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Summary: The most beautiful book in the world
Review: A Girl's Guide... is the book you'll wish you'd written. Always funny, often heartbreaking and consistently well-wriiten, this book is gorgeous. If you only read one book this year, well, you're a pretty slow reader. But this book would almost make it enough.
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Summary: IT HAS NOTHING AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HUNTING AND FISHING
Review: YOU WILL LAUGH, YOU WILL CRY AND YOU MAY EVEN PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL YOUR DAD JUST TO SAY HELLO. IF NOTHING ELSE IT IS A TOASTY WARM STORY ABOUT US ALL LIVING THIS CRAZY LIFE... ENJOY!
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Summary: simply wonderful
Review: I thought the structure of this book was challenging and entertaining - I suppose for some it was like trying to connect the dots on a semi difficult puzzle, but for me, I just let the words carry me. Bank is proficient at creating characters that we may not agree with on a momoent to-moment basis, but she endears us to them nonetheless through her unique sense of dry humor and through her gift for dialogue. I see no reason not to heartily recommend this book to everyone who wants to go beyond the bodice-ripper category of romance, and hit the hard rock of wisdom and the cool benefit of reality. I was sorry to see the final chapter arrive.....
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Summary: Hilarious and poignant
Review: Single women everywhere, Unite! If you are tired of all the "rules" you need to follow in order to get a man then you have to read this book! Melissa Bank makes the rules and breaks them again with her book. She is witty, bright and not the most beautiful fish in the sea, and yet she can end up with the man of her dreams just by dare I say it, "being herself"! The dialogue is smooth and funny, and there are some touching moments as well,like the chapter about her father. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to women especially, but men may enjoy it too if they want to get an insight on "the rules" as well.
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Summary: Jane's Sister
Review: how Jane grows from an unsure teenager to a mature adult. The text was funny however, it struck me how much Janes' humor was very similar to the 'slightly off beat' humor the my sisters and I have always shared. Jane is our '5th' sister! It is a great read and keeps you going and wishing for more. However, the Jane was missing some depth, Ms. Banks touched only Janes' surface.
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Summary: What about Barney?
Review: Overall I enjoyed this book. Ms. Banks brings out the funny, lively, often confused thirty-something in a lot of us. Although there were gaps of years between the stories, the stories flowed as if she were conversing with a friend. (No need to fill in every single detail). However, "The Best Possible Light" left me completely confused. I looked for futher development of the characters in that chapter. Or at least a resultion of the critical situation that was developed. I couldn't make the connection between the balance of the book and that chapter. Perhaps Ms. Banks will pick up Barney and Laurel, Isabelle and Giarcarlo in a future writing.
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Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable
Review: This isn't a book you need to invest your heart and intellect in -- just enjoy it. It's well written, funny, and moving in parts. I know many, many 30-something women (including myself) who can relate to Jane's trials and tribulations -- relationships, career, family, etc. This is an entertaining quick read -- not a cure for cancer.
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Summary: Not exactly a novel
Review: The front cover calls The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing a "novel". However "fresh" this collection of short stories is, a novel it isn't. Thinking it was a novel, I was confused when no greater storyline emerged. By the time I read the fifth "chapter" I realized that all I could hope for was a series of short stories. Not a bad thing, but don't call it a novel if it isn't one. I enjoyed Melissa Bank's humor, and some of her creations (namely Jane) had depth of character. I LOVED the last story -- it actually elicited an emotional response from me, unlike most of the stories, which turned out to be merely interesting but not engaging. I thought the ending was quite abrupt, though. I thought Bank owed us more than such a sudden ending. After all, we read all her stories and we deserve to know "what happens next?" Read this book, but just remember it is a collection of short stories, and be emotionally prepared for the fact that they don't tie together in a more meaningful way.
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Summary: It's Incredible!
Review: I bought this book one day because I had nothing else to do for the day....I had it finished in two days. I raced home from work the second day just to finish it. I loved it. Every woman can relaate to it in one way or another. I didn't want it to end and I can't wait for another book by Melissa Bank.
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Summary: I loved it!
Review: This was a really enjoyable read and all the stories had something, if not everything, I could relate to. My life is different in many ways from the narrator's but all her observations rang true and had me feeling good about my own mis-steps and comical (from a distance) entanglements. I read pretty much the entire volume in one sitting, save for the last story which I consciously saved for later. I really didn't want the stories to end.
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