The Mother God Made Me to Be is a delightful memoir by Karen Valentin that chronicles her journey from a newlywed, to a married mother, to a single mom. I liked reading about Valentin’s different stages of life, as she embraced new adventures and boldly handled curveballs thrown her way. Her book is both relatable and encouraging.

I loved the stories Valentin shared about raising her two sons. The book nicely covers a wide variety of stories, quickly moving from one topic to the next; Valentin keeps a nice pace in her writing. In one of my favorite sections, “Something New,” Valentin shares how she quit a job that was not ideal for her family’s schedule, and started bringing in money through her music and art; it is easy for the to feel Valentin’s excitement as she steps into a new chapter in her life.

I also loved reading about the little things that Valentin did with her boys, like movie nights and camping. It reminds me of when the author Robert Brault said, “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” You can tell from reading Valentin’s book that she is a person who stops to enjoy the little things.