The Daily News

LFCA Latest Issue: Friday, September 25, 2009.

Latest Post on BlogHer: Parenting after Infertility.

My Status: Fed Josh's almonds to the squirrels. They needed them very badly.

Monday, September 22, 2008

About Read Me and Archives

Almost two years ago to the day, we started the Best Little Infertility Books in the World list to help compile books dealing with ALI (adoption/loss/infertility) topics. And it's certainly helpful and I can see that people click on it. Sometimes people also ask me if I know of a book on a certain topic. I read a lot and I have a lot of books on my shelf still to tackle. It made sense to start talking about some of them here. And when I say "some" I mean the ones that have grabbed me.

On weeks when I don't have a Barren Advice column, I will put up a Read Me post. They are short reviews of books that I think are worth reading. You can send me suggestions for future book reviews by leaving a comment below on this post. If I've already read it, I'll post my experience with the book immediately. If I have it on my shelf, I'll bump it up to the front of my reading queue. If I don't own it and it sounds interesting, I'll get a copy. If I don't own it and it doesn't sound like my cup of tea, I may ask you to guest blog about the book here or on your own blog and link to it. If I don't own it and it sounds completely off-topic or offensive (I'm obviously for ART, so a book arguing that ART is ruining the world won't be reviewed here. Though you could always do so on your blog), I'll probably simply ignore the comment.

Old posts are archived below, helping you find books on a certain topic. Books may be cross-listed in more than one category and the key for abbreviations is at the bottom of the page. Within each review, I link buying information to an independent bookstore that has an online shop or the publishers if its a small press whenever possible. Almost all books can be found through Amazon.

Infertility (I)
Donor Gametes (DG)
  • Coming Soon
Surrogacy (S)
  • Coming Soon
Adoption (A)
Living Child-Free (LCF)
  • Coming Soon
Pregnancy Loss, Stillbirth, Neonatal Death, and Infant Death (L)
Books for Children about ALI (picture books or older readers) and Families (C)
Fiction about Infertility Themes (F)
  • Coming Soon
Key for Cross-Listing
I = Infertility
DG = Donor Gametes
S = Surrogacy
A = Adoption
LCF = Living Child-Free
L = Pregnancy Loss, Stillbirth, Neonatal Death, and Infant Death
C = Books for Children (either about ALI itself or reflective of families)
F = Fiction
SPBC = Single Parent by Choice
GLBT = Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered

6 comments:

luna said...

this is such an awesome idea, mel. aren't you brilliant.

Anonymous said...

fantastic idea!
& oddly enough I am working on sort of the opposite idea right now. I want to set up a list of books/movies/tv shows that should be avoided when going through ALI.

I can not wait to see your list grow!

DrSpouse said...

Ooh, a chance to read a book AND tick off one of my IComLeaveWe comments:

I'd recommend Miscarriage: What every woman should know, by Lesley Regan. It is fairly heavy on the medical terminology, and very slightly out of date, plus it's from a clinic that is very anti-NK cells (my clinic is conducting a clinical trial on them, so I'm aware the jury is out), but all in all it's very informative and helpful, with a measured but sympathetic tone, and no exclamation marks (real or invisible).

Jen J said...

This is AWESOME Mel! Thanks for doing this!

I want to add "Hannah's Hope" to the list. It's religious in nature, and it's one of the best books (and most helpful) that I've ever read.

Here's a link:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hannahs-Hope/Jennifer-Saake/e/9781576836545/?itm=4

Bea said...

Hey Mel - I reviewed The Baby Doctor on my blog (for kids/families/picture books) here:

http://infertilefantasies.blogspot.com/2008/09/baby-doctor-explaining-ivf-to-children.html

In case you want to add.

Bea

Liana said...

Two memoirs that touched me deeply:

Waiting for Daisy, by Peggy Orenstein, who goes through breast cancer, multiple miscarriages, failed IVF, failed egg donation, failed adoption and tons of money and more before finally becoming a mother.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, by Elizabeth McCracken, tells the story of the author's stillbirth at 41 weeks and the depression and fear that followed. "This is the happiest story in the world with the saddest ending." A beautifully heartbreaking book.