Five Minutes Peace

BOOK REVIEW: The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson

Hmm. I'm not sure how to write this review since I know a lot of people will really hate this book. And for valid reasons (read this Amazon review for a brief overview). However, I loved it. Mostly. 

If you've read any Tom Hodgkinson before, you'll know that by "idle" he doesn't mean "lazy" - well, not entirely, anyway - rather that the best way to live is doing what you want to do rather than struggling to meet some sort of ideal. At least, I think that's what it is...

Basically, for me Idle Parenting means enjoying your children, but also leaving the alone to get on with, well, whatever they want to get on with. 

BOOK CLUB: December - Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman

I think everyone probably knows what I think of this book by now, since I've gone on and on about it here, there and everywhere. 

It is, quite simply, one of my favourite books of all time. It changed the way I felt about having a second child. It changed the way I feel about parenting in general. It made me laugh a lot and cry quite a lot too. I want everyone to read it. 

Did you read it? (Please say yes!) Did you love it? (You MUST have loved it!)

BOOK REVIEW: The Lost Child by Julie Myerson

After being appalled by the collection of Julie Myerson's Guardian columns, Living With Teenagers, I had mixed feelings about reading The Lost Child. On the one hand, I wanted to see for myself whether all the outraged editorials had been justified. On the other, I really didn't want to be horrified and terrified all over again.

As it turned out, I remain in two minds after reading it. I think it's an incredible book: brave and honest and important. On the other, it is absolutely heartbreaking and there are some bits I know I will remember and wish I could forget. It also made me look at Living With Teenagers in a different way and (if you can imagine this) dislike that book even more.

BOOK NEWS: Ask Your Father

I knew the time would come when Harry would start to ask questions. Relentlessly. But I think I'd blocked it out. And yet here we are. Yesterday he asked "Why does moons live in earth?" I couldn't really get a handle on the question let alone have the knowledge to answer it. Later the same day and, inevitably, in a public place: "Why don't womans have willies?" "Er. Because... Because... Well. It's complicated..."

So I need Emma Cook's Ask Your Father. It's collected from her  column in The Times, in which she seeks expert opinion to back up her own experience as a parent and, according to the publisher, "provides succinct, on-the-button advice to every question you could possibly have the misfortune to be faced with."

Feel free to share your children's most embarrassing questions - and your answers - in the comments!

BOOK REVIEW: Living With Teenagers by Julie Myerson

We usually have a positive reviews policy here at Five Minutes Peace. This is not going to be a positive review. But this book had such an effect on me that I couldn't not write about it.

I really need to begin with a little history... for months, my husband would read the Living With Teenagers column in The Guardian on a Saturday and say, "Listen to this..." Invariably, I'd reply, "I don't want to hear it. No. Stop reading! If I wanted to read it I'd read it myself." And he'd say, "I know, but just listen to this..." and either "these kids are so awful" or "these parents are such idiots." Occasionally I'd listen and I'd always wish I hadn't. I didn't know why anyone would want to read about such appalling behaviour. 

And then it emerged that the anonymous writer of the columns was author Julie Myerson. (The news came out as a result of Myerson writing a non-fiction book, The Lost Child, partly about her eldest son's addiction to cannabis.) A while ago, I read Myerson's memoir, Home, and absolutely loved it. It was not only fascinating, it also gave me lifestyle envy: her beautiful house, her wonderful husband, her gorgeous kids. How could those little sweethearts possibly be the same horrors my husband insisted on telling me about? How? And so I got the book - the Living With Teenagers columns collected - from the library.

FMP RECOMMENDS: Momversation

I have no idea why I read so many so-called "mommybloggers" when I don't have a child myself and am not planning one anytime soon (maybe they're interesting people who write well, or something?) but I do. 

And so I have become a little bit obsessed with Momversation, the site where some of my favourite bloggers who happen to have children discuss everything from whether circumcision is cruel to finding time to read (and what their favourite books are when they do get to curl up with one). 

My holiday reading list - what's yours?

Yes, it's that time of year again. I'm going away for a week and so have the joy and stress of compiling a selection of books to take with me. This year we're actually probably going to be away for less than a week, but I'm taking seven books anyway. A book a day is beyond hopeful with a 5-year-old and a 6-month-old, but I'm taking them anyway. Just in case.

As usual, I have to take a selection of non-fiction, fiction (both adult and young adult), books that I've been looking forward to reading and books I've been saving for holiday. Oh and one book that I don't really want to read, but know I should (guess which one?).

BOOK REVIEW: It Sucked and then I Cried by Heather B Armstrong

For years I'd been hearing about Dooce, the personal blog of Heather Armstrong, but I hadn't ever read it. And then someone (I think it was my friend and former Trashionista co-editor, Diane Shipley) described her as "my beloved Dooce" and I thought it was about time I checked it out. So I did. And I didn't get it.

But then I read the title of Armstrong's memoir - It Sucked and Then I Cried - and I thought I should check her out again. And I did. And I LOVED her. I read some archive posts. I read many, many comments from utter nutjobs (some anti-Heather, some pro-Heather to the point of obsession). I also read that both she and her husband are entirely financially supported by her blog. So of course - of course - I bought the book.

BOOK REVIEW: How to be an 'Amazing Mum' When You Just Don't Have the Time by Tanith Carey

I didn't have incredibly high hopes for this book, I must admit. I'm a bit wary of books like this, they usually contain all the same tips we've all heard before many, many times. But this book is different. The tips are creative, ingenious and, most importantly, useful.

Divided into two parts, the first part deals with the home and the kids and the second is aimed at showing you how to look after yourself. There are chapters on cutting how much time you spend cooking, choosing toys that require less tidying up, heading off tantrums, road trips and more.

BOOK REVIEW: Mommywood by Tori Spelling

Motherhood is something of a hot topic for Tori Spelling. As well as being the mother of two young children (Liam and Stella, who are two and one respectively), she famously does not speak to her own mother, Candy. Fanning the flames of their argument, Candy recently wrote her own book, Stories from Candyland, to give her side of the story... And then went on the Larry King show to talk about how she blames Tori for the death of her father, TV magnate Aaron Spelling.

Mommywood is mostly a memoir of Tori's experiences as a Hollywood parent but it is also an indictment of her mother and all the things she did wrong. These range from not letting Tori choose the car she wanted when she passed her driving test to withdrawing funding for a post-wedding breakfast that Candy herself had organised and which Tori and her husband couldn't afford to pay for. And then there was the open letter her mother send to the tabloids, saying she didn't want a feud, she only wanted to see her daughter and grandchildren... Which seems odd considering she apparently had Tori's nanny's number all along.