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We were all set to hate these books just based on the titles alone. The first is I’m Too Sexy for My Volvo, and the second is The Hot Mom’s Handbook: Moms Have More Fun. In one quote we read in another book review, the former even recommends buying fabulous bracelets before labor and delivery because “you’re going to have 7,000 photos of your forearms”. This sounds beyond shallow, and we were all set to take off the gloves.

However. It turns out that maybe these authors are just clever marketers, using flashy titles to draw attention to their more solid messages. The Volvo book was available at our local bookstores and is really pretty sane, aside from the title. It even has backbone-reinforcing tips such as the advice to working moms to stand up for their rights and demand change by refusing to conform to schedules that are difficult to accommodate with a baby at home (e.g., 7 A.M. meetings).

We’ll have to defer judgment on the Hot Mom’s Handbook, because we couldn’t find a copy. But it’s hard to argue with lines from the Amazon blurb like “A Hot Mom is a woman who meets the needs of her family but refuses to lose herself in the madness of motherhood.” Or the reviewer’s comment, “ditch the sweats, embrace your stretch marks and be proud of who you are.” We’ll keep you posted…


--Melanie & Kelly