jeo224's review
5.0
I started reading this with my daughter, then she went to her summer job. But I still want to read the rest with her - fun and insightful read.
adunten's review against another edition
1.0
I quit barely 30 minutes into this book, and long before mother and daughter's travels actually started. Somewhere between mother bragging about vision mapping her life before vision mapping was a thing, and daughter blathering on about looking for artisanal cheese at the farmer's market, I realized I couldn't take another second of these people, let alone 13 more hours. White privilege in a box. It didn't help that the writing was pedestrian at best.
ktbergs's review against another edition
3.0
I got this book for my mom for Mother's Day because the description reminded me so much of us. After she finished it she passed it on to me saying "after you read this you'll want to write a book together." She's right, obviously. I also want to go on a crazy adventure around the world. How's about it, Mama?
cseero's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't finish, did not enjoy narration and after 100 pages just realizes I didn't care what happened. Enjoyed Come Back so much more.
canadianbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
This joint memoir by mother Claire and daughter Mia is their second joint book, but I haven't read the first, Comeback, which is about Mia's rebellion as a teenager and Claire's fight to bring her back from a life involved with drugs and self-destruction. I was travelling with my parents as I read this, but I am closer to the mother's age here as Claire is 51 and Mia in her early 20s. While the two had grown very close during that time, Mia's time at university and subsequent move to New York City to work and Claire's choices in life had led to their connection being less strong. Claire wanted to reconnect and heard about something called the Global Scavenger Hunt and asked Mia to sign on as her partner in this endeavor. The book is split into two parts with the first covering some of their experiences during the Global Scavenger Hunt and the second part covering their following long-term vacation in Avignon together.
The book starts with background on their relationship, and the preparation for this adventure in a chapter called Big Bang. The first part then covers their adventures in China, Malaysia and Singapore, Nepal, Cairo, and Greece and the Balkans. The two learn a lot about each other, with Mia in particular learning about her mother's choices in life and why she chose the path she did. They also learn about each other's weaknesses and strengths and encourage each other to open up and face these.
The second part of the book has them living together for a summer in a studio apartment in Avignon, an area that Claire has spent time in before, but doesn't know overly well. They continue to learn about each and the close quarters and forced together time increase their bond, though not always smoothly.
An interesting book about a mother-daughter relationship and its continuous development.
The book starts with background on their relationship, and the preparation for this adventure in a chapter called Big Bang. The first part then covers their adventures in China, Malaysia and Singapore, Nepal, Cairo, and Greece and the Balkans. The two learn a lot about each other, with Mia in particular learning about her mother's choices in life and why she chose the path she did. They also learn about each other's weaknesses and strengths and encourage each other to open up and face these.
The second part of the book has them living together for a summer in a studio apartment in Avignon, an area that Claire has spent time in before, but doesn't know overly well. They continue to learn about each and the close quarters and forced together time increase their bond, though not always smoothly.
An interesting book about a mother-daughter relationship and its continuous development.
abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
"Have Mother, Will Travel" is a memoir by (perhaps unsurprisingly) a mother/ daughter duo. When they get a chance to go on a month long Amazing Race- esque trip that will take them to many different countries for a litany of experiences, they dive right in. They think that the trip may help to bring them closer together (and it does). This is the second book by the pair. The first book was called "Come Back," which explored the relationship between Claire and Mia as Mia is sent away to sort of a reform school in Europe after being sexual abused and dealing with drugs. I have not read this book and I don't think that you need to in order to enjoy "Have Mother, Will Travel." Although, I do want to read that book now to learn more about Claire and Mia's background. This book takes place about 10 years after "Come Back" and while time has passed, there still seems to be some healing that needed to happen between Claire and Mia
I am a big believer in the idea that you don't really know someone until you try to travel with them. You have a front row seat to learning their style, likes, dislikes, idiosycracies, and all sorts of other things that you may not get to see normally. Now obviously since Claire and Mia are mother and daughter, they already know a lot about each other. I really liked reading about how Claire and Mia deal with each other and their new surroundings. Family connections are always something that has interested me. There are a lot of really interesting and beautiful ruminations on this book on the mother and daughter relationship.
And of course, I loved reading about all of the fabulous places that Claire and Mia visit. I would so love to go on this kind of a vacation (although it is doubtful that I would ever be able to find a month to drop everything and travel the world; a girl can dream though). Claire and Mia get to experience some really amazing things together, which makes their journey just that much more special.
I think this book would be a perfect pick for Mother's Day for anyone that enjoys memoirs and traveling!
I am a big believer in the idea that you don't really know someone until you try to travel with them. You have a front row seat to learning their style, likes, dislikes, idiosycracies, and all sorts of other things that you may not get to see normally. Now obviously since Claire and Mia are mother and daughter, they already know a lot about each other. I really liked reading about how Claire and Mia deal with each other and their new surroundings. Family connections are always something that has interested me. There are a lot of really interesting and beautiful ruminations on this book on the mother and daughter relationship.
And of course, I loved reading about all of the fabulous places that Claire and Mia visit. I would so love to go on this kind of a vacation (although it is doubtful that I would ever be able to find a month to drop everything and travel the world; a girl can dream though). Claire and Mia get to experience some really amazing things together, which makes their journey just that much more special.
I think this book would be a perfect pick for Mother's Day for anyone that enjoys memoirs and traveling!
reader_fictions's review against another edition
4.0
Much as I love the books I read and it should be pretty evident from all of this blogging business that I really, really do, sometimes I worry that I'm becoming too set in my ways and not exploring genres and such enough. Well, in Have Mother, Will Travel, I ventured into an almost entirely new genre for me: the memoir. Sure, I've read a couple, like The Glass Castle, which I am one of the only people in the world not to like, but, mostly, I've avoided them. Thankfully, I have been rewarded for my exploration and open-mindedness; I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, even though the topic, mother-daughter bonding, sort of made me want to run for the hills.
What I learned early on is that this is actually a continuation of some sorts from mother Claire and daughter Mia's first book together, Come Back, which focused on Mia's self-destructive teen years and her mother's efforts to save her. There's no need to read Come Back before going into this book, though I did add it to my reading list after enjoying this one. I was not confused, but I suspect there's plenty to be learned from that one as well.
The framing of this memoir was months of world-wide travel embarked upon by Claire and Mia, as an effort to bond again, having lost their closeness to the regular troubles of life in their different cities. Knowing this, I sort of expected everything to be light and fluffy, but both Claire and Mia are still dealing with the long-lasting effects of the traumas covered in greater detail in Come Back. Mia was sexually abused by her father when she was a child, and after she turned her life around after her drug-addled teen years, she and her mother became advocates to help abused daughters and their mothers. This isn't an issue I'd really ever heard discussed, so I learned a lot and found it very powerful emotionally.
Of course, what I hated about The Glass Castle was how boring and whiny it felt to me, as well as the tone of superiority Walls seemed to have about being well-off now while her parents dug through the dumpster for food. (Sorry if you liked that book but it just rubbed me the wrong way). The Fontaines didn't come off that way to me at all. They do not seem to feel particularly superior, are very willing to detail their personal faults and foibles, incredibly honest about the dark things, but also quite funny. The book maintains a balance between serious discussion and navel-gazing, and humorous travel book.
The first half of Have Mother, Will Travel describes a whirlwind tour of myriad countries as part of a scavenger hunt vacation. Can I say how much I want to go on this trip, even though there's no way in hell I would be able to complete most of the challenges? It just seems like such a great way to structure your vacation. Anyway, I don't want to go into this in too much detail, but the descriptions of the countries visited made me want to travel really badly. This is an excellent book for making you feel wanderlust.
The most important focus of this book, though, is not the travel, but the relationship between mothers and daughters, and, more generally, women. Claire and Mia, from their two different perspectives, do a lot of thinking about their personal relationship, looking at where it's gone wrong and how they can grow closer. They also consider the different family roles they see as they travel, considering which is best. They made me think a lot about myself as a daughter and as a woman, and I do plan on making my mom listen to this as well, even though I suspect some of Claire's observations will make her cry. Given that Mia is about my age and my mom is a baby-boomer like Claire, a lot of their observations hit close to home.
This isn't a book I see having much, if any, appeal for males, because much of it deals strongly with what it means to be a woman. There is some repetition, but, mostly, I was incredibly impressed with this.
I cannot imagine this being anywhere near as delightful if I'd read it. Claire and Mia did their own narration, reading their different sections. They both have good, distinctive reading voices, full of personality. Hearing their thoughts in their voices made the memoir, already very personal, feel much more so.
What I learned early on is that this is actually a continuation of some sorts from mother Claire and daughter Mia's first book together, Come Back, which focused on Mia's self-destructive teen years and her mother's efforts to save her. There's no need to read Come Back before going into this book, though I did add it to my reading list after enjoying this one. I was not confused, but I suspect there's plenty to be learned from that one as well.
The framing of this memoir was months of world-wide travel embarked upon by Claire and Mia, as an effort to bond again, having lost their closeness to the regular troubles of life in their different cities. Knowing this, I sort of expected everything to be light and fluffy, but both Claire and Mia are still dealing with the long-lasting effects of the traumas covered in greater detail in Come Back. Mia was sexually abused by her father when she was a child, and after she turned her life around after her drug-addled teen years, she and her mother became advocates to help abused daughters and their mothers. This isn't an issue I'd really ever heard discussed, so I learned a lot and found it very powerful emotionally.
Of course, what I hated about The Glass Castle was how boring and whiny it felt to me, as well as the tone of superiority Walls seemed to have about being well-off now while her parents dug through the dumpster for food. (Sorry if you liked that book but it just rubbed me the wrong way). The Fontaines didn't come off that way to me at all. They do not seem to feel particularly superior, are very willing to detail their personal faults and foibles, incredibly honest about the dark things, but also quite funny. The book maintains a balance between serious discussion and navel-gazing, and humorous travel book.
The first half of Have Mother, Will Travel describes a whirlwind tour of myriad countries as part of a scavenger hunt vacation. Can I say how much I want to go on this trip, even though there's no way in hell I would be able to complete most of the challenges? It just seems like such a great way to structure your vacation. Anyway, I don't want to go into this in too much detail, but the descriptions of the countries visited made me want to travel really badly. This is an excellent book for making you feel wanderlust.
The most important focus of this book, though, is not the travel, but the relationship between mothers and daughters, and, more generally, women. Claire and Mia, from their two different perspectives, do a lot of thinking about their personal relationship, looking at where it's gone wrong and how they can grow closer. They also consider the different family roles they see as they travel, considering which is best. They made me think a lot about myself as a daughter and as a woman, and I do plan on making my mom listen to this as well, even though I suspect some of Claire's observations will make her cry. Given that Mia is about my age and my mom is a baby-boomer like Claire, a lot of their observations hit close to home.
This isn't a book I see having much, if any, appeal for males, because much of it deals strongly with what it means to be a woman. There is some repetition, but, mostly, I was incredibly impressed with this.
I cannot imagine this being anywhere near as delightful if I'd read it. Claire and Mia did their own narration, reading their different sections. They both have good, distinctive reading voices, full of personality. Hearing their thoughts in their voices made the memoir, already very personal, feel much more so.
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