Synopses & Reviews
The incomparable Lisa Scottoline, along with Daughter Francesca, is back with more wild and wonderful wit and wisdom.
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline struck a chord with readers, book clubs, and critics with her smash-hit essay collection, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. This time, Lisa teams up with Daughter Francesca to give their mother-daughter perspective on everything from blind dates to empty calories, as well as life with the feistiest octogenarian on the planet, Mother Mary, who wont part with her thirty-year-old bra. Three generations of women, triple the laughs---and the love.
Inspired by their weekly “Chick Wit” column for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Lisa and Francesca spill all their family secrets---which will sound a lot like yours. And youll have to put this book down, just to stop laughing.
LISA ON DIETING: Im backsliding with carbohydrates, which is the food version of ex-sex.
FRANCESCA ON CUTTING THE CORD: I thought I said, “I am going to see my cousins new apartment,” but in Mom-speak that translates to: “I am going to meet certain death in the New York City subway tunnels that are soon to be my tomb.”
LISA ON MOTHER MARY: Most people have a list of Things To Do, but Mother Mary has a list of Things Not To Do. At the top is Dont Go to the Movies. Other entries include Dont Eat Outside With The Bugs and Dont Walk All Over This Cockamamie Mall.
FRANCESCA ON BEING SINGLE: Im addicted to the wedding announcements. Worse, I find myself subtracting my age from the brides. I thought I was a modern woman, turns out Im a Cathy cartoon.
LISA ON AGING GRACEFULLY: Today I noticed my first gray hair. On my chin.
And so much more!
Review
“This audio performance amply demonstrates their snappy, unaffected style… the overall feel is of a conversation with friends whose accounts of zany relatives and situations may be unique in detail but are recognizable for anyone with a family.” – AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner
Review
"Scottoline stirs up even more sassy fun--this time bringing her daughter, Francesca, into the mix as co-writer. A clever compilation from two generations of women reflecting on family, love, dessert, and everything in between."—Booklist
"Essays that are by turns rueful, uplifting, sweet, kooky--and always amusing. A funny, uplifting read for women of any generation."—Publishers Weekly
“Lisa Scottoline and her daughter Francesca have proven themselves to be naturals at both writing and narrating humorous essay. They deliver the themes of love, strength, and family connectedness in a delightfully witty fashion. The overall feel is of a conversation with friends whose accounts of zany relatives and situations may be unique in detail but are recognizable for anyone with a family. The appeal is universal.”—AudioFile
“Ive found the perfect daily picker-upper — a chapter or two from My Nest Isnt Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space. Scottoline writes about whatever crosses her path but has also allowed readers a peek into her own family life. Francescas voice is entirely her own, but she shares Lisas ability to turn borderline TMI into memorable humor and insights. The result is one of the best double acts in the business.”—Joe Meyers, Connecticut Post
Review
"Scottoline stirs up even more sassy fun--this time bringing her daughter, Francesca, into the mix as co-writer. A clever compilation from two generations of women reflecting on family, love, dessert, and everything in between."—Booklist
"Essays that are by turns rueful, uplifting, sweet, kooky--and always amusing. A funny, uplifting read for women of any generation."—Publishers Weekly
“Lisa Scottoline and her daughter Francesca have proven themselves to be naturals at both writing and narrating humorous essay. They deliver the themes of love, strength, and family connectedness in a delightfully witty fashion. The overall feel is of a conversation with friends whose accounts of zany relatives and situations may be unique in detail but are recognizable for anyone with a family. The appeal is universal.”—AudioFile
“Ive found the perfect daily picker-upper — a chapter or two from My Nest Isnt Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space. Scottoline writes about whatever crosses her path but has also allowed readers a peek into her own family life. Francescas voice is entirely her own, but she shares Lisas ability to turn borderline TMI into memorable humor and insights. The result is one of the best double acts in the business.”—Joe Meyers, Connecticut Post
Synopsis
Critics and readers loved Lisa Scottolines first collection of true-life stories, which only encouraged her—now shes back with these all-new, exciting adventures. Shes farther down the road now, and the scenery has changed—ex-husbands Thing One and Thing Two are in her rear-view mirror, daughter Francesca has moved into an apartment, and Lisas finding the silver lining in her empty nest, which has lots more room for her shoes. And some things have stayed the same—Mother Mary is still the feistiest octogenarian on the planet, who wont part with her recipe for tomato sauce or her thirty-year old bra.
In this book Lisa and Francesca spill all their family secrets—which sound a lot like yours, if you understand that three generations of women is the formula for spontaneous combustion.
Inspired by her weekly column entitled, “Chick Wit” for The Philadelphia Inquirer, this is a book youll have to put down—just to stop laughing.
Synopsis
Inspired by her weekly column entitled Chick Wit for "The Philadelphia Inquirer," the incomparable Lisa Scottoline is back with her daughter, Francesca, with more wild and wonderful wit and wisdom. Scottoline takes everyday life and offers witty reflections from a female perspective.--"Booklist."
About the Author
Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of novels including Look Again, Think Twice, Save Me and Lady Killer. She has 25 million copies of her books in print in the United States, and she has been published in twenty-five countries. She is currently serving as the President of the Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Philadelphia with an array of disobedient pets. Francesca Scottoline Serritella graduated cum laude from Harvard University, where she won the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, the Baron Russell Briggs Fiction Prize, and the Charles Edmond Horman Prize for her creative writing. She lives in New York. Together, Lisa and Francesca write the weekly column, “Chick Wit,” for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Reading Group Guide
1. Lisa is now an empty nester, if you dont count her menagerie of pets. How do you think pets help people make the transition when there is one less person in the house, whether due to death, divorce, college, or a child moving away from home? How are men and women different when it comes to dealing with an empty nest? Does your nest have to be completely empty for you to feel the effects? How is a child leaving for kindergarten, a divorced parent with shared custody, or a person who has to put their spouse in a nursing home similar? How is it different?
2. When Francesca helps Lisa get ready for a blind date there seems to be a shift in their relationship, to where the nurturing has now become a two-way street. At what point do you think this starts to happen in a parent-child relationship? Do you think this dynamic is common in most families, and how does it change as you get older? How does this help strengthen the relationship, and what are the challenges?
3. Daughter Francesca shares a very special relationship with Mother Mary. How important are grandparents in a childs life? How is the relationship between parent and child and grandparent and grandchild different? Why do you think Mother Mary was reluctant to share her recipe with Francesca? What do you think Lisa used as a bribe, or threat, to get her to give it up for this book?
4. Lisa and Francesca are each others best friend, but they also deeply value their other friendships. However, as Lisa mentions in “GNO,” making plans to go out with friends gets harder as lives get busier, and often women feel there must be a reason to go out. Why is this so? How is this different for men? Do you think men have the same need to justify time away from the family, or a need to go out and have fun? Why or why not?
5. Women tend to talk about everything, or as Francesca points out, almost everything. What makes some top-ics taboo, even with your closest friends? What are the things that you just wont talk about? Which things will you discuss with your mother, but not your friends and vice versa?
6. Lisa feels that in order to truly connect, you must be honest, which has led her to sharing some very personal stories about the perils of getting older. Why does hear-ing others talk about these subjects make us feel better about ourselves? How does Lisas use of humor make talking about them easier to hear, and easier to discuss with others? In what ways has the stigma of getting older lifted. And in what ways has the stigma itself gotten worse?
7. Quirks are what make us all individual and interesting. Francesca outed Lisa and some of her quirks. What differentiates a quirk from being cute and unique or annoying and unbearable? What are some of your most adorable quirks, and which ones drive your friends and family crazy?
8. Lisa and Francescas stories from Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog have been optioned for a TV series. Who do you think should play Lisa, Francesca, and Mother Mary? Who do you think Lisa, Francesca, and Mother Mary want to play them? Hint: Lisa hopes for Angelina Jolie, Mother Mary is holding out for Betty White, and Francesca is too modest to say. Who would play you and your family in the sitcom of your life?