Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe (2014)

In the early 1980s, Nina Stibbe moved to London to work as a nanny to Mary-Kay (MK) Wilmers, deputy editor of the London Review of Books, and her two children with Stephen Frears, Sam and Will. 

Stibbe kept in touch with her sister Victoria back in Leicestershire through letters outlining the events of the household, reproducing hilarious (and eminently quotable) conversations with Sam, Will and MK as well as frequent household visitor Alan Bennett. 

 Along the way, Stibbe is persuaded to attend university and studies English (her observations on literature are a stitch). With an introduction by Nick Hornby, this charming epistolary novel is a treat for anyone who loves dry, British humor and gets a bit starstruck by London literary elite.

What I'd Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats by Jack Handey (2008)

Oh man, I LOVE Jack Handey.

He is the perfect, miniaturist, humorist with perfect petite humorous essays. And I love the call-forwards to The Stench of Honolulu with Doctor Ponzari and his friend Don. 

I love Handey's crazy, crazy world. And his humor is like perfectly crafted little jewel boxes. And there's a gem on every danged page.

That's all there is to say.  

Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day (2011)

I recently read about a huge advance that Sylvia Day got for a recent book and decided I'd better check out her work.  Day is one of the authors who got very popular after the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon and her books were published with covers suspiciously similar in appearance.  (By the way, you should really read Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!*'s GIF-laden GoodReads review of Fifty Shades.  It's stinking hilarious.)

Back to the book.  And I have to tell you:

OOH, Sylvia Day writes a good romance. Pride and Pleasure is a Regency-set romance with a great plot, about a heiress who's been through six seasons and has no desire to marry.  However, (there's always a however) she's in danger by someone, so she hires Jasper Bond, thief-taker, to pose as her suitor and track down whoever is trying to scare her. Fabulous simmering of chemistry and tension, strong, likable characters, and of course, great dishy love scenes. Quite well done!

[I don't love that cover, though.  It makes the characters look inert and vapid--neither of which they (or the plot) are.]

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle (2013)

"Imagine: pretzels sold on the street!  It's as if anything is possible.  Do they also sell hopes on the street?  Do they sell hugs and dreams and height-boosting vitamins?  Or hot dogs?  I bet you they do."

Straight from the children's section, this is a hilarious novel about 13-year-old Nate who runs away to New York City to audition for E.T. the Musical, with the help of his devoted friend and fellow musical theater lover Libby.  

Utterly endearing characters, fascinating backstage look at the world of auditioning for musical theater, surprisingly complex relationships and characters, and OH, so much love for musical theater and for New York City.  Followed up by Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, just as endearing and hilarious.  A few more words from Nate:

"And by the way, this isn't one of those things where I tell you that, in life, we're each both a little good and a little bad, all just trying our hardest.  That's kid's an a-hole, and I'm not.  Sometimes people are just a-holes, and you have to decide, every day, which kind of kid you are.  (Not to get all preachy on you.)"

Who Asked You? by Terry McMillan (2013)

I listened to the audiobook of McMillan's latest novel, and much like reading Stephen King, I was so pleased to be back in Terry McMillan's world again. I forgot how much I loved Waiting to Exhale and her other books.  I was disappointed by her sequel to Waiting to Exhale (so dark!), but this renewed my love for McMillan all over again.

Betty Jean has her hands full.  She has an ill husband, two opinionated sisters, a hard job, and challenging grown children.  Things just got even more complicated as her daughter has just flaked off and left her children in Betty Jean's care.  

The audiobook is read by Phylicia Rashad, Michael Boatman, Carole DeSantis, and the author and it's one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.  The novel is structured so that a variety of characters are narrating the action, and the narrators so perfectly embody the characters, I can hear them in my head right now. Rashad narrates all three sisters and she creates three separate characters so wonderfully that you never wonder who's telling the story, and you can practically see the characters.

I loved this book and I've never listened to an audiobook where I actually said (out loud in my car) things like: "WHAT?" or "Oh, Luther!" The whole book surprised, touched and delighted me. I often half listen to audiobooks but this had me fully engaged and invested. LOVED.

Good Boss, Bad Boss: How To Be the Best-- and Learn from the Worst by Robert I. Sutton (2010)

While waiting for Sutton's The No Asshole Rule, I picked up this one instead.  I read and started marking all the parts that really hit home.  When I found post-its sprouting on way too many pages, I realized that I would surely need to buy it. Which I did, for full price (almost) at Barnes & Noble, no less.

Sutton, whose No Asshole Rule is subtitled: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't has a great, humane view on management, and admits that there are no easy answers.  Sutton's stance is that management is a great balancing act, and he includes real-life stories and great advice to successfully balancing. Definitely a must for any manager's professional bookshelf. Too many good points to possibly include here!

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes (2013)

Jojo Moyes has written some books that I very much enjoyed.  Windfallen, an unfortunately titled novel with a terrible cover, but nonetheless a lovely novel about a stately home and the family it belongs to, and Me Before You, about a girl who works for a young man who has been paralyzed.

This is a different feel from those, as it is set during WWI in France (at least in the beginning) and focuses on Sophie Lefevre, the wife of an artist (currently off fighting) and her struggles with the Germans who have occupied her town and one General's obsession with a portrait of her. The second half of the novel is about Liv Halston, who owns the painting now and is facing a challenge to return the painting to its "rightful" owner. A wonderfully unfolding story, with vivid characters and a truly suspenseful plot. Very enjoyable.

I do have to quibble with the cover art, though. It looks exactly like the art for Me Before You, which was a great success for Moyes, but this novel is so very different from that one, it seems like it should have a different cover.

White Girl Problems by Babe Walker (2012)

 Recommended by a co-worker, this looked fun.  And it was! I love when an author creates a character who is so self-unaware that you can't help but like them even though they're incredibly irritating.

Babe Walker ended up in rehab after spending $246,893.50 at Barney's, and is writing her memoir to explain how she got there. With chapters like "I hate my horse", "Sorry for texting you ninety-three times last night" and "I miss you, unless you miss me, in which case I'm over you and into me being me", this novel is incredibly hilarious and over-the-top and somehow even a little endearing.

Followed by the equally hilarious Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book.

Accidents Happen by Louise Millar (2013)

Once again, this is an absolute treasure hidden away in a seemingly innocuous, almost generic-looking trade paperback original. Like this book by Louise Millar, who also wrote The Playdate, which I also enjoyed.

Kate has had a lot of tragedy in her life: Her parents died tragically in a car accident, her husband was killed in a break-in, and she is obsessed with statistics and safety, and making her ten-year-old son very anxious as well, to the point that her in-laws are threatening to take him away. But we quickly and very creepily discover early on that her paranoia is not as unwarranted as it appears. 

Incredibly suspenseful, creepy and delightful, this page-turnerkeeps the suspense going all the way to the last page. Marvelous for fans of Gillian Flynn.  Fabulous.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks (2012)

There are few things that I love more than having a fabulous book just fall in my lap.  I was checking in returns at work, and this one caught my eye, despite the rather common looking cover.  (Not to say it's not a nice cover, it's just that there are a lot of covers that look just like this one.)

This is a terrifically fun and touching novel narrated by Budo, imaginary friend to eight-year-old Max Delaney. Max is in school and is on the spectrum, and Budo is about his only friend.  When Max gets in trouble, it's up to Budo to figure out how to rescue him--with the help of a few other imaginary friends. 

Although it sounds a bit on the twee side, it's really not. It's charming, but poignant, and also incredibly suspenseful. The world of imaginary friends that Dicks has created is beautifully imagined and incredibly vivid--a lovely insight into the strange minds of kids. For example, Budo doesn't sleep, because Max never imagined him sleeping.  And when Budo gets lonely, he goes to the children's hospital, because he can always find imaginary friends there.  The descriptions of the other imaginary friends are so endearing, like one that is made of the paper on which kids draw outlines of themselves, and one that is little more than a spoon.  A lovely book.