Just Like Mum Says

'Having a baby is like watching two very inefficient removal men trying to get a very large sofa through a very small doorway, only in this case you can't say, "Oh, sod it, bring it through the French windows"' Victoria Wood 'It's not easy being a mother. If it were, fathers would do it' Dorothy, The Golden Girls Motherhood is a tough job and a serious business. Which means there's all the more reason to step back and see the funny side of it, and Just Like Mum Says is packed with humorous insights and wry observations on all matters maternal. Tracing the course of mothering through pregnancy, the terrible twos, the teenage years and the empty nest, Just Like Mum Says includes wise and witty words from celebrated matriarchs from Marge Simpson to Sharon Osbourne, and Victoria Beckham to Victoria Wood. In short, Just Like Mum Says amuses, delights, enlightens and touches the heart - just like Mum. 'When my husband comes home, if the kids are still alive, I figure I've done my job' Roseanne

What does it mean to be tough? Kim finds out in this moving mother-daughter story about family hardship, vulnerability and love, perfect for fans of Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors. Kim's mum is tough. Everyone says so. She can deal with unruly customers at the Red Rooster with a snap of her fingers. Kim is tough, too. She doesn't need to wear a hat to keep her ears warm. And she can make soup all by herself, even without the stove. Kim and her mum are tough. But Kim is learning that sometimes toughness doesn't look like what you'd expect. In this tender exploration of a mother-daughter relationship, Kim and her mother learn that in order to support and truly take care of each other, they need to be tough -- and that sometimes being tough means showing vulnerability and asking for help.

'Family Blog' is a humorous modern-day saga of an uprooted European family, told through a medley of blogs that each member is writing without knowledge of the others. Tossed back and forth between Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, Family "D." has experienced all the bloody upheavals of colonialism and neo-colonialism - and got caught up in the strife between socialism and capitalism and everything in between. Now, in the beginning of the 21st century, these three young women and their parents have gone global, writing online diaries about their adventures, hopes, frustrations, addictions, obsessions, conspiracies and even practical tips. The involvement of the youngest sister in an international criminal network triggers a series of comic confrontations between the family members: over conflicting worldviews and desires, everyone's tendency to deceive and betray each other, and ultimately the family's participation in the chaos of Angola's colonial past, independence and civil war.

Now a Netflix original series starring Simon Baker, Travis Fimmel, and Phoebe Tonkin! “Hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. . . . Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous.” —Washington Post "The best book I read this decade." —Sharon Van Etten in Rolling Stone A story of brotherhood, true love, family, and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe is the tale of an adolescent boy on the cusp of discovering the man he will be. Eli Bell’s life is complicated. His father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim—a notorious felon and national record-holder for successful prison escapes—who watches over Eli and August, his silent genius of an older brother. Exiled far from the rest of the world in Darra, a neglected suburb populated by Polish and Vietnamese refugees, this twelve-year-old boy with an old soul and an adult mind is just trying to follow his heart, learn what it takes to be a good man, and train for a glamorous career in journalism. Life, however, insists on throwing obstacles in Eli’s path—most notably Tytus Broz, Brisbane’s legendary drug dealer. But the real trouble lies ahead. Eli is about to fall in love, face off against truly bad guys, and fight to save his mother from a certain doom—all before starting high school. Powerful and kinetic, Trent Dalton’s debut is sure to be one of the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novels you will experience.