{"id":5222,"date":"2016-01-26T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T12:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5222"},"modified":"2016-01-26T08:00:55","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T13:00:55","slug":"wishful-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5222","title":{"rendered":"****Wishful Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(photo: Priscilla, creative commons license)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Kamy Wicoff<\/a> — On Amazon, this book is categorized as \u201cwomen\u2019s fiction,\u201d which is probably a more politically correct designation for \u201cchick-lit,\u201d but whatever, it\u2019s a genre I don\u2019t usually read. It turned out to be a lot of fun and a refreshing change from serial killers trading in body parts.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Sharpe is a stressed-out, divorced Manhattan career woman with two young sons who struggles to fit everything into her schedule. She\u2019s wracked with guilt that her kids are getting too little of her time. Add an ex-husband who has documented her missed appointments and such and wants to renegotiate their custody agreement to have more time with the kids. Then add a nanny whose school commitments mean she has less time to help out, and a work project that will be Jennifer\u2019s dream come true (plus some much-needed extra $$$), if only she can reach the boss\u2019s ambitious productivity targets.<\/p>\n

Of course, her life is impossible\u2014that is, until someone puts an app on her cell phone called \u201cWishful Thinking\u201d that lets her be in two places at once. There are so many ways this little technological boost (involving wormholes and\u2014don\u2019t ask, you just have to go with it) can go wrong and does.<\/p>\n

Wicoff has written a believable Jennifer, plausible friends and work colleagues, a self-absorbed but not totally worthless ex, a dishy new boyfriend, and a sympathetic genius physicist who is behind the whole thing. All in all, an interesting cast of characters. The book is both good-humored and grounded in the frantic reality of many working moms\u2019 lives (minus the wormholes).<\/p>\n

Christina Baker Kline (author of the best-selling Orphan Train<\/em>) calls Wishful Thinking<\/em> “A thought-provoking, gimlet-eyed satire of contemporary motherhood in the guise of a romantic comedy.” If you\u2019re looking for a fast-paced, mostly light-hearted novel to enjoy on your winter vacation\u2014one that really lives up to its title\u2014this could be just the thing!
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