Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Dell
Source: Library
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads: "If you've ever paid off one credit card with another, thrown out a bill before opening it, or convinced yourself that buying at a two-for-one sale is like making money, then this silly, appealing novel is for you. In the opening pages of Confessions of a Shopaholic, recent college graduate Rebecca Bloomwood is offered a hefty line of credit by a London bank. Within a few months, Sophie Kinsella's heroine has exceeded the limits of this generous offer, and begins furtively to scan her credit-card bills at work, certain that she couldn't have spent the reported sums.
In theory anyway, the world of finance shouldn't be a mystery to Rebecca, since she writes for a magazine called Successful Saving. Struggling with her spendthrift impulses, she tries to heed the advice of an expert and appreciate life's cheaper pleasures: parks, museums, and so forth. Yet her first Saturday at the Victoria and Albert Museum strikes her as a waste. Why? There's not a price tag in sight.
Eventually, Rebecca's uncontrollable shopping and her "imaginative" solutions to her debt attract the attention not only of her bank manager but of handsome Luke Brandon--a multimillionaire PR representative for a finance group frequently covered in Successful Saving. Unlike her opposite number in Bridget Jones's Diary, however, Rebecca actually seems too scattered and spacey to reel in such a successful man. Maybe it's her Denny and George scarf. In any case, Kinsella's debut makes excellent fantasy reading for the long stretches between white sales and appliance specials."
My Two Cents:
This book was a re-read for me. I had started this series a few years ago and when I saw that Mini-Shopaholic was coming out, I decided to re-read the series. After reading Tiger, Tiger, I figure that I was due for some light reading anyhow.
Luckily, I have never had money trouble. I'm fiscally conservative to almost a fault so while I don't exactly understand where Rebecca Bloomwood is coming from with her crazy spending habits (if she were only buying books, I could totally relate), it only helps to reinforce my own conservative-ness when it comes to that green stuff. This book originally came out in the early 2000s before the current economic recession and I think there may be more having issues with credit cards now than ever before. This book is not meant to be educational by any stretch of the imagination but perhaps some of us can see ourselves in her.
This is a really fun book with a happy ending. If you are looking for a book to take on the train or to the beach with you, this is an entertaining choice!
My rating:
3 out of 5 stars
I was pleasantly surprised by this one, I must admit. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it since, like you, I'm definitely not a 'throwing my money at every passing pair of Jimmy Choos' kinda girl, but actually it put a smile on my face and was a nice bit of escapism. I'm quite looking forward to finally getting to the rest of the series now! :)
ReplyDeleteThis book surprised me when I read it; I thought I would be entirely annoyed by the main character and that she would drive me to throw the book across the room. I was pleasantly surprised and read the rest of the series and other Sophie Kinsella books. Have you read her newest one? I think one just came out not too long ago...
ReplyDelete@Ellie They're definitely cute books even though sometimes I felt like I wanted to show Becky just what exactly is a savings account :P
ReplyDelete@-The Cranky Anthropologist I think the very latest is Mini Shopaholic and I'm waiting until I read the rest of the series. I think the one before that was Twenties Girl, which I read and is sort of cute.
ReplyDeleteIf you're conservative in your spending, Rebecca must have driven you crazy! I really liked these earlier books, but I'm interested to see what you think of Mini Shopaholic (which I finished recently). It will be interesting! :)
ReplyDelete