The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman Books in Order

The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman is the catchall title for Lisa Scottoline’s humorous nonfiction, much of it co-written with her daughter, Francesca Serritella. The books grow out of their long-running “Chick Wit” column, where they trade short, personal essays about whatever is happening in their lives that week.

These collections aren’t memoirs in the traditional, cradle-to-now sense. Instead, they read like conversations you might have at a kitchen table after dinner, when the dishes are pushed aside and everyone starts telling stories. Lisa writes about life on her Pennsylvania farm, her pack of beloved rescue dogs, dating after divorce, and navigating middle age as a single mom. Francesca brings in the perspective of a younger woman building a writing life in New York City, dealing with tiny apartments, big feelings, and the occasional questionable date.

Across volumes like Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space, Best Friends, Occasional Enemies, Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, Have a Nice Guilt Trip, Does This Beach Make Me Look Fat?, I’ve Got Sand In All the Wrong Places, I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere but the Pool, and I See Life Through Rosé-Colored Glasses, the topics range widely. One piece might be about online shopping regret, the next about caring for an aging parent, and another about the weird intimacy of sharing a Netflix password.

The through line is the mother‑daughter relationship. Lisa and Francesca alternate chapters, sometimes answering each other directly and sometimes circling the same subject from different angles. You see them tease each other, lean on each other, and occasionally disagree, but the affection underneath never wavers. Their voices are distinct—Lisa’s a little brasher and more self‑deprecating, Francesca’s a bit more introspective—but they share a knack for making everyday frustrations funny without pretending life is easy.

Readers often dip into these books between heavier novels, or use them as a kind of diary of their own seasons of life. Because each essay stands alone, you can read one or two and set the book down, or binge a whole collection in an afternoon. The series page brings the books together in order, so it is easy to see how the columns grew as Lisa’s nest technically “emptied” and Francesca’s adult life expanded.

If you enjoy smart, conversational writing about family, friendship, pets, aging, and the small disasters that make up an ordinary week, this series is meant to feel like company—two voices keeping you laughing and nodding along, one short chapter at a time.