"Chick Wit" Writer Isn't Ordinary

It's hard to read the title tag line on this cover. After My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space there is a subtitle The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman I beg to differ. Lisa Scottoline, successful author of twenty six mysteries and columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, might do ordinary things but her humor and skewed view of the world is extraordinary.

This collection of essays is a follow-up to My Third Husband Will Be a Dog and has laughs aplenty. Her daughter has featured essay viewpoints in this book, and lovingly agrees her mother is a tad nuts. A menagerie of pets have a starring role in Ms.Scottoline's life and her mother, Mother Mary is a hoot.

From Nancy Drew, to dating at age fifty plus, gray hairs, cars, purses, and a host of small details that can drive anyone crazy, each column is a gem. On her search for a new car (p.166) "Eenie, meenie, miney mo is an excellent way to buy a car." (p.167) "To me, a car is a cupholder with an engine." She goes on to discuss that like dating men, at times you want to drive a solid SUV, other times a sports car. Each keen life observation kept me chuckling.

(p. 232) "I'm a library slut. I visit libraries every year, speaking and fundraising, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to know librarians and support public libraries. I'll tell you why. I owe them. I wouldn't be an author, or a bookaholic, without libraries."

Lisa Scottoline is my kind of gal. She still lives in Philly, loves desserts, and reads.