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Two books take a look at the way women live and find plenty of inspiration in everyday moments ... and one book promises bitter disappointment for both genders.

 

Grace Eventually: Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

Reading Anne Lamott, you feel as if she's the friend you wish you had ... she's brutally honest about her own failings and is only judgmental when it comes to George Bush. Well-known for her honest discussions of her struggle to live a spiritual life, Lamott here offers another book of essays, and eight of the 23 are new. Her fans will enjoy checking in on her: She's trying to be nice about politics now and writes that she stopped hating Bush by turning off CNN and trying to forgive him. There's still plenty of indirect ire here, though, including her plan to plant and replant bulbs "in case the Bush administration insisted that all daffodils be killed off, under the rubric of the Clean Ground Initiative."

Many boomers will connect with sections about her disillusionment growing up in the '60s. Realizing that the adults in her life didn't have the answers, she reminisces that, "Almost everyone was struggling to wake up, to be loved and not feel so afraid all the time. That's what the cars, degrees, booze and drugs were about."

And first-time readers interested in a fresh take on religion will find her voice energizing. Her honesty (saying after a food binge, "It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos") always resolves into moments of grace – often involving a gentle prodding to walk her dog or call a friend when life seems unbearable. Those positive moments also give a platform for her signature writing style: "Grace arrived, like big, loopy stitches with which a grandmotherly stranger might baste your hem temporarily."

On My Own: The Art of Being a Woman Alone by Florence Falk

Florence Falk takes a different approach but also writes about women struggling to live happily. She's written what amounts to a how-to manual for becoming comfortable with being alone. (This seems particularly relevant with the news earlier this year than more than half of all women in the United States are living without a spouse.) She encourages women to enjoy their freedom instead of feeling somehow defective or "less than" someone who's married or has a partner.

Her goal is to help women see aloneness as an opportunity to act on their own desires and figure out who they are and what they most want out of life, without feeling insecure or afraid. In doing so, she tells many stories about women she's counseled through her psychotherapy practice and also draws on literary heavyweights like Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf and Carolyn Heilbrun (oh, and Pippi Longstocking).

Any woman looking for a little push to live an authentic life or looking for a new way to define "fulfilling" can find plenty here. Falk sees solitude as the perfect opportunity for creativity and power.

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid by Lemony Snicket

And if all that self-help and earnestness will never make your summer reading list, try a little Lemony Snicket instead. Perhaps in this case, the book jacket says it best: "Life is a turbulent journey, fraught with confusion, heartbreak and inconvenience. This book will not help."

Containing some quotes from the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books, original quotes and very short stories, the collection is divided into topics such as family, love, travel and "an overall feeling of doom that one cannot ever escape no matter what one does." The book is brief and doesn't add any extra information about Snicket's characters for hardcore fans, but it is amusing.

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