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Book Reviews of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Author: Melissa Bank
ISBN: 124142
Publication Date: 1999
Pages: 274
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 3

3.8 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Viking
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Write a Review

131 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
I really enjoyed this book even though I didn't think I would. It's been sitting on a shelf for months, but since I'm not allowing myself any trips to the library till I finish all the unread gems on my shelves, I decided to slog through this and check it off my list. I actually finished it in one day and really enjoyed the narrator Jane and the other characters in the book. I liked the chance to see Jane as a teenager, which is how the book started out, and then in her 20's as she struggles to love herself and be loved by others. The chapter in the middle about a neighbor was unexpected, but not bad. This book has gotten a bad rap as "chick lit" but I wouldn't call it that. I think it aspires to something a bit bigger. Whether you think it succeeds or not is up to you
Ladyslott avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 113 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
This was an enjoyable if light book. The book is a series of short stories, most featuring Jane Rosenal, a young woman in search of love and the meaning of love.

There are 7 stories and the two that fall flat are the one that doesnt feature Jane; and the other is one you arent sure if it is about Jane or another woman.
The stories begin with Jane at 14 and her studying her brother and his girlfriend, trying to understand the mating dance. Other stories follow her love affair with a much older man. The story focusing on her fathers illness was poignant, and the last story which gave the book its title is the funniest of all. This tale follows Jane as she decides to follow a book of rules on how to catch a man. It is a little bittersweet too, as we watch Jane change herself in an effort to win the heart of a man she loves.

Frequently funny, and a very wry look at dating and working in NYC, it was a nice read, but it is not a novel, and one should not expect the kind of continuity a novel brings. It is however well written, clever and frequently witty; an enjoyable and easy read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Another entertaining, perfect for a vacation read. A good "chick lit" choice.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 63 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
You'd think I'd know better, and not be swayed by such things as a title and cover art, and you'd be thinking way too optimistically. The book started out better than it ended. I was thinking the main character might be a little more tomboyish, maybe even into hunting and fishing, but it wasn't like that. It was all the standard "Waaaah, my boyfriends don't treat me right!" stuff that you always see. The interesting twist was when the main character is affected by another book, and tries to act out the advice of a self-help book, and that was a really comical and well written part of the book. You would really be able to imagine the whole scene, without giving too much away, you have known people exactly like she is describing. I still liked the book, I still read the whole thing, and found it enjoyable about 25% of the time. There would be enough interesting things to keep me hanging on through the dull parts. Just not my style of book I guess, I don't really go for the victim-of-nonviolent-but-unsatisfying-and-unselfaware-love/lust/dating/marriages. The main characters were just a little too passive for me.
paigu avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 120 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Much better than I'd anticipated! Surprisingly mellow, melancholy and reflective story on the different types of loving relationships.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The witty nature of the main character and the fast pace of the first chapter was short lived. Each following chapter was a bit worse than the previous one. The dialogue of the last chapter drove me crazy. The relationship between the protaginist and her father and brother were interesting. The end was a quick wrap up that I could have done without.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 99 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Important to remember it's a collection of short stories, not a congruent story.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This books is an easy read and well written with comic touches. Not really a story per se, but vignettes of a young woman's coming of age.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
Helpful Score: 2
One of those books you like but not sure why.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I liked this book quite a bit. I thought it was very witty and usually funny, and the last chapter totally cracked me up and left me feeling very happy.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Popular chick lit. I found the main character to be annoying at first but she grew on me as I read on. It was worth the time.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book was interesting, all written in the voice of Jane Rosenal, from the time she was a young girl into adulthood. You get to know how she thinks and why she acts the way she does.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 28 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Jane Rosenal, the narrator of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, is wise beyond her years. Not that that's saying much--since none of her elders, with the exception of her father, is particularly wise. At the age of 14, Jane watches her brother and his new girlfriend, searching for clues for how to fall in love, but by the end of the summer she's trying to figure out how not to fail in love. At twice that age, Jane quickly internalizes How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right, even though that retro manual is ruining her chances at happiness. In the intervening years, Melissa Bank's heroine struggles at love and work. The former often seems indistinguishable from the latter, and her experiences in book publishing inspire little in the way of affection. As Jane announces in "The Worst Thing a Suburban Girl Could Imagine": "I'd been a rising star at H----- until Mimi Howlett, the new executive editor, decided I was just the lights of an airplane."

I have to admit I didn't really enjoy this book. I don't remember why exactly since I read it years ago, but I know I have no wish to try again.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I have to say, I'm surprised by how many people liked this book. I found it to be completely pointless and fairly stupid. Many unlikable characters, a bit inthe middle where she's still writing in e first person but as a different character and for no reason since it has no ties to the rest of the book, then a swap to third person for no reason. Awful book, I was very disappointed because I'd been looking forward to it.
sweetiepetey avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book. Jane the main character is funny in her observations of life and the world around her. She seems very real to me. The only thing that was a little off for me is how the author goes in and out of different styles for each little vignette. There is also one part in the middle that has nothing to do with the story as a whole other than the family that is written about lives in the main characters building. It seemed haphazard to throw that in there. I would recomend this book.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of those rare occasions when a highly touted book fulfills the excitement and the major money (in this case, $275,000) surrounding its acquisition. Reading her debut collection of seven tightly interlinked stories featuring (with one exception) heroine Jane Rosenal, one marvels at Bank's assured control of her material, her witty, distinctive voice and her ability to find comedy, pathos and drama in ordinary lives without resorting to the twin crutches of dysfunctional families and sexual abuse that seem to prop up much current fiction. Jane is notable above all for her smart, irreverent sense of humor, evidenced in a typical teenager's mocking attitude when we first meet her at age 14, and irrepressibly sardonic and self-deprecating as she gets older, enters and leaves relationships and progressively doubts her ability to inspire or recognize romantic love.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 149 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I just didn't understand what all the fanfare was about this book. I read it several years ago and cannot remember anything but that it was just 'ok'.
FosterAdopt avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
Helpful Score: 1
This was a light quick read. I enjoyed it. Pretty fun
Chocoholic avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 291 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is a bit of fluff of chick lit. The first chapter, was unfortunately, the best chapter. The book is a series of stories about Jane, an all-american girl who is trying to find Mr. Right a la Bridget Jones' Diary. Unlike Bridget Jones, the story skips around in time for no apparent reason. Also, one chapter in the middle is meant to be a flash-forward in time by about 35 years, but no explanation is provided and leaves the reader with more questions than answers. It is almost as if this chapter were transplanted form one book to another, with no rhyme or reason to it. The characters are flat and bland; the reader is not compelled to like any one of them. Indeed, the entire story is just fluff, with no real substance to tie it all together.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 24 more book reviews
A cute book full of different stories/chapters about the same person as it follows her through her life. Not quite what I had expected but I really liked it. An easy and quick read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 14 more book reviews
This grouping of related short stories was a fun read for me. Took me back to the "good ole single days"
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 72 more book reviews
I loved this book!! It was cleverly written and I had a hard time putting it down. I highly recommend it.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 3 more book reviews
fantastic book, quick read. i couldn't put it down - i even found myself reading it while stuck in traffic, or waiting at red lights!
caffeinegirl avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 114 more book reviews
The blurb on the back of the book was terrible. This book is not dazzling or wickedly insightful, and it does not "capture in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today" which probably isn't really possible anyway. But, if we take away all these grand ambitions, it was a pretty fun little book. Bank has a really good sense of humour and it shows through repeatedly. For instance, after she gets fired, her boyfriend suggests that he come and work at his company:

No," he said, and he snapped his fingers.
"You'll come work for me at K----. And be
a real associate editor."
I said, "I could bring you up on charges
for that."
"What?"
"Work harassment in the sexual place."

I liked this book, and I liked Jane, who was very honest and charmingly confused about all the things girls are kind of expected to know about dating and relationships. Plus, she is genuinely funny, which is refreshing. Spending a few hours with her is like the opposite of reading an issue of Cosmopolitan.

On the down side, this book was a bit too choppy for my tastes. The narrative was broken into little segments that were sometimes only a few lines long, and I guess I prefer longer blocks of text. It felt like a first novel, but one from an author from whom I would like to read more.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 43 more book reviews
A really wonderful and very funny book about growing up in America from the female perspective.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 8 more book reviews
I liked most of this book, but there are was a section where she moves from the first person to the third that really rankled me. I hated the detachment, which I guess was the point. Overall, this was deepchicklit, if there is such a subgenre.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 518 more book reviews
okay, not brillant, but solid.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 34 more book reviews
THIS BOOK IS FUNNY!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
A bestselling novel; see reviews in Glamour, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 3 more book reviews
A great story about friendship
tamara avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 78 more book reviews
The stroy of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expidition through the perilous terrain of sex, love and relationships, and the treacherous ways of the workplace.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 51 more book reviews
I loved this book! I could so relate to stories told. Excellent read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 116 more book reviews
This is a hidden book about girls and relationships. It may be a relationship with a family member or with men. The title is so appopriate that it is funny!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 62 more book reviews
Funny. Fast Read. Very enjoyable.
rolltide1al avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 223 more book reviews
Great book, even though it had practically nothing to do with hunting or fishing. I think she went into a fishing tackle store only to find some lures to make earrings! She was more or less comparing how getting a man was like catching a fish or hunting prey. Very good book! You must read this if you like this author..
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 28 more book reviews
Jane Rosenal, the narrator of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, is wise beyond her years. Not that that's saying much--since none of her elders, with the exception of her father, is particularly wise. At the age of 14, Jane watches her brother and his new girlfriend, searching for clues for how to fall in love, but by the end of the summer she's trying to figure out how not to fail in love. At twice that age, Jane quickly internalizes How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right, even though that retro manual is ruining her chances at happiness. In the intervening years, Melissa Bank's heroine struggles at love and work. The former often seems indistinguishable from the latter, and her experiences in book publishing inspire little in the way of affection. As Jane announces in "The Worst Thing a Suburban Girl Could Imagine": "I'd been a rising star at H----- until Mimi Howlett, the new executive editor, decided I was just the lights of an airplane."
Tata avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 135 more book reviews
A funny book. Very entertaining.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 404 more book reviews
"How I missed this book the first time around, I have no idea. But, boy, am I glad I found it.
The writing was excellent, the observations actue, and each story took me one layer deeper in to the characters until I felt like I was in the room with them. The relationships are complex and Melissa Bank does an amazing job of shining a spotlight on human interaction.
Add to that her wit and subtle humor, and this is one of my favorite books this year." amazon review
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 47 more book reviews
I really liked this collection of inter-woven short stories. We first meet Jane at 14, and grow up with her and her family. It is funny and sad, with some laugh-out-loud moments. This is a must read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 16 more book reviews
Funny read - especially good for before bed since the chapters are short.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 88 more book reviews
Lots of fun to read. Made me feel lucky. Wasn['t about hunting or fishing though, but that's OK. It filled me in a bit on what people from cities might be like. Glad I'm a country gal. It's a whole lot less complicated.
APassionateReader avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 13 more book reviews
A wonderful read with a richly developed lead character. Loved it!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 5 more book reviews
this was a suprisingly huge page turner for me...i sat down with it and really can't say i got up til' it was finished. the author had such real dialogue
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 92 more book reviews
I enjoyed this coming of age story about a girl. She's 14 when the story, set mostly in NYC, begins.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 30 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 115 more book reviews
Great chick lit book..funny!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 20 more book reviews
Awesome!
GowerMeower avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 179 more book reviews
Series of short stories that intorduced me to chick-lit when it was first publshed in h/c. Strong character development yet not a heavy read. I absolutely loved this book and it remains one of my faves.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 30 more book reviews
This was a great book...easy reading...I enjoyed it.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
Funny book about Jane and her life.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 7 more book reviews
I read this book on vacation and was drawn into "Jane's" life as she walked (sometimes bolted) through the rites of passage into becoming a woman.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 2 more book reviews
Certainly an insightful book written from the ever-enlightened-all-knowing-been-there-got-some-to-learn typical witty teenager. One of those few books that I found enjoyable to pick up now and again.
dixiegirl avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 31 more book reviews
Was slow going at first but by the end I enjoyed it.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 5 more book reviews
Good quick read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 21 more book reviews
Entertaining and unusual, probably unlike anything you've read. Easy and quick, but worth every moment. Enjoy!
Sheerbliss07 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 11 more book reviews
I have to admit I hadn't heard of this book until I saw the movie Suburban Girl which is based off of one of the chapters. Then I was turned off by it being short stories mixed in but I ended up really enjoying this book alot. It is narrated by a girl Jane trying to find herself and how to behave with men. The only thing I didn't like about the book is in the middle there is a chapter on her neighbors and their problems and I kept waiting for when they would meet and it never happened. Other than that I really liked this book and would recommend it to a friend.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
I liked this book a lot. Funny, and a fast read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 8 more book reviews
Melissa Bank offers a comical tutorial on the rules of dating. A book to be enjoyed by all...single, married, dating, wanting to date. I also enjoyed reading about the locale of NYC.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 17 more book reviews
Read this a very long time ago - and I remember I was just eh about it.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 74 more book reviews
Funny, tender, coming of age story by Melissa Banks.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 42 more book reviews
I enjoyed the book and really identified with the main character, but then the ending felt forced.
pbutterfly avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 41 more book reviews
Collection of vignettes of the life of Jane Rosenal as she navigates the waters of relationships and life as a young woman in New York trying to find happiness and love. The characters she encounters are often funny (like her boss, Mimi), charming (like older-man Archie), and downright wonderful (friend Sophie, among others). Not too deep, but not light-n-fluffy, this book manages to balance whimsy, humor, and deep issues of love and loss.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 27 more book reviews
This book is like a collection of short stories, kinda. They are sort of related as vingnette's from one woman's life, but at least two chapters seem pretty much unrelated, which rather confused me. I really liked the author's writing style, though I'm not that sure if I liked any of the main characters. It is written with a wry humor, and that is what kept me turning the pages.
CharleneY avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 80 more book reviews
great book, not just chick lit
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 12 more book reviews
I know this book was very popular ! I couldn't get into it....but might try grabbing again sometime in the future.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 16 more book reviews
Good "chick lit".
Bernie avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
A fun quick read! I read this in one sitting. A few short stories following a girl named Jane. Some twits and turns I didn't see coming. Well worth the read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 11 more book reviews
A New York Times best seller about contemporary relationships.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 3 more book reviews
quick, fun read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 17 more book reviews
This is one of the best books I've read.
katethegreat avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 69 more book reviews
This is a quick read and it is quite funny. It is a coming of age book of women in America today and it is spot on.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 391 more book reviews
Hilarous and veryeasy to read. Cracked me up the whole way through
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 17 more book reviews
Not as good as I thought it would be...maybe 3 1/2 stars.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 334 more book reviews
Goofy, fun to read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 6 more book reviews
I could relate a lot to the female lead character in this book. It wasn't the best book ever, but pretty good.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 407 more book reviews
This was a somewhat quirky and interesting book about relationships. I liked how Jane learned how relying too much on other people's opinions isn't the right thing to do.
buttaflies79 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 61 more book reviews
I thought this book was awesome but I Hated the last 3 chapters....it was a little out there for me.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 127 more book reviews
Very fun and funny
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 5 more book reviews
This is the creme de la creme of chick-lit. This is the novel that everyone else wishes she'd written.
bigrachwoowoo avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 23 more book reviews
Even though I would agree this is chick lit, I don't think it's as simplistic as most other books in that category. The people in Jane's life are just like people you know, or people you will someday meet. Some of the lines in this book will stick with you. It has its sad parts, which make the ending sweeter. I would highly suggest this book, especially for women in the 18-30 age range.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
Interesting style and characters,but not a favorite.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 628 more book reviews
Entertaining and humorous and got better as it went along, but definitely light reading.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 7 more book reviews
Loved it!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 2 more book reviews
It was ok....not enough of a story line for me to really get into the book.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 14 more book reviews
Fun read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 74 more book reviews
I liked how the story line progressed by using a series of inter-related short stories.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 8 more book reviews
Cute book. Easy Read!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 51 more book reviews
Great read. Carming and witty tales of dating. Everyone can relate to this book.
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Great, fun read.
paradisemommy05 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 63 more book reviews
truly funny!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 9 more book reviews
I loved this book!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 191 more book reviews
Good book, but its not about hunting or fishing... Its about the character learning to love, with understanding etc... Still a good book :)
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 102 more book reviews
I loved this book. It reads like short stories about the same person, but the stories also tie in together which made it interesting (because I usually don't like short story books).
baeb47 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 207 more book reviews
I'm sure there are lives like this, but I found it somewhat unrealistic!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 44 more book reviews
This is a really good book. It starts in her early teens where the early thoughts of love begin and works its way to when she finds the man she can not live without. It's funny and entertaining.
amoebastar avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 43 more book reviews
A decent tale of thirty-something life and perspectives on love. The first half to 2/3 was certainly more interesting than the latter half to 1/3.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 181 more book reviews
Simply audacious~
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 39 more book reviews
Funny and interestingly written.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 11 more book reviews
Poignant and funny. So many of us can see ourselves in Janie. I would love to know here.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 33 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book. It's a collection of short stories interwoven. An easy book to read at bedtime because you can put it down between chapters.
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Chick lit at its best. If you liked Bridget Jones, you'll love this one.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 75 more book reviews
Chapters stand on their own almost as short stories. A moving introduction to a woman's love life.
ilovedale3 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 524 more book reviews
A set of related short stories about Jane Rosenal, a "twenty-something" woman who is struggling with growing up, a career, and love. The stories give us insight into Jane's world, and do so with humor as well as some very touching moments. Great for any woman who knows what it is like to find herself!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 20 more book reviews
A quirky look about the life of a single girl. Funny in places, sad in others, a good look at life as a single woman in America.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 15 more book reviews
A series of inter-related stories revolving around a young single career woman named Jane. Each story is an interesting, self-contained story on its own, but together they follow Jane's growing maturity. I loved this book, it is far above the typical "chic lit" book. Highly recommended.
crytal avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 155 more book reviews
I'm not sure of my reaction to this book. It was good for some chapters and others left me confused and some even semi-repulsed. And then there was the part towards the end where I almost wished that I had a copy of the book that the main character was reading. Though after seeing how that turned out, I think I'll pass.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 11 more book reviews
A sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read--thoughtful, wise, and tell-all honest. Bank's is a voice that you'll remember for years to come.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 33 more book reviews
Very good read.
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Light, funny reading. Pleasant book.
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A good but not amazing book of connected short stories primarily about a women and her family and her love life.
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Funny, heartwarming, almost like Coming to Age. I loved it.
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Over rated
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 6 more book reviews
Comedy and reality of a young woman's journey toward finding her place in the world of relationships via the Self-Help section of the book shelves.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 34 more book reviews
loved the book
chick lit with a difference!
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 7 more book reviews
Enjoyable read.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 7 more book reviews
Beautiful and funny and sad and true... Melissa Bank is an exquisite writer with honesty and clarity that rings true. Certainly a worthy read.
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Hunting, Fishing and Kissing.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 18 more book reviews
Could not put it down.
pghpens avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 59 more book reviews
I saw this book on my friend's bookshelf, so I decided to give it a try. It was a fast read and I enjoyed how each chapter was based around a different point in the main character Jane's life. I have to say the middle chapter about a neighbor on the floor below was confusing and broke the flow of the novel for me. Otherwise, I liked and cared about Jane and her struggle to "fish" for love and "hunt" for happiness within herself.
kafechic avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 17 more book reviews
Classic Chick-Lit! Great read!
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I liked it - it seemed a bit random at times, but mostly I read to be entertained and this book does that.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 43 more book reviews
Quick read. Pretty entertaining, but not really great literature.
roach808 avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 155 more book reviews
While it isn't what I thought it would be I enjoyed it. The hunting and fishing part doesn't really come in until the end and *spoiler alert* it's about hunting and fishing for men! That part of the book really changed in tone and the way it was written.

While I like it fine, the shift was just . . . big.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 25 more book reviews
Absolutely not about hunting or fishing in the usual sense of the words. It is the emotional journey of a young girl who becomes a woman. We travel with her against the backdrop of her brother and her family and later her romantic episodes as she hunts for someone meanigful in her life--and hopes to be found as someone meaningful in someone lese's life.

I have read it twice and loved it both times.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 10 more book reviews
Entertainment Weekly: "In this swinging, funny & tender study of contemporary relationships, Bank refutes once & for all the popular notions of neurotic thirtysomething women."
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Better and more literary than I thought it would be.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on
A friend gave this to me. I haven't read it, but it looks interesting.
mel21clc avatar reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 6 more book reviews
I only am posting this because I bought myself a hardcover version; that's how much I liked it! Give it a spin.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 367 more book reviews
Book Description
One of the most eagerly anticipated books of the season--funny, sexy, wise fiction from the freshest new voice in women's writing.

"I don't admit to myself what I'm doing when I put my bike helmet on and ride over to the bookstore a few blocks away. I pretend that maybe I'm just getting another Edith Wharton novel. But I bypass Fiction and find Self-Help. I think, Self-Help? If I could help myself I wouldn't be here. There are stacks and stacks of How to Meet and Marry Mr.Right, and I take my copy up to the counter as furtively as if it were a girdle or vibrator..."

With a steadily growing cadre of readers who delight in her smartly comic and insightful writing, Melissa Bank is an event waiting to happen. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing explores the life lessons of Jane, the contemporary American Everywoman who combines the charm of Bridget Jones, the vulnerability of Ally McBeal, and the wit of Lorrie Moore. As she works her way from defiant teenager to reluctant career girl, growing older and getting smarter, Jane maneuvers her way through love, sex, relationships, and the occasional perils of the workplace. She reluctantly succumbs to the questionable advice offered in a pop-psych book entitled How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right.

Accompanied at every turn by the ear-whispering authors (who bear an uncanny resemblance to two popular, hateful high school acquaintances) Jane makes a series of dating decisions that lead her in the right direction--but for the wrong reasons. Wise, poignant, and full of the kind of laugh-out-loud insight you just have to share with your best friend, Melissa Bank is the kind of writer readers have been waiting for: an original voice telling a universal story through characters we all love and recognize.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 275 more book reviews
From the back cover. Hailed by critics as the debut of a major literary voice, this book has dazzled and delighted readers and topped bestseller lists nationswde. Generous hearted and wickledly insightful maps the progress of Jae Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition throught the perilous terrain of sex, love and relations, and the treacerous waters of the workplace. With an unforgettable comic touch, Bank skillfully teases out isseues of the heart, puts a new spinon the mating dance and captures in perfect pitch what it's like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.
reviewed The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing on + 159 more book reviews
"Generous-hearted and wickedly insightful,...this maps the progress of Jane Rosenthal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, and relationships, and the treacherous waters of the workplace."