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Fitness Junkie: A Novel

July 17, 2017

fitness

  There are many things that make being a booklover wonderful, but one that makes me positively giddy is when a book finds me when I need it most. That feeling of a book that knows what you need and provides it. No point in prolonging the suspense, I’m talking about Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza’s new novel, Fitness Junkie. DON’T. RUN. AWAY! It’s not a non-fiction workout ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, contemporary life, Doubleday, humor, Manhattan, midlife, satire

Great Summer Reading: Standard Deviation

June 28, 2017

standard

I don’t know any other way to begin this review than to say I’m pretty sure Katherine Heiny and I would be besties if we met. Not just because of the first name thing, but because cocktails and snarky conversation on the foibles of the human condition would abound if we ever got together. Which is such a lie because I am always tongue-tied in front of authors I admire, but ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Knopf, literary, marriage, midlife

The Widow of Wall Street

April 19, 2017

widow

The Bernie Madoff story is so perfectly set up that there is little point in messing around with its formula, even for fiction. Thankfully, Randy Sue Meyers doesn’t change much of the story in her new novel The Widow of Wall Street. Jake is a trader who starts his own company with a straightforward brokerage side and the more mysterious Club, where he picks stocks for a select ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Atria Books, book clubs, contemporary life, Manhattan, marriage, midlife, wealth

The Arrangement: A Novel by Sarah Dunn

March 29, 2017

arrangement

  How to describe Sarah Dunn’s new novel The Arrangement? All that is in my head is the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine decide to break the standards of friends and become friends-with-benefits. They are oh-so-careful with rules and boundaries and are certain they have cracked the code for getting to have sex without becoming involved. Dunn goes one step further ... Read More...

9 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, humor, Little Brown and Company, marriage, midlife, New York City

Bright, Precious Days

August 22, 2016

bright precious days

  Russell and Corrine Calloway move in all the right circles, but at the grand banquet that is New York society they’re seated at the children’s table. Yes, Russell owns his company, but it’s a publishing firm and while it has cachet it doesn’t have much cash. They live at an enviable address downtown, but in a cramped loft with one bathroom for four people. When Bright, ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, friendship, Knopf, Manhattan, marriage, midlife

Inventing the Rest of Our Lives by Susan Levine Braun

August 19, 2016

inventing

Yesterday, I had a milestone-ish birthday. 55, which means I can no longer say I’m in my early 50s. Boo to that. I’m not generally one to find age markers to be difficult—I thought 40 was a blast, but this one, for whatever reason hit me harder than any other in awhile. I decided I really needed to let go of the self-doubt and irritation that’s been dogging me recently and jump ... Read More...

19 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: midlife

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