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Category: Parenting & Family

Review: The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow

[ 7 ] April 11, 2012

Reviewed by Joanne Reynolds

The Magic Room is located at Becker’s Bridal in Fowler, Michigan. Shelley Becker, the third generation owner, created this room for brides to enter, wearing the gown they have chosen for their bridal day. There is a pedestal in the middle and the entire room is surrounded by mirrors for the bride to view herself from all angles.

Becker’s Bridal has been open for business since 1934. Fowler is a middle-class community with a population of 1,100. Becker’s Bridal houses anywhere from 2,500 gowns in it’s small shop, a former bank. The Magic Room was once the bank vault.

Shelley Becker spends six days a week, and up to 12 hours a day, working in her shop. She was “initiated” into the business at the age of 14. She has seen countless brides and mothers come through the doors and has heard many stories – some tragic, some loving, and some fearful. She has met young first time brides, older second timers and everyone in between.

Jeffrey Zaslow’s purpose in writing The Magic Room and sharing the story of Becker’s Bridal was to show the love that parents have for their daughters. This was well done with the lives that were brought forward. Each family had it’s own history, but the love for the daughters pursuing their own lives was a prevalent theme.

I absolutely loved the history of the Becker family being brought into the book also. The hard work and sacrifice to keep such a business running is a book in itself. Jeffrey Zaslow did a wonderful job of making me feel  the love and heartache of the eight stories incorporated into the book.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Joanne has always been an avid reader and loves the ability to lose herself in someone else’s life for the time that it takes to read about it. She has a huge admiration for authors and the worlds that they create for us. She enjoys reading to her granddaughters and hopes that they take up the love of reading.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by PR by the Book. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: There’s Just Something About a Boy by Jenny Lee Sulpizio

[ 2 ] March 8, 2012

Reviewed by Alyssa Katanic

There’s Just Something About a Boy, by Jenny Lee Sulpizio, is a sweet look about that special mother/son relationship: the excitement of finding out that he is on his way, all the stuff he gets into (!), the hopes and dreams mom and dad have for him, and all the times mom stands up as his biggest cheer leader.

The beautiful illustrations by Peg Lozier capture both the humorous and touching moments of life with boys. I especially love the picture that shows him being caught drawing on the walls – though I’ve only caught my daughter in that trick. My son drew on the dinning room chair instead!

The rhyming in the book is a bit sing-songy, but the images the rhymes evoke are precious.

There’s Just Something About a Boy will make a beautiful shower gift for a momma expecting her first son.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Also by Jenny Lee Sulpizio: Mommy Whispers

Alyssa is a wife and stay at home, homeschooling mother of five, with two boxers, two cats, a soft shelled turtle named after Bob the Builder, and 7 frogs (admittedly a homeschooling project gone froggy). In all her spare time, she loves to read and believes that there is no such thing as having too many books!

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Jenny Lee Sulpizio. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst

[ 7 ] December 19, 2011

Reviewed by Jill Elizabeth

I loved the premise of Fiction Ruined My Family when I first came across it: a memoir about a woman born and bred into the writing world. Fabulous, I thought, especially when I saw Darst’s sense of the absurd, her brilliance, and her “wickedly funny” prose touted in the main Amazon review.

Then I read it. Sigh, she said.

Jeanne Darst is the youngest daughter of the latest in a long line of writers and journalists on one side, and of old money on the other. Her father, attempting to find his own place in the family business, dragged his family through hell and back in his attempts to write the Great American Novel – without success. Jeanne’s mother was not so amused with this, as it meant she (and their four daughters) got hauled from location to location – and into increasingly dire financial straits – in the process. Not exactly the life she was used to, coming from St. Louis’ equivalent of royalty, replete with debutante balls, national equestrienne titles, and mansions…

As Jeanne and her sisters grow up, they struggle to decide how to deal with their father’s obsession (and concomitant alcoholism) and their mother’s depression (and concomitant alcoholism). Somewhere along the way, Jeanne decides she too is going to be a writer – and as different from her parents as possible – and her attempts to pave her own way in the literary world are full of their own flavors of bizarre-ity (yes, I made that word up) and adventure.

Fiction Ruined My Family is a poor little rich girl’s story about a poor little poor girl. It is full of tragedy largely unleavened by comedy. Despite all of the things Jeanne seemed to say she wanted to avoid, she spent much of her life spiraling into an amalgamation of her two parents. If ever there was a case to be made for the genetic components of alcoholism and depression, this is that case.

I struggled with every page I read. Darst’s writing style is fine, I just could not find any way to put myself in the shoes of 99% of the characters in the book, and that simply made it impossible for me to enjoy. Maybe that’s a product of my relatively privileged life or maybe it’s just a product of my taste in stories. Either way, I am sorry to say that this book did not deliver on what I expected.

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

A former corporate attorney and government relations/health policy executive, Jill-Elizabeth walked away from that world (well, skipped actually) and toward a more literary life (equally challenging, but infinitely more enjoyable). If you enjoyed this review, please visit her at Jill-Elizabeth.com, the official home of All Things Jill-Elizabeth – that is, all of the teehees, musings, rants, book reviews, writing exercises, and witticisms of her burgeoning writing career.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Riverhead. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: So Far Away by Christine W. Hartmann

[ 115 ] December 12, 2011

Please join Christine W. Hartmann, author of So Far Away, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours!

Reviewed by Sara Padilla

From the very beginning of So Far Away, - a poignant, highly detailed memoir – the reader is told that both Christine Hartmann’s mother and father play a critical role in her life, despite them having separated at a relatively early age in her childhood, and the father taking on full custody of the children, which was rather unusual for the time. The story focuses on the experience of Hartmann as a young adult after her mother informs her of her desire to end her life at the age 70, in order to avoid suffering any unfortunate consequences of old age. As a result, Hartmann spends countless hours arguing and convincing her mother to change her mind, and live out her life in a more ‘natural’ way.

While Hartmann confronts her mother, she is also tending to her father, who has experienced a series of strokes that quickly incapacitate him. To this reader, the greater tragedy was the unexpected deterioration of the writer’s father. An upbeat, astute gentleman and devoted father, the strokes cause severe memory loss and confusion as well as challenging physical problems. Eventually he requires 24-hour nursing care in a facility. His final years in a nursing home environment are not exactly unpleasant, but entirely unexpected. Hartmann has to cope with the loss of how the future may have unfolded, had her father’s medical condition been different. She grieves for both mother and father, before either of them passes away.

The combination of caregiver for her father and would-be conscious for her mother is stressful, and ultimately Hartmann has to come to terms with knowing that the only decisions for which she is responsible are her own.So Far Away is a powerful memoir of two very different end-of-life journeys that will speak to everyone who has been parented, and who has considered their personal wishes and hopes for their final years.

Rating: 4.5/5

Ms. Sara Padilla is a freelance writer and maintains a personal blog on family, health and wellness. She resides in the Pacific Northwest.

Giveaway:
I have 1 copy of So Far Away to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and include your e-mail address.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
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This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on December 31, 2011.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Vanderbilt University Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Conversations and Cosmopolitans by Jane & Robert Rave

[ 64 ] December 5, 2011

Please join Jane and Robert Rave, authors of Conversations and Cosmopolitans, as they tour the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours!

Reviewed by Jill Arent

What a fabulous title – and the subtitle: “Awkward moments, mixed drinks, and how a mother and son finally shared who they really are” is a more than an apt description.

Conversations and Cosmopolitans alternates between chapters written by son, Robert Rave, and answering remarks by his mother, Jane Rave. Robert’s chapters have pithy clever titles that sum up the angst of a newly out-and-proud gay man who left the quiet Midwestern life of his childhood to find himself a brand-spanking new adult life in New York City. Jane’s responses are all titled “Mama Says” and are a combination of her take on her son’s new life and of bits of homespun wisdom gleaned as she and her husband strove to support their son in said new life(style).

The book is at times touching, at times funny, and at times, a tish banal. Life is like that. I get it. It might be authentic, but it doesn’t always make for the most interesting reading.

I have empathy for Robert’s story. I have heard many a gay friend’s coming-out story, and they are always tear-jerkers. Jane’s stories of her interactions with neighbors and fellow Midwesterners were, all too often, shocking to someone with my sensibilities. Her tales of defending her son and his life made me angry, sad, and regretful in turn. At times, her wit and clever retorts made me laugh out loud or even cheer for her. But at others, her homespunnishness felt like I was reading the text of a public service announcement.

I’m not complaining about the messages, but about the delivery. I’m fine with the former, but the latter didn’t always make for the most compelling story-telling style.

Conversations and Cosmopolitans displays occasional flashes of brilliance, usually through Robert’s stories of life as a regular guy in the oft-glamorous (or at least glam-wannabe) world of NYC, but also occasionally through Jane’s startlingly unselfconscious examinations of her own life and her interactions with her son and his friends. These bursts don’t happen anywhere near often enough to my taste, but when they do, they are great fun.

Overall the book reads more like a self-help guide for the unsuspecting families of gay children than a memoir. That’s not my cup of tea (or martini glass of cosmo) but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a valid beverage choice. Or maybe I should say valid beverage genetic predisposition.

Rating: 3/5

Check out our review of Waxed by Robert Rave

A former corporate attorney and government relations/health policy executive, Jill-Elizabeth walked away from that world (well, skipped actually) and toward a more literary life (equally challenging, but infinitely more enjoyable). If you enjoyed this review, please visit her at Jill-Elizabeth.com, the official home of All Things Jill-Elizabeth – that is, all of the teehees, musings, rants, book reviews, writing exercises, and witticisms of her burgeoning writing career.

Giveaway:
I have 1 copy of Conversations and Cosmopolitans to give away!

Mandatory entry: Please comment here and include your e-mail address.

Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on December 20, 2011.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by St. Martin’s Griffin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Seeing Ezra by Kerry Cohen

[ 6 ] October 25, 2011

Reviewed by Poppy Johnson

Seeing Ezra by Kerry Cohen is a mother’s heartfelt story of getting to know her autistic son and advocating on his behalf. When a baby sitter tells Cohen that she suspects that her son is autistic, the family’s worst fears are realized. Cohen understands that her world and that of her entire family will change now that her son will be considered “different,” “delayed,” or “special” by others. However, she lives her life finding ways to connect genuinely with her son and is successful on many levels.

As Cohen enters the new world of having to raise a child with special needs, she realizes that her son will still develop, but simply at his own rate. He will enjoy and experience his own types of success and hopefully manage to one day make his own way in a world which may not fully understand him.

Along with the autism, Ezra refuses to eat, and does not respond to others in the home on a consistent basis. Ezra has a sibling (brother Griffin), but struggles to fit in. Cohen discusses their move to a new town and their attempts to arrange play dates for Ezra to try and get him engaged in the community. She realizes that Ezra’s world is a closed door with slivers of light escaping around the door frame. She cherishes the moments when he is able to share a real personal connection with her, but is never sure whether that connection has the same meaning for Ezra.

Cohen is an expert at laying her emotions bare for the reader to interpret any way they prefer. Well-meaning people come up to her in public all the time to tell her that her son is autistic or to give her advice on what to do about it. Seeing Ezra explains that nothing can be “done” about autism; it is an aspect of her son’s and her family’s life and they deal with it the best they can.

Although there are many children with autism around the world, each child is different and each parent’s concerns are different. The parents of autistic children never get a day’s peace or a moment’s rest. They worry if others will mistreat their child, or whether the child will ever be loved outside of the nuclear family unit.

I’d recommend Seeing Ezra to anyone with a special needs child and to anyone interested in learning about the life of a parent with an autistic spectrum child. The story is heartwarming and Cohen is a loving and caring mother who never gives up on her son or their family.

Rating: 5/5

After a decade of working in several NYC law departments and teaching, Poppy decided she enjoyed writing full-time. She currently works as a freelance writing consultant, and lives with her husband and sons on the East Coast.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Seal Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Emptying the Nest by Brad Sachs, Ph.D.

[ 5 ] October 8, 2011

Reviewed by Poppy Johnson

Brad Sachs, author of Emptying the Nest, is a psychologist, and he writes with authority on the topic of preparing young people to make their way out in the real world. Sachs makes the case that parents should never give up on their children. He stresses that the parents have not completed their job until the child moves successfully through adolescence to adulthood, to become an independent adult.

The advice offered in the book is appropriate, since parents have many “excuses” for the reasons that their children are not independent of the parent’s sphere of influence or control. There is a fine line between supporting a child and enabling the child, and Sachs goes into detail on where the lines should be drawn.

It is important for parents to read Emptying the Nest well before their children are planning to strike out on their own. There are many important skills that parents should teach to their children and young adults at various stages in their lives. Notably: worldliness, how to act in the workplace, hot to develop and build relationships, how to budget money, etc.

Parents are entrusted with teaching their children the art of separation, according to Sachs. He notes that children who have been encouraged to be self-reliant usually will thrive when pushed to make their way in the world. Other issues discussed in the book include: failure of the child to launch, the “rites” and wrongs of passage, and understanding how to communicate with young people at any age.

Emptying the Nest includes communication and discussion topic starters, answers and suggestions to how parents can open talks with their children on tough issues, and more. I would suggest that parents read the book when the children are entering high school, then they will be able to ensure that they are ready to move on after high school ends, and to be independent and successful in their own way. The book is easy to read, and will offer parenting tips for anyone interested in brushing up on their skills where young adults are concerned.

Rating: 4/5

After a decade of working in several NYC law departments and teaching, Poppy decided she enjoyed writing full-time. She currently works as a freelance writing consultant, and lives with her husband and sons on the East Coast.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Palgrave Macmillan. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Raising a Modern-Day Princess by Pam Farrel & Doreen Hanna

[ 3 ] October 8, 2011

Reviewed by Meg Massey

Raising a Modern-Day Princess is a guide from authors Pam Farrel and Doreen Hanna. This wonderful book describes how mothers, fathers, friends and mentors can instill godly strength, grace and integrity into the lives of their daughters and other young women in their churches and communities.

As a young woman who has no children (yet) I read this book from a very interesting perspective. I was raised in a loving home where my parents encouraged me to pursue my dreams, but there are so many young women out there who were not. So many do not know their worth; so many do not know the importance of inner beauty and strength.

Pam and Doreen emphasize the importance of the mother and father’s encouragement in a young girl’s life. The authors detail ways that parents can cultivate a stronger relationship with their young daughters. The authors also recognize the important role that mentors and other community members can play in these girls’ futures. For that reason, this book is a must-read for pastors, youth pastors, counselors, and anyone interested in making a difference in a young woman’s life.

I really enjoyed Raising a Modern-Day Princess. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” is so true. While I do believe that encouragement from the parents is probably the most important affirmation a young lady can receive, I personally have felt encouraged and uplifted by so many great women and men in my church and community. There are so many young ladies out there who need encouragement; perhaps they have absent or abusive parents. As the authors write, “One voice to confirm her value can make all the different in a girl’s life.” Pick up this book and be that one voice.

Rating: 5/5

Meg lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Ryan. Marketing professional by day, freelance writer by night, Meg writes about life, entertainment and everything in between on her blog.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Tyndale House Publishers. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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