Humor columnist Kathy Eliscu has written a delightful and creative debut novel, Not Even Dark Chocolate Can Fix This Mess. It’s non-traditional, with drawings, postcards, notes-to-self, voicemails, and playful use of exclamation points. Her protagonist, Nurse Katrinka, aka “Tink”, is going through perimenopause. With humor, Eliscu reveals the ridiculous failings of our health care system, the nuances of love relationships, and the difficulty of saying “no” in our busy lives. Not Even Dark Chocolate Can Fix This Mess is every woman’s story, and both genders will laugh as Tink looks for a most unlikely escape route after making an embarrassing public mistake