Rating: 
Summary: As hollow and self-promoting as her column.
Review: A big, ineffective, cold rationalization. "Unbalanced" is putting it kindly.This is one long ego trip by someone whose priority is clearly her self and her career, NOT her children. It's hard to see that she ever compromises her own wants (and they are wants not needs) for her kids' benefit. Do your family a favor; sit down on the floor with with an play or talk for a few hours throughout the week -- or read with them -- instead of reading this. Ms. Belkin should try it too.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming and Delightful
Review: Anyone who has ever struggled with the complexities of having a career and being a devoted parent at the same time will be able to identify with the many anecdotes that Lisa Belkin relates. She covers a myriad of situations that career mothers face in the everlasting struggle to balance "life's work." The book is a fast and relaxing read that makes one realize that as hard as you may try, you "can't do it all."
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy--she doesn't have to work -- and doesn't "get it."
Review: How nice that Lisa Belkin, married to a wealthy doctor, can "decide" whether or not to work. I wonder what she would be writing if she HAD to get up every day, drop the kids off at daycare, rush to the office to get in before her boss drops by her office, then do the mad dash all over again at the end of the day before the daycare closes. She can talk about taking "breaks" from work and people going to Bali, but clearly her reason to work has nothing to do with having to pay a mortgage. Read this only if you can identify with affluent couples where the wife's paycheck is just "mad money."
Rating:
Summary: Not a very good book
Review: I can see how Ms. Belkin manages to "have it all." The material in the book is simplistic and rehashed. The book was boring. She seems to do little more than repeat the whiny complaints of her friends. I am convinced that you really can't have it all -- at least not at the same time. Things will always slip. The issue for women is learning to accept not being perfect at everything.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy Working Moms Unite!
Review: I have loved Lisa Belkin's columns in the New York Times, and it was wonderful to read them threaded together, with new work, in this book. At times funny, at times heartbreakingly poignant, no one better explains the stresses and rewards of attempting to have a career and a family.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Just for Working Moms
Review: I read this book after it was the closing feature on Oprah and thought I would give it a try. I am a working woman, married, no children, and I thought this book might be too much about getting the balance as a parent. I was pleasantly surprised that much of what was written applies to ANYONE who is working, especially working women. And her message - that 100% balance is impossible and you need to figure out what works for you - is an important one. The stories were funny, short (which is her concession to people with no time) and relevant. I would recommned this as a good, quick read to anyone who is trying to figure out how to "make it work".
Rating:
Summary: Not Just for Working Moms
Review: I read this book after it was the closing feature on Oprah and thought I would give it a try. I am a working woman, married, no children, and I thought this book might be too much about getting the balance as a parent. I was pleasantly surprised that much of what was written applies to ANYONE who is working, especially working women. And her message - that 100% balance is impossible and you need to figure out what works for you - is an important one. The stories were funny, short (which is her concession to people with no time) and relevant. I would recommned this as a good, quick read to anyone who is trying to figure out how to "make it work".
Rating:
Summary: Now I can Say So What
Review: I received a copy of this book to review for my website. And the book changed my life. When I first picked up the book Life's Work I put it down, deeming it not appropriate for BlueSuitMom's working mother audience. How wrong I was. Initially in the introduction I was put off by this sentence "Not a one of us seems to be able to give 100 percent of themselves to their job and 100 percent of themselves to their family and 100 percent of themselves to taking care of themselves." I read the line and decided she was wrong ... there are so many of us that can and do have it all. However, I didn't get the point ... the point she was making is that inevitably there are times when our balancing act glitches. When sometimes "life and work collide." Had I finished reading the introduction I would have read that the point is that we can work, have a family and take care of ourselves but sometimes they all can't happen at the same moment in time. Sometimes one has to come first. Sometimes there are dare I say "sacrifices." However, when I finally picked it up again I read that "No one can do it, because it cannot be done ... So let's start forgiving ourselves when we can't do it ... So what if the house isn't as clean as it should be? So what if that last business report was not the best you've ever written? So what if you're eating takeout for the second night in a row, or haven't been to the gym in weeks, or sent your children to school in crumpled shirts on school picture day? ... I'm not saying that none of these things matter. They all matter, but not all the time ... even I know that 100 percent plus 100 percent plus 100 percent equals more than any one person can do in a day. So what?" This might have been the most powerful message I've read in a book -- ever. Because today I vow that this will change my life. From now on, I'm not going to stay awake until 3 a.m. stressing out about why I'm not good enough. Why do I have to spend countless hours worrying that it isn't good enough. Some days I send out newsletters to BlueSuitMom readers with typos. And probably no one notices (okay maybe some of you do since you write to say hey this link is wrong or this tease didn't actually exist in the newsletter). And today I am saying "So what if it wasn't the best." This is a radical thought since normally I will agonize for hours that heaven forbid Rachael made a typo or put the wrong link in. In fact, I profusely apologize to those who write in ... but from now on I will give you the right link and repeat to myself "So what." I've learned that sometimes our best work can't be perfect. It isn't that I don't care about producing the best source for working mothers on the Internet; it is just that sometimes I will remember that no one can be perfect. And for years I've always strived to be that exception. I'll work until the middle of the night and then wonder why I don't have as many friends as I want or have the time to religiously stick to the gym. But from reading "Life's Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom" I've now decided that I can't have it all 100% of the time. I can maybe only have 95% of it all. And for today ... that will have to do.
And I hope that Belkin's message will get through to all of you as well. Sometimes we can't do it all. Sometimes we have to skip out of a meeting to attend a child's play ... sometimes we have to fake being sick ... sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break. I'm sure that all our readers will enough reading Life's Work ... the best part is that the chapters are only a few pages long. It's the type of book to keep on your desk and read when you actually find that five minutes of time for yourself. And if you are saying you don't have that five minutes I encourage you to read the chapter entitled "September 11, 2001." I certainly needed the reminder that there are some things in the world that we can not control ... but what we can control is our reaction to things like guilt. I want to hear what you have to say. How do you deal with guilt? Am I the only one awake at 4:30 in the morning because I've only slept for 4 hours tonight? Feel free to write me at .... Let me know if I can publish your response in one BlueSuitMom or better yet share your "So What" moments on BlueSuitMom's message boards ... and don't tell yourself you don't have the time ... since we all have the same amount of time. It is up to us to decide how to use it. And if you don't want to start the dialogue ... that's okay my response is now "SO WHAT?"
Rating:
Summary: Humorous and comforting
Review: I saw the author on the Today Show and I'm so glad I did. What a delightful book! Belkin understands what it really means to be a modern parent: How you feel tugged in all directions and sure that you are screwing it all up. I loved her message -- that you should do the best you can and it will turn out okay. And I also loved the way she wrote about that. I laughed a lot, and cried a little, and I nodded in recognition all the way through. I'm also the mother of two young children and most of all I was grateful for the short, snappy chapters, which is all I have time to read in my life. I'm getting this for my mother, and my sister and even my mother-in-law for mother's day.
Rating:
Summary: Life's Work Lite
Review: I was very disappointed in this book, which received a rave review in The New Yorker magazine. I can only presume that Lisa Belkin is in with the "in" crowd, since this book is far from profound. Perhaps it is because Belkin writes about the lifestyles of the chronically ambitious elite Westchester County crowd, that she is receiving accolades from those with similar lifestyles. As someone whose own life and work (professional) has been transformed by the adoption of two special needs youngsters, I was hoping to see something of the transformative power of parenting reflected on these pages. In fact, the reader learns little about the author's children and her own struggles in trying to raise them; instead, we learn about her dilemmas as to whether or not to bring a laptop on vacation and the pros and cons of various babysitters. On the positive side, I am happy to see a professional woman write positively about the joys of working. Still, I would expect a book with the title "Life's Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom" to reflect more profoundly on the experience of motherhood.
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