Big Summer and Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love and Writing

Genre: Fiction and Nonfiction

This is the story of Daphne Berg and her friend, Drue Cavanaugh. The two have not spoken for quite some time as they had a fight and have gone their separate ways. Drue has always had the perfect body, the perfect clothes, the perfect friends, the perfect rich family. And there's more, because now she's about to marry the perfect man in the perfect wedding, and she wants Daphne by her side. But, Daphne can't forget that terrible night when Drue was so mean to her. She has built a life that her younger self wouldn't recognize: a successful business and social media presence, she's still close with her family, has a few close friends and she's dating too. Sure she's still overweight, but she's happy. Why is Drue coming back now? Can Daphne learn to trust her again? This is a story about friendship, and learning that growing up means being authentic to who we truly are, and not necessarily who we used to think we would become.

I read this book this past summer, knowing that it would be the perfect summer read. I enjoyed it well-enough. There is no depth to the story, but is a well-written enjoyable enough story that fits the bill as a beach read. This one will not stay with me for any length of time and is purely a silly pleasure read.

Generally, after I finish reading a book, I often think whether I would want to read another story by the same author. My answer, in this case, was no. I'm not a beach read sort of a gal. I find great pleasure in stories, but I want to be moved, to learn, to grow from stories and Weiner's books don't do that. And then I saw her interview. This was during the the summer of Covid and I spent quite a bit of my time watching author interviews for fun, so I looked Weiner up and watched an interview she did in 2014 (https://youtu.be/_GwoxpTzFyE) and really enjoyed it. She comes off as funny, witty and smart and a great story teller. Recently, during one of my book groups, I mentioned how much I enjoyed the interview but not so much the book and one of my friends mentioned that she has an autobiography. Well, I had to find out more about this woman as I felt like there was an incongruity between her book and the person she seems to be in her interview. This is a short synopsis of her book, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love and Writing.

This is the true story of author, Jennifer Weiner's life. Weiner writes about her life with a mother who loved her and her three siblings, her ill father, who once did, but then could not, love them. Her marriage, her children, her dog, her education, her work as an author, an activist and a social media wiz. What I found is that this ivy league educated woman is a force to be reckoned with. She's strong, determined and really loves writing fiction for women as an escape. She's a feminist and an animal lover. She also began writing her first book after a failed relationship and wanted to tell a story of a relationship that worked, as a means of healing. I really enjoyed this book.

Well, that's never happened to me. I think I may like the author more than her books. After reading her autobiography, do I love her book more? Not really. Will I go back and read another one? You know, I think I might give another one a try.