What Book Are You Giving Your Friends?

This summer I read & loved Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss, and Greece. A perfect beach read, it's called, "An Under the Tuscan Sun meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and I find that description accurate only to an extent, because the story has so much more to it. Harlot's Sauce is the memoir of a very successful woman today, looking back on twenty years of a marriage that was doomed before "I do," and the girl she was before she came into her own. The author makes her reflections hilarious and reminds us all of what we needed to go through to become the women we are. I bought a second copy of this book to give to my 20-year-old daughter, because it explained things about my own girlhood that I couldn't explain to her myself. Apart from that, the descriptions of Greece and life there are really compelling. Even if you haven't had the same life as the author, you see yourself in every sentence she writes, and you'll cheer for her as she emerges into a dynamo.

I'm recommending the funniest book I've read in years, especially for women over 35, dealing as it does with bathing suit season at TJ Maxx, with the horror of chin hairs, and with crushes on younger men: "It's Not That I'm Bitter, or how I learned to stop worrying about visible pantylines and conquer the world" by Gina Barreca. It's must read and will have you laughing and crying. The section on women's friendships is worth the price of the book!

I absolutely fell in love with "The Christmas Train" by David Baldacci. This book will make you smile and enjoy the characters throught the wonderful train trip. A light mystery with quite a few twists. Whenever I meet someone new This is a gift they get from me at the holiday time. I have received so many different comments about the story as it affects everyone differently. The journey is constant throughout the book. You will be longing to take a train to experience the adventure livetime, but do it with fun in your heart.

I am recommending Lionel Shriver's "The Post-Birthday World," a novel that takes a "Sliding Doors" approach to the events that follow one birthday evening. If the heroine makes a certain fateful choice, her life and relationships go in one direction; if she doesn't, the same events are seen through a very different prism. It's fascinating to consider which world she's better off in, and the novel almost begs to be discussed with friends.

I'll be giving 'Born Round' by NY Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni - it's a slightly less insane version of Sedaris or Augustun Burroughs. Bruni's funny, as he remembers his relationship with food and eating since being a 'bulimic toddler' but all the stories are still believable. Every other page I wish I was from an Italian family!

For my friends that love style and love to laugh, 'Eccentric Glamour' by the fabulous Simon Doonan. It's hilarious page after page and makes you want to become more playful with your wardrobe.

For my friends still looking for a good man, 'Smart Girls Marry Money' - even though the title might make you wince initially, there are some very wise relationship tips hidden within.