Rating: 
Summary: Overrarted
Review: I am embarassed to admit that I read this book. I found the narrator and key characters to be incredibly boring and I felt absolutely no sympathy for her. Anyone that allows themself to be treated as such deserves no sympathy. The problems were ridiculous and the charachters were over generalized and shallow. The ending was terrible and the girls who wrote this book lucked out by cashing out - they'll clearly need the money as they don't seem bright enough to do much else. Maybe they can go back to nannying.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, Fun and Tragic
Review: The Nanny Diaries is one of the few books which is so well written that it's impossible to put down. I read this book in three days and it left me wanting more. I too have had friends that were nannies and the stories they tell you make you want to laugh out loud at how incredible they are. But what makes these stories and this book so addicting is that they are very much true.Nan is a young woman paying her way through college by working as a nanny to the NYC upper crust. Unwittingly she becomes witness to all the neurosis and tragedies of the X family, yet prefers to stay out of it as much as she can in favor of protecting her young charge, Grayer. This, of course, becomes impossible as she is forced to run more and more outrageous errands for Mrs. X, making their partime arrangement fulltime and a half. Things become so unbearable for Nanny that the situation comes to a screeching and explosive halt. At the beginning of the book I felt the story was unfair and downright mean to those who hire nannies. However, as I kept reading I realized that just as there are normal families who do respect their nannies, there are many who do not even see them as human beings, abusing and taking horrible advantage of them. For many of these families, nannies aren't even appreciated for the important and difficult work it is to raise their children. I found myself rooting for Nanny and Grayer and wondering how Nanny would do after the Xes. Unfortunately, the reality is that many nannies do not get a chance at justice. Wonderful book which I highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: The perfect easy read
Review: Okay - to be short and sweet, this was a wonderful book! A perfect way to start off the summer.... granted this was not the most intellectually stimulating book I've ever read - but sometimes it IS okay to just chill with a book that doesn't take all the brain power in the world and just makes you happy. I'll guarentee that when you finish this book you'll have a big smile on your face!
Rating:
Summary: Great long weekend read
Review: I purchased this book only because I needed something to help me sleep at night. To my surprise, I ended up reading until 3 and 4 AM because it was such a delight. Nanny is such a great character, I cannot wait to see what her next adventure is. Take this book along for a long beach weekend or simply to take your mind off your everyday life.
Rating:
Summary: A lightweight story - With a message.
Review: Manhattan's wealthy social faction has already been well-documented in Tom Wolfe's magnificent novel the "Bonfire of the Vanities." "The Nanny Diaries" follows the dissertation of the super rich occupants of Park Avenue but with considerably more spite. Granted this book is supposed to be a satire, but this is a narrative of the atrocities inflicted on Nanny by her self-absorbed employer, Mrs. X. whose capacity for rudeness stretches credibility to the limit.
Nanny compensates for the X's emotional neglect of their 4-year-old by being a super loving companion to the child and a role model for parents everywhere. The smugness of the authors shine through in this book and I can see a lot of similarities between these girls and the people they so despise. Each party feels quite superior to the other.
Any novel of this genre must include romantic tension as that will be a key element if the book is to be made into a "chick flick" within the next few years. I was surprised however that Nanny's Mr. Wonderful took the form of a Harvard student who lives just 2 floors up and most likely genetically programmed to become a future Mr. X himself.
Reviews for the Nanny diaries have included all the usual cliches such as "You'll laugh out loud." which seems misleading as I didn't feel any mirth at all, just sadness. Long after crying all over the last few pages I continued to think about children like little Grayer who seem to have everything but lack the one thing they really need - to feel that they are the center of their parents' universe. Although I had initially dismissed this book as inane it does contain a lot of food for thought. Nanny's sensitive requests for children to know they are loved touched me and I felt a new resolve to be especially kind to all children, not just my own. Read the book, it won't take any longer than churning through all these reviews and when you finish you may just think about the part you can play in making a child feel special.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy, quick read
Review: After reading a long (700 pages) historical novel, this book was a nice change for me. It followed the life of a young and starving college student through her journies as a nanny. She cares for a young boy named Grayer. She is also getting her degree in child development from NYU but needs to pay rent in a very expensive studio apartment. Her personal life is not discussed in too much detail as the author's prefer to describe her daily dilemma's with the "X's". We've all had "not so great" summer jobs, and this book profiles one person's journey. Nanny, the main character, tries to maintain her dignity and integrity while having to do many things besides child care for this family. She does an excellent job with the young boy, Grayer, and proves herself over and over as having a great deal of maturity for her young age. She comes out of this very confusing household victorious, though sad that her days with Grayer were over. But she also comes out knowing she did the best she could under the circumstances.
We should all handle ourselves with such grace and dignity.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed, I cried, but it was a lot better than 'CATS'
Review: If there were a six-star rating option available, then this would be the book to get it. I am frankly puzzled by the negative reactions to the book. This is a piece of social satire (a la Candide) and as such, of course exaggerates the characteristics of the people that it talks about (i.e. the very upper echelon of Park Avenue society and the extremely well-rounded, down-to-earth Nan, the Nanny). But the book is at once hilarious and extremely sad. The writing style is snappy, witty and completely unaffected. The soy-products, designer name-dropping, problem-consultants (or whatever they were called)and cell-phone usage: it all fit into a comical, despicable, amusing and ridiculous tale of what none of us want to become as parents.
Rating:
Summary: Not just a chick book!
Review: This is probably not the right thing to say, but get the audio book! This is a fantastic story and I'm sure it is a great read, but Julia Roberts makes it irresistable. You'll immediately connect with Nanny and her charge. And Julia Roberts' acting talent comes through -- even without a silver screen. I found myself listening as quickly as possible, and saddened when I got to the last disk and realized it would be over soon.
Rating:
Summary: The Nanny Diaries
Review: What a bittersweet story. It made me laugh, and made my heart break. I very much enjoyed the book and can see it being made into a movie. The characters of Nanny and Grayer are well-developed. Mr & Mrs X seem to be a compilation of employers for whom the authors worked. If so, what a sad commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: Its not quite what its advertised to be. I expected something along the lines of 'Fast Food Nation' or 'Nickle and Dimned-' a damning look at the 'nanny' industry and the explotation of the masses. Instead, it was a great story. I really enjoyed it on the level of the watching the nanny become too involved with her charge, and then struggle to fix something, even though her help would never be appreciated. I also thought the ending was correct- not overdramtic and full of overblown histronics- but just a puttering out before a new beginning.
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