Rating: 
Summary: Funny and well written!
Review: I felt that this book found me, rather than the other way around, as I came across it browsing through a book store while having my own first real "age crisis". What I like the most about this book is how easy it is to relate to the main character, Ellie Winters. Even though I actually like my job (and have a very normal family), I could relate to her on so many levels. The rest of the characters also seem very realistic, even though they, as all characters in a comedy, are a little exaggerated. The one character who seems the most "out of focus" is Ellie's love interest. He doesn't seem as alive as the rest of the cast of characters, but it doesn't really detract from the story. The story itself holds quite a few surprises even though the ending is predictable, in a good way. It's a good read!
Rating:
Summary: Funny and well written!
Review: I felt that this book found me, rather than the other way around, as I came across it browsing through a book store while having my own first real "age crisis". What I like the most about this book is how easy it is to relate to the main character, Ellie Winters. Even though I actually like my job (and have a very normal family), I could relate to her on so many levels. The rest of the characters also seem very realistic, even though they, as all characters in a comedy, are a little exaggerated. The one character who seems the most "out of focus" is Ellie's love interest. He doesn't seem as alive as the rest of the cast of characters, but it doesn't really detract from the story. The story itself holds quite a few surprises even though the ending is predictable, in a good way. It's a good read!
Rating: 
Summary: really funny and entertaining
Review: I laughed out loud from the first few pages. I found Ellie having the same neuroses as many women do as they approach tthe 3-0. Sally the pug stole the limelight many times. I haven't always agreed with the recommendations but picked this up based on them. I was thoroughly entertaining and hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Romantic Comedy of the Year
Review: I love this book! Whitney Gaskell is a great story-teller, and hysterically funny as well. Ellie Winters (the heroine of Pushing 30) is original, authentically rendered and very likable. Unlike a lot of books these days, this one has a real story to it -- and it hooked me from the very first page. I laughed out loud several times, and couldn't put it down until I reached the very end. It was a real joy to read. I am looking forward to snapping up Gaskell's next offering.
Rating:
Summary: A really fun read
Review: I loved this book. I've read a lot of chick lit books, and I think this one was better than most. It was very witty, and very romantic, and I just loved the main character, Ellie. She was so real to me. I also thought the love story between her and Ted was very sexy.I would definitely recommend it! I also love Sophie Kinsella, Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner, so if you like their books, I think you'll like this one too.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly entertaining and well written story!!
Review: I thought this book started out so strong and then pretty much collapsed at the end. First of all, what Nina did to Ellie's ex at the end was completely cruel. The fact that Ellie has been such a "Good Girl" up until now, I thought that she might have tried a little harder to put things right with him before they got totally out of hand. Then, she gets hammered, ends up with Mr. Right (?) and sort of forgets all about how horribly she treated Eric (not to mention how her so-called best friend treated her). I also can't believe that the author never resolved the whole family situation. Ellie finally gets up the nerve to say what she's always wanted to to her parents and we never get any sort of closure. Maybe I'm looking for too much in a chick-lit novel, but I just couldn't get past those two situations to feel happy for her at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: So good, until the end!
Review: I thought this book started out so strong and then pretty much collapsed at the end. First of all, what Nina did to Ellie's ex at the end was completely cruel. The fact that Ellie has been such a "Good Girl" up until now, I thought that she might have tried a little harder to put things right with him before they got totally out of hand. Then, she gets hammered, ends up with Mr. Right (?) and sort of forgets all about how horribly she treated Eric (not to mention how her so-called best friend treated her). I also can't believe that the author never resolved the whole family situation. Ellie finally gets up the nerve to say what she's always wanted to to her parents and we never get any sort of closure. Maybe I'm looking for too much in a chick-lit novel, but I just couldn't get past those two situations to feel happy for her at the end.
Rating:
Summary: So good, until the end!
Review: I thought this book started out so strong and then pretty much collapsed at the end. First of all, what Nina did to Ellie's ex at the end was completely cruel. The fact that Ellie has been such a "Good Girl" up until now, I thought that she might have tried a little harder to put things right with him before they got totally out of hand. Then, she gets hammered, ends up with Mr. Right (?) and sort of forgets all about how horribly she treated Eric (not to mention how her so-called best friend treated her). I also can't believe that the author never resolved the whole family situation. Ellie finally gets up the nerve to say what she's always wanted to to her parents and we never get any sort of closure. Maybe I'm looking for too much in a chick-lit novel, but I just couldn't get past those two situations to feel happy for her at the end.
Rating:
Summary: This book is so FUN!
Review: I was sick from work one day and got this book as a gift. I devoured it from cover to cover! It is funny and charming. I could relate to the main character and her friends. My only complaint is that although the situations with friends, boyfriends and family, really do mimic the chaos of real life, the ending is a little too Hollywood, making it an adult fairytale. Which is ok, I guess....but then I could see Julia Roberts playing Ellie, then I wanted to vomit.
Rating:
Summary: A great Debut
Review: PUSHING 30 by Whitney Gaskell Whitney Gaskell's debut novel, PUSHING 30, is a delightful story of a young woman about to turn 30. Ellie Winters is a lawyer working in what she considers a very boring job for Snow & Druthers in the heart of Washington DC. She lives with her spoiled and manipulative pug Sally, and is dating yet another boring but sweet guy; this time the name is Eric. She doesn't see any hope in sight, but she is not one to make waves. She therefore plods along, doing what she thinks everyone else expects of her, especially her parents. The idea of becoming a lawyer was a way for her to make her father happy, since both brothers Mark and Brian refused to go into the family business (their father is a judge). There was no other reason for her going to law school. She had absolutely no desire to become an attorney. Then, on a really bad hair day, (her hair was pink), Ellie is out with Sally when Sally is accosted by another dog by the name of Oscar, who is owned by none other than handsome Ted Langston, television anchor and eligible bachelor. Ellie and Ted start a rather awkward relationship, not really dating but not really friends either. And, there is something about Ellie that attracts Ted to her and he keeps coming back. Ellie can't stop thinking about Ted, but she is afraid of falling in love with him when she may just be some passing fancy for him. The other big problem is that Ted is only a few years younger than her parents are. And Ellie isn't sure she wants to start a relationship with someone this old. In the meantime, she is dealing with a somewhat dysfunctional family, a best friend who has gotten involved with a guy Ellie does not like, and the frightening prospect of getting older. I didn't warm up to this book at first, particularly after Ellie made a few derogatory comments about the baby boomer generation. I was ready to throw the book away, but I kept reading and found this was not as bad a book as I had thought at first. It was funny, and I enjoyed it so much that it took me only a day to read. PUSHING 30's Ellie reminded me so much of Bridget in Bridget Jones Diary, and to me that is a good thing. Whitney Gaskell's debut is a winner!
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