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June 29
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Jennifer
gave  to:
The Hunger Games (Hardcover)
by
Suzanne Collins
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my rating:
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Jennifer said:
"A complete page-turner. I couldn't put it down. I literally stayed up too late reading it, stayed in bed too late reading it, read it in the parking lot before work, and finished it during my lunch break.
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Jennifer
read and liked
Trudy's
review of It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita:
"The description of the birth is the most disturbing, horrific thing I have ever read. I am getting married in a few weeks, and you know, think about babies and stuff. This is knocking it right out of me.
The style of writing does not differ subs...more
The description of the birth is the most disturbing, horrific thing I have ever read. I am getting married in a few weeks, and you know, think about babies and stuff. This is knocking it right out of me.
The style of writing does not differ substantially from the blog, and I don't remember since I originally read the entries so long ago, but the text is directly adapted from the blog entries, with a lot of similar anecdotes. So, if you are a long-time dooce reader, this will be familiar.
However, even knowing the whole story, I found this book emotionally powerful. It's not often people are so open about mental illness or the nasty bits of childbirth, and reading about them without delicate language, I was both upset and grateful. And yeah, other narrators of mental illness, such as Elizabeth Wurtzel, are kinda hard to identify with in that they are selfish jerks. Heather recognizes what in her is awful and diseased, and what is good, and presents herself that way, to the point where you are totally on her side, except for the part where she feeds her baby twizzlers.(less)
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Jennifer
read and liked
Aurora's
review of It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita:
"A couple chapters in, I had already decided that this was just another one of those "I'm going to write a kooky offbeat book about being a first-time mom" things. But once I got past the pregnancy chapters (she was sick all the time, it was...more
A couple chapters in, I had already decided that this was just another one of those "I'm going to write a kooky offbeat book about being a first-time mom" things. But once I got past the pregnancy chapters (she was sick all the time, it was horrible, okay, okay) and baby Leta entered the picture, I decided to stick with Armstrong and see how she did. In between the chapters about breastfeeding trials, the torture that is a screaming infant, and the (predictable) geez-being-a-mom-is-HARD stuff, what makes Armstrong's book stand out from other recent, irreverent takes on motherhood are the beautiful, honest love letters she writes to her daughter with the passing of each month. Even better, Armstrong writes just as honestly about her bout with postpartum depression and the very difficult decisions she had to make in order to keep herself and her family together. I know others have written honestly about postpartum depression (Brooke Shields had a book out a few years back), so I'm curious to read that one now and see if she even approaches the level of intimacy that Armstrong gives the reader - down to the exact prescriptions that literally saved her life. (less)
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Jennifer
read and liked
Ashley's
review of It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita:
"I borrowed this book from Casey because I had recently gotten hooked onto Heather Armstrong's blog (Dooce.com) via friends who had been reading it for a while. Heather is witty, brutally honest, and so human in her writing. I love that she is able to...more
I borrowed this book from Casey because I had recently gotten hooked onto Heather Armstrong's blog (Dooce.com) via friends who had been reading it for a while. Heather is witty, brutally honest, and so human in her writing. I love that she is able to take something like pregnancy, labor & deliver, and having an infant and be more honest and raw about it than anyone out there has ever been, but have it still be thoughtful and carry a message. Sometimes the things she says in the book and her blog honestly scare the living shit out of me regarding parenthood, but dear God I'm glad she does because I think the world is really devoid of honest, straighforward accounts of this part of a woman's life and it is incredibly refreshing and empowering to see someone who I identify with be honest about her struggles with life, depression and anxiety, and having it all work out okay. If you want to laugh out loud and get a real, honest picture of what new motherhood is like, you need to read this book. And then read her blog!(less)
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Jennifer
gave  to:
It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita (Hardcover)
by
Heather B. Armstrong
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my rating:
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Jennifer said:
"There is no doubt Armstrong is a good writer, but as others have pointed out, most of this book is recycled material. It's convenient to have it pulled together into book format, but as a regular reader of her blog, I kept thinking to myself, especi...more
There is no doubt Armstrong is a good writer, but as others have pointed out, most of this book is recycled material. It's convenient to have it pulled together into book format, but as a regular reader of her blog, I kept thinking to myself, especially in the second half of the book, - I've read this before or - I remember that. (less)
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June 27
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Jennifer
gave to:
Beginner's Greek : A Novel (Hardcover)
by
James Collins
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my rating:
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June 24
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Jennifer
gave to:
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (Hardcover)
by
Jennifer Block
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my rating:
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June 19
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Jennifer
gave to:
Certain Girls (Hardcover)
by
Jennifer Weiner (Goodreads author)
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my rating:
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June 14
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Jennifer
gave to:
Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office (Paperback)
by
Jen Lancaster
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my rating:
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June 08
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Jennifer
gave  to:
A Wild Affair: A Novel (Paperback)
by
Gemma Townley
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my rating:
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