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| Little Earthquakes : A Novel (Washington Square Press) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Weiner
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $3.99
You Save: $10.01 (72%)
New (8) Used (35) Collectible (1) from $2.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  247 reviews
Sales Rank: 2200
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1.2
ASIN: B000FTBPIC
Publication Date: June 28, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Amazon.com Review
Jennifer Weiner, whose novels Good in Bed and In Her Shoes earned her a place among women's book club aficionados everywhere, proves she still has the touch with Little Earthquakes, a tale of love, heartbreak, redemption, and friendship. Weiner's novel centers around four new mothers, all of whom must learn to adjust their lives and their marriages to deal with the challenges of raising children. Ayinde is a beautiful, biracial newscaster who moves to Philadelphia after her husband, a star player for the NBA, is traded to the 76ers. She meets Becky, an overweight chef who plays the "pregnant or just fat" game every time she passes a mirror, and Kelly, an overachieving event planner who has her whole life mapped out down to the most minute details, after going into labor at a prenatal yoga class. The three become fast friends, and come to rely on each other for everything from burping techniques to intense emotional support. The group grows to include Lia, a semi-famous Hollywood starlet who leaves her husband and returns to Philly after a sudden tragedy. While Little Earthquakes may leave little to the imagination, and some of the characters are laughably stereotypical (the Mama's boy Jewish doctor and the cheating ball player, to name a few), it is Weiner's gift for creating compelling characters with whom her readers can identify that make her such a successful storyteller. --Gisele Toueg
Product Description
This is the story of what comes after 'happily ever after' as three young wives make the journey into motherhood, and discover how it changes their sense of themselves and their relationships with friends and family. There's Becky, a plump, sexy chef, with an overworked husband, an adorable baby girl ...and the mother-in-law from hell. There's Kelly, an event planner who's trying to cram sixty hours of work into twenty-hour weeks, all while charting her baby's every move on a spreadsheet and hoping that her husband will pull his life together, pull on some pants, and find a job. And there's Ayinde, who is married to Philadelphia's most prominent basketball star, until the combination of new baby and infidelity threatens their marriage. As these three grow closer while attempting to put their lives in order, we also come to know Lia, who returns home to Philadelphia after her life in Los Angeles ends in horrible tragedy. By turns moving, funny, and inspiring, Little Earthquakes is a great big delicious read from a prodigiously talented author.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 242 more reviews...
 Pretty Good most of the time November 27, 2008
For the most part this is a good character driven book. I have read a couple of Ms. Weiner's books and find that she gives you just enough to get you to care about her characters. Each of these women possessed characteristics that I can identify with and there are a few funny turn of phrases and situations that are just hilarious...but I would be lying if I said that this book didn't derail a few times. Just as I could identify with some characteristics, there were plenty that left me cold or frowning at the pages. Lia's stalker tendencies for one. The way Becky invited this woman into her house with her newborn child when she KNEW the woman was following her around. Just because she was famous or semi-famous that made everything all right? Ayinde-though there are plenty of women that fill the tabloids and news that put up with bad boy famous husbands, I just don't think Weiner handled this situation with any real depth--plus I was just ready for her to throw that Prewitt book out of the window. AND did she end up happy or pleased with the direction of her life? In fact, all the situations that these women found themselves in just concluded with whimpers-sighs, if you will. Even Becky was the one who ended up apologizing for doing nothing wrong. Does anyone believe that solved anything? The point was to get Mimi to compromise if not to have a lobotomy. And Kelly-poor thing-did Steve really need a visual aide to remind him that he needed to try and provide for his family? That he could actually sit there day after day and watch her run herself ragged-allow her to hire a sitter when he was there in the house/apartment and still not catch a clue? Okay, I take that back-men can be just like that. For most of the book I was entertained, it were the endings that were buzz kills for me.
 Much more than a good 'beach read' September 10, 2008
Like everything I've read by Jennifer Weiner, I absolutely adored this book. It featured real, fully realized and emotionally intelligent characters -- both men AND women. I fell in love with Becky, Ayinde, Kelly and Lia, so much so that I didn't even have to look up their names just now! I read the book more than a month ago and haven't stopped thinking about it.
While other reviewers have commented on the importance of motherhood in the book -- and this is clearly obvious -- I found the book to be about a lot more than simply women learning what it means to be parents. The novel was, for me, just as much about their relationships with one another -- how three of the women bonded through their pregnancies, and how Lia joined their circle slowly, tenderly. I actually found Lia to be the most fascinating character of all -- and the seamless, skilled unraveling of her story kept me riveted to the end.
I really did laugh and cry all through this novel, and don't think it's fair to generically slap a title like "beach read" on the book. While I, like many others, love good "fluffy" escapism, this book has real heart -- and is anything but fluff. I highly recommend it!
Wonderment! August 25, 2008
I loved this book!!!! it reminded me of sex in the city but with babies.... i am a mother of 3 with no life so i found myself envying these women who became and remained friends with their children.
Another winner from Jennifer Weiner August 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the third book I read by jennifer Weiner, and like the previous two, I really liked it. This amazes me every time, because her stories, written by someone else, would be just another chick lit book, a light "beach read" - in fact this is what you expect when you read the synopsis on the back cover of the paperback.
Instead she manages to turn a somewhat drab story line into an interesting view into someone else's life: someone else who inevitably turns out to be interesting though not incredibly special, and always relatable. You never resent that her characters are so real, that they aren't more exotic: because you get sucked into how real it all sounds, how possible it all is. And at that point, the book has long stopped being just another chick flick and has turned into something that is so close to real life to be biographic, but it's never boring, never showy (like many biographic tales are).
Jennifer Weiner is not just a great writer and a great story teller, but she's obviously a deeply empathic person too: for how else could she capture the voices of her characters so well, without ever sounding sappy or trite?
Thank you Ms. Weiner, for showing us once again that a great writer doesn't have to write in big words and boring philosophical abstracts! And for showing that "chick lit" can be well written and intelligent.
Thoroughly entertaining July 25, 2008
This was the very first book I had ever read by Jennifer Weiner. And I'm glad I took the time out to read her work. This book was so entertaining. It was a page turner, funny and had very believable characters. I am a new fan of her work. And I can't wait to read another one of her novels.
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