Book Recommendations

With Expecting Better, award-winning economist Emily Oster spotted a need in the pregnancy market for advice that gave women the information they needed to make the best decision for their own pregnancies. By digging into the data, Oster found that much of the conventional pregnancy wisdom was wrong. In Cribsheet, she now tackles an even greater decision-making in the early years of parenting.

The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life? In Essential Labor, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color.

No matter how much you earn, own, or owe, you can create a secure financial future for your family. In her engaging, down-to-earth style, nationally known credit and money management expert Erica Sandberg provides no-nonsense strategies on how to overcome the challenges every parent faces, from raising a family on a reduced income, to the practicalities of debt repayment, to managing expenses over the course of a child’s life. Indispensable and easy-to-use, Expecting Money offers you the tools to: Maximize employer benefits—during pregnancy and after the baby is born; Manage the cost of new baby expenses; Conquer financial challenges, whether you’re a one- or two-income family; Shop smart and use credit to your family’s advantage; Plan for the future—”including childcare and education costs from pre-school to college.

Good Mothers Have Scary Thoughts is packed with world-class guidance, simple exercises, and nearly 50 stigma-busting cartoons from the viral #speakthesecret campaign that help new moms validate their feelings, share their fears, and start feeling better.

Comprehensive strategies to establish consistent sleep patterns for infants and toddlers.