Rating: 
Summary: good info, annoying tone
Review: As an 'ambitious' woman contemplating motherhood, I find this book to be a good source for addressing important issues which seem to be neglected in the mainstream press. I am happy that I purchased it and read it.However, the author's constant anger left me annoyed. Although gender equity is an honorable goal and worthy of advocacy, what's the point in spending your life angry and bitter? Each time the author wrote of her anger towards her seemingly wonderful, but imperfect husband (who's perfect?), the American medical establishment or American society at large, I could only think of the millions of girls around the world who are forced to undergo FGM, marry as teenagers and have baby after baby in life-risking circumstances everyday. It's clear that our society hasn't put in place the most respectful and equitable options for women, but life is a lot crueler for most women in the world. Can the author not recognize how well-off she already is? Discussing these issues is a wonderful activity --wallowing in anger, however, seems highly unproductive.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I needed
Review: I had read exerpts of this book and thought I would love it. I did not.I understood her big "why" questions as well as frustration with the 50/50 husband situation. But I got such a bitter, angry, unresolved tone from her writing that I couldn't enjoy the book. The next week I read You Make Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman by Judith Newman. It made me laugh while looking at realities of motherhood. It helped me to regain my own sense of humor in the midst of the motherhood issue.
Rating:
Summary: Do you need a master's degree to be a Mom?
Review: This is a must read for any mother who worked diligently to educate herself and have a career, but gave it all up to be home with her children. Faulkner Fox describes her experiences as a new mom at home with one baby, and later a toddler and a baby, while her husband pursues his interests outside of the house. She tries to understand what her role is now and why, although she completely loves and adores her children, she still feels less than happy. Fox's writing is funny, honest, and sad. Stay-at-home-moms are lucky to be at home, but they also give up their own pursuits and interests. It is a heartbreaking dilemma because the children are only young for such a short period of time. Fox shares her personal experiences as a woman who has given birth to two children, works hard to engage and nurture them, but who also needs enriching experiences in her own adult life. Well-written and engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: Made me think, made me angry, made me love the book!
Review: At some points in this book I felt so annoyed with the author I could scream. I felt like telling her "you are so lucky to have the husband you have, and you can't EXPECT the very early breast-feeding years to be equally divided in terms of child care---it's a biological fact!" However, what I loved about the book is that it made me think constantly, and that it was unfailingly honest. Also, the author's love for her children shone through. A book like this will help a lot of mothers realize that's OKAY to feel totally fed up with how your life feels on any given day, and that doesn't mean you don't love your kids or husband just as much. A couple ideas and points I especially liked---how Faulkner gradually found a way to make "mother-friends" and to understand that this type of friendship is not going to be the same as other friendships, but it doesn't make it less real, and how she articulated something I have long felt---for some of us that really love conversation, the best part of mothering doesn't kick in until the kids can talk! Also, I thought until this reading that my kids were the only ones on earth fascinated by conjoined twins! I don't agree with everything written here, but that's not the point of reading always---it's sometimes more important to be made to think and question than to just have all the feelings you already have validified.
Rating:
Summary: Tepid and Poorly Written
Review: Unfortunately, the author comes across as though she were whining. There are real issues to explore here, however, her attempts to do so are unsuccessful. I also found her writing to be scattered. As a result, no momentum was built around any particular concern. The book came across as a bunch of minor complaints--from an extremely privileged woman. Other books in this genre that really hit the nail on the head include, Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions, and Mothers Who Think (an excellent collection of contemporary essays.) Also, the quarterly magazine, Brain Child, features consistently great writing on these issues.
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