Mom Still Likes You Best

BOOK: Mom Still Likes You Best: The Unfinished Business Between Siblings

AUTHOR: Jane Isay

GRADE: C+

Pulled in by the title (I mean, who hasn’t thought that at least a dozen times… a year), I curled up in bed eager to learn exactly what unfinished business lies between me and my own sister (who is two years younger than I). Now, don’t get me wrong – there is no spectacular rift between us. I believe we share a run of the mill on and off again closeness. She drives me insane… and I adore her. I’d wager the same goes for her. Still, the idea of a book solving all of our woes is immensely appealing.

Isay’s main talking point is that the behavior we develop in our early childhood years (what she calls “crib behavior”) replays itself over and over the remainder of our lives. Mom Still Likes You Best is organized chronologically in content and follows the travails of various case studies from infancy to death.

Isay’s explorations and explanations are interesting but not ground-breaking. I laughed a little and rolled my eyes more than once or twice, but overall was not all that impressed by the final product. Given the fact that it is a short read, read it if it sparks an interest in you – but don’t worry your missing out on the keys to sisterhood (or brotherhood) if you don’t.