21. The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell: Okay, so calling this one of my books feels a little like cheating, as it's really a graphic novel, but what a fun novel it is. Laurie's father was a secretive man with a habit of filching large sums of money from those he loved. Laurie grew up with some severe daddy issues, which she exploits to our amusement in this book. The benefit of the graphic novel format is that we can never take her too seriously so incidents that would seem maudlin in a prose format come off as light-hearted. That's both a benefit and a detriment, but she manages to get her story across. This was the fastest read of the summer--I finished it in a day--but it was a day well spent.

16. Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman: Okay, here it is: I don't think Waldman sounds like a bad mother. And my main fault with the book is that she seems like a normal, decent person. Yes, let's face it; I read the book to feel superior and better about my own mothering. But Waldman actually spends a great deal of time trying to show us that she's really a very good mother as in for, example, when her son can't breast feed, she pumps for months and months. I was hoping for more "bad mom" stories and examples, ways that she was going to show that we all need to be a lot more supportive in the parenting arena and that we all have the ability to be a good and bad parent. That wasn't here.

So let's put aside the issue of "bad mother" and then I can say it's really a very fun, very engaging memoir. Waldman's life is not one most of us can relate to--she was able to go from Harvard-educated lawyer to writer while her work-at-home author husband takes up a lot of the day-to-day chores--but her writing is honest, whether dealing with her bipolar issues or the abortion of a child who could have had special needs. Despite her woes, her life comes off as quite privileged, however her voice is refreshing and I think as a "momoir," this book succeeds wonderfully.

15. Buying Dad: One Woman's Search for the Perfect Sperm Donor by Harlyn Aizley: There is plenty to like in this memoir of Aizley trying to find the perfect sperm donor so she and her partner can have a baby. Her neurotic Jewish, lesbian take gives a rather mundane tale of infertility, sperm seeking, and pregnancy a different spin.

That said, I never really sunk into this book. I can't put my finger on why. I pulled this book off the Starbucks free book shelf, so it was really a random pick. Aizley has a delightfully snarky tone and she's self-deprecating in a most amusing way. But I kept putting the book down, only to go back to it when the other book I was reading was too far away for me to get out of bed to retrieve. Yes, that's right. I'm a lazy reader.

I think it's perhaps that other than the "neurotic Jewish" aspect, I didn't connect on any other levels. Had I had difficulty conceiving, I think this book would have been a terrific read. But as it is, I was most interested in the parenting aspects, of which there were none (the story ends with the birth of their child). I think I wanted more of her relationship with Faith, as that was the fun part--their dynamics were infinitely relate-able. A thread also weaves throughout about Aizley's mother's cancer, a very somber story that is told with a good deal of levity. This too was quite interesting to me.

I think if Aizley writes other books, I'd most likely be interested in them. It was just the subject matter here that kept me from becoming really enmeshed.

13. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher: The rifts in this book began as a stage show, and it's obvious from the tone of the writing. It's short--it can be read in one decent sitting--and it doesn't go nearly into enough depth, and the style takes a chapter to get into.

But who cares? This book is a voyeuristic, witty, and fun peek into Fisher's life as a daughter of Hollywood, a failed wife, a drug addict, a mother, an actress. She doesn't hold back as she rips into everyone, but mostly herself. I laughed while reading this. By the end of the book, Fisher feels like an old friend, one you'd love to have a drink with (that is, if she could drink, but as a recovering drug user, I suppose that's not very likely). If ever a book was a guilty pleasure, this is it.

8. My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith by Benyamin Cohen: Cohen is the son of an Orthodox rabbi, living in Atlanta. Cohen is feeling disillusioned and unfulfilled by Judaism, so he decides to investigate Christianity, to see if there are any meanings he can take that will help him rediscover his own faith. To that end, every Sunday he visits churches, faith rallies, and meets Christian evangelicals.

My biggest complaint with this book is that it floats too much on the surface. I felt it was unclear that this entire time, Cohen is actually still a very observant Jew, keeping kosher, observing Shabbat, attending synagogue services. He mocks religion liberally, especially his own, but I thought it came off as forced. He glimpses into Christian wrestling, Mormonism, Christian rock shows, Catholicism, but he can't capture it all in a year and he doesn't delve deeply into any of the areas. The book was interesting, but it wasn't that enlightening. If you read this, read it as a memoir, not for deeper meaning or for humor.