Have a Nice Guilt Trip

Popular mystery writer Scottoline and her Philadelphia Inquirer columnist daughter Serritella team up for the fourth time to offer a lively collection of 80 short essays on everything from raising puppies to the proper way to make eggplant parm. Though Scottoline penned the majority of the essays in this volume, 27-year-old Serritella’s contributions display her own brand of humor and sweetness. Scottoline—prone to comedic one-liners—makes the pages fly by in a flurry of laughs. Serritella’s ode to her 90-year-old grandmother (affectionately referred to as Mother Mary) and her writings about her dog Pip are especially endearing. Scottoline is on-target and hilarious, whether she’s writing about politics (her piece on Anthony Weiner is a standout), ex-husbands (“Thing One and Thing Two”), or what it’s like to sleep with five dogs. While Serritella deals with dating, rollerblading, and Facebook, Scottoline, whose “butt is already on social security,” considers joining AARP. Their close-knit, outspoken Italian family is also the subject of a number of laugh-inducing selections. (July)