Rating: 
Summary: Vivid Reading!
Review: I took a chance on reading BOOKENDS because I read Green's JEMIMA J and found it to be light, thoughtfully written and most importantly amusing. Based on reading the dust cover, I thought that BOOKENDS was going to be less of a quality reading experience. I was certainly wrong. In fact, I would say that BOOKENDS has a much better storyline than JEMIMA J. Which just proves one more time, "you can't judge a book by its cover." Several features make BOOKENDS a particularly good reading experience. I liked the character development, the vividness of the Green's written word and, of course, the unexpected plot conclusion.Good character development requires a writer to have profound insight into human motivation. Green delineates past experiences of the characters in this novel to enable the reader to comprehend a variety of causes for each character's action. Green has the rare skill of offering the reader an in-depth appreciation and empathy for every character. She does this seamlessly and her skill appears to be effortless. As a professor, I can use this novel as an illustration of complex social science theory in the classroom. I am able to do this because of Green's understanding of human motivation and the richness of her composition. Over the years, I've discovered that teaching theory is much less dry to students when I employ examples of human behavior from a good novel. The vividness of Green's writing skills makes each character come alive. Green's mastery of the written word transfers the reader to a different place. When one reads BOOKENDS, it is more like watching a film rather than reading a book. I don't believe one can offer a greater compliment to an author. While being caught up in the vivid pictures Green created, I merely expected a thoughtful story. However, Green skillfully includes a couple of plot twists that took me off totally off guard. I wasn't expecting a surprise ending, but there it was. I laughed aloud! And everyone on the airplane heard me.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I first read this book after an excerpt appeared in British Glamour. Since then, I have devoured every Jane Green book I can get my hands on. They are all brilliant. She is a fantastic author, with a clear and concise style. She weaves stories so delicately that you feel as close to the characters as they are to each other. I highly recomend this book to anyone who wants a great read from which they walk away smiling.
Rating:
Summary: Books, friends, love, this book has it all!
Review: "Bookends" is a fast-paced, hard-to-put-down story of old friends. Cath, the insecure girl next door, Simon, the token funny gay man, Josh, the adorable, but clueless jock, and Portia, the glamourous diva, were the best of friends in college. However, due to an unfortunate incident, Portia was unofficially left out of the group leaving them to wonder about her years later. Now, they are all successful thirty-somethings. Josh has married Lucy, Cath is unlucky in love, and Simon is still looking for the man of his dreams. Lucy convinces Cath to give up her job in order to follow through with her dream of owning a bookstore. With Cath's business sense and Lucy's delectable baking, how could they lose? Not to mention the real estate agent is really cute. Then, out of nowhere, Portia re-enters their lives and nothing will ever be the same.
Green has done it again! I know there are some who think that this book pales in comparison with her others, but I disagree. The characters are well-developed and realistic, as is her style. The story is an accurate study of friendship and its complications. There were also some surprisingly touching moments along with lots of laughter! Kudos to Green!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing work!
Review: I thought this book was a pleasure to read. It was funny and heartfelt all at the same time. And there are several little plots that keep you interested. I love the way Jane Green protrays the lead character, she just makes it so easy to connect with her. I thought this was a amazing book, but of course I think all of her books are.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fun, Easy Read!
Review: I was surprised by this book because I really expected it to be, well, lame. Not so. I was instantly drawn into the close circle of friends and found myself spending an entire weekend with this book.
Rating:
Summary: sometimes stilted but you still won't put it down
Review: Cath, Si, Josh and Portia were all friends at University, but due to some drama queen hystrionics on Portia's part, the others lost touch with her shortly after graduation. Ten years later, Josh is married to Lucy and they have a child named Max and a mean au pair named Ingrid, Cath is working in PR and hasn't had a relationship in years, and Si is flamboyantly gay and falling in love with all his dates -- thus setting himself up for rejection each and every time. In a convoluted plotline, Lucy and Cath decide to go into business together and open up BookEnds, a cafe/bookshop, and Portia shows up to their opening. Cath also fancies James the real estate agent who showed them the store's property. And Si is dating the Will. I liked the book a lot but there were so many times when it seemed like storylines were picked up and then dropped. Like Portia -- they go on and on about her in the beginning, then don't mention her forever and she makes an appearance halfway through the book. Then there are all sorts of assumptions made left and right by Cath and Si, who can't be adult enough to talk through their problems. That frankly annoyed me because it was so dumb. Still, it is a good story on how friends become family and how they help each other out in times of crisis, both imagined and otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: A decent read
Review: This was my first Jane Green novel, and I enjoyed it. It took a while to get into it, and there seemed to be a lot of different angles to keep track of. But, in the end, I found I liked the characters and the twisty ending meant I couldn't put it down. It's an easy read, although being as it's a bit of a diary, the grammar isn't always perfect. That was slightly distracting to me. I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Another great book by Jane Gree.
Review: Cath and Si have been friends since college and there friendship has survived many things in there lives. However things in there life are about to take a drastic turn and make them look at things differently. Cath has always had a dream of opening up a bookstore. When she is offered the opportunity to do so with her friend Lucy, she jumps at the chance to do what she has always wanted to, But Cath never realize how much hard work it would be having a store and having to keep up with the day to day in her life. Si a young gay man, who is looking for Mr. Right out there. When Si thinks that he might have found Mr. Right he is beyond happy, but when he introduces him to his friends they disagree with Si that he is Mr. Right. Therefore, Si takes some time to think, that is when he finds out some truth in his life, and with that truth, he has to face a world of change. After many years of being out of Josh, Cath and Si's life Portia shows up and Cath and Si think that she is there to shake things up for the worse, but as time tells it is everything that they thought it might be. This was a cute story, not Jane Green's best work. I still like Jemima J, but this was a great and cute story.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: This really is a great book, for anyone that loves romance! It was excellent, and you will love it if you also loved Bridget Jone's Diary!A must have for any hopeless romantic!
Rating:
Summary: The True Language of Friendship !
Review: There is a quote, "The language of friendship is not words, but meanings". The meaning of true friendship is clearly seen in "Bookends". This story follows the lives of four flatmates, Josh, Cath, Portia, and Simon, from their late teen years at Uni, until present, all now settled into their mid-thirties. Almost 15 plus years after Uni, Cath, Simon and Josh are closer than ever, Portia has gone off on her own, only to be brought back into this intimate circle of friendship after her name is mentioned at a dinner party. These people are not just friends who have kept in contact with eachother over the years, they are family. Sunday morning breakfasts together, dinner gatherings, daily chats. Cath is single, and has herself convinced that she's happy with this. After all, she has her friends to fill the void. Until she meets James. The real estate agent who sells what is soon to become "Bookends" to she and Lucy. Lucy is the wife of Josh, the only one of this circle that is married, and an almost perfect marriage it is at that, but they do go through their trials in this story. Simon and Cath are the closest of friends. Simon is gay and searching for that perfect mate, but always seems to fall into these "unequal" love relationships. He's always the one getting the short end of the stick. Portia is a successful television writer/producer. A very posh confident type at uni, not to mention a bit devilish, and when she returns to the pod, she's still under suspicion. But they soon see Portia in a new light when Simon tests positive for HIV. Each character goes through their own growing pains in this story, and the wonderful mind of Jane Green takes you on a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns, outrageous laughture, soft tears and pure joy! The love, caring, laughture and support that binds these people as family is overwhelming. This book was so different from Jane Greens other works, a very mature look at not only meaningful friendships, but at life it self. If you've read Jemima J and Mr.Maybe and loved them as I did, then this is the MUST READ of the three!
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