This is a decent program if you intend to stick with it, but if you decide to buy this book, keep in mind you will also have to buy weights and possibly other exercise stuff. Also, it’s intended for brides who start working out early on, so if you don’t intend to use it, buy it at least several months ahead of your wedding.

Last week, as my partner and I were leaving our second class of the series required for potential foster parents, we spoke with the foster parent who is co-leading our training. He mentioned that his wife had written a book (now two, actually) about their experience as foster parents, called “Another Place at the Table”. Voila! I pulled my copy of the book out of my bag, much to his surprise. I was already pretty excited that the author of this book was a foster parent for the same DSS office that we will be with, and now I was very happy to be looking prepared, though it was just sheer coincidence that had ordered the book a couple of weeks before.
This one hardly needs another spectacular review, but I want to extoll its quality anyway. Having just finished one book on foster care, I picked this one up to start yesterday and couldn’t put it down. The stories of the children who grace these pages and the very real and unsentimental voice of the author had me riveted and tearful and joyful- I finished the whole thing in one sitting. The stories are frequently heartbreaking and the author’s experience clearly wrenching, but while it did much to scare me about becoming a foster parent, the underlying sense of hope and purpose came back to me every time, as it does for Kathy Harrison. I just hope that I can approach the task with similar good sense and resiliency, and am quite grateful to have Bruce Harrison at our classes to share his experience with us. So, of course, for me as a prospective foster parent, this book is amazing and I very much intend to read Kathy’s new book. This book is for everybody, though- it’s an amazing read. So read it- it’s worth consuming!

Since there was no picture and not much description at Amazon, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I ordered this book. Published in 1974 by the Child Welfare League of America, this is a short book that is part overview of foster care and part suggestion/instruction book for new foster parents. Though some of the information about the system may be outdated or vary from state to state, an overview of the system from the perspective of an experienced foster parent is a useful tool for someone considering or just beginning their journey as foster parents. My favorite parts of the book were those specifically about the children, especially about welcoming a child, integrating him/her into your family life, easing his/her transitions when it comes to moves, visits, and other changes, and troubleshooting problems that the author dealt with regularly in her experience. Considering the myriad problems and difficulties involved in foster care can be daunting, and though much more could be written about the subject, it is immensely reassuring to have some guidelines and suggestions in hand from a foster parent in the trenches. For those considering or just beginning foster parenting, worth consuming!

“Buying Dad” was an enjoyable and funny read for me, and I loved all the detail as Aizley brings her readers through each step of her journey to parenting. I was bothered by some stereotypes and negative generalizations about other lesbians (and herself), as well as some criticism of certain other lesbians’ journeys on the same path (for example, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to want to avoid having kids from the same donor as your neighbor, if that’s how you feel about it). Aizley’s stories of standing up to medical professionals when they weren’t treating her well are great tools for other women who may also have to deal with that problem, and her descriptions of family and interpersonal relationships made me laugh out loud many times. The heartbreaking theme also running through the book is Aizley’s simultaneous journey through her mother’s relapse into and eventual death from cancer, and I found myself impressed by her ability to handle birth and death in her life at the same time, and appreciated the way she wrote about life’s two guaranteed events. It’s wonderful to read the story of the coming of a baby who is so very much loved and wanted.

This one was very helpful both in allaying some of my fears and bringing up some new ideas to think about as my partner and I work toward becoming parents. The developmental information is especially thought-provoking, particularly coming from the authors as developmental psychologists. I’m hoping it will go well with a book by kids of same-sex parents (what I hope to read next on this topic).

This is a great view into what 3rd wave feminists are doing these days, giving the younger generation the credit they usually don’t get for their activism, while also emphasizing a hefty responsibility to learn about and from the 2nd wavers. By the time you get to the suggested actions at the end of the book, it’s easy to understand the historical context and the possible ways of putting those lists into practice. One of my favorites.

Wow. One of my favorite books. I think this is my favorite in non-fiction. Very well written with a multi-faceted feminist critique of sexism in historiography, as well as the best overview of the history of women and patriarchy that I’ve read, from pre-history on up.