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Look How Happy I'm Making You: Stories
Look How Happy I'm Making You: Stories | Polly Rosenwaike
12 posts | 11 read | 21 to read
A candid, ultimately buoyant debut story collection about the realities of the "baby years," whether you're having one or not. The women in Polly Rosenwaike's Look How Happy I'm Making You want to be mothers, or aren't sure they want to be mothers, or--having recently given birth--are overwhelmed by what they've wrought. Sharp and unsettling, wry and moving in its portrayal of love, friendship, and family, this collection expands the conversation about some of women's most intimate experiences. One woman struggling with infertility deals with the news that her sister is pregnant. Another woman nervous about her biological clock "forgets" to take her birth control and confronts the reality of becoming a single parent. A new mother with postpartum depression finds comfort with a much younger man. A psychologist who studies infant laughter faces her best friend's tragedy. Together, these twelve empathetic stories reveal pregnancy and new motherhood in all its anxiety and absurdity, darkness and wonder.
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Bookalong
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Pickpick

5🌟This collection of twelve stories was crafted so well and I felt them all so deeply. These are the stories of thoes struggling to conceive, and thoes recently having had a baby. The voices of miscarriage and pregnancy and pregnancy after loss, and of living with postpartum depression. About having children and not wanting to have children. But also about loving, lonliness, regret, aging, friendships and family. It was just so dam good!!

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TheNerdyProfessor
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Finished 6 books in January. The tagged book was my favorite of this set and one of my overall favorites of all time. I'm now 31 weeks pregnant and trying to read as much as I can before this little bean arrives!

Scochrane26 Congrats on the baby! 5y
79 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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TheNerdyProfessor
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New day. New book.

This short story collection is like a powerful kick in the gut. Rosenwaike examines women's issues surrounding fertility and motherhood including miscarriage, infertility, pregnancy, and the loss of one's mother.

These stories are so deeply personal for me and can be painful to read. But I'm so grateful someone is telling them.

56 likes1 stack add
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catiewithac
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I signed up for a 3-month subscription to #PageOne books a few months ago. This is the final book in my subscription, and it looks very interesting. I‘ve never heard of this author and I love short stories. The box included this cute tea towel, too!! 📦📖

SamanthaMarie Love that tea towel!! 5y
49 likes1 comment
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BittersweetBooks
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I wanted to have this baby for all the reason reasons people want to have babies: to carry around a warm bundle with a brand-new face; to witness the dawning of all kinds of consciousness; to laugh more; to learn things I‘d forgotten; to celebrate birthdays instead of lamenting them; to not miss out on the meaning of life 👶🏻🍼🧸🎀

12 likes1 stack add
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jouleian
Mehso-so

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Alright, here we go...I enjoyed the short stories individually but I didn't really enjoy the book as a whole. I kept getting involved with these characters and then getting emotional whiplash every time the stories switched to a new one. The writing was amazing, I just couldn't handle being jerked around.

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mrozzz
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Pickpick

WOW. I am in pieces on the floor, reeling and desperate for whatever Polly Rosenwaike's next book will be because right now I feel like only more of her words will be able to put me back together. I am not a mother, I've not had an abortion or a miscarriage or lost a child but... these stories shook me to the core, easily handing me the empathy I needed to be rocked by the good times, and the very bad, had within these pages. 💔♥️💔♥️

marleed You‘ve sold me - stacked! 5y
Susannah Terrific review. 5y
mrozzz Thank you so much!! @Susannah 5y
mrozzz Hope you like it as much as I did! @marleed 5y
readordierachel Lovely review 💕 5y
84 likes1 stack add5 comments
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CatsCoffeeAndBooks
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Really enjoying this so far. I haven‘t read a collection of short stories in awhile. These are all about women and “the baby years”. About women who want to be mothers, women who don‘t know if they want to be mothers, and women who have become mothers. It‘s really hitting home for me as I am also in my “baby years” and struggling with some of the same thoughts and feelings as characters in this book.

5 likes1 stack add
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mrozzz
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A slow Saturday morning is EXACTLY what I need before I tackle the rest of the items on my wedding to-do list ☺️

Doesn‘t hurt that both of these books are excellent in very different ways. The tagged short story collection is really something else.

kspenmoll Like your mug!!! 6y
readordierachel Oh, this collection sounds great! And ❤ the mug (and the nails). 6y
mrozzz @kspenmoll Thanks!! Reading is as magical as one of my fave stores, Books Are Magic 😏 5y
mrozzz @readordierachel It IS great!! I hope you pick it up 😊 And thanks!! 💗 5y
91 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Christine
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this collection quite a bit. The stories more tightly focused on a woman‘s experiences and inner dialogue were fantastic, and this applies to the majority of them, really. (Just a few meandered in ways that worked less well for me.) I was impressed by Rosenwaike‘s writing, and many observations and themes definitely rang true to my pregnancy/new mom experiences with my now-tween boys. I‘d certainly read more from her!

40 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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BooksForEmpathy
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Ahhh! I have been waiting to read this. But now looking at it I am wondering if I should save it for Book Club!? Either way, the topic of kids and having them and when and why and how it‘s going to go and how it‘s going to change everything is weighing heavily on my mind and heart.

BibliOphelia Such a tough and personal issue - I wish you luck with it. 6y
JamieArc @BooksForEmpathy I‘m in the same spot as you, thinking about the same things... 6y
Toniyesss Ooooh girl I can‘t wait to read this book for all those same reasons 6y
8little_paws Ditto!! 6y
83 likes7 stack adds4 comments
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Ashley_Nicoletto
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It‘s that time of year again. 🙌🏼