By Deborah Tannen
256 pages; Random House

Loving a sister can be a bit like hugging a cat: fuzzy and warm and fraught with peril. So observes Deborah Tannen in her latest exploration of human connection, You Were Always Mom's Favorite! Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives. Siblings will jump on this book to read about pigeonholing (who's the pretty one? who's the smart one?), power dynamics (older sister as "mini-mom"), and the coded messages, fond or furious, that only the person who knows you best will understand.

— Cathleen Medwick