With the economy in its current horrible shape, affecting everyone and all job markets, unemployment is hardly a humorous topic, but Jen Lancaster pulls it off in her memoir Bitter is the New Black. Once a highly paid executive, Jen once enjoyed a palace of an apartment, fine dining, and designer everything, from clothes to shoes to bags to even makeup. She lives with her boyfriend and ignores conventional wisdom, spending all rather than saving. When she is laid off unexpectedly, she circles her impressive resume, assuming her unemployment is temporary. As she quickly finds out, it is not, and she goes from living in luxury to cutting costs in ways she never imagined. Through it all, she has her sass and humor, and does indeed take a Prada bag to the unemployment office (where she also asks the workers there if they have any jobs that "don't suck"). Rather than marveling at her lack of wisdom in financial matters, the reader sides with her and roots for her, and when she begins to learn life lessons the hard way, we are proud. The book has its somber moments, with the events occurring before and after 9/11, and the inevitable horrors of a lack of income, Jen keeps her humor and stride, maintaining strength and resolve when she finally hits rock bottom. This book is a hilarious, sad account of a girl who once loved designer duds over savings accounts, and who learned the hard way to save for a rainy day. It seems impossible to make an amusing memoir of such a hard time in a young business woman's life, but Jen Lancaster pulled it off with this book.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I haven't yet read Ms. Meyer's incredibly popular Twilight series, but I was intrigued by the plot of her latest novel, her first for adults. In The Host, aliens have taken over Earth by way of souls inhabiting human bodies and carrying on their lives. It seems more peaceful than the pod aliens from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but still seems eerie, which leads to Melanie's plight. As one of the last actual humans, she is captured by the aliens and has a soul put into her body, a veteran intergalactic traveler by the name of Wanderer. What makes Melanie unique is that she doesn't willingly give up her body, and by way of vivid memories and emotions, convinces the Wanderer to help her find her boyfriend and brother, whom Melanie is convinced are still alive and human. Their unusual situation is further complicated by the fact that humans will kill them if they know Melanie isn't human anymore, and the soul is stalked by a relentless Seeker, who wants to discard Melanie's body or inhabit it herself to drive out all human presence. It's a fascinating story that starts out beautifully, with a range of emotions and a breathless chase, but quickly plateaus into a prison-like situation. The adults tend to act like bratty teenagers, which leaves the reader to wonder if Meyer is more comfortable writing for that age group, and while the story progresses believably, the 600-plus page book could have easily shed at least 200 more. Meyer plans a sequel and third book in this new series, and though this book could stand alone, I plan to read the others, and hope that they will not dwell on adolescent emotions and complex situations made all too simple. In the end, The Host is a brilliant story, but seems introductory to Asimov and Atwood.