Rating: 
Summary: mixed feelings ...
Review: Although I was totally engrossed in this novel, and thought that Kate was a very real and often sympathetic character, I ended up with very mixed feelings about this book. I am a mother who has temporarily given up a career I loved to stay at home with my kids. This wasn't an easy decision for me, and I would never criticize those who made a different decision (or who have no choice in the matter). I was shocked at the venomous comments about stay-at-home mothers from Kate and from other reviewers of this book. While I am sure that there are some stay-at-home mothers who take pleasure in making working mothers feel bad (they are probably the ones who are at-home because they feel like they should be, rather than because they want to be, and are miserable themselves), I believe that most of us have alot of sympathy for the sacrifices and trade-offs that working mothers are forced to make. And, frankly, most of us are too busy getting through our own days to worry about what others are doing. The descriptions of stay-at-home moms as spending all of their time at the gym, having manicures, writing notes for playdates, was just ludicrous. I have two toddlers and I feel incredibly lucky when I have the time to shower in the morning or get out for an hour by myself to go shopping. Being a stay-at-home mother isn't easy, neither is being a working mom, and I find it incredibly sad when we have to insult each other in order to feel better about our own choices.
Rating: 
Summary: exhausting but good
Review: An exhausting but very good read. As a single childless woman it made me simultaneously want/never want children and want/never want to get married!! As confused as I felt about those issues, the book did help me realize I never want the kind of life Kate has...no matter what choices I make in the future.As far as the writing style, it's breezy and laugh out loud funny, and although it's a long book you can finish it in a few days. You can really picture Kate and her family/coworkers/etc. and you want to know what happens to them even after the book ends...Kate is really fleshed out as a three-dimensional character. You are equally sympathetic and frustrated with her, much like friends in real life! But more than being a critique on the never-ending "can you have it all?" debate, I think this book serves as a testament to how materialistic and competitive so much of our society has become. Gone are the simple pleasures like dinner with a family or a good book. Everything in Kate's World has to be bigger, better, more expensive, faster etc. And I don't think it's just because she has guilt over feeling like she's not there for her kids. I think it's because our world is getting out of control, valuing all the wrong things (at one point, Kate ruminates over the fact that no one -- not even the men in her office -- get home in time to have dinner with their kids). I think one scene that best illustrates this problem is one where Kate is having friends over for a Sunday lunch. In an attempt to impress them, she insists on trying to cook a fancy meal from scratch. She also plans to wear a Donna Karan sweater. Of course in the craziness that is Kate's life, she ruins the meal and the sweater and the day is a bust. Why didn't she just wear jeans and a T-shirt and order a pizza for pete's sake?
Rating:
Summary: "Nanny Diaries" flipside
Review: Kate Reddy seems to be Mrs. X from The Nanny Diaries. The longer I read the book, the more I felt that she made these choices herself, and hundreds of thousand of moms across the world struggle to do what she does, but without the help of a maid or a nanny. I did enjoy the details and the metaphors throughout the book, and it held my attention all the way through, but I have very little sympathy for Mrs. X, uh, I mean Kate.
Rating: 
Summary: Real Life with Big Bucks and Good Looks
Review: It was my life, and the insane life of most of my friends (only looking ten times as good and making 100 times more money)! Only pre-partum militant feminists (and men) wouldn't understand it - the rest of us have deal with our own Momfia, judgemental coworkers, and Motherhood Court every day. It was such a relief to see someone else, in another country, living through the same nonsense. The Cinderella ending was a bit of a shock, but darn it, that is what escapist fiction is for - I wanted her to succeed and escape even more because I know I can't. No working woman should have kids without reading this book - not that it will help, but at least they'll get fair warning.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than Nanny Diaries
Review: I listened to both on tape. However I found Nanny Diaries to be very sad, not funny at all. This one was funny, sure she panned other women in the work force, but some of them deserved to see themselves as others saw them. She did a fantastic job of showing how to try to juggle and not have it all work out. I think many a working mother may just decide it isn't all worth it after all.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Hurried
Review: The author really gets you involved with the Kate's hurried atmosphere. It is definitely funny and very fast paced.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaing novel!
Review: I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson is a very entertaining novel. I had a lot of fun reading it and I know you will too!
Rating:
Summary: worth savoring, if you can find the time...
Review: For every woman who is a working mom, this book speaks to you. Not all of us can relate to the business trips across the ocean, but I don't know anyone who doesn't struggle with the fact that they leave their children with a babysitter everyday to go to work to make money to pay the babysitter... Funny, tear inducing, sad in places, this book left a place in my heart. Very seldom does a book just reach out and grab you the way this one did me. I was upset that it ended. My one criticism would be that the book seemed a bit rushed in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Pain in the Neck
Review: I wnated to like this book so much- a working woman, balancing motherhood with a rewarding career, blah, blah, blah. But Kate Reddy was just so unlikeable. Not funny at all, in fact, just depressing and whiney. ugh, those stupid lists of stuff on her to do list were painful. My advice- stick to Bridget Jones- at least she has a sense of humor!
Rating:
Summary: She doesn't do it.
Review: Allison Pearson's novel is a screeching disappointment. As a working mother, I happily ordered the book online after reading the New York Times Book Review recommendation that suggested that I was the prime audience. Little did I know that this novel is a post-feminist backlash tract disguised as a feminist agenda. It really should be marketed to smug stay at home Moms who have the economic freedom to make what they consider a "choice"--which really means that they have someone else to support them. They will be pleased at the ending, which basically says that you can't do both.
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