Not Your Mother’s Book….On Being a Woman is the first in a series by Dahlynn and Ken McKowen, co-authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise, and ghost creators of many more Chicken titles. With this expertise, they make the perfect team to for an anthology collection with a twist. Where the Chicken Soup books set out to inspire and uplift, in Not Your Mother’s Book the McKowens give readers pure side-splitting entertainment as they poke fun at the modern day challenges women face.
The book includes 64 stories from contributors across the world, with just one man brave enough, and perhaps crazy enough, to submit a story which made the cut. The story titles alone draw a smile, like “W-The Other Scarlet Letter,” “Booby Trapped” (yes, referring to women’s boobs), and “Sarong, So Right,” and begin the comical, sometimes tawdry, writing of the contributors. The topics span a wide range of what many women have thought about and experienced in their lives; these authors skillfully articulate what they can’t or don’t dare!
The chapters are short, hilarious reads addressing the discomforts and embarrassments that all women can relate to, such as T’Mara Goodsell’s efforts to hide her desire for a pair of the ugly, but ever-so-comfortable, pajama jeans, showing the lengths we will go to acquire our guilty pleasures. T’Mara included an adorable and unabashed picture of herself wearing said jeans at the end of her story, after reliving all her misadventures from the expedition to obtain them.
While some stories give accounts of discomforts, embarrassments, and faux pas that all women can relate to—others will just grab your heart and leave you in awe of the profoundness of womanhood. The quick stories in Not Your Mother’s Book… On Being a Woman make it a great resource to throw in your bag and carry for those times when you are stuck in a waiting mode, or just in need of a pick-me-up. It will help your problems feel lighter, and can even give you a little abs workout. I don’t, however, recommend reading it at church!
At the end of Not Your Mother’s Book… On Being a Woman, the bio section gives background information on each of the authors. The bios introduce you to these fascinating story writers from all walks of life, and make reading their stories even more interesting and entertaining.
While written specifically for women, I read many stories to my husband, and they made both of us laugh boisterously together. Once you begin reading Not Your Mother’s Book, you will steal every moment you can find to keep reading, and find the humor in being (or knowing) a woman.
Orignal review by LiveTrue Book reviewer, Melanie Davis
