Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Goodreads Synopsis:
Some bonds can never be broken...
Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

My thoughts:
Why does Jennifer Weiner always have an over weight character who gets skinny in order to love themselves? That would be my only complaint in this book is that Addie can't love herself until she drops weight. I am so tired of women having to drop weight before they can feel love from themselves or others. I am a heavier girl and I have love for myself and others.
That being said I liked the rest of this book. I liked the clash of personalities between Addie and Val. Addie is cautious and careful about her life. Val runs a bit wild in comparison. During various stages of my life I have been both overly cautious and wild. It was nice to read both perspectives of this life long friendship.

While writing this review I was listening to Extreme - More Than Words. Yep.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Synopsis via Amazon.com:
Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .

When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wife—her hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.

Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achieve—a husband, a young son, the perfect home—and yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.

After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.

Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity, Fly Away Home is an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.


My thoughts:
I liked this book. I have been hit or miss with Jennifer Weiner's books. This one I am on the side of really liking. I dug the three female voices and seeing their respective views on the world and a shared heart ache. I did have hesitations with the main voice Sylvie as I have never been the type of person to give up everything for the person I am with. Sylvie lost herself in her husband and his life. I was glad that she finally found herself again in the end but she was the hardest voice for me to relate to.

I recommend this book to those who dig the pink books (chick lit).

While writing this review I was listening to Anderson Cooper 360

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

Kate Cline is the main character of this book. She discovers a neighbor stabbed to death in their kitchen. Kate finds herself engrossed in figuring out who killed her neighbor. The murder mystery makes Kate remember who she was before she was a married house wife with three kids. Kate is dissatisfied with her life. She isn't happy just being a housewife and mommy.

This book reminded me how much I am sure that becoming a Mother might not be the best idea for everyone. I think that all too often women get wrapped up in the idea of being a Mother and don't take time to consider what it really means. While I don't have children I wouldn't jump into it without realizing that I would be giving up so much of what my life is. Oddly, this murder mystery novel got me thinking about it.

Over all I dug this book. I wouldn't say that it was an all time favorite or anything but it was a decent night time read. I found the interactions between the "Mommy's" in this story to be interesting. Women compete with each other way too much. Who has the best hair, who is the best Mom, who landed the best husband. All of these things come up in the book. I have never been one of those girls who competes in such things. I will say that I do have a competitive streak, I always want to have the highest grade in any class I take. I don't know what is wrong with me!

While writing this review I was watching Ugly Betty. I love Amanda!