Keep going Fran. I was actually thinking of that book this morning and it was pissing me off. Maybe this is why I don't read "girly girl" books.

OK, I'm done. Tell me. Is it the binge eating/purging in the end? The way he only recognized that he loved her thin, or the "fairy tales do come true" ending in the last paragraph? (Hmm...so many choices, can't believe I read it twice! Really only did bc I couldn't remember the plot, but once it was revealed it was painful to the finish)

- The fairy tale ending bothers me a lot. I would've much rather seen her get with some other guy than the guy that ignored her when she was overweight.
- The fact that she went from "fat" to "perfect"
- The whole "secret" GF thing where the guy can't possibly have an overweight GF

Maybe I just don't like girly books but it just rubbed me wrong. I think there were other things that bothered me but I can't remember. I just know I was annoyed after reading it and throughout it, certain things annoyed me.

Yeah, the plot was bizarre. I kept thinking he would be gay, but esp in LA, that would not be a hindrance to being a successful business owner, kwim? I had to keep reminding myself tho that the book was written in 99, so maybe then, I don't know. THe internet references & having to "learn" it were certainly funny - internet cafes, etc. Are there even any more of those? I think everyone packs their own laptop now and ic's have been just replaced with hot spots everywhere. But the fact that he couldn't be a gym owner and have a fat girlfriend and went to these lengths for a trophy girlfriend made no sense. I mean, hello, fat girl WORKED at the gym - how damaging could it have been. 2, he could have gotten fat girl healthy in the amount of time it took JJ to get across the ocean, if he really cared that much. 3. He never really took JJ out that much to public events, so who even ever knew he had a girlfriend, or even if he was gay/straight - no one cared. Much like the reader, hmmm?!!

Another hater of Jemima J here. Found it totally unrealistic and insulting. Being over 200 lbs does not automatically equal being a sexless fat lump with no spine any more than being under 120 equals being a shapely sex goddess with a firey personality. Boooo!
I KNOW! I seriously love NR, have tons of her books, but this is one of my pet peeves about her. Come on, Nora, lets have a little diversity! She occaisionally writes about a character that isn't tiny and "delicate" but with underlying strength (ugh, whatev). If you read the "In Death" series (written under JD Robb), Peabody, a secondary character, is described as being all curves and desirable, but constantly worries about her body and the size of her butt (still my fav character in the series, easily). But please do write the Fat Girl's romance novel. I'll be the first in line to purchase a hard back copy. :)

I thought Jemima J was a great read, very entertaining.... certainly NOT realistic though! And her weight loss method was definitely not healthy. That was mentioned in the writing a bit though, but I thought it was ODD and kind of a bad writing style that the author would say, "Perhaps Jemima is eating too little...?" or something to that effect, kind of suggesting that there will be a plot turn where she is anorexic or something, but there was no follow up. I do have to admit that I've read it quite a few times though, [SPOILER] I love how she gets together with the guy at the end :)

Sarah Dessen, a teen fiction writer, has a book called "Keeping the Moon" which is a great one about teen weight loss issues, discovering/embracing inner & outer beauty.... I really enjoyed it! In fact, I think I might reread it now, its a perfect summer read because it takes place in the summer :)

I LOVE chick lit, especially these sorts of books!

Book by Fern Michaels
 

Just finished a book by Fern Michaels "Pretty Woman"

It is a semi-weight loss story. A good read, sort of ran close to my life. She gave the main character real feelings and real thoughts, things I used to think when I was heavy.

This was a good Sunday afternoon read for me

Chris

X

I second Thinner than Thou. Earlier this year, I also read Alternate Beauty by Andrea Rains Weggener. Cute premise, (it's about a size 28 gal who manages a plus-size boutique, not only does her rail-thin mom get on her case but her plump boss threatens to fire her because she's too disturbing to the customers: she goes to bed wishing the world would be more accepting of fat people, and the following morning wakes up in a world where big is desirable and skinny is frowned on; but then she starts losing weight like a shot ...) but I might have preferred if she'd run more with the alternate-reality angle and less with the standard-issue chick lit

:book2:

Just wanted to bring this back up to the top.
I am looking for more reading and I figure more of you are too.

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie is one of my favorite books of all time. The heroine is constantly harrangued by her mother about needing to lose weight. She figures out how to be happy with herself (not by imbracing the "I must be thin to be loved" mantra that was my reason for disliking Jemima J) and finds a man that loves her who never even notices her weight except to talk about how much he loves her curves. The book is funny and sweet.

Has anyone tried typing these titles into Amazon to see what other books they recommend? I find tons of stuff that way.

This is not a novel but it certainly reads like one: Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. It's a little bawdy, but I thought it was hilarious.

The "Size 12 is not fat" series by Meg Cabot is pretty good. It's not really about weight loss but the heroine is a size 12 (size 14 in the second book in the series) and is really hilarious if you're into chick lit. I read it when I'm sick of reading books with waif-like heroines but don't need a lot of serious introspection.

After reviewing this thread, I checked out I am Not The New Me and Diary of a Fat Housewife from the library. Both were compelling reads. I thought that Diary could have been shorter. She goes on and on and on about how miserable she is. I do think she covered how it feels to be fat and how it feels to overeat, despite your best efforts not too, in a very realistic way.

I found it interesting that neither author reached their goals. I appreciated how the author of I am NOt the New Me handled this fact -- it was very raw and realistic. I was frustrated that the author of Fat Housewife had been yo-yoing with an 800 calorie/day diet throughout the diary. There was no mention that this is dangerous and probably the reason she would binge every few days. In fact, at one point, she footnoted an entry about eating under 800 calories by saying that she would never go below 800 these days, but always stays right around 800.

New Me follows Weight Watchers, successfully until near the end. Diary follows the author through 800 calorie days cycled with massive amounts of bingeing. It is not a diet book.

I recommend New Me over Fat Housewife, though thumbing through Fat Housewife and reading occasional entries would be interesting.

Just my 2 cents.

Thank you steph324! Bet Me was the first book that came to mind when I saw this thread but I couldn't remember the name of it.
You're right, it isn't really about a weightloss journey but her self acceptance process does make it a good read for someone doing the weightloss/maintaining thing. And it's funny... and her mother is so incredibly despiseable and yet funny.