Rafael Yglesias’ A Happy Marriage

Rafael Yglesias’ A Happy Marriage is not beach reading, but it is must reading for every tomato this summer
by Ronna Lichtenberg

Alternating between scenes describing the first three months of his relationship with Margaret, and the last three months of her losing battle with bladder cancer, Yglesias somehow manages to capture the mystery, nuance, tedium, fluctuations, and joy of an almost three-decade-long marriage.

After too many years of reading women’s magazine articles about what “he” really thinks, I was somberly grateful to find out what one “he” really did think. Yglesias’ unflinching courage in revealing the inevitable small disappointments of self completely avoids the look-at-me show turns of routine misery memoirs.
Written as an autobiographical novel, the book combines a screenwriter’s instinct for revealing detail with the uncalculated impact of a story that is emotionally true instead of “real life.”

I wish there were a less predictable thing to say than that the book made me laugh and it chocked me up so much I often I had to put it down. My only regret is that Margaret couldn’t read it, too.

Getting Reacquainted with Gerunds

Editor's Note: Mr. Tomato wrote today's review. He loves factoids. Plus we asked him to. He always does what we ask. Well most of the time. Well some of the time.

Not that I ever really understood or cared about gerunds when Miss Kennedy, my English teacher, covered them more than 50 years ago. However, Readers Digest has published an interesting trio of books covering just about everything you maybe learned then quickly forgot. It’s a walk down memory lane. They are a perfect gift for the perennial student.


I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School By Carol Taggart, the first of the trio, will trigger your memory with fun facts you learned in school – from adverbs to the Pythagorean Theorem. Witty, engaging, entertaining; the information is presented in east-to-retain, bite sized chunks.

Covering subjects such as English language, English literature, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Religion, and Music, this book features all of the most important theories, equations, phrases, and rules we were all taught years ago.


The second book My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me? (How to Speak and Write It Right) By Carol Taggaet and J.A. Wines covers everything from gerunds to parts of speech I don’t ever remember learning in a compact, interesting, and light-hearted manner. This is a book that you will keep handy for reference as it is packed with those long-forgotten “rules” you once learned in school.


i before e (except after c) …old-school ways to remember stuff By Judy Parkinson rounds out the trio. Featuring all the memory-jogging tips you’ll ever need to know, this fun filled little book will help you recall hundreds of important facts using simple, easy to-to-remember mnemonics from your school days. For dyslectics like me, who live by spell-check, this book is a keeper.

All three books are perfect for teachers, students, parents, and general knowledge enthusiasts as a quick way to look up things you forgot from school.

The Mother-in-Law's Manual

When her boys married, Susan Lieberman had no idea that there was an entire new learning curve waiting just around the corner. She had expected parenting to be demanding, but it never occurred to her to think becoming a mother-in-law would bring its own challenges. Where was Dr. Spock on this stage of development?

Now in the The Mother-In-Law’s Manual: Proven Strategies for Creating and Maintaining Healthy Relationships with Married Children Lieberman uses the same strategy she found so helpful when her children were growing up – talking to other women going through the same experiences. She invites women everywhere to join in the conversation. It begins with women’s expectations before their children marry and ends with hopes about how their children will behave when their mothers are really old. It deals with all facets of the in-law relationship, including how to handle difficult family members, how to discuss what seems like impending disaster and how to approach our babies having babies.

Susan Lieberman, Ph.D. has written six books, including New Traditions: Redefining Celebrations for Today’s Family. She attended Vassar College and the University of California, holds a master’s in city planning from Berkeley, a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Pittsburgh, and she is ordained as an interfaith minister.

Listen to our interview with Susan Lieberman on Tomatoes in the Trenches, Wednesday July 15th at 1 PM.

The Penny Pinchers Club got us at the prologue

The Penny Pinchers Club - Sarah Strohmeyer

Engagement ring: $7,340
Wedding and reception: $23,000
Raising one kid for eighteen years: $250,000
House in Jersey suburb: $462,000
Two Mint Tingle Trojan condom wrappers found in your husband's pocket: $1.40
Being financially ready when your husband announces he's leaving to be with his assistant: Priceless


Living in New Jersey--the state that boasts the most malls per capita—Kat Griffin’s favorite recreational activity is a no-brainer: shopping. But when she discovers that her husband, Griff, has been hiding a secret bank account, her joyful consumerism suddenly loses its appeal. Are their fights about money more serious than she understood? Is he, as her friends suggest, preparing for a divorce? Just in case, Kat decides it's time to start saving.

Kat has never saved a penny in her life and begins cutting back on things like kicking her $240 monthly Starbucks habit, canceleling HBO and quitting her gym membership. And soon she’s baking her own bread and dumpster diving. Let the fun begin.

The Penny Pinchers Club by best selling author Sarah Strohmeyer is a delightful, fun read that's perfect for summer travelling and beach reading.