Rating: 
Summary: Completely Forgetable
Review: This book is a bore. It doesn't pull the reader in, connect with you and make you want to keep on reading. It isn't horribly written, it just doesn't spark interest. Ask me in a week what it was about and I guarantee I won't remember.
Highly disappointed for all the praise it got!
Rating: 
Summary: one of my favorite books of all time
Review: I ADORE this book. It's got heart. And MB has written something true. I recently re-read it and I found it holds up on repeated reading as good or better than the first time through. It seemed to deepen for me the second time. In response to negative criticism, I will point out that some of the reviewers may not have understood that it is a book of short stories, not a novel. They mention it "jumping" into the future.....this is because it's short stories, not a novel. Did I say it's not a novel? hehehe Just thought I'd straighten those people out. I've thought of writing MB a letter thanking her but who really reads their fan letters anyway? I doubt it would get through and besides, what good are compliments from people you don't know? Sigh. Too bad. Because I like this writer so much, I'd really like her to feel thanked and appreciated. I'd kind of like to buy her a Christmas present. You know? =) The story "You could be anyone" was first published in Cosmo where I loved it so much, I retyped out the entire story (don't have xerox at home and I couldn't wait for a trip to Kinko's) and emailed it to my closest women friends with the message "I wish I had written this." (I am a writer). Just thinking about that story is painful for me because I had an astonishingly similar experience as the character Jane does in the story. This is partly what I mean by MB having written something true. Some readers may read that story and not "get it" because it's an experience that perhaps not everyone has had.....and they will then not "recognize" the truth in it. It might even seem hard to relate to....but is being able to imagine ourselves in that EXACT circumstance a really good litmus test of fiction? It's true that we are attracted to those writers and stories which resonate with us....that feel Real in our personal universes. MB's stories do that for me. Since I had experienced in a remarkably, even agonizingly, similar way the events of "You Could Be Anyone", it was soaring, zinging, singing Truth to me with every line. It was so true it hurt like seeing a portrait of yourself during a rough time that you went through. But even if they don't do that for you, I can't imagine how even the most jaded reader (ESPECIALLY the most jaded readers, come to think of it) could fail to be charmed. So, please give MB's book a chance. It's smart. It has heart. It will make you laugh. It captures something real and elusive and beautiful about life in the white space between it's words. It suggests more than it says, but it's in the suggestion of a way of being, that I find it's greatest power. If you read this Melissa, by any strange quirk of fate....thank you. Your book is my friend. ~X~
Rating: 
Summary: Guide = Good ... Mostly
Review: I completed this book by Melissa Bank today. It was mostly a good read. There were two confusing points. A. In the middle, there is a random chapter about Jane's downstairs nighbors. Jane does not know them. They are having a family crisis, written from the POV of the mother. It is a well-written chapter and got me involved in the family's story. However, it then went back to Jane, never to explain why we got that glimpse into her neighbors' life. I was a bit confused, kept expecting Jane to meet the son and fall in love with him, even though his fiance and ex-wife were both already pregnant with his children. Lucky Jane. She never meets him. Their stories intertwine only when she hears him argue with his sister for 5 seconds one evening. B. Near the end the author switches from First person to Third for one chapter. Or is it really third. Instead of saying "I met this great guy. We broke up. We got back together. I found out I had breast cancer. He was great. Then, we broke up again," she says "You meet this great guy. You break up. You get back..." Get the picture? Then, in the next chapter, she is back to first person. It left me confused the rest of the book, wondering if she actually ever dated this guy or had breast cancer. If so, why is that chapter the only one that mentions either? If not, why is that chapter even in there? Those two incidents aside, I loved the story. ... I loved the cover and title. The character was realistic, yet unreal enough that I could sometimes laugh at her. She made a couple of statements that really made me think and kept me rooting for her the whole book. Her relationship with her father touched me particularly and when she lost him it really hurt me. A friend of mine recently lost his mother, and I cannot bear the thought of being without either of my own parents, so this aspect of the story held onto me. I liked her brother, Henry. I thought the older girlfriend of hsi when she was 16 paralelled nicely with her older man later in life.
Rating:
Summary: A still sadness that is not easily described
Review: My chief complaint about this book is that it jumped quickly... I was interested and invested in the story and then WHOOSH it jumps like 10 years ahead. ??? It's a sad tale. Nothing tragic happens, but our heroine carries a terrible sadness within her and chooses the wrong men. Doesn't seem to understand she is worth more than that.
Rating: 
Summary: enjoyable until the end
Review: I enjoyed this book as a weekend read. The characters are very realistic and one wants to know more about them. The story, even in a short story format, moves along and keeps one interested. But the ending was anticlimactic and just - boring. Yes, I know it's much like real life. The last story had a different feel and a different voice than the rest and it wasn't as much fun.
Rating:
Summary: Faithfull to the gender.
Review: The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing is a remarkable book that really tells it as it is. Melissa Bank not only gives a clear voice to the trails of womanhood but gives it a fresh edged that is really a gift from god. To the way we think to the way we feel, Melissa Bank covers it all. It's a great book, and I can't recommend it enough.
Rating:
Summary: A charming little collection
Review: Jane Rosenall is one among (apparantly) many women trying to find her way in life and especially in love. She enters into quite a few relationships that seem doomed from the start--one in particular with a much older man springs to mind--and she can't quite figure out what she's doing wrong. At one point, she even turns to a "rules" type of book to help her learn how to attract men and to keep their attention and affection. Are we surprised to find out that it doesn't work?
I didn't realize that this was a collection of short stories when I first got the book. The stories jump in time, and all but one are written from Jane's point of view. This one story is written about the downstairs neighbors of Jane's beloved aunt. That one really felt out of place to me, and I kept expecting more of that story to enter into the rest of the book. While I would not declare this book to be spectacular, it is charming and witty, and I enjoyed it. It's one of those books that you can easily finish off in an evening or on a trip. Jane's darkly humorous way of looking at things and her word play make this a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Good light read
Review: I found this book a good, fast, light read. It is engaging, but lacking in substance. Briget Jone's Diary has more to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Did not meet expectations
Review: This book was no where as good as I thought that it would be. The main character, Jane, is only portayed through random thought and sparse conversation so that you never get a grasp of her character. I honestly did not even realize that this was supposed to be a collection of short stories, because no where on the book cover do you get that idea. That helps to explain the totally random story in the middle that has no relation to the rest. I spent the rest of the book wondering what happened to those characters and when they might appear again. Even as a light/fun read I would not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: intelligent and readable
Review: I read it practially in one sitting. sharp stories with which any woman can relate.
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