giovannafletcher – Between The Pages Book Club

Blurb; Letters on Motherhood is a collection of heartfelt and deeply poignant letters written by Giovanna to her three young sons Buzz, Buddy and Max, husband, Tom, and the family and friends who have inspired and supported her to become the mother that she is today.

In this beautiful book, she shares the funny and moving personal tales of her own family life, peppered throughout with her poignant family photos bringing her stories to life.

Never one to glamorise the idea of a perfect family, Giovanna writes about the priceless highs and the challenging lows as she talks about the deeper universal truths of parenting including:
· Coping with mum guilt
· Finding a work/family life balance
· Positive body image
· Rediscovering a sense of identity
· A parent’s hopes, fears and expectations for their child’s future

Honest, heartwarming and hilarious, Giovanna’s musings on motherhood are both a joy and a comfort. With stories parents everywhere can relate to, Letters on Motherhood is the perfect gift for mums.

My Review; What a beautiful book. I’d like to start by thanking Giovanna for sharing her thoughts, family and life with us all. As a mother of two myself I related to a lot of this. This book is inspiring, uplifting, powerful, honest, emotional, beautiful, funny and eye opening. You made me tear up, you made me smile and you made me laugh.

This is Giovanna sharing letters to her boys, husband, friends, herself, family and us. It includes lots of beautiful photos of herself and her family throughout adding the extra special touch. There are so many stories and adventures she talks about in this book. Including the tough and sad times we all face as parents. Giovanna has not missed anything out in this book. Utterly perfect.

It was like it opened my eyes. I kept putting it down just to watch my kids playing together, being cute, having cuddles and kisses with them. Arn’t kids just amazing? Then theres the part I had to put it down to catch sick in my hands not once… Twice. All part of motherhood!!

It was an easy read. I would recommend this to every single mother out there. You will not regret it. Sometimes you just need to know you’re doing okay and not alone. A well deserved five stars from me. It will also be going in my top twenty reads of the year.

Lastly I doubt she will see this but thank you Giovanna. You’ve made many mothers feel like they’re not alone. We are all winging it and learning as you say so yourself. Your a voice many can relate too regardless of age. You’re an amazing mother.

Amazon Link UK

Amazon Link US

Blurb:
Being a mum is an incredible journey, a remarkable experience that changes how we look, how we feel, who we are. As mothers we are strong, protective, proud. We feel a love like no other.

But being a parent can be hard too. It challenges us physically, mentally, emotionally. There are the days where just managing to fit a shower in amidst the endless feeding, entertaining young children and surviving on a lack of sleep feels like an achievement. With so many people ready to offer ‘advice’ on the best way to parent, it can feel like you are getting it all wrong.

Since Giovanna and her husband Tom Fletcher have had their sons Buzz and Buddy, they have been sharing glimpses of their family life. With an infectiously positive outlook and happy take on all things mum-related, Giovanna has developed a following of fellow parents and mums-to-be.

This is not a book about how to have the perfect family experience – Gi would be the first to admit she is winging it just as much as the rest of us – instead it is an honest, upbeat and incredibly personal account of her own experience of having a family. In Happy Mum, Happy Baby Giovanna shares her own journey through parenthood and in doing so, she looks at what it is to be a mother today, encourages you to be confident in yourself as a parent and celebrates how putting a focus on being a happy and confident mum can really make for a happy baby.

My Review:
Now, I love Giovanna and follow her over on FB, I also have all her other fiction books which I haven’t got around to reading YET! I found myself in a bit of a reading slump (not being able to read anything). So I picked this up and just devoured it within a day!! It is brilliant. I personally do not read a lot of non-fiction but this was a must have especially as being a mother myself! Throughout I could relate to EVERYTHING, having been there and done that myself. It made me laugh, it made my cry it is such a beautiful book. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone and no matter how much I doubted myself and my parenting skills Giovanna made me feel much better about myself and highlighted that it is normal (THANK YOU!). A well deserved five stars and I will highly recommend this book to you all, especially all those mothers (and fathers) out there. Brilliant. I even sent a little message to Giovanna after to thank her as I am sure many of her other readers would have done. Enjoy!

Amazon Link (UK):