In the family of Jen Lancaster and Elizabeth Gilbert, Kyran Pittman is the laid-back middle sister: warm and witty and confiding, with an addictively smart and genuine voice-but married with three kids and living in the heartland. Relatable and real, she writes about family in a way that highlights all its humor, while at the same time honoring its depth.

A regular contributor to Good Housekeeping, Pittman is well loved because she is funny and honest and self-deprecating, because her own household is in chaos (“semi-domesticated”), and because she inspires readers in their own domestic lives. In these eighteen linked, chronological essays, Pittman covers the first twelve years of becoming a family, writing candidly and hilariously about things like learning to maintain a marriage over time; dealing with the challenges of sex after childbirth; saying good-bye to her younger self and embracing the still attractive, forty-year-old version; and trying to “recession- proof” her family (i.e., downsize to avoid foreclosure).

From a fresh new talent, celebrating the joys and trials of a new generation of parents, Planting Dandelions is an entertaining tribute to choosing the white-picket fence over the other options available, even if you don’t manage to live up to its ideals every day.

From party girl to stay at home mom, Kyran Pittman is living a life that is becoming more and more popular by the minute. Her life revolves around her three boys, her husband and when she can find time…her part-time work writing. Not only does she feel fulfilled by a life of domesticity, but she revels in it. Pittman’s life is a non-stop mile a minute thrill ride that many might be surprised to learn is exactly how she likes it.

When I initially was offered the opportunity to review Planting Dandelions I jumped at the chance, having seen it on Goodreads first, I fell in love with the cover. After I read the synopsis I remember thinking that this was exactly the type of book I could relate to. I’m a stay at home mom with two children under five, I have a very busy husband who’s been practicing law for only a few years now which means he’s rarely home, and I also keep very busy by both writing & outside activities. Basically, Kyran Pittman and myself were near mirror images in many ways, not all, but many. What I was truly eager to read were her positive messages about being a stay at home mom as opposed to the opposite it mentions in the synopsis, Eat Pray Love. It was absolutely that!

Many of the experiences in Planting Dandelions revolve around Kyran’s life after she is married & has children, but what I truly enjoyed was the opening of the story. In the first thirty to fifty pages or so she shares how it was that she came to meet and marry her husband. Surprisingly she was married at the time, but the circumstances surrounding that marriage are shocking to say the least. This is where the story came alive for me in terms of it being a “Chick Lit” type novel and it continued throughout the novel with her mentions back to her “partying & traveling” years.

Kyran’s life with her children was wonderful to read about as well. Like I mentioned earlier, as I wasn’t a fan of Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-indulgent travels, this was the exact opposite. It was refreshing to hear how someone could thoroughly enjoy giving of themselves so much and love raising their own children by truly caring for them. What I had hoped for though was more connection. My rating on the book has more to do with this than anything else. It could have possibly been because we didn’t have the same philosophies or also the fact that the story is more of a number of essays compiled into a larger book making it harder to have a continual connection. I’m not exactly sure, but for some reason I wasn’t exactly pulled through the book though it was still excellently written.

With a past that included staying up until last call at the bars to partying in Mexico until she ran out of money it’s hard to believe that Kyran Pittman would relish in a life of diaper changing and carpooling, but she does! Stay at home mom and writer extraordinaire, Pittman proves that you don’t need to travel the world to discover who you really are and what you want out of life. Self-sacrifice and love are what she chooses and her stories take readers to places they see in their everyday lives. I have no doubt that Chick Lit fans who may also happen to be moms (want to be, have been, will be, etc.) will love Pittman’s take on this often daunting endeavor. A wonderful debut and the perfect introduction into the beginning of a very successful novel writing career I’m sure!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Riverhead Books, for providing this book for review!

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