Miss Thompson Reads More Alice Munro

I've read Alice Munro in The New Yorker, came upon a big book of her Selected Stories at the library, and carried it home to read in bed. The book was too heavy to read in bed, but the stories are great, each with a blind hem of mystery running beneath. I liked the selections in this volume more than those in (the lighter) Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. "Wenlock Edge" is especially creepy and cold. You'll intuit Munro's heritage via a peppering of distinctly Canadian references, underscoring the impression that, reading along, you're traveling in another land.

Can't Look Away from The Bag Lady Papers

Alexandra Penney's The Bag Lady Papers tells how Penney has coped since losing her fortune to Bernie Madoff. Penney is a New York photographer and painter, and a Conde Nast alumnus (editor in chief of Self magazine, beauty editor at Glamour). Since her savings were stolen, she's had to curb her fondness for expensive things, sell her Florida and Long Island homes, and faces a financially insecure future. She still has her Upper East Side apartment, her brains and talents, and a host of accomplished friends, so she may sound like a person who has no right to complain. But regardless of circumstance, she is no less a victim of thievery than any other Madoff client. The writing is lively, and the book is full of dishy details. Penney's history of hard work is inspirational -- the girl never gives up! -- and glimpses of her childhood raised by cold withdrawn parents add other dimensions to the story. Penney's chin-up Rx —the daily donning of a crisp white no-iron shirt from Lands' End or Brooks Brothers—is so appealing I am heading out to buy one of my own.

Dylan Landis Sure Can Write

I finished Normal People Don't Live Like This by Dylan Landis first thing this morning, and only stopped 15 pages short of the end last night because my eyes were seriously starting to blur (1 a.m.). If you're a person who appreciates words, notice how the author conjures up character with a few deft strokes. These interlinked stories about young women, their mothers, and lovers will stay with you long after you close this lovely pink book (Persea Books, $15). Normal People Don't Live Like This is the perfect gift for a friend with a couch, a blanket, and a Saturday afternoon.