A Summer Reading Respite

I recently had an opportunity to lie in bed and catch up on some long lost reading. I am always a bit surprised that I still know how to read considering the slow and consistent brain degeneration that has occurred since my children were born. Scanning food labels, calculating Weight Watcher points and reading Biscuit Goes to School with my kids seems to have prevented my gray matter from completely turning to mush.

When it became clear that the nasty kiddy germ inhabiting my body had no intention of leaving, I dropped my kids off at school and headed home with a plan: The next six hours were mine to crawl into bed and read some books. I was well equipped due to a recent trip to the bookstore where I miraculously did not buy any books that had to do with how to be a better parent, how to stay sane while being a better parent, or how not to kill people who try to tell you how to be a better parent. I bought novels, memoirs and even a book on history.

Even though this is my bi-annual opportunity to pretend to be a member of the Literati, I must warn you that my book taste tends to lean towards the paperback. Ever since I was a kid reading Last Tango in Paris by flashlight, I have had a thing for the soft cover book that easily slips into a purse or back pocket. Also, my tastes are not exactly current. What can I say? That’s life as a mother. I am rarely, if ever, caught up.

So I humbly present to you my Summer Reading picks, complete with location and menu suggestions.


Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

This was, for me, a perfect read. I got to travel. laugh and and love in this incredible memoir of one woman’s life after divorce. I recommend reading it with a nice bowl of Penne Arrabbiata and glass of Chianti whilst the kiddies are busy--at someone else’s house.


The Mermaid Chair

by Sue Monk Kidd
A great romance novel about a woman who feels lost and bored with her marriage. It’s perfect for those hot summer nights when your husband is getting on your nerves and the kids have wrung you dry. This could also be a good pool read, ripe for casting the main male character with the face of a hunky lifeguard.

On Becoming Fearless: ...in Love, Work, and Life

by Arriana Huffington
This one got me through my nasty kiddy germ and out of bed with a new skip in my step. Don’t miss the chapters on Love and Parenting. I had to read this book when my kids were asleep since some of the ideas require a certain amount of neurotransmitter activity and a large piece of chocolate.

The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine, Ph.D.
This is a hard cover ‘better parenting’ book that is worth reading, even if we aren’t from wealthy Marin County like the author. Creating emotional health in our kids, according to Dr. Levine, has become a problem due to our anxieties and need to interfere. Don’t miss Chapter Nine where she addresses the isolation of mothers and its affect on our kids. This needs to be read with a strong cup of coffee and chocolate biscotti.

And sitting on my bedside stand waiting to be read:


The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Mealsby Michael Pollan
Nora Ephron, the author of this year’s funniest book, I Feel Bad About My Neck, highly recommends Pollan and his book about the origin of food.


The Secrets of a Fire King: Storiesby Kim Edwards
I am so excited to read the short story collection from the author of Memory Keeper’s Daughter, one of my favorite books about motherhood.

I have also been reading
Hannah Keeley's Total Mom Makeover: The Six-Week Plan to Completely Transform Your Home, Health, Family, and Life by Hannah Keeley.  While I like some of her ideas, I can’t find a chapter that encourages me to neglect the dishes, laundry and my appearance so that I can curl up and read books, an important element missing from my current motherhood equation.

The philosopher Schopenhauer once said, “Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own.” I don’t know about you, but that’s something I could use on a daily basis.