The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere

I love the song The Christmas Shows by Newsong so when I saw this book at my library I knew I just had to read it. I finished it back on November 30 and read it during The Christmas Spirit Readathon but have been crazybusy and am just now getting me review up. 
The book description:
Sometimes, the things that can change your life will cross your path in one instant-and then, in a fleeting moment, they're gone. But if you open your eyes, and watch carefully, you will believe.... 
Robert is a successful attorney who has everything in life-and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievement and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately himself. Eight year old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life, and struggling to hold onto every moment they have together. A chance meeting on Christmas Even brings Robert and Nathan together-he is shopping for a family he hardly knows and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose. In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference. The Christmas Shoes is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.
I feel bad because I honestly didn't expect this book to be very good. I started it wondering if it was just some sort of media tie in to make the song more popular. It was good. So good that I found myself crying during much of it. I cried even though I knew what was coming.
I loved how both families were tied together. Maggie is a wonderful person and mother and it is easy to like her and care about her. All of the characters are likeable...well almost.
Robert is a jerk. He's stubborn and I'm still angry about the way he spoke to his mother. He wasn't too likable but I think maybe that may have been the point. He's a modern day Scrooge and they aren't really supposed to be likable. I did care about him enough to root for him to turn around his life and save his marriage.
The climatic part of the book where he meets Nathan in the store buying shoes didn't disappoint. It was a great scene and I can easily imagine the moment when Robert looked into Nathan's eyes and was a changed man.
What I hated the most was afterwards when his wife asks him "Why have you changed?' Robert actually says "I don't know."
Really? You don't know? Now I didn't expect him to tell his wife about the encounter in the store. I can understand why he might want to keep that to himself but I felt like he was lying to Kare when he says he doesn't know.
My favorite part of the book was the ending. I don't want to spoil it but I will say Robert and Nathan's paths cross again and it was the best part of the book.
My rating  
This book was also made into a movie but I have yet to watch it. Hopefully I will get that done this month and write a movie review.

Labor Day Read-Along: My Book Review, Discussion Questions, and Movie Review

Please note this review does contain spoilers.

Book Description from Amazon.comWith the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates. For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele—a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily. As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy. Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart. 

 But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.


Book Review
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard is part love story, part coming of age novel. I was actually surprised this novel wasn't considered Young Adult. The book description on the back of the book gives no indication whatsoever that this book is narrated by the son, Henry.. I wasn't expecting this and was expecting more of an adult romance novel. It's not that there's anything wrong with this. It's just that I've been reading a lot of YA this year and was looking for something from an adult perspective. Had I read the story description from Amazon I would have expected this.
A quote from Jane Hamilton is on the cover calling the story "sexy." Yes it had the great potential to be a sexy story but considering it is the son describing his mother having relations with Frank, to call it "sexy" is just a bit twisted in my opinion. The romance between Frank and Adele is quite sexy and thrilling when you imagine just them. There's not much appeal in listening to a child describe his mother's love affair.
I loved the character of Frank. I always fall for the misunderstood bad boys with a heart of gold so I fell in love with Frank along with Adele. Frank was surprising in so many ways. If it wasn't for the fact that he was an escaped prisoner, I would have considered him to be too good to be true (in a good way) and the ideal husband. 
However, he seemed to be in complete denial about his situation, as was Adele. I also was surprised at how well and how quickly he adapted to life outside of prison. I don't think someone who just escaped the prison he was in for 18 years would be concerned with all the little chores he helped Adele do. I know they may come pick me up anytime and I'll never see you again but let's paint the storm windows. Seriously?
Adele was a deeply complex character and I loved that about her. She appeared to have mental illness but when her back story is explained you understand why she behaves the way that she does to a point. That said, if you have suffered from miscarriage or stillbirth this story will be extremely hard for you to read.
However, as complex as she was, I felt she was a selfish mother and no amount of trauma excuses her of that. Up until meeting Frank she treats her son almost like a surrogate husband and speaks to him about things that are extremely inappropriate. She put her love for Frank (a man she had known for only a handful of days) over the needs of her son and even disregards the custody she shares with her ex husband. 
The moment that Henry reveals to his friend Eleanor that Frank is at his house, you knew what Frank's fate was going to be. It was just a matter of time. What frustrated me is that Henry is more angry at Eleanor than he is himself for being stupid enough to tell her about Frank. 
Henry's character overall frustrated me. I understand he is a teenage boy but he is basically obsessed with sex. Hearing him ramble on for the fourth time about all the girls he's attracted to and would like to have sex with got annoying. 
He also couldn't make up his mind about how he felt about Frank and his mother. I understand that is completely normal but he seemed to change his mind whenever he talked to Eleanor. Eleanor is a know it all, cynical brat and I wanted so badly for Henry to tell her to shut up because she doesn't know what she's talking about.
What completely ruined the story for me was how at the end, Adele voluntarily gave up custody of Henry to her ex husband.  I think she made the right choice but the way Maynard treated this infuriated me. Maynard wrote as if this was no big deal or at least doesn't tell us how this is traumatic for Adele. I found it impossible to believe a woman that was devastated by miscarriage and a still birth would handle giving up her only child so well.
I did like the ending of the book though. I never had considered the possibility that Frank would try to get back with Adele after he was released from prison. I thought that was unbelievably romantic. 
I have one final observation but not really a complaint. None of the dialogue has apostrophes. I didn't know writers were even allowed to do that. 
Overall I found this book to be a page turner but contrived and completely unrealistic. Maynard is extremely talented at writing complex characters but the story was just too unbelievable to me. My rating   
Labor Day Discussion QuestionsThis post has already ran quite long so I will only post my answers to the questions. You can find the list here.
1. I didn't see Henry as being steady at all. Sure it's easy to appear steady when you follow a daily routine and remain isolated, but whenever Henry starts interacting with the outside world he doesn't seem to know what he wants or feels. Yes I felt Adele was a bad mother in some ways. I explain why earlier in this post.
2. I knew Frank was a good guy from the beginning. Why? Because this book is described as a love story. What I didn't expect was for him to be so sensitive and caring. The scenes when he is interacting with the challenge boy were particularly touching. I expected to like him but didn't expect to develop a crush on him myself.
3. We never know Adele's thoughts so I wonder if she was as trusting as she first appears. How could I be surprised though because if she hadn't there would be no story. I think Adele did it because he was hot and she craved adventure.
4. Because he loves his mother and would rather be with her than with his father where he feels like an outsider. He hides his mother's behavior to protect himself not her.
5. No it was not surprising that Frank was a good baker. The pie making technique was charming in itself but then it's later used in the story when Henry is an adult. I was more surprised how the pie making was what stuck with Henry.
6. Henry is at puberty. Frank is transitioning to freedom. But Adele wasn't transitioning to anything until Frank showed up. It's like she needed something to help her find happiness again. It's summer transitioning to fall. It's a cliche. 
7. I don't think Henry understands what family truly means until the end of the book. He realizes that all families are messed up just in different ways. There is no normal or regular family. And family doesn't always mean blood related.
8. Eleanor seemed cool at first but as my 18 yr old daughter would describe her, she was "thirsty" for sex. She appeared at first to be a misguided but cynical friend but was just using Henry in the end. I knew she would rat Frank out the second Henry told her about him. She had motivation to get the reward.
9. Eleanor was projected her own fears and experiences onto Henry. That was her experience so she expects it to be his too.
10. His conflicting feelings were completely normal. He seemed to finally reconcile them when he tests his mother and Frank by mentioning that he will get left behind and they confirm that isn't the case at all. He realizes they were just empty fears.
11. The only thing that would have definitely been different is the pie making story would not have ended up in the magazine. His mother may have kept custody of him but I doubt it. She seemed like if she hadn't had met Frank she would've had some kind of mental breakdown. 
12. There's really know way of knowing because we never read anything from Adele's point of view. But Adele knew she had some mental issues that she needed to deal with and taking care of Henry at the same time was not in his best interests. Or maybe she blamed Henry for Frank getting caught. It's hard to say. Henry returns because he loved her and understood she was mentally ill.
13. What kind of person is Eleanor? She was never developed enough to say one way or the other especially when Henry meets her again. I think the dog was named Jim because she liked Jim Morrison.
14. I think Henry's father was completely wrong in his observation that Adele was "in love with love." Women who are "in love with love" are constantly chasing after relationships. Adele was not like this as all. Although I do think she was in complete denial of how her and Frank would end up but I think her love was real and sincere especially because she was never with anyone afterwards. It's like she waited for him to get out of prison.
15. I have experiences that were life altering in bad ways but I am still grateful I met the person involved. Adele seemed to be the only women who ever truly loved Frank and Frank's baby died so Henry was his chance to be a father figure. There are things Frank may have never had otherwise. Yes love like that (at first sight) can exist. I fell in love immediately with my husband and we were inseparable from the time we met.
Movie ReviewThe movie was different from the book in onlya few minor ways and one major one. The major one being that there was no chemistry at all between Frank and Adele. It was impossible for me to believe that Adele had fallen in love with him and wanted to run away with him. However, I found it easy to believe Josh Brolin. I thought he did a great job in this movie.
I blame Kate Winslet's bad acting. I've always felt the woman's facial expressions never change. When she speaks emotionally her face never seem to match what she is saying unless she is smiling. I do think she has an amazing smile but the character of Adele rarely smiles.
A few minor differences from the book is that Henry doesn't tell Eleanor about Frank (she guesses). There's a horrible scene where the kid in the wheelchair gets smacked across the face by his mother. It's also never revealed who tipped off the police. I almost liked this part better than book because no one is to blame in the movie version. In the book, it was clearly Henry's fault because he couldn't keep a secret.
The flashback secnes and montages of Henry's fantasies would be confusing for someone who hadn't read the book. Lastly, the music. I don't know who chose the music for this movie but it was grating. The movie only gets

I Heart My Little A-Holes by Karen Alpert

Book Description from Amazon.com

When your son wakes you up at 3:00 A.M. because he wants to watch Caillou, he’s an a-hole. When your daughter outlines every corner of your living room with a purple crayon, she’s an a-hole. When your rug rats purposely decorate the kitchen ceiling with their smoothies, they’re a-holes. So it’s only natural to want to kill them sometimes. Of course you can’t because you’d go to prison, and then you’d really never get to poop alone again. Plus, there’s that whole loving them more than anything in the whole world thing. Karen Alpert is the writer of the popular blog Baby Sideburns. You may have seen some of her more viral posts like “Ten Things I Really F’ing Want for Mother’s Day,” “Daddy Sticker Chart” and “What NOT to F’ing Buy My Kids this Holiday.” Or you may know her from her Facebook page that has over 130,000 followers. I Heart My Little A-Holes is full of hilarious stories, lists, thoughts and pictures that will make you laugh so hard you’ll wish you were wearing a diaper.

This book was hilarious. Karen Alpert isn't afraid to write all the things that many of us parents are thinking. Us really dark, somewhat messed up parents. But we're like that in a good way because we aren't afraid to own our dark sides and don't walk around saying things like, "I'm so sad my kids are starting school. I want them home with me all day every day." No you don't. Karen and I both know you are lying. That, or you are someone seriously codependent who doesn't know how not to be a mother and feels insanely guilty for God forbid wanting a little time to yourself.

Okay I can keep sharing all the things Karen Alpert and I agree on or I can actually review the book. This book was tears streaming down your cheeks, pee your pants funny. At first I was kind of annoyed that Karen brags about how funny she is in the introduction but by the end of the book I wanted to cut out a little gold medal from yellow construction paper that says "World's Funniest Mom." (If you have read the book you will totally get that reference.)

Now her book is not perfect. She uses the word "f'ing" way too much even for me. She could have left out one or two stories about poopie diapers. And I wish she didn't comment about her spelling as much as she does. (Crap I need spell check and still got supercalifargilisticexpialidocious wrong. Who f'ing cares? I don't f'ing care if you needed spell check to spell a f'ing word. See how that's kind of f'ing annoying to use the adjective f'ing all the time?)

And since I have never read her blog all of the material was new to me. I've seen many reviewers that say they think Karen is hilarious but they paid for a book that they could have read on her blog for free. Not cool. 

Lastly calling Target "Tarjay" bugs the crap out of me but I won't hold that against her.

However, being the kind of person that I am, I found Karen Alpert to be a dark and twisty kindred spirit and was laughing hysterically through most of the book. At the very least I was nodding my head in agreement. And to all the mothers that claim it sounds like Karen doesn't love or want her kids, bullshit. She's just venting. And that probably makes her way more sane than all of us mothers holding in what we really think about parenting. It takes real courage to say what you really think and not care what other mothers think. Because mothers are the most judgmental people on the planet. My rating  

This review is already long enough but Karen does include a list of Book Club Questions that I simply must answer because it just seems fun. 

1. The protagonist is you, Karen. And no one cares that you don't know if that was spelled right. I went over this spelling thing earlier.

2. I call vaginas vajayjays and penises penises. Yeah for some reason I don't give boy parts cutesy names. Passing gas is farts and bowl movements are pooping.

3. Your kids are normal a-holey. Here's an example of my kid being extra a-holey: Right now my 18 month old daughter thinks it is fun to throw everything at your face. She has a good arm too and it hurts. 

4. Are you a good mother? Yes. I had my doubts when you said you played 2 Live Crew and the like in your car with your kids until you explained that you turn the sound off during the bad words like a censor. But as a mother of older children I must warn you. That trick only lasts so long and soon they will be screaming the swear words at the top of their lungs when you turn the sound off. And since you are driving all you can do is put your arm behind you and swat at the air. And they will laugh at you when you do.

5. My favorite part of the book was when you said "If Caillou was a real person I'd gladly go to jail for killing him." 

6. No I have never seriously considered murdering a cartoon character. Because they are cartoons and would just come back to life. Duh!

7. The serious chapter took a lot of guts to admit. However, thank God, I have never experienced anything like that.

8. My favorite photo was Daddy's Sticker Chart. lmao

9. Offended? No. Annoyed? Yes. You don't need to f'ing say f'ing all the f'ing time or comment about your spelling. I'll even let you keep your f'ings if you stop commenting on your damn spelling issues. Nobody cares!

10. Most of the mothers I know would freak if they read this book. They can't handle the truth!

11. Is it wrong to call your kids a-holes not to their faces? I must admit I'm kind of on the fence about this one. But I have referred to my kids as "little shits" many times so I guess it's not really all that different. My book would be called I Heart My Little Shits.

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

Book Description from Amazon

Calling the super busy, the stressed out, the overtired.

You know you're made for a more fulfilling life. With this book, you’ll know where to start.

You wake up tired. Your to-do list is too long. The commitments—and the laundry—are piling up, but your energy keeps dwindling. You feel like you're simply making it through the days, not living or enjoying any part of them.

In Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, you'll find both practical ideas and big-picture perspective that will inspire you to live life on purpose. As a wife, mother of three, and founder of the wildly successful blog MoneySavingMom.com, Crystal Paine has walked the road from barely surviving to living with intention. With the warmth and candor of a dear friend, she shares what she's learned along the way, helping you:

• feel healthier and more energetic by setting priorities and boundaries
• eliminate stress with savvy management of your time, money, and home
• get more done by setting realistic goals and embracing discipline
• rediscover your passions—and the confidence to pursue them

Packed with straightforward solutions you'll use today and inspirational stories you'll remember for years, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode is a must for any woman who's ever longed for the freedom to enjoy life, not just survive it.

I love Crystal Paine's book The Money Saving Mom's Budget so I looked forward to reading this one. I wasn't disappointed. The book starts off giving you advice about time management but it ended up being so much more than that. It was like a time management and self-help book for moms all rolled into one.

The advice Crystal gives about time management read like she knew the best parts of my favorite time management books and put them all in her book. Sometimes she gives these books credit and sometimes she doesn't. I thought that was kind of weird. She even quotes Steven Covey at the beginning of the book but never mentions his book on time management. Many of the ideas are great but can be found in other time management books which aren't listed in the Recommended Resources. 

There were a few times that I wondered if Crystal Paine could actually schedule my life. She explains that she doesn't have a lot of hobbies, any pets, and has a wonderful husband that helps her. She prefers to keep her life simple and has very specific interests. Well it's easy to manage your life when things are that simple! 

In my life I am the single mom of five kids, have a dog and a varying number of cats, no significant other to help me, and I have a lot of interests and hobbies. The variety in my life keeps me interested and happy. Does it make me a little crazy sometimes? Yes but I would be miserable with Crystal's life. Her simple, uncomplicated life seems great for her, but I felt like at times she was trying to tell me to give up some of the things I love just for the sake of simplifying my life. She didn't seem to understand us bohemian free spirits.

Despite that, the advice on choosing only four goals was great. It helped me choose what matters most in my life and figure out how to set mini-goals on a daily and weekly basis to reach those goals. I like the advice about setting goals and routines that is realistic for your particular time and situation in life. That is something I have never seen in a time management book before. It was awesome that Crystal understood that mothers have different time management needs when their kids are younger.

The chapter on managing your bank account was a summary of some of her ideas from The Money Saving Mom's Budget. I like the other book a lot better though. Some of the advice here feels like its more for well off married people and not single mothers living pay check to pay check like me. I laughed out loud at "increasing my emergency fund to cover three to six weeks of expenses." This seems incredibly out of touch with how much money most people are making in this economy. Crystal also talked far too much about herself in this chapter.

The chapter on managing your home has some great advice but it seemed rushed. I wish Crystal would have done far more here. This part would have been better if was expanded to a few chapters not all crammed into one. She could have done so much here. I expected it to be the bulk of the book not one measly chapter. 

And like in the earlier chapters on time management, Crystal uses ideas from other people but doesn't give them any credit. In the part about making a "homemaking binder" she says she gets the idea from "bloggers who are very organized women." Why isn't she naming names? I know exactly who she is talking about and it seems pretty low to use their ideas but not give them proper credit.

The chapter on feeling like a failure was great. While there wasn't anything earth shattering in the advice, just that fact that Crystal included it and even told her own story about how her first financial blog flopped made me feel better as a person. Her encouragement to use failure as a teachable moment and that it often leads to bigger and better things was great.

That is until she included a story about how another blogger she admired wrote a post about how she wanted to be just like another woman...and that woman just happened to be her! Are you freaking kidding me? There are many parts in the book where Crystal toots her own horn about how disciplined and well managed her life is, but this was just too much! 

I loved the idea of the chapter about how to help others and make a difference in others lives through charity or volunteering. Crystal gives some great ideas on how to help other people that doesn't always involve money. But she starts tooting that horn again. Crystal writes about all the charitable things she's done and her family has done and it comes off a little bit like "Look at how giving I am!" I loved the parts where she wrote "Here's some ideas that you can do" but when she says "Here's what I did" it comes off a little like bragging. She then talks about how she was so happy to be writing a financial book that would help so many people. It's pretty ironic that she says how "humbling" it all is. 

The last chapter is about taking care of yourself and has some ideas on how to nurture yourself, relax and find joy. Crystal gives suggestions like finding your spirituality (although she specifcally suggests Christianity), spending time on your marriage, cultivating friendship, eating healthy and exercising. 

Overall this book had some great advice for improving every area of your life. I liked that it covered so many different topics that contribute to living in "survival mode." My complaint is that sometimes the topic was discussed thoroughly while other times some tips were given but it wasn't dealt with too in depth. My biggest complaint is that overall the book included far too much about "how Crystal did it." Those stories are more suited for her blog than for a how to book.

My Rating

Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford

Book Description from Barnes and Noble
This is a book for parents who spend more time texting than chatting with their children and for college-age kids who substitute Snapshot and tweets for real-life encounters. Author/mom Rachel Macy Stafford learned the hard way that the things that really matter often get gradually elbowed out of lives unless we stop, think, and prioritize. Her Hands Free Mama describes how she replaced her digital imperatives with simple ways to grasp simple joys. This trade paperback and NOOK Book original belongs in the purse or knapsack of every American who has ever felt that he or she is a captive of their to-do list.

I couldn't wait to get this book. My kids keep complaining often about how I'm always on the computer, my phone, or just otherwise distracted. I needed this book, so I must start by saying my expectations were very high.

The premise of this book is great. It is full of useful suggestions and ideas about how to be a more engaged mother in everyday situations. There is some great advice in this book about different ways you can interact with your younger children (I explain why I say younger in a bit), ideas for creating more quality family time in moments where we usually are disengaged, how to slow down and enjoy life more.

The book isn't just about how to be a good mother but to be an engaged mother. Much of what is written goes along with attachment theory so I found a lot of it relevant too my own parenting philosophy.

The three "weekly interventions" in each chapter were great and the part I found the most helpful but sometimes they weren't even related even though they were in the same chapter. Sometimes the book needed better organization. The useful advice was peppered among family anecdotes and it felt more like a memoir than a how to book at times.

The plus side is that each section really stands alone so if one part doesn't apply to you (for me it was the section on connecting with your spouse) you can skip it.

But here's where I felt a book based on brilliant idea goes horribly wrong. I feel bad being so critical of this book because I want to truly love it. 

She writes as though she just had this revelation and within only a few weeks time became a completely different parent. No one changes that quickly. No one. Addictions don't work that way. If you are truly addicted to something it takes real work to wean yourself from it. Even if you go cold turkey there are withdrawals. Rachel writes as if all of this happened effortlessly in an extremely short time.

On page 131 she finally writes about a bad day. She writes about how everything she had scheduled ended up being the same day that her family got the stomach flu and a host of other things went wrong. Everything she lists was beyond her control.

But then she does the most unhealthy, disturbing thing she could possibly do. She blames herself! She beats herself up for not being Hands Free (even though everything that happened really had nothing to do with her.) She claims the reason everything fell apart was because of her overcommitment. The stomach flu and toilet overflowing happened because of overcommitment? She says she thought "Why do you do this to yourself? How did you allow this to happen?" Instead of letting a bad day just be a bad day she uses it to tear herself down and blames herself for things that are in no way her fault. Pretty ironic considering the subtitle of the book includes the phrase "letting go of perfection."

But it gets even more ironic. The next chapter is about Silencing the Inner Critic. I wish I was joking.

In one part she tells how she gives her children journals so they can write about how she can improve being a mother which I think is a great idea. Some of the journal entries by her daughter do talk about ways she can improve but some are positive and say how much she loves her mother. What I want to know is why didn't she write anything herself in this journal to her daughter? She never writes anything back. Not I love you too or compliments about her daughter. The journal is just all about her.

The part where her daughter is willing to help with the laundry and dishes was sweet. My 9 year old daughter is the same way. All kids usually are...when they are little. Then they become adolescents and are only willing to do chores if they get paid. The only connection is fighting with them about getting whatever needs done.

Overall the book is rather repetitive. It almost feels like a Hallmark card sometimes because it's so sweet and sentimental. Each story ends up being a picture perfect memory. The books tone was far too saccharine for me. Her kids just seem a little too...perfect. They never argue, are in cranky moods, act out, and break the rules. Again wasn't this book about "letting go of perfection?"

This mother is so devoted to her children it sometimes seems to border on co-dependency. She explains that the reason she was so disengaged as a parent was because she was committed to so many volunteer activities. She was unable to say no. But it seems as if her inability to say no to volunteer activities has turned into being unable to say no to her children. In fact, Rachel says she justified her many commitments by arguing that her involvement was needed. I'm sorry to say, but it seems like she's doing the exact same thing with her kids. It's like she feel this need to make every minute of the day with them special. She feels a need to constantly be involved.

The way the book reads she is engaged with them from morning to bedtime. Does she ever take time for herself? I worry that she is so into being their playmate and companion that she no longer has interests of her own. I wonder how much the kids do on their own.

What will happen when they are older and they don't want mommy around playing with them constantly? What will she do then? Preteens and teenagers don't want in your face connection. They want their parents to be interested and care but at an arm's length. Their favorite thing to do is be alone in their room or spend time with friends. And they don't want mom hanging around in either of those situations. The advice in this book simply won't work as well with older children.

Rachel's Life List consists of only two things. How she wants to be a constant presence and source of love and support in her family's lives and how she wants to use her talents to help people grasp what really matters in life. She explains that she scaled her big projects down to only one or two yearly projects that directly involved her family.

Where are Rachel's goals for herself? Why is every moment about what she wants to do for other people? She wrote that the reason she did the volunteer activities was because she wanted an identity that was more than just a mom. There's nothing wrong with wanting to feel like more than just a mom. Rachel never outright says this but it seems almost like she feels guilty for ever wanting to have any other kind of role.

The book has some great advice that I will use with my children and for using technology less in my life, but overall her suggested approach just isn't balanced. It's just not healthy to give and give and give like that. It's not healthy to blame yourself when a bad day is just a bad day. It's not healthy to feel guilty about sometimes wanting to be more than just a mom.

I feel bad about writing this somewhat scathing review. I really truly do. There is some great advice in the book but everything in moderation is not it. My rating  Follow my blog with Bloglovin

From Here to Maternity by Kris Webb and Kathy Wilson

Book Description from Amazon

Saturday morning coffee sessions are never going to be the same. . . .

Sydney marketing exec Sophie presumed "making sacrifices for your children" meant giving up Bloody Marys and champagne for nine months. When she thought about it, that is. . . . But then two blue lines appear on her pregnancy test. How does a baby fit in with a hectic job, a chaotic social life, and the absence of Max, the Y chromosome in the equation, who has moved to San Francisco?

Support and dubious advice are provided by an unlikely group that gathers for a weekly coffee get-together at the King Street Cafe. With Debbie the glamorous man-eater, Andrew the fitness junkie, Anna the disaster-prone doctor, and Karen the statistically improbable happily married mother of three, Sophie discovers the ups and downs of motherhood. And when an unexpected business venture and a new man appear on the scene, it appears that just maybe there is life after a baby.

Written by two sisters who live on different continents, Kris Webb and Kathy Wilson, From Here to Maternity is a novel that tackles the balancing of motherhood, romance, and a career, while managing to be seriously funny.

The quote from a review by The Age on the cover claims "A story best described as Bridget Jones has a baby." Wrong. Bridget Jones is actually funny. 

From Here to Maternity is about Sophie who is a working woman that has just broken up with her commitmentphobic boyfriend and found out that she is pregnant. The story is about how she navigates single parenthood, starting her own business, and of course, dating.

From Here to Maternity was boring and I had to force myself to finish the book. You'd think with two authors the book would have been a bit better, but it just fell flat. What's worse is that the actual "maternity" part was pretty much skipped over. The authors could have done so much more with the time Sophie was pregnant but they skipped that part and started at her daughter's birth.

Then again considering how unfunny the book was overall, they probably couldn't have made pregnancy funny either. It was charming and had just the right amounts of sentimentality so I descided to give it a chance. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never really did.

What I did like about the book was that it is set in Australia. So many of these chick lit books are set in England that I thought "down under" was a nice change. I liked how realistic the scenes with the baby were. Clearly the authors are mothers. I also like that Sophie made some parenting mistakes. However, I didn't like that she drank while breastfeeding. Those scenes made me cringe.

I also found the idea that Sophie would fly to Hong Kong for a business meeting with her 3 month old ridiculous. What was completely unbelievable was that the baby slept the entire way. I guess the authors decided trying to pee while holding a baby in an airplane bathroom was funny enough and they didn't need to do anything else.

There were so many situations like this that could have been uproarishly funny but they were boring. There were scenes where baby Sarah didn't cooperate and they made me smile but it was only once or twice that I laughed out loud.

And there was a plot hole that makes me want to write the authors an email with a bid fat DUH as the subject headline. Sophie and her best friend were looking for a baby product that they could sell to stores. Why oh why didn't the authors realize Sophie had the perfect idea when she was shopping for a diaper bag!? Sophie was complaining about how all the diaper bags were pastel colored or had cartoon characters on them. I thought for sure the product idea she would have come up with was the designer diaper bag that doesn't actually look like a diaper bag.

I did love the book ending though. Of the two men in Sophie's life I think she chose the right one. This made sludging through this boring book almost worth it but the book wasn't what I would consider a romance. The romance was only a subplot. Overall it was boring and entirely forgettable. My rating .

Announcing the 2014 Parenting Reading Challenge

Do you have a large TBR pile (to be read) of parenting books like I do? Maybe there are some parenting books that your family or friends insist you need to read? Or maybe you heard about some funny parenting memoirs or novels? I'm hosting a reading challenge at The Single Mommy Blog to get you motivated to read those books!

Books may be novels, mom lit, parenting advice and how to, inspirational such as the Chicken Soup books or Mom devotionals, parenting memoirs, or parenting humor.

For all the rules and to sign-up please visit here! Please do not sign up on this post. It is for informational purposes only.