Back in August, I saw a note on Twitter Moms about the opportunity to review a new book titled “The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood.”

Being a BlackBerry-toting mom myself, it sounded like a great opportunity to read something fun - for free - and, who can resist free? (Yes, FTC, I got a free copy of the book to review in this blog.)

The humor book is written like a blog, complete with tags at the end of each short, dated entry. This style turned out to be both a good thing and a bad thing for me. It’s good because the brief entries let you easily pop in and out of the book (you know, like when you have to step away to deal with something that just came in on your BlackBerry). But, it’s also bad because it can be a little too easy to set it aside.

I received my copy in early September and have yet to finish it. But, rather than wait any longer, I figured I should go ahead and earn my free book by writing about it now.

The premise of the book is that toddlers and technology are not so different. “If they’re quiet, you’re constantly checking them to make sure everything is okay. If they’re loud and interrrupting, you just want them to shut up and go away. When they do, the cycle starts all over again.”

There were some observations to which I could relate: “… many BB-using employees will burn out quicker and resign faster as they continue to jam two years’ worth of work into seven and a half months.” But, others that I could not: “The bottom line is this: children and BBSPs [one of the author's acronyms for BlackBerry Smartphone] are all about ownership, one upmanship and petty jealousies.”

And, according to an article in CIO, the author says “she’s sharing lessons learned from her experience using a BlackBerry over the past year to enhance her and her childrens’ lives;” and, quite frankly, I didn’t see any of that in the book. Tips like don’t share your BlackBerry with someone or theyll see your BrickBreaker score, don’t use your BlackBerry at fondue parties and BlackBerries are good for keeping up with neighborhood gossip, yes. But, life enhancements? I’m afraid not.

It’s a nice, light, sometimes funny read; but, maybe because my girl is no longer a toddler or maybe because I’ve added an iPhone (personal) to my BlackBerry (work), I just never could really get into it. Not every book has to be a page-turner, I guess. But, since this one didn’t turn out to be for me, it remains unfinished. And apparently, I’m not the only one who hasn’t turned all its pages.

If anyone out there made it to the end and feels I missed something, please let me know!

There’s a new mom writing on This Mommy Gig! We’re looking forward to writing with…………….

Christine Campbell

For Christine, mother of twins in Reston, Virginia, a great day begins at 5:30am with fellow “mamas” in her neighborhood gathered for early morning boot camp – a run, some crunches, some arm work and last but not least planks. It’s a group she started because she knows “mommy time” only happens in the wee bitty hours of the morning…and she didn’t want to drive far to get in some good exercise.

Next up - getting a sassy pair of seven year old twins up and out the door for school. One boy, one girl, and both coming into their own defined sense of self.

With a sincere and drawn out wave goodbye at the bus stop she turns herself into that savvy woman who does business development at Erickson Barnett, a business to business focused marketing agency where she has spent her days (first part time and now full times) since her kids were born. Before Erickson Barnett she was a marketing maven (some have said) at several emerging technology firms, her favorite was Riverbed Technologies (mostly because they were bought by Aether for a whole darn lot
of money).

At about 5:00 she does the fast switch back to “mama”, watches her daughter turn cartwheels or her son at bat…claps and cheers and says things like “great job honey, you’re the best, that was perfect” until practices are over and it’s time for dinner. She can often be convinced to go to McDonalds (oh don’t roll your eyes) but more often grabs a frozen entrée she got from Dream Dinners out of the freezer and desperately tries to thaw it in time for dinner that night.

Skip ahead…bath…book…song. Now it’s her time to dedicate to her own business, For U Mothers, an athletic wear business targeting mothers.

In bed by 9:30 (she needs a solid eight). Up again at 5:30…start again.

P.S. You can find Christine C. on twitter at @cccampbell