Jenny McCarthy

Life Laughs: The Naked Truth About Modern Motherhood and Marriage, is the last book of Jenny's 3 part series (Belly Laughs is first, then Baby Laughs). Although this was not my favorite book it was not a disappointment.

I have passed along all three of these books to all my friends. It does not matter where you are in life, they are great reads. Each book is short (250 pages or less) and has two to three page chapters for easy and quick reading. I highly recommend the first book for all pregnant mothers, no matter if they are first time or 5Th time moms.

Jenny gives the sugar free version of the truth to her readers. She can get a little racy and raunchy at times, but it's never too bad. She keeps you laughing on every page.

Life Laughs has chapters such as; The Mr. Potato Head Syndrome, Honey, Your Friend's A Bitch, Are We Our Parents?, and my favorite, Bleaching Your Asshole?? Jenny tells you the truth about whats to be expected with each stage of life, plus gives you candid self stories to make you feel like your not alone. It's like a smaller, funnier, What To Expect (about pregnancy, toddler years, and motherhood/marriage depending on which book you are reading of hers) with a few curse words thrown in there.

I think these books are a must have for ALL women.

Little Illustrations on Life

Ilene Beckerman writes and illustrates Love, Loss, And What I Wore. Quick little comments and sketches walk you through her growing up in the 40s and 50s in New York. She takes you through her first date, loosing her mother, moving in with her grandparents, getting married (twice), getting divorced, having kids, and playing with her first grandchild.
Showing the styles of the times, and how they impacted what was going on, this short, extremely light read, inspires you to reflect on your growing up, and what you wore.

Common Sense

The Death Of Common Sense; How Law Is Suffocating America by Philip K. Howard is a very short read (185 pages) about how laws are, well suffocating America. Howard talks about how laws were initially set up to protect us and do good, yet law makers are starting to get extreme. With no lee-way in our continuously growing rules there is much fault in most of them. He gives examples of when rules are just plain out of date, how small businesses are going under because they are getting fined for rules that apply to big companies, and of laws that group people together that shouldn't be.

One of the first examples he gives in the book is of NY nuns wanting to build a shelter for the homeless. The two fire-gutted buildings they had found were offered at one dollar each. The Missionaries of Charity set aside $500,000 for the reconstruction. The building would help sixty-four homeless men in a communal setting that included 4 floors. NY's building code requires an elevator in every new or renovated multiple-story building. The Missionaries of Charity explained that because of their beliefs they would never use the elevator which cost upward of $100,000. The nuns (after 2 years) were told the laws could not be changed.

Howard gives many examples like this in his book of how things are sometimes just a little too strict. Such as judges that have to rule by a grid sentencing that could give a murderer and a person with a first offense drug charge the same amount of time in prison. One of the simplest examples he gives is of how forest rangers used to have 1 slip of paper with the rules written on it that they could slip in and out of their shirt pocket. This paired with some common sense did the trick. Now, they have pages upon pages of rules and regulations to follow.