The World According to Mimi Smartypants

The pseudonymous Mimi Smartypants, a Chicago writer and editor, started an online diary in 1999, leading to a book contract from HarperCollins UK and now publication in the U.S. She doesn't pretend this is a great literary feat; to her, it's like someone offering to publish your grocery lists. "You wouldn't even call yourself a 'writer' because dude, grocery lists? Come on." So don't expect heavy-duty style or even plot from this likable 30-something—she's just blogging, alright? Overall, Smartypants is something of a hypochondriac, with frequent passages on her colds and other ailments, like her "exquisitely painful leg cramps." Sometimes she drinks too much, with hangovers that tie into the hypochondria. The narrative's quirky images (e.g., too much caffeine makes the author's spine feel "like a glass harmonica") and odd suggestions (e.g., try hydrating those compressed-foam animals in a mouthful of beer) certainly give pause, as do her occasional word inventions (e.g., making muffins, she describes those "large lipomas of butter" trapped in the hand mixer). Nothing beats Smartypants's discussion of how the "pseudo-Aztec design" on the Tostitos bag resembles a uterus with ovaries. This is not a big book, but a funny little one, sort of Bridget lite. (On sale Dec. 27)