Happy Housewives (I was a whining, miserable, desperate housewife – but I finally snapped out of it…YOU CAN TOO!) was unbelievably awful. The only reason this doesn’t take the top spot for crap reading is that I appreciate the idea behind the book.

There are lots of stay at home moms who are wasting their precious time home with their children instead of enjoying it, and her ‘alleged’ goal is to help them remember that being a stay at home mom is an important job, and should be taken seriously. Great concept, horrible execution.

A better title for this book would have been “I’m Darla Shine, and I am thin and good looking and wear tight shirts. That makes me a good mom and wife. I do not like fat women and think moms who choose to work when they don’t have to are selfish. Did I mention I am thin? I did? Good, because I am.” She spends a good portion of the book dissing moms who work, and suggests that everyone should give up certain things to be able to stay home. She demands respect for being an at home mom (“The most important job in the world”) but refuses to reciprocate to moms who choose to have a career. Bull. But…I kept reading. She goes on to remind us to take pride in our home, play with our kids, go on dates with our husbands, and have girlfriends. Great ideas.

Then…the chapter on cooking. Starts out innocently enough. Get back in the kitchen. Make meals. Use good quality ingredients. Don’t feed junk food. Ok, I’m on board – what’s next? How about some recipes? Sure! She makes eggs with some cheese in them and calls them “My Famous Eggs.” Then we have “Darla’s Meatballs”, “My Famous Chicken Salad”, “Darla’s Quickie Sauce”, “My Steak and Onion Sandwiches”, “My Couscous.” You get the picture. This woman is so desperate to brand herself that is just sounds self-centered and weird. I’ll admit, I couldn’t really go much further, but I’m guessing it didn’t change much. She probably just reminded us how cute and thin she is…over and over again.