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bookph1le's review against another edition
4.0
Some really affecting essays in here, all reflecting the diverse experience that is motherhood, yet there's some universality as well. More complete review to come.
Full review:
Listen to Your Mother is an interesting, diverse collection of essays ruminating on all things related to motherhood: a mother's influence on her children, the trials and tribulations of motherhood, and a good representation of family structures that don't necessarily include a mother. Some of the essays are humorous, some serious, and many of them made a strong impression on me.
A high point of this book, for me, is that the voices in it are diverse. Women from working class and more affluent backgrounds are represented, as are the voices of parents from various religious affiliations and parents in relationships with same-sex partners. The U.S. is a diverse country and its social fabric is changing, and I like that this book reflects that. I also like that many of the essays don't shy from portraying the more challenging, gritty aspects of parenthood as society still has a tendency to be a bit misleading when it comes to the realities of parenthood. This book challenges readers to look beyond the boundaries of the traditional nuclear family, and to gain some insight into same-sex couples, children who don't conform to gender norms, parents who must grapple with how to make sense of racism for their child, etc. At heart, parents want the same things for their children: for them to be healthy and happy, but the obstacles in parents' ways vary, and I liked that this book showed that.
One of my favorite essays was A Year by the Lake, in which author Jenny Fiore writes about the challenges of raising her daughter while her husband is deployed to Kuwait. It's an eye-opening read that exposes the fact that not only do our service men and women make sacrifices for their country, so do their spouses, partners, and families. Fiore has to deal with her own worries, fears, and sadness over what's happening with her husband and all the milestones he's missing while also coping with the stresses of raising a child on her own.
The Broken Bowl by Jennifer Ball is another high point, a reflection on the difficulties of single parenthood and raising children while struggling financially, but also in parsing out what's really important in life. The bowl helps Ball to see beyond her day-to-day struggles and realize that she has been creating important and lasting memories for their children. The challenges her family faces certainly shouldn't be minimized, but the takeaway from this piece is that it's easy for parents to get caught up in worrying about all the things they're doing wrong and miss the things they're doing right.
Alexandra Rosas explores similar themes in The Reach of a Small Moment by looking back on the small, quiet times she shared with her grandmother and how those times left a lasting impression on her. When you're in the thick of parenthood, trying to get dinner on the table and homework done while rushing to get ready to get your kids off to practice, it can be hard to recognize these small moments of grace.
Not a Princess by Vikki Reich is also fantastic, an unflinching look at the difficulty in letting go of ingrained social messages when your child begins to defy gender norms. I've read a lot about how traditional couples struggle with this, but it was interesting to read the perspective of a woman in a same-sex relationship. It drove home for me just how ingrained gender norms are in society, how much we internalize them and how huge the struggle can be when a child breaks the mold. Reich writes eloquently about the disconnect between wanting to support her child's mode of expressing herself while also wanting to protect her child from society's censure.
These are by no means the only well-done essays in the collection, but they all struck a particular chord with me. Sometimes parents get so caught up in maintaining an image or trying to do everything right that I think we forget that every other parent around us is struggling with many of the same issues. Parenthood seems to have become something of a competitive sport, and I like that this book reminded me that we parents have much common ground, regardless of where we come from.
Full review:
Listen to Your Mother is an interesting, diverse collection of essays ruminating on all things related to motherhood: a mother's influence on her children, the trials and tribulations of motherhood, and a good representation of family structures that don't necessarily include a mother. Some of the essays are humorous, some serious, and many of them made a strong impression on me.
A high point of this book, for me, is that the voices in it are diverse. Women from working class and more affluent backgrounds are represented, as are the voices of parents from various religious affiliations and parents in relationships with same-sex partners. The U.S. is a diverse country and its social fabric is changing, and I like that this book reflects that. I also like that many of the essays don't shy from portraying the more challenging, gritty aspects of parenthood as society still has a tendency to be a bit misleading when it comes to the realities of parenthood. This book challenges readers to look beyond the boundaries of the traditional nuclear family, and to gain some insight into same-sex couples, children who don't conform to gender norms, parents who must grapple with how to make sense of racism for their child, etc. At heart, parents want the same things for their children: for them to be healthy and happy, but the obstacles in parents' ways vary, and I liked that this book showed that.
One of my favorite essays was A Year by the Lake, in which author Jenny Fiore writes about the challenges of raising her daughter while her husband is deployed to Kuwait. It's an eye-opening read that exposes the fact that not only do our service men and women make sacrifices for their country, so do their spouses, partners, and families. Fiore has to deal with her own worries, fears, and sadness over what's happening with her husband and all the milestones he's missing while also coping with the stresses of raising a child on her own.
The Broken Bowl by Jennifer Ball is another high point, a reflection on the difficulties of single parenthood and raising children while struggling financially, but also in parsing out what's really important in life. The bowl helps Ball to see beyond her day-to-day struggles and realize that she has been creating important and lasting memories for their children. The challenges her family faces certainly shouldn't be minimized, but the takeaway from this piece is that it's easy for parents to get caught up in worrying about all the things they're doing wrong and miss the things they're doing right.
Alexandra Rosas explores similar themes in The Reach of a Small Moment by looking back on the small, quiet times she shared with her grandmother and how those times left a lasting impression on her. When you're in the thick of parenthood, trying to get dinner on the table and homework done while rushing to get ready to get your kids off to practice, it can be hard to recognize these small moments of grace.
Not a Princess by Vikki Reich is also fantastic, an unflinching look at the difficulty in letting go of ingrained social messages when your child begins to defy gender norms. I've read a lot about how traditional couples struggle with this, but it was interesting to read the perspective of a woman in a same-sex relationship. It drove home for me just how ingrained gender norms are in society, how much we internalize them and how huge the struggle can be when a child breaks the mold. Reich writes eloquently about the disconnect between wanting to support her child's mode of expressing herself while also wanting to protect her child from society's censure.
These are by no means the only well-done essays in the collection, but they all struck a particular chord with me. Sometimes parents get so caught up in maintaining an image or trying to do everything right that I think we forget that every other parent around us is struggling with many of the same issues. Parenthood seems to have become something of a competitive sport, and I like that this book reminded me that we parents have much common ground, regardless of where we come from.
pammoore's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I kept reading "just one more" and staying up way too late. I found myself reaching for this book even during the day (normally I read only before bed). Every single story was a gem. Love love love this book.
kjboldon's review against another edition
5.0
A great collection from a wide range of voices about many aspects of mothering--funny, sad, hard, weird. I do wish the author bios had appeared at the end of each essay, and that some of the essays would have left off their last paragraph, which pulled some of the punch of what went before.
koby's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not a fan of the cover, but the book is good. I'm torn between a three and a four, but I am going to round down since it's been a few weeks since I read it and it hasn't stuck with me as much as I thought it would. That being said, all of the essays are brief. Some are funny, some are somber. Several are absolutely beautiful.
beth_p_w's review against another edition
4.0
It made me cry too much, which I think was an issue of the pacing of the anthology: too many gut punches to truly absorb the stories, which ended up making it feel repetitive. But it did make me want to write, which is good!
theresidentbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
*Receieved through Goodreads' First Reads in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not really sure I was the target audience for this book. I'm pretty sure I entered this giveway at 2 or 3 in the morning half-asleep. I make it a goal to enter as many as possible. After all, how can you win if you don't enter? Still, I'm not always sure what I'm going to get, and I've gotten some interesting ones. Including Listen to Your Mother.
These essays were nice and short, perfect for skimming or reading all the way through if that's what you prefer, but I wish they had been a little more varied in content. I would have liked some more perspectives on mothers from people that are not mothers or men on mothers. The essays started to all feel the same after a while. I had never heard of the movement associated with it before reading this so maybe that was the point.
I did enjoy the honesty, sincerity, and humor shared throughout the essays and how truly genuine they all felt. Being a mother (from what I hear) is hard work, and no one here skirts around that. The essayists never fail to point out, however, how fulfilling it is too.
Overall, recommended for mothers or even just parents. Definitely a good gift for your mother next Mother's Day.
I'm not really sure I was the target audience for this book. I'm pretty sure I entered this giveway at 2 or 3 in the morning half-asleep. I make it a goal to enter as many as possible. After all, how can you win if you don't enter? Still, I'm not always sure what I'm going to get, and I've gotten some interesting ones. Including Listen to Your Mother.
These essays were nice and short, perfect for skimming or reading all the way through if that's what you prefer, but I wish they had been a little more varied in content. I would have liked some more perspectives on mothers from people that are not mothers or men on mothers. The essays started to all feel the same after a while. I had never heard of the movement associated with it before reading this so maybe that was the point.
I did enjoy the honesty, sincerity, and humor shared throughout the essays and how truly genuine they all felt. Being a mother (from what I hear) is hard work, and no one here skirts around that. The essayists never fail to point out, however, how fulfilling it is too.
Overall, recommended for mothers or even just parents. Definitely a good gift for your mother next Mother's Day.
aprileclecticbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
An eclectic collection of essays averaging about 3 pages each on the topic of mothers- some humorous and some more serious or sad. There were a few I’d have liked to have had longer passages but it did convey the essence of the topic.
jessicaesquire's review
4.0
I'm saving you a lot of time: this is what to get your mother, your wife, your friend, your sister, your daughter, your anyone for Mother's Day this year.
I'm a Listen To Your Mother director and cast member (2013 Providence, 2014 and 2015 Boston) so of course I love Listen To Your Mother and everything it's about, how it gives voice to the position that is often the quietest one. The book is a collection of some of my favorite essays from men and women around the country.
Putting together a Listen To Your Mother show is a tricky job and I have no doubt editing the book was as well. It's about balancing humor and sadness, finding stories that are unique and balancing them with stories that are universal, talking about the biggest things and the smallest. The anthology does that well, covering pretty much any topic you can possibly imagine. There is adoption, same-sex marriage, the death of a child, the death of a parent, step-parenting, infertility, divorce, deployment, poverty, and significant struggles with mental and physical health. But there is also much that happens every day, those moments where you stop to take in just what's happening around you. There is sending a child off to college. There is a search for a child's lost lovey. There is pretty much everything.
These stories are personal and they are short, so even someone who isn't much of a reader will enjoy themselves. It's a book best enjoyed in small pieces so you can enjoy each story and savor it a bit. These essays were all read aloud in Listen To Your Mother shows, and you can tell that the writing has been refined and perfected to be enjoyed by an audience. The translation to book form is well done.
Seriously. Your Mother's Day gift work is done.
I'm a Listen To Your Mother director and cast member (2013 Providence, 2014 and 2015 Boston) so of course I love Listen To Your Mother and everything it's about, how it gives voice to the position that is often the quietest one. The book is a collection of some of my favorite essays from men and women around the country.
Putting together a Listen To Your Mother show is a tricky job and I have no doubt editing the book was as well. It's about balancing humor and sadness, finding stories that are unique and balancing them with stories that are universal, talking about the biggest things and the smallest. The anthology does that well, covering pretty much any topic you can possibly imagine. There is adoption, same-sex marriage, the death of a child, the death of a parent, step-parenting, infertility, divorce, deployment, poverty, and significant struggles with mental and physical health. But there is also much that happens every day, those moments where you stop to take in just what's happening around you. There is sending a child off to college. There is a search for a child's lost lovey. There is pretty much everything.
These stories are personal and they are short, so even someone who isn't much of a reader will enjoy themselves. It's a book best enjoyed in small pieces so you can enjoy each story and savor it a bit. These essays were all read aloud in Listen To Your Mother shows, and you can tell that the writing has been refined and perfected to be enjoyed by an audience. The translation to book form is well done.
Seriously. Your Mother's Day gift work is done.
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