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4th out of 19 books
—
16 voters
Girls' Poker Night
by
Jill A. Davis (Goodreads Author)
Dissatisfied both with writing a “Single Girl on the Edge/ Ledge/Verge” lifestyle column and with her boyfriend (who has a name for his car and compulsively collects plastic bread ties), Ruby Capote sends her best columns and a six-pack of beer to the editor of The New York News and lands herself a new job in a new city.
In New York, Ruby undertakes the venerable tradition...more
In New York, Ruby undertakes the venerable tradition...more
Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages
Published
February 3rd 2004
by Ballantine Books
(first published February 19th 2002)
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2.5 stars, but I approve of the way it ended, so i'm rounding up. Davis the writer is like Ruby, her protagonist. She pushes you away with quirkiness, but deep inside there's an interesting story and thoughtful writing just trying to get out. There were points that I read and thought--I can really relate to that. And then Davis would move onto another tedious character or have Ruby do something to tick me off and I'd get irritated.
I have a very low tolerance for self-destructive characters who p...more
I have a very low tolerance for self-destructive characters who p...more
If you liked "Good in Bed", you'll probably like this too.
This is a pretty entertaining book about a writer who hides behind humor and makes changes rather than facing life issues (e.g.,new job/move to New York instead of breaking up with her boyfriend). On page 1, she writes, "Imagine settling for a life you can have because you don't have the courage to go after the life you really want. That's what made me do it -- make one of those decisions -- the kind that bends your future in a whole new...more
This is a pretty entertaining book about a writer who hides behind humor and makes changes rather than facing life issues (e.g.,new job/move to New York instead of breaking up with her boyfriend). On page 1, she writes, "Imagine settling for a life you can have because you don't have the courage to go after the life you really want. That's what made me do it -- make one of those decisions -- the kind that bends your future in a whole new...more
I just needed something light and mindless to read whilst my student teacher is teaching. Jill Davis' Girls' Poker Night was passed around at this year's Book Club Christmas Book Exchange. My friend Shannon, whose sense of humor I thoroughly enjoy, said she laughed out loud reading it! I did not.
The thing is -- I'm not even opposed to chick lit on principle. Sometimes -- times like now -- I even seek it out. I need a reading break every once in awhile. But this book just did not do it for me. Wr...more
The thing is -- I'm not even opposed to chick lit on principle. Sometimes -- times like now -- I even seek it out. I need a reading break every once in awhile. But this book just did not do it for me. Wr...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I read this book in a day as I really enjoyed it. But since then, I have forgotten what it was about! Amazon to the rescue for the recap. It seemed like a combination of various of articles which is always a good format for me. The title doesn’t really have much to do with the actual book as a girl tries to figure out her life with the help of her friends in a poker group, but it was a really minor part of the book. The girls and her leaving Boston to come to NYC for a job is the bigger part. Sh...more
Escaping an unwanted relationship in Boston, Ruby Capote takes a job as a columnist in New York where she restarts an old college tradition, her weekly poker night, with friends she’s had for ages. A lot of her columns are based on the stories told over the poker table.
While the majority of the book is Ruby’s whining about her various issues---her parents splitting up, her father dying, and her own sabotaging efforts with all aspects of relationships, Ruby does discuss her views on her friends a...more
While the majority of the book is Ruby’s whining about her various issues---her parents splitting up, her father dying, and her own sabotaging efforts with all aspects of relationships, Ruby does discuss her views on her friends a...more
I really love when books like this happen to me. I picked this one up with no intention of reading it anytime in the near future, and I got this itch--fate knocking at my door, if you will--to just read the first page. One page lead to two, and before I knew it, it was over.
The book is chick-lit, but I love that so-called "trash." It's told from the perspective of Ruby Capote, a writer who lands a job with the New York News by sending a six-pack of beer in with her resume...several months later...more
The book is chick-lit, but I love that so-called "trash." It's told from the perspective of Ruby Capote, a writer who lands a job with the New York News by sending a six-pack of beer in with her resume...several months later...more
Well... This book... I bought it because I had finished all the books that I brought away with me. I'm really not sure how I felt about this book. There were times where I couldn't stop laughing, there was a lot of humour in this book. I couldn't really identify with any of the characters and you didn't see much of them (not even the main character). I didn't like the way it was laid out either. It kinda reminded me of a leaflet... There was too mucgh going on at one time, I didn't feel that it...more
Ruby Capote needs a change from her boring life in Boston, so she finds a job in New York and falls for her boss.
Notes: I started reading this book slowly, but then I got interested. So I finished the whole book last night, after reading the first 50 pages over a period of 3 or 4 days. Ha Ha! Jill Davis is a funny writer. This book is what I expected of Candace Bushnell's Sex & The City (except less sexed). Good fun read.
"But the truth is I'm kind of happy with the way I turned out. I mean,...more
Notes: I started reading this book slowly, but then I got interested. So I finished the whole book last night, after reading the first 50 pages over a period of 3 or 4 days. Ha Ha! Jill Davis is a funny writer. This book is what I expected of Candace Bushnell's Sex & The City (except less sexed). Good fun read.
"But the truth is I'm kind of happy with the way I turned out. I mean,...more
I honestly could not put this book down. I thought it was hilarious. I actually laughed out loud at a number of occassions. The style took a little to get used to. There aren't really chapters and there's no real sequence to the book, but I did find that it was a refreshing departure from more standard books.
Though it was obvious in the first 25 pages what was going to happen, I loved the wit and sarcasm of the characters.
The book was written very disjointedly, just like my brain thinks and I t...more
Though it was obvious in the first 25 pages what was going to happen, I loved the wit and sarcasm of the characters.
The book was written very disjointedly, just like my brain thinks and I t...more
The book cover caught my attention. I love playing cards. The actual story was just okay for someone like me. I'm nowhere near a world like Ruby's. I relate more to her friend Meg. I did like the "voice" of Ruby though because she was somewhat humorous, if not overconfident, and I could help but think of the comic Sarah Silverman throughout the story.
I wouldn't recommend anyone go check this book out, but if you're stuck on a bus or in a waiting room, the story would be a more interesting way to...more
I wouldn't recommend anyone go check this book out, but if you're stuck on a bus or in a waiting room, the story would be a more interesting way to...more
The writing is clever, the story premise interesting, but Davis captured her neurotic lead character a bit too well. By writing from Ruby's POV, she avoided all the important moments and issues just as her character did. (An interesting technique, and maybe that was the point.) But by using a "series of vignettes" style instead of cohesive chapters, the story's unfolding left too many gaps for me, the reader, to fill in, and the brevity of each scene kept me on the surface for far too long. I li...more
I brought this along on vacation because it was still on my bookshelf and I (thought) I was giving it its final re-read before leaving it behind at the beach. I forgot how much I liked it. Davis' writing is smart, but because this book came out in the 90s and was about a single woman, it got lumped into the vast "chick lit" juggernaut. It's not a heavy or serious literary work by any means, but her depth and her honest and wry tone set this one above most chick-lit offerings. I didn't leave it b...more
I picked this book up at a library sale and about 100 pages in, realized I had already read it a couple of years ago. I still kept reading. I really liked the writing style - very honest and filled with a sort of wry, almost sad humor, mostly because it seems like the protagonist is a little bit messed up, and she half-knows this and half-deludes herself. Ruby Capote leaves her boyfriend and Boston to work in New York City. Shes afraid of letting her boyfriend down so she takes the chicken route...more
I picked this book up at one of the many library sales we go to. I thought the cover was interesting and had read a bit of the flap.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a lighthearted, easy read and left me really wondering about myself. The main character, Ruby, decides her current relationship is going nowhere, so she moves to New York and gets a new job. However, even in New York, we realize that her life isn't all that easy and that she tends to run away from being close to anyone.
The characte...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was a lighthearted, easy read and left me really wondering about myself. The main character, Ruby, decides her current relationship is going nowhere, so she moves to New York and gets a new job. However, even in New York, we realize that her life isn't all that easy and that she tends to run away from being close to anyone.
The characte...more
If you like "Sex and the City" and enjoy chick-lit, "Girls' Poker Night" is a book that you probably will enjoy. This debut novel by Jill A. Davis is a quick, easy read that is sharp and witty. The author has experience with comedy having worked as a writer on the David Letterman show. The novel is comprised of many mini-chapters...often less than a page long each. This makes the book very easy to read in spare moments.
Ruby Capote is a young woman who writes a `single woman on the edge column.'...more
Ruby Capote is a young woman who writes a `single woman on the edge column.'...more
This is a light, quick read that was really entertaining and actually funny. The writing style is somewhat conversational - there aren't a lot of intense, detailed descriptions; it was more like listening to a talkative girlfriend who tells really good stories. I'm not a laugh-out-loud reader, but this book did make me smile while reading in public. This is a great vacation book - as long as you bring along something else, because it isn't long.
This has to have been the most random written book, I have read. The title, Girls' Poker Night, really does not have much to do with the storyline. The ladies may have gotten together to play poker all of 5 times during the read. I must say though, Ruby's experiences are relate-able for most late 20, early 30 something ladies who have yet to fully settle down in life. Or at least for me. Girls' Poker Night was simply okay. It's not one I would suggest to my avid reader friends, at all.
Apr 09, 2012
Marsha
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
humor,
literature-fiction
When Ruby Capote gets a new job, she finds new friends and a never-ending source of comfort and input. The talk from the women is ribald, frank and eye-popping as all get out. This is what happens when women get together, let their hair down, have a few drinks and, yes, play a few rounds of poker. Get ready for female bonding that is just not your genteel down-South talk over biscuits and mint juleps.
Feb 25, 2011
Susan O'Bryant
added it
This one is totally snarky and hilarious. I can identify with the main character, Ruby Capote, and many of her funny personality quirks. She's indecisive, and a little obsessive. Okay, a lot obsessive. Here's a quote from the book that I think is rather meaningful, at least to me: "But the world is filled with things to want and not want - so how is it that I still can't put my finger on what I do want?"
didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would – about a single woman who is dealing with or ignoring her past which in turn is having an effect on her present – her story is interwoven into the brief stories of the other women who make up girls poker night - kind of disjointed which made this a slow read when it really should not have been – mixes humor and drama
Wanted to read something light and funny in the aftermath of the hurricane and the rather sad book I previously read, so I started this one. I breezed through it and it was just as I'd hoped; quirky and humorous with a good story and a surprisingly interesting main character. It made me laugh out loud and I loved the character's motley crew of best girlfriends. I really liked it :)
The writing style was a bit disjointed for me but once I got used to it, I rather enjoyed the story. I felt like I was watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly and it was so subtle & believable. I know that this book has been compared to Bridget Jones' Diary, but for me it wasn't nearly as funny. There were funny parts in it, but I didn't find it as humorous overall.
I read this book in one sitting not because it was a page turner, but because I kept waiting for the climax. It was very unoriginal. I kept waiting for Ruby to turn into Carrie Bradshaw, and for a section on Mr. Big to appear.
All in all, I have to say that I did like this book, because however unoriginal it was it did get me laughing :-)
All in all, I have to say that I did like this book, because however unoriginal it was it did get me laughing :-)
I got to page 30. I wish I could say why I disliked this book so much. It is random. Nothing flows, it is almost like diarrhea of the author's thoughts. She comes up with some very pithy comments, but she doesn't hold a plot at all. She probably would have been good at writing something like All I Needed To Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
In its category this book is a five. But all books considered it can't be amazing. A new favorite though for sure. The author and therefore main character are brilliantly witty. I laughed audiablly throughout the book. And along with a boy meets girl story was real content and truth about human nature and life. Hooray! I loved it.
I really love when books like this happen to me. I picked this one up with no intention of reading it anytime in the near future, and I got this itch--fate knocking at my door, if you will--to just read the first page. One page lead to two, and before I knew it, it was over.
The book is chick-lit, but I love that so-called "trash." It's told from the perspective of Ruby Capote, a writer who lands a job with the New York News by sending a six-pack of beer in with her resume...several months later...more
The book is chick-lit, but I love that so-called "trash." It's told from the perspective of Ruby Capote, a writer who lands a job with the New York News by sending a six-pack of beer in with her resume...several months later...more
Dec 30, 2010
bookczuk
added it
This was given to me by someone, but I can't remember who -- Thought this might be a light, diversionary read, especially since the author wrote for David Letterman for a while, but I just couldn't get into the story. Didn't finish, but it's probably not the book's fault.
You will laugh. You will cry. You will mostly laugh... OUT LOUD!
If you'd like to read something that's a little bit different, that pokes fun at the girls, you'll love this book. It's a slightly irreverent look at women and their relationships.
A light, fun read.
If you'd like to read something that's a little bit different, that pokes fun at the girls, you'll love this book. It's a slightly irreverent look at women and their relationships.
A light, fun read.
Finished reading it only because I had a terrible head cold and wanted to read something that required absolutely no concentration. Not even a good “trashy” book. In the style of Sex and the City or Bridget Jones’ Diary...only not as good as the latter.
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Jill A. Davis was a writer for Late Show with David Letterman, where she received five Emmy nominations. She has also written several television pilots and movie screenplays in addition to short stories. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.
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Nov 16, 2009 04:30pm