Author: Sophie Kinsella (Madeline Wickham)
Published: November 4, 2001
Genre: chick lit
Narrator: Emily Grey
Audiobook: 10 discs
Source: borrowed from the library
My Rating: 3 stars
Synopsis (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 Thoughts: I originally borrowed this book since it seemed like a meaningless chick lit book that I could zone out to while reading. After getting through the first few chapters, though, I found myself really enjoying Becky Bloomwood's story. Told with lots of humor and lots of heart, Sophie Kinsella tells a story about a charming, if financially aloof, girl who is tackling her shopping addictions and coming to grips with her reality. It's not the most meaningful book that I have ever read, but it does show how easy it is to get caught up in today's world where stores and banks make it so easy to get credit cards to spend money that lots of us don't have. Becky is one such person who is swept up in the many credit card offers that she receives after graduating from university and ends up spending way more than she makes. And Kinsella makes the situation even better by having Becky work as a financial journalist. It provides for many funny moments in the book.
Becky is a very likeable character, even though she may not always be the smartest. She does try to do what's right and I could definitely identify with her in certain scenarios. She did seem to be a bit over the top at times, but it didn't ruin my experience of the book. I also loved the narrator, Emily Grey. She told the story PERFECTLY! She was so dead on and I didn't feel like I lost anything listening to the book instead of reading it. In fact, I feel like I got more out of it by listening to it.
Now, I have a question for all of you. I'm not that big into series, but I do look for audiobooks that are typically chick lit. I really enjoyed listening to this book, but I don't know if I should read the next book in this series or try another book by this author. If you have read the series, I would love to hear from you! I want to know if this is a series worth reading, or if the rest of the books are basically just the same story as this first book. Please let me know your feelings!
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