Author author

I need a new author. 

I have a giant stack of non-fiction books to read on my bedside table (The Big Rumpus, Mother Reader, Child of Mine, Fire With Fire, Writing Down the Bones) but I just finished the last fiction book in the pile. 

And I have been searching Amazon.ca for new authors, but I've come up dry.

There was a time when I took a certain (probably perverse) pleasure in reading Beckett and Brecht and Pynchon but I now find books like this a little too Thinky.  And when I want to think, frankly I prefer to read non-fiction.  But right now, I want to read a piece of fiction about characters going through the same things I am going through. 

Before my daughter was born, I derived a lot of satisfaction from reading so-called "chick lit".  Helen Fielding, Sophie Kinsella, Isabel Wolff, Jenny Colgan, Laura Wolf, and Marian Keyes books lined my bookshelves.  But then, post-bebe, the issues of finding the perfect man, the perfect shoe no longer seemed very important (finding the perfect handbag, however, is still Very Important).

I want something light and fun but that tackles the realities of motherhood.  I've read I Don't Know How She Does It, Diary of a Mad Mom to Be, Babyville, and even (gasp) Amanda Bright @ Home (and I did not even gag).  I really enjoyed India Knight's My Life on a Plate and Don't You Want Me although they are about single mothers so Finding The Guy figures into them a lot.

I was pleased to find that Jennifer Weiner's newest book Little Earthquakes focused on women with infants.  I had liked Good in Bed and In Her Shoes even though I didn't really connect with any of the characters.  But I really liked Little Earthquakes because of passages like this:

"I'm a mother," she whispered again.  She waited to feel changed, transformed, turned inside-out, and rendered completely different.  So far she didn't.  She conjured up a picture of her mean Aunt Joan, who'd showed up at her tenth birthday party and pulled her aside before the cake and presents to hiss that she didn't need such a big slice of cake and wouldn't she like an apple instead, and waited for the magic of maternity to wash her mental slate clean.  Nope.  Nothing doing.  She found that she still hated Aunt Joan...which meant that motherhood would leave her unchanged.  She'd be herself basically, only with less sleep and a new scar.  Oh, dear.  Becky hit the morphine button hopefully, figuring that if she could't have emotional tranquility, she could at least have narcotics.

I need someone else to write a book like this.

I know that Shopaholic Baby will be out at some point and possibly a Bridget Jones sequel where she marries Mark Darcy but I need something to read now.  And I'm either too immature or shallow for the Sue Miller, Anne Tyler, Maeve Binchy type of books.  And I will never be ready for Danielle Steele.

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.  If not, I may have to take up a new interest in Dropping Bombs on People or Cats Solving Mysteries or Uncovering Ancient Conspiracies or People You Will Meet in Heaven If You Vote Republican just to find something new to read.

Comments

[Linsey]

Author named Cathy Kelly writes books about families, some with children, some looking for love in the wrong places Highly recommended by me, even if you don't know me.

[nikki]

Have you read Playing House by Patricia Pearson?
It's a funny, fast read (and fiction). I read it before I had my son and loved it. And then I read it again post-partum, and it took on a whole new meaning. It's pretty light, but with some first-time mom truths too. Part if the book is set in Toronto, and Frannie (the main character) has her baby in December (like I did), so I really identified with her.

[Isabella]

I can't say I've actually read anything that fits all your requirements: light, fun, realities of motherhood.

However, if you would consider something a little meatier than traditional chick lit, I recommend Brick Lane, by Monica Ali. Not exactly "fun," but it's an easy, breezy read and very poignant in considering the dynamics of family and features some very strong women.

[Andi]

Also, not to totally plug here, but have you checked out LiteraryMama.com? Chock full of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, author profiles, columns, and more, all written by or about writers who are also mothers, and who often take motherhood as their subject.

[Andi]

Hey, I'm working on it!!!

[Laura]

Just started reading a Marian Keyes'ish book called - funnily enough - 'The Reading Group' by Elizabeth Noble. So far, so good - and its not all about the misery of singledom (thank God seeing as I happen to be living it at the moment) but about a group of women at various marital states - married, divorced, single mom etc and the various trials and tribs that come with that.

P.S. You may have read this already - but my new favourite book of all time is 'Crow Lake' by Mary Lawson. Canadian author I discovered here in Oz. Go figure.

[Laura]

Was thinking of you just the other day - just picked up a beach read type of book - in the same vein of Marian Keyes - it's called "The Reading Group" by Elizabeth Noble. So far, so good. And it's not about singledom but about a group of women who are married or divorced or single mothers, who are having affairs, being cheated on etc. So not rocket science-really its Marian Keyes married.

[Kate]

I was about to recommed Little Earthquakes to you before I read that far. I'm glad a read the whole post before I commented!

I've read all the books you have and I'm with you abotu there being nothing that really captures motherhood in all it's vomitous glory. Little Earthquakes comes pretty close, but I think it's a little fluffy/overdramatic, like her other books. Apparently publishers think that there's not much interest in books detailing the motherhood experience.

I'll keep checking back here to see if anyone has any more recommendations!