Books Archives - Page 4 of 9

15Apr

Muse, Lover, Wife, Mother – The Paris Wife Review

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When I picked up my copy of The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, I was intrigued by the endorsement by Nancy Horan, the author of Loving Frank, one of my favorite novels of the last few years. It reads "The remarkable novel about Ernest Hemingway's first marriage is memorizing. I loved this book." The cover does a good job of revealing something about the period the book was based on, the 1920s. It shows an outside bistro in Paris. The woman facing forward, the man's facing the other way, both dressed in clothing from that era. I Read More

03Apr

Dan Gets a Minivan, Coming Soon

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It just so happens that Dan Zevin lives in my hometown and his son is my daughter's 3rd grade class. He's an author with a new book coming out, Dan Gets a Minivan, a coming-of-middle-age tale told with warmth and wit, It provides the one thing every parent really needs: comic relief. The least hip citizen of Brooklyn, Dan has a working wife, two small children, a mother who visits each week to “help,” and an obese Labrador mutt who prefers to be driven rather than walked. How he got to this point is a bit of a blur. There was a wedding, and Read More

02Apr

The Realities of Motherhood Spoken Fiercely and Truly by Scary Mommy

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When I was wrapping up Jill Smokler's book, Confessions of a Scary Mommy, I came to the very last page of the “Acknowledgements” and found my name in her list of "wonderful online friends" who have offered her support in writing this book. And I now have a grin so big on my face that I wish I could frame. Reading Jill’s new book was just as good as I thought it would be. One of the first blogs I ever read, Scary Mommy has helped anchor me through mommyhood. My only regret? That I didn't have it when my kids came out of my womb. I respect Jill Read More

16Mar

Becoming a Baleboste with the Help of a Cookbook

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ba.le.bost.te (pronounced (bahluhbuhstuh): a capable efficient housewife, especially a traditional Jewish one, devoted to maintaining a well-run home. I wouldn't say I that I am particularly a baleboste, but I try. I'm always looking for books to teach me how to be more domesticated and a better cook without intimidating me and making me feel like I can't cook. When it comes to Jewish recipes, I do okay, but I do follow recipes very, very carefully, to try to capture the right flavors and bring a a bit of history and culture into my home. Tonight Read More

10Feb

Two Book Reviews: Cutting For Stone and A Reliable Wife

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I usually like to record my thoughts about books that I read on this site and the last two are worth reporting on. So, without further ado, they are A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I highly recommend one, the other not so much. I'll start with the one I adored. I knew nothing about Cutting for Stone before I started it, I just knew that it was very, very long, over 700 pages and I was wondering how I'd get through such a ong book. Once I got into it, the length became no problem. As a matter Read More

08Feb

Bella’s Vietnam Adventure: The Cultural Experience Continues

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"C'mon, Bella, it's all part of the adventure." This is a line from the book Bella's Vietnam Adventure by fellow blogger, Stacey Zolt Hara, about a little girl's travels through the country for the first time. And my favorite chapter in the series to date. We loved Bella’s Chinese New Year, based on the real life adventures of her daughter, Bella, and my daughter was very excited when her new book arrived at her door. Bella is a very lucky little girl, with a travel enriched life passed down to her by her travel-loving mama, and we have loved Read More

02Jan

Review: Wendy and the Lost Boys by Julie Salamon

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I'll never forget when I first saw Uncommon Women and Others. I was in college at the University of Georgia when it was performed and I was introduced to Wendy Wasserstein's playwriting. The characters in the show keep postponing their age by which they will be "pretty fucking amazing." The goal seems both impossible to define and unattainable. "I keep a list of options," says Holly, the main character at the end of the show. "Just from today's lunch, there's law, insurance, marry Leonard Woolf, have a baby, birdwatch in Bolivia. A myriad of Read More

18Dec

Review: Then Again by Diane Keaton

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I just knew that Diane Keaton's new memoir Then Again would resonate with me on more than one level. For one thing, her films, particularly Annie Hall and Manhattan, stand out in my memory as all-time favorites. But there is much more than her films to relate to: her eternal feeling of self-doubt, her close relationship and love for her mother, the asthma we both experienced as young girls and even her move to NYC as a young girl. I read her book laughing and nodding my head, just as I knew I would. Her book is a beautiful salute to her mother, Read More

03Nov

The Book Corner: My Tween Daughter’s Picks

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When it comes to reading, my tween aged daughter (age 8) takes after me. I was a book worm when I was younger, so now she's a book worm. After we say good night, she reads into the wee hours. I don't want to know what time her light goes off. It's been so interesting to see her book choices develop as a tween and how they compare to my own choices, either now or back then. She's slightly selective based on the cover of a book, which I'm constantly trying to convince her not to be, but I must admit that even as an adult, a cover can be enticing to Read More

28Oct

Book Review: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

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I recently finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. She and I had a chance meeting this past summer at BlogHer. We were both gathered to celebrate our friends from ONE MOMS who had just returned from Kenya. We were about to watch an ABC segment all about their trip and mission as a result of their involvement with ONE. It was awe inspiring, to say the least, and since then, I have joined their effort. But back to my meeting Gretchen. I instantly liked her, but I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with the content of her book. We Read More