On a recent vacation I got caught up on all my magazines and read two novels:  New England White by Stephen L. Carter and The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho. Paulo Coelho’s book was a short read; I skipped the new-agey forward and got to the heart of the book, the question of good and evil.  It was an interesting read and would be good for discussion.  I really enjoyed New England White as I did Carter’s previous book, The Emperor of Ocean Park, and I have The Palace Council waiting in the wings.  I love a good mystery and his books don’t disappoint, but why-oh-why do they have to be so long?  And big–I think they caused my luggage to be over the weight limit.

This summer my kids and I have been using the ice cream maker that we got for Christmas.  To expand our ice cream knowledge base and increase our repertoire, we went to Barnes & Noble sat down in the cafe with all the books that they had about ice cream.  We finally settled on The Ice Cream Bible by Marilyn Linton & Tanya Linton.  This book has nice photos, tons of recipes and easy to follow directions.  We have made several batches of great ice cream and have all but eliminated our trips to Ben & Jerry’s; our ice cream is that good.

I have been a mother for some years now and as such I have gone through several stages of motherhood.   I find it to be a very complex role: calming, yet physically demanding, intellectually stimulating, yet mind-numbing, and emotionally fulfilling, yet heart-wrenching.  As a result, I have grown and learned so much about myself.  I believe that this is the inner-life of most mothers, so I am fascinated with books that deal with the complexities of motherhood.

Jump at the Sun by Kim Mclarin, The 10 Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer and Anything for Jane by Cheryl Mendelson are all fictional books that are not only great reads, but thought-provoking in their particular commentary about motherhood, children and domestic life.

To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife by Caitlin Flanagain and The Empty Nest: 31 Parents Tell the Truth About Relationships, Love, and Freedom After the Kids Fly the Coop by Karen Stabiner are both non-fiction books.  I really enjoyed The Empty Nest because while I haven’t yet experienced this aspect of motherhood, I am starting to see how this motherhood gig is not just for 18 some years, but forever.  It was fascinating to read how even when the kids are gone, their absence (or, God-forbid, their re-appearance) frames how we spend the rest of our lives.

So, now you have several reasons to get off the computer and read a good book:

Go.  Make Easy Reader proud.