I first learned of Kristin and Jen in my heady days of Facebook (I'm currently in recovery - two years clean). I ran across one of their, I Mom So Hard videos shortly after the birth of my second child and laughed in the kind of sleep deprived delirium only a new baby can give you.
Last year me and my two Tennessee besties got to see these moms live and it was also a hilarious night, despite the fact I had to leave a little early to get back to relieve my teenage babysitter on a weeknight when my husband was out of town for work travel (I can attest that I really really needed that night out).
I was very tickled when my friend's husband lucked into a copy of this book through a work connection and decided to snag it for my (and your) enjoyment. I read it on the plane to and from California on a work trip. I laughed out loud. I nodded along in agreement. And mostly, I thanked heaven for honest women who aren't afraid to tell it like it is - with a side of humor (women ARE funny, just accept it).
From their devotion to each other, to their no topics barred approach to motherhood, Kristin and Jen are relate-able and reliable. So here's to all the moms out there momming so hard. I see you and I appreciate you. And you should read this book because you deserve a laugh and a moment to yourself (even if it is in the pantry alone where your kids can't find you).
3.75/5 Stars.
Poor Eleanor Flood has spent the last ten years of her life fighting her own inertia. She's moved to Seattle with her famous hand-surgeon husband Joe, and is less than busy raising their 9-year-old son, Timby. Once upon a New York, Eleanor was the animation director of a popular TV show called Looper Wash. But since then she's sort of lost her way. But on this day, the day covered in this delightful book, she promises upon waking that Today Will Be Different. She will be present in her conversations with people, she will spend time with Timby, she will initiate sex with Joe. So of course her plan goes off the rails early when she is about to meet up with someone for lunch when she gets a call from Timby's school saying he has a stomach ache and needs to be picked up. Between Eleanor's awkwardness and inability to recognize/remember faces/names, a lot starts to go wrong. Joe, who is supposed to be a work is not. Her lunch date with friend Sydney Madsen turns out to be a lunch date with a former Looper Wash intern, Spencer Martel. Eleanor is forced to face the reality of her life and her wasted potential and talent. So the day does turn out to be different, just not in any of the ways Eleanor imagined. The thing I enjoy about Maria Semple's work, is that although the characters can be a bit out there, there are some real life gems in the way she creates conflict for the main characters - in this story between Eleanor and her sister Ivy. And Semple isn't afraid to not wrap up those conflicts in a neat bow. I appreciate that, because it's not true to life.
4/5 Stars.
I really needed this book this week. It was funny, and light and interesting. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a collection of letters and e-mails pieced together to tell the story of Bernadette Fox, a wife and mother in Seattle Washington who has disappeared. But before Bernadette Fox was those things in Seattle, she was a famous architect, recipient of a McArthur Genius Award, and a free wheeling spirit whose creative side was channeled toward a vision only she could imagine. But, 15 years later, she's living in Seattle, wife to Elgin Branch, a VP at MicroSoft working on artificial intelligence technology, and mother to Bee, a super-smart 8th grader who decides as her gift for straight A's - she's going to ask her parents for a trip to Antarctica. Bernadette, who has become increasingly reclusive over the years, responds to the request by outsourcing a position as a personal assistance to an e-mail address in India.Meanwhile, down the slope from their home (actually an old school for girls), lives Audrey Griffin, a Seattle socialite who has never met a problem that wasn't caused by someone else. Audrey's best friend, Sue Lynn works at MicroSoft and reports back to Audrey all the things that Elgin is up to while his wife spends her day ruining Audrey's life. As smart as they are, Elgin and Bernadette don't communicate very well, so much so that when Sue Lynn informs Elgin about some of his wife's more odd behavior, he becomes concerned enough to stage and intervention - an intervention that goes horribly wrong and ends up with Bernadette running away, and an angry Bee left to pick up the pieces and try to discover what happened to her mother. I know reading the above synopsis may not actually seem like this book is as funny as it was, but it was actually very funny and delightful. It's a shame I had to rush through it, but I've recently discovered that my library will let you borrow Audiobooks for FREE! (can you imagine) so I may have overcommitted to my borrowing shelf!
4/5 Stars.
