Love Mom, Messages from Home
I was sent the book, Love Mom, Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home from the publisher. Huge thanks. The authors, Doree Shafrir and Jessica Grose are both journalists who have been involved with some of the most original online sites focused on replacing old school print publications.
The book is a collection of emails from mothers to their adult kids. Each chapter is devoted to particular "momisms". Conceptually, I really liked the idea immediately and looked forward to reading the book.
The first thought that came to my head was a month long exchange I had with my best friend this past July. I was in Paris and she was in NYC. Through BBM (Blackberry Messaging) we kept up an entire conversation daily with shooting info back and forth. We didn't need more than a few words to completely understand what the other one meant and I thought it would be a funny book. I am sure that there are loads of hilarious interactions through IM or BBM.
Maybe it was the age of the mothers or the content of their notes but I didn't really find the book that engaging. I wanted to but after a few chapters, I was done. I attempted to finish with a serious glance at the remaining chapters. Maybe because I have a kid about to leave the nest and I can't imagine writing some of the emails in the book. Not sure but the book just didn't sit with me.
I really did want to love the book but I think that I just loved was the concept.