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Summary: the subject had promise but the book fell short
Review: I really looked forward to reading this book. It was a disappointment. The characters had no depth and were stereotypical. It was poorly writen. There were errors in the timelines. It was a subject that was really interesting. I wish it had been a realistic veiw of life as a stay at home mom.
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Summary: I wanted to like this book
Review: What a disappointment. I thought this would be an intelligent look at the stay at home/keep working dilemma. But in the end of this book, the husband gets a $400,000/year job offer. Dilemma solved. The author should be ashamed of herself.
Rating: 
Summary: I Really Wanted To Love It.....
Review: but I didn't. I was on the waiting list at the library for this book for over a month. When it was finally my turn I was so excited. I was really hoping that I would be able to identify with this book. I am a work from home mom. I was hoping to get some insight into how other stay at home moms feel. I was looking for a book that I would get sucked into because I could relate to it. Not true for this book. I tried and tried to keep reading, but I was bored. There was too much talk about the law case that Amanda's husband was working on. There was too much talk about what everyone else was doing. I wanted to know what Amanda was doing, how Amanda was feeling. I wanted a book that truly explained what it feels like to be a stay at home mom and have an actual life. I was disappointed.
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Summary: This Book Lacks Depth
Review: I was extremely excited about reading this book after reading several favorable reviews. I came to discover that this book was painful to get through, lacking depth to the characters, and concluded on a "happily ever after" note that was ill-fitting to the rest of the book. I wouldn't recommend this book at all to anyone- don't waste your money or time trying to read this. It does not get better as you progress.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny view of the other side
Review: As a "working mom" I don't often read things that feature stay at home moms. This one, however, came so highly recommended that I felt I had to give it a chance. Glad I did because I LOVED IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Good material to line your birdcage with
Review: God, I hated this book. As a working mother of three who lives in the DC area, I had hoped to be able to relate to "Amanda" or at least some of her friends. Instead, I found myself irritated by the author's thinly-veiled political agenda and her disdain for feminism, liberal democrats, and children with peanut allergies. Moreover, Crittenden is a terrible writer. Ugh. Avoid at all costs and seek out the far more witty "I Don't Know How She Does It".
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Summary: A marketer's dream
Review: Without knowing much about this author I'd say it was written by a shrewd marketer with good connections. So kudos to Ms. Crittenden's notion of herself, and her ability to convince others that she has talent.Sadly, this novel's self-conscious laughs are as painful as the title. It makes me wonder where Ms. Crittenden went to college. Did she ever learn about critical thinking? Or is it all about who you know? How Ms. Crittenden got a contract with the Wall Street Journal is as curious to me as how she was able to fanagle her way onto NPR to tell America that we should be nice to mothers struggling with strollers in Starbucks.
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Summary: Entertaining at first, but...
Review: On a first, quick reading I found this story entertaining. I could empathize with Amanda's feeling of being tugged in all directions by competing desires to be a good mother, a good wife, a good contributor to society, a good friend... But from the first I was struck by the shallow, one-dimensional nature of the supporting characters. I kept thinking, no wonder she hates her life if all the people she knows are like this! By the end of the book, I had to wonder if this was part of a deliberate attempt on the author's part to discredit anything to do with feminism. All the "feminist" characters are absolutely horrible people - Amanda's mother is an unloving harridan; her friend Susie is successful but shallow and obviously headed for a fall; her midwife (who is proudly NOT an obstetrician) is so blithely incompetent she would have lost any license to practice long before delivering anybody's third child; her "stay-at-home Dad" acquaintance Alan turns out to be the loser Amanda had initially suspected. The message seems to be that happiness = husband, kids, money, housework, and learning to wear blinders when your principles seem to be letting you down. I found this puzzling. I'm looking forward to reading "I Don't Know How She Does It" as a counterpoint.
Rating:
Summary: Good Idea Gone Horribly Wrong
Review: Amanda is a stay at home mom who doesn't feel that where she is in her life is where she really wants to be. She tries to move up the social ladder by pretending to be someone she's not while living her life vicariously through her friends.
I was extremely disappointed in this book. I was expecting something completely different. I'm not quite sure, but I know that it wasn't this. Amanda is a conceited character that doesn't really care about her family or friends. She is surrounded by other characters that aren't developed as to make the reader possibly feel sorry for her (I wasn't quite sure).
All she does is complain. She tells her husband that she isn't happy and wants to do something like go back to work. While he agrees that she should do whatever will make her happy, she's not satisfied with his answer. She whines that the house is always a mess and that she never cooks and eight million things go wrong everyday yet, she does nothing to better her situation. She doesn't get things done while her kids are in school and when they are home, she doesn't engage them into helping her in fun ways.
Everything that is wrong with Amanda's life is brought on by her own doing. Crittenden either didn't realize what she was writing or did it on purpose. Amanda is the only one in charge of her own destiny yet is only happy when her husband gets a job making a lot of money after she has a baby she didn't want. Had some things not worked out as she wanted or planned, Amanda could have changed the way her life was going, but instead felt sorry for herself and worried that her husband would leave her for getting him fired.
Do yourself a favor and skip the book.
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Summary: Crittenden's Witty Statement on Stay-At-Home Mothers
Review: Danielle Crittenden, the author of WHAT OUR MOTHERS DIDN'T TELL US, delivers a second humorous novel in AMANDA BRIGHT@HOME, her witty statement on stay-at-home mothers through the life of Amanda Bright, a bright, well-educated woman residing in urban Washington, D.C. Her major dilemma is how to balance the care of her two children, Ben and Sophie, with the social demands of her husband's job. Bob Clarke rewrites his position at the Department of Justice when he becomes proactive in the investigation of a conglomerate called Megabyte. Amanda's typical day consists of avoiding toys, clothing and any item slung in the pathway from one room to another of her modest house. Hers is a topsy-turvy world peopled by "play-group" mothers whose common bond is the exclusive preschool their children attend. When 35-year-old Amanda cannot bask beside a pool without feeling restless, she questions the quality of her existence. Their inane conversations revolve around spas, facelifts, and what prestigious school in which to enroll little Meredith or Olivia for the coming year. Crittenden plays Amanda's deck of cards in a game predictable for her circumstances. Amanda's mother had been a liberal, politically active feminist and cannot understand why her daughter has succumbed to the life she leads. Amanda's blind acceptance of her motherhood infuriates her mother, who takes advantage of every possible opportunity to remind her of her wasted potential. Amanda works through her identification process through confrontations, trial and error, hilarious pitfalls, and a brief encounter with another parent, Alan. The book is the first to be serialized in the Wall Street Journal, a bold accomplishment for the author. Any woman who has raised young children can relate to the chaos inherent in a household with peanut butter, paper and scissors, backpacks, and lots of toys. Our heroine sorts through the mess of her life, confronts it and reaches a comfortable conclusion. "Driving a Volvo while listening to 'Itsy Bitsy Spider,' having all this so-called time to sit around and bake cookies and dealing with Ben's poor 'scissoring skills' at school" endear Amanda to any female who celebrates Mother's Day. I hope that Amanda's reality is not a true stereotype, but rather a humorous peek at modern living. --- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
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