God help me, I enjoyed Lisa Scottoline's essay collection My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space.
I never pick on or look down upon anyone who reads fiction genres*, because I know there's plenty of escapist nonfiction fare I enjoy. This book definitely comes under the "escapist nonfiction" heading, as the essays are all about three to five pages long, primarily cover the trials of author Scottoline's daily life and family members (one family member, her daughter Francesca, even has a few essays from her point of view included), and are compulsively readable. I left this book in the bathroom and was able to polish it off in a few days; if you sat down to read it it might take you an hour. Deep stuff it is not.
But I find something about Scottoline very amusing. It's not like we're in the same stage of life**--she's in her mid-fifties and her daughter has finally left the nest and I'm just at the beginning of that whole child-raising scene. But I still like her. Consider:
"I have lots of grudges, maybe three hundred of them, and they're always with me, like a Snuggie of bad feelings."*** (p. 18.)
I also like how she talks (gossips?) about her family members:
"Most people have a list of Things To Do, but Mother Mary has a list of Things Not To Do. Or more accurately, Things Never To Do. At the top of the list is Don't Go To The Movies. Other entries include Don't Eat Outside With The Bugs and Don't Walk All Over This Cockamamie Mall." (p. 58.)
I loved that, as I too refuse to walk around cockamamie malls and eat outside with bugs. (My own such list is extensive and includes things like Do Not Go Camping and Do Not Touch a Sewing Machine.) But I digress. It's a fun book if you need something fluffy and you're not feeling like a novel. It's as good as her first collection, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, and that takes some doing--humor follow-ups aren't often the strongest of books.
*Except Mr. CR, whose genre bookcases I mock ceaselessly, just because I'm a real gem of a wife.
**We also don't have much in common as she is a fabulously successful bestselling author.
***I'll admit it, I just find Snuggies funny. I find just SAYING "Snuggies" funny.
You know who's great for good, funny but still makes you think nonfiction? Hank Stuever. I loved his collection Off Ramp (in fact my review is blurbed in the paperback edition!) and just started his book about American Christmas-mania, Tinsel. And his blog, Tonsil, is pretty funny, too: http://www.hankstuever.com/blog/
Posted by: Nan | 04 February 2011 at 02:42 PM
Thanks Nan!
I did read and enjoy Off Ramp, but Stuever's for when I'm in a more serious essay mood (as you note, the "still makes you think" component). I like these Scottoline books not because they're hacky but because they're just completely easy. That takes skill too. I think some people read Jen Lancaster for the same reason, but I think Scottoline's about a million times more personable and less obnoxious/self-centered than Lancaster.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 04 February 2011 at 04:29 PM
Also, Nan--
Didn't know about Stuever's blog (or the book "Tinsel"). Thanks!
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 04 February 2011 at 04:29 PM
Snuggies crack me up. Every time I see those commercials, I think the people should be waving wands around, like Harry Potter.
Posted by: Brandon | 04 February 2011 at 04:41 PM
Brandon,
Snuggies AND wands. Now that would be utopia.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 04 February 2011 at 05:16 PM
If you really want to check out a great non-fiction you should seriously check out "From Immigrant Housemaid to Harvard Ph.D." written by Jin Kyu Robertson Ph.D. It was such a great book- truly inspirational!
http://www.housemaidtoharvard.blogspot.com/
Posted by: twitter.com/beckybooks | 18 February 2011 at 12:09 AM