Mama Lit

You know when you're a mom it can be tough to steal away to read.  If and when the little pumpkin naps, you must weigh your options: check email, update the blog, prepare dinner, prepare your sunday school lesson, complete your work assignment, do some yoga, catch up on episodes of Parks and Recreation, finish knitting that sweater for your niece, or even take a nap yourself.  But reading is a must!  Don't you feel as though you would wither away without this retreat?

There are always several books by my bedside.  Sometimes I feel like getting lost in a novel, sometimes I need some factual magazine instant gratification, and sometimes Shakespeare beckons me.  I recently came across this list on NPR and I'm intrigued: Three Books for a More Honest Mother's Day.  It seems there is a whole new genre of books out there: Mama Lit (this was news to me!). A quick search on Amazon turned up a plethora of Mama Lit choices, from books with titles like What Do you Do All Day? to The Yummy Mummy to Yoga Mamas I see I have some fluffier options to add to my ever-expanding reading list.

I recently finished reading The Ghost Map: The Story of London' Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Cities, Science and the Modern World by Steven Johnson, Posession by A.S. Byatt and Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl .  All were delicious getaways and I highly recommend them. 

Currently I'm working through:
The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar
Collected Poems, 1957-1982 by Wendell Berry
Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen

Phew!  (Can you tell I love making lists?)  I love recommendations, though.  So all you saucy and savvy mamas out there, what are you reading these days?