Gas and Air

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View books by Jill Dawson, Margo Daly.

grown up writing about pregnancy - Rated
If you're sick of being faced with a choice of textbook, magazine or comic look at pregnancy and want something which goes a bit deeper, this is the book for you. I'm rationing myself to a couple of the stories a day, but could quite easily devour it in one sitting. One of the best things about this book is how contemporary it is. For someone like me whose friends are still mostly childless, it's replaced the sort of conversations I think I would have had with them. The other aspect about the book which I particularly like is the variety - it's comforting to hear how different people are and it reminds me that I don't have to conform to any stereotype.

A breath of fresh air - Rated
As the editors of this book rightly say, when you are pregnant you become obsessed with reading anything and everything about conception, preganacy and childbirth. This is a wonderful anthology of beautifully written, moving pieces. Peter Carey's description of his son's birth is wonderful and joyous, and the extract from Roddy Doyle's book is hilarious - but there are some poignant moments too. That's what makes this book work - it is a balanced picture - the miracles are offset by the tragedies, and for every earth mother described, there is the one who feels all at sea with the whole thing.

It's a great book to dip into when you feel like a "fix" of baby talk - and to get a sense of the real human experience involved in conceiving, bearing and birthing children.