Anna Quindlen is proud to be a nana. This is a charming love letter to being a grandparent and a memoir of her early experience.

Arthur, her grandchild, has another set of grandparents who speak Mandarin. AQ and her husband took Mandarin lessons until their treasured tutor moved away. I admire their diligence in taking on this extra task.

This is a gem of book.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an advance copy.

What a great book! For a first time nana, I can relate to what the author writes about nanahood. It's a big change from being the mother, the one in charge, the one who says yes or not. Now relegated to the "may I" category takes some getting used to, but is so worth it.

If you remember what it was like to have others tell you how to raise your children when you were a first time parent, you can now understand what it was like for those who were told no or not now. What goes around... and all that.

Told with humor and sweet stories, I really enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
ps Good gift for Mother's Day for new grandparents?

This arrived at the perfect time as I will be entering Nanaville in less than two weeks. With her typical warm and candid style, she delivers a heartwarming and entertaining look at entering this new phase of her life. No longer the primary caregiver, she learns how to sit back, button her lip, and play a new role as her grandson's Nana.For me, it reinforced the need to "wear beige and keep your mouth shut."Respecting the parent' decisions even if it clashes with your own allows you to have more time with your grandchild. The book reads like a fresh breeze and is the perfect gift for grandma's everywhere whether newly minted or long past this stage. I want to buy this for all of my friends!

I love Anna Quindlen's writing and Nanaville did not disappoint. I've been a grandmother for many years. I saw myself and my thinking when the grandkids were babies and just enjoyed the entire book. A great read!

Anna Quindlen is one of those writers that makes a reader happy that she is so prolific. As with Dani Shapiro, she is as proficient in memoir as she is in fiction, and this lovely sharing memoir of grandmother-hood is a good example. Having been a prize-winning journalist, she writes in a style I appreciate, in dispensing information in fine language without padding.

Here she discusses the role of the grandmother, how the hardest part of the role is stepping aside as an auxiliary, not performing the major role or make the big decisions. She examines, also, parts played by the mother, daughter, mother in law, and daughter in law, all of which she has been, leading to the differences in how the landscape of the concept of family has changed over the years even in her lifetime. Nowadays, the gradual morphing of the cookie jar gramma for instance into a get-down-on-the-floor-and-play glamma. Although she is a boomer and I am a war baby, I can still relate to many of her observations and theories.

This is an enjoyable look at the art of being a grandparent. For new grandmothers, she gives frank advice i.e. you are no longer in charge!!! For those of us who read her NY Times columns, it's fun now to see those children grown up and having their own children. Thank you to Nana.

Fours stars for this memoir of grandparenthood by essayist, novelist, and besotted nana Anna Quindlen. Her fans, particularly loyal readers of her columns in the New York Times and Newsweek (later collected in book form), will enjoy this update on her life and family and her thoughtful, personal, often funny musings on becoming and being a grandmother. In addition to being a very enjoyable read, this book would also be a great gift for a Nana-to-be. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, provided in exchange for an honest review.

I have been reading Anna Quindlen from the days when her grown up children were young ,I always related to her,her anecdotes her joy and normal ups and downs raising kids.Now we’ve both arrived at the most delicious time Nana time.You fall in love with your angelic grandchild will do anything for them but oh you are not the parent you have to be careful of boundaries of respecting your child who is now a parent of the parents choices.Anna lays it all out honestly open as she always has been. A lively gift for grandparents or grandparents to be.Enjoy enjoy being the Nana we deserve it. #netgalley#random house