shopaholic fever / blog template revision

Done with the update of doing my template blog which i really hate the most…i really didn’t end up having the one i really loved…had several revisions and yet, it just seemed to be a real headache causing work for me…

I haven’t been posting recently, not because i don’t have somethin to post but because i’m hooked on some addictus Sophie Kinsella Books.

I am currently reading the SHOPAHOLIC SERIES by Sophie Kinsella

My 1st Read – CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC

This book isn’t a burden to read, usually i get easily tired with books, but Sophie Kinsella just knew how to get readers be hooked on this series. It is fully satisfying.

This book shopaholic just made me one a SOPHIE-holic. It kept me laughing all the way. I loved Sophie,

This book is about Rebecca Bloomwood just hit rock bottom. But she’s never looked better….

Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is that she can’t actually afford it — not any of it.

Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. And lately Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank — letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read — and they’re getting ever harder to ignore.

She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky’s only consolation is to buy herself something … just a little something….

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life — and the lives of those around her — forever.

Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times — and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood’s hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her “confessions” are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.

A good read which kept me checking out other series….

the 2nd series I have read, SHOPAHOLIC TIES THE KNOT

I love Becky Bloomwood, i am impressed how she handled all the stress in wedding preps. I can relate to her since I have been once a bride.

I could relate Becky’s mad desire to spend money, and even though she came off as dumb and irresponsible and the plot was simplistic, it was an okay read.
Becky Bloomwood is a Brit living in New York with her boyfriend. Early on in the book they decide to get married. Becky’s mother, a stereotypical middle-class unsophisticated twit, jumps at the chance to plan a tacky wedding at their home in England. She plunges into it full force, while at the same time the groom’s mother, a conniving, sophisticated rich snob, is forcing the couple to have an unlimited expense wedding at the Plaza. Only Becky knows that there are two weddings being planned. She is being seduced by the glamour of the New York wedding but also knows that her parents have their heart set on planning their only daughter’s wedding. So throughout the book she is planning to decide which wedding to have and how to weasel out of the other one.

The novel has the same quirkiness as Kinsella’s other Shopaholic tales — this time with a growing cast of characters, each more likable than the next. This novel also has a more serious aspect to it when Luke is thrown into emotional turmoil and Becky, for the first time, is called upon to support her husband-to-be and forget her own problems. We see the two of them come together and work through pain and all the while Kinsella keeps us laughing.

3rd book…SHOPAHOLIC TAKES MANHATTAN

The book is narrated be Becky Bloomwood, a financial advisor from London. Does that sound boring to you? Good, because it doesn’t really interest her either. She does a segment on a morning show in London, giving financial advice to people who call in; but her entire life is based around when she can go shopping.

The premise of the book is simple: Becky Bloomwood starts to suspect trouble when she realizes that her boyfriend, Luke Brandon, is hiding something from her. Then she finds out: his job is transfering him to Manhattan, and he has invited her to go with him.
While in Manhattan you hear bits and pieces that add to the general plot of the story (which is based around Luke Brandon, and someone plotting to sink his company), but not a whole lot.

I will forwarn you: the bulk of this book is spent listening to Becky Bloomwood’s shopping experiences. In the previous book, she managed to pay off her debt, but apparently hasn’t paid one bill since she paid off her initial debt. You can live vicariously through her as she strolls down 5th Avenue and takes in all the shops, and then snort at her attempt to hide her shopping endeavors from her boyfriend.

The best part of this story is that you really will learn how an actual shopaholic thinks. Of course the outcome is completely unrealistic, and it probably sends a bad message to anyone out there who really DOES have a problem with credit cards (because, like in the previous book, the actual resolution to this book is in the last few pages, and seems a bit fake).

This book is fun though. If you want to escape to Manhattan and live vicariously through the two weeks of glamour, then it is indeed worth the few hours you could spend reading this book. It’s written in a very witty sort of way – I have a strong feeling it’s autobiographical, but this book is great with describing scenes of situational irony and I did find myself cracking up a number of times, or thinking “I think that exact same thing! I didn’t realize that other people did too!” For example, there is a portion of the book where Becky decides to take a tour of the city, and she holds of the group by stopping and peeking into store windows. Eventually she reaches her mecca: Sax Fifth Avenue. While listening to the tour guide describe this “holy” place, she does not once realize that he is in fact describing St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

4th book …. SHOPAHOLIC and SISTER…which i haven’t finished reading

I’m not even halfway reading the book…

But this is about the honeymoon getaway of Becky and Luke…

Becky Bloomwood is married to Luke Brandon. After a ten month whirlwind honeymoon, they decide to head back home to England early and surprise family and friends. Becky ends up being the most surprised when she finds out her best friend Suze has a new close friend, and in her absense her parents have discovered Becky has a half sister, Jess.

Growing up an only child, Becky is thrilled to discover she has a sister, and is determined to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, Jess doesn’t feel the same way. Becky soon discovers how very different her and Jess are. Becky still has her shopping problem, and insists on helping Luke land new clients for his growing business. The wrong type of client lands Luke in hot water and creates a strain on their marriage.

Her parents act highly unusual to the return of their only daughter after almost a year and seem to be hiding something, her husband who had changed while they were on honeymoon becomes workaholic again, and her best friend has no time for her any longer now that she has two new children and a best friend who understands the hard work of motherhood.

Not long into the book Becky discovers the secret her parents have been trying to hide, she has a sister that her father knew nothing about until not long before. Desperate to make a connection to her long-lost sister and to find a soul mate to replace the best friend she believes she’s lost, Becky throws herself into connecting with this sister, all the while trying to help her husband with his business and keeping their finances above negative, a feat hard to do seeing as she is a shopaholic. Becky’s sister turns out to be the exact opposite, she hates shopping and is very frugal with her money and cannot stand the fact that Becky wastes so much money.

Towards the peak of the book Becky finds herself in strife with all the people that matter most to her, she and her sister fight with harsh words over their differences, her husband is furious with her interferences with his business and her secrets of finance, her best friend and she are too hurt by one another to talk to each other, and her parents are striving to work hard at their marriage. No one seems to have time for Becky so she sets off to try and correct her wrongs within herself and become a better person, thus trying to mend her broken relationship with her estranged sister.

Shopaholic books are great for me…..light read…enjoyable…best in killing boredom….

Thanks to my sister Xianne who lend me these books as part of her collection.

Looking forward to read other books of Sophie….