Rating: 
Summary: It's just a story, for goodness sake!
Review: Enjoyable from start to finish.Why are so many reviewers in an uproar? It's just a novel, not a manifesto on the working woman. Incidentally, there is no "muffia" - women who are at home full-time with their kids don't begrudge or feel superior to women who work.
Rating: 
Summary: I Don't Care How She Does It
Review: She's got a job 99.9% of the planet would kill for, enough time in her busy schedule to massively e-mail flirt and still look like she's working, she's married and her family is healthy, and the main trouble is, she's TIRED? Imagine switching the gender of the protagonist. Is a married man shooting off flirty e-mails to another woman cute/romantic/poignant/funny? What if he complained about every corner of his well-appointed life, sniping friends, colleagues and rivals along the way? Wouldn't it all fall under the category of, well, WHINING? Oh never mind. I Don't Care What She's Saying is a book that preaches to the converted, so, here goes: Not since that poor guy running for his life in The Killing Fields has anyone had it so hard...
Rating: 
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure
Review: As a working mom logging in over 2,000 billable hours a year outside the home -- I couldn't put the book down. Obviously this book "spoke" to me on a very personal level. It was such a guilty pleasure to read -- when, like Kate, I had Holdiay cards to send, cookies to bake for the school Christmas party and matters of the family to attend to all after coming home from work at 10 pm. But, I'm not sure I would "get" this book or enjoy it much if I hadn't already walked a mile in Kate Reddy's shoes. Of course this book is over the top -- doesn't it have to be to be entertaining? Even I found myself saying "I don't know how she does it." But there are many thoughts in the book that are right-on and thought provoking. Take for example Kate Reddy's observation that fathers that leave work early or schedule business around their family commitments are lauded as "involved fathers" when mothers doing the same are suspected of not being committed to their work or are seen as unreliable or unaccessible. Whether you are a mom working full-time outside the home or not, this and many other insights in the book highlight interesting social issues. I would be interested to know whether this book appeals to stay-at-home moms. I suspect not based on the fact that many of my own stay-at-home friends have little interest in what my life is like and often think that a mother who works full-time outside the home is akin to a mother who eats her young. As for mothers working full-time outside the home, this book is sure to be a winner and a welcomed comic relief. As for myself, I plan to give this book to my mother for Christmas to help her understand the dilemmas of being a professional and a mother of young children and the difficulty of "having it all".
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, I don't know why I read it
Review: The book caught my attention with the early scene of Kate "distressing" a mince pie to make it look as if she made it. I have done something similar with chili in the not too distant past. (HINT: 10 cans of Hormel + 1 chopped onion + 1 chopped jalepeno (sp) pepper = 1 well received "homemade" potluck contribution). Unfortunately, I found myself wanting to shake her out of her competitive, self-absorbed circus. The book dragged a bit in the last third and the ending was a major disappointment as well. Yet, as a working mom, there were some scenes that were classic. I laughed til I cried when her daughter drew a picture of her with "a lovely hat" that turned out to be roots. The description of the "Muffia" unfortunately rang true - although it seemed to me that the "Muffia" were merely stay-at-home Kates who were just competing in a different realm. I guess my disappointment is due to the fact that I was hoping for someone a bit more of a kindred spirit and less of a person I hope that I am never like.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: I Don't Know How She Does It is a compelling and poignant novel about Kate Reddy, a working mother who struggles to balance her professional and domestic responsibilities. Kate loves her husband and two children, but she also has a demanding career as a fund manager for a large trading firm. Luckily, she has the benefit of a very caring husband by her side. Unfortunately, he has felt neglected and his patience is running out. Is taking the traditional role of housewife and quitting her high-maintenance job the politically correct thing to do? The feminist references aren't lost on me, and Pearson addresses said issues brilliantly. This book ought to be devoured from cover to cover. Buy this book for every woman you know. This is the sort of book that everyone could relate to...
Rating:
Summary: Bridget Jones Grows Up
Review: I can already imagine the movie version of I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT. Renee Zellwiger will be perfectly cast in the lead role. This book is funny, brilliant, exciting, and enjoyable. You have to like Kate Reddy and you have to laugh and commiserate with her as she faces all the problems of a talented executive as well as those of a wife and mother who is losing it fast. Even though this is the story of a working mom (mum), you will like this even if you aren't. My days of small children are long gone, but I still enjoyed this tremendously. There's nothing particularly deep about this book. It's just good entertainment. If you have a few days off, a long week-end at the beach, or just want something to fill the time between important matters, pick this one up. It's quick and easy and will keep your interest.
Rating:
Summary: Just an OK book - not very realistic
Review: Kate Reddy is not your typical working mother. She has a glamorous job (she admits she may go abroad three times a month) and has a minicab to pick her up to work instead of taking the Underground. She doesn't get treated as well as she likes, but she is very successful and well respected by most at her work place. She has a full time, live in nanny and enough money to hire whatever needs to be done. Because she is so lucky, I found her whining to be a lttle unrealistic and the sporadic illustrations of the difficult time women have in the of world of work to be a little sanctimonious. I was also disappointed to see her reject the man's world. I fully expected Kate to end up running her firm instead of leaving it because a woman with a family could never truly succeed in the environment. Nevertheless, this was a fun book to read, if only for the use of British terms.
Rating: 
Summary: Another reader from Scottsdale, AZ
Review: Can someone believe that this woman who earns enough to support her father's debits, pay even riding lessons for her nanny, armani suits, cannot simply ask her Oh so precious nanny to homebake pies for the school or even contract a baker to do it? How about her husband, why don't he bake thoses pies? Is he a dad or is he dead? The daughter is his also. As for me, living in AZ, USA, all the schools that my kids attended simply PROHIBIT any home baking goods, can only bring store bought ones (Serious! ), I couldn't be more happy. I give 3 stars because that issue about her mother-in-law asking why her son is thinner/tired etc rings true. I don't know why this PTA issue is so famous to be written, I have kids at school, PTA meeting occur only 2 in half an year, Christmas program, only once an year, it is not that much to busy a working mother like that, by the way, Mrs. Reddy could even pay well her "poor"mother to care for the kids. I think her story is so exaggerated, she earns well to wear Armani,rides taxi everyday, could even have a Fleet of nannies to do it all for her.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I laughed so hard my co-workers suspected I was not working!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! But a Lightning-Rod Topic.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the life and times of Kate Reddy. I could relate to the "Must Remember" lists at the end of every chapter (what mom or even woman among us doesn't have a running dialogue with herself about all the things there are to do these days?). Only I must say, my lists are longer! ;) This book will no doubt be a lightning rod for mothers of various types...but it underscores the need for dialogue about the situation of moms today...the dilemma of whether to work or not work; the fear that staying home with your kids will lead to a loss of "self"; the fear that not staying home with your kids will lead to judgment and problems with your children. Still, I think if readers just go along for the ride and try not to take it too seriously, they will enjoy the book. Pearson is a witty author and I enjoyed Kate's brisk e-mail exchanges with her friends, and with her e-mail paramour. Of course, moms who work outside the home will relate the most -- the need to fake a homemade goodie for the kids' school party; the time-crunches, the guilt, guilt, guilt. I found much about Kate's world to ring true for family's trying to get by today...the worrying about schools, working out two working spouses' schedules, relationship issues, and the time crunch, most of all. A fun read on an important topic. - Julia Wilkinson, ...
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