BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey

Lots of good laugh lines. Feminist and funny--an excellent pairing. But not much of a center as far as the overall shape of the book goes.

LOVE ADDICT by Ethlie Ann Vare

Yeh, yeh... Mr. Recent Ex is in there, I'm in there, ex-hubby's in there... Does reading this stuff help the painful process of looking in the mirror? Perhaps. But as far as this unhealthy relationship addict shit goes, I had far more fun seeing two exhibits at MoMA by two woman-addicts par excellence, DeKooning and Diego Rivera. Next up, McQueen, Fassbender-->Shame. VOGLIO UNA DONNA!!!

STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett

Meh. Loved Patchett's memoir about her friendship with Lucy Grealy, and as always, she spins a good yarn... but this one is really yarn-y. Just didn't buy the plot, and couldn't make the leap of faith.

THE LOST MEMORY OF SKIN by Russell Banks

What happens when political correctness gives rise to zero tolerance and zero compassion?

Many of the reviews I’ve read of this book call the protagonist impossible to sympathize with, and the subject matter nearly too disturbing to touch. I disagree. At the heart of the novel is a loner of young man, a convicted sex offender, who has been thrown out of the garden. Banks writes about human urges, about sanctimony, about compassion. His ear and eye are finely tuned to contemporary American language and culture, and his imagery is spot-on. He turns out a beautifully-crafted plot, except perhaps in the final chapters of the book where he goes a little Hollyrock (as he did in Rule of the Bone). Important and a great read.