The Baby Diaries By Sam Binnie

[amazon_link id=”0007477104″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Baby Diaries’ is Sam Binnie’s second novel and follows on where ‘The Wedding Diaries’ left off.

A few weeks after Kiki and Thom return from their honeymoon, they are shocked to discover that Kiki is pregnant. But the next nine months might be a little bit harder for Kiki, when she is expected to deal with heartburn and stretchmarks, a suddenly absent boss, being stalked by her pregnant childhood friend Annie and an army of Smug Mothers who seem terrifyingly like Proper Grown Ups. As Kiki’s due date looms closer, she can’t help but wonder if the life that the life she loved is gone forever?

I only read ‘The Wedding Diaries’ last week and I enjoyed it so much, so when I started ‘The Baby Diaries’ at the start of this week, I was delighted to be back in the random world of Kiki Carlow. Packed with useful lists, tips and extracts from such classics like ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘War and Peace’, this book was another treasure to enjoy from start to finish.

Wonderfully written, this story is terribly witty and is most certainly graphic and descriptive, especially when it comes to the labour scenes, that made me wince, heave and tighten all in equal measures. With sharp lines that made me giggle and chuckle, especially the line where the cutting of umbilical cord is described as ‘Trying to cut a garden hose with some children’s safety scissors’. That line is brilliant!

Like ‘The Wedding Diaries’, we see the return of loved characters, such as older sister Susie, brash and kind hearted celebrity Jackie and of course the wonderful Thom, who I will always harbour a soft spot for.

I loved this story, charting the high and lows of pregnancy and early months of parenthood, it is cleverly written, with regular doses of humour, love and sensitivity as Kiki has to deal with her unwell mother, a sad sub story to the rather upbeat novel. ‘The Baby Diaries’ is a refreshing story that should definitely come with a health warning as it is the perfect contraceptive read, that will have you gasping in horror and delight at scenes of placenta and stitches. This book is wonderfully addictive and fun. Roll on the next one!

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0007477104″ target=”_blank” ]The Baby Diaries on Amazon [/amazon_link]and is available from other good bookshops.