Rating: 
Summary: A great Read!
Review: As I am walking through Reagan National Airport in Washington DC
I glance at the books staring at me as I pass by heading to retrieve my luggage. I am in Washington for my husbands memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery. As I walk by I see the slippers! I have the same ones. I stopped and picked up the book. My husband had just passed away of cancer
and I knew just where this woman was coming from.
I enjoyed this book so much and I look forward to future writings!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful writing, stupid plot
Review: GOOD GRIEF is an anomoly: a beautifully written book with a completely implausible plot.
Author Lolly Winston has created the story of a young woman widowed at age 36.
Ms. Winston is a wonderful writer, and a woman who's amazingly insightful. In consequence, most of her observations on loss are piercing and touching.
One result of her creative skill is that the reader can lose oneself in the prose, not focusing on how stupid the story actually is.
Some of the problems: Woman's husband dies of cancer... woman has a little nervous breakdown immediately following... woman loses excellent public relations job in Silicon Valley... woman moves to a town in Oregon so small that it considers Medford the nearest city... because she knows one person in this town... woman rents wonderful old house... gets job as waitress... is so terrible as waitress that she's transferred to a scut job in the kitchen... realizes there that she's a gifted chef... sets up her own food business... to overwhelming praise... and oh, yes, has the most sought-after man in her little town fall in love with her.
All in seven months? Oh, please!
There's much more to GOOD GRIEF but all of it, too, is equally implausible, especially considering the time frame in which it's placed.
Still, no one who finishes this novel will come away with anything less than admiration for Ms. Winston, as well as a new understanding of the pain of widowhood.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh and cry
Review: Good Grief is one of those rare novels that sincerely makes you both laugh and cry, sometimes within the space of a few pages. Sophie Stanton married late (at 33), and had just begun to become accustomed to married terms--my husband, us, and we--when her husband died of Hodgkin's disease before their fourth anniversary.The story follows Sophie through the stages of grief, including a heartbreakingly funny scene where Sophie shows up at a job she hates wearing her robe, slippers, and unwashed hair. Deciding that a change in geography will help her, Sophie moves from California to Oregon, where her best friend lives. In Oregon, Sophie starts piecing together a new life for herself by renting a house, volunteering to be a Big Sister, babysitting for her friend, and finding a new career as a baker. Sophie also meets, dates, breaks up, and reunites with a man while her former mother-in-law slips into Alzheimer's disease. What is unique about Good Grief is not the story line--as other reviewer have mentioned, this novel is probably borderline "chick lit." Good Grief is very well written, empathetic, and deals with issues head on instead of relying on contrived solutions to come to a happy ending. I would strongly recommend this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Grief=Good Read
Review: Good Grief is the perfect book to take with you to the beach this summer. Why? Because it's well-written chick lit with a twist chick lit that will actually make you smile, and sometimes even laugh out loud. Sophie Stanton, the charming narrator of this novel is 36 and recently widowed. Let me warn you, the first several chapters of this novel, while well-written and gently humorous, are sort of a downer--Sophie is pretty much miserable and her life is falling apart. My advice: try to read them in one sitting and get to the more middle parts of the novel, where she starts to get her act together. You can breeze through this novel in a couple of hours. Sophie is a wonderful character--likeable, you'll want to root for her. A fun, light read.
Rating:
Summary: A WARM, WITTY, INSIGHTFUL DEBUT
Review: Grief, an experience that touches all of us, is the focus of Lolly Winston's warm, witty, insightful debut novel. Of course, grief is a subject that has been discussed ad infinitum but there's not a dollop of cliche in this story of 36-year-old Sophie Stanton who lost her husband to Hodgkin's disease. Unfortunately, as Sophie points out she didn't have a dress rehearsal for widowhood, and she has not the faintest idea of how to cope with it. Experts will tell us that there are five stages of grief, Sophie goes through 15 in one year. Beginning with denial she segues to oreos (overeating), anger, depression, bargaining, waitressing, baking, acceptance, and thanksgiving. This is an incredible journey for Sophie, and a memorable experience for the reader. Her attempt to heal begins with a grief therapy group recommended by her psychiatrist. Once there, she finds herself wanting to ask if it would be alright if she threw plates at her former mother-in-law who wants to come over and pack up Ethan's things for Goodwill. Sophie dreads "the thought of her snoopy paws all over his Frank Zappa CDs and Lakers T-shirts. She'd probably want to chuck his frayed flannel shirts, which I've started sleeping in because they're soft as moss and smell like Ethan." Midnight trips to the fridge have swollen her former size six figure, and she has lost all interest in her Silicon Valley job. She desperately wants to be what she believes widows should be - regal in their mourning. Sophie isn't even coming close. Further, she loses her job. Fleeing mother-in-law and memories, Sophie sells her house and moves to Oregon where she hopes to begin anew. Starting over is far from a breeze - there's dating, an occupation she hasn't indulged in for quite a while. It's awkward, embarrassing. Evidently, she's forgotten how to be single. She does find a new job but soon discovers that being a waitress may need some skills she lacks. As another outlet she signs up for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program, hoping for perhaps an eight or nine year old girl with whom she can bond. Instead, she's given Crystal, a mixed up early teenager with a knack for starting fires, cutting herself, and getting expelled from school. On the plus side, Crystal does make Sophie laugh. There's more in Sophie's diary of loss to renewal, including a romantic interest and a new business. Each step of the way is related with insight, compassion, and humor by an outstanding new voice, Lolly Winston. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I enjoyed this book. You really fall for the main charecter. I felt so much like her. Her thoughts felt like so many of mine. This book is about a woman in her early thirties and her husband has just died. She has a complete nervous breakdown but is able to pick her self up and move on with her life. It is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Good grief indeed
Review: I had a hard time really getting into this book at first; I sort of got off on the wrong foot with it and it seemed amateurish and, I don't know, untouchable is a word that came to mind. I definitely felt like I was on the outside of the book looking in. I can't put my finger on the point at which that changed, but it did, and I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first. Winston's handling of the loss of a husband seems so skillful (from my position of inexperience, at least) that I found myself wanting to look her up and find out if she's a widow herself. As far as style, that was where my main problem was with the book early on; it seemed like something I could have written. Then I started to notice some phrases that sang out at me in an almost Elizabeth-Bergish sort of way, and then there were more and more of them, and before I knew it, whether it had been my mood at the beginning of the book causing the problem, or whether the style really improved so much for the second half, I found myself fully enthralled by the end, rooting for Sophie like she were my best friend.
Rating:
Summary: A debt of gratitude to Lolly Winston
Review: I loved this book and I love Sophie Stanton. Four months ago I lost the love of my life, my fiance, very quickly and very unexpectedly to a brain tumor. The grief has been overwhelming. I saw an add for Good Grief in the New York Times and thought I'd check it out. I came to believe that if Sophie could survive then so could I. Winston's dialogue for Sophie makes me believe that Ms. Winston MUST have experienced this type of loss herself. Sophie's words, feelings, and situations are literally identical to what I have experienced. This book was a comfort, this book was my friend, and I want everyone I know to read it!
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I loved this book, it touched my heart with Sophie grieving her husband and trying to move on with her life. Laugh-out-loud in some parts and sad in others, though not unbearably so. In the sad parts, Winston was able to incorporate humor and I finished the book in a matter of days!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: I loved this book. It's sad and it's funny, it's a page-turner and it's written beautifully. Wonderful characters throughout. I couldn't put it down! Highly recommended!
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