Does This Beach Make Me Look Fat?

Scottoline and daughter Serritella bring to the table a new helping of humorous, insightful, and touching vignettes from their lives. The two detail everything from bicycle riding to reentering the dating scene to Scottoline's love of Bradley Cooper. This volume in the collection of mother-daughter memoirs takes a melancholy tone though as it is dedicated to and discusses the passing of Mother Mary, the family matriarch. Through the sadness are messages of familial love and strength. Readers of the previous installments will not be disappointed with the pair's wit and quirkiness. Scottoline's segments about being a middle-aged writer offer a pleasant generational contrast to that of her twentysomething daughter's self-discovery in New York City. It's one of the most satisfying things about the work—it leaps over generational gaps and ultimately mothers and daughters will nod in recognition of feminist values, the oddities of life, and the bonds of family. The brevity of each essay makes this a quick read, perfect for the beach as the title would suggest, yet some pieces end too quickly, leaving readers to feel as though thoughts went unfinished.