After River by Donna Milner

Published by Harper Perennial an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and HarperCollins Publishers Canada

Natalie Ward is a 15 year old girl, living in the Cascades of British Columbia. Natalie and her family live a happy life with their dairy farm - a farm that is known in the community as a place where all are welcomed, where every visitor is fed, and where love so obviously and abundantly resides.

Then one day a stranger arrives and accepts a job as a farmhand. Though some in the community are less than thrilled with the arrival of an American draft dodger, the Ward family are happy to have River with them. That is until tragedy strikes and a family is torn apart. Some 35 years later, circumstances make it essential for Natalie to face her fears and return to the home she has avoided for so long...

I found this novel to be a real page-turner. I had read the blurb on the back of the book and it seemed interesting but I have to say, neither that synopsis, or the one I have written above actually do this book justice. I fell in love with this novel very quickly thanks to the wonderfully developed characters and the brilliant storytelling talents of the author. Donna Milner has a gift for weaving a story so gracefully, so vividly, making the story come to life in your mind without ever providing any real clues as to the next twist or turn. In doing so she adds an air of mystery to an already dramatic and emotionally stimulating read that just really heightens the senses. Perhaps that is why this book seems so stunningly real while reading it. The downside is that when the last page is turned, it almost feels like one is saying goodbye to very dear friends.

I will definitely be reading more by this author and highly recommend you pick this one up but be warned, you are going to have great difficulty putting it back down once you do!

Author's website: http://donnamilner.com/

When Did I Get Like This? by Amy Wilson

Published by William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and HarperCollins Publishers Canada

When Did I Get Like This? (The Screamer, The Worrier, The Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget Buyer & Other Mothers I Swore I'd Never Be) is a book that I wish had been available when I was a mom-to-be and new mom. In this book Amy Wilson shares her thoughts and experiences as a mother and how her outlook has changed with each new child.

While reading this book I often found myself bouncing between two emotions. I found it to be an enjoyable and hilarious read at times thanks to Amy's honest and humour-filled anecdotes. The most vivid example was a flight in which Amy and her children flew to Orlando. I'm not going to talk about it here and spoil your fun but believe me when I say that it will stick in your mind for a long time and I think she ought to have recieved a medal for that day.

The second emotion was sadness. I constantly find myself disturbed by the pressure on a parent these days. I feel as though it's not enough to raise a child who is happy, fulfilled, responsible, well-balanced, and with good grades. It seems to have crossed the line into a realm where if your child hasn't been singled out as the second coming of Einstein, then you have somehow failed.

This is a great book. It reminds us what is really important when it comes to our children. It also shows us that you don't have to be a perfect stepford mom in order to be a successful mom. Now this is the kind of parenting book I can get behind! I think a quote from Amy's site says it best:

When Did I Get Like This? is the hilarious story of one mother’s struggle to shrug off the ridiculous standards of modern parenting, and remember how to enjoy her children.

Author's website: http://www.amywilson.com

My Best Frenemy by Julie Bowe.

Published by Dial Books for Young Readers an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).
Distributed in Canada by Penguin Group Canada

Ida May is excited about returning to school so that she may spend time with her best friend Stacey. When the first day arrives, finally, she finds that lots of things have changed and she doesn't quite know where she belongs. At a time when she feels most alone, a hand of friendship is extended from the most surprising of places. Maybe life isn't quite so bad after all!

I love this series of books known as 'Friends for Keeps'. When I read the first book My Last Best Friend I just knew this was going to be something special. My original love of this series was that it dealt with making new friends following a move. Being a military wife, I see so many children affected by this problem and I instantly began telling people about this great book that would maybe help their children to see that they aren't alone in this.

In this third installment, I am in love with this series for a whole different reason. I love that this book shares positive messages such as it's okay to not fit in, it's okay to not surrender to peer pressure, and that friendship can come from the most unlikely of places if you just open yourself up to it. The storyline keeps the ínterest of the reader and the characters are colourful, memorable and easy to identify with. This is truly a heartwarming series of books that I believe belongs on the shelf of any young girl. Read with a parent I could see this series providing great opportunities for talking with children about the scenarios and their own feelings and experiences.

You can visit the author's website here and it even includes a step-by-step guide to making your own BFF bracelet!

Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs. Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Distributed by Raincoast Books

Various chefs from around the world share their personal tales from the kitchen. An eel invasion, cooking with laundry, accidental creations, a dinner party with a difference, an unexpected snowstorm, a blind cook, an owl, and a shock in the kitchen are just a small sample of the subjects contained within the pages of this book. Whether you are looking for the more outrageous experiences, the heartwarming and inspirational, or the just plain funny, you are going to find it all in this entertaining and eye-opening collection.

I found this book to be a quick and addictive read. I also found it to be greatly entertaining and surprising since I could never have imagined many of the situations that the featured chefs encountered. During visits to restaurants I have always assumed that things ran as smoothly in the kitchen as they were made to appear. Things always seemed so easy, so perfect and it's a wonderful testament to chefs the world over that they can overcome the countless challenges and ensure that their customers have a pleasant and relaxed dining experience even as chaos runs rampant behind the kitchen doors.

Many of the cooking shows on TV give the impression that preparing a meal is easy, and even when those meals are multiplied to restaurant style numbers they hardly seem to break a sweat. I found it refreshing when shows like Hell's Kitchen & Kitchen Nightmares (okay so I am a Gordon Ramsey fan!) appeared on the scene and revealed some of the challenges and hard work involved in the restaurant industry. This book takes it still further as the featured chefs set aside their pride and bare it all.

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Canada

I knew I was going to enjoy this book as soon as I held it in my hands. The back cover contains the often seen 'advance praise' you find on a book. However, this advance praise is provided in the form of quotes obtained from children aged 2-6 and struck me as particularly funny. Inside the flap of the jacket is a questionnaire that helps the reader to establish if they are going to like the book or be terribly offended. Both of these features caused me to feel good about this title before I had even turned a page.

The Bedwetter is an interesting read. In it, Sarah Silverman shares many different aspects of her life. I was greatly surprised by the lengths to which she opened up and came across as almost vulnerable at times. Even the most shocking of anecdotes (and there are more than a few!) reveal a more naive, innocent, and very unique individual. It's certainly one of the more interesting biographies I have read and the inclusion of photographs, especially the full colour images in the center of this book, added a little something.

The book reads with a flowing quality, helped I suspect by the wonderfully designed layout which clearly shows where each anecdote begins and ends. If it were not for that layout, with some of the anecdotes being a mere paragraph long I imagine the reader could have had quite a jarring experience. It was great to see that so much thought clearly went into this.

All in all, I liked this. It was an entertaining read. I love that Sarah Silverman can bring fun and laughter to any situation. That said, I admit that some parts of this book were not for me. I found myself struggling to find the humour in some of the writing when it was very clearly destined to make the reader laugh. The language and content may not be for everyone but if you aren't easily offended and have a good sense of humour, give it a whirl. You won't regret it!

I have to add too, that I had purchased the DVD of the Sarah Silverman Program and I hadn't known quite what to think of it, though some of the content was pretty hilarious. I revisited that DVD once I completed this book and had a whole new appreciation for the humour. That added a little something to this book for me.

You can browse inside this book at HarperCollins Canada by clicking here