Today Will Be Different

Maria Semple's second novel Today Will Be Different is more of the same — the story of an upper-middle-class Seattle woman whose beleaguered personal life is about to unravel. But the book's humor and plot this time around seem more calculating and formulaic. Part of the charm of Semple's earlier book (Where'd You Go, Bernadette) was its apparent ease and effortlessness; this one is a bit more forced.