Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearson’s smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as “The national anthem for working mothers.” Hedge-fund manager, wife, and mother of two, Kate Reddy manages to juggle nine currencies in five time zones and keep in step with the Teletubbies. But when she finds herself awake at 1:37 a.m. in a panic over the need to produce a … a homemade pie for her daughter’s school, she has to admit her life has become unrecognizable. With panache, wisdom, and uproarious wit, I Don’t Know How She Does It brilliantly dramatizes the dilemma of every working mom.
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I saw the movie loosely based on this book; the original book is so much better. The author has a wonderful way of relating things and makes the story very believable. Don’t know if it is autobiographic but definitely could be of an overachieving young mother today. Great book!
Really enjoyed reading this. I Don’t Know How She Does It came out 20 years ago, I was surprised to see on the copyright page, but it stood the test of time for me. Balancing motherhood and career is still pertinent today. Recommended ChickLit/Women’s Fiction/Upmarket read.
This book was to me as a young mother what Bridget Jone’s Diary was to me as a singleton. I thought I was the only person who sat in bed all night reviewing my to do list. And Allison Pearson taught me how to handle bake sales and I’ve never looked back!
This book is so honest and so human and so incredibly funny. If you have kids, read it. If you don’t have kids, read it any way so you will understand why your friends with kids twitch like that when you see them.
I started reading this book after reading the description of a new book being released (how hard can it be? release date June 5th). I decided to read this first book in the series before reading the new book.
Edit: It is now June 8th and I have received the second book in a contest. I am going to read it. After time has passed, I do want to know more about Kate and if she can become the person I know is truly inside her. Now on to what I wrote originally about the book.
After reading this book, I will not be reading the second book. While I thought the writing was excellent, the book itself was a challenge to read. I loved it at first, thinking that it was a wife/mother/full time worker (of a high pressured job) blowing off steam about men. I agreed with so much of what the main character (Kate) felt at this point of my reading.
Then the book made a turn for the worse with me. When Kate began an inappropriate relationship with a male client. (Where do you draw the line that it is an affair – when the act of having sex is preformed, or when your mind is more on the other person, then on your husband and children?, when the only thing you truly enjoy in your life is communicating with this other person?) I seriously wanted to stop reading at this point. The funny, truthful jabs at males had become too much for me to read. The men she dealt with at work mostly deserved all that she thought of them and much more. I hope it is truly not like this in the world today in top positions in the financial district or anywhere, but I know that it does go on and that is awful hard to bare.
By 2/3 of the book, I really wanted to stop reading. I disliked Kate and her co-workers so much. I kept at it, hoping she would see the light at some point and realize that her children were growing up without her, she was losing her wonderful husband and also her soul.
When I finally finished the book, I was glad I had read it, but I don’t want to enter the world of Kate again, so I will not continue with the story. Since I do not want to include spoilers, I will not write more, but just know that this is not an easy book to read. It is full of emotions and most of them not warm and cuddly.
Stopped reading after a few chapters which I never do. Too much rambling and no plot.
Loved her writing style.
I saw the movie loosely based on this book; the original book is so much better. The author has a wonderful way of relating things and makes the story very believable. Don’t know if it is autobiographic but definitely could be of an overachieving young mother today. Great book!
Really enjoyed reading this. I Don’t Know How She Does It came out 20 years ago, I was surprised to see on the copyright page, but it stood the test of time for me. Balancing motherhood and career is still pertinent today. Recommended ChickLit/Women’s Fiction/Upmarket read.
This book was to me as a young mother what Bridget Jone’s Diary was to me as a singleton. I thought I was the only person who sat in bed all night reviewing my to do list. And Allison Pearson taught me how to handle bake sales and I’ve never looked back!
This book is so honest and so human and so incredibly funny. If you have kids, read it. If you don’t have kids, read it any way so you will understand why your friends with kids twitch like that when you see them.
I started reading this book after reading the description of a new book being released (how hard can it be? release date June 5th). I decided to read this first book in the series before reading the new book.
Edit: It is now June 8th and I have received the second book in a contest. I am going to read it. After time has passed, I do want to know more about Kate and if she can become the person I know is truly inside her. Now on to what I wrote originally about the book.
After reading this book, I will not be reading the second book. While I thought the writing was excellent, the book itself was a challenge to read. I loved it at first, thinking that it was a wife/mother/full time worker (of a high pressured job) blowing off steam about men. I agreed with so much of what the main character (Kate) felt at this point of my reading.
Then the book made a turn for the worse with me. When Kate began an inappropriate relationship with a male client. (Where do you draw the line that it is an affair – when the act of having sex is preformed, or when your mind is more on the other person, then on your husband and children?, when the only thing you truly enjoy in your life is communicating with this other person?) I seriously wanted to stop reading at this point. The funny, truthful jabs at males had become too much for me to read. The men she dealt with at work mostly deserved all that she thought of them and much more. I hope it is truly not like this in the world today in top positions in the financial district or anywhere, but I know that it does go on and that is awful hard to bare.
By 2/3 of the book, I really wanted to stop reading. I disliked Kate and her co-workers so much. I kept at it, hoping she would see the light at some point and realize that her children were growing up without her, she was losing her wonderful husband and also her soul.
When I finally finished the book, I was glad I had read it, but I don’t want to enter the world of Kate again, so I will not continue with the story. Since I do not want to include spoilers, I will not write more, but just know that this is not an easy book to read. It is full of emotions and most of them not warm and cuddly.
Stopped reading after a few chapters which I never do. Too much rambling and no plot.
Loved her writing style.