Parenting Books - a quick review of some that I have read

Books I would recommend

The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Dr. William Sears,MD and his wife Martha Sears, a nurse.  They have 8 kids, at least one of them special needs and this book is simply the best of the best out there for parents.  I still refer to it once in a while for my 3yo.

The Complete Book of Christian Parenting & Child Care: A Medical & Moral Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy Children by Dr. Sears also.  A good companion to the above book, although geared more towards the pregnant, and newborn stages than the more comprehensive "baby book"

I am generally really happy with the entire Dr. Sears Parenting Library.  The Discipline Book and the Family Nutrition Guide are well worn in our house.  Extremely well written and based on solid medical science.  There are several more of his books we want to get. 

Biblical Parenting by Pastor Crystal Lutton is a great book for Christian Parents.  It gives biblical references for Grace Based Discipline.

Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic Mary Sheedy Kurcinka is a really fabulous book for those of us with intense kids.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk  Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish has a lot of great ideas for how to communicate with kids.  I have been able to find a lot of useful information even before my child was verbal, but it is truly more valuable once your kids talk.  It is applicable for all ages of interpersonal communication.

Books I don't really like:

The "What to Expect" series.  I really didn't like the attitude of the authors even when I was pregnant, but the 'toddler' and older books were simply ridiculous. 

Anything by Dobson.  Unless it is ok if you child grows up homophobic, these books are not for you.  The guy has some serious issues.  There was some stuff in his "growing up boys" that was interesting, but what I found of interest can be found in a million other parenting books that don't have the offensive anti-gay message attached to them.  Not the worst book out there, but I would never recommend it.  I have read some exerts from "dare to discipline" and found it pretty repugnant.  It advocates 'switching' really little kids for really dumb reasons.  Better parenting would have avoided the situations described entirely.

The second worse parenting book ever written:  anything by Gary Ezzo.  The guy is a wacko, truly.  His entire parenting philosophy is about the parent's convenience rather than respecting the child as a human being.  Kids have died following his advice.  Like Sears, he has a Christian version (growing kid's God's way) and a secular version (babywise) of his books...and both are horrible.  The feeding schedule advice is totally unrealistic and actually harmful.  The parenting advise is borderline abusive at times.  I actually feel pretty sick when I hear parents following his methods.  Before you buy his books, make sure and read http://www.ezzo.info/babywise.htm to understand why I am so appalled by his books.

The single worst parenting book on the market is To Train up a Child" by the Pearls.  Without reservation, I would call this a child abuse manual.  Horrifying.  Truly the most disgusting thing I have ever read.  I would not treat a dog so shabbily.  I truly can not imagine how these people have managed to stay out of jail with the level of physical and emotional abuse that they advocate.  

pros:  Probably the most comprehensive parenting community out there for attachment parenting (AP) and natural family living (NFL) families.  A higher traffic community (so you don't have to wait a week to get answers to your questions on most forums), with a stronger sense of community than many of the 'big name' boards.  A lot of very wise women (and a few men) and includes support for almost any parenting issue you come across.  The majority of posts are well written and mindful of people's feelings, without some of the venom and psychotic usage of the shift key so common in some online forums.  Also, no disturbing blinkies and mile-long signatures.  Also has a lot of great online articles at the main Mothering Magazine site.
cons:  It is very heavily moderated.  Among the issues that might get you banned:  discussing sexuality or abortion, name-calling, comments about other boards/instigating board wars, and advocacy (discussion is fine, just not advocacy) of any negative/harmful/violent parenting practices such as spanking, CIO of infants, or routine circumcision.  A lot of the more free-spirited people struggle with the confines of church-like language and feel like the board is becoming too mainstream.