"Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight? Confessions of a Gay Dad" by Dan Bucatinsky

Bucatinsky and his partner, now his husband, had been together over 10 years before deciding to have children.  This book consists of short vignettes of their journey to adopt and their evolution as dads once they do.  Perhaps best known for his role as James Novak on TV's Scandal, Bucatinsky writes with a lot of candor and humor about raising a girl and boy in Los Angeles along with his personal doubts of being a good parent.  He relays cute dialog with his kids, his insecurities when they seem to favor his husband, and his worries about how they will deal with being adopted by two men as they get older.  Luckily, they have lots of friends and families who accept and love them unconditionally.  I found one of the most insight parts to be when Bucatinsky worries that his four-year-old son's "tough guy swagger" may indicate that he'll be a bully and terrorize kids as he was terrorized himself.  There are other serious issues, but the author writes with lovable humor and tons of self-deprecation.  Recommended.  245 pages.

Mom & Me & Mom

Author: Maya Angelou
Pages: 224

The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother.

For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent during much of Angelou’s early life. When her marriage began to crumble, Vivian famously sent three-year-old Maya and her older brother away from their California home to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The subsequent feelings of abandonment stayed with Angelou for years, but their reunion, a decade later, began a story that has never before been told. In Mom & Me & Mom, Angelou dramatizes her years reconciling with the mother she preferred to simply call “Lady,” revealing the profound moments that shifted the balance of love and respect between them.


I have read several of Maya Angelou's books and have loved them all. She is a fantastic teller of her story and this book is just as great as the others.