The World According to Mimi Smartypants
by Mimi Smartypants
HarperCollins $101
Mimi Smartypants is a blogger (short for the web-loggers who keep diaries online). She writes about her escapades with her family and her work as an editor in Chicago. This collection of her entries isn't as good as the site. One of the joys of blogs is hitting the links to obscure articles. A book obviously lack these. Her light, witty writing is perfect for web surfing, but it's not substantial enough to sustain a book. The lack of basic elements, such as a consistent storyline and proper characterisations, means that the narrative seems to have huge gaps. It quickly becomes frustrating. Given that you can read her diary in full and for free online, there seems little point in putting it into print.