With Thanksgiving only days away, we thought we’d share a few of the things we’re thankful for. We’ll be posting one each day — in no particular order — and would love to hear what you’re thankful for, too.
#10 Our Families
We have turned to My Teenage Werewolf: A Mother, A Daughter, A Journey Through the Thicket of Adolescence by Lauren Kessler over and over again simply to reassure ourselves that it’s not just us. Lauren is a top-notch journalist but, thankfully, she’s also a mom so she’s able to give us a funny, articulate and personal account of surviving the teen years. A passage to always remember: “The teen brain … is a work in progress … Like any construction site, it’s a real mess up there.” Need we say more?
If you’re like us, you have occasionally found yourself yelling at your children that they have to do what you say “BECAUSE I’M THE MOTHER!!” only to crawl away, wondering, When did I get like this? Amy Wilson’s hilarious book, entitled just that, will reassure you that you’re not the only one who has planted their kids in front of the TV or bribed them with junk food. Amy’s well-intentioned efforts have been documented – hilariously – in Mother Load, the blockbuster one-woman show she wrote and performs around the country, and we feel better when she reminds us, “The things a mother does well are always invisible compared to the things she does badly.” Sigh.
Randi Davenport is the epitome of a mama bear. When mental illness threatened to take her son’s life, she fought the health care system and everyone in her way to save him. Her memoir, The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes: A Mother’s Story is gorgeous, devastating and ultimately triumphant. It will make you proud to call yourself a mom.
Being a mother isn’t easy, but sometimes becoming one isn’t, either. Rachel Lehmann-Haupt shares her personal journey through the confusing world of infertility in In Her Own Sweet Time. With a reporter’s eye and a woman’s heart, she explores donors, surrogates and a variety of other options to empower females whose own biological clocks are ticking.
When we first read The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After, we quickly looked around, convinced that author Melanie Gideon had been following us. Wondering if she’s on the verge of a mid-life crisis, she admits, “By all markers, I was a living a happy enough existence, but somehow I wasn’t feeling it.” Her reflections on motherhood, marriage, dogs and cars are often laugh-out-loud funny but the kind of laugh-out-loud that can, without warning, turn into hysterical crying. We want to be friends with Melanie.
We all want to know what’s going on behind other couples’ bedroom doors, and Laurie Abraham gives us a rare peek inside in The Husbands and Wives Club: A Year in the Life of a Couples Therapy Group. For twelve months, she sat in with five troubled couples as they underwent intense group marriage counseling. Her resulting article, “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” focused on one couple and was featured as a New York Times Magazine cover story and was so popular, she featured the rest of the couples in this book. It’s a fascinating read, and a testament to the institution of marriage.
Sometimes, though, no matter how hard you work at it, a marriage just doesn’t work. In Falling Apart in One Piece: One Optimist’s Journey Through the Hell of Divorce, Stacy Morrison’s life takes an unexpected turn when her husband announces out of nowhere, “I’m done.” Her memoir is honest and raw, and will give hope to other women who suddenly find themselves in the same situation. It’s a story of surviving and, eventually, thriving: of turning a half back into a whole.
No one can accuse Laura Munson of misleading advertising. Her memoir, This Is Not The Story You Think It Is … is exactly that – a surprising twist on what have might have been a conventional story of divorce. When Laura’s husband blindsided her with the proclamation, “I don’t love you any more. I’m not sure I ever did,” she could have burst into tears or told him to get out of the house. Instead, she said, “I don’t buy it,” and embarked on an amazing path of healing that led to possibly the most popular “Modern Love” column ever published in The New York Times. A must-read.
Somewhere between Betty Friedan and Martha Stewart lies Caitlin Flanagan, whose To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife is filled with articulate and often hilarious insights into modern marriage and motherhood. She stresses, like many of us do, over the differences between what she wants to be (a full-time mother and perfect housekeeper) and what she wants to do (pursue a high-powered career and forget about cleaning and cooking). This is a book you’ll want to share with your BFFs – and you’ll feel like Caitlin herself is on that list.
The only thing we have in common with Martha Stewart is that one of us used to have a Chow Chow, so we were immediately drawn to Lisa Quinn’s Life’s Too Short To Fold Fitted Sheets: Your Ultimate Guide to Domestic Liberation. With practical advice like “Interior Finishes That Hide the Most Dirt” and “The Top 10 Things You Have to Clean – in Order – If Company Is Coming in 30 Minutes,” Lisa is our new guru.
We do acknowledge that sometimes we do have to attend to housekeeping, and those are the times we’re happy to have How to Sew a Button – and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew by Erin Bried as a cheatsheet. We’ve learned “How to Hem Your Fancy Pants” and “How to Hone a Knife,” and, for those times we really want to show off our new domestic abilities, Erin even tells us “How to Make an Apron.”
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I was so happy to find Stacy Morrison’s autobiographical novel here! It was chosen by my book club last year and we all lost ourselves in her story, in a good way. Divorced or not, any woman can learn a great deal about grief and finding your way back from failures here. It was not at all a whiny, depressing read…it was an inspiration. Good choice. I will write the others down for book club suggestions, as you obviously have done your homework!
a fantastic and inspirational list. Thank you.
I wonder if you have yet read Laura Munsen’s new book… I have not, but know her article “Those aren’t fighting words” and I think she would fit in nicely with the theme of your book list.
Jennifer, we actually meant to include Laura Munson’s This Is Not the Story You Think It Is but it must’ve gotten lost at the bottom of our piles! We will definitely add it, and appreciate you suggesting it! Thanks so much — do you want to come work with us?!
Women sharing their wisdom and experiences in a safe place. I love this site! Just stumbled onto it. And always looking for an inspiring read. I will have to check these out! Thanks.