American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld

I was in the bookstore wandering around looking for something light to read and came across this novel. I read Prep and really enjoyed it, so I picked this up, not completely knowing what to expect.

I ended up really liking this book. It follows the life of Alice Blackwell from childhood through adulthood. Alice lived a fairly humble life in a good home, until a tragic accident occurred when she was a senior in high school. Many years later, Alice meets Charlie, falls in love, and gets married. Charlie is an aspiring politician from a well known and affluent family in Wisconsin.

Alice and Charlie have their ups and downs throughout their marriage. Alice has very different political beliefs than Charlie, which causes conflict and tension. Eventually, Charlie ends up elected President of the United States.

Sittenfeld said that he modeled the character of Alice after Laura Bush, and I could really see that in this novel. It was a very interesting read. I loved it up until the final portion of the book where Charlie became President. But, I didn't dislike that part enough for it to spoil my thoughts of the rest of the book. It was a really well told, realistic, and engrossing story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an engaging, but still light, read.

Baby Bargains

In my quest to start buying things for the baby coming, I purchased a copy of this book, which has recently been updated (8th edition). I was on a quest to find all of the most economical things we would need at the best prices I could find. This book was perfect. It lived up to all of the praise I have heard about it the last seven months.

Being a new mom, I really had no idea what I was going to need and when I was going to need it. Going in blind, I had no idea there were three levels of car seats – infant, convertible, and booster. Which one is going to be the safest for my baby? I had no idea. Really? I'm going to have to buy three car seats for this kid?

The book is organized into chapters by item. Each item is fully described by brand and is given a rating. The book does a really great job of detailing both safety information and pricing for each of the various baby items out there on the market.

I really don’t know what I would have done without the help of this book. A definite must read for all new parents to be.