Those of you who haven't read The Help, UrbanMoms Online Book Club's latest literary choice, have got about a year to finish it before the movie adaptation comes out. The good news is that you won't need a year; the book is a compelling novel and a really interesting story that you'll have trouble putting down once you pick it up.All UrbanMoms Book Club members enjoyed this novel, and the discussion was as lively and spirited as the main characters in this great novel.The Help introduces the reader to three strong-willed and remarkable women whose paths cross in 1962... More »

When we chose Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls as our second Online Book Club selection, many of us were familiar with the author's work. Jeannette Walls' 2005 bestselling memoir, The Glass Castle, was a book club favourite when it came out. It was her memoir of growing up in the midst of a family struggling with alcoholism and mental illness.Half Broke Horses tells the life story of the author's grandmother, Lily. Lily is a remarkable woman who overcame many hardships during her years growing up in Texas, California, Chicago and Arizona. Throughout the pages of the book, we accompany Lily... More »

The Swan Thieves is Elizabeth Kostova's much-anticipated second novel. Back in 2005 Kostova made headlines  when her first novel, The Historian, became the first debut novel in history to enter the New York Times Bestseller List at number one. The Historian tells the tale of a young girl who finds a medieval manuscript in her father's library and learns the disturbing story of his quest to find his mentor who had disappeared twenty years earlier after admitting to certain knowledge that Vlad the Impaler (the Historical inspiration for the Dracula myth) is still alive. The Historian was the fastest-selling hardback debut novel in... More »

Wednesday was an exciting evening. The UrbanMoms Online Book Club met to discuss our first book, Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. We'd met a month earlier to set up the book club parameters (how often to meet, what types of books to choose, who would host, what types of wine and cheeses would be served...the important stuff!) and most of us had made it out last month to hear the author in conversation with Heather Reisman discussing Committed. We didn't all know one another before this book club was pulled together, and that always makes for some nervous moments for me, meeting... More »

Are you a fan of the HBO True Blood series? Then have we got a giveaway for you! The series is based on the Southern Vampire novels by Charlaine Harris, and we're giving away 10 copies of EACH of the 7th and 8th novels in the series. It won't be until June 2010 when season three of True Blood airs, so this is a great chance to get caught up on Charlaine Harris' entire series (Penguin is currently re-issuing the entire Sookie Stackhouse backlist).  Here's a bit more information on the two titles:All Together Dead (7th novel): Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie... More »

Welcome to the first edition of the UrbanMoms Online Book Club! The concept of an online book club came about around the same time that I was invited to join a real life book club (with real life women and real life wine!).  Jen and I chatted about the idea of bringing that book club community to the rest of the UrbanMoms community. Over glasses of wine and discussions of book choices, we developed this concept; a column which will be part personal book review, part book club report on whatever it is that we're reading.Our group intends to meet... More »

I waited to start Her Fearful Symmetry until I knew I would be able to devote several days to reading it. That's because I found Audrey Niffenegger's first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, so engrossing that I stayed up until 2 a.m. on two consecutive nights in order to finish it, so I wanted to be sure I could devote adequate time to her compelling second novel.Her Fearful Symmetry opens with a letter that alters the fate of every character. Julia and Valentina Poole are semi-normal American twenty-year-olds with seemingly little interest in college or finding jobs. Their attachment to... More »

Once in a while, I read a book that I just feel compelled to write about. Now, granted, many of the books we review here on urbanmoms.ca are generously donated to us by publishers (which allows us to offer so many amazing book giveaways to our members), but we do frequently review books that we feel our members really need to know about, even if we do it on our own nickel.Don't Shoot the Dog, by Karen Pryor (published by Random House) is one of those books. it was originally recommended to me and my husband by a psychologist for... More »

Congratulations to our 15 winners of Marian Keyes' latest novel, The Brightest Star in the Sky:ErinKathryn Newfiescreech tempest1952DasingAngelaAllyMaharmarci-hjanetmlegsmomPamelaGingerebickellCherylOur lucky winners will be contacted by an urbanmoms.ca representative. Be sure to check back for more amazing book giveaways to come!... More »

Kirstie Alley did it, Oprah did it, even Marie Osmond did it. I'm talking about the celebrity weight-loss sellout. Oprah lost, gained, and re-lost her weight, before coming to what seems to be a manageable truce. And poor Kirstie Alley is still making large (really large) headlines with her weight gain on tabloid covers.But what about Valerie Bertinelli? Remember a few years back when she very publicly went on the Jenny Craig program and successfully managed to lose weight? She followed that up with the publication of her book, Losing It, which made it to #1 on the New York... More »