The editor of "Real Simple" magazine shares essays, lists and resonant observations involving the lexicon she has created for busy working moms, in a humorous book that includes stories and insights from the author's own life.

"Lizzie Benson slid into her job as a librarian without a traditional degree. But this gives her a vantage point from which to practice her other calling: she is a fake shrink. For years, she has tended to her God-haunted mother and her recovering addict brother. They have both stabilized for the moment, but Lizzie has little chance to spend her new free time with husband and son before her old mentor, Sylvia Liller, makes a proposal. She's become...

Presents a guide for new moms coping with the demands of the real world after childbirth, offering advice on everything from returning to work and maintaining a work/life balance to breastfeeding and obtaining childcare. "The Fifth Trimester is your new best friend: a brilliant, tells-it-like-it-is guide to help moms cope with all the demands of the real world after Baby arrives. The first three trimesters (and the fourth--those blurry newborn days)...

"Alice Pearse thought she would live happily ever after...then she realized she was in the wrong story...[and] realizes the question is not whether it's possible to have it all, but what does she--Alice Pearse--really want?"--