Rating: 
Summary: Great Start, But I Wanted More
Review: I love Cannie Shapiro, and I loved her life for the first half of this book. She faces the challenges of her life with real humor and outrage. She's got wonderfully colorful and fascinating friends, co-workers, and relatives. I just wished she'd stayed in Philadelphia and faced her life as she was living it. Instead -- and without giving away any of the events of the second half -- she goes out of town where Stuff Happens. The rest of the book felt too much like a fantasy Cannie might have about how her life could take several surprising turns. I finished the book feeling like my heart strings had been tugged a bit too mechanically. My advice to Ms. Weiner: Your characters' lives are well worth reading about right here in Philadelphia simply because they are YOUR characters, which means they have a great perspective on things. Keep `em at home!
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable!!!
Review: Finally, a book about someone fighting with her self-esteem/looks who does not conveniently turn into Cinderella at the end. Cannie is a witty, large-sized twenty-something journalist coming to terms with liking herself. She encounters several funny roadblocks along the way including a newly gay mother and an ex with an axe to grind. Every page was wonderfully crafted and I hated finishing the book. Cannie's sense of humor is fantastic and she is a thoroughbly likeable character. One that I would love to have as a friend. I could almost picture Nifkin the weird little dog perched on my couch.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: Although the heroine has an issue with her weight, this is a wonderful book that women of all sizes can relate to: relationships with friends, lovers, and family know no size limits. Cannie is a terrific person with a great sense of humor that helps her through some very painful and lonely times; as I read the book I found myself laughing and tearing up and cheering her on the to ending she deserves so well. Jennifer Weiner writes smoothly and has a great ear for dialogue; some reviewers have criticized some of the plot twists as "implausible"; I say, "Why shouldn't wonderful, extra-ordinary things happen to wonderful, ordinary people?" This is a terrific first novel; I can't wait to read what Jennifer writes next.
Rating:
Summary: A funny book about relationshiops
Review: Everyone who knows the Philadelphia Examiner reporter Cannie Shapiro agrees she is a smart, funny, and a decent person. The plus-sized Cannie feels that her father never loved her or he would never had verbally abused her for her weight. Adding to her disgust of males, Connie learns that her boyfriend Bruce has been writing about the intimate details of their relationship in his Moxie Magazine column.Once she recovers form the shock, Cannie wonders if she erred in dropping Bruce. She makes overtures to him to begin again, but he rejects her offers. When she realizes she is pregnant she informs Bruce by letter, but he ignores her. Cannie decides it is time to move on and refresh her life with new experiences even if they are risky at this moment. GOOD IN BED is a beautiful adult fairy tale starring a heroine facing tests that would destroy a lesser person. Although this is Jennifer Weiner's debut, no one would realize that simply by just reading the cleverly constructing and amusing yet serious story. With more novels starring realistic characters in real world scenarios like this one, Ms. Weiner will surely earn superstardom status. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Smart, Funny, Romance
Review: I picked this up on a lark at a local bookstore, and wound up being immensely satisfied. The characters are funny and believable, the story is compelling, and the author brings a characteristic voice of her own to the table. Cannie Shapiro is a different type of heroine than we've become used to--not a glamorous supermodel type working in a glamorous job, but a real person, fully imagined, who comes out of the pages breathing. The supporting characters are equally well-drawn, from the pro forma neurotic female friend to the ex who broke Cannie's heart, Cannie's neurotic mother, and the doctor who becomes Cannie's love interest. My favorite supporting character, though, is Maxi, the Hollywood starlet who finds perhaps her first ever true friend in Cannie. Is the book completely perfect? No--occaisionally, there's almost TOO much going on. The "my mother is a lesbian" subplot, while funny, seemed a bit unnecessary, and the subplot with the lost father led too one too many coincidences, and a somewhat-out-of-place serious meditation on the nature of familial love. Finally, the ending is a bit predictable, even though there are a vast many twists along the way. This is at least as good as any, and better than most of the bestselling "romantic comedy" books, like Laura Zigman's "Animal Husbandry" and "Dating Big Bird," or Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones novels. I reccomend it highly. And Jennifer (I rather suspect you'll read this) WHEN it sells to the movies, retain creative control--don't let them change Cannie into the generic romantic comedy lead. Let her remain the woman you wrote--warts, extra weight, neuroses, and all.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Summer Read To Get Lost In
Review: From the first page of Good In Bed I was laughing.I was surprised at all the surprises that were weaved throughout the book. And that the many poignant moments literally made me cry. The dialogue of Cannie, the smart, succesful and funny focus of this novel reminded me of myself and also my close friends. I think every woman will be able to relate to this story of love, relationships, and finally learning what is really important in life. Caution:start this book when you have time to read for hours on end...you aren't going to want to put it down until you find out what happens to Cannie and her family and friends.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: My sweetie bought this book, but I picked it up before she had a chance and I couldn't put it down. This book is terrific! This isn't my ordinary bread-and-butter sort of reading - but the characterization is terrific, the dialogue's snappy and I was howling by the end. This coming from a 31-year old (male) lawyer who doesn't ordinarily read general pop fiction. Definately worth the price of admission. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: GOOD IN BED has to be one of the best books I've read in a long, long time. It's one of those books that you feel sad finishing, because it's like you are saying goodbye to a friend. The heroine, Cannie Shapiro, is funny, smart, sassy, and imperfect. She makes mistakes but learns from them, and by the end of the book she has changed in many ways. Once you start this book, it's impossible to put down. How many of us have had nightmares about an ex-boyfriend speaking publicly about our former relationship? To make matters 10x worse, in GOOD IN BED Cannie's ex-boyfriend writes about theirs in a national magazine, specifically about what it was like to love a plus-sized woman. With a hook like that and a heroine who is impossible not to like, GOOD IN BED deserves more than 5 stars, in my book!
Rating:
Summary: LOOK! A REAL, MODERN, SINGLE WOMAN...
Review: and the story of some outrageous things that happen to her. Many reviewers have faulted Good in Bed's plot twists for being "unbelievable," but I don't think the author intended for the book to be completely grounded by reality. After all, where would the fun be in THAT? Rather, I think that in her first novel Jennifer Weiner has succeeded in creating a smart, single, introspective, imperfect, troubled, hopeful, modern woman and woven a tale where fascinating things happen in her life. The heart of the story comes from how Cannie deals with each event. I won't give too much away, but the saga starts with Cannie's ex-boyfriend writing columns about her in a woman's magazine, the first one being called "Loving A Larger Woman." Ouch. Later, Cannie is befriended [more like adopted] by a female movie star, sells a screenplay, and spends a luxurious all-expenses-paid month in L.A., topped off by meeting the man of her celluloid dreams [but don't jump to any conclusions]. This may all be far-fetched in the real world, but in fiction it makes a tremendously entertaining story. Other characters in the book, like her Mom's wacky lesbian partner, were as multi-dimensional and interesting as Cannie. It was fun to find out what they would do or say next. I also liked that the book was not perfunctorily set in London or New York. Cannie's Philadelphia, as well upscale L.A. seen through her "outsider's" eyes, were delightful to visit. Also satisfying are Cannie's deliciously devilish comebacks to several rude characters. Those few scenes are 100% therapeutic fun! : ) Don't want to reveal any more, but I strongly urge you to discover this great book for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: What a surprise!
Review: I loved it! I DID NOT want to read this book, but a friend of mine insisted. I am so glad she did, because it was a really great book.
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