An absolute must read for anyone who’s ever raised a family and loved a dog.  Grogan’s account of life with Marley will make you laugh and cry.  It’s more than a “funny dog story.”  Marley and Me is the story of how John, Jenny, their three children and Marley became a family

A sarcastic and humorous glimpse into the world of a first-time mom.  You can’t take this book seriously, as it will probably make fun of some aspect of parenting that you hold near and dear.  However, every new mom needs a good laugh, and this one made me laugh out loud.  So if you’re caught in the drudgery of being a mom, check out this book and laugh at yourself and your life.  Trust me, you’ll feel better!

I just discovered the sequel…Naptime is the New Happy Hour.  As I’m thoroughly enjoying the fact that BOTH of my kids are sleeping AT THE SAME TIME, I couldn’t agree more.

Shortly after the birth of their twin sons, Groneberg and her husband were told that one of their sons had down syndrome.  Road Map to Holland tells of their first two years as a family.  A book every parent should read.  Well written and honest.

Burch recounts the tragic period in his childhood, beginning at age 8 when he is dropped off at an orphanage without explanation by his mother.  Burch is then bounced from institution to home to foster home and back to institutions for the next several years.  He never knows if or when he will see his family again, and his only comfort is an old stuffed animal taken from an orphanage.  Burch struggles to learn the rules in every new place that he visits, but the hardest rule to accept comes from a boy his own age:

“There ain’t no friends in here. . . It’s like this.  If you got a friend in here and they go away someplace, then you’re left by yourself, alone.  And if you keep making friends and they keep going away, then over and over again, you’re alone. . . It hurts.”

But in spite of this rule, and in spite of the abandonment and abuse that Burch repeatedly experiences, he eventually learns to love and receive love.

A simply delightful book by the author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander is one of the real-life sons of author Judith Viorst. When he, his wife and 3 children come to live with Viorst and her husband for 3 months while their home is being remodeled, Viorst siezes the opportunity to write about the experience of 3 generations living together. What results is a humorous accounting of how the family coped, mixed with some practical advice for adult family living together. I enjoyed this book (reading from Alexander’s perspective) but I think that grandparents who have had grown children and grandchildren come back to live (or even just to visit) will enjoy it even more.