I took both 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street along to the hospital when I had my second son for comfort reading. Other people pack music and birth plans--I packed Helene Hanff!

If you've never read her earlier memoir "Underfoot in Show Business," my God, are you in for a treat. https://www.citizenreader.com/citizen/2018/05/nobody-puts-nonfiction-in-a-corner-helene-hanffs-underfoot-in-show-business.html