Confessions of a Shopaholic

by Sophie Kinsella

Book Overview

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher and Love Your Life comes "a hilarious tale . . . hijinks worthy of classic I Love Lucy episodes . . . too good to pass up." (USA... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440241413
• ISBN13: 9780440241416
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Charming. Silly. Perfect!

I needed a break from all the pyscho thrillers I normally read. This was just the ticket. Lighthearted and fun. A quick, engaging read. Highly recommended. Don't try to read too much into every little thing. Just enjoy the ride. P.S. The author pic is hilarious!

Okay

It was okay, quick read but not for me.

Ok

I knew this was a popular series, so I decided to read the first book and see if I'd be interested in reading more. I do like fun, fluffy, romantic stories. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't like the main character. Her self-deception is quite amazing. I know some people are not good at keeping track of their money, but most people know that you can't keep spending after your checking account is in the negative. And she seems to pretty much fake her way through everything - money, work, dating. I think that's an important skill to be able to pull out occasionally, but did she really know ANYTHING besides how to max out her credit card? The writing wasn't awful and I always enjoy reading things that take place in London, so that was fun, but I can't give it more than 3 stars.

Comedy of Errors

What an airhead! The stream of consciousness is a laugh-a-minute as Rebecca succumbs to sale after sale while endeavoring to dig her way out of debt. You see the disasters coming, but the hapless heroine plows right ahead making things worse. She struggles to maintain her poise and facade at work where she is totally inept and in social situations where she manages time after time to put her foot in it. Amazingly this comedy of errors finally works out right. Lots of fun.

This book turned me into a Sophieholic

This book is fun..I mean great fun and not just the girlish giggle type of fun but the LAUGH OUT LOUD fun. Its THAT good! It got me hooked on Sophie Kinsella.I have now all her books in my shelf and can't wait for her to write more! This book, first of all, is the same book known as "COnfessions of a Shopaholic ".(just a different title) I dont know why it has two different titles but anyway... I have started reading humourous chick-lit after I read the two Bridget Jones Diaries. To be honest I was sure I wouldnt find a funnier book than those two but, happily, i found i was wrong :) Kinsella has the touch. I've read "Can You keep a Secret?" and the first two of the Shopaholic books and I'm still craving for more. (thankfully i still got "Shopaholic ties the knot" and "shopaholic & sister" to keep me going) This is a book for those people who want to have a good, healthy laugh, who want to forget for a while the worries and troubles of everyday life. Yes Rebecca Bloomwood has no sense as regards to her personal finance . Yes she becomes totally and irrevocably irresponsible as soon as enters into a shopping mall. But heck, this is what makes the book such fun. We can actually feel good about ourselves because we can never be as bad as her....(some of us at least ;) Her replies to the letters she recieves from her exasperated Bank are hilarious and equally so her reasonings that actually when she is spending she is in fact investing. Her attempts to control her spending are so funny I couldn't stop laughing. The Curry recipe part is really incredibly funny.... I think that most females will find themselves in Rebecca. I bet most of us have thought once or twice on the same lines as Rebecca does when she tries to excuse one of her mad urges for an expensive but not so practical item. All i can say more is go on an read it a perfect light book with humour and also a dash of romance which will warm your heart like whiskey ;)

A thoroughly fun, entertaining read

I was prompted to buy this book by all of the good reviews that I read here, but I must admit that I didn't expect it to be quite as enjoyable as it was. While the familiar plot line is recognizable - single woman working in London, miserable in her job and love life, quirky and amusing, etc. - this book has a different approach - the heroine's life revolves around her attempts to fill the emptiness in her life with possessions and she winds up over her head in debt. She's bored with her life yet doesn't even know where to begin to change it, finally finding salvation in the most unlikely places.I don't want to belabor the plot or the quality of writing and character development (both well above average for the genre). The best aspect of this book for me was how entertaining and funny it was while containing much in it that is easy to relate to - sure, at times it stretched believability but not so far that the book itself became ridiculous. Shopaholic is a delightful distraction, well worth the investment and one of the better entries in the now-familier Bridget genre. I recommend it most highly - it's a wonderfully entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

What a delightful, hilarious read!!

I started it last night and stayed up till 3 a.m. to finish this book! I really enjoyed this book ~~ it was funny, lighthearted and cute! I laughed out loud in some places and found myself shaking my head in other places.Rebecca is a girl who overdraws her bank account and maxes out her Visa card. I am not a big shopper (unless you call shopping for books a shopping spree ~~ then I am!) of clothes but it was funny just to hear her describe her clothes like she is posing for Vogue or Cosmo or even 17. Her justification for buying things are hilarious and the scene where she was trying to make curry made me laugh so hard! (I'm a cook and that scene just cracks me up because I've done the same thing she did!) Sophie took a character riddled with anxieties and insecurities and made her so likeable ~~ you can't help but laugh at some of her excuses. She has a vivid imagination which really carries the book through.I can see why some of the critics didn't care for this book ~~ it does sound like something from a fashion magazine, but Sophie is a good, clean writer. I really enjoyed this book and would like to read more of hers. Her sense of humor is a lot like mine and it is a refreshing read! I recommend it for a light, easy reading and if you're looking for humor, this book has it all.

The darkly humorous side of Shop Till You Drop

Writing a truly humorous novel is, I have to believe, very difficult to pull off. Heaven knows, I've been disappointed often enough. CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, by Sophie Kinsella, is a rare gem.Rebecca Bloomwood is a single, twenty-something English lass with a serious problem. She shops beyond her means with a vengeance, blithely ignoring, sometimes discarding unread, the concerned letters from credit card issuers requesting payment. (The demands are very genteel, of course. Her creditors are British, after all.) Yet, she'll go into a panic at the prospect of losing the opportunity to buy a $540 designer scarf at two-thirds off. Ironically, Becky is also a financial journalist for the magazine "Successful Saving" - she advises readers on strategies for increasing their personal nest eggs.Becky has every good intention of paying her debts, though spending an additional $300 in a single day on Stuff is not extraordinary. The fun of this book is watching her escape from impossible situations, or hemorrhage money, despite every scheme she devises to either save or earn more income. Between chuckles, you just want to slap her out of exasperation - for her own good. Two examples ...Determined not to spend a Saturday on frivolous shopping, she decides to visit London's Victoria and Albert Museum, admission for which she thinks is free. (Save money and absorb culture, all in one go.) Unexpectedly faced with an $8 entrance fee, she purchases the $24 season ticket. Then, after trudging between exhibits, which, disappointingly, have no price tags attached, she discovers ... the Museum Gift Shop.Hoping to land a banking position in the City, she sends off a suitably embellished CV to a high-powered head-hunting firm. So impressed is the agency with her professed abilities, including a totally fictional fluency in Finnish, that its representative, unbeknownst to Becky, arranges an on-the-spot and surprise meeting between her and the recruitment director for the Bank of Helsinki. ("I can't wait to hear the two of you talking away in Finnish," chirps the rep.)This book is particularly delightful because Becky is so endearing. OK, so she rationalizes away reality, and is shallow, immature and irresponsible. However, she's not a bad, malicious person, nor is she hard-core dishonest. She's actually quite pleasant - a most agreeable person with whom to spend the day ... well, shopping. For these reasons, I rooted for her all the way to the end, at which time my faith in her essential goodness was justified. You go, girl!