit, honoring first and foremost family and tradition and wholehearted love and respect for others, as long as they treat you well, but if they step on your toes, watch out.
Other than portraying the stereotype of a Southern woman, the author offers suggestions and advice some of which is sound and some of which may be understandable from a woman's perspective, but not necessarily healthy. Just as women in general are known to be full of contraditions, so is the advice that runs through this book - some examples of using charm in many different situations are brilliant. On the other hand, you'll encounter a struggle to be proper and ethical, advice to think positively, believe in the good, and to look at situations in optimistic light mixed with hold on patiently to your grievances (2 - 5 years or more if need be) until the timing is perfect to dish out your revenge. (That's definitely not good for one's health.) Then in the next section, you'll find "let bygones be bygones".
And yes, there is an advice in the book to be used in negotiations. Since most of the books on negotiation out there are written by guys, here is how it works from Southern woman's perspective - together with the negotiation skills available through other books and sources, wear a short skirt [the shorter the skirt you wear, the better deal you can count on getting], use charm all the way, and let your opponent sizzle (for his own good) - very soon he won't know what hit him.
All in all, it is an entertaining book.
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