Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME BOOK!!!
Review: I read this book in one sitting I thought it was better than Jemima J and I would recommend this book to everyone I know. I passed it on at work and We all seem to agree. GREAT BOOK DON'T MISS OUT!
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining - Not as good a Jemima J or Mr. Maybe
Review: I enjoyed Bookends. I felt that it had a little bit of a different tone than both Jemima J and Mr. Maybe. I would recommend this book to any Jane Green fans out there, but just make sure you aren't expecting the light/romantic comedy-ish that was Jemima J and Mr. Maybe.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth your three hours
Review: I bought this book because I loved Jane Greene's previous novel, Mr. Maybe. However, I was greatly disappointed by this recent effort. Maybe it's unfair to compare her books, but I am (although i would never admit it to many people) a fan of this "girl looking for love" genre of books, and this was probably one of the most boring ones I've read. Unlike Mr. Maybe, the writing was simply boring and the dialogue was stilted and the plot was predictable from the very beginning. Many other books in this genre are predictable as well but you read to find out how the ending happens. In Bookends, I read it halfway and was so bored by the story and characters that I didn't even want to finish it. I thought a lot of the side stories were unnecessary and didn't really serve a purpose and the character development, wait..what character development. Anyway, if you're going to read a Jane Greene novel, Mr. Maybe is the one to go with. Its funny, sassy, witty, and much more entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Kept me reading, for the most part...unfortunately.
Review: ...I love "chick lit" and love British chick lit, but this book seemed to pose as a book with some redeeming intellectual value, so not only did it step outside of the whole chick lit genre, but it flopped in terms of any value. I think another reviewer said it best with, "In general, it is what it's meant to be, fluff. Bookends was deeply unsatisfying in its latter part because it strayed from the expected and became heavy"You already know the plot that's been done a million times over: A woman in a less-than-exciting job considers following through with her dreams, spends time with her friends, and has romantic issues all while her past haunts her. However: Problem 1) Character development - All of the characters seemed like cliches and complete caricatures. I couldn't like or dislike any of them because there was no real substance. Hard to care about a book when the characters are so meaningless. Problem 2) There's a good 50 pages about a plotline that is incredibly boring. It starts to read almost like a memoir -- an incredibly boring memoir that no one would read. Problem 3) WAY too many plotlines. Some are started only to never be mentioned again. And these aren't tiny issues -- they're ones that if they happened in the real world, they'd be on the front burner of a person's life for weeks. Then, the most major of all, isn't throw in until the very end. Problem 4) **Spoiler** I'm not sure whether the author thinks her audience is stupid or ignorant, but she makes it out that way. We find out one of the characters has HIV and it's perfectly acceptable for him to go on having casual sex, so long as he uses a condom. I can't imagine anyone thinks that form or wrecklessness is acceptable, and I would sure hope the author doesn't truly think that, but that alone made me label the book as "garbage." All in all, it seems like Jane Green just had too much to say, and rather than say it in several different books, wrapped it all into one. However, as none of them were compatible, it led to a mess of incomplete storylines that were hard to even care about, and characters that are even harder to care about. On the positive, there was ONE moving scene out of the novel and that ONE was beautifully written. If not for that, it would've been a 100% waste of a few hours of my time.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: I will admit that when I picked up Bookends in the bookstore, I didn't really expect it to be very good. It looks like another in a slew of recent novels with shiny covers aimed at single twentysomethings feeling dissatisfied with their lives. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Bookends is a really fun (and funny) novel which is actually worth reading. The story centers around a group of old college friends who have managed to remain friends for ten years; however, there is one member of the group, Portia, whom they have not seen since college. While the book jacket would have you believe that this story is really about what happens when Portia re-enters the picture, I don't think that it is. Bookends has several different story lines going on simultaneously, intertwining to show the different relationships between each of the characters. First there is Cath, the narrator. Cath is single and not particularly minding it, although her friends do. She is notably apathetic about her appearance, and instead of dreaming of men like the protagonists of so many novels, Cath dreams of opening a bookstore. Si is Cath's gay best friend, who spends all of his time and energy that is not devoted to finding The One to turning Cath into a "woman." Si and Cath act as surrogate significant others whenever they are single, which is often.
Lucy is an amazing cook and an amazing woman whom everyone likes in spite of themselves. She was not a member of the original group, but entered it through marrying Josh. The fourth member of the group, Josh, is not as developed as the others, despite being a part of the original group. Josh was the catalyst for Portia's departure and the catalyst for further drama throughout the course of the novel, but mainly he is seen as Lucy's husband. During the course of the novel, three other important characters are introduced - Portia, the long lost and dangerously beautiful friend; James, the boy-next-door real estate agent; and Ingrid, Josh and Lucy's live-in Swedish au pair. Each of the storylines is engaging and at times unpredictable, which is surprising in a novel of this genre. I have read quite a few books about post-collegiate, dissatisfied twentysomething women, and Bookends is definitely one of my new favorites. Finally, a book about a single woman that does not portray her as pathetic for lack of a man or center around her constantly bemoaning her single status. Cath has goals and dreams that have nothing to do with men, and what's more, she's not particularly looking for a man at all. And even when she finds one, she does not instantly leave behind all of her plans, her ambitions, and her old friends for her relationship. This book is about what real people do, not about some self-centered, narcissistic, needy woman to whom a man is clearly the only important thing in life. What's more, this book is as serious as it is entertaining, which is a welcome change. Often with novels of this type (mostly due to the All-That-Matters-Is-A-Man attitude), the plot and the characters are trite and silly. You already know exactly how the rest of the story will go by halfway through the book, and it's tempting to just put the book down. Bookends, on the other hand, is just clever and unpredictable enough to be worth reading the whole way through. Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down...
Review: After reading Mr. Maybe, I couldn't wait to read another of Jane Green's novels. I found Bookends to be even better than what I was expecting. The friendships that are forged and ended make for great stories. I laughed and cried at the highs and lows of each of the characters and was able to find a little aspect of them in me and my circle of friends. This is a story about following your dreams to make yourself happy. But it seems that just when everything is going perfect for Cath, a blast from the past appears and shakes everything up, turning her world upside down. The story is filled with twists and turns, but seems to end just as it should. A light read that will keep you captivated.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother!
Review: I could spend way more than 1000 words telling you how must I disliked this book. There's about 3.5 storylines in Bookends. I say ".5" because the romance mentioned on the back of the book really isn't in the book much at all, just all the sudden appears at the end after being mentioned on a few pages in the beginning of the book. So, about those 3 storylines... the thing I didn't like is that they weren't all happening at the same time. Instead, the beginning of the book was about one thing, the middle about another, and the end about something totally different. Storyline 1 was Cath opening a bookstore, which is SO BORING I stopped reading this book to read another, and only went back to this one because I had nothing else to do. I forced myself to at least skim the pages. Boring, boring, boring. (Oh, and while on the topic of the bookstore, it is completely rediculous that they found two "perfect" teenage employees who are conviently always there, working there butts off. This is so unrealistic. In the real world they'd be coming in late and taking too many smoke breaks.) Then, as soon as the whole bookstore thing is overwith, to barely be mentioned again, the Portia plot comes in. This is the story the back of the book makes Bookends out to be about, but it completely isn't, almost like the previously mentioned "romance". This story too drags on and on. The book starts to get maybe a little bit interesting (and that's pushing it) on about page 230, of course then... Storyline three comes in. The whole book becomes about this, which isn't mentioned on the back at all. Story three is completely sad, not tragic, just sad. So the book goes from being boring to sad. Okay, I can take some tragidy in my good books, but this just made me want to leave the thing on the bus. The end of the book just all the sudden pops up. Like everything is going horribly wrong, and then its as if the author decided it was "time to wrap it up" and the last 40 pages of the book make everything all better again. And the end to the Portia story!! It is completely, utterly, terribly rediculous, silly, and STUPID. I seriously almost threw the book out the window when that wrapped up. So in close, this book is awful. It's not about what the back says it's about, its SLOOOOOOOW moving, BORING and sad. Plus, the character Josh is extremely underdeveloped for playing such a major role in the book. And Green uses the second person (ie. "you") a couple times in the book (I counted three), and that's not horrible, but either use it or don't use it. Don't just throw it in there three times. In short, pass on this one! Try something by Jennifer Weiner, Sarah Mlynowski, Anna Maxted, or Marian Keyes instead. Hope this helped and didn't just sound incredibly negative. I just can't help hating the book!
Rating:
Summary: A fun, easy, page-turning read.
Review: I'm a fan of Chick Lit & I really loved <i>Jemima J</i> so I was really looking forward to reading this novel. And at first, I was disappointed. The characters were cliche at best & I wasn't a fan of any of the university friends. However, I found myself still reading along...and not out of some need to finish what I started. I began to genuinely enjoy the story and to my surprise the characters. It's the kind of book that grows on you in spite of itself. I found myself pulling for the characters, the romance, and the bookshop's success. And when I had finally raced toward the end, I found myself missing these new friends I had made. That is, what I consider, the true test of a novel's worth. And as side note/selling-point, this book made me want to look up some of my old college friends & open my own bookstore. Did I do it? Ummm, not yet - but this book made me think about it, that's saying something.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This is a great read, no two ways about it. It is not quite in the same style as Green's earlier novel, "Jemima J," but it's still a fun and engrossing read. This book chronicles the evolution of all sorts of relationships--illicit affairs, budding romances, traditional and not so traditional friendships. As cliche as it is to say so, I really did laugh AND cry. Definitely read this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book was bad.
Review: I spent $$$ on paper and ink.
I'm giving it away if I can't trade it in for something decent.
I had never read one of her books before and I never will again.
The plot was small minded, the ending boring and the body of text was slow, mainstreamed and quite put-downable.
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