The weather has been delightful (okay, hotter than heck, but not raining) this week, and I’ve had a bit of extra reading time while supervising outside playtime. Hooray!

So I’ve been reading Lisa Garrigues’ Writing Motherhood. I had hoped to read it when we were in Vegas (ha!), but I didn’t get to it until this week. It’s a guide to beginning a Mother’s Notebook—a journal of your mothering experiences. The bulk of the book is devoted to writing prompts, though there is a bit about “coming out of the notebook” by starting a writing group, publishing your Mother Pages, or joining an online community.

It reads very much like an enrichment class you might take at a YMCA or a community college, with an encouraging tone, brief chapters, and inspirational quotes. This makes it a great read for the mother who wants to create a written record of mothering but doesn’t know where to begin (hello, dear lurkers considering starting your own blogs, I’m talking to you here), or for the new mother who wants to make sense of her experience but needs direction. I think it would make an awesome baby shower gift—perhaps along with a journal, in case the recipient is too exhausted and unshowered to get out and choose one for herself.

If you’re looking for instructions on improving your craft or details on how to go about publishing your work, this isn’t the book for you. But! If you find yourself staring at blank pages wondering where on earth to begin—or whether to begin at all—Writing Motherhood is a lovely place to start.

And that’s my two cents. So what are you reading?

[Full disclosure: I did receive a free review copy of Writing Motherhood, but I am not receiving any other compensation for writing this review. For those of you who wonder about these things.]