 2008-10-06 - Great Start, Slow Finish
I read this book on Kindle, so I got to read a sample chapter before I bought it. The first two thirds of the book are really funny, and surprisingly well written, with enough twists and turns and great laughs to keep me avidly turning each page. Then the author gets serious, and all I wanted to do was get to the end, even though the ending was totally predictable. It is as if two people wrote this book. The first is funny, self aware without being maudlin, and understands how to keep me on the edge of my seat and emotionally involved. The second "author" is almost unbearably self pitying, humorless, and predictable. I thought I had found a new author, to me, but now am leery of reading her other books. Too long, and way too self involved at the end. A lot of talent here though. If the first two thirds of this story weren't so good, I would have given this two stars.
 2008-10-04 - not the best
took an awfully long time, longer than the estimated shipping date, but finally got it.
2008-09-28 - Mediocre chick lit
Cannie Shapiro is a 28-year-old newspaper reporter. She recently broke up with her pony-tailed, pot-smoking, unenthusiastic, uninteresting boyfriend, Bruce who is also a writer. A few months after their break-up, an article appears in a popular women's magazine, the title of the article: "Good in Bed" the author of the article: none other than Cannie's ex-boyfriend, Bruce. This article entitled, Good in Bed, is really neither flattering, nor insulting; it mostly speaks of the authors wasted devotion to a woman (Cannie) who dislikes and is uncomfortable with her own body (being that of a larger woman). At first Cannie is furious with him, but then realizes that the article wasn't that bad, and she determines that she still loves him, misses him, and wants him back in her life in a huge way.
I found the book only slightly entertaining. The characters - all of them - were either un-likeable, boring, or both. I usually read every word on every page of every book that I pick up, however, Jennifer Weiner over described so many scenes that I found myself skimming through a lot of wordy descriptions of places and incidences that I couldn't care less about. With this book in my hands, it was either skim or nod off into a deep slumber while sitting in a chair at the dentist office or other such place.
I'm not normally a fan of chick lit, and in my opinion this was just average chick lit. A friend kindly gave me this book along with its sequel, Certain Girls. As much as I appreciate receiving hand-me-down books, I think I'll pass on, Certain Girls.
 2008-09-16 - If THIS is the best, what is the WORST???
I grabbed this book in between flights after a non-solicited suggestion in the airport. Wow, if this could be considered great, I can't imagine making it through the worst! The plot moved incredibly slow making every turn of a page painful. Cannie spends so much time sulking about a man who as described no other woman would appreciate much less, want. She does this (and complains about everything / everyone else in her life) without taking any responsibility or doing anything to improve herself or situation. A few big words are thrown in from time to time yet they do nothing to strengthen a weak, predictable yet completely unbelievable story line. Sadly, this book was a HUGE disappointment and the fact that I foolishly paid full price for it in the airport bookstore only heightens my annoyance.
This was brutal and certainly NOT my idea of a good "beach read" - The only reason I made it to the end of the novel was the fact that I was stuck on a plane...
 2008-08-13 - Good in Bed
In Her Shoes was the first book I read by Jennifer Weiner so I thought I would read another book authored by Weiner. Good in Bed's character was a whinner and not very interesting. Didn't see the humor in any of the story and the book was wordy. Disappointing that this wasn't as good as In Her Shoes.
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