My 2021 Mother’s Day Book Recommendation
April 29, 2021
Dear Mr. Hemingway,
Today I am talking all about moms (I am aware that this can be a sore subject for you). We are master jugglers, keeper of secrets and the CEOs of our homes and everything that lives and breathes beneath our roofs. Whether we work outside the home or wear the SAHM (stay at home mom) hat with style, we are a force to be reckoned with. We are by no means perfect though. Life continues to shape us each day, and living during a global pandemic has whittled our form in unexpected ways. With that said, Zibby Owens, the host of the award winning podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time To Read Books has a new book to comfort our souls. Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology is a book of essays written by dozens of best selling authors. All of the essays reflect the things they do not have time to do as moms, during these unprecedented times. This book provides laughter, a few tears and most of all… good company during a truly crappy time. Let’s take a look.
When the pandemic began, Owens launched an online magazine called We Found Time, where authors who appeared on her literary podcast wrote unique essays about life during quarantine. The success of this series led Owens to compile all of these beautiful essays and create an anthology for busy readers (AKA…moms). The essays fell into five different categories of things moms don’t have time to do: eat, read, work out, breathe and have sex. How brilliant is that? All the things I have zero time for these days. Here are some of my favorite essays to wet your whistles.
I absolutely loved and related to author Ashley Prentice Norton’s essay titled, Why Moms Really Join Book Clubs. Let’s face it, our IRL book clubs are way more than a fantastic book selection. They serve as an excuse for a cocktail midweek, an escape from our homes during primetime bedtime routines, and most importantly…a place to laugh, cry and everything in between. Zibby Owen’s essay, Racing Against The Coronavirus: How Working Out Is Keeping Me Sane not only inspired me, but gave me hope that I too, could, and would enjoy working out one day (trying to figure that one out still 😂). Author Courtney Maum had me dreaming of pineapples, freshly squeezed OJ and a simpler life in Mexico. My heart strings felt quite the tug reading Julie Satow’s, Does My Daughter Miss Her Babysitter Too Much? She truly tapped into what constitutes a family unit and the loss we feel when we are not physically connected to the people who are ginormous parts of our lives. And lastly, I literally almost died reading author Lisa Barr’s essay, Forget Date Night-Try Date Day. I couldn’t agree with her more that “dating” your husband during the day is way hotter than the ritualistic “date night”. But with shelter in place with your kids all around you now the hot new dating spot, suddenly sexy foreplay through texting is out and emptying the dishwasher is the new turn on. Barr was quick to note that “this virus is a serious cockblocker”, and I concur with her statement 100%!
Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Zibby Owen’s anthology has got you covered in the gift giving department. MOMS NEED TIME TO READ THIS BOOK and the greatest thing is that it can be read in short snippets of time. Moms can enjoy an essay before work, during a lunch break, in a school pickup line or right before bed. The odds of relating to one or more of these gleaming essays are high. It’s a timeless book of being a mom during extraordinary times. These essays are a literary hug to moms, a gift that keeps on giving long after they are read. Gift this treasure to someone who is “momming hard” this Mother’s Day.!
Until next time my friend!
Your Biggest Fan,
Kelly
P.S. All proceeds of this book will go to the Susan Felice Owens Program for Covid-19 Vaccine Research at Mount Sinai Health System.
P.P.S. Be sure to check out Zibby Owens and all that she does. She is a ray of sunshine in the literary world.
