God is Not Great – How Religion Poisons Everything – by Christopher Hitchens

 I guess the title should have made it obvious, but I was surprised with the vehemence with which the author attacked religion. I have had my moments of thinking religion is evil, but I doubt I was ever this bloody-minded about it. The author backs up his anger with lots of presumable viable statements of [...]

Kid Stress by Georgia Witken

This book is very short and simple but touches on the main issues of stress facing children. I really liked the section where it talked about responses to a survey of children, asking them what scares them, makes them sad, angers them and what they don’t like to do. It gave me some good ideas [...]

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

This latest of Binchy’s novels is classic chick lit. It is set in Dublin and brings in many of the characters from her recent novels. The new characters are all working in a new heart clinic and go through the usual relationship and health issues, parenting and  personal sagas. Its very entertaining and very easy [...]

Taming the Dragon in Your Child by Meg Eastman

This parenting book works on the notion of all of us having an inner dragon who rages and is angry. It has some very sensible advice about anger patterns and ways parents behave as well as highlighting what we see in our children. It has one of those sections where you can classify your child [...]

Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido

Surprisingly, the book reads as quite dated. It was popular in the 80s when it won a Whitbread Award and it has a bizarrely 80s feel about it, which is rare. Nonetheless, its a great read. The main character, Katherine, has lived a realtively sheltered life, but one which she is trying to break out, [...]