THREE MARTINI FAMILY VACATION

Hot Books for Summer

by Charlotte Abbott -- Publishers Weekly, 4/9/2007

Want to get a leg up on your summer reading? You may already know that Michael Chabon and Don DeLillo are back, but have you heard about Richard K. Morgan, Christie Mellor or Kate Braestrup? Here are the top 25 galleys that—with the help of Peggy Halley at Book People in Austin, Tex.; Gerry Donaghy at Powell's in Portland, Ore.; Brad Parsons at Amazon; and Sessalee Hensley at Barnes & Noble—we pulled out of a teetering pile of more than 150 submissions.

For stressed-out parents, actress Christie Mellor calmly explains how to harness the energy of toddlers-gone-wild in Three-Martini Family Vacation: A Field Guide to Intrepid Parenting (Chronicle, June). "Her first book [The Three-Martini Playdate] was hilarious, in an 'I know I shouldn't be laughing at this, but heee!' kind of way," says Halley, "and we did very well with it."


Mrs. Three-Martini Strikes Again

Our favorite martini-hoisting parenting author is back, and her latest book cover is sure to outrage the Partnership for a Drug Free America, members of Alcoholics Anonymous and any number of other sober-minded groups.

Author Christie Mellor is actually a thoughtful, insightful and funny writer, who has plenty of worthwhile things to say about parenting. She just tends to invite attacks from literal-minded observers.

So far her latest book, The Three-Martini Family Vacation, is getting good reviews from other bloggers. I'll post my own, if I ever get time to read it or convince Working Mom to do my work. (She reads most of the parenting books in our household.)
Posted by Paul Nyhan at 12:47 p.m.




Next month, Chronicle Books will publish her follow-up handbook, "Three-Martini Family Vacation: A Field Guide to Intrepid Parenting," which offers tips on steering clear of Chuck E. Cheeses.
Said Mellor, "There used to be a little mystery about growing up. Children would hear the adults in the next room having adult conversations and listening to their music, perhaps Mom having a glass of wine with Dad after a long day at work. There was a magical world of grown-up activities, to which children were allowed a glimpse, but not a standing invitation." (read more)