I really enjoyed this book but would have hated working for the couple that the nanny worked for. I wouldn't have kept as quiet as she did! Really quick read.

Back Cover Blurb:
In between looking after four year old Grayer and running a thousand errands for Mrs X, his rich, uptight Manhattanite mother, Nan is trying to have a life. There's college, shopping, her friends, her cat George. And the gorgeous Harvard boy from the sixth floor.....
But the X family's dramas keep intruding - visits from Mr X's predatory mistress, catastrophic family outings and, as a final straw, the case of the marriage-destroying panties. As Divorce looms, Nan realizes how attached she's become to the X's underloved son - and how nannying has become more than just a job. ( )

funny sometimes. but bad writing. b.a.d. sadly realistic ending. from my mid-california understanding of the world of manhattan :) ( )

The Nanny Diaries is written from the perspective of “Nan” the Nanny. Come now, couldn’t you think of something a little less obvious? This of course, is second only to the evil mother, “Mrs. X.” Apparently, the author thought this would be a clever way to make it seem like Mrs. X really existed. I however, would have much rather enjoyed reading about Mrs. Goldingsternman, or Mrs. Heathrightcliff… or whatever silly name. But, Mrs. X? It just irritated me. Nevertheless, aside from the terrible names of the characters, it was a fun easy read. Although I thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing about my own “nanny-days,” I felt there was much lacking in the story. I always hunger for dynamic characters that grow and change and surprise me. These characters were predictable the whole way through. I give this book a 2.5 out of 5, (but I’m still going rent the movie!) ( )

I absolutely LOVED this book!! OMG..I wanted to kill the wicked Mrs. X! I wish Nan would've had more back bone!! Wonderful & entertaining! Highly recommends!! ( )

I enjoyed this book although you cannot help but wonder why does Nan put herself through the torture of working for the X's. It just seemed so masochistic and yet as we slowly saw how she bonded with Grayer I realized how tough a position she was in. Do you suck it up in order to stay and provide the love that your charge is seriously missing in their life? It made me want to cry to see how Grayer would reach out for affection towards both his mom and dad just to have them brush him aside to rush to a business meeting or a pedicure. I had initially thought this book was going to be mostly fluff but I was so wrong. It totally left my heart wringing in sadness for Grayer and all those children who probably do have lives similar to this. A wonderful read and the sequel is due out in December 2009.

2007 ( )

The Nanny Diaries started strong. The mean character is amusingly blunt and witty, and the beginning of the book is filled with comical commentary on the habits and thought processes of Manhattan mothers. Unfortunately, from there it goes downhill. As the book progresses, the main character loses her spunk. She loses her spunky insight and replaces it with baffled timidity. The genre transforms from humor to drama, and the authors weren't successful in stirring my sympathies. I would recommend reading the first two chapters and not bothering to finish the book. ( )

This book just made me sad for the little boy who was ignored by his father and a pawn for his mother. And sad for the nanny who had to say good bye to him, without getting to say good bye. ( )

This book shadows the life of Nanny who is in charge of caring for a four year old boy, Grover. They become attached to each other that Nan decides to continue to work for the Xe's, despite her many arguments with family, friends, and herself to move on. Nan is over qualified, overworked, stressed out, and under appreciated and under paid, in fac, there were time when she did not get paid at all. The only good thing going for her is the Hottie Harvard guy who lives upstairs from the Xe's. This book has a lot of sarcasm and witt from the character, but she is a doormat for the Xe's. I found this book to be dificult to get through...I guess I did not find how the rich class of NY city live, how they regard thier children, or how nannies put up with thier employers very interesting. Usually I read through my books very quickly, but this time, it took me a long time. In fact, I think I read three books in between this one. ( )

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Nanny is going to NYU to get her degree in child care, but first she must deal with the X's.

The X's are a typical rich New York family: Dad is a workaholic; Mom doesn't have a job but is too busy shopping and running her social life to raise her child; Grayer (nicknamed Grover/Grov) is the four-year-old who wants nothing more than his parents' attention.

Nanny becomes very attached to Grayer, who is absolutely adorable and really likes Nanny because she is the one raising him. Nanny and Grayer go on many adventures together and Nanny must deal with the crazy Mrs. X, who doesn't come home when she says she will, doesn't pay within a normal time frame, and is just downright mean to Nanny -- and to her own child.

This is a great story of love and affection, and also the lack of it. I really liked reading this book because Nanny has a life outside of her job, like falling in love with H.H.-Harvard Hottie. Nanny and Grayer are realistic and the parents are the crazy people in the book, which makes this a great view for teens.

I had a lot of fun reading THE NANNY DIARIES, and will recommend it to all of my friends who have ever babysat for crazy parents! ( )

I realize that this book is essentially residing in the Doritos section of the book store while everyone mostly wishes to pretend that they only read Globe Artichokes, Organic Free-Range Chickens or Nine-Grain Toasted Wheat Berry Muffins. But you know what? There are days where I really do want Doritos. And I don't mean some sub-standard generic Nacho-Cheese-Flavored Corn Chip - if I'm going to eat junk food, I want a quality junk food (I don't want pretend junk food either - so keep your Guava Choco-Almond Crips to yourself). And that's what you'll get with the Nanny Diaries. A quality, name-brand, worth-the-calories, junk food read.

In terms of your chick lit, summer beach read, something to pass the time reads, The Nanny Diaries is a cut above most others. While the staples are all present - young ingenue about to make her way in big city, old guard establishment that will be examined though wide-eyed idealism and a best-friend with rough edges - this story seems to do a much better job of taking us through the familiar dance without it seeming so forced.

Nan is a surprisingly well-formed character for the genre. By this, I mean that she has reason for moving through the plot. Her actions also have consequence and her character suffers from mistakes of her own creation in addition to the expected meanness of others. Nan's story of accepting a job and staying on as Grayer's nanny to a self-involved Manhattan couple works only because she is more than a single-note character. Even Grayer, her charge, gets his turn at character growth. The lessons in the Nanny Diaries are not particularly deep (don't be a self-involved jerk pretty much sums it up), but that's okay. If you want life-changing, go to the Pomegranate Syrup Infused Roasted Rack of Lamb section of the literature isle. ( )

Good beach book. ( )

The flaw in this book, I think, is that it can't decide whether it wants to be an exposé, the sort of book that always gets referred to as a "scathing indictment", of rich Manhattanite socialites and how they treat their children, and their children's nannies, or whether it wants to be a novel about the same topic. On balance, it's the latter: it has sub-plots, supporting characters, a subdued romance, lurking in the background of the A-plot concerning the protagonist's work as a nanny, and thus it's irritating that the tropes of the exposé-type book are kept up - the use of the names in particular, referring to the family as the "Xes" and the protagonist herself simply as "Nanny" seems affected.

That said, if this is taken as a novel, it is in no way a bad one. It's smart and witty, the protagonist is likeably caustic, and the child is believably drawn - an ordinary child, loveable and occasionally infuriating. His parents are edging towards caricature, but that's more forgiveable in a novel, I feel - this is, of course, a well-worn formula, and Mary Poppins needs proper fairy-tale antagonists. I think it drags too long - the last fifty pages could comfortably be dropped without taking away from the ending - and it isn't consistently paced - but like I said, it's in no way bad. It reads well, and smoothly, and doesn't in my mind qualify as chick-lit. It's too sharp for that. ( )

The prologue was the only interesting thing about this book. I guess I don't usually read chick lit for a reason. ( )

I read this book out of curiosity: A book so high in bestseller lists had to be (at least) interesting...or so I thought.

After finishing the book, I found it interesting to read some of the reviews written about it: the low-rating reviews talked about a mean-spirited, un-funny, sad & basically boring book. True up to a point. The high-rating reviews talked about an extremely funny, sad but also tender, true-to-life book. Also true up to a point. In my opinion, the "Nanny diaries" fits none of the 2 above categories: you surely know by now that it's an expose on Upper-East-Side NY life, about parents horribly neglecting their children & essentially delegating their parental responsibilities completely to nannies. Since these kinds of parents do exist, it's interesting to read about them. But the book tends to take the point too far.

People in the book, after a certain point, seem like caricatures of themselves. Even Nanny, who is portrayed as far too perfect, especially compared to Mrs X who is portrayed as far too horrible: in real life people tend to have their pluses & minuses, even horrible people like Mrs X...The book shows no nuances, whatsovever.

The writers are out to prove a point, & in the beginning, yes, the book is funny & insightful. But after the point is proven (more than proven) the book gets boring & repetitive. By the end of the book, I was feeling cheated- where was the humour of the beginning? where was the sarcasm? only bitterness (& helplessness) was left....and yes, sadness about a very bad situation: but this sadness could be shown through much more realistic events. The ending comes abruptly, as if the writers had just lost steam & wanted to get the book out of the way.

The "Nanny Diaries" is based on a good idea, & contains some good, funny, sarcastic writing (especially in the beginning). Once you get past the good, opening parts, there's not much there. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. The names annoyed me though: Nanny for the nanny and Mr. & Mrs. X. Also, I was left with the feeling that I would've liked to know about the other sides of Mr. and Mrs. X, although I guess these are just things that aren't shown to a nanny or any person from the outside world. It's hard to grasp the concept of people actually being this harsh and self-centered, though. The ending also left me a bit frustrated.
I somehow felt the need to compare this to 'The Devil Wears Prada', because both books are about relatively normal girls serving some rich unreasonable family. I liked this book better, however. Maybe it's because you get more of a feeling why Nanny keeps her job. The Devil Wears Prada had me screaming: "Ugh, this is just too frustrating" most of the time, while The Nanny Diaries also showed a lot more of the actual people. Maybe it was simply because you could start to care for the child as a reader, and not only for the main character. ( )

Readability Factor: Easy
Predictability Factor: I suppose it wasn't very predictable because I was so infuriated by the ending. Sososososo freaking mad about the ending. The romance, however, was too easy and predictable. To be honest, I'm not sure what this novel was really about. A nanny? A child? A romance? I'm still not clear.
Couldn't Put it Down Factor: Four stars (out of five).
Recommend it? Nosiree. Don't waste your freaking time. If you want to know how it ends, shoot me an email. My guess is that the movie has a much better ending than the book. How else would they even get the funding to film it? It was really THAT bad. I'm still stinging.
Overall Rating: Two stars. Cleverly-written, but an unprecidented waste of my time as someone getting closer to death every day. ( )

This book is a modern-day "Agnes Grey," depicting the trials and humiliations of a poor, young woman who takes up caring for the wealthy elite's children. There's a contrived love story thrown in for extra measure, but it only serves to break up the intensity of the X's bad behavior. Mr. X burns through trophy wives and couldn't be bothered to care for his son. Mrs. X is determined to stay thin, young, rich, and Mr. X's current wife. Where does that leave her son Grayer? Spoiled with material things instead of love, the little boy makes sure to make his nanny's life hell, until he realizes that she's the only one who really cares about him. The novel succeeds in stirring up indignation, much like Anne Bronte's novel of the past.

The titular nanny is named Nan, to show she is the "everywoman" of nannydom. The point of the authors, being, is that the events happening in the novel, horrifying though they are, are based on the true-life bad behavior they have themselves observed in the upper echelons of Manhattan life. The X's come off as ghoulishly cruel and self-centered, but that's the face they decided to show off for the "help." These characters may have more than one side -- we get a small glimpse of Mrs. X's sparingly -- but the novel remains focused on the unreasonable treatment of nannies.

An enjoyable novel, if not consistent to the end. Shines best with tales from the childcare trenches. ( )

I found this book very boring. The book could have actually been summed up into the first chapter. I just could not get into it and stopped at page 114. ( )

The story of a college aged Nanny for a wealthy family, "The Nanny
Diaries" is a fun read. When looking for an easy yet engaging book, this
is a good choice. I was able to read this quickly, and found it
interesting to follow the life of this young college woman dealing with
the stresses of a high maintenance family to care for and a sizeable load
of coursework to handle. It was an enjoyable book. Molly

This is easily one of the best books I've ever read. I picked it up a while ago (before the movie was planned) after seeing a few people reading it, and figured I'd give it a try. I must have finished it in a day or two. The story, about an overworked nanny, is read as if it actually happened. The problems the nanny faces are so true, and have just the right amount of humor added to them that it was impossible to put the book down. The two authors were even able to add a little romance to this nanny's overworked life.

Story of a young college student nannying for a rich and snobby family in Manhattan. Nanny is totally taken advantage of and treated horribly. Her struggle with her motherly feelings for Grayer, the child, and her hatred for his ignorant and selfish parents. ( )

Nice categorization of this book! I'm torn. OTOH, the authors' writing was good and I could feel the characters. On the other, I wanted to slap them and the parents on more than noe occasion. I feel the worst for the boy. I can't fathom this lifestyle.

Reviewed at: http://adventuresindailyliving.blogsp... ( )

An unexpected pleasure, this story of a rich couple's nanny in upscale Manhattan. This was written by two former nannies who cobbled together a fictional compilation of their experiences. I have read elsewhere that the events of the book are primarily actual happenings, and if anything they were often easy in portraying the couples they worked for. Here is the story of Nan, an NYU student in her final year who accepts a nanny job for Mrs. X, looking after her 4-year old son Grayer. The job quickly becomes all-consuming, but Nan falls in love with Grayer and cannot bring herself to be one more inconstant in his life, particularly as the X's marriage begins to fall apart. This is a book that will enrage the sympathetic reader against the X couple and their like, and one wonders how stereotypical their portrayal is. Still, it's a good read with a satisfying conclusion, although at the end Nan takes a higher road than I probably would have. ( )