A couple years ago, I found myself in a chick lit period. It was shortly after completing my undergraduate degree, and I loved spending mindless hours reading fluff that I wouldn't remember the next week. The stories began to bleed into one another.

But Jennifer Weiner's writing stood out for me. While many of her characters took the standard chick lit route through life, her character development seemed really organic to me.

I think writing dialogue well is one of the hardest things a writer can do, but I rarely found myself questioning the authenticity of the conversations between the mothers in Little Earthquakes.

Weiner's novel addressed a pretty wide range of issues facing new mothers, but did it in a way that confirmed her assertion that she shared stories with a number of other mothers while preparing herself to tell this story. From frightening medical examinations to babies falling off furniture to the disappointment when pumping forEVER results in a scant three ounces of breastmilk, I kept thinking, "Whoa! She totally reads my blog!"

But no. Even better. I'm not alone in these experiences. She's simply writing about what so many of us have been through.

And while that's not really news to me (after all - I have the bloggies), I have to imagine that there are lots of new moms who don't see themselves as part of a history of mothering where all women feel frustrated and frightened from time to time.

For these women, I think Weiner's book is a breath of fresh air. She talked a bit about how heated women can get about opposing parental philosophies. It seem impossible for people to civilly disagree. Her advice for mothers is that they ought to be "a litlle easier on themselves and a little more forgiving of each other."

I don't think the book changed my life or anything. But I really liked it. Thanks for the recommendation, Jenny!