Staff Pick - Bossypants by Tina Fey

I am so on top of things this year that I have already read - or rather listened to in this case -one of my selections for Five Books I Want to Read this Summer - Bossypants (M) by Tina Fey.

Yes, Cynthia, you are right, it has lived up to the hype, and I really think audio may be the way to go with this one. Not only do you get a funny, engaging, sharp-witted memoir by an intelligent woman, in the audio version you are also entertained by an obviously skilled performer.

Tina Fey has a lot of power and influence. She was head writer on Saturday Night Live (M) and she has the ability to convince a network to air a television series that she has created and stars in which employs about 200 people. Still, she has this relatable, "gee shucks" attitude which makes reading this book like listening to a friend, a very funny friend, talk about her life and insecurities. I can't help but to wonder if she continues to write and share her reflections on life, could she be another Nora Ephron (M)?

Fey is respectful and generous, so you won't find muck-raking here. She addresses major incidents in her life, like the childhood knife attack, but only to put it aside, rather than dwell on the dramatics. She mentions her husband, but in passing, revealing nothing of their marriage or courtship. She writes about her daughter in the spirit of "mommy bloggers" but with less detail. If you are looking for scandal on the set of SNL, you won't find it here. You will find bizarre and disgusting habits of comedy writers and the hint that sometimes the hosts were less that pleasant. You will learn how a middle class girl from the suburbs forged a career in a field that doesn't traditionally respect and value women, and how she accomplished this with class.

If you enjoy reading funny insightful memoirs by smart women you might also enjoy Let's Pretend this Never Happened (a mostly true memoir) (M) by Jenny Lawson. " Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text." publisher