Rating: 
Summary: A boring woman in an interesting world?
Review: There must be a term for this: where the central character is bland and nondescript while all of the others in the book are categorically defined (the snob, the workaholic, the good ole boy, the princess, the venomous boss, just as examples). So Amanda is something of a jellyfish: she left her career to stay at home with her children, but she's not a particularly happy, energetic, or creative stay at home mom, but she doesn't really want to go back to work, and she lives in an upper middle class neighborhood but tries to enter the more upper class world, and doesn't feel comfortable there, but ... you get the picture.I read this about 6 months ago and I liked it a lot more than most of the reviews I'm reading here. It was fun to get a glimpse of her life. There were some hilarious scenes and touching observations. Amanda ultimately became interesting not because of her unique personal characteristics, but because of her experiences (through "crisis"). So ultimately I really liked this book but I felt that Amanda was a flawed woman - a little bit spineless perhaps.
Rating: 
Summary: This book really fell short of my expectations.
Review: I wanted to love this book. I wanted to read a book about the struggles, sacrifices, and joys of being a stay-at-home mother. Instead, I read about a whiny, self-absorbed woman who made everyone around her miserable. Amanda martyrs herself by staying at home with her kids because it was the same financially as paying for 2 kids to go to daycare. She also says she feels like that is what she is obligated (through guilt)to do. Um, those aren't really good reasons for staying at home to raise your children. Amanda would have been better off going back to work and quitting her b*tching and whining about how bad her kids are and how useless her husband is. At least the daycare teachers might not have thought of her children as big of a burden as Amanda did. Bob's job was also took up WAY too much of this book. The whole Megabyte case and everything involved in that storyline were boring and almost totally unnecessary to the main storyline. I started to skip the pages dealing with that subplot because it was totally irrelevant. We mothers who choose to stay home to raise our families and keep our homes full-time deserve a better book than this. We need a book about how hard the decision is, but how great the rewards are. If you are a SAHM looking for a boost, you're not going to get it here! I wish I could have loved the book as much as I wanted to.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick Carpool-Line Read
Review: I'd been looking forward to reading this novel after encountering What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us several years ago.
On one level I enjoyed the plot and satire as a quick, light read in the carpool line at my daughter's school. Particularly amusing were the scenes at the tony nursery school However, as a stay-at-home mom for several years, I found the book odd. Amanda lacks a "must" for the college-educated, gave-up-a-stellar-career woman, and that is a support group of her true peers. Because her kids are enrolled at the "prestigious" school under special circumstances, Amanda hangs out with a bunch of narcissistic and materialistic women who are economically and socially out of her league. Their wealth and privilege are bound to make Amanda feel bad in comparison. Where are the moms in her own neighborhood in similar finalcial circumstances? I was also surprised by how little joy and fun the narrator finds in her children. Sure, raising children is messy and tiring, but there are also moments that take a mom's breath away. I wanted to slap Amanda several times and say to her, "Look at all you have: two beautiful and healthy children, a caring and supportive lawyer husband, a cute house in a great city with FREE museums, a Volvo, and the freedom to take a measly few years out of the rat race to spend those over-too-quick moments with your babies. What IS the problem?" I also never understood how cocktail parties could be the undoing of a woman's decision to love and care for her children full-time. Stop going to those kinds of parties and find your own crew with whom to hang out! The deus ex machina ending was a disappointing cop-out, as well. I would love to read a novel with Amanda's friend Liz as the central character. Now there might be a story about the creative, organized, and totally loving stay-at-home mom I had hoped this book would be. Read this novel as a pleasant little time filler, but don't expect any great insights or inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Amanda needs some new friends!
Review: As a first time mom (stuggling with the "work or stay at home" dilemma) and a DC beltway refugee, I assumed I would find some resonance in this book. Boy, was I wrong. First, there are no really likable characters. Amanda is ambivalent to the point of irritation. Her husband is emotionally distant and dismissive. Her "friends" are truly awful - rich, vain, and totally self centered. Her relationship with her two small children often seems devoid of genuine affection. She is ashamed of every aspect of her life: her modest house, her used car, the behavior of her "robust" 5 year-old son. She lives in an ethnically and economically diverse neighborhood within the DC city line, yet chooses to hang out with a bunch of rich women from the burbs, all the while feeling inferior and embarassed. Note to Amanda: load your kids into the stroller and take a walk through your own neighborhood. You'll probably find 5 other moms who, like you, cannot afford to redecorate their houses, have their eyes done, or summer somehwere exotic. You'd be much happier sitting in your back yard with them drinking cheap wine than joining these snotty woman at their country club. It's true that women who decide to have children cannot "have it all," but they can come a hell of a lot closer, and be a hell of a lot happier than this.
Rating: 
Summary: HORRIBLE HORRIBLE BOOK!
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I was given this book by a friend who thought that the main character was just like me. I, too, have a husband that works as a federal government attorney. I, too, gave up a career (I have a masters in computer science) when I got pregnant with my second baby. I, too, live in the D.C. area (but out in the 'burbs) but that is where the similiarities stop. I can't believe that anyone would want to be friends with this pathetic and whiny character. She doesn't have the money to keep up with the Jones? Has she even tried to find friends outside of her children's school? Private school too expensive? Move out to the 'burbs (Montgomery County) where the school system is one of the top of the nation. I thought this book was a "love story to all the moms that sacrifice a career for their children." I didn't see any of that. I see a woman complaining about her "priviledge life" (yes, staying at home is a priviledge when many families need two incomes just to make it), and not even nice to the children that she has, and isn't very supportive of her poor husband. The author, clearly, didn't bother to do her research or must have hated her own experience. Giving up a career is hard, but the rewards of staying is even greater. In no way did the author convey that in the book. I struggled to finish it. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.
Rating:
Summary: The cover suckered me in
Review: What a complete waste of my time. I'm a working mother of two. The description on the back made it seem as if this woman was me. She is so far from anyone I know. I don't like her. I can't understand how she can't make any worthwhile friends. The ending was ridiculous and contrived. Whole book was an utter letdown.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but spare us the husband's story
Review: I liked this book for the insights it gave me into the life of a once professional, now currently a stay-at-home mom. I found it entertaining and very easy to read. I was a little annoyed at the time that was given to the problems Amanda's husband was having at work...way too much detail for this book. Perhaps the sub-plot of Bob could be a topic of another book? I don't know....it just didn't belong here. Besides that, it was a good read, not literary prize material, but a good way to enjoy yourself. The story really came full circle and gave me plenty of food for thought.
Rating:
Summary: A light read, easy to enjoy
Review: I loved Amanda from the first few pages.... I too, quit work to have my second child, and I can relate to the task of tripping over toys, trying to stay sane with friends, and not having a clue what to make for dinner.... again. That being said, this book explores Amanda trying to figure out and cope wiht her decision to be a stay at home mom. While it is certainly not the most well written book, I still enjoyed reading this. It was easy to read (good, when your dodging kids in the back round) and was nicely paced.. keeping your attention. I thought the refernces to the Microsoft trials (disguised not so well as a company called "megabyte") were almost funny, and the everyday hassle of life, love (or lack of it) and other mundane tasks of raising a family were easy to relate to. Maybe you are a lot like Amanda, staying home to raise those kids in what little moment of time you do have.... maybe you know someone who could relate to Amanda, or maybe you are part of a book group that would find this an interesting topic to discuss... if that is the case this easy read will satisfy you....and maybe even surprisingly touch you in the end...
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: I'm sorry, this book was too boring for me to continue. The spineless main character seems to hang around with vapid women hung up on material wealth and facelifts at the ripe old age of 40! Ha! Amanda is "deeply conflicted" about her role as stay at home mother - yeah, we get it, we get it - do we have to be reminded every other page? Why doesn't she get some new friends? Why doesn't she grow a backbone? Why was I reading this book?!?!?!?
Rating:
Summary: I guess I identified with the main character.
Review: That's why I intrinsically like this book better than others here. Yes, the writing was simplistic. But that's ok. It's nice to just breeze through a chatty book now and again. The characters were caricatures; exagerated for effect. Not bad, really, just entertaining. I agree, the solution in the end was disappointing. She didn't have to make a decision and commit. However, Amanda realizes she doesn't want to be a crusader for either side of the feminist issue. She just wants to mother her children. And I appreciate that. I completely disagree that Amanda didn't want the baby. The baby may have been an ill-timed surprise, but obviously is very much wanted. That's a major plot point, I thought.
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