Muffins and Mayhem

TITLE: Muffins and Mayhem (ARC)

AUTHOR: Suzanne Beecher

PUBLISHER: Touchstone

RELEASE DATE: June 2010

PAGES: 230

MY RATING: (3.5 out of 5)

BACK COVER BLURB: More than 350,000 people have joined Suzanne Beecher's online book club at DearReader.com and her daily column--which offers her candid, thought-provoking reflections on life--has inspired countless readers. But it was on of her readers who inspired her: A forty-three-year-old mother of three who was dying of cancer asked Suzanne for advice on what she could leave behind to help and guide her children after she was gone.

Deeply affected by the woman's story, Suzanne recalled the photo albums and recipe box passed on by her grandmother. She urged the woman to create a similar cache of memories for her three kids--and the idea for this book was born.

Gathering thirty wonderful recipes and the memories surrounding them, Suzanne shows us the author as a child who learned to cook when she was just eight years old while singing backup to the Monkees, a woman who struggled with difficult parents, a hardworking mom who loved making cookies for her kids, a recovering addict, and a writer who has learned much along the way by remembering that love is the most important thing in life.

This beautifully written celebrating of food, friends, and family will nourish Suzanne's numerous fans and those who have yet to discover her simple, homespun magic.

MY REVIEW: I had so much fun reading this book. I love that the book is a compilation of a bunch of short stories all rolled into one bigger story--the story of Suzanne's life. Some of the stories were sad, but Suzanne was able to overcome those situations to become the person she is today. Most of the stories were humerous and made me crack a smile. I loved looking at the pictures at the beginning of each chapter and the recipes at the end of the chapters made my mouth water. I cannot wait to try the cinnamon roll recipe and the candy cane cookies recipe. The only complaint I have about this book is that I wish there was an index in the back for each of the recipes that way I could find them easily.

*I was provided a copy of this book by BookTrib.com.