Certain Girls: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Weiner
Publisher: Atria
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $11.75
You Save: $15.20 (56%)
New (23) Collectible (1) from $11.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 101
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0743294254
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780743294256
ASIN: 0743294254
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - EXCEPTIONAL VALUE - EXCELLENT BUY
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Product Description
Readers fell in love with Cannie Shapiro, the smart, sharp-tongued, bighearted heroine of Good in Bed who found her happy ending after her mother came out of the closet, her father fell out of her life, and her ex-boyfriend started chronicling their ex-sex life in the pages of a national magazine.Now Cannie's back. After her debut novel -- a fictionalized (and highly sexualized) version of her life -- became an overnight bestseller, she dropped out of the public eye and turned to writing science fiction under a pseudonym. She's happily married to the tall, charming diet doctor Peter Krushelevansky and has settled into a life that she finds wonderfully predictable -- knitting in the front row of her daughter Joy's drama rehearsals, volunteering at the library, and taking over-forty yoga classes with her best friend Samantha. As preparations for Joy's bat mitzvah begin, everything seems right in Cannie's world. Then Joy discovers the novel Cannie wrote years before and suddenly finds herself faced with what she thinks is the truth about her own conception -- the story her mother hid from her all her life. When Peter surprises his wife by saying he wants to have a baby, the family is forced to reconsider its history, its future, and what it means to be truly happy. Radiantly funny and disarmingly tender, with Weiner's whip-smart dialogue and sharp observations of modern life, Certain Girls is an unforgettable story about love, loss, and the enduring bonds of family.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...
 Not a winner May 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book hoping for a quick read after reading heavy books about the Middle East. This book is a quick, easy read, but it's not very entertaining. I don't think it's very funny at all. I didn't really like the main character either, I felt like she was pretty shallow in the sense that the character was not well-developed. She was constantly complaining about her childhood and being fat, but never bothered to do much about either.
The book is a no-brainer you can read at the beach, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Can't there be happy endings?????? May 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I like most everyone else writing a review have read most of Jennifer's books, and liked them. I was really excited this book was coming out. My friend bought it first , so I borrowed hers. I'm glad I didn't waste my money. Through most of the book I was enjoying the story. Yes Joy was getting away with way-to-much. But I get it, it was showing her journey to make peace with a past she had discovered her and her mother had. But at least I was content with the fact that Cannie was able to have and enjoy such a great relationship w/ her husband. The ending killed me, and killed the book for me. I like good stories and I guess I'm just a sap for a great happy ending. This one didn't have that. If you are like me and like a feel good ending, don't read this book. If you like heart wrenching disappointing endings, go for it!
 not has good but still a good read May 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed reading this book,but wasnt what i expected.I loved good in bed i have read an handful of times and still laugh.The main character is like a different person i felt.and the book was kinda boring and not as funny as good in bed.But i love this author and will continue reading her books!!!!
 Loved it! May 14, 2008
I was so excited to hear that a sequel to Good In Bed was coming out. I hoped that it would be great since I was not pleased with Weiner's last book The Guy Not Taken and I loved all her other books. I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. The only complaint I have is the ending. It just needed a little more resolution.
An okay read...but it's not Good in Bed May 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let me start this review out with a warning--I read Certain Girls immediately after finishing Good in Bed, and I guess I was expecting more of the witty, strong Cannie that had filled Weiner's first novel. That is not what I got.
Certain Girls picks up 12 years after Good in Bed ends--and I have to mention that this timing doesn't work since Good in Bed was supposed to end in 2000 and this book is obviously set in 2007/2008 (WAY too many pop culture references for it be set in the future). Cannie and Joy are still in Philadelphia, and she's still with Dr. K (who is still perfect). Cannie made it big with her book "Big Girls Don't Cry" and has spent the past 12 years raising her daughter.
And that's where the book started to unravel for me. Cannie is WAY mellowed out, almost to a point where its unbelievable that she is the same character we knew in Good in Bed. After I wrapped my brain around the fact that this character that I had loved so much had changed so much, and I read the book not so much as a sequel, but as a stand alone, I started to enjoy it more. The mother-daughter interaction between Cannie and Joy is good and Joy's adventures nicely mirror those of her mother. And the story moves and keeps you engaged. But it just wasn't the story I was hoping for, with the characters I had loved intact.
Like I said at the beginning, I loved Good in Bed, and I still think it's Weiner's best work. Certain Girls is good on its own, but if you are hoping for a book to recapture the spunk of Weiner's first book, this is not it.
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