DNF at at p165 because it was due at the library and I am already so behind on physical library books.

This book was a victim of Bad Flap Copy!!! The flap copy implies that this is fiction, a series of short stories or something based on real experiences. But no, this is more memoir, a series of anecdotes. Which wasn't what I wanted.

And it was...fine. But not particularly interesting or scintillating. ( )

I was never a huge fan of Bushnell’s original Sex and the City book, even though I was (and still am) an admittedly obsessive fan of everything that came after this initial spark, but do you think I could pass up an opportunity to see what happened to the real Carrie Bradshaw 23 years later? Yes, it’s a bit of voyeurism, as I’m not yet into the middle age bracket nor have I ever lived a “New York It Girl” lifestyle, but once I started reading I practically couldn’t put this book down. Bushnell takes us through all the pitfalls (from unexpected divorces to the strange new Tinder-driven dating world) and all the highs (literally in a few cases to being able to buy the quaint country house you secretly always wanted in close proximity to all your friends) with a perfect blend of wry wit, self-effacing humour, and harsh truths that keeps us as hooked as the gossip columns and watercooler talks. We may not know Bushnell and her friends personally, but like the girls from the show, their stories make us feel like we do; like they are us; like they are all the women in the world. 48 hours later as I closed the pages on another chapter of Bushnell’s life in prose I couldn’t help but think that once again she had hit the nail on the head and gotten into print a sort of prophecy -- one that we could take as it was, as a life lived even with its inevitable messiness, where the heroine (because you know we’re not sitting around waiting for a white knight to come rescue us) wound up satisfied in the end, even though it wasn’t where she thought she was going to be. Maybe there is a new life after 40, or maybe there’s just life whether we like it or not. So let’s all pre-emptively raise a glass “to all that had passed and all we hoped was to come” -- here’s to the next 23 Candace; I for one sure hope you’re still around to give the rest of us your words of wisdom, and some more things to wonder about á la Carrie! ( )

I read Candace Bushnell's new book, Is There Still Sex In The City? in one sitting, alternately highlighting brilliant observations and rolling my eyes. I usually love Bushnell's novels, and quite like her paperback blogs. This book revisits the classic Sex And The City, in the same connected essays kind of style. There's a chatty first-person narrator, relating her own and her friends' experiences. Like the original SatC, there's a lot of people asking their friends round to talk about men, sex, friendship and occasionally awkward, dated looks at Tinder. I don't want to read about how the olds just can't figure out Tinder, we have no shortage of thinkpieces on incomprehensible millennial desires and how different dating is now. No, I want to hear about actual middle-aged dating and romance.

There's a lot to like here, with the same kind of sharp observations and honesty that makes her novels work. She talks about husbands who just don't, whether it's picking up paper towels or participating in marriage, while their wives do all the adulting. And honestly, haven't we all met this couple before? There's also a lot about the enduring value of female friendships.

Bushnell's novels drip with wealth and privilege, and it's usually such great fun to slip into that world. Here, though, it was hard to go along with the anecdote about multi-thousand-dollar facials, because it felt like a tone-deaf complaint about pushy salespeople. (Geez, even the girl friends buying houses in the same stylish town seems like a hopelessly unrealistic dream for our generation.)

If you read One Fifth Avenue and you wondered what Mindy Gooch's blog would be like, this is it. ( )

As a Candace Bushnell fan and a huge Sex In the City fan I was super excited to be able to read this book and it didn’t disappoint!! Yes, there is still sex in the city!!!

This book takes us right back to the world of Carrie and her friends where fabulous shoes are still relevant and NYC and The Village are the backgrounds.

In this novel we get to see how relationships start and end for the older characters. From learning about dating younger me to tinder dates to death and divorce. Everything is very relevant to issues and topics currently at the forefront of our culture.

This is a fast past easy light hearted read with tons of glamour and fan to boost. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am so grateful to Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for allowing me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

Candace Bushnell of Sex and The City fame brings us a new entry that examines the struggles and accomplishments of middle age. She uses her own life and experiences to bring the novel to life and the result is a humorous , witty and at times sad tale of what it’s like to be a middle aged woman trying to navigate life. Candace Bushnell shines as a wonderful storyteller per her usual. The story can sag in pace here and there, but overall, it should appeal to fans of her prior work. Novel supplied by Netgalley. ( )