Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple, 2016

Quirky & ode to Seattle, Today Will Be Different is about Eleanor Flood, an animator.  That's the initial sign of quirkiness.

An estranged sister, legendary southern gentleman Bucky (Jody from the Mindy Show pops into my mind every time Bucky is mentioned) and young son Timby haunt Eleanor's quest to be a better version of herself.

And by better version, we mean only wearing yoga clothes when going to yoga classes.

Witty with a protagonist who has an acute awareness that she is a less than perfect Mom, Today Will Be Different kept my interest, culminating in a truly unexpected ending where Eleanor realizes where her husband Joe has been playing hooky to for the last week.

Similar to my thoughts about Where'd You Go, Bernadette which so many people enjoyed, I really can not say if it's good or bad, just quirky

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik, 2016

I heard about Sofia Khan is Not Obliged from a newspaper for expats that I was reading while traveling through Saudi Arabia on my way home from London.  The blurb talked about a Muslim author and a book she had written about a young Muslim woman living in London.

Sofia is a Pakistani Muslim young woman living outside of London with her family who ends an engagement because her betrothed Imran has no intentions of moving out of his parents' home.

As with most Eastern cultures, including Chinese, a wife is expected to move into her husband's family's home.  Even today in 2017, in Western cities.

A book publicist and blogger, Sofia halfheartedly pitches a book idea about Muslim dating that her bosses love and decide that she should write.

As part of her research, she joins Muslim dating site www.shaadi.com (which I had never heard of), a real site referred to as Shady.com.

Initially, it was tough to understand the tone and rhythm of the book with references to Muslim culture (and even distinguishing the names of her girl friends), but once I picked up an ear for it, the characters became really engaging.

Despite her traditional friends, family & headgear, Sofia interacts with very western co-workers and neighbors, including the very Irish Conall.

Witty, and even bringing tears to my eyes at one point, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged is a story of every young women - her friends being her world, family conflicts, pressures of marriage - with Muslim twists, but in essence, the same stories we all have.