Rating: 
Summary: I don't know how she does it...so badly
Review: Allison Pearson can create snippets of dialog and churn out emails so hilarious that you'll wish she sat in the next cubicle so that you could swap caustic observations about your male co-workers. She can simulate a heartrending virtual romance and share poignant excerpts from a dead friend's manual entitled "Your Family: How it Woks!" But by the end of Part I (for no discernible reason-perhaps to give the reader a feeling of progress?-the book is divided into four parts) the relentless recitation of working mom anecdotes and foibles begins to wear on the reader. The lazy but beloved (by the children) babysitter, the suffering but accommodating husband, the annoying and demanding children, the slimy male co-workers, the spirited friend, the inexplicably wise driver and the other caricatures that populate Kate's existence serve only as foils to Kate's predictable behavior. We are treated to page after page of Kate feeling guilty about escaping from her kids, canceling lunch dates with her friends, and ignoring her husband. We can anticipate the outcome of every amusing episode: we know Kate will walk out on a sick child so as not to miss a flight, forget a critical bit of home repair, invent lame excuses when she's late to a meeting, then fail to come up with a succinct putdown when a co-worker insults her. Before very long, I began wondering how she managed to do so little, and do it so badly. Her inattention to her kids, exaggerated for comic effect, seemed sad and reprehensible rather than amusing. Though I am quite familiar with the subject matter of the book, I have only met one woman who is as callous about her kids as Kate (and I didn't have a whole lot of respect for her). And I couldn't understand why Kate bothered to do what she did. She mentioned owning a few cashmere sweaters, but it wasn't clear that she or her family received many benefits, material or otherwise, from her career. My enjoyment of the book was also sullied by the author's insistence on harping on that old working-mom-vs-stay-at-home stereotype. Maybe life is different in London-maybe they don't have stay-at-home dads, or at-home moms who have meaningful albeit unpaid work, or employed moms who don't sacrifice their kids' wellbeing-but I quickly tired of the descriptions of the mom vs mom wars. Heading into Part IV, I started wondering how Pearson would pull it all together. Suddenly, she introduces a few new characters (the old mum, the loser sister) and an intriguing plot twist. To get revenge on a particularly sleazy male co-worker, Kate assembles a crack team of moms and concocts an elaborate ploy. The book suddenly holds new promise, but by then we're in the home stretch. The plot twist fizzles into nothingness, ditto the virtual romance, Kate abruptly quits her job, reunites with her incredibly accommodating husband, and moves back to be near mum. A disappointing conclusion to a rather thin book. Pearson is a terrific writer, droll, with a great sense of comic timing. I look forward to reading her next book-hoping that she'll eschew the cheap tricks in favor of great characters and a stronger plot.
Rating:
Summary: Funny but disappointed with the ending
Review: Loved some of the one liners but ultimately felt betrayed with the ending (which I wont give away!) She definitely captures the chaos of trying to do it all and the strain of young kids on a marriage. Some of the relationships with co-workers (especially when hatching their scheme) in the book are a stretch also. Good for some laughs but wait until it is available in paperback to save some $$.
Rating: 
Summary: IT'S MY BIOGRAPHY!!
Review: If I could have given this book even MORE stars, I certainly would have....this book is, without a doubt, my life(with one less kid). Kate Reddy is superwoman, who tries to do it all--wife, mother, careerwoman.....and manages to do OK--with a little cheating ("distressing" a mince pie to give it that homemade appearance,) and a few minor setbacks (taking her daughter's urine sample on a business trip rather than her organizer). With the help of her imperfect architect husband, Kate manages to stay afloat for a while---until she realizes that she cannot be all things to all people, and has to make a choice...and what a choice it is! This book is pure fun...readers will laugh aloud as they wonder if the author has been peering through the windows of their own lives. I recommend this book to working and nonworking mothers, working and nonworking fathers, and just folks everywhere. You'll have a renewed appreciation for the most important role of all--motherhood.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out Loud Fun to read
Review: This book actually made me laugh out loud! I can't remember the last time a book made me do that. Even if you don't have children, like me, you'll love this book. I was hoping the author had written more books. Love her style.
Rating:
Summary: working mom to the extreme
Review: While waiting for a train into Manhattan on a school snow day, trying to arrange rides for the kids with my cell phone, a fellow commuter turned around and recommended that I read this book. I laughed through the entire book, and bought copies for my friends. Pearson's Kate Reddy is the working mother to the extreme. I felt like I was reading about myself, only 1,000 times exaggerated. The amazing thing is - busy as I am, I still was able to find time to read this book in a fairly short time (less than 1 week). For every mishap Kate found herself in, I found myself relating to her, whether or not I experienced it. Definitely a worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: Lull Me In, then Slap Me in the Face
Review: As a working mom and mother of one, and another on the way, I was so looking forward to what promised to be a well-written, sardonic, biting look at the challenges of the modern-day working mom. I loved the first half, thought Kate Reddy was going to evolve into the working-mom's hero! Her writing was, in an over-the-top sort of way, dead-on to what many of us go through on a daily basis. But I kept waiting for the ending when she would march into her boss' office and demand that her job would have to be more flexible in order to accommodate her family life -- and instead we got total capitulation! I was crushed. As a securities analyst, in a pretty fast-paced and high profile job, I do believe we have to push our value to our companies and make them bend to accommodate. It's not easy, but many moms do have to work (or want to, or both!) and this book sends the same old "bad working mommy" message. I thought it would support the working mom, give us a laugh and tell us we're not alone in our challenges -- but instead what i heard in the end was the same old crap that you can't 'have it all'. That we should give up that working nonsense and get back in the kitchen where we belong! Or that if we are going to work, then work from home in a female-oriented line of work, etc. A total bummer for working women who were looking for a story and a heroine that they could relate to...
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud funny !
Review: I read this book afer a recommendation and I have to admit, I laughed out loud many times ! Kate Reddy has it all, a husband, 2 children, a full-time job and just not enough hours in her day ! Sound familiar ?? Well, sit back and laugh, cry and relate to this busy, over stressed woman going through her daily routine ! I loved her "to-do lists" at the end of each chapter. Well written, this British woman makes you understand the constant pulls on her time, dealing with a male-dominated workforce and the local "Muffia" (those fulltime stay at home moms who can simultaneously make homemade pies while handmaking clothes.....you know the type !) A must read for all us working mothers.....if anything to show us we aren't alone ! You'll soon be saying "I don't know how she does it !"
Rating:
Summary: I Don't Know How She Does It.. Nor Do I Care!
Review: Meet Kate Reddy.. or don't. I picked up and put down this book at the bookstore at least five times, debating whether or not I wanted to read it, and pay a so much for it. I kept telling myself that I would be perfectly content picking up the book at the local library in a couple months. I was especially conflicted because I'd read varying reviews for this novel on Amazon-- some were glowing, whereas others weren't all that spectacular. But, I figured, most of those awful reviews were from working mothers themselves. I don't work (unless school studies count), nor am I a mother, so I figured that I would agree with the majority of the reviews and love the book. I really wish I had put it down and walked out without buying it. Kate Reddy is a mother who works twenty-five hours a day, and then some. She knows her children miss her, she knows they don't see her, she's aware that she doesn't know anything that she, as a mother, should know. I think that Allison Pearson was trying to convey sympathy for her obnoxious character, but she failed miserably. How could you possibly feel sympathetic when Kate hides in the bathroom so she won't have to see her eighteen-month old son? When she uses work to escape from her two young children? When her husband, so obviously loving, is snubbed and she's constantly snapping at him? Even when he leaves her, I felt nothing but happiness for Richard for finally getting away from the Monster; after all, how could I possibly feel for Kate when she wanted to have an affair with someone else? Allison Pearson throws in symbolism left and right (maybe I've spent too many years in English class analyzing literature and symbolism). It's as if she wants to prove to the world that she is a Real Writer by tossing in shoddy symbolic work. Another thing that really annoyed me about this book, other than Kate's irritating behavior, is that in several places, the phrase, "Kate, I don't know how you do it!" pops up. PLEASE. There's nothing magnificent about Kate. She's not a good mother (she even went as far as to smoke [a non-tobacco substance] with her cabdriver!). All she does is work, work, work. So she remembers her children's birthdays, but what common mother doesn't? So she throws them spectacular birthday bashes and tries to get the icing on the bakery-bought cake just the right shade. She's just trying to bribe her children to love her, to try to make up for lost time by being the "Perfect Mother" for one day. So she spends hours calling a toy company to see if they have a stuffed kangaroo. All to make her son shut up, actually. So she buys them everything they want for Christmas. More bribery instead of real love. It doesn't make her a good mother to do those things, nor does it make her commendable. A commendable mother would be my own. She's a hard working mother with three daughters in their teenage years, and finds time to do the laundry, cook meals, prepare breakfasts, and always, ALWAYS has time for her children no matter what she wants to do instead. If you need to talk, she's there. She's the shoulder to cry on, the rock, the backbone of the family. Tell me, isn't that a better mother?
Rating:
Summary: Funny, sad and oh so-o-o true!
Review: Allison Pearson hit a home run with this novel! Every working mother with a husband and children will find something to like about this book. I could definitely relate. I found myself laughing hysterically in some places and wanting to cry in others. I felt Kate's inner turmoil as she struggled to turn it on at work, then turn it off to become a totally different person at home. That was powerful to read. Even more powerful and touching were the times that the main character was unable to turn it off and on at will. It's a well written book that demonstrates the complexity of the lives of professional working women today trying to have it all and do it all. It also brings into question whether having it all is really worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A Hillarious Must-Read
Review: I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT is a hillarious, must-read book for women of all ages, married or single. I related to all of it, even though I'm single. And I felt like I was listening to my married friends sharing their stories of juggling the kids and work and shouldering the burdens of domestic responsibilities while their significant others sail through life without a clue! The office dynamics between men and women in the workplace are so on targeet too! If Allison Pearson wasn't so funny, you might cry at the inequities Kate Reddy suffers both at home and in the workplace because they are all too real. I'm keeping this review short and sweet since I read the book in 3 days 3 months ago. Suffice it to say that if you liked Bridget Jones Diary (and how could you not?), or The Nanny Diaries, you will love this book. Your health will improve too, and general state of mind because you can't help reading it without laughing out loud.
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