Kristen Howerton’s blog-post-like chapters in Rage Against the Minivan make for a fast and compelling read that had me laughing at times and nodding my head in solidarity at others. I especially enjoyed her commentary on this transition generation that we are living in as I find myself struggling with sharing the household responsibilities that our mothers and grandmothers were expected to do. Her candidness about her infertility and adoption struggles really struck a chord with me and brought to mind some of my own struggles and those of my friends.

Her hands-off approach to parenting at times had me feeling a bit frustrated, but she would bring it back around with what her children were learning – empathy for others, trust and more. In this day and age, it seems like you have to be on top of your child(ren) at all times, so this was a refreshing approach that I could relate with.

I wouldn’t call this a parenting or religious/spiritual book, but more of a memoir that is told in anecdotes that can parenting hacks and tips for keeping your sanity can be pulled from between the lines. Overall, it was a great read and I will definitely have to start following her on social media and check out her blog.

Thank you to Netgalley, Convergent Books and Kristen Howerton for the chance to review this book!

Wow I loved this book. She cuts through the nonsense and shares her story raw. I really appreciated the mention on not enough parenting books speaking to having more than one child in your home.

In true Rage Against the Minivan fashion, I left my children to their own devices so I could sit outside on a beautiful day and read this book all the way through. I'm not a regular reader of the blog but Kristen Howerton has a new fan in me. I appreciated her openness and honesty, which at times was heart-wrenching but the joy and triumph shone through along with solid parenting advice from a seasoned mom.

Kristen shares her experiences of parenting, discussing a variety of topics such as transracial adoption, infertility, marriage, dad privilege, community, and friendships, and the various ages and stages of raising kids. She is very open and honest which will help readers resonate with her words.

I especially appreciated her essay about being an introvert in the throes of raising babies of toddlers and the salvation of the school years.

I loved my time spent reading Rage Against the Minivan. I like Kristen, how she thinks, how she lives life. I relate to her story as a mom of four but love hearing all the fascinating, fun, gut wrenching parts of her story. I'm guessing mainly mamas would enjoy this story, but perhaps others who just like good, heartfelt writing was you like it, too.

I love Kristen Howerton and follow her on social media. I was super excited to get this book (same title as her blog) and was not disappointed! It was inspiring and entertaining and I recommend it to other Rage Against the Minivan followers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! As someone who also recently went through a divorce and wondered how to reconcile my new marital status with my faith and faith community, I appreciated Howerton's insights and candor. She is honest but gracious, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny. Highly recommended.

A well-written, amusing book with plenty of parenting stories and ideas. Highly relatable stories of her own experiences used to illustrate examples of good-enough parenting. The author also has a wonderful, "talking with your friend" skilled yet casual style.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I opened this expecting to find applicable tips, stories, or shortcuts to parenting well while keeping sanity intact. To a certain degree, that's accurate: but it's told entirely in anecdotes that you need to extrapolate from.

Given that the author's usual medium is writing a blog, her blog-post-like chapters actually shone, and were compelling.

And yet, I'm finishing the book feeling like I read a very surface-level memoir - lacking in depth (which is absolutely right - she has the privacy of the people in her life to consider!) but not making up for it with extrapolations from her anecdotes.

Kristen Howerton's first book is every bit as good as you'd expect if you've been following her blog and podcast. While reading this searingly honest account of her life travels through Motherhood and Childhood, Adoption and Childbirth, Marriage and Divorce, Racism and Cultural Tolerance, even mainstream Christianity and its secret language known as "Christianese," I veered between laughing hysterically and weeping with her, and more than once I laughed until I cried. I can't help but think it would be an awful lot of fun to live next door to her family.

I've followed the author's blog for a long time, so I wasn't sure if I'd gain anything new by reading her book. I did. I wouldn't necessarily call it a parenting book, more of a memoir, but it inspired me to focus on quality time, not quantity, and also ways to stay close and connected as my son enters the tween years.

This was a great book - funny, helpful, inspiring, social-justice minded. I read it in two nights and laughed out loud often. Will be gifting at all the baby showers I go too!

This was a quick read and the author has an enjoyable style - a nicemix of humor but also a way of addressing serious challenges in a way that doesn't diminish them. I particularly appreciated how candid she was about her struggle with infertility. One scene really resonated - where she describes the frustration of being left behind the life stage of their friend group, but how much she longed for a night out with them where they could all agree to talk about things other than children & parenthood. Some of the best writing I've seen about this difficult social/emotional dynamic. Toward the end the writing flagged, and felt like a series of blog posts. One on racism, one on divorce, a bullet point list of things she's said no to as a mom. Her distinctive voice disappeared here, and the writing felt like it could have come from any number of Christian mom bloggers. And I was disappointed by how quickly a couple of difficult problems I was really interested in her exploring just sort of resolved without the deep consideration I hoped for. They went from difficult to better almost instantly. She was lonely and needed friends - so she just got some and everything was better. Her adopted son had attachment issues - she just doubled down on loving him and eventually it all worked out. I'd hoped for more sharing about how she navigated these challenges. Overall a good read. Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to review this book!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I started following Kristen's blog several years ago and this book was a wonderful reminder of why. I flew through this easy read and loved getting what felt like a "behind-the-scenes" look at her cast of characters I met through her writing. I love her parenting philosophies and what she learned through miscarriages and adoption struggles. She's incredibly relatable and I hope one day to have the relationship with my young children that she has with her school-aged ones.

It was pretty funny and I found myself relating to Kristen while reading it. Although it feels like I have read very similar parenting books in the past and I am not sure I would be able to distinguish it from others say a month from now.

A terrific read so well written hilariously funny smart great characters enjoyed every page. Highky recommend.#netgalley #rageagaibsttheminivan

Fun parenting book...Not really, just funny...this book will not disappoint. A lot of wisdom, but just real real stuff.
Great book.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.