In vivid and lyrical prose, Elizabeth Rau chronicles in The Good Slope her childhood in the Midwest, her many years as a newspaper reporter, and, above all, her plunge into motherhood in middle age. At a time when writers tend to grouse about raising children, Rau revels in her good fortune and the day-to-day: a run-in with Julia Roberts on the set of “Mystic Pizza”; teaching her younger son how to read using “Garfield” comic books; encouraging her older son to design his grandmother’s gravestone; observing the motley crew of boys who patronize “the yellow house” for years, bringing their wit, charm, and stuff, from yo-yos to baseball gloves. With a journalist’s eye for detail, she reveals in her storytelling a life that is joyful, fleeting, and, at times, tinged with sadness. Engaging, yet never indulgent, this collection elevates moments we take for granted into luminous stories about the experience of home.