My two loves: internet and reading

A while back, I decided that I would do an occasional book review here.  I haven't done one in a long time so I'm going to do three mini reviews here.  Three, you ask?  How can I weave that into one blog post, you ask?  Okay, I'm assuming that you're asking that...... that is, if you're still with me and haven't move on.

Well, here goes.....

Two of my biggest loves, aside from my kids of course, are the internet and books.  This is where these three books come together in one post.  I love the fact that the internet has brought me into contact with so many wonderful people.  I have met a few in person but, for the most part, these are people who live far away from me and we have entered each other's lives on Twitter and Facebook.  We read each other's blogs and status updates and feel that we are one community regardless of where we actually live.  Through this community, I have found and read three books recently that I want to tell you about.

Confessions of a Scary Mommy by Jill Smokler of www.scarymommy.com is the first one.  If you have ever checked out her website, you know that her blog exists to let us know that none of us are perfect and gives us permission to laugh at ourselves.  Jill and her Scary Mommy community let us know that we are not alone in our sometimes scary trip through parenthood.  In her book, she shares with us her trip through parenthood from pregnancy, through the toddler years, school and the competition between moms.  Between chapters, she shares some of the confessions from her Confessions board; some funny, some sad, others you just nod and totally understand.  If you've never checked out the Scary Mommy confessional, please do, but not now or you'll get totally addicted and won't come back to finish reading my post!

The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha of www.1000awesomethings.com is the second book.  This is a fun and easy read; something to take to the park with you to read while the kids run around and (hopefully) tire themselves out.  Neil describes himself as a "boring guy with a nine-to-five job" who found himself in a world where we are surrounded by bad news and decided to start a blog where he reminded himself of all of the small, awesome things that make us feel better.  To his surprise, his site quickly became a hit with people from all over the world sending him suggestions.  From little things like the smile popping bubble rap brings to your face to waking up to realize that it's Saturday, this book is about all of life's little pleasures.  I found myself nodding and smiling at many of them and laughing out loud at others (embarrassing when you're on the bus)

The third book is Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson of www.thebloggess.com.  Go to her blog and read some of her posts.  If you enjoy her writing style there then definitely go get her book - you'll love it!  I should warn you that, if you are easily offended by bad language or off-colour imagery, you may not want to pick this one up (again, check out her blog first).  This book is basically a trip through her life that explains where the blogger we love came from and why she is so awesomely entertaining.  Jenny is quirky, often inappropriate, full of anxiety and has a love of stuffed dead animals in funny costumes.  You end up laughing at things you never would have imagined you would ever laugh at.  Her conversation with a (male) coworker about huge labia made me laugh myself to tears (yes, on the bus.... sigh).  Her conversations with her long-suffering husband are just as funny and off-centre.

I highly recommend these books to anyone looking for some fun summer reading.  They remind us that none of us is a perfect parent, we all need to enjoy the little things in life and we need to be able to see the humorous side of our craziness.

Kat