What to expect: six books discuss the art of mothering.(Book Review)(Brief Article)

Whether raising a child in an urban, suburban, or rural environment, whether working full- or part-time or choosing to stay at home, women quickly discover that good mothering is not an innate ability but a skill acquired over time. The authors of the six books featured here know that while mothering is more fulfilling than one could ever anticipate, it also takes considerable dedication and stamina--and a willingness to learn from one's mistakes. Readers from panicky new moms to those worded about their obstinate teenagers will be reminded time and again that the learning never really stops and that although kids don't come with manuals, they do come with unbeatable rewards.

Rachel Collins is Book Review Assistant & Mirela Roncevic is Associate Editor, LJ Book Review

Buchanan, Andrea. Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It.

Seal, dist. by Publishers Group West. May 2003. c.256p. ISBN 1-58005-082-4. pap. $14.95. SOC SCI

The creator of Phillymama.com, Buchanan has a convincing theory about the first year of motherhood: all new moms go through four phases of adjustment--mother love (initial euphoria), mother shock (crisis), mother tongue (recovery), and mother land (adjustment). In interrelated essays that vary in …