My sister gifted this to me and it was a fabulous read. I cried a couple of times, and laughed a lot. Thank you, Jeannie (not Janine), for sharing your story with us. ( )

An exceptional book written with love, humor, faith and honesty. It was moving, funny and thought provoking. Jeannie shared her experiences with her family and surviving a brain tumor. ( )

This book is very interesting to me, because the author is the wife of a standup comedian who I like a lot. In his routines, the standup comedian often talked about his beautiful and extremely capable wife, his five children who they are raising in New York City, his wife's and his Catholic faith, and how his wife had a pear-shaped tumor lodged in her brain and had it surgically removed. I got intrigued listening to these stories and jokes and wanted to know more. So....this is a book that covers everything a fan would want to know :P It turns out the author is just as funny as her husband. She talked about her illness, her path to recovery, and her journey of self-discovery throughout the process in a very entertaining manner. Throughout the memoir it's clear that her faith grounds her and sustains her. And her husband is a sweet, good (and hilarious) human being. And, as a reader I got to learn a lot of details about the daily life of one of my favorite comedians. Yay! Pretty happy with the reading experience. ( )

I cried more than I laughed. Which isn't meant to be a negative comment regarding the book. I just wanted to warn you.

When Jeannie Gaffigan noticed that she was having trouble hearing, she did what most busy moms would do – she ignored it. Her children’s pediatrician happened to notice she was having trouble when she was in her office with her kids and wrote her a referral to a specialist. Long story short – Jeannie had a pear-sized benign brain tumor. She went from a mother of five living life at breakneck speed to being bedridden after brain surgery completely dependent on others.

Before her tumor, Jeannie had been somewhat of a control freak, insisting on doing a lot of things herself because it seemed easier to just do everything herself, even if it left her tired and stressed. Can any other moms relate?? During her recovery, she was forced to let other people take over and she found other people were capable of helping her – even her bumbling husband, comedian Jim Gaffigan. (Not surprisingly, he’s not nearly as inept as he makes himself seem in his act.) It also turned out that her children were capable of doing more things for themselves than she thought.

Jeanne’s sense of humor and strong faith got her through her tough journey. She is what her husband jokingly refers to as a “Shiite Catholic” so there is God-talk in this book, but she’s never preachy. I had surgery a few years ago and experienced complications and a recovery process very similar to Jeanne’s and I so wish I had this book back then. It would have helped me a lot to know that I wasn’t alone in what I was feeling.

Even if you haven’t been through a major medical issue, this book has a lot to offer. Busy moms will totally relate. When Life Gives You Pears is inspirational without being hokey. It’s also really funny. She’s Jim’s writing partner so she has street cred in the laughs department. Recommended. ( )