This week's book reviews, by Connie Forst, as submitted for publication in the Tofield Mercury.

The ultimate happiness prescription : 7 keys to joy and enlightenment / Deepak Chopra

A journey through Buddha's Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to Enlightenment results in a prescription for living life mindfully, joyfully, and with effortless spontaneity - even in the most difficult times.  

Trauma farm : a rebel history of rural life / Brian Brett

An irreverent and illuminating journey through a day in the life of the affectionately named Trauma Farm (located on Salt Spring Island), with numerous side trips into the natural history of farming.  

Hope in a jar / Beth Harbison

Twenty years ago, Allie Denty was "the pretty one "and her best friend Olivia Pelham was "the smart one." Throughout high school, they were inseparable ... until a vicious rumor about Olivia ended their friendship.      

Kanata : a novel / Don Gillmor

Kanata was inspired by the life of David Thompson, a Welshman who came to the New World at the age of fifteen, and went on to become its greatest cartographer. He walked or paddled 80,000 miles and mapped 1.9 million square miles, cataloguing flora and fauna as well as the language and customs of the Natives. But though he has been described as the greatest land geographer who ever lived, he died impoverished and unknown.

Following the lives of Thompson's illegitimate son and his descendants, Kanata takes readers on a fictionalized, multi-generational journey through millennia and across a continent to examine the stories, myths, and legends of those who formed the country and who were formed by it.

Kanata is the story of the invention of a nation.

Be one of the first to read these or several other new titles. Come in or call 780-662-3838 to reserve them today, or place an online hold at www.tracpac.ab.ca