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off2explore's review
5.0
As a fan of Jennifer Weiner's books, I really appreciated the funny and insightful essays about her personal life and writing process. I am not sure whether there would be enough of interest for someone who had never read her other work, but that reader is surely not the intended audience. I was particularly touched by the miscarriage essay, as well as the discussions of body image and struggling to find a place in the world.
khornstein1's review against another edition
4.0
I'm going to give Weiner 4 stars because I just really like her...as a person and for her contribution to the discussion of contemporary women writers and how they are treated if their writing isn't "literary." That's the good.
We share a fondness for Miss America and the Bachelor, and viewing both with and without irony.
I also like that she is honest about her feelings about her weight and how society views size: it's kind of the last taboo to shame women around weight.
The disappointing part of the book is that if you've read her novels, you won't learn anything new because her biography is essentially filled with the same characters and stories you'll find in the novels. And if you've read some of her novels, you may have the same experience that I have had: I picked up one, started reading it and thought: haven't I read this before? Nope. You've read another of her novels with the same characters and similar issues, etc.
Write about what you know--I get it. I also like that she branched out with All Fall Down and Who do you Love? (which I haven't read yet).
And now I'm feeling guilty for giving her 4 stars, because her likableness (word?) just jumps off the page in this book. Love her!
We share a fondness for Miss America and the Bachelor, and viewing both with and without irony.
I also like that she is honest about her feelings about her weight and how society views size: it's kind of the last taboo to shame women around weight.
The disappointing part of the book is that if you've read her novels, you won't learn anything new because her biography is essentially filled with the same characters and stories you'll find in the novels. And if you've read some of her novels, you may have the same experience that I have had: I picked up one, started reading it and thought: haven't I read this before? Nope. You've read another of her novels with the same characters and similar issues, etc.
Write about what you know--I get it. I also like that she branched out with All Fall Down and Who do you Love? (which I haven't read yet).
And now I'm feeling guilty for giving her 4 stars, because her likableness (word?) just jumps off the page in this book. Love her!
cecsheehan's review
4.0
My first time reading Jennifer Weiner and, after this book, not the last! She's warm and funny and I found this book of essays engaging. (The mutual State College connection helped.)
pjgoebel's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting memoir into the life of a writer. I liked it, but couldn't relate in all ways.
ameserole's review
3.0
Another memoir off of my TBR list!
Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing was a funny, short, and a quick read. I've wanted to read a bunch of books from Jennifer Weiner and I was so happy to at least knock this one off.
Now this book will make you laugh, cry, and smile so hard your face will hurt for a long time. I haven't gone through a whole bunch of stuff that she has but still.. it did hurt my heart with what she did go through. I really enjoyed the book and I can't wait to dive into another book by Jennifer.
Overall, I really liked it! Jennifer has a way with words and makes you feel so many emotions. Again, I can't wait to dive into another one of her books.
Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing was a funny, short, and a quick read. I've wanted to read a bunch of books from Jennifer Weiner and I was so happy to at least knock this one off.
Now this book will make you laugh, cry, and smile so hard your face will hurt for a long time. I haven't gone through a whole bunch of stuff that she has but still.. it did hurt my heart with what she did go through. I really enjoyed the book and I can't wait to dive into another book by Jennifer.
Overall, I really liked it! Jennifer has a way with words and makes you feel so many emotions. Again, I can't wait to dive into another one of her books.
judithdcollins's review
4.0
A special thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Love the cover!
We all fell in love with Jennifer Weiner's fictional stories; from her very first book to the present. Her signature wit and honesty once again gives readers an inside look at the talented author (the woman behind the words) and her incredible journey. A total reveal.
A huge Weiner fan, having read all her entertaining books, HUNGRY HEART further reiterates the author’s passion and talent. Where no subject is off-limits in her essay collection: from sex, weight, image, money, motherhood, lesbianism (mother), love, dating, daughters, childbirth, social media, and her estranged father’s death.
Weiner’s first memoir is deeply honest and insightful- An empowering personal account of the author's childhood to adulthood and everything in between. Readers will laugh and cry, caught up in Weiner’s witty and heartfelt stories, and reminded of our favorite reads. You will find yourself drawn to different parts which are relatable.
Weiner always delivers stories which matter - from the heart. From her childhood dream of becoming a published author, she has taken stands, and taken the heat, and has changed the world. From a father who left, a mother which came out of the closet, her girls, a marriage.
Stories of hunger. Wanting something from the world: love, approval, a boyfriend, a husband, a sense of belonging, a way of doing some good. We all want something. Wanting is the human condition. The ifs. Seeking perfection. Learning as we get older- there is no finish line, or if there is, it keeps moving.
Jennifer entertains readers while leading us through successes, failures, fears, and dreams. She makes us laugh. Her books, and adventures– the ups and down.
I particularly enjoyed the parts about Florida and Nanna (can relate). The parts of pain, guilt, shame and sorrow, and spinning them into fiction. How they took life. From Good in Bed about weight screwed up funny families and finding happiness in spite of it all.
My Favorite Parts:
• Her second book, and one of my favorites of Weiner: (and movie), "In Her Shoes": weight, sisters, family labels. Filming in Delray Beach, FL, south of West Palm Beach and her Nanna -ninety at the time, making sure she was featured; to rank her as the number-one grandchild. (Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine).
• "A Few Words About Bodies" Learning to tell the difference between hungry and sad, angry and bored. Honor each of those feeling wit what it requires. Eat when you’re hungry, cry when you’re sad, deal with your anger and boredom, but don’t stuff them down with food, or booze, or men, or pills, or whatever else might be available.
• "Mean Girls in the Retirement Home" (NYT 2015) Again, a story about Nanna. I can relate since I live in Florida in a senior independent living where everyone is so caddy. Hilarious!
• "Letters to her daughters: Lucy and Phoebe" (Time, 2015) What is coming next.
"Within the next few years, some people- not all, but some- will stop seeing you as you, and start seeing just your surface; your face, your hair, your body. They will reduce you to a body instead of seeing you as a person. If you succeed, they will whisper, or write, that you must have slept with someone important to have gotten whatever you go."
"If you speak up, they will try to shame you into silence, because—and it breaks my heart to write these words—that’s the way some people think women ought to be. My prayer is that you’ll never lose sight of yourself—all of yourself.” “Love your bodies for what they can do.”
My least favorite part of the book was the tweets (not a fan of The Bachelor). However, commend her for loving social media. “It’s where movements coalesce, where evildoers are exposed, where wrongs are righted and justice prevails.” Twitter, 29,300 funny tweets--of course, is also a "cesspit of crude, hateful misogyny, insults and name-calling and poorly considered tirades, delivered in impulsive and regrettable hundred-and-forty-character blurbs."
It is a place where she hopes, she has done some good, and a place where for sure she has had fun, a place where she has been horribly humiliated, and made mistakes and said things she regretted.
Just as her fiction has entertained women for years, HUNGRY HEART, Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing -the memoir will charm and inspire you, just as much. It is powerful, insightful, funny, smart, and courageous.
She turns herself inside out for the world to see. The woman behind the books, furthermore affirming her special gift and talent as an author, mother, and a powerful feisty woman we all admire and respect. We love you!
PS. I want to see more Jennifer Weiner action, on Younger!
JDCMustReadBooks
We all fell in love with Jennifer Weiner's fictional stories; from her very first book to the present. Her signature wit and honesty once again gives readers an inside look at the talented author (the woman behind the words) and her incredible journey. A total reveal.
A huge Weiner fan, having read all her entertaining books, HUNGRY HEART further reiterates the author’s passion and talent. Where no subject is off-limits in her essay collection: from sex, weight, image, money, motherhood, lesbianism (mother), love, dating, daughters, childbirth, social media, and her estranged father’s death.
Weiner’s first memoir is deeply honest and insightful- An empowering personal account of the author's childhood to adulthood and everything in between. Readers will laugh and cry, caught up in Weiner’s witty and heartfelt stories, and reminded of our favorite reads. You will find yourself drawn to different parts which are relatable.
"You fall down. You get hurt. You get up again. Women stories matter. They tell us who we are, they give us places to explore our problems, to try on identities and imagine happy endings. They entertain us, they divert us, they comfort us when we’re lonely or along. Women’s stories matter. A women matters, too."
Weiner always delivers stories which matter - from the heart. From her childhood dream of becoming a published author, she has taken stands, and taken the heat, and has changed the world. From a father who left, a mother which came out of the closet, her girls, a marriage.
Stories of hunger. Wanting something from the world: love, approval, a boyfriend, a husband, a sense of belonging, a way of doing some good. We all want something. Wanting is the human condition. The ifs. Seeking perfection. Learning as we get older- there is no finish line, or if there is, it keeps moving.
Jennifer entertains readers while leading us through successes, failures, fears, and dreams. She makes us laugh. Her books, and adventures– the ups and down.
I particularly enjoyed the parts about Florida and Nanna (can relate). The parts of pain, guilt, shame and sorrow, and spinning them into fiction. How they took life. From Good in Bed about weight screwed up funny families and finding happiness in spite of it all.
My Favorite Parts:
• Her second book, and one of my favorites of Weiner: (and movie), "In Her Shoes": weight, sisters, family labels. Filming in Delray Beach, FL, south of West Palm Beach and her Nanna -ninety at the time, making sure she was featured; to rank her as the number-one grandchild. (Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine).
• "A Few Words About Bodies" Learning to tell the difference between hungry and sad, angry and bored. Honor each of those feeling wit what it requires. Eat when you’re hungry, cry when you’re sad, deal with your anger and boredom, but don’t stuff them down with food, or booze, or men, or pills, or whatever else might be available.
• "Mean Girls in the Retirement Home" (NYT 2015) Again, a story about Nanna. I can relate since I live in Florida in a senior independent living where everyone is so caddy. Hilarious!
• "Letters to her daughters: Lucy and Phoebe" (Time, 2015) What is coming next.
"Within the next few years, some people- not all, but some- will stop seeing you as you, and start seeing just your surface; your face, your hair, your body. They will reduce you to a body instead of seeing you as a person. If you succeed, they will whisper, or write, that you must have slept with someone important to have gotten whatever you go."
"If you speak up, they will try to shame you into silence, because—and it breaks my heart to write these words—that’s the way some people think women ought to be. My prayer is that you’ll never lose sight of yourself—all of yourself.” “Love your bodies for what they can do.”
My least favorite part of the book was the tweets (not a fan of The Bachelor). However, commend her for loving social media. “It’s where movements coalesce, where evildoers are exposed, where wrongs are righted and justice prevails.” Twitter, 29,300 funny tweets--of course, is also a "cesspit of crude, hateful misogyny, insults and name-calling and poorly considered tirades, delivered in impulsive and regrettable hundred-and-forty-character blurbs."
It is a place where she hopes, she has done some good, and a place where for sure she has had fun, a place where she has been horribly humiliated, and made mistakes and said things she regretted.
Just as her fiction has entertained women for years, HUNGRY HEART, Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing -the memoir will charm and inspire you, just as much. It is powerful, insightful, funny, smart, and courageous.
She turns herself inside out for the world to see. The woman behind the books, furthermore affirming her special gift and talent as an author, mother, and a powerful feisty woman we all admire and respect. We love you!
PS. I want to see more Jennifer Weiner action, on Younger!
JDCMustReadBooks
ilovestory's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this audiobook overall -- I like her honesty, I like her books, I like her willingness to fight for equal treatment of women's literature. I enjoyed hearing about her upbringing. But at least listening on audible I felt the book shifted back and forth in time too much -- perhaps it would feel less jarring if I was reading a hard copy and could thumb back and forth as needed to be sure I'm understanding the context. I felt that sometimes I'd be listening to a story of her when she had only her oldest daughter, then she had her second daughter, and then later again I'm listening to a section where only her oldest daughter has been born. I did enjoy hearing it read in her voice but I think for this one I'd recommend reading it vs listening.
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
4.0
Jennifer addresses a topic that resonates with us all: feeling like an outsider. Weight is one of the last topics that is still considered "politically correct" for people to make fun of, and I have definitely seen extremely cruel, judgmental online anonymous comments on this topic that make me weep for humanity. Being unable to lose weight was Jennifer's kryptonite for many years. Some people's bodies are simply designed to be larger than others, and women continue to be the ones who are judged most harshly for carrying extra weight.
Also, I loved this paragraph so am copying most of it here: "Activists aren't here to make friends. We are here to say the things you don't want to hear, to smack you in the face with inconvenient truths, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, to force the world to improve. As Elie Wiesel said, 'Neutrality helps the oppresor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'"
Also, I loved this paragraph so am copying most of it here: "Activists aren't here to make friends. We are here to say the things you don't want to hear, to smack you in the face with inconvenient truths, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, to force the world to improve. As Elie Wiesel said, 'Neutrality helps the oppresor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'"