Joan's picks: Romantic Comedy and Laughing at the Dark

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. She was a hot young author a few years ago with her first book Prep which established her reputation from the outset. This one is about Sally who’s a writer on a late night NYC TV comedy show (think Saturday Night Live), and who ponders the fact that her colleague Danny who is very funny but otherwise unremarkable, hooks up with an incredibly beautiful and successful woman, while believing it would never work the other way round, with a super talented and wealthy guy falling in love with a woman who wasn’t - but then it happens to her. It’s a cute take on dating and relationships, and a very easy read. Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else. You may know Barbara - she’s a New Zealand author and editor (wrote The Warrior Queen which was huge back in 2012) and well known in literary circles. This is her memoir about growing up in 70’s New Zealand, where the expectation was that she’d be a “good girl”; married a guy at 21 who became a world renowned academic and who didn’t think she should have a career because his was more important; and one day walked out and ran away with another writer which was scandalous. It’s full of memories of the times - a lot of the background stuff really resonated with me, the way NZ used to be 50 years ago. She’s had an interesting life and she reflects really well on what has been. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.