| Title | : | Little Earthquakes |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1416528636 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781416528630 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 557 |
| Publication | : | First published September 14, 2004 |
Little Earthquakes Reviews
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I have to be honest, I really didn't think that I would like this book even though I liked the author all ready. I just like to read about things that aren't my life. I'm a mom and I know what it's like to do raise a child by yourself or feel like you do anways and some of the other struggles that the woman face. So when I read I want to escape my life for that moment in time. This book has changed my mind about that. I read this book and I laughed and I cried and I got pissed off on some of the moms but at the heart of it I really enjoyed this book. Even though this is fiction its still nice to read about things that you have thought about and you feel like you're not alone. I would recommend this book to any woman. It's about motherhood but more importantly it's about the friendship between woman. Great book!
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In this women’s fiction/chick lit novel, three soon-to-be mothers bond in a childbirth class and share in the difficult first months of caring for their newborns. One is married to a famous sports figure who is having an affair. Another has the mother-in-law from hell. The third has a husband who lost his job just before the baby was born and sits on the couch all day watching soap operas while she goes to work and cares for the baby. Then there is the mysterious fourth woman who seems to be following them around. This was incredibly raw and detailed and very well done. I really connected with the characters and their struggles and losses.
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I really enjoyed this novel. I don't usually read chick-lit, not because I don't like it, but mostly because my usual literary tastes tend to other genres more often than not. It doesn't mean I won't sit down with a light read once in a while in-between other books, or that I'm not willing to read something that's outside my usual genre. I like to consider myself versatile in my readings.
So, I picked this book up for the YBS #8 at Bookrelay because I saw it on many wishlists and had added it to mine as well. I looked at the story's premise, sounded like something I'd like to read and went ahead. I didn't regret my choice. I really liked this book: the characters felt real, with their problems, their ways of getting around those problems, of dealing with them. Characters who suffered, laughed, cried, fought, smiled, lived. Characters that, despite everything, looked like real people.
The story is simple -- it's about four women and their maternity problems, their lives, their husbands, parents, mother-in-laws... But it's told with such heart, captivating you from the first page to the last. There are characters you'll love and hate, with whom you'll identify with, with whom you'll cry and laugh. I ended up shedding some tears at the end of the book, just because I wasn't indiferent to these characters that seemed so real.
I will be looking for more books by Jennifer Weiner in the future, without a doubt. -
"Bye and bye, bye and bye,
the moon is half a lemon pie.
The mice who stole the other half
have scattered star-crums in the sky.
Bye and bye,
bye and bye,
my darling baby, don't you cry.
The moon is still above the hill.
The soft clouds gather in the sky"....
:0) -
I don't read a lot of chick lit, but I have enjoyed Jennifer Weiner books in the past, and I was looking for a quick read. This book fulfilled that purpose, fortunately, or I may not have finished it.
This story is about three "very different women" who meet by chance at a prenatal yoga class and bond over the hardships of new motherhood. The first problem with the book: These women are not all that different. They are all well-to-do women with loving, supportive husbands (yes, even the one who cheats is loving and supportive - after all, if we are to believe his knocked-up mistress, he "didn't mean to") with mommy issues of which they are unbelievably self-aware but totally unable to resolve. The second problem: These women do not face real hardships. Kelly, whose husband loses his job, is somehow able to keep up with the rent on her apartment, without dipping into savings, on only her own part-time salary, even though we're told early on that the rent was about half of her husband's and her full-time income. That's one of many loopholes/inconsistencies in the book that an editor should have caught. I quickly grew tired of reading about their lack of sleep, excess laundry, crying babies, etc.
I'd be willing to forgive the shallow nature of these women's problems if any of them were likable or worth sympathy. Kelly is by far the worst of the bunch - she is materialistic/superficial to the point of preferring no couch to an ugly one and is nearly a compulsive liar. Ayinde goes from being a confident career woman to someone so needy and naive she follows every word of a misogynist childcare advice book. Becky, the fat chef (there always has to be a fat woman in a Jennifer Weiner book), is the most normal, but as co-owner of a successful restaurant and wife of a surgeon, she is so destitute she has to buy a used stroller and is too stupid to know if it meets child safety regulations.
Lia's story is the only one that evoked any emotional response. She lost her baby when he was only 10 weeks old, and she ran back to her childhood home to escape the grief and guilt. There she meets the three women mentioned above, who somehow help her move on. What this book really needed was a scene where Lia screams at the other three to get over their ridiculous problems and realize how lucky they are to still have their children. Lia is definitely the central character of the book - it begins and ends with her, and her chapters are in first-person narrative rather than the third-person narrative of the other women's chapters. I can't help but wonder, then, why Weiner didn't make her someone more relatable than a Hollywood semi-star with a famous husband. Is the lesson that even celebrities encounter tragedy? For some reason I found myself thinking about those laughable "Stars - They're Just Like Us" features in US magazine.
Apparently Weiner wrote this book based on her own experiences as a first-time mother, and honestly I don't see its appeal outside of people who experienced the same thing in the same way - middle-class to upper-middle class mothers in happy if not perfect marriages. It offers no insight to anyone who experienced motherhood outside of those parameters. -
I've liked Weiner's other two novels, if only because she chooses to have the main character not be stunningly beautiful, tiny proportions etc. They seem real.I still think my favorite of Weiner's books is
Good In Bed, but there was a lot that I liked about this book, too. Once again, the author has creater characters that oculd indeed be real. I'm so sick of chick lit books where the characters are perfect looking and fall for hunks of masculinity. Of sexual banter and tension that is a little to perfect....
Following these ladies through the course of their friendship was interesting-- watching their own personal growth, the growth of their friendships, and the growth of their relationships with their husband made an interesting read. (I of course loved the bits of cookery thrown in to the novel via Becky's talents--I want the recipe for that fig-jam pizza.) I nodded my head in sympathy when one mom (Becky again, I think, had T Berry Brazelton in one hand and the phone in the other to have her husband listen to their wailing child so he can help identify the "type" of cry baby is making--"Is it a shrill, rising cry or a low, rhythmic cry?" I too, am guilty of stealing into my child's room to look at him sleep and make sure he's still breathing (though now that he is 16, I tend to only do that when he is sick.)
I was also delighted by the description of the tres leches cake served at the restaurant Mas. 3 milks? Yep: evaporated, condensed and the milk of human kindness. -
Powerful to me during this period of my life. This author's way of intertwining lives and making you feel like you have a front row seat is just amazing. It was hard to be brought back to those early days with a baby and how it did shake up every essence of your life and marriage, but wonderful to have perspective. I enjoyed all of it and her amazing writing. I also liked how the ending felt real.
Read again in summer of 2018 and still loved it. -
I'm surrounded by pregnant women, new mothers, and aspiring moms. Everywhere I turn, there's a picture of a belly or a copy of an ultrasound on facebook. At work, I hear the stories of morning sickness and misery from two pregnant co-workers. I spend much of my time planning programs and creating flannelboard figures for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. I'm nowhere near the point of having a child of my own, but I'm barraged by the thought of them.
I picked up this book, not knowing what it was about. I had previously read
Good in Bed and
In Her Shoes, but I couldn't really remember much beyond the bare outlines of the stories. As soon as I started
Little Earthquakes, I thought to myself, "Oh, dear. This story centers around a chance encounter at a pre-natal yoga class." Three women become fast friends after one nearly gives birth after the first yoga session... and a strange, stalker-esque series of events brings the fourth woman into the fold.
Every woman has a chapter within the month. The time span of this book is a bit longer than I expected. The premise was interesting, but by the end, I was sick of all of the characters. I felt like it needed to end earlier. The stories were not all equally interesting, and I really despised a couple of the characters (i.e. Kelly, and on occasion, Ayinde). Lia, the former Hollywood starlet, was completely out of left field, and I wasn't convinced that Becky could forgive her quite that easily for randomly leaving baby objects in a perfect stranger's baby bag.
I enjoyed the Philadelphia setting. I liked reading about Rittenhouse Square and Walnut Street. I recall my time spent in Center City, and I could easily imagine the scenes at Temple and Penn.
At the end of it all, I was just glad to finish. This book was exhausting, which I think was a primary goal of Weiner. She wants everyone to know how tough it is to have a baby. She repeats this over, and over, and over... and by the end, I felt just as run-down as the mothers of the newborns. I gladly take my leave from the world of breast-feeding and pacifiers - I'll continue to be a doting visitor for now. -
I didn't give it 5 stars because the main character is typical of her other books...strong minded, insecure inside, wants to befriend everyone, etc etc.
I did like the detail she went into in the supporting cast though. She easily could have left them all sort of one-dimensional, but she gave them all real situations, real lives, real problems. And I like that.
I like that her main characters are sort of quick to judge others (other women mostly) but end up realizing that even though she had these 'guesses' at what they may be like (judging the book by the cover I guess), she finds that they aren't as 'got-it-together' or snobbish as she originally thought.
So I will keep reading her books. They give me hope. That the overweight, misfit will have a group of close friends. -
The: Not for me book.
Spoilers ahead-
Ok, I'll start by saying that I don't usually go for this type of literature.
I got this book, and I thought "hell, why not?"
My preferred type books would be fictional history with some occasional romance and twists with a big dose of tragedy.
And then I get this. 3 pregnant women with their...
Not so interesting lives...
They have their babies and they focus their whole lives around them.
I thought the book would focus more on crisis, but it was just about babies...
And the mothers... Gods, kill me now, but I mean, all of them prefer the "natural" way of breastfeeding and they can't stand up for themselves... What kind of people are they? What kind of people did the author try to built? Becky's husband loves her. Fine, great. He loves her more when she succumbs to his mother.
I hated it. I absolutely hated it. How can she, and all of them shut up when their husbands/mothers act like that?
Don't they have a tiny bit of self-respect?
And if they could just send the kids to some day care... What's wrong with that? If they need time to work, to be themselves.. ...
The only touching moment in that book was in the hospital, when Richard was holding his child while waiting for their appointment.
Also, is book was very, very very predictable, even for me, who's never read a "chick" book like that ever before.
I guess that genre is not for me. Especially since my whole being is NOT about being a mother, but a person.
I say - you live for yourself. If you want love - get it.
If you want kids - have them.
Don't go whine about how hard it is because "you didn't know".
And especially, PLEASE, do NOT write about it.
One last thing:
That review is only my opinion and outlook. People with interests in the area and genre might like it better. -
4 Stars for Little Earthquakes: A Novel (audiobook) by Jennifer Weiner read by the author. This was an interesting look into several newlywed relationships. The book does a good job at showing how complicated a relationship can be. The author did a great job narrating too.
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What an absolutely unforgettable read! This is the first book of Jennifer Weiner’s I’ve read and I’m so excited to read more of her books! These four women...no, these four wonderful, amazing characters stole my heart. With their joys and their sorrows, their new babies and coping with being mothers, as well as keeping their marriages from falling apart, I could relate to so many aspects of their lives as I fully understand the ups and downs of motherhood and being a devoted wife. Little Earthquakes is most definitely a novel that should be at the top of every serious reader’s to-read list!
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I haven't read a full book since giving birth. I had this lying around and it was actually the perfect book to read right now as I go through some of the same struggles with motherhood and relationships.
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Little Earthquakes. Jennifer Weiner. 2004. Washington Square Press. 414 pages. ISBN 0743470109.
Little Earthquakes is the third novel by bestselling chick-lit author Jennifer Weiner. When I read Weiner's first novel Good in Bed (2001) several years ago, I knew she was going to be one of those authors (which for me includes Chuck Palahniuk and Tracy Chevalier among numerous others) who produces such amazing work that you just have to read everything they publish. In saying this, I am ashamed that I allowed Little Earthquakes to linger on my shelf for so many years, because this novel is AMAZING!
Little Earthquakes centers upon four main characters that are all pregnant at the beginning of the book and forge their friendship by sharing "new mother" experiences with one another. We meet Becky, a pleasantly plump chef who runs her own restaurant but must deal with the worst mother-in-law on the planet, Kelly -- a perky, energetic event planner with a laid-off husband who more or less sits at home and does nothing, and Ayinde, the wife of a scandalous pro-basketball player who has gotten himself into quite the mess. In addition to these three women who bond over their newborn children, we also meet Lia, an ex-Hollywood starlet haunted by a tragic accident and desperate to start anew in her hometown of Philadelphia.
Each chapter in Little Earthquakes is dedicated to the intimate, behind-the-scenes details of each woman's life over the course of one year and the struggles they face between being new mothers and dealing with their unique situations. As always, Jennifer Weiner writes to present such vivid and realistic characters and situations that we can't help but place ourselves in their shoes. Better yet, you won't even have to be a mother to relate to these four women and the adventures they encounter.
Not only are the dialogues and inner-monologues of the women in Little Earthquakes hilarious and witty, but the ending contains such emotional episodes that you'll need to keep tissues nearby. Movies and novels will not bring me to tears unless it's quality work, and I can assure you that this novel is genuinely touching!
My favorite elements of the book include Becky's mother-in-law situation - as Mimi has no respect for Becky's mothering techniques and special requests. There are many instances that will provoke you to grit your teeth as you read about Mimi's hooker-style choices of clothing for Becky's daughter Ava, as well as Mimi's ignorance regarding insisting sneaking formula to Ava versus Becky's healthy breast milk. The other aspect I love in Little Earthquakes concerns Lia's reunion with her estranged mother. This along with the Becky-Mimi situation personally hit home for me, and I'm sure other readers will find other situations to relate to, guaranteed.
Little Earthquakes is so delectable that you'll finish it and marvel at how the time had flown by. Before the novel was over I had already added the books I had missed by Jennifer Weiner to my wish list.
Jennifer Weiner's latest novel is Fly Away Home (2010). Other recent titles include Best Friends Forever (2009) and Certain Girls (2008), featuring the infamous Cannie Shapiro.
Read more book reviews at
http://dreamworldbooks.com. -
Little Earthquakes started with Lia who has come home leaving her husband and the glamorous life in Hollywood behind. She is not ready to fess up anything to her mother or anyone else and thinks about what happened as her fault. Then there is Kelly, Becky and Ayinde who meet in a prenatal yoga class and then Ayinde's water breaks from where Kelly and Becky take her to the hospital.
Becky is very happily married but then there is the issue of her mother-in-law Mimi who has the annoying habit of wanting to talk to Becky all the time. On the other hand, Kelly's husband goes through mid-life crisis smack middle during her pregnancy and labor which puts a lot of strain on her. Ayinde's story is a bit scandalous with her husband cheating on her while she's pregnant; but it is dealt with justification.
In all, these four women become a bright spot in each others' day and can unload their problems onto each other. It is a story about coming to terms with one's body and life changes that pregnancy and babies bring about. It is a journey into motherhood, its demands and joys. I really liked Lia and Becky's story a lot and I enjoyed reading Little Earthquakes a lot. -
I read this for an online book group...who always seem to pick chick-lit. I stuffed down the last hundred or so pages, and I'll admit that a book like this is slightly easier to humour if you read it all in one go rather than stretching it out like I did the first part of it. It was a simple, predictable little story that didn't challenge any social norms or shock in any way. The characters were generic (business woman, TV presenter, mad mother-in-law, hunky husbands), as was the storyline (mad mother-in-law just needs to be loved, a guy who cheats didn't really mean to, happy endings all round), and there was nothing wonderful about the writing. The only other real chick-lit I've read in a good few years was 'Angels' by Marianne Keyes, and with her I felt her writing style could have gone further than candy floss fiction, but with Jennifer Weiner I think she's perfectly suited. That's not an insult as such, as I'm assuming that's something she's happy with. But her writing wasn't particularly insightful, poetic, emotionally touching or witty...it just told a story. Not a great read, but at the same time it wasn't excruciating...just not my thing.
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If the GoodReads description on this page appeals to you, you'll probably like this book. If it makes you cringe a bit, then it's probably not for you.
I loved Weiner's
Good in Bed, I was fine with
In Her Shoes but I'm pretty "meh" about this book. I felt like Weiner was like, "I just had a baby! Aren't babies wonderful? I want to write about babies!" So she did.
Perhaps I'm tired of the four-women story method, but I felt like the spark and snap that punctuated her other books was missing from this one. Perhaps having to write four strong characters meant that a little bit was lacking from each. None of them really connected and while there were a few twists and turns, I wasn't too concerned what happened to any of them in the end. -
Here's the thing: I like Jennifer Weiner. In terms of developing a narrative, she's probably one of the most refreshing chick-lit writers out there, because she doesn't fall back on the trite searching-for-Mr.-Right-and-meeting-him-accidentally formula that sadly characterizes most of the genre. I avoided this book for a long time because it's about a subject (new motherhood) that I can't currently relate to, and hope not to be able to relate to for several more years. But I did find it surprisingly relatable (particularly the mom who tries to do everything herself and has a spectacular meltdown as a result) and, even though she's not the best humor writer (I could swear most of her jokes and situations are lifted from old episodes of Friends), I still find Jennifer Weiner kind of charming.
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I listened to abridged version of this book, read by Jennifer Weiner. This is one of those books I wish I could give a 3.5 stars. It really is better than "I liked it" but I'm also not sure that it was 4 star worthy. I ended up rounding down because I think in six months, I won't remember or still be raving about this book.
I thought the author did a really great job narrating this book. I think she really made the book extra good. I also really liked the story of the four women. It seemed like there would be someone for almost anyone to relate to, and I don't even have kids!
The ending was maybe a little cheesy, everything is perfect, but I still thought it was good. I will definitely read more by this author. -
I read this for a group read, and I was actually under the impression that this was going to be a funny book. It definitely wasn't. It was the story of a group of women and their journey through pregnancy, marriage and the ups and the downs. Each character had something in their life that wasn't quite perfect, and each story told how they either triumphed or were defeated by their problem.
I liked it.. but I probably wouldn't read it again. I just think there's enough bad things that happen in reality that I don't want to read about it in a fictional book. -
About 3.5 stars. Really enjoyed this book. I really liked the characters and found them to be real, easy to empathize with. I am not a big fan of chick lit, but I do read it as its usually a light read for me. But I really enjoyed this one, I found it relatable and real, which many are not.
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Sometimes, you just need to take a break and plunge into one of your favorite authors. Or Treat Yo'Self: book edition.
I started reading Jennifer Weiner last year during pandemic summer and I've read 3 of her books now. Her works, Kristin Hannah, and Ruth Ware are my go-tos when I want to plunge into something without having to think about it too much. I would add Gillian Flynn but I've read all of her stuff :/ Oh: Joshilynn Jackson might have to be on this list as well.
I was hesitant to read this because motherhood is difficult for me. I carry a lot of guilt about it, even though my kids are 12 and 10 years old. The beginning years were really rough for me and I'm not sure I will ever fully reconcile them. So, reading a fiction work about 3 mothers wrestling with early motherhood seemed a little triggering. But, I'm so glad I did, of course!
I was definitely bits of each character, for sure. By the book Ayinde, overextended Kelly, and au natural Becky. If I could pick one, I would say I was more Ayinde than anyone else with my first child. Reading the books, trying to do everything right, shutting out my husband. I wanted so much to be like Becky but I'm just not a chill person when I have responsibilities.
As for the book: it's a hyper real version of almost all the aspects of early motherhood with the exception of neglect and/or any sort of Baby Blues/PPD. Example: the main mother-in-law is way over the top, demanding special foods when she visits and ordering/delivering a Christmas tree to her Jewish son and daughter-in-law. I hope there aren't people out there like that.
It's fiction so the exaggeration is welcome, if only to move the plot and spice things up. The only exaggeration I didn't like was the frozen virginity of Andrew. Come on. That was a stretch.
I LOVED the interview with Weiner where she talked about her inspiration. She had had her first child so obviously: inspiration. But what I loved is that she captured modern motherhood, at least for me. Women are empowered now to create their own paths, especially with education. Get that degree, get another one, get a great job, you have the power and the smarts to do it! Find your answers in your textbooks, the library, Brene Brown, wherever you find your answers. But nothing, NOT A THING, can adequately prepare you for a baby. Preach, sister. -
Kelly, Becky and Ayinde all meet during prenatal yoga class as they prepare to embark on the craziest journey ever. Lia, a childless mother, ends up meeting Becky and joins the group of women to become lifelong friends. We follow the four of them as the three pregnant women give birth and the first year of motherhood, the ups and downs, the marital struggles, issues with overbearing in-laws, etc.
This book took me awhile to read. Nothing against the book itself but life just got crazy busy for me lately, and while I enjoyed the book, I wouldn't consider it a "page-turner" so I tended to forget about it even during my limited freetime. Certain aspects of this book definitely took me back to those first few months of motherhood and just how damn hard it is! Hello post-partum depression flashbacks! I loved the friendship that developed between the women, my favourite character being Becky (funny, fat and relatable!) and my least being Kelly (snobby, judgemental, perfectionist).
I think because I could relate to so much of this, helped my enjoyment, but I'm not sure if this book is for everyone. There doesn't seem to be a distinct climax, just little issues each woman is facing, and a somewhat nice resolution at the end but that's about it. -
I think I'm about 14 years late in reading this book. As a nurse/lactation consultant who works with new moms and babies all the time, I can still relate to and appreciate all the drama and emotion surrounding this time of life for new mothers, but it would have resonated much more sharply (and likely have been very cathartic as well!) with me had I read it around the time that I myself was going through that painful first year of my son's life. Nonetheless, Little Earthquakes was an enjoyable "chick-lit" read. I loved each of the four women portrayed, and each of their individual challenges was very realistic - I would think any reader would connect in at least some way with one of the character's individual trials (crazy mother-in-law, crippling perfectionism based in fear, difficult relationship with your own mother, etc.). Jennifer Weiner's books are a little like Bubble Yum for me - super fun and tasty in the beginning, but the flavor fades quickly after I've finished reading it. Good beach read, or validating novel for all new moms going through those early trials and tribulations of adapting to the inevitable Little Earthquakes of changing your entire existence.
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Great summertime read. I even stayed up late one night to finish it! Motherhood can be lonely, but it can also forge amazing friendships. As someone who has made some of my best friends through the shared adventures of motherhood, I was drawn to the way the women in the book become friends. Each one has a back story that impacts her experience as a new mom. The husbands, mothers, mothers in law, and other supporting characters are believable and add depth to the storyline.
It’s not deep literature, but it did bring me back to the early days of being a mom. Would be a great book for a day at the beach or a plane trip! -
If I wanted to read a book about a woman struggling with parenting, working, and misinformed husbands, I would have wrote one myself. lol
While I loved Big Summer and Mrs. Everything, I can't say the same for Little Earthquakes. It was probably about 100 pages too long and quite frankly, not much happened. It took me much longer than I wanted to finish it as I struggled through the stories of four women trying to "do it all" as new moms. I ended up skimming though the end, and really didn't miss much in the long run. -
Weiner has a way of getting the reader deep inside the heads of her characters. These four women are very different, they have little in common except motherhood, yet they become tight friends. One is a perfectionist, one is a wife who's been cheated on, one lost her baby and one is a laid-back chef with her head firmly on her shoulders. The chef's mother-in-law-from-hell is both hilarious and frightening in its serious threat to her marriage. This is book to savor.
