Read: Third Husband and Straight Up

Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My mom recommended this book and it's the kind of thing I like -- short essays a la Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. This woman is good, but not THAT good. Overall I enjoyed it, and it made a couple workouts go by quickly because I was entertained. I didn't like the Jennifer Aniston bashing (or the converse worship of Brangelina ... yuck), and I'm not a big fan of dog and chicken kissing, although to each her own. I also took issue to something she wrote in the intro about no good female characters in literature (other than what she writes in her own books).

Some of the essays made me tear up -- especially when she talked about her parents and family love. And some made me laugh out loud (good thing I have exceptional balance on the elliptical machine!). Overall it's good for what it is, but I'm glad I didn't buy it and that I was able to check it out at the library. NYPL for the win.

Straight up and Dirty by Stephanie Klein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read Stephanie Klein's Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp a while back, and liked it. I've read her blog for at least that long, although I never delved into the archives to get the full story this book, her first, covers.

It was a little weird knowing what her kids look like and knowing her husband's real name (he comes in at the end of this book, albeit with a pseudonym, like everyone in the book). It did make reading it a little less suspenseful, knowing that she gets her happy ending (and is still happily living and blogging it!).

The writing style is good and she's very confessional. It's likened to "Carrie Bradshaw" of course, as any single gal in the city who blogs/writes successfully is heir apparent. But that seemed more true for this book, as she was constantly dating, being wooed and visiting the hot spots and Hamptons mentioned on Sex and the City.

The flow of the book was awkward, and I was often confused because it jumped around her divorce, the central event of the book -- so you'd read about her getting over it and dating, then jump back to good times with her first husband before they were married, then forward to just before the divorce, back again to the wedding -- and on and on. I guess non-linear story telling is en vogue, but I think I prefer a little more clear cut narrative.

Picked up the book for $4 at Strand -- a nice hard cover that looks really cool because its cover is dozens of thumbnail images of her. I read it now instead of on the cruise BECAUSE it was hard cover. And I made it through in just over a day. So a quick, fun read.

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