Muffins & Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life by Suzanne Beecher... A Review

Suzanne Beecher's Recipe Box is filled with

the Necessities of Life-

Stories to help keep her Grounded

and Recipes for Good Stuff to Eat...

She Shares some of that in Muffins & Mayhem...

A few words that immediately come to mind after reading Suzanne Beecher's memoir, Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life are charming, inspiring. Suzanne welcomes you into her life, and with humor and a bit of melancholy at times, she shares her everyday triumphs, her fears & joys and those kinds of moments that we ALL can relate to! I laughed as I read about Suzanne's mother making her freeze the laundry before ironing when she was young (Suzanne does say this works),or when she tells us about her new found "critter friends" when she moves from Wisconsin to Florida, imagine flour weevils organizing a rescue mission or squirrel psychology (the stories are hilarious!). But then life isn't always rosy, and I cried as Suzanne tells us about her bitter sweet goodbye to her estranged father who was dying. She is inspiring as she shares with us her thoughts about life, and this is how she feeds our souls. But she also feeds our appetites as her memoir is filled literally with "Recipes for Life"!

Here's what the publisher has to say about Muffins & Mayhem... Suzanne Beecher’s happy, loving voice has brought more than 350,000 people to her online book club at DearReader.com, where her daily column offers her candid, thought-provoking reflections on life, inspiring countless readers to look at their "ordinary" lives in a new way. By turns funny and poignant, Suzanne is the reassuring friend across the kitchen table with a refreshing, jaunty attitude about life, even in the face of whatever difficulties it may bring. Suzanne has had her own share of troubles to overcome. Left home alone at an early age, she struggled with difficult and distant parents, dealt with heartbreak, became a hard-working single mom, and overcame two substance addictions and a physical impairment. But along the way, she found comfort in baking and sharing food with her friends and family. She learned to take the good with the bad, and her life is now inspiring proof that faith and persistence are the keys to success.

I had never read Suzanne's daily column at DearReader.com, but I had heard some buzz about her book, Muffins & Mayhem, and wanted to read it! A BIG Thank you goes to Ashley of Simon & Schuster, who sent me a copy of Muffins & Mayhem: Recipes for a Happy (if disorderfly) Life! I could relate to so many of Suzanne's "adventures", and her challenges tugged at my heart, but also gave me hope as I saw her persevere. Her writing is fresh, honest, as if you've known her all your life. You can read this book in one big sitting or you can nibble at it a little at a time, enjoying a story here and there... The book flows easily as you read, but the stories themselves can be enjoyed individually as well. And the recipes! Well, I am looking forward to making some of them! Especially Mrs. Creswick's Frosted Meat Loaf that Suzanne shares with us soon after we open the book, or the Lava Cake! Learn more about Suzanne, find her book club links, find a link to her daily column, and even get some of her recipes at DearReader.com. (Hey, here's the link to Mrs. Crestwicks Frosted Meatloaf!) You can learn more about her book at MuffinsandMayhem.com, and even read an EXCERPT there! Plus, you can create your own Cookbook of Memories. I enjoyed reading Muffins & Mayhem so much! If you enjoy reading inspiring stories, or just need a smile, you will enjoy reading Muffins & Mayhem too! It's like swapping stories across the kitchen table with your best friend, a coffee and well, a muffin!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!