I’ve finally got around to reading Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself To Live, and was struck by a quote that just had to be shared:

“I have more CDs than 99 percent of America, but fewer CDs than 40 percent of my friends; if an acquaintance has more CDs than me, I feel intimidated and emasculated. I think about my CDs a lot“.

Chuck used to write for Spin magazine although no contributes to other publications. The book is a chronicle of an trans-American adventure he undertook for Spin. With a straight forward style, the book feels (at least as far as I’ve got) like an modern Catcher in the Rye.

Given that a number of friends are expecting their first or just had their first baby I thought I’d share the reading that we’ve found useful.

There are dozens of books out there for the expectant mum, which go into the mechanical detail of pregnancy and child birth – a little daunting for the first time father, who really just need a rough guide as to what to expect.  I read two books, both relatively light hearted and full if male humour worth reading.  Firstly Jon Smith’s – The Bloke’s Guide to Pregnancy, this was probably the better of the two addressing the basics to pregnancy and both the bloke’s likely reactions as well as the expectant Mum’s, along with Marcus Berkmann’s – Fatherhood: The Truth which looked a bit further on from the pregnancy and arrival of junior.  Jon smith incidentally also has his own website (go here).

Once the baby has arrived – then what can you use book wise?  Well there is Satan herself – Gina Ford.  People’s reactions to her books are very polarized. The problem is that her books are very prescriptive mapping out your day from the time you get up until the time you go to bed and if you slavishly followed it you’d  never escape the house.  From our perspective we used it to simply get an idea for a when we tried to develop a daily routine with our little one.

For the bigger picture over the first year we’ve used the first ‘What to Expect’ book, although probably not an essential read it is certainly a good book to look at in small doses.

For when the little one starts solids we found Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner really good.  The title sounds more pompous  than the book is.  It suggests meals and provides easy cooking instructions, so even a no hoper in the kitchen like me can cook up baby food rather than resort to expensive bottles.