Have a Nice Guilt Trip

May 19, 2014
Popular mystery writer Scottoline and her Philadelphia Inquirer columnist daughter Serritella team up for the fourth time to offer a lively collection of 80 short essays on everything from raising puppies to the proper way to make eggplant parm. Though Scottoline penned the majority of the essays in this volume, 27-year-old Serritella’s contributions display her own brand of humor and sweetness. Scottoline—prone to comedic one-liners—makes the pages fly by in a flurry of laughs. Serritella’s ode to her 90-year-old grandmother (affectionately referred to as Mother Mary) and her writings about her dog Pip are especially endearing. Scottoline is on-target and hilarious, whether she’s writing about politics (her piece on Anthony Weiner is a standout), ex-husbands (“Thing One and Thing Two”), or what it’s like to sleep with five dogs. While Serritella deals with dating, rollerblading, and Facebook, Scottoline, whose “butt is already on social security,” considers joining AARP. Their close-knit, outspoken Italian family is also the subject of a number of laugh-inducing selections.

September 1, 2014
This mother-daughter literary team quip their way through life’s ups and downs with witty, wisecracking humor in a series of delightfully random vignettes. Scottoline declares that “someone has to write about the simple things in life,” while reminiscing about vapor rub and radiators and obsessing over furniture arranging. Love, marriages, and divorces provide the predictable zingers of Scottoline’s contributions; her own mother, “Mother Mary,” is lovingly portrayed as feisty and old-school; and their six dogs also inspire a great deal of material. Scottoline covers both the banalities of middle age (gray hair, glasses, vitamins) and the sadness suffered following the loss of a beloved dog: “Life contains the bitter and the sweet.” She sounds sincerely impassioned about politics, women’s self-esteem, and Hurricane Sandy. Serritella’s voice is crisp and pleasant as she likens jury duty to high school—a spot-on, funny analogy. She refers frequently to her boyfriend and her dog Pip. Rollerblading and being a dog’s stage mom call for Seritella’s lightness of tone, while she becomes more intimate about milestones, such as coping with the reality of a newly married ex-boyfriend. Lively, clever, and absolutely relatable, this audio is a winner. A St. Martin’s hardcover.

June 1, 2014
The Italian mother-daughter team is back with another series of amusing commentaries on life.Readers familiar with the Scottoline-Serritella (Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, 2012, etc.) duo are in for another mostly entertaining ride. Ping-ponging back and forth, using mostly one-paragraph sentences, the two writers converse on such diverse topics as the therapeutic benefits of rearranging the furniture on a regular basis, what happens when one forgets to pay bills on time, and why it's best to let your mother buy her own sheets, preferably white-on white sheets, she "can see the bugs better." The authors cover nearly all subjects in 50 narratives, with nothing too personal or taboo receiving scrutiny. Chapter titles include "The Married-Ex Milestone," "Third Month's the Charm," "Rolling Without Homies" and "Call of Jury Duty." Scottoline on gardening: "perennials are supposed to be automatic, in that they come back every summer. Like a yeast infection." On nature: "Let's just say that we're frenemies. Because it turns out that Mother Nature is the ultimate mean girl." Serritella on wish lists: "I love using wish lists, because then the [website] notifies me if the price of my chosen items gets discounted from totally-ridiculously-expensive to get-real-you-still-can't-afford-it." Throughout, the conversations are sarcastic and often snarky, and the short essays revel in the ridiculous and hit the heart of life in a boisterous Italian family. For many singles, Valentine's Day might mean moping, "depression, shame, and chocolate cake," but for Scottoline, it was a day to receive a beautiful engagement ring from herself. A fascination with an electric toothbrush led to the purchase of an electronic face washer. The authors also discuss the pros and cons of twerking and dancing on tabletops.Short and snappy, these comic essays are best read in small doses.

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July 1, 2014
The dynamic mother-daughter team returns for another poignant yet hilarious collection of essays (following Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, 2012). Several of the essays concern Scottoline's struggles to find appropriate care for her mother ( Mother Mary ), whose feisty spirit both amuses and sometimes irritates both Sottoline and her brother. (Mother Mary twerking at a book-club party is naturally a highlight.) Meanwhile, Serritella recovers from hearing about her ex-boyfriend's marriage only to enter the murky waters of a new relationship with questions about gifts, vacations, and more with the new man. Both Scottoline and Serritella skillfully evoke emotion amid the humor, as seen especially in the last piece, describing Mother Mary's changed reaction to the old family favorite eggplant parmigiana. In between family concerns, bulldozers in the front lawn, and commentary on social issues, the authors show that they inherited Mother Mary's indomitable spirit. Women readers will find much to relate toand laugh aboutin these appealing essays.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

February 15, 2014

Thriller fans love Edgar Award winner Scottoline's fiction, while readers of humor and heartfelt narrative nonfiction enjoy curling up with the books Scottoline writes with daughter Serritella, who won a stack of awards for her writing at Harvard. This fourth book from the mother-daughter team addresses issues like acquiring puppies (Scottoline), attempting to date (Serritella), and figuring out whether men or canines are more difficult. Lots of book club outreach and pitched as the perfect summer read.

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