Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

The following quotation on the jacket of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, caught my eye as the school year began, and prompted me to revisit Anna Quindlen’s writing:  “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”

I read Anna Quindlen’s column in Newsweek pretty faithfully before my I married and had children.  I liked her because her writing always seemed to say ‘you can have it all…but it is ALOT of work.’  Quindlen is just enough older than me to give me an encouraging glimpse into the future, often with a sense of humor.   Now 60, Quindlen’s memoir covers a broad range of coming of middle age topics in her “column” style of writing.  She doesn’t offer advice as much as she shares her lessons learned-her hindsight. 

While I most often read, for this book, I listened in the car, and found it was perfect for my short drives around town.  Quindlen read her own book, and has a great audiobook voice.  Lots of Candles is a good listen… light and fairly entertaining for the right demographic.