Great Summer Reading

I'm a sucker for chick lit.  I am not embarrassed by this.  I still read classics and a lot of nonfiction, but there's something amusing about chick lit that adds an element to my literary life.  Most of the books focus on women trying to make their way in the world, stumbling, finding friends and love and a happy ending.  It's the book form of romantic comedies, like Bridget Jones's Diary.  I've read a bunch of these books, but many focus on the life of the single gal - usually in her twenties (with the exception of Candace Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle).  They were all starting to blend a little together when I found Momzillas.

Written by Jill Kargman, coauthor of The Right Address and Wolves in Chic Clothing (both of which I've read), this book tells the story of a relatively new thirty-something mom who just moved from Berkeley to NYC with her born New Yorker husband.  She must navigate the land of stilettos and bugaboos like a mine field while avoiding the harsh commentary by her uptight mother-in-law.  She fights through the pre-preschool drama on the Upper East Side and lives to tell the tale.  It's cute and surprisingly well-written.  Not that her first books weren't good; this one takes the literary level up a notch.

The book begins with a glossary of terms like "competitive birthing - racing to have more kids than anyone else", "'reximom - mother who drops baby weight in two weeks or less", and "suicide hour - generally from 5 p.m. until husband comes home, 'happy hour' for the rest of the world."  Then it takes us on the journey where our heroine finds herself smothered by hyper-competitive New Yorker moms who critique other mothers and children in harsh, biting tongues and believe the only way to raise kids is how they do it.  Eventually, of course, the main character, Hannah, learns a few things and narrowly escapes losing her husband in the process.  It's an enjoyable read and it makes fun of common mommy issues like working vs. staying at home, nursing vs. bottle feeding, how many classes to enroll tots in, how to deal with inlaws, and surviving a husband's long hours away from home.  I highly recommend it.