Don't Call Me Mom: How to Improve Your In-Law Relationships

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I have struggled to get along with my boyfriend's parents for the past year and, having read the positive reviews on the cover, had strong hopes that this book would offer some insight into how I could make things better with them.

I think that calling this book a "how-to" guide is misleading. This is mainly a collection of anecdotes from a variety of "in-laws". About 70% of these stories are about positive in-law relationships. The author merely strings these stories together and at the end of each chapter offers a small paragraph or two of vaguely-defined, common-sense suggestions.

If you are looking for some real life stories that you can relate to, you may enjoy this book. But if you are having real difficulties with your in-laws or prospective in-laws, this book offers little solid advice or insight.

Rating:
Summary: Social Work At Work
Review: In Don't Call Me Mom: How To Improve Your In-Law Relationships, Leah Averick brings into focus one of society's most complex and troublesome relationships. By encouraging people from different walks of life to talk about their in-law experiences -- experiences that readers will quickly and easily recognize as applicable to their own life situations -- important insights and understandings are obtained. To this Averick adds her own useful interpretations and suggestions, in this way providing worthwhile guidelines to readers for dealing with their own feelings and behaviors in this important area of every day life.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Inlaw Relationships Priceless
Review: Unlike baking an instant cake, successfully coping with and managing family relationships is a complex task. The wide range of potential issues and approaches call for sensitivity, perceptiveness and understanding.

I found that this book provided me with a valuable perspective as well as insights and creative ways to improve inlaw relationships, well really, ALL kinds of family relationships.

Best of all, this book is not written in some obscure, multi-syllabic medical or technical style. It is very "digestible" information and I recommend it to anyone about to "acquire" a new set of inlaws or someone who is facing inlaw issues today.

I'm hoping to see future writings by this very accessible, human author who demonstrates the compassion and understanding we all need to improve our family relationships.