I Heart My In-Laws: Falling in love with his family — one passive-aggressive, over-indulgent, grandkid-craving, Streisand-loving, bible-thumping in-law at a time was written by Dina Kotas Poch.
I am one of the lucky ones. I have wonderful in-laws, whom I adore. Yet, when they visit, I still do the seven day cleaning binge (I’m not worthy of their son/brother/cousin if there are dust bunnies behind the fridge) and I still worry that my Christmas gifts will be misinterpreted (I didn’t mean anything by the extra-large sweater. I buy all clothes roomy). Fortunately, when they visit, the back of the fridge doesn’t receive a white glove inspection, and my gifts are received warmly. My worries are for nothing, but there are different rules when you’re not bound by blood.
I Heart My In-Laws, by Dina Koutas Poch, examines what happens when the above fears are more legitimate and how to cope. Poch hilariously, outlines everything a woman needs to know to inherit and embrace her in-laws. Each chapter provides a new in-law milestone: introduction to future in-laws, vacationing with in-laws, marrying your sweetie (and his family) and giving birth to your first born (their heir).
Poch addresses issues such as: what to wear for your in-law debut. Here’s a hiint…she doesn’t recommend low-rise jeans and a thong. She provides “handy” charts to determine hidden meanings behind gifts (given and received) and lists of useful phrases in languages ranging from Spanish to Mandarin. Learn to say “good morning”, “thank you” and “bimbo” in all your favorite languages.
She, also, provides advice on how to limit your in-laws’ wedding guest list and nice ways to inform your in-laws that they are not going to be in your delivery room. Sprinkled throughout the book are true, in-law horror stories from women across the country. These stories are gentle reminders of how much, “I Heart My In-Laws.”This is the first book for author Dina Koutas Poch.
She is a writer and filmmaker with a B.A. from Brown University and M.F.A from Columbia. She’s married, a proud cat parent and lives in New York. Her in-laws live in Connecticut. This puts them, in her words, in the “full tank of gas away” category.
I Heart My In-Laws slips easily into the more humorous than helpful relationship genre. In many ways, it is reminiscent of Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys. Both books are lighthearted and fun to read. You find yourself nodding your head in agreement, but realizing the advice is a little simplistic and rarely practical.
I truly enjoyed reading this book. I found myself giggling aloud and constantly reading snippets to my husband. Poch has a wonderful sense of humor, and she describes situations in a way that makes you feel the embarrassment, nerves and frustration. As much of her advice is relatively obvious, I don’t recommend this book as an instruction manual. It does, however, stand strong as a confidante. It’s like telling your best friend about your family Thanksgiving dinner and having her say, “You think that’s bad, listen to my Thanksgiving.”
I recommend this book to anyone who needs a good laugh. I finished the book feeling like I had made a friend.
Overall Rating: 
Technorati Tags: Books, Relationships, Dina Koutas Poch, I Heart My In-Laws
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A mix of work by writers who have written for Literary Illusions over the years.
very nice book