HELL IS OTHER PARENTS: AND OTHER TALES OF MATERNAL COMBUSTION

By Deborah Copaken Kogan (Voice, 224 pages, $13.99)

Former war photojournalist Deborah Copaken Kogan, whose memoir "Shutterbabe" was well received, now writes about another battlefield -- home life. She has produced an eclectic collection of domestic tales of horror, told in a very amusing way. She brings a biting wit to such topics as meddlesome parents spreading not-very-nice gossip about your child at school; dealing with an unexpected illness amid family crises and the editing of a piece for the New York Times, and becoming a reluctant stage mom as your son embarks on a fledging movie career. The problems Kogan and her family encounter aren't that much different from the ones we all face in our daily existence -- she just describes them better. And as you methodically make your way from story to story about transportation problems, health-care issues, dealing with both parents working and kids with a raft of activities, you will find yourself (as I did, many times) nodding your head in acknowledgment, "Yes, I've been there!"

MILFORD REID, SPORTS DESIGNER

DAY AFTER NIGHT

By Anita Diamant ( Scribner 292 pages, $27)

Anita Diamant is best known for "The Red Tent," a lusty literary novel about feisty women in Old Testament times. Like that bestseller, "Day After Night" is an addictive read. It's also a better book -- sharper, subtler, with far more complex characters. Several women, most of them Jewish, have survived unspeakable horrors during World War II only to find themselves confined to Atlit, a British military base for illegal immigrants in Palestine. Shayndel, a Pole who is a heroine to the others because she fought with the Jewish resistance; Leonie, a Frenchwoman racked with guilt about her past in a brothel that served Nazi officers; Tedi, a Dutch woman saved by farmers who hid -- and raped -- her and to whom "memory is the enemy of happiness"; Zorah, a bitter, religion-rejecting death camp survivor; Esther, a Polish Christian who has saved the life of the Jewish child whose nanny she was, and many other damaged souls bring their ghosts and gifts to the camp, where they clash, grow close, work and dream. One day there is an opportunity to escape, and the novel's chief action revolves around that event, which really happened. To Diamant's credit, she does not burden her story with political puffery or propaganda. Layered characters and high drama make for a great read, and along the way you'll learn a thing or two about a fascinating and pivotal period in history.

PAMELA MILLER, NIGHT METRO EDITOR