The 9.8 million viewers of TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Eight recognize Kate Gosselin as the practical mom of eight who has come into their homes for over 100 episodes of her family's hit reality show. In I Just Want You to Know, Kate reveals a grateful and faith-filled mother who only wants the best for her children and is willing to sacrifice to make that happen. The book covers the three years her family lived in their Elizabethtown home, a period Kate considers one of the happiest of her life. In it she discusses the individuality of eight kids (all under the age of six) transitioning from the chaos of caring for infants to the structured days of a home filled with budding preschoolers, as well as her thoughts on communication, everyday miracles, and providing a safe home. During that time, Kate discusses her family's unique challenges from daily schedules to traveling, her need for control to learning how to be flexible, the individuality of all eight kids, how God provided every day, and her faith that held it all together.
Katie "Kate" Irene Gosselin, née Kreider is an American television personality and author. She is best known for the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, which profiles her and her then-husband Jon Gosselin as they raise their atypical family consisting of sextuplets and twins.
I probably shouldn't, but I do like Kate. Of course she is ridiculously difficult, but I do think that she's a good mother (there are worse out there). Either way, this book is really only meant to read by Kate fans, anyone else might find it so unKatelike that it seems disingenuous. Which, even as a Kate fan, it does at times.
It's a quick read, a bit of repetition which happens naturally when you have eight kids and eight letters to write. A mother's love is indeed powerful, but there are only so many ways you can say it on paper. It was interesting to see the kids' personalities a bit more fleshed out, and I especially thought it was admirable how she balanced Jon in this book (he's never the villain, despite how messy the divorce got with all the lawsuits and with those blackmail claims). The most interesting part of the book in my opinion though is when she brings up her struggle with overcoming gender stereotypes, since she grew up in a conservative suburban area and was used to seeing men having a certain role and women having a certain role. It was unexpected, but nice to see that she did overcome those notions and that her mind is still very much open.
This book isn't very extraordinary though. It's a very public love letter to her kids, so don't look for much beyond that.
I snagged this book when it was a promotional freebie from Amazon, for which I was grateful since my library system doesn't shelve this title and I didn't want to read it badly enough to have paid for it. I ended up being somewhat surprised at how pleasurable the book ended up being. I won't claim it is the best book I've ever picked up, but it was a decent read.
What I liked about I Just Want You to Know: Book content - Odd how many reviews of this book stated that the content was all recycled from the first book and the shows. I found plenty of tidbits that were new to me, or perhaps I had simply forgotten them somewhere along the way. It was also honest but not heavy-handed or insincere. Kate's tone - The book was actually very conversational and easy to read. Even more than that, Kate was surprisingly candid and self-aware. I appreciated some of her acknowledgement of how she behaves and areas where she knows she needs work. So many are willing to pile on criticism, but I remind myself that she is still a human being and just because she has chosen a life in the public eye (which isn't possible to retract once one discovers the consequences of the initial decision) doesn't mean I know her heart or own rights to sit in righteous judgment. My faith instructs me to "put the best construction on everything" rather than seeking to tear down, and I have to say that this book revealed a softer, more vulnerable side to Kate than is typically portrayed.
What I didn't care for: A bit repetitive - This mostly occurred in the letters to her children. While I thought the letters were sweet, they were probably the most expendable part of the book, mostly because I have to believe that any mother wishes much the same for each of her children, so the letters tended to repeat similar sentiments. While she could certainly could "get away with that" in private, personal letters to each child, putting them into print as such made them a bit tedious to read.
I don't make a point of following everything about this family (or any other family for that matter), most especially through tabloid-style media. I don't think I have the right to sit in judgment of them, regardless, but also especially because I only know what is revealed in the public spectrum. I think, because so much of the content of their shows involved their home life, a viewer assumes that is the full story, forgetting that the cameras do not roll 24/7. I personally found the dynamics they chose to share of what it's like to live in a family unit far larger than most of us experience to be interesting, especially navigating from infancy through the preschool years when a limited number of adults are trying to care for a group of incapable tiny humans that far outnumber them. As someone who worked with infants and toddlers in daycare, the 4:1 ratio is often very overwhelming and you need to run things somewhat like a drill sergeant just to stay on top of the relentless tasks of caring for that many babies at one time; while that was one of the turnoffs some found in Kate, it was one I could appreciate on some level. Anyway, if Kate isn't your cup of tea, I am not sure why you would pick up anything she's written unless with the specific intent to criticize and then I wonder why one would waste their precious reading time to that end; I personally have compassion for that entire family, and was curious what she might include in a book with such a title, and I found she revealed some of her heart, which takes more guts than we're often willing to give credit for.
I liked that this book focused on family, memories and traditions. Faith keeps Kate going and it's clear she wants to pass on her belief that having God in your life can make a difference (she writes about this to six of her eight kids). She trusts God for her kids' safety and any other time she can't control an outcome and it seems there are many situations she would like to have more control of with regards to being in the public eye (I don't watch her show or read the tabloids; I did see her on Dancing With the Stars though).
Though every aspect of her activities is bigger because of the fact that she has multiples, I think she deals with issues that any mom might such as how you handle messes and deal with guilt, imperfections, frustration and fatigue, and make choices that are in the best interest of your family.
I admire that she works so hard at journaling (which would be so hard when you're so fatigued) and I also agree with her to encourage children to be confident in who they are as unique individuals. Even a pair of children can be lumped together and not seen as individuals though, it doesn't just have to be multiples that experience this.
All moms do want the best for their families and personally want to do their best every day. Kate shares with us that it's important to push through the tough times and look forward to the positive family times together--relying on your family through thick and thin because siblings will be the longest lasting relationship. I particularly liked the paragraph on p 63 about keeping a positive attitude. "We pushed through...Each trip taught us something that we applied to the planning and logistics of the next one. Looking back, I can see that it would have been easy to allow our fears to keep us inside our house, but by tackling that fear head on, we were able to expand our comfort zone...We didn't let the bad times stop us from trying again. We learned that anything was possible, not because of the right preparation, but because of the right attitude. That's the bottom line. It takes a lot of energy, but if you want something enough, it can be done."
So here we go yet again, the third book by Kate Gosselin. Don't get me wrong, I love her, and find her to be quite the inspiration... but it makes me sad. I miss the old Gosselins', and I feel like they've all changed SO much! They definitely are not your typical average-income neighbourhood family anymore.....
Other than that bit, the book itsef was good. It was sort of a follow up to "Multiple Blessings", which I loved as well. In this one, Kate continues on, explaining life with the eight kids, and goes more into detail. Also, she reveals letters written to her kids, and various things about how faith made her stronger, etc.. etc...
While reading this, I had to pull out my seasons of Jon and Kate and watch some of them.. Ah, how I miss the show...
Overall, a great follow up, and I always hope to hear more about the Gosselin kids since leaving the show.
The book was worth the time, and I enjoyed it. VERY SIMILAR TO MULTIPLE BLESSING, just more of a follow up on the years where she left off in the first.
A very touching living memory book for her children. Whatever one thinks about Kate Gosselin, it is clear that she loves her children. I really enjoyed reading this, but it made me so sad. My heart was truly broken for this broken family and I intend to begin praying for them. Definitely a well-written book straight from the heart and very touching.
Why does this book exist? Really, I'm never reading it, I can't even be bothered to spare the 20 minutes or whatever for the show. If you were going to read this, do yourself a favor and read something of literary value, it might make you smarter and the world will thank you.
I know that there is a lot of controversy about Kate and her family. It seems like either people hate her or love her - no in between. I have been a Kate fan from the beginning. I have watched the show from the time the very first special aired. I think that the show really kind of cast her in a bad light. But, if you have kids, you KNOW they can try your patience. Just think about that times 8! I know that I would be going crazy, and if I was on a reality show I would not come off as the perfect mom. But, that is my personal opinion...on to what I thought of the book. In it, she includes a "love letter" written for each one of her kids, about her hopes for each of them, what she loves about them, etc. I thought this was very sweet. This is something I've always wanted to do for my kids, but it seems to get placed on the back burner. Kate has inspired me to make this a priority this year. She covers many topics, such as how faith in God affects their daily lives, their reasons for doing the show, etc, with anecdotes about their family sprinkled in. The most eye opening chapter for me dealt with the security issues that they faced. She talked about how HUNDREDS of people would come by their house EVERY day, stopping to watch the kids play outside, take pictures, and even come up to the house and look in the windows! She talks about how one day she woke up to a camera pointed at her through her bedroom window! Yikes! And how she discovered her tires slashed one day. I really enjoyed reading this and learning more about the Gosselin family. It was well-written and entertaining. It also makes me miss the show being on the air...It appears that she has a cookbook in the works called Love is in the Mix. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for it!
I really and truly am a fan of the Gosselins. They were the only TV family I ever watched or cared about. I think that they are very misunderstood and I feel bad for them a lot of the time. I don't agree with all of the decisions they make, but I don't agree with all of the decisions ANYONE makes, including myself.
It was nice to revisit the family after what seems like such along time and again, I found it nice to be able to picture an event actually happening or actually "see"/"hear" a story play out, knowing the kids and their individual personalities as I do from the show.
My only complaint was that this book was incredibly repetative. Several of the stories brought up are ones that Kate has already told over and over either on the show or in different television appearances or even in this book alone. I didn't really feel like I came away with much new information.
All in all, I get it. I get that she wants to record these things for her kids and that's what's important to her. I'm just not sure that I will bother reading any of her future books. It wasn't overly engaging this time around.
I did really enjoy reading her letters to her children as well as getting a little more insight into Kate's past and family life. It's a part you don't often her about so I was interested in that aspect of the story.
I think any fan of the show who wants to read this should. It's a quick read so even if you don't love it, it's easy to get through. But I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as Multiple Blessings.
I was pleasantly surprised by this title. Her previous book was, to me, a pointless read: if you watched the show, you already knew about it. Any major problems were 'solved by God and prayer' which I don't have a problem with, but it sort of messes us your plot. Major problems the family faced: sickness, job loss, a stillborn baby; were all 'solved' without any clues as to what actually happened. It was like watching Entourage: everything always works out perfectly in the end, so it's boring to watch.
I expected this title to be a big fat Team-Kate explanation of her bitchiness. Magazines published excerpts of the letters she wrote her children, making the entire book sound like a giant personal letter. But here's the thing: it wasn't. Kate never said a bad word about Jon, admitted how harsh and wrong she'd been, and explains how they got to where they are now. It's more honest and there is actually new information, as well as tales of logistics and issues not solved by God. The letters serve as chapter headings, and they're only about a page and a half long. They're not that personal at all, considering what's been shown on the show. It didn't feel like an invasion of privacy.
Prayer still played a big part in this book, but I enjoyed it more than her others, and it showed me a side of her I felt I could trust more than what the tabloids are telling me.
Readalikes: Gosselin's other titles; The Duggars: 20 and Counting by Jim Bob Duggar; Little People Big Values by the Roloff Family; Mommywood by Tori Spelling
I would give this 2.5 stars- better than just ok. I'm "stuck" in some other books that I'm reading, so when I saw this at the $1 store, I thought it would be a good quick read and it was.
I watched the show often through 2008, when we got rid of cable. I can't say I was a Kate fan- started out that way, but then I saw the meaner, nastier side more often and I stopped watching before we got rid of cable.
The one thing I couldn't help but think when reading this is that I was wondering if I was reading a giant propaganda book to improve her image. The letters to each child seemed contrived in some ways, and heartfelt in others- probably a combo of the two. I guess I also didn't realize how important faith was to her and continues to be.
The part that impressed me the most was how she didn't slam Jon and owned up to being out of control nasty at times. No defensiveness about that and I think, even if contrived and for PR purposes, it was importnat for her to do that, even if just for her kids' sake!
Anyway, worth the 1.5 hours of reading and the $1 I spent, which pleasantly surprised me!
I am astonished at all the bad reviews which are mostly written by people who have decided they do not like Kate Gosselin, though they do not know her, I thought the book was redundant of the events that occurred on the show, and a little boring because of that but by no means was it a bad book. I also do not know her, so I do not feel right in judging her. I do know if I were a mom with that many children and TLC offered me millions of dollars to film us going to the zoo and living life, I would jump on it. I do not feel that makes me a bad person, or would exploit my child. They do not do anything bad on the show, and the book was sweet, but a tad boring for me since I have seen all the episodes.
A quick read, with some overview from Kate Gosselin's perspective on her children and family events. Fans of Ms Gosselin might find a lot of the the material to be "old news" (like I did) - but the letters are generally sweet and heartwarming. Critics should probably skip this one.
Great for inspiration if you are looking to write letters to your own children, less fulfilling if you are a fan looking for a Gosselin fix.
There are a few recipes in the back, which are perfect if you have a young Gosselin fan in your life (like I do) - no surprises in the recipe but that they are from a Gosselin book adds to the appeal.
Just read the letters to the kids, and skip the rest.
This was a very quick (~1.5 hours) and extremely easy read. I've watched the show because for some reason, I've always been fascinated about how others go about and organize their daily lives. The book wasn't poorly written for a memoir and it did offer some insight on the hurdles that the Gosselin family has had to jump over. However, some parts of the book were just obnoxious (for example, when she listed all the free items, money, and help they received and then immediately afterwards claims how she loves being independent). Overall, if you're looking for a fast and light book to read on a rainy day, I'd say rent this one from the library.
I used to be a huge fan of Jon and Kate Plus 8, but now that it is only Kate Plus 8, I haven't been as much of a fan. Regardless, I was still intrigued by this book, so when I got it on sale, I was pretty happy. After reading it, I feel slightly disappointed. It was interesting - even inspirational - but it also lacked specific details at times. Overall, it's a great book for Kate to give her children to help them understand what their lives were like behind the scenes in the early years, but it gives little explanation to the disaster that quickly became of Jon and Kate's marriage.
This book was ok. I was bored and on my lunch break at work and had put this book away earlier that day. I decided that i would read a little and see what customers were talking about. I stayed about an hour after work and finished it.. it wasnt that bad. Just talks about the family, and faith, and how no ones family is like the rady Bunch.. Happily ever after at the closing of the thirty minute show.
I read this book in just a few hours last night. It was very quick and I was sad when it was over. I thought it was positive and uplifting. It made me want to be a better mother and more organized. I love getting tips and ideas from other moms. This one had a few recipes in the back that look great. I tried the No Bake Cookies today and they were fabulous! I guess she is coming out with a cookbook next.
A good guide to assist parents/parents-to-be of mulitples with organization. She has this thing down to a Science.
The book was written in Journal entry format, which was nice. She used real words and "baby talk" (which she'd later translate) to describe particular situations in and outside of the home.
The letters were heartfelt and the pictures were adorable.
I didn't know if I would enjoy this book as much as I did the first one after everything that has happened to them, but I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed reading it because I liked reminiscing on the earlier years of the baby Gosselin's. I remember loving to watch that show every week and being inspired. Unfortunately I quit watching the show, but if I could, I would watch reruns over and over of the earlier years. I miss those years as I'm sure they do too.
I don't even know why I read this book. It's not that it is bad or anything- I just personally cannot stand this woman. She drives me crazy with how she talks..or screams all the time. But I loved the show, I love watching those kids grow up, and Ive read her other books. So I read it. If you like Kate, you will like this book. If you do not like hearing how you should quit your job because the Lord wants you to and will provide for you through other people- you will not like this book.
Although the last one was only okay, I still couldn't stop myself from picking up this current title/sequel to Multiple Blessings. I liked it a lot more than the last one...maybe because it was very genuine and she seemed really relatable. She explains a lot of the choices she has made and has been criticized for. I also love reading about how she handled so many kids. I skipped over the letters she wrote to each kid. A very quick read.
I thought this book was pretty good. I know a lot of people do like her or her family that well. But she did a great job at explaing about her life and telling her kids what amazing joy they brought to her life. I connect to that because my parents tell me that they are happy to have me around even though they get so mad at me sometimes. But this book shows how much she loves and really does care for her kids. Its not just all about her.
I only read this because I found it at the dollar store one day. I used to be a fan of the Jon & Kate Plus Eight show, for the first couple seasons, then it got really old with her bitchiness and OCD stuff, but that kind of is what drew us to like her, right? Anyway, the book gets boring pretty quick because it becomes redundant and it's piecey and frankly I didn't read any of the letters to her kids beyond the first two. I dunno. I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't a buck.
Ok, I admit I liked the show, it was kinda like not being able to not look at a wreck. It was fascinating to see how in the world to handle and organize all the children. Yes, she was hard, but she had to be when the dad wanted to be a kid too. Had no expectations of the book, just another insight how she mothered and loved kids. She's making the best of what happened, which is more than can be said for honor octomom.
It was an easy read... personally preferred to read the stories over the letters to her children. The letters seemed very similar and she said a lot of the same things to each of them so they were somewhat repetitive. Overall though I got through it pretty quick. Some parts were very touching and even though I don't have children I admire the sacrifices her and Jon made for their kids, and everything that they did and still have to do for a family with multiples.
This book seemed a lot more genuine than "Eight Little Faces." I didn't read her letters to her kids. I take that back--I read the first one and skipped the rest because those were the only sections I found to be, for lack of a better word, scripted. They were just too perfect and cutesy to seem real to me. But maybe I'm jaded. Yeah. That's probably it.
I'm glad I read it, but after awhile it became a bit boring. A lot of the "letters" she wrote to her children were very similar. I was glad she did not speak ill of her now ex-husband, but told the children of their lives when they were too little to remember. It told little stories that were not in her other books, so it was a nice "continuation" on the other books.
Was good. I think I enjoyed the letters to her children and the pictures the most probably...however they were someone repetitive. I kind of have more respect for Kate after reading this...not that I didn't before...but I think she is misunderstood mostly. Those people the misunderstand her are the people that should read this book...or at least certain parts. '
I loved her show. Those children tugged at my heart strings. This was a quick and easy read. I guess it was predictable. I couldn't quiet that nagging voice in the back of my head, " Did she only write this to try and change public opinion"?. This is a worthwhile read, I wouldn't want you to pay full price for it though. SO, maybe borrow from the library, purchase on EBay. etc.