Customer Reviews

The Yoga Mamas

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Yoga Mamas more than entertains on an afternoon beachside, it puts the spotlight on being pregnant and raising kids - tackling even the grunt work with a sense of humor. Reading The Yoga Mamas made me face my own fear that my hard-working husband in the office will hardly get involved until our children are old enough to read The Wall Street Journal. But in the end Stewart had me laughing; The Yoga Mamas embraces the pleasures of having kids. Starting with pregnancy, going straight into childbirth and all the diapers that follow, five women's stories woven together unravel the complicated lies we tell ourselves to make it from one day to the next before coming to a heartwarming end.

I picked up The Yoga Mamas because the theme seemed relevant and it looked like fun summer reading - but I soon found that there is alot more to this book beneath the surface. The story is laced with so many insights about New York life, social class, playground politics, husband-wife dynamics, and more. The writing is crisp, funny and smart, and the characters are cleverly crafted.

I was immediately drawn into the dilemmas of these extraordinary Yoga Mamas - Susan, the socialite with the mysteriously absent husband; Gigi, the social climber from Queens; Isla, the Spanish supermodel constantly at war with her Italian boyfriend; Margaret, the single high-powered lawyer; and Laura, the narrator-freelancer who is surprised to find that she has something in common with these privileged women. The story traces the social pressures, the well-kept secrets and the bizarre everyday encounters that could only happen in Manhattan - but are somehow instantly recognizable.

Author Katherine Stewart clearly has affection for her characters and a humorous way of making them seem both wacky and lovable. I have to admit that more than once I painfully recognized myself (or my friends) in how they dealt with the demands of new motherhood. Especially poignant was Laura's extreme frustration with her absent-minded husband - the book describes in comic relief how he decides to take up learning Latin, just when the dishes and diapers are piling up.

The book is very hard to put down - I read it in two days. But its exploration of new motherhood, female competition and unexpected friendship stuck with me long after I'd closed the back cover.

The Yoga Mamas is a tale of five hip Manhattanite moms who meet in a prenatal yoga class. There's Gigi, the ex-party girl; Margaret, the corporate lawyer; Isla, the glamorous model; Susan, the socialite; and Laura, the narrator-and the least rich of this Prada-clad bunch. While initially you may want to dislike these seemingly spoiled women, Stewart makes it impossible. Sure, there's a sorority feel to this group-but without the pretentious stereotypical behavior.

This is a comical, warm and funny story about forming unexpected friendships, and bonding over shared secrets. Stewart has a fresh and witty voice and her characters are well developed. I could find a piece of myself in each of them-and I'm sure you'll be able to as well. The plot also touches on the joys (and frustrations!) of first-time motherhood, and how it can change you, as well as the relationship with your significant other. I really felt like a voyeur into their marriages-some of which I was glad not to be in! Life may throw them curve balls, but these women are able to stay "balanced" because they have each other to lean on-not just because they're yogis!

I couldn't put this book down and it made my three-hour commute go by super quick-which is a major feat. :-) I was sad when the novel ended, and hope that Stewart comes out with an equally clever and compelling read soon!

As a mother and yogini (is that the word?), of course I had to read Katherine Stewart's 'The Yoga Mamas'. Just when I thought it was nothing more than society chat from the rich and boring, the plot twisted into a mystery (a nasty mystery, so much I am allowed to tell you without spoiling the fun). This book is fun to read, and once you are introduced to the five protagonists and their partners, you can't let go. And isn't mothering like yoga - you can't help it but grow? In the end, I was sad to put the book down. But it looks as if the story is pregnant with sequels to come? I imagine 'The Yoga Mamas in Day Care', 'The Yoga Mamas in Kindergarten', 'The Yoga Mamas Go to College' - if Katherine Stewart can keep up her keen observations, clever and warm at the same time.

I could not put this book down. I laughed and cried so much my husband thought I had finally lost it. I can say from personal experience that the writer really knows what is going in the New York playgrounds. The plot is kind of zany, and there is a huge surprise toward the end, which I won't spoil, but it all comes full circle. The book really tells what it is like to be pregnant, to have kids, to have friends, and just to be alive.

Katherine Stewart is the Tom Wolfe of the upscale hipmama set. Yoga Mamas is a funny, endearing story about women struggling to maintain a balance (pardon the yoga pun) between their lives as independent, and privileged, women, and their new roles as mothers. Its obsession with brand-name baby products satirizes the Perfect Madness phenomenon. Even while poking fun at them, Stewart creates likable characters. The interweaving of the plots of these women's lives is deftly done. New mamas will relate, even if you could never afford a Bugaboo and suck at warrior pose.

This book is absolutely adorable, smart, and funny! I enjoyed it immensely and feel that most any female would as well. It is a great story of friendship, and bonding that anyone can relate to. I was laughing out loud and hoping for the best for these wonderful characters, I couldn't help become attached too! Overall, an intelligent, funny, feel good story about the modern mom! Be sure to check it out!

You will be laughing internally and crying out loud by the end of this wonderfully unexpected tale of what it is like to start a family in NYC. Each chapter is more captivating then the next. You will truly feel like you know the characters and perhaps they will know you. Another brand of satire and wit that New Yorkers could use. I loved every page !

This was a great book about women, pregnancy, raising children, yoga, and friendship. There are even some secrets that are revealed as the story unfolds. This book is such a nice change from the everyday chick lit. Each chapter begins with a very insightful yoga quote that inspires. The quotes are also tied into what will happen in the upcoming chapter. Enjoy!

I am one of those people who does initially decide on whether I will pick up a book based, in part, by its cover. About 2 years ago, I looked at this book and put it down - I decided NOT to read it because the cover looked awful and too mystical for me - I thought the book was going to be too weird for my taste.

Well, last week, it was on sale at our chain store for $4.99 and I decided to give it another try.

Well, I LOVED it. I guess there is a lesson here about judging a book by its cover -

The Yoga Mamas is about Susan, Gigi, Laura, Margaret and Isla. They are all pregnant and they all meet at a weekly yoga class. All but Laura are rich, but in a nice change of pace, while this book does talk about wealth quite a lot, the characters are not snobby about it and Laura feels instant kinship with them.

As their pregnancies progress so does their friendship. They get into all kinds of whacky situations and as the story develops you get to learn more about each woman's personality as well as their lives and their respective yoga husbands.

There is a little bit of everything in this book - affairs, love and romance, fighting, money being spent and, of course, births - many births. What I also like about this book is that although there are quite a few personalities, this story is mainly told from the point of view of only one of the woman - Laura's.

There is even a neat little twist at the end - making these women not only funny, but amateur sleuths at the same time.

The friendships are real, there are not catty friends here and each woman is smart and special in their own right.

Great, great chick lit - despite its horrid cover.