Books & A New Mom's New Life

After the baby was born and I had enough sleep to not always make sleep my top priority (about six weeks later), I started looking for books to read while the baby was nursing or napping. I read a number of books before realizing my current criteria for books:

1. Lightweight.

I picked up Cryptonomicon (which I adored when I read it the first time and am slightly shocked at myself for not yet having reread it) and, although it is a paperback, it is a heavy paperback. On the second page an acute pain shot through my wrist. For the next two days I could not use that hand to pick up the baby (Have you ever tried picking up a baby with one hand? In the middle of the night? It's hard.) and it still is a little twinge-y.

2. Heartwarming.

I enjoy reading cozy books. Somehow that often turns out to be British books. James Herriot, D.E. Stevenson, Jane Austen, Ellis Peters, Agatha Christie, children's books like Caddie Woodlawn or Jane of Lantern Hill. When I read a disturbing book (even one that fascinates me like Gone with the Wind), I am less at ease. I become frustrated at the baby, grumpy towards my husband, and cry for no reason. So I try to resist the temptation of edgy books for the sake of my and my family's happiness.

3. Featuring moms and babies as main characters.

I pretty much failed on this one. Are there such books? I could not find them. Perhaps writers don't consider there to be enough mystery or romance in being a new mom to be worth writing about. Or perhaps new moms are too engrossed in their babies to do much writing and later they forget their adventures. So this blog is being written for me and any other new mom who wants to read about the delights and struggles of a new mom negotiating her new life with her new baby.