WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here.  

 

1. What are you currently reading? Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline. Benedetta "Bennie" Rosato is a successful attorney. She's more than a litigator, she's the head of one of Philadelphia's most successful firms. She doesn't like to lose. And now she's face-to-face with one of her losses: she defended Jason when he was 12 and in trouble in the juvenile system and the case went awry. Consequently, he spent his life in and out of trouble with the law and now here he is, 25 and accused of murder. He calls Bennie, because he's got no one else. Here's her chance to make it up to him.

 

The Rosato & DiNunzio series, about an all-female law firm, is very popular but I'm not always a fan. Two of the central characters, Mary DiNunzio and Judy Carrier, feel more like "types" than real women. But I've always liked Bennie Rosato, and so far she's center stage. When warned, "Don't get mad, get even," she replied, "Why should I choose?" That's my girl!

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister.  Poet, essayist and critic Dorothy Parker is bored. She's been dead awhile and is haunting the bar at the Algonquin Hotel. At first when she died, she passed on Heaven because the idea of eternity with her "loved ones" doesn't appeal to her, but now she's lonely. She needs to find another spirit who would be satisfied with forever trading bon mots with her at the bar.

She sets her sights on Ted Shriver, an extravagantly talented  but scandal plagued author. He has a brain tumor and decided the surgery to remove it isn't worth the risk. His friends can't believe his decision and try to convince him to fight for life. Mrs. Parker knows the secrets that are motivating him and begins meddling.

As Ellen Meister portrays her, Mrs. Parker is sharp, sad, and witty. The plot is complicated and some of its messages are surprisingly sophisticated: about family and faith and obligation and eternity. I enjoyed it.

3. What will read next?  A biography.