Five top laid-back pregnancy books

Claire Zulkey is a writer who lives in Chicago.  Her books include the novel An Off Year. She also edits the aptly named website, Zulkey.com.

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Zulkey tagged five top books for "the type of pregnant woman who wants information, minus the finger-wagging or tantric herbal perineal massage," including:

Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born, by Tina Cassidy

I did not attend a birthing class. I was signed up for one ($120 for a seven-hour class on a weekend? UGH), but then my cousin, after taking hers, told me that I’d learn the same things from the reading material she received in the class, which she then loaned to me. However, thanks to Cassidy’s book, I wasn’t completely ignorant as to the ways birth operates. While definitely cringeworthy, and sad at times (until fairly recently, it was hard out there for both a newly pregnant woman and a new baby), it’s a fascinating glimpse at the human body and the history of obstetrics, and will definitely—definitely—make you think twice before wishing you’d been born in an earlier era.

Read about the other books on the list.

Visit Claire Zulkey's website.

--Marshal Zeringue