These two extraordinarily engaging fictional diaries narrated by Jane (Janna) Somers crackle with energy, dry takes on the foibles of modern life, and bracingly grating relationships that often ring true. The impeccably turned-out editor of a trendy London magazine, Janna has a horror of commitment and unpleasant scenes. Her smooth carapace is cracked by Maudie Fowler, a fierce, angry old woman who lives a dirty, tumbled-down life but knows "how things ought to be." Through that steadily enlarging crack wriggle several other needy souls. In book two, Janna's exasperated benedictions fall on her sad-sack, semi-punk niece Kate, who slumps around her aunt's apartment in sluggish counterpoint to a frenzied, impossible love affair Janna embarks upon.