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This book is about a life-changing experience, and one that all women who are pregnant for the first time will go through.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 1, 2019
If it weren’t for my obsession with Jamie and Jools Oliver when I was younger I wouldn’t have finished this book. Jools is a sweet, caring Mum who shares her story honestly, but the writing is just so, so bad. The story is quite outdated, so a lot of her recommendations aren’t helpful in current times, and I didn’t agree with a lot of the advice she gave. Not to mention it’s a SUPER typical white middle/upper class girly girl experience through pregnancy and motherhood. The most interesting part for me was discovering their challenges with fertility which I hadn’t realised they’d struggled with. Honestly, if you aren’t interested in their story as a couple/aren’t fans already, I wouldn’t bother with this one.
July 28, 2011
If every book/novel that I read was this honest and from the heart then they would do much better. This book is written by Jools Oliver who is Jamie Oliver's wife, the talented naked chef and all the other great shows since then... That being said the books success is all her own. She is incredibly candid and lets you in on all of the ups and downs of her pregnancy and raising their two beautiful girls. You actually get quite disappointed that you are done the book so fast, it such a great read that you just hope that its not done. And it leaves you with such a great feeling knowing that a normal person can go through some pretty crazy feelings, emotions that go along with being pregnant and having children. I dare you to read this book and not enjoy it, I know that I did.
January 5, 2014
I didn't finish this because although Jools is clearly a lovely person, she is not my kind of person. She is one of THOSE women. The kind that tick all the boxes for stereotypical 'woman' behaviour like being obsessed with shoes and calling your mother every day to chat. I'm sure there must be lots of women like that out there for the stereotypes to get started but I just can't relate.
Also, I couldn't help feeling like if she wasn't Jamie Oliver's wife nobody would care about her struggles with morning sickness or her opinions on how many pairs of maternity jeans you need.
Also, I couldn't help feeling like if she wasn't Jamie Oliver's wife nobody would care about her struggles with morning sickness or her opinions on how many pairs of maternity jeans you need.
April 7, 2009
This was an interesting read. It certainly does contain some very honest details...details that people don't normally discuss - for that reason itself the book is charming. Bad points are a clunky writing style and tendency towards (celebrity and brand)name dropping and extreme over anxious behaviour (which I found very annoying).
May 5, 2013
Easy to read and honest!
July 17, 2022
Leuke ervaring van het moederschap. Erg brits wel.
December 3, 2007
Gosh but Jools Oliver is a girly girl. She keeps going on about how much of a girly she is, too. Do women generally take Vogue, Cosmo, Heat, OK mags with them to the hospital when they are about to give birth?
Maybe it gets really dull, I dunno. You'd think you'd being being busy, pushing and that.
Anyway, Jools manages to get preggers, not once but twice in quick succession, despite having ovary problems, and manages the daunting task of raising two small children whilst married to a man who is often away on celebrity chef duties.
She lives in Hampstead, which I am quite jealous about.
Maybe it gets really dull, I dunno. You'd think you'd being being busy, pushing and that.
Anyway, Jools manages to get preggers, not once but twice in quick succession, despite having ovary problems, and manages the daunting task of raising two small children whilst married to a man who is often away on celebrity chef duties.
She lives in Hampstead, which I am quite jealous about.
January 26, 2011
(Non-Fiction New Mother Memoir) I found this book while doing a search for "motherhood" at my public library. I read it in a couple of days, which is a feat as my daugher is one month old. This book is jubilant, honest, cheeky, and buoyant. Oliver's writing radiates with the joy of having children, but she doesn't disregard the despair of those trying times. This book reads like a conversation over some coffee or tea and it's filled with fantastic, vintage-looking photographs. Jools Oliver seems like a compassionate, energetic, and deeply caring human being. We could totally be friends.
April 22, 2012
I read this book during my first pregnancy and I found it extremely amusing and entertaining to read Jool's take on pregnancy and the first 12 months of her firstborns life. I loved the light hearted way she laughed at herself in hindsight, as she told of her experiences and thoughts, she held nothing back and it was easy to connect with her experiences. I had not read a book in a while when I first picked this up and was pleasantly surprised as I could not put it down and constantly found myself giggling away throughout the book. I also loved the recipes in the back of the book! Thanks for a refreshingly great read Jools :)
May 17, 2007
It was a pretty light read and one I probably would have enjoyed more when I was pregnant. The title made me think that it would be a more candid look at motherhood. I found it somewhat trite and a lot of the information either outdated or not checked or something. I wouldn't recommend it as a guideline for parenting, but it's a look in to one woman's experience that you may or may not relate all that well to unless you too were chased by papparazzi preceeding and following your children's births.
August 17, 2011
Really good to read if you are pregnant - it is nice to read about the pregnancy from the point of view of someone going through it even if you don't agree with everything that person is doing or can't empathise with a particular problem there will be something in there that all pregnant women / new mothers can identify with. She is very lucky that they are well off enough for buying pushchairs they only use once but there is enough potentially useful pointers in this book as well that you can overlook that.
December 20, 2014
Loved this book, so comprehensive and honest and Jools is so vulnerable. I've read other books that are a similar form, but this was probably the most relatable. Jools, talks about what it was like at each step, for example what she explained about breast-feeding, I just haven't got that kind of information from anywhere else. I also enjoyed the interactions between her and Jamie Oliver, it was quite funny and I again can relate when it comes to my husband and I journeying through pregnancy together. An excellent read that I highly recommend to all pregnant women.
March 28, 2008
I read this along with quite a few other books on motherhood when I got pregnant with my daughter. This was by far the worst one. I could barely finish it. I don't think the subject material is so very bad, but the writing... I really try not to be overly critical just because she has a famous husband, but I really really do not think that a "mere mortal" could have gotten this book published. It's horrible.
January 7, 2011
This is more then a pregnancy journal.. Jools talks us through the stuggle and hopes and fears of trying for a baby that is reassuring if you have ever struggled trying to hav a baby.. The book is quite funny in parts too that would suit you even if you were not trying for a baby.. It is very touching and tells you honestly what trying for a baby, getting pregnant,labour,straight after labour and the toddler years are really like..
January 15, 2012
This memoir was quirky and honest. I loved it. Oliver goes through everything; their attempts at conception and doctor visits to fertility drugs and finally getting pregnant. Her telling of her journey through pregnancy and delivery feels like a chat with a girlfriend.
As someone who is due with their first baby in March and plans on making my own baby food I really appreciated the bits about making baby food, along with some recipes that she shared in the end of the book.
As someone who is due with their first baby in March and plans on making my own baby food I really appreciated the bits about making baby food, along with some recipes that she shared in the end of the book.
March 19, 2013
This book was actually given to me by my sister who had wanted to be a mummy for as far back as i can remember. It made me a little sad reading it because at that time and still now i have been trying to conceive. It was written honestly which i thought was amazing! It was insightful and at some points it was witty. You get a real sense of the olivers lowest and highest points. You are almost made to feel like her best friend. Lovely read x
August 6, 2013
I found this a really easy read. Jools Oliver's style of writing was like she was just chatting to you about her experience, even as someone not having a baby or having had a baby I still found it a good read. She was very open and honest with her experience without being to gory and factual on things. Nice to read a true human account of pregnancy and birth and the WHOLE year after with the good, the bad and the ugly in it.
December 30, 2013
Engaging, very honest, chatty book, easy to read while doing late night breastfeeding. Had a lot of empathy with Oliver, could definetly relate to different situations, some differences due to money eg she had a personal trainer, hired maternal nurse to get daughter on bottle etc but overall most mothers could identify with her feelings and ideas about motherhood.
August 21, 2008
This was a pretty candid, but reasonably superficial, diary of the authors journey from pre-conception to 9 months old. A very light and quick read. I read it, I am ashamed to say, because I like her husband.
A beach towel and this book go hand in hand
A beach towel and this book go hand in hand
February 4, 2009
This is Jamie Oliver's wife's account of getting & being pregnant. It's fine but only worth a read if you are going through the process yourself and therefore obsessed enough to be interested in this sort of read.
December 26, 2009
Enjoyable for the lightheartedness, but the prose itself was a bit too inexperienced and childlike for the book to be a really good read. Nevertheless an interesting look at motherhood by a very devoted mother.
August 18, 2010
It's not like I was expecting to be inspired - it just looked like a cute little read about a young woman becoming a mom - and at first it was but then... well I don't care if your husband is Jamie Oliver, you should have more to offer personally before writing a book about yourself.
February 5, 2011
Loved this book! I brought it when I was pregant with my 2nd and I really enjoyed it, it was a helpful insight to how to cope with 2 children born close togther! very funny & heart warming a must for all mums x x
February 18, 2012
This was a pretty honest, realsitic and often amusing account of pre-during and after pregnancy. It made me laugh out loud with her account of what she packed for hospital and then admitted she didn't need a third of it!!
February 26, 2012
Jools Oliver tells her pregnancy stories. A guide to everything including becoming pregnant with a newborn. No thanks. Some good tips but an easy read and a nice story. I like that she was honest and didn't leave out the gorey details.
August 21, 2012
A really heartwarming, hilarious, compelling and honest read!! A great story for mums to be or new mums or on my part, just to remind me of the wonders of motherhood. There are also some fantastic healthy recipes & tips and useful information at the end of the book.
September 20, 2012
It's an easy read for an expecting or a new mom - makes you feel reassured that even "the bold and the beautiful" might be having the same problems, worries and joys (when it comes to having babies) as all of us.
November 10, 2007
fast, cute read.
August 25, 2008
Pretty good. Not groundbreaking writing, but entertaining and light. Lots to relate to if you're a new mom, or even a second time mom.
September 25, 2008
A sweetly written book by Jools Oliver, wife of chef Jaime Oliver, when she was pregnant and raising her daughters in England. It's so fun to 'hear' the British accent in the words.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews