I have to say that when I started reading this book I was not sure that I could continue. While the writing is amazing, I had not read Risa Green's previous acclaimed novel Notes from the Underbelly, therefore was not prepared for the drama of her lead character Lara.

I actually thought I would have to put it down and walk away because I personally could barely relate to Lara's contempt for her newborn, and god forbid that she got "fat" and did not fit into her size 4 pants anymore.  I wondered to myself when is someone going to write a novel about a new mom not fitting into her size 10 pants anymore? Now that is the stuff life is made of!

I stuck it out and I am glad that I did. My favorite parts of the book are the humbling experiences, such as when nothing in her closet fit her and she had a lunch date with friends, or when she has what I like to call a "poop nightmare" in a grocery store because she is fully unprepared.

Like I said, the writing is amazing and it's not just a story about a selfish suburban mom. It is a story of a first time parent at its heart, with hilarious visions and a storyline that we can all relate to. I now want to travel back in time and read Green's novel, Notes From The Underbelly! Get Tales From The Crib on paperback. Delivery date: April 4, 2006.


From the publisher:
Lara Stone is back again, and nine months of being miserably pregnant was nothing compared to what follows. But when Lara's long-estranged dad shows up with a stripper on his arm, her husband begins flirting with a hot twenty-five-year old, and her nanny casts voodoo spells to keep her from losing those last ten pounds, Lara soon finds that sleepless nights, S&M-like pumping bras, and a raging case of the post-baby blues are the least of her problems.

Picking up where the critically acclaimed Notes from the Underbelly left off, Lara tries her damnedest to become a "good" mother, while keeping sane among the Gucci-clad Mommunists from her Mommy and Me class. But just when she's certain she'll never figure this nurturing thing out, she finds support in the unlikeliest of places, and comes to understand that-unlike diapering-there's no wrong way to love someone.