This is a story that will be familiar to many women, the act of juggling so many commitments while trying to hold down a full time job at the same time. For Kate though, it's also about reaching this important milestone and discovering who she really is - who she'd like to be if she wasn't so concerned with making everyone else happy.

Leave it to me to wind up in a group of porno writing grannies who discuss sex toys and apple cobbler in the same breath. Also leave it to me to leak an outlandish plot idea to a bestselling author with the morals of a rabid squirrel. And only I could get arrested for a jewelry heist I didn’t commit—by a hunky cop whose handcuffs just might tempt me to sign up for a life of crime. Maybe I’ve found my calling after all… Lizzy took a screenshot of the Snapchat and she said she meant to put it in our Facebook group chat, but she put it on her wall by mistake so now it’s there like forever.” She pronounces the word “forever” so it rhymes with her favorite, “whatevah”—lately further abbreviated to the intolerable “whatevs.”Bloody brilliant! In 2002 Allison Pearson wrote I Don’t Know How She Does It and introduced Kate Reddy. A working mother with young children. I loved it so much because Kate Reddy was me. I identified with everything. Emily is by my side of the bed, bent over as if in prayer or protecting a wound. “Please don’t tell Daddy,” she pleads. “You can’t tell him, Mummy.” I’m pretty sure this is the summer of the “mom com” for me. I’ve read like three of them in the past couple of weeks and they have each been such a delight. I have not yet read I Don’t Know How She Does It (this book’s predecessor), but didn’t feel like I missed out on anything as this worked perfectly as a standalone. I am happy there’s more by Allison Pearson, however, because apparently smiling is now my favorite (well, and porn and stabby stuff, but whodathunk I’d like all this mommy shit, right?). Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’s OK,” I say, maneuvering us both awkwardly toward the door, guided by the chink of light from the landing. “Whatever it is, we can fix it, I promise. It’ll be fine.”

The top end of OK. This has been sitting about a while and is a compilation of Clarkson's Sunday Times columns from 2008-9 so it is something of an instructive wander down Memory Lane as well as a handy bag book for a train journey (aside from feeling faintly as though a plain cover is required) Of course all written pre his final fall from grace and the end of Top Gear and indeed the end of his long marriage.The pressures placed on this woman are extreme and can be interpreted as satire of the devaluing of women of a certain age. But the author portrays this woman as enthusiastically invested in this unrealistic game of trying to be young. There are occasional hints of resentment, but not what I would want for a protest of such an environment. From the first chapter I was laughing and I was in love with this book. The only reason I had to put it down was because the battery in my Kindle was screaming at me that it needed more juice. (Damn needy thing) I truly love the characters that Robyn has created. And the Granny Porn group sounds a lot like me and my girlfriends in a couple of decades. *grins*

Limited-edition Insanity sauce is ridiculous. It’s made in Costa Rica, from hot pepper extract, crushed red savina peppers, red tabasco pepper pulp, green tabasco pepper pulp, crushed red habanero peppers, crushed green habanero peppers, red habanero pepper powder and fruit juice. Well, that’s what it says on the tin. But I don’t believe it. I think it’s made from uranium, plutonium, fertilizer, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and ammonia, with a splash of mace. I do not believe it’s a foodstuff. It’s a weapon." I think this book could have been a lot funnier than it ended up being. I thought it would make me laugh quite a bit, but there were only a few instances where I thought anything was particularly funny. I did love the short chapters though, and the fact that Kate calls her memory "Roy." All I could picture was this little old man shuffling around in her head finding her memories. She would often talk to "Roy" as well which was pretty funny. Seven years later, Kate Reddy is facing her 50th birthday. Her children have turned into impossible teenagers; her mother and in-laws are in precarious health; and her husband is having a midlife crisis that leaves her desperate to restart her career after years away from the workplace. Once again, Kate is scrambling to keep all the balls in the air in a juggling act that an early review from the UK Express hailed as "sparkling, funny, and poignant...a triumphant return for Pearson."Filled with humor and wit, readers will cheer on Kate as she navigates this frenzied life and struggles to hold everything—and everyone—together." —Shereads.com What are the words you’d use to describe the fact that women take care of the young and the old, year in, year out, and none of that work counts as skills or experience or even work? Because women are doing it for free it is literally worthless.” That being said, I could see most of the plot twists coming a mile away, and you couldn't help but get frustrated that Kate couldn't see them too. Overall, while I found parts of this novel funny, refreshing, and quite apropos, I couldn't really get over Kate's obsession with her looks or her one-sided relationship with her children. In the end, 3.5 stars, probably bumped up a bit for a little Kate Reddy nostalgia. The funniest and most feminist writing of the year… How Hard Can It Be? is that rare thing: a sequel that matches and even surpasses the original…Every line is meticulous; every reflection on parenthood hilarious, or else so true it’s heartbreaking.” — The Telegraph (UK) How Hard Can It Be? is that rare thing: a sequel that matches and even surpasses the original’ Daily Telegraph