Customer Reviews

The Book of Jane

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chick lit based on the Old Testament character Job? Who comes up with an idea like this? The answer is writing partners and cool chicks Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. The Book of Jane is the duo's third outing into the world of "Good Girl Lit", a squeaky clean take on the popular women's genre.

The thing is, it works. I've been known to pick up a chick lit book from time to time, guiltily turning a blind eye to the "adult themes" that run so rampant in these tomes. But I'd much rather just read good, clean, fun fiction. This is where Dayton and Vanderbilt come in. The Book of Jane is a great book about a young woman named Jane Williams who seems to have the world by the tail. She has the perfect career, the perfect Manhattan apartment, and the perfect boyfriend. She's also a faith-filled person who wears her values on her sleeve. But the thing is, Jane's faith has never truly been tested. Sure, it's easy to profess a profound belief when everything is going according to her perfectly scheduled agenda for life. But will the same hold true when the wheels start to fall off the cart? Who among us hasn't faced this same dilemma? It's easy to say we are believers when life is smooth sailing, but when the going gets tough we may begin to question whether or not our loving God is paying attention to our prayers.

The Book of Jane is a page turner from start to finish. With a non-denominational approach to religion, the book will appeal to women of any faith background. I loved the book's message about searching for what you truly want in life - it turns out that sometimes what seems "perfect" on the surface is not really what's best after all. Finding the strength to emerge through life's myriad challenges seems easier if you have a solid relationship with God to help you through. Sometimes you have to step away from what may be considered the safest path in order to find satisfaction in this life. So often, the greatest happiness comes in being of service to others.

Chick-lit at its best! The Book of Jane is a terrific read. You won't want to put it down. It's funny, witty, and yes tender. We've all had times in our lives like Jane's. Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt have delivered yet another super book! Thanks girls.

Jane had it all. Great job, wonderful boyfriend, good apartment. Everything was going well for her. But then it all comes crashing down. Her boyfriend dumps her. She loses her job. Her apartment gets halfway destroyed. Rumors are spread about her. And she has this weird rash on her face that won't go away. It's enough to make anyway jump off the deep end. But thanks to her faith in God and a cute guy who seems to pop up at the right moments, Jane learns how to get through it all.

Christian chick lit just keeps getting better and better these days. It's great to read about stories about young women who are Christians with strong faith yet still like to shop for shoes and hunt for guys. Dayton and Vanderbilt's characters live like real people do without being all high and mighty or overly trying to witness to others. They show their faith by their actions, not trying to convert everyone they see. This book was tons of fun to read. Jane is a great character, very multi dimensional and easy to relate to. I felt for Jane especially during the scene where she tries to call her friend for help. Curse words would have uttered out of me at that point. I love the scenes in the hotel. I felt happy that something finally good was going for her. The storyline is a chick lit parable of the book of Job, but luckily Jane doesn't have it half as bad as he did (although the rash on her face would cause her to think she did). She handled things better than I would have in her situation. I would have been faced with the urge to throw something at the perpetrator of all the rumors about her. And her boyfriend: ARGGGHH! I have no complaints at all about this book. I couldn't stop reading it and now I want everyone else to. A funny hip read with a strong message about faith and belief in God. This is a book I could pass along to others even those who don't normally read Christian fiction. Highly recommended for a good time.

I enjoy "chick-lit" that is light, fun and entertaining. And if the aforementioned novel has an uplifting message to boot... well, that makes it perfect. The Book of Jane is a modern-day look into the Bible's book of Job, and the novel enthralled me, touched me, made me smile and at times laugh out loud all at the same time. Twenty-eight-year-old New Yorker Jane Williams has it all. She has a chic apartment in the Village, a fabulous PR job, a great boyfriend, wonderful friends and an awesome hobby as a leader of the Girl Scouts. She is also a devoted Christian. But it's easy to be a Christian when one's life is going well. Will Jane's faith falter if she were to suddenly lose it all? Well, she's about to find out. Jane goes through a tough road to self-discovery, and with an arrogant and coaxing jerk like Coates Glassman to test her, the road gets even bumpier.

I LOVED reading this! Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt know how to fuse an inspirational, Christian message with a fun and sassy voice without being preachy or judgmental. Most people are under the impression that Christians are a strict, joyless bunch. A novel like this proves them wrong. Jane is a great character. She is sweet and grounded. Her flaws and cries for help humanize her. She is a character that all women could relate to. The secondary characters are wonderful as well. I loved Lee, Jane's next door neighbor and best friend. I thought Matt, the movie star, was a tad stereotyped, but that was the one of the very few flaws in this book. The novel starts out a little slow, but it soon becomes impossible to put down. Yes, The Book of Jane is a modern take of Job and how God tested him, and the results are wonderful. Dayton and Vanderbilt are authors whose work I'll look closely from now on. In the meantime, I highly recommend this gem.

This book was described on the back cover as a "contemporary re-telling of the story of Job," but Jane had little in common with Job beyond having it all, then losing it all, then having things get better. (As in, when things started going wrong, she thought God had forgotten her, and, at the lowest point, she doubted God even existed. Her faith only came back once things started to get better. Job never doubted.) Once I realized that and accepted Jane's faith wasn't very deep, I found the story enjoyable and liked the underlying humor that prevented the story from getting depressing. I also really enjoyed her new boyfriend in that both characters helped each other grow and were better people together than apart.

I felt the pacing, especially during the first half, sometimes went too quickly. Jane hardly had time to react to her bad circumstances before things started looking up again. In a way, this made some of her reactions seem shallow--one minute she's feeling angry and betrayed by someone and in the next she's forgiving them simply because they asked. I felt the other characters were more realistic and complex than Jane due to how they handled their ongoing troubles.

This novel had a strong Christian theme, but the characters weren't preachy. Since Christian novels often don't have the following, I'll point out: The characters frequently drank alcohol though they didn't get drunk. Jane also had close physical contact with the men in her life during several circumstances I suspect would have led to temptation if not sex in real life.

There was no sex. There was a minor amount of fake bad language. The novel was written in present tense ("I say" instead of "I said"), but I usually didn't notice and it didn't bother me. Overall, it was an enjoyable, clean novel.

I have no idea who Job is, but the book was great regardless. I didn't find Christianity in this book to be overwhelming at all - it was just a really fun and quick read, filled with humor and romance and all the wonderful chick-lit elements. I especially liked the character of Coates - where can I find a guy like that?? The dreadful things that happen to Jane seemed a bit .. overmuch... at times - I felt like `enough already with her hardships,' but it was nice to see her overcome the obstacles. Great read, very modern and fun, and will definitely warm your romantic heart.

This is by far the authors' best work to date - I couldn't put this one down. It was so easy to identify with Jane and root for her character along the way. I especially loved the character, Coates...(I usually try to put actor's faces to the characters I am reading and I could totally picture Patrick Dempsey in this role :))

It was much more emotional than I expected - more so than any other chick/lit book I've read...I was actually sad to see it end. Here's to more from Dayton & Vanderbilt!

Every book I've read by these authors gets better and better. I was pretty disappointed by Emily Ever After, as I felt that he protagonist was unlikeable and hypocritical. But I saw enough positives in the writing to check out their next book, Consider Lily, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I picked up The Book of Jane the following week, and I absolutely loved it. Jane was real, relatable, and likeable. The plot is a contemporary retelling of the book of Job, and is an encouraging read for anyone who knows what it's like to question your faith when life seems to fall apart. There were actually moments in the book that made my eyes well up: just little kernels of wisdom in there that spoke to my heart. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to the next novel by these authors.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It took me a little bit to get comfortable with the main character Jane, but ultimately found this to be an enjoyable read. I like how these authors put their Christian characters into the real world, living like real people, struggling, just like any other person would with all variety of decisions and choices.

the old "Dick and Jane" books. It was written on the reading level of a young child. But the book (I think) tried to appeal to an older audience. I enjoy reading books from every genre.
I had high hopes for this book by reading the reviews written by people who loved the book. I didn't get it.

I am a Christian and sometimes read books marketed toward Christians. I don't have to agree with any author's viewpoint or religion to enjoy his/her book.
I am a very open-minded person and like to learn about the viewpoints, ideas, and religions of others. I am saying this because the fact that it is a Christian book in no way made me dislike it or find it boring; or judge it any less harsh than I do every book I read. Life is too short. It is certainly too short to read boring books that you have to force yourself to read.
I labored through every page, only because I was determined to see what I was missing; since some people gave it 5 stars.

I would suggest anyone considering this book read a few pages and see if the writing style is something you enjoy. I gave the book 2 stars because there may be people who like books which are written very simplistically, and it may be the book for them.