Mom Needs A Moment by Cassidy Freitas

MOM NEEDS A MOMENT by Cassidy Freitas explores “How to Stop Your Reaction Before It Starts... and Become a Calmer, Happier, More Connected Parent.” Dr. Freitas is a licensed family and marriage counselor and host of the weekly Holding Space podcast. In chapters titled Traumas and Triggers, All the Feelings, Being in the Moment, etc., she writes here about emotions related to being a parent, especially a Mom. Freitas is excellent at describing the range of reactions: “A hypervigilant part trying to anticipate every need before it exploded into chaos; A perfectionist part desperate to keep it all together; A wounded part still aching from past moments when asking for help led to disappointment or shame. ... All I knew was that I felt broken. And alone.” Admitting her own concerns and needs regarding motherhood, she writes about magic in the margins: “These are the spaces where your body can exhale and you can come back to yourself, where you can remember that you don't have to live in constant reaction mode, that you have choices. … They allow me to slow down, to notice, to be present.” In a calm and helpful way, she offers insights regarding the difficulty of changing patterns based on generational cycles that show up in everyday parenting. Understanding her audience, she provides notes at the end of each chapter, with “major themes, tools, and actionable next steps described.” Reading MOM NEEDS A MOMENT will benefit Moms, caregivers, and grandparents alike. 

Everything Changes Everything by Lauren Kessler

EVERYTHING CHANGES EVERYTHING by Lauren Kessler is a memoir which covers “Love, Loss, and a Really Long Walk.” Kessler, an award-winning author and teacher, shares the emotional story of the assisted suicide death of her husband and the overdose of her daughter a few months later. These heavy topics are treated reverently and insights conveyed poignantly through beautiful writing:

“I can, ever so hesitantly, every once in a while, sit across from a friend and let them in on a sliver of my life. But I can't turn my head on the pillow at night and talk to the person who knows me as much as I have ever let anyone know me.”

“WIDOW. WINDOW. I am not trying to be clever. I'm saying that widowhood is a window. Looking through it, you can view, assess, learn from, cry over, laugh about, regret, celebrate - everything - a marriage that was, the relationship that helped define you for decades. Falling in love is easy. A long marriage is hard.”

Referring to her husband and their children: “I have a past that does not include him. They do not.”

“…so much a part of who I am, and who I will ever be. I am walking through the world with them and without them. There is no denouement. The story continues.”

Kessler intersperses flashbacks about her family and feelings with the story of her walk along the Camino Francés, an ancient 500-mile pilgrimage route between Spain and France. At times a physically challenging route, this endeavor (requiring about a month to complete) allowed her to spend time alone, to observe nature, visit picturesque villages, and meet new people – essentially an opportunity to reflect on her life before and in the future. Kessler writes about “a lesson of the Camino that translates directly to life: that occasionally and gloriously, there are true aha moments, but mostly there is the long slog toward making sense of who you are.”  Along the way, she quotes Mary Oliver (“When Death Comes…”) and comedian George Carlin (“I want to live my life backwards…”).

I would also highly recommend The Salt Path by Raynor Winn and Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks; these, too, deal with time spent in nature and self-reflection while facing the loss of a spouse.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY is the latest novel by award-winning author Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton, and more). Once again, Strout offers readers insight into the thoughts and feelings of a “regular” person: in this case, fifty-seven-year-old Artie Dam who is married to Evie with one son, Rob and teaches high school history classes where he impacts the lives of students like Danny Marino and Rhonda Lazarre. Strout writes, “all of us live with a huge blind spot before our eyes, meaning that no matter what we think we know we can never fully understand how we appear to others.” This is a bittersweet story which explores themes of loneliness, sadness, compassion, perspective, inter-connectedness, and, overall, the secrets we keep. There are several upheavals in Artie’s life and one in particular leaves him feeling “as though he had lived these many years looking at things from one angle, and now it was as though someone had turned him partly in a different direction and everything - everything - looked different.” Both melancholy and hopeful (“it was a private thing to be alive”), THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY received a starred review from Booklist.

The Queen's Coronation by Jennifer Ryan

THE QUEEN'S CORONATION by Jennifer Ryan (The Kitchen Front and more) is a work of historical fiction set in early 1950’s Britain. Based in large part on reminiscences from her grandmother, Ryan has written numerous books set during WWII and I would recommend those over this latest. Here, readers will again find women building a community and supporting each other, but this book seemed to focus more on their problems and to be more repetitive than Ryan’s other novels. THE QUEEN'S CORONATION is still a good story involving Caroline, an assistant dresser to the Queen; Lucy, a beautiful aspiring singer who is taken advantage of; and Miranda, a self-centered, independent newspaper woman. Because of events in their pasts (an out of wedlock pregnancy, potential for stepparent abuse; and widowhood), each of these women struggles with her own feelings of inadequacy. Whereas Ryan’s books are often more about a group of women actively encouraging each other, this one seems to focus on the individual plights and the unhappiness and abandonment faced by Caroline, Lucy, and Miranda. Earlier works are more uplifting; this one compensates with some “inside” details on the coronation and the young queen as she, too, copes with 1950s gender stereotypes and expectations.

The Hardest, Longest Race by Eric Moskowitz

THE HARDEST, LONGEST RACE by Eric Moskowitz takes place in 1909 and describes “Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America.” Through daily accounts of the Ocean-to-Ocean Automobile Endurance Contest, Moskowitz transports readers back to time when automobile was a novelty and paved roads and signage did not exist widely. It was amazing to imagine having to traverse the continental US (a daunting three week and 4,106-mile trek from New York to Seattle) while needing local human guides because maps and directions were so incomplete. Ford entered two cars in the race and had an obvious advantage (how was that fair?) due to his nationwide network of dealers and his company further flaunts the rules, resulting in a scandal. The other three contestants were the Shawmut Roundabout, Acme, and Itala, names we no longer associate with automobiles. At that time, there were roughly 250 companies vying for car sales to early adopters. For perspective, about one in 500 Americans owned a car; in 1909, over 18,000 Model Ts had been registered and the $850 cost (compared to $4000 for some luxury brands) was equivalent to about $30,000 today. Moskowitz, a former columnist at The Boston Globe, does his best to intersperse personal details about the drivers and navigators in this story, using primary sources like their letters and contemporary newspaper accounts (an extensive list is acknowledged in Notes). Still, I found it helpful to read THE HARDEST, LONGEST RACE in parts as it is difficult to maintain excitement and interest in a literal “slog” (oh, the mud!) from point A to point B. There were many, many people involved, and Moskowitz includes an Epilogue to explain what happened to them. A helpful Index is also provided.

Healthy Living High-Protein Cookbook by Toby Amidor

HEALTHY LIVING HIGH-PROTEIN COOKBOOK by Toby Amidor really has appeal for its “Easy Low-Carb Recipes for Strength, Energy, and Metabolic Health.” Amidor, a leading dietitian and recipe developer, follows through on the promise of easy – most recipes have relatively few ingredients, almost all readily found in your pantry (and sample shopping lists are included), and many recipes are freezer friendly or made in one pot. The cookbook is divided into two parts with the first covering Why Protein Matters, Building a Protein Rich Life, and then Cooking and Planning for Protein Success. The second, longer, part contains recipes which are grouped into fairly classic categories like Breakfasts, Fish and Seafood Mains or Poultry and Meat Mains, but they all have a High Protein focus including the ones on Smoothies and Shakes or Snacks and Sweets. Amidor’s biography says that she “believes that healthy and wholesome can also be appetizing and delicious” and recipes like Chicken, Pepper, and Mushroom Scramble or Salmon Salad Stuffed Pita reflect that thinking. With an eye towards improving their diets, readers will be genuinely excited to try many of her suggestions, including a Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Farro Casserole, Rotisserie Chicken Wrap, and Wild Blueberry Power Smoothie. All recipes have nutrition and calorie information included; plus, meal prep storage suggestions and times are listed. Although, each one does not have an accompanying picture, many photos are interspersed and are close-up, tempting, and colorful.

For those interested in more recipes, you may also wish to have a look at Well-Plated by Erin.

What I Wish I Knew about Luck by Seelig

WHAT I WISH I KNEW ABOUT LUCK by Tina Seelig (What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20) has three main parts: Construct Your Ship; Recruit Your Crew; And Hoist Your Sail, reflecting Seelig’s propensity to give direction and guidance to young readers especially. She draws on her teaching experience of more than twenty-five years at Stanford and encourages readers to begin by changing their mindsets and behavior to more actively take calculated risks. Her main argument is that rather than being apparently brought in by chance, luck is the result of deliberate actions. She writes, “Luck is like the wind, often unpredictable, and always in motion.” One’s prepared mind (core values, skills, risk profile, goals) is essential along with the support of mentors, friends, family, collaborators and a willingness to do the hard work (the afore-mentioned risk taking, plus stretching beyond your comfort zone, showing up, and recovering from inevitable failures). Seelig’s tone is conversational but buoyed by both research and personal stories. WHAT I WISH I KNEW ABOUT LUCK is a practical, action oriented guide. Each chapter has a saying at the beginning to help readers reflect as they read and “A few questions that are designed to help you assess how you can now - or could in the future - increase your luck by applying the ideas in that chapter.”  Notes and Index comprise about ten percent of the book. 

For more on Seelig’s perspective, here is her TEDTalk from a few years ago: