Good Reads: Stepmonster

Since Bill and I are kind of sick of creative juicing we're taking a little break in that for a bit, but don't worry, "Adventures in Juicing" will be back soon!

I thought I'd take a chance to review some of my favorite and not-so-favorite books. Those of you old-timers who were on my old blog a few years ago may recognize some repeats, but those are so good I think they're worth repeating.

I'm blessed that I have been a voracious reader since a very young age. I started reading Nancy Drew in the second grade and reading has always been one of my greatest pleasures. I'm fortunate that I'm also a very fast reader. My local public library must also be glad of my reading speed as I nearly always have multiple books checked out at once: my current count is 12!

I like to read a variety of both fiction and non-fiction. My tastes can be rather...eclectic. I hope my blog readers will enjoy the variety as I post reviews!

To start with, my very favorite stepparenting book: Stepmonster, by Wednesday Martin.

I have read pretty much every single stepmom/stepparenting book on the market. This is far and away hands down THE BEST of them all. Wednesday Martin absolutely nails every aspect, every thought, every feeling I've had as a stepmom but somehow couldn't articulate. She puts into words, and so eloquently, stuff I haven't been able to even wrap my brain around much less talk about.

This is not your typical rah-rah cheerleader stepmom book where they say if you'll just do this, everything will be fine. This is not even an advice book. It's fascinating not only from a personal level of being in the trenches (I often felt as though Wednesday had been in my head), but it's also fascinating from a bigger picture historical and cultural context as well. She has done an amazing job of amalgamating a large body of research into a concise, interesting, and relevant read. She talks a lot about the stereotypically evil fairy-tale stepmothers in literature: their origins, their sociological myths, and what information we can glean from their presence.

As I read this, I underlined parts that are particularly relevant to me and my feelings about being a stepmom. Bill was eager to read it when I was through. I'll be honest: Stepmonster dares to reveal uncomfortable truths about stepfamilies that no other book I've read had the guts to talk about. Although sometimes our conversations about what we read were kind of painful, this book opened the doors to excellent, deep, important communication about being a blended family. Bill and I are both better members of our stepfamily for having read and talked about it together.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough---if you are thinking of being, or are a stepmom, if you are married to a stepmom, have kids that have a stepmom, or are a stepchild yourself, READ THIS BOOK. If you read no other book about stepparenting or stepfamilies, make sure it's this one!