Today Will Be Different (Maria Semple)

I no longer have the Read Harder Challenge looming, so now I get to read at random, for fun! What a novelty.  Today Will Be Different is Maria Semple's follow-up to Where'd You Go Bernadette? and in my opinion, it's better.

It's also set in Seattle and has a frisson of satire aimed at Seattle parenthood and family life. Mostly it's about a somewhat unsympathetic mom, Eleanor, who vows to "be different" but who largely fails and fumbles her way through one particular day. In between vignettes we get some backstory about Eleanor's history and relationship with her estranged sister, and even a wonderful mini-graphic novel tucked into one of the chapters. I don't mind unsympathetic characters; I loved the art; I was on board with Eleanor's urban Seattle adventures; I enjoyed this novel.

Side note: One of my weird pet peeves is names that are like made-up versions of traditional names. (For example one of our local traffic newscasters is named Kiffany.)  I realize this is an unfair pet peeve and people don't choose their own names. But in this case Maria Semple did choose the name "Timby" for Eleanor's son and it annoyed me to read it every single time. Sorry 'bout it.