SAHM I Am

SAHM #1

by Meredith Efken

For the members of a stay-at-home-moms' e-mail loop, lunch withfriends is a sandwich in front of the computer. But where else couldthey discuss things like…

Success: Her workaholic husband is driving Dulcie Huckleberry aroundthe bend. It's hard to love someone in sickness and in health whenhe's never home!

Art: Let the children express themselves, opines artistic ZeliaMuzuwa, and then her son's head gets stuck inside a kitty scratchingpost…

Health: Surely aches and pains are normal in an active little boy, yetthose of soccer-mom Jocelyn Millard's son don't seem to be going away.

Motherhood: Teen-mom-turned-farmer's-wife Brenna Lindberg can dealwith the mud and the chickens, but what about her husband's desire fora child of his own?

Indiscretions: However youthful, they can come back to haunt you, learns pastor's wife Phyllis Lorimer. Amends: These could stand to be made between officious list moderatorRosalyn Ebberly and her pampered sister, Veronica. Perhaps the otherSAHM I AMers can teach these two something about sisterhood.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Christian, Christian Fiction, Religion, Humor, Family

325 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Holly (2 Kids and Tired) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chick-lit. No wait, chick-light. Anyone who has ever been on an email group will understand the book. You'll even identify with some of the characters. A couple of the characters were simply too extreme and unrealistic. It was funny in places, but mostly I found it annoying. A very light read, but I couldn't get it finished fast enough. This one won't be going on my bookshelf.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am going to start with the things I liked about this book before I get into what I did not.

#1- It was fast and laid out in e-mail format throughout which made it fun to read (albeit confusing at times).

#2- A couple of the characters were realistic in their SAHM lifestyles.

However, what I did not like was:

#1- Unless I read the description wrong, I was not under the impression that the basis of this book's "e-mail group" was of a religious nature.

#2- Some sections were a little dull at times.

#3- The sister's e-mails which were randomly thrown in were slightly irritating; not only due to their tone but also because they didn't seem to have a real connection to the story itself.


All in all, this book helped passed the time and was decent. Had I known more about the plot (perhaps I did and just overlooked it) I probably would have opted not to read it.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I'm still reading this book I feel confident saying that it will thoroughly entertain any mom who has been a part of a group of any kind. At first I was hesitatnt about whether the style of the novel (nothing but emails!) would be burdensome, but it is quite easy to follow. Already, I have had several laugh out loud moments. Already looking forward to reading the second installment...

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book. Even though this is Christian fiction, and the ladies did talk about praying and God, it didn't feel like you were being preached at. I found the emails to be quite entertaining, especially the stories about the kids. The one who got his head stuck in the cat tower - now that was funny!

This was written in a fun, easy format. I'm not a mother, but even I had fun reading about all their trials and tribulations with their husbands and kids.

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actually, I didn't read past the first few pages. B.O.R.I.N.G. I hated the format...all emails, no story. It was hard to keep track of who was who.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I ended up liking this more than I thought I would, but that being said, for a lot of this book I thought it would be a 3 star max. The premise is that there is an email chain called SAHM I Am for moms from all over the country supporting each other through motherhood. It's told completely in emails so it should've been super fast, but it took me almost a week to read. You get a lot of characters and I think none of them had unique enough voices to stand out. Each have their own stories, but their voices were so generic that I kept having to refresh myself on which one they were. There is one character, Dulcie, who kind of becomes a main character and I think this book would've been so much better if she would've picked one main character and had everyone else be supporting. I need to know at least one character on a deeper level so we could have a little more investment. As it was I think the format and the number of characters just kept me from getting really engaged. There are a few things that definitely indicate this was written in the early 2000's-- a little fat phobia and things of the time-- but it wasn't overwhelming. I'm not sure how I feel about the Christianity rep. The group is a faith based group, but a lot of the moms spend a lot of time questioning their faith in a way that feels a little yucky. After saying all that, I would maybe read the sequel if I came across it because now that I know all the characters, I kind of want to know how their stories end.

[Dana McReynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Adding books from an old reading journal*

EXCELLENT! A story about a group of SAHM. It is entirely made up of emails. Great character development, very funny and TRUE, TRUE, TRUE. Also written by a Christian author.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading this genre! It’s a fun way to follow a storyline. That being said, this particular book was very dry and kinda boring. The characters didn’t have too much of an arc; and there were only a few storylines that I cared about what happened.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, funny book about a SAHM email loop (so I could relate very well!). The friendships formed, encouragement, and some cattiness. Very real, and very funny.

[Paschalis]

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[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual type of book, but for a dollar...thought I'd give it a try.



So very good. I could really relate with pretty much every character of the book. The format of the book is very interesting, it's told completely through emails.

Having a group of moms that I "speak" with on a daily basis, it's interesting to see that other moms do the same thing. Even though we're not in the same state, we've all got a baby around the same age. We're all from different backgrounds, we've all had our shares of difficulties. And we're there for each other. Just like the ladies in the book.

There is a Christian theme to the book (it being Christian fiction, I'd be surprised if there wasn't.) That said, it wasn't overtly beating you over the head with it Christianity. These women still had faults. They still had problems. And they didn't automatically say "well, it must be what God wanted." They worked on their problems, and did what they could to solve them themselves.

[Patty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucked. Get a job. Or a hobby. Or something. For Christ's sweet sake. And HOLY OVERCHRISTIANITY, Batman.

P.S. I'm sure it didn't help that I was prepared to judge the author as soon as I read she homeschools ... perhaps I should no longer pick books out of the library when I have my sons with me?) I skimmed this piece of crap just to get to the blessed end so I could say I read it.

P.P.S. I AM a SAHM AND a Christian, but thank God I have managed to keep some semblance of a life.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should NEVER pick up a book based on it's cover. I thought this would be a funny book, maybe with some Mommy conflicts. I did not expect it to be such a steaming pile of religious bull$h!t. It was horrible. Maybe the worst book I've EVER read. The women are weak, and whiny. The characters hide behind religious dogma. Writing the book as if it were emails between friends allowed the author to revel in weak writing styles. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, except if you need something to burn.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laughing about life as a stay at home mom is fun in this easy to read novel written in email format as different women chat on-line in a mom's group forum. I thought some of the character's personalities were over-exaggerated and the content a little too "I am a great Christian woman doing my Godly duty" to give it a much higher rating, but if you have ever had toddlers around, it is worth the read to get a few laughs.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading this book for the "SAHM" part of it. However, it is intensely Christian. Every character in the book is Christian and many are pastor's wives. The e-mail format is cute for a light read, and it is a truly fluff read. I don't mind reading about people who are different from me, but I'd really only recommend this to Christian SAHMs.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed only the stay-at-home mom parts of this book. It was mainly way too religious for me. There was bible talk, and pastor's wives, and church stuff, and while I'm Jewish, but non-practicing, and open to other religions, I found it was a bit too much for me. I would not read this book again, and I'm not really sure I recommend it to anyone.

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok if there was nothing else around to read. I enjoyed that it was set up as emails and you can see that one person is writing based on an email they just got, but the people receiving the email do not know that the person writing it has this whole "backstory." I think that was the only thing that kept me reading, actually.

[Alenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not an unbearable read, but a little too cutesy and predictable for me. And (although not a really big deal), I found it very distracting that every 10-20 random pages, the spacing on the pages switched from single-spaced to double-spaced. Really? No one caught that before the book went to print?

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the format becuase it was different and it's nice to have a change in my fiction reading. I thought the book was funny and a nice light read, which I really needed at the time. I am part of an email group for foster parents and I've pretty much been a stay at home mom so maybe that was part of the appeal for me.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a super quick read - I managed to swallow it in one day in a few quick sittings. It is indeed - chick-lit, but it made for an easy read with low guilt, a few good chuckles and that all important sense of I'm not ALONE out there.

[Rosemary Paladini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library on Tuesday night and I finished it by Thursday. It was a fun read written in email format about a cross country email group of stay at home moms (SAHM). It was funny and light to read.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Ab-so-lute-ly ha-larious. Plus it's got a unique format and I can totally relate to a lot of the issues.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is in email format, which I enjoy reading. It was a fun, light, easy read. I quite liked it!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a funny, real-life view of a Stay-at-home Mom, and it made me wish I belonged to a group like in the book.

[Idawati Wiguno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Give me a peek of what it's like to be a woman, a wife, and a mother. In a fun way!

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I had hoped it would be. Hard to relate to, being a SAHM myself.

[Tiffany]

So far so good!!!

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It reminded me of talking to all of my UnMommies, but it was way too spiritual-focused for me. If it had less bible verses, and a little more grit, I would have liked it a LOT more!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and interesting read for an SAHM. I didn't love it but needed something light and quick.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, easy-to-read book. It's not a life-changing experience, but I liked it.