Wifey by Judy Blume

[Hullo_nurse]

I have finished this book and must say I was VERY disappointed. It did not live up to it's expectations at all, nor, really, to the jacket cover.

If you are looking for some hot writing, your best bet is to stick with the stories here!!

Has anyone else read this book and want to comment? OR read a book that was supposed to be great but did not live up to it's expectations?

 

[Sammyjo]

No, I haven't read this one. Is this a newer book that she's written?

I did read Summer Sisters...I liked it, but my grandma wasn't too thrilled with it.

 

[Svedish_Chef]

Let me be confused for a minute but the only Judy Blume I ever read was written for young teenage females... what is this all about?

 

[Guest]

Um...

Judy Blume writes racier stories? The ones I read were "Are You There God, It's Me Margart" and "Then Again, Maybe I Won't". I read those back in late elementary school (like 9 or 10). There were stories about the ups and downs of puberty from both the female & mail point of view.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Everything Anne Rice wrote after "Interview With a Vampire" disappointed me. I know "Lestadt" is better, but once I got the premise of the whole vampire thing I, you know, GOT it, and it just seemed like she kept raking over the same coals. They're wonderful coals, mind you, but I don't need to read three more books about the same thing.

On the other hand I was surprised by a book I avoided reading my whole youth: "Cather in the Rye". I finally picked it up a few years ago, sure that such a thin thing couldn't possibly live up to its hype. It does.

 

[Endlessly]

To follow DCL's note, I've been reading TONS of classics on my break at work lately (got to bring some modicum of dignity to BK, y'dig?) and they've been really surprising.

Tess of the D'Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy-- Return of the Native is still my all-time favorite by him, but this book disappointed me a lot less than some of his other novels. I liked it.. It was near the end of his career as a novellist though, and you can tell he was making the transition from gleefully morbid to bitter.

Stranger in a Strange Land-- I've been putting off reading this for a really long time, and now I'm positively hooked. Incredible stuff; I grok y'all in fullness.


BTW, I just recieved the 25th anniversary edition of the Princess Bride in hardback as a gift, and it included the first chapter of the long-lost sequel, buttercup's baby, and a wonderful introduction. I cried.

 

[Melody_lane]

The only book that I ever truly detested reading was My Antonia...terribly boring. It was some summer reading project for school. Why, I always wondered, they felt it necessary to give us assignments over vacation!? I never finished that book, but received an 'A' on my report. Wonders never cease. I always just assumed the teacher never read it either, because half of that paper was just creative bullshit.

 

[Katie]

I read all of those Judy Blume books as a kid, so when I heard that she was trying her hand at writing books geared toward adults, I picked up "Summer Sisters." It was on the bestsellers list and was available in superabundance at all the bookstores.
I think I only got about a chapter into it before I gave up completely. The book is currently covered in dust on my bookshelf, where it will remain until the next garage sale.

 

[ShyGoddess]

I had that same reaction to hearing that Judy Blume, author of all the Ramona books, and my personal favorites, Tale of the Fourth grade nothing, Super Fudge, and there was another, but I can't remember what it was, writes soft porn books. My friends suggested I read Wifey, and I did. I too was awfully disappointed. I mean, who could really put up with a husband like that? But it was incredibly boring. I thought she was going to discover herself, leave her husband do something, but no, alas(sigh) total let down. Okay I've rambled enough. I'll stop now.

 

[*Eve*]

I read wifey when I was about thirteen and it was the first book that mentioned sex so graphically. I thought it ok and I have to agree with ShyGoddess about the disappointing ending. I have read better. I think the best book she ever wrote was Super Fudge.
I loved this book called Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston. If you can get past the dialect in which she writes you can really get into it.
I loved the liked The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned in vampire chronicles by Anne Rice and the Mayfair Witch series, but a lot of her books were not meant to be full length novels and she has a way of beating a story to death. I'm no critic but I know what I like.

 

[CreamyLady]

I had that same reaction to hearing that Judy Blume, author of all the Ramona books,

Beverly Cleary wrote the Ramona stories. Judy Blume specialized more in angst.

 

[ShyGoddess]

I had that same reaction to hearing that Judy Blume, author of all the Ramona books,

Beverly Cleary wrote the Ramona stories. Judy Blume specialized more in angst.

You are correct, thank you for correcting my mistake.

 

[CreamyLady]

You are correct, thank you for correcting my mistake.

Beverly Cleary's stories had an altogether sunnier outlook than Judy Blume's, in my humble opinion. I loved Ramona, even though I was the Big Sister and could have been expected to empathize with Beezus.

My favorite Beverly Cleary book, though, was Emily's Runaway Imagination.

PS: I don't mean to be critical. I just have the mind of a librarian . . .*G*

 

[Hullo_nurse]

Wifey and Summer Sisters

Both have just been written in the past, say year... She is attempting to do the soft porn thing for adults like she did with Are You There God... for prepubescents...

It did NOT work.

Hated it...

So, it seems like Summer Sisters sucked too? I have it here on my shelf to read. Guess I'll save it for when I have nothing else....

Oh well...

 

[Katie]

Re: Wifey and Summer Sisters

So, it seems like Summer Sisters sucked too? I have it here on my shelf to read. Guess I'll save it for when I have nothing else....

Well...I didn't get too far into it...and I believe someone else said, earlier in the thread, that they kinda liked it.
Ehhhh...just wasn't enough to hold my interest.

 

[SpecialK]

Trip down memory lane...

I haven't read any of Judy Blume's latest adult novels, but I have seen them on the shelves and been tempted. Now I'll know not to bother.

As for the Ramona books aforementioned by author Beverly Cleary, I think B. Cleary was my first favourite author. My ultimate fave by her was a book called "Fifteen". I think I first read this book when I was about 8 or 9, and I bought it from a school book sale and read it secretly in my room with the light from the night light (I shared a room with my kid sis who would have been 2 or 3 at the time, fyi) because I didn't think my mother would let me read the book, since it was a romance about a teenager and a boy. Despite how my reading level and tastes have advanced, I still love the book. I need a new copy; my original is so worn and tattered.

Thanks for this waltz down memory lane. <wistful sigh>

K

 

[ShyGoddess]

I think that my first favorite book was called "Number the Stars". If you have never read it, well, it takes place in Denmark, during World War II. It tells of the stuggles of one family living through the Holocaust, and how they help Jews escape to Norway and Sweden. I think that it is an execellent book for young people. It is told from the view point of a young girl. You can feel her confusion about why people would do this to other people. If you have a 10 or 11 year old, or even a teenager, I highly recommend this book for them.

 

[Gingersnap]

I detest anything by Gunther Grass. The first book I remember reading was "Catcher in the Rye". I laughed about the friend who was "the secret slob" and was hooked.. It made my prepubery almost bearable. I watched little TV growing up and spent the majority of my time reading up in a tree. I discovered Kurt Vonneget and Hunter S. Thompson at
thirteen and have never been the same. Books have always been there for me to help explain and let me know I am not alone. They taught me survival and got me where I am today. I have written many short stories some of them erotic but am a little too shy to submit them yet.... Thanks folks for all your hard work..