The book read quickly and the author is gifted at humor.

The insights into the main character's life were interesting and entertaining.

The book was lacking in solid content.

Merrill Markoe is hillarious! This book is a great pick-me-up. I enjoyed this book very much and passed it on to my family. READ IT! :)

Markoe is one of the funniest writers ever. This book is written well and is hilarious. I love the structure, too--every chapter the main character is one year older.

I found this to be the funniest book about dating and being single that I have ever read. I have re-read this book over & over, recommended it to my friends, bought them their own copies, I will never part with mine. It is very witty. If you have or have ever known people who think their parents are crazy, or you have been single, you will enjoy this book immensely.

I don't know if it's because my sister, the day before I started this book, had the exact same experience of dining with our parents or what, but when I woke her at 2 am to read an excerpt, rather than hang up, she said "keep going."

This book is hilarious but also very poignant. It hit home, especially the mother-daughter relationship. The sarcasm throughout was on the mark. I also found myself tearing up a bit in a few spots.

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

Approaching my upper thirtysomethings, I read this book with an "Amen, Sister!" frame of mind and knowing full well that I was not in for anything overly cerebral. It reads like a happy hour on ladies night, and as the last single woman in my circle of friends, I really appreciated and identified with this book. Many of the encounters the narrator recounts could have, down the last detail, been borrowed from events from my own life, and that's what makes it so funny. Oh, who am I kidding?! I laughed my [...] off. I recently celebrated my big 4-0 and I'm kind of itching to read it again.

SUMMARY: an unnamed, unmarried, thirtysomething female narrator takes the audience, via one chapter, through one year in her life. Every birthday, she analyzes her life, resolves to make changes, and vows to learn something new. Unfortunately, she can't seem to break the patterns of behavior with which she's been suffering for most of her life: bad boyfriends, bad sex, bad parental relationships. While not technically a memoir, this novel is too poignant and simply too REAL to be pure fiction.

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: True moments of hilarity abound throughout the text. I believe Markoe didn't name her protagonist because it allows the reader to mold the character into whatever they choose -- and good luck not identifying with most of her travails!

WHY YOU WON'T: There are numerous cringeworthy moments where you want to grab the narrator by her shoulders and shake some sense into her. I had several moments where I actually spoke, "What are you THINKING?! Stand up for yourself!" It can get frustrating, but that's what makes it real.

BOTTOM LINE: Not esoteric or life-changing, this novel is a quick and frothy read which will make you laugh, make you think, and make you appreciate how normal your family is (in comparison).

I have a hard time believing that this was a novel and not a personal memoir. (Or a biography of a close friend) Some of the events were so off the wall that while I can imagine them happening in real life, I have a hard time believing that someone could make this stuff up.

I liked it a great deal. The idea of noting the goings-on from year to year on one's birthday with your dysfunctional family are just precious.

Since I have it in my mind that this book is really non-fiction - I would have given it 5 stars save for the year when her Father comes around. I felt like that whole section was a bit more polished than it should have been.

Friends insisted I read this and i did at one sitting. I found it riveting and hilarious. A great funny read.