TBR
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6-7-03 Promised to SavannahBlue.
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6-19-03
I picked this up at the thrift store because a lot of bookcrossers have it on their wishlist and I thought I might like to read it. But I couldn't really get into it so I'm passing it on. I don't know if it's just that I'm not in the mood for this type of book or if it's just not my cup of tea. But whatever the case I hope SavannahBlue enjoys it.

Release planned for Monday, June 30, 2003 at Postal Release in USPS, postal release USA.

Releasing via mail in trade for "Mangoes, Bananas and ........ Thanks for the trade SavannahBlue!

rec'd this in the mail yesterday from betsy-STL - thanks for trading! (and sending something from my wishlist!)

well, i'm afraid i have to echo betsy-stl - i just couldn't get going on this one. i'm not sure why - the writing is well done, i can completely relate to the subject matter. . .some of what i read made me laugh out loud. too many books calling from Mt. TBR, maybe.

soo - i'm sending it out on a bookray. international, and it is a hardback. pm me to join!

If you've just rec'd the book, please check the list below and PM the next person for their address so you'll be ready to ship when you finish reading. Please be considerate of those who follow you, and read/ship ASAP!

shellyann - CA
kristamd - MD
tania-in-nc - NC
kernow8 - VA
bookaddict22 - MO
kymberlie - TX
ddragongrl - TX
letra - portugal ~ rec'd, 12/04
PinkElf - romania
. . .and you???

just PM me if you'd like to join. must be willing to ship internationally.

july 2006 update: bookray has finished. landed most recently in scotland (my family homeland!) and will go wherever the wind blows from there. thanks, all!

Release planned for Wednesday, November 12, 2003 at postal release to fellow bookcrosser in Portland, Oregon USA.

sending off to shellyann, the first step in the bookray - hope you enjoy it!

came today-I'll get it read and out again very soon.

*12/29/03-I have been so busy that I haven't been able to read it. I just ordered a copy from amazon and I will be mailing this to kristamd as soon as I get her address.

The book arrived in Maryland safely! Thanks to all who sent it on its journey. Adorable bookmark! I was the kid of a working mom and never knew "how she did it" all - balancing career, home, family, her own interests - it was a constant juggling act. This book sounded so intriguing from its description. Let's hope I have better luck getting into it than some of the other readers.

About 20 pages into reading, I wanted to say, "okay, I get it, balancing work and motherhood is tough." The feeling that I was reading the same thoughts again and again intensified as I read on, then subsided a bit as the plot became more interesting.

On the positive side, the book features a likeable narrator and some funny scenarios. However, it could have benefited from some heavy-handed editing -- fewer vomit stories, less sleep-deprived ranting and raving. An overly tidy ending also eclipses some of the good points of the book.

The book is told in a Bridget Jones diary style, which makes one wonder: how does the intrepid Kate have time to write down her thoughts? And how will anyone in a similar situation ever have time to read them?

I'll be mailing the book along to the next ray participant soon.

I have almost finished my current read Pick Up Sticks by Emma Lathen. Hopefully I can start this over the weekend. Thanks for sharing this book with me.

update Feb 3rd, 2004 -- This book looks as though it's going to be a page-turner for me. Shall report back tomorrow.

I'm going to do something a little different here - make a daily entry. My sig file on my email has a passage from my current read. This changes daily, usually first thing in the morning. I thought it would be nice for you to see these quotes, too.

Why these particular passages? I look at the spot where I stopped when we turned out the light, hubby reads too, and see if anything is worthwhile sharing. Sometimes it's cliche but when it is, I often suspend my preconceptions and look at it as if seeing it for the first time. Often the imagery is sharp. Anyhow enough babbling. …

Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 --
Tuesday, 4:48 A.M. There is a scream from Ben’s room. A Hammer Horror scream. Third time tonight – or is it fourth? Teething again. And we’re already over the legal Calpol limit. Will probably be exposed in ‘News of the World’ as Monster Mum Who Doped Tot for Kip. They’re right to call it a broken night – cracked and unmendable. You crawl back to bed and you lie there trying to do the jigsaw of sleep with half the pieces missing. Perhaps he’ll go back by himself. Please let him go back. It’s already around now, when the dark is silvery with the first inkling of light, that you start cutting desperate deals with God. “Oh, God, if you’ll just let him go back to sleep, I’ll…”
I’ll what? I’ll be a better mother. I’ll never complain again. I’ll savor every grain of sleep I get from now on until my dying day. p73
[comment: as a mother of two young'uns I can totally relate!]

Thursday, February 5th, 2004 --
In fact, Jack and I are in trouble. Like returning astronauts, we are struggling to make the switch from the weightless world of e-mail, where you can say what you like and mean it or not mean it, to the real world where words, being earthed by gestures, by arms and lips and eyes, have their own specific gravity. p155

Friday, February 6th, 2004 --
Men make lists to order the world, to tie it down; for women, lists are the start of something, the coordinates by which we plot our journey to freedom. Don't get me wrong here: I'm not claiming any of this is fair. p236
[comment: I love making lists ... couldn't live without them]

Saturday, February 7th, 2004 --
How can I tell my sister that money has improved my life, but it hasn't deepened it or eased it? "Oh, you spend most of your money trying to buy yourself time to make money to pay for all the things you think you need because you've got money." p291

I'm not sure that this is a realistic portrayal of the working Mum. It seemed to be over-dramatized. But I may be wrong. Thanks for letting me have a read of the book. Will pass it along this week.

sent it media mail 2/10

Arrived in today's mail - thanks!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, not least because of all the British geography and culture in it which appealed to the homesick side of me! Also, because I am coming up to the end of my 5 year career break and planning to go back to work (and find some sort of childcare for my 3 and 5 year old daughters) in September - there was a lot of food for thought for me inside this book! My job is in a male dominated profession (a chemical engineer in an oil refinery - my last position was as supervisor to 25 operators, all of them male) so I could see parallels between Kate Reddy's existence and the one that I can expect later this year. I'll be thinking about this book for quite some time. Thanks savannahblue!

Mailed to bookaddict22 today.

I received this in the mail yesterday and promise to read it soon. I have two other bookrings ahead of it right now and I'm almost finished with the first. Thanks SavannahBlue for sharing this bookring!

I thought this was a cute book... sometimes not terribly realistic, but other times definitely the life of a working mom. I'll be sending on to Kymberlie today- April 26th.

Thanks again savannahblue for sharing this bookring!

Received this week. Going to read it as soon as I can so I can move it forward. Thanks!

When we first meet Kate Reddy, she’s in her kitchen at 1:37 a.m. distressing mince pies for her daughter’s Christmas party at school so that they will look homemade. Kate is a hedge-fund manager, one of the best in her office. She’s also the mother of two children, Emily and Ben, whom she hardly ever gets to see. She has a lovely husband, Richard, whom she also never sees.

Her days are measured by seconds and each one of them is used in the most efficient manner possible. She tries to be the best mother, wife, and employee, but things are starting to give.

I really enjoyed Allison Pearson’s novel for many reasons. First of all, I liked Kate. I wanted her to be happy and spend some time on herself and have a peaceful life. Secondly, Pearson’s writing style was just beautiful. It walked the line between funny and poignant while making us really care about Kate and her family. While I’m not a mother, I still sympathized with Kate and would highly recommend this one, especially to all the working mothers out there.

I'll be sending this on as soon as I get an address.

It's been with me for a few weeks - sorry for not making a journal entry as soon as I got it!

I've just finished the book I was reading and I'll be starting this one really soon. I can't wait to know how she does it...

I've finnally finished reading this (sorry everybody for the delay). I found the book amusing at some points but very disappointing. Kate Reddy doesn't do it at all - she's the kind of mother who will spend more time looking for the perfect cake for her one year old child's birthday party than actually playing with her children. Being a working mother myself I didn't feel the least sympathetic towards her...

I'll waiting for PinkElf's address and mail the book as soon as I have it. Thanks for sharing :)

letra passed it along to me this morning... i'll read it soon.

although the book is not badly written at all, i can't help thinking that literary style is totaly beyond the point here - this is a one issue book: good mothers stay at home and look after their kids (hubbie included, apparently) and bad mothers go back to work. such dichotomies are non-sense in any field, and applied to motherhood just make me want to scream. the only pleace for a mother/woman is where she feels happy - and the time spent at home is not in direct proportion to the kids' happiness (especially if you stick them in front of the telly all the time), unless you're a conservative gender-biased control freak - which is ok by me, as long as you don't try to preach me out of my beliefs.
gender stereotyping aside (and how soon can that begin in one's life?...), work doesn't necessarily mean slavery, and if most workplaces are indeed male dominated, women like kate just make it worse.
as single mother who actually gave up working on a 9 to 5 basis and is struggling with the need to balance my right to self fulfillment (which truly includes but doesn't stop at my daughter's gorgeous smile), financial needs and trying my best to raise a happy child who has the right to have a happy mother to play with, i could go on forever...

if i don't get any other suggestions, i'll browse cliff1976's site for someone who has this book on her (not likley that there is a he, is it?...) wish list and will send it as a RABCK.

thanks everybody.

got it today in the post

I thought it was a good story.

Its a hardback book.

Wow! This is a surprise....I did not expect to receive this and here it is! Thank you Lovesbooks for sending it to India. I look forward to reading it soon.

After years of hiding at the back of my shelf, this book finally flies free and hopefully finds another reader to delight. Hope it gets journaled! Safe travels 😊