Rating: Summary: Good start Review: This book started off really well. Cannie was witty and interesting. As the book goes on, the wit gives way to whining! Cannie does a lot of complaining and no longer is funny or charming. The rest of the characters are boring. It is an easy read, but a little disappointing.
Rating: Summary: The title alone should make you want to read this:) Review: This was our first book club pick and what a great pick it was. Everyone in our book club couldn't stop raving about this book. I could have read it in one night. It was hilarious yet at the same time moving. Can't wait for more Jennifer Weiner books!
Rating: Summary: Unbearable, Brainless Beach Read Review: This novel was written on automatic and it shows. Characters, plot, you name it, all of it is typical, by the numbers, fill in the blanks fiction. It smacks of cashing in on a trend, and it doesn't even have the decency to do it very well.Cannie is lovelorn and overweight (because all heavy women in these novels *must* be lovelorn), a gifted writer whose potential is wasted at a dead-end newspaper job (because all lovelorn, overweight women have to have a job in the journalism field), with no one to turn to except her insane dog, Nifkin (Because all pets of lovelorn, overweight and overlooked women must have some quirk only she can find bearable). None of these cliches would be too damaging if only Cannie had some sort of engaging personality and a decent story to tell. Alas, she does not. Her sarcasm- which we are no doubt meant to find endearing and humorous- comes off as unfunny and grating, and what the author tries to pass off as self-depreciation is more like long, irritating wallows of self-pity. At one point, Cannie goes out for dinner with a man, nauseatingly throwing herself at him at every opportunity, only to dine and dash when she finds out he has a girlfriend back home. So, what's the message here, a woman can only interact with a man if there's a potential for a sexual relationship? Instead of feeling sorry for her, I wanted to slap her for being so man-hungry she wasted a perfectly good chance at a friendship. Cannie is feeling particularly 'poor pitiful me' these days because an ex wrote a magazine column about her, the gist of it being "Loving the Larger Woman". I won't go into her getting perplexingly angry and making things worse by telling absolutely everyone that the woman mentioned is her, knowing from personal experience about getting irrationally irritated about things an ex has done. And if the book were about that, about Cannie dealing with her feelings and learning how to be strong and confident and eventually moving on to be a better person I probably would have enjoyed it. Instead, we are suddenly jettisoned into magically impossible land, where mice in feety pajamas frolic with frogs wearing gumdrop hats. Cannie meets a famous actrress in a restroom who spontaneously decides to be her bestest friend and buy her lots of things and take her to expensive places. She's whisked away to LA where she charms a drunken, famous actor and eventually discovers she's been knocked up by the aforementioned ex. It's at this point where my head began to throb, but I stupidly ignored it and pressed on. How everything is wrapped up is so treacly and trite your teeth will hurt. Absolutely every person Cannie meets goes out of their way to set things right or give her stuff so we never see any growth or maturity on her part. Cannie has neither the brains nor the inner resources, apparently, to deal with a single one of her of her self-inflicted problems. Alone and bitter? A baby will fix everything! Poor and pregnant? Your amazing friends and estranged family will funnel vast amounts of cash into solving everything! The idea that being weak, single and saddled with a child will somehow win you a man is especially insulting. This isn't a book, it's Cinderella on cocaine of the cheapest variety.
Rating: Summary: The whole spectrum of emotion...... Review: Jennifer Weiner really paints a vivid picture of this character, Cannie Shapiro. The novel begins in the beginning of the post-breakup phase between Cannie and her ex, Bruce. As most people going through a breakup, she is fairly devasted but dealing with it. That is, until Bruce writes an article entitled "Loving a Large Woman" for Moxie, a woman's magazine. While the article doesn't specify her name or details, it is pretty obvious to anyone who knows her that article refers to her and her body. Needless to say, this is a bit humiliating. She embarks on a mission to lose weight and redeem herself, however finds herself in a completely unexpected position. This sudden change in her life changes her totally and makes her weight seem like the furthest thing from her mind. It is only until her focus shifts from self-loathing to caring only about something external, that she is able to redeem herself both physically, professionally and emotionally. It takes a complete and utter breakdown for her to realize who she really is and what is truly important in life. The book itself is very humorous and Cannie's comments are often biting and sarcastic, occasionally bitter, but always always very intelligent. The only part of the story that was slightly unrealistic was her friendship with Maxi Ryder. However, this is, after all a work of fiction!
Rating: Summary: Fresh Read Review: Good book club book! Enjoyable, light and FAST read. She's a character and takes you on a journey with her. Good Book.
Rating: Summary: funny, touching, a story to relate to Review: i really enjoyed this book. story, style, detail level are all good. i like stories where the unexpected happens and seeing how the character reacts; here the main character has to deal with an ex (something most of us can relate to) and i like what she does. a great beach read
Rating: Summary: Enjoyable Review: I enjoyed this book about a single woman in her late 20s who has trials in her love life and family life and who ends up learning a great deal about herself. It was nice to listen to the witty and sometimes biting "voice" of an author close to my own age, and meet a character who represents the non-size-zero single career woman. On the whole the book was a completely pleasant read, one I welcomed returning to each day. That being said, I thought some parts of the storyline were too fanciful, and at the same time, didn't get the full attention that the reader expected. For example (trying to avoid spoilers) what happened with the screenplay and how neatly everything was wrapped up for Cannie (the lead character) by the end. I was happy for the character, but I didn't believe in what happened. Still, I look forward to reading this author's second book.
Rating: Summary: "Good in Bed" was good, but.. Review: As a fan of Chick-lit I knew that I really like "Good in Bed" and I did or maybe I should say that I enjoyed the first half of the book. I don't know what it is with some of Chick-lit books there seem to a part of the story that is pure fanasty and you know that it could never happen in real life. In "Good in Bed" case its Cannie meeting famous actress and going to Hollywood. Why can't these writers, keep there storyline in the area of real life.
Rating: Summary: Like The Men In Her Life, This Leaves You High and Dry Review: Good in Bed seemed very promising- the first half of the book was fantastic. Well developed characters and an interesting plot revolving around an overweight, post-serious relationship twentysomething's struggle to find herself drew you deep into the world of Cannie Shapiro. The author leads you through the daily routines of Cannie and her life as an lowly entertainment writer in Philadelphia with hopes of something greater. As each chapter develops, you learn about Cannie's unique family life, her distrust of men, and her uncertainty of herself that comes from her low self image. It's a great read until she finds herself travelling to California to sell a screenplay- then the story turns into some twisted, deranged downward spiral that never makes any sense- the only thing that kept me reading was a faint hope that the author might be able to pull the story out of the outlandish happenings and wake the character up with the revelation that it was all a bad (and confusing) dream. Not bad for a day at the beach but I wouldnt call this the great American novel either.
Rating: Summary: Great fun! Review: Jennifer Weiner has created a great character in Cannie. She's extremely witty and fun to follow. This is truly a fun book.
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