Read about another entry on the list.“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” by Maria Semple.
When the world seems insane, and depressingly so, it’s good to laugh and better yet to get away. “Family trip to Antarctica!” Fifteen-year-old Bee’s parents promise her anything if she aces her report card, and that’s what she wants. But first she takes us on a nightmarishly hilarious journey through the story of her disappearing mother, neighborhood intrigues, school politics and high-tech romance via e-mail, FBI reports, memos and letters.--ELLEN AKINS
Where’d You Go, Bernadette is among Jeff Somers's five books that use cultural anthropology to brilliant effect and top five novels featuring runaway parents, Chrissie Gruebel's seven great books for people who love Modern Family, Charlotte Runcie's ten best bad mothers in literature, Joel Cunningham's seven notable epistolary novels and Chrissie Gruebel's five top books for readers inspired by Nora Ephron.
--Marshal Zeringue