The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer is imperative reading for any woman who has ever, with a heart so full it hurts, gazed lovingly at her sleeping child only to then glance at herself in the mirror and see a woman she no longer recognizes. It’s a story of four women. Four mothers. They are intelligent and educated and all held powerful positions before leaving the workforce to have children. Yet, even despite the comfortable privilege of their middle/high income New Yorker lives, each in her own way is suspended between who she is and who she always thought she would be.

For those wanting a light-hearted read, this is not it. Wolitzer is a brilliant - and complex - writer. The stories of these women and those with whom they live are not simple snapshots. They are portraits with the deep angles and dark shading of reality and the consequences of choices we all make as mothers, daughters, and wives. The consequences: they brim with both gratitude and regret.

There are several themes that run throughout the novel, but perhaps the most encompassing is feminism. The women – one a daughter of a prominent feminist, one a bohemian artist, one a statistician, and another who was voted the most promising in her college graduating class – have lived their lives expecting great things of themselves. Wolitzer flashes back throughout the book to stories of the girls’ mothers. Although I felt these flashbacks interrupted the flow of the contemporary issues, they did provide a historical context and framework for the ways the girls were shaped, purposely and unwittingly, by their mothers’ struggle for equality.

Perhaps most refreshing about this novel is the complete absence of judgment in the stay-at-home v. working mom debate. Instead, Wolitzer seamlessly addresses a larger dilemma: even in this day and age, women (particularly mothers) are not in fact provided equal opportunities or equal expectations. Society’s mindset may have changed, but the system in which it operates has not. That neither the author, nor the characters, has a simplistic answer authenticates the story, because as we know, there just isn’t one.

This book is exceptionally good. As I was reading, I felt a keen sense of recognition. It is one of those reads that encourages the use of post-it notes and highlighters. It is rich with short passages that illuminate the heart’s struggle to live up to our own expectations, to balance the fullness of being as we are with the hope of being more, and to maintain that hope especially in the times of flux and transition that besiege us when we least expect it. No, it isn’t a light novel, but it is lush and savory, and upon finishing it, you will feel as if you have found a friend in Meg Wolitzer.

Hey, mamas! I recently had a conversation with an old friend who lamented that her friends never really really really told her how difficult the transition from one child to two would be for her family. So often in life, we search and yearn for the a little extra guidance to help us deal with the challenges that face us. None of those challenges are unique, so why aren’t more people sharing ways to conquer them?

Well, stay-at-home mommas now have an excellent new book to help guide and educate them on their path. “The Stay-At-Home Survival Guide” by Melissa Stanton is here to help. No surprises here. The day of stay-at-home mom is not glamorized (thank god), politicized, or judged. I’d recommend this book to Moms new to the stay-at-home routine, as well as to those mommies who have been at it for years. There’s something in here for everyone.

Stanton is a former magazine editor and it shows in her book. This book reads like the best of a woman’s magazine article. The information is dense and well written. There is expert advice and a few self scoring tests. And best for busy mommies; it is a quick and enjoyable read.

Stanton covers all the basics; the inability to actually do housework with small children underfoot, a change in self-image when transitioning out of the work force and how to renew the zing (aka sex) in your marriage. Plus, she has some really heavy hitters. She spends a good amount of time reviewing finances and getting down to the nitty gritty with Social Security. (Ladies, there are some very important Suzy Orman moments in this book.) Depression and coping techniques are also covered.

So, here’s the only caveat about this book. This book mostly discusses almost entirely only the experiences of college educated career women who become stay-at-home moms in their 30’s and 40’s. That’s me, so I felt INCREDIBLE validation and connectedness to this book. If this describes you, then this book is a more than perfect fit!

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

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Are you a new mom? Do you know a new mom? If you said yes to either, you must order Sleep Is For The Weak, edited by Rita Arens of Surrender, Dorothy. There are simply too few moments in a new mom’s life when she feels she has allies - and a lot of them. The mommybloggers (and one dadblogger) whose stories comprise this anthology are funny. They’re irreverant. They’re smart. They’re honest. And they’ve all been there. No mother should have to raise her young children without this instant lifeline to them on her nightstand.

The nod of recognition began for me with the “secret” confessed in the foreword by Stacy Morrison, Editor in Chief of Redbook Magazine: she lets her 4 year old son sleep with her. Gasp. See, not being what I would consider a mommyblogger - at least not at these ladies’ level, I was a bit leery of reviewing this book. But Morrison’s candor about being a working mom had me giggling, and I was hooked.

I read the entire book in one sitting.

I did.

I couldn’t help myself.

I read it and wished I had known these writers - and their blogs - when my preschooler was a baby. I needed to know, for example, what Izzy Dean of Izzymom explains in her post, “The Things They Never Told Me”. Or at least It would have been nice to commiserate with someone about the hemorroids and the baby blues. I also could have used a friend like Rita Arens who describes childhood constipation in all of its glory in “Warning: This Is Really Disgusting” when I, too, had to deal with my little one’s poop problems. And who couldn’t use a laughing jag like the one I had when Miriam Kamin of Would Coulda Shoulda told the story of her visit to the OB/GYN with her children in her post “Mama, Who Invented the Speculum?”.

There are endless examples of the quick wit and empathy of the writers in this anthology. It’s a fast and entertaining read, no doubt (and one I highly recommend), but it’s also the much-loved, well-worn book that many moms will come back to over and over for the support and cameraderie offered inside. How many books can we really say that about?

Note:Content aside, as a fellow blogger, I do want to recognize what an accomplishment this is for editor, Rita Arens. I attended a book signing in Chicago, and after listening to her describe the multitude of steps involved, I was quite simply awed by the amount of work she put into this project. Rita is also a Contributing Editor on BlogHer, and this is a BlogHer book.

Leave a comment for this post and you’ll automatically be entered to win our November book basket! This month’s basket features the November book selection, Sleep is for the Weak, as well as Lean Mommy by Lisa Druxman, and two more surprise books! Comment before November 26th to enter to win!

Reviewed by Erin Kirkland

We are stronger than we think, and author Shauna Glenn proves it. Her novel “Heaping Spoonful” takes readers through love, loss, and back again with insightful storytelling and real characters that remind us of ourselves. “Heaping Spoonful” shows us life with a woman fighting to discover who she is after the death of her husband with in-your-face realism and a dash of naughty.

At center stage is Claire, a thirty-something mother whose husband’s recent death to cancer has left her feeling angry and alone, something she tries desperately to hide from her young son and daughter. The book opens with an example of how angry Claire is over her husband Bryan’s death; while out running one morning she is nearly run over by an “ass—-” in a sports car. After hurling a rock at the man’s rear window and angrily engaging in a shouting match, the brute hurls back to Claire that he feels sorry for her husband for having to live with her. Palpably hurt, the scene is a great introduction to Claire and hooked me easily into her life.

Claire has a lot going on; her business, a little bakery that has enjoyed modest success since opening now needs to be more than a hobby. It is Claire’s lifeblood and must pay the bills, but ancillary characters keep getting in her business and remind her life is not simply about managing employees and selling pastry. One such employee is her sister, Lucy, a perfect sub-heroine in Glenn’s layered plot scheme. Hilarious and a little wild, Lucy has a bit of an obsession for men and sex, as evidenced by a scene early on when Claire and her kids visit for dinner and walk in to find Lucy and her flavor of the week a bit ‘compromised’ in the kitchen.

Claire’s parents, too, are important figures. Suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, her mother has moments of lucidity that bring surprising clarity. In a tender moment between Claire and her mother, a connection to old family recipes gives Claire a boost of self-esteem and a lasting legacy. Claire finally creates a goal for herself and her business, making her feel whole for the first time in a long while.

Yes, there are men; Glenn shocks us a few times with her situational sex scenes reminiscent of a college dorm. But she approaches Claire’s dating experiences with such fabulous humor and understanding that even the moments of unbridled passion will seem a perfect fit for the overall story. After all, how many of us can say we never had a transitional relationship after the loss of a boyfriend or husband? The best part of life, however, is how we find what, or who, is really the most important. And how people who are under our noses can turn out to be the most glorious of friends or loves we ever imagined.

Devour this read accompanied by a box of chocolate and a glass of wine. It’ll do you good.

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Take it from the tag line on the front of the cover, “What if your imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?” Now, imagine that your imaginary friend really was real. Can you even fathom the thought? Well, that is exactly where Jane Margaux found herself in the breathtaking feel of Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson.

I freely admit that I love James Patterson’s pure intense writing. I fell in love with Alex Cross, and scary as it may be, I wanted to strap on a gun and become one with the street just like Lindsay Boxer. Both of these characters made you feel the passion of their cause all by reading the words that flowed from Patterson’s pen. So, understand that I was a bit apprehensive about reading Sundays at Tiffany’s.

I chose to read and review this book for one intent reason, so that I could step out of my ‘normal’ genre of suspense with a twist of murder and mayhem. I wanted to experience James Patterson in a light I have never read him in and I must say, I was not one bit disappointed. Sundays at Tiffany’s started with the sullen dark clouds hanging over me and Jane Margaux, but it ended full of sunshine with Michael happily by Jane’s side and all I wanted was more.

Patterson along with Gabrielle Charbonnet captured the true essence of childhood - our one true friend, that many have but may never share, our imaginary playmate.

As you enter the realm of money and true sophistication, we meet little 8 year old Jane Margaux. She is a lovely young lady, just as her mother, Vivianne Margaux, an extravagant, well-known Broadway producer, has brought her up to be. Jane’s two true loves in life are the Sundays that she spends with her mother at Tiffany’s buying jewelry, and Michael, her imaginary best friend. Right away you see the bond that Jane and Michael share.

What begins the gloom is the day. The day that Michael must leave to be with other children that need his help, now that Jane is able to manage on her own. Jane will forget about him - “They always do.” Unfortunately, the day came and went, the day that Jane will always remember.

Now, grown, a woman in her thirties, Jane’s love for life has been sidetracked by the daunting days at work - a producer - working for her mother, and the dying love for a man that she never truly knew. Her life, breaking into pieces that are fluttering away, she comes upon a man. A man with beautiful green eyes, a dazzling smile, and unforgettable good looks. Could it be her Michael? Now is the time you should believe.

Is Michael truly imaginary? Is Michael truly real? Patterson hit the right spot with me and Sundays at Tiffany’s, so much, that I want more. Escape into the fantasy and true, deep-soul love of two people and believe that anything is possible.

Imagine Gossip Girl grew up, Miranda Hobbes became a stay-at-home mom, and Juno kept her baby. Mix these characters’ worlds together and you’re hanging out with Hannah Allen, the sympathetic heroine of Momzillas.

Add the slick, stylized tone of chick-lit classics like Shopaholic Ties the Knot and Baby Proof, and the resulting literary concoction is Jill Kargman’s Momzillas: It’s a Jungle out there on Park Avenue, Baby.

At-home mother Hannah, her investment-banker husband Josh, and their 2-year-old daughter Violet have relocated from San Francisco to New York City’s Upper East Side. After some prodding from her materialistic mother-in-law, Hannah loads Violet into the stroller and runs smack into the most vicious strain of mothers in America: the Momzillas of Manhattan.

Chronicling this stay-at-home mom’s move to moneyed Manhattan and her struggles to fit in with a gossipy clique of over-achieving mothers, Momzillas is an easy-to-read paperback pleasure that feels guilty but never actually induces the mommy guilt. As a less-than-perfect, all-too-human mother, Hannah is definitely no one’s martyr even though she feels an outsider’s pain.

Although the heroines and villains of Momzillas are stay-at-home moms, Kargman writes sensitively about the choices all new moms must make. She diplomatically covers the maternal controversies of breastfeeding, childcare, returning to work, and how much to spend on a little one’s toys, clothes and entertainment.

Many of Hannah’s days and nights in New York are lonely and depressing as she rides the rollercoaster of emotions that goes along with trying to find your place after uprooting your family and moving across the country. But Kargman offers a light, entertaining touch, with as much pop-culture lingo as a movie like Juno, and even includes a glossary to explain the native tongue.

New mothers across a range of geographical and socioeconomic levels will appreciate Momzillas, for the same reasons that a diverse horde of millions relate to Sex and the City’s aspirational characters.

Of course, the Momzillas bubble that Kargman has re-created does seem a bit too carefully constructed at times. Conveniently, all of the main characters are only children, and more than once I asked myself why Hannah doesn’t just pick up the phone and call her own mom in Seattle for sympathy when the going gets tough.

But overall, this glossy glimpse into malicious mommyhood is a light-hearted summer read, a pure pop confection of playground frenemies, preschool anxieties, and perfectly pressed professional nannies.