Journalist Holton (Getting Out of Limbo) compiles the results of her survey of 162 American women from all 50 states in this wide-ranging and candid report. From 2013 to 2017, Holton sought out friends, colleagues, relatives, and members of “women’s community organizations” to ask them about such topics as their travel aspirations, religious beliefs, and childhood memories. She also inquired about “hot button” topics, including gun control and the wage gap (but not, curiously, about abortion rights). In responding to Holton’s queries, this cross-section of American women expressed a variety of social attitudes, but were united in their anxieties over job security, healthcare, and the overall state of America (66.8% said they were “very concerned” about “where the nation is headed”). Holton takes an optimistic tone in relating her findings, writing that “we all have very much in common when it comes to our life’s hopes and outlook for the future,” and highlighting “the echoes of satisfaction” she found in asking women to rank their marriages. She samples her subjects’ responses in chapters devoted to each topic question, and offers little commentary or analysis, lending breadth if not depth to the book. As a source of rich primary data, however, this account will interest readers curious about the issues affecting American women. (Self-published.)