10th June, 2008

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

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I stayed up until 2.30 a.m. last night to finish reading this book. I was eager to know the ending, so staying up late for it was no big deal!

There’s no doubt that this book has been a huge hit and so was the movie starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. No, I did not watch the movie yet though I’d really want to. It should be interesting to see Holly opening Gerry’s letters every month on screen and following her on her journey of self-recovery and doing some soul searching.

Holly’s husband and soul mate, Gerry, passed away due to brain tumour. She just can’t imagine life without him and thought she’d never be able to let him go. Then later, she receives a package from Gerry himself! He sent it just before he died. In the package are 10 sealed envelopes for Holly to open every month. She cannot cheat and open all of them at once, although she’d loved to do it!

And so Gerry’s letters help Holly move on in life without him. It’s hard but Holly is extremely lucky to have a supportive family and best friends to help her go through it. Her parents are a great help. Richard, the secretive and quiet oldest brother, surprises Holly in a number of ways. Jack, Holly’s favourite brother, has been quite distant, much to Holly’s disappointment. Then, there’s Ciara, the loud and noisy younger sister and Declan, who’s always holding a video camera nowadays.

Let’s not forget Holly’s best friends, Sharon and Denise. Both try their best to cheer Holly up as much as possible but sometimes they wonder if she’ll ever get better or if she’ll forever be depressing. However, it’s not easy on Holly’s part when she witnesses her friends’ moments of joy and happiness. Moments that she can never have with Gerry.

Holly makes a new friend too and his name is Daniel. He has recently broken up with his girlfriend and moved to Dublin while buying up a bar called Hogan’s at the same time. He’s good-looking and has been an understanding friend, but does he expect to be more than friends with Holly?

The ending was totally unexpected. Well, I didn’t expect the ending to be like that actually. All the same, ‘P.S. I Love You’ is definitely an enjoyable book, despite the sadness of it all. Ahern’s writing style is easy and funny, just like a chick lit book. Is this book considered as chick lit? Hmm, maybe not. If you’re the overly sensitive and emotional type, prepare a box of tissues when you read it! =)

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Maria, nylusmilk, Kathleen, Melody

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Posted in Authors A, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Romance, Titles P at 4:02 am | Comments (12)



26th March, 2008

Sticky Fingers by Niki Burnham

The story starts with Jenna who is reluctant to open the letter from Harvard University. Would it be a rejection letter or an acceptance one? Well, she got accepted into Harvard anyway and she’s simply thrilled just thinking about it. She’s also 100% positive that her boyfriend, Scott, has been accepted too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get into Harvard.

In Jenna’s eyes, Scott is the most perfect guy on earth. Everything about him is wonderful to her. The only imperfect thing would be him pressuring her to sleep with him. She’s not ready to take that step yet but he feels that she can’t relax.

Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, seems to be having problems of her own lately. She has to deal with her parents’ divorce and Jenna suspects her of being a shoplifter but she’s just not sure about it. When she saw Courtney knock a bottle of nail polish into her purse, she thought she must be hallucinating. Why would Courtney, who doesn’t seem to have financial problems, be stealing nail polish from a store?

One day, Jenna sees Scott arguing with Courtney. She asked Scott what was it all about but he wouldn’t tell her much. She also won’t ask Courtney because at that time, they weren’t really speaking to each other. That arguing part got me interested in reading more about what Scott is really up to. Why is he hiding things from his girlfriend? What is it that he doesn’t want Courtney to tell Jenna?

Later at a party, Scott does the unthinkable. He does something Jenna thought he’d never do to her but then, she’s just oblivious of his real character. He is nice to her, like trying to be the perfect boyfriend and all, but he just can’t wait for her to say yes.

This would be a good book for teenagers and also for those whose boyfriends keep asking them for sex although they have already said “NO!” many, many times. It’s time to think of whether he’s really sincere or not. Ask yourself if he’ll still be around after you get pregnant. He can tell you that he loves you a lot, promising this and that to you, but just think about it.

The thing about Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, is that why didn’t she just tell Jenna what Scott planned to do? Why did she just keep quiet about it? And also WHY is she still being friendly to Scott when she knows that he’s not a good guy after all? Courtney’s a mystery, that’s all.

Anyway, enjoy Sticky Fingers. It’s been a good and quick read. I’m going to check out other books by Niki Burnham. =)

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Posted in Authors B, Contemporary, Girls/Women, School Stories, Titles S, Young Adult Fiction at 8:21 am | Comment (0)



28th November, 2007

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2000
ISBN: 0440241413

The first book of the popular Shopaholic series! It has another title, too, which is ‘The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic’. Yup, we meet Rebecca Bloomwood and in this book, she and Luke aren’t together. Yet. I wanted to know how they met and boy, it’s all absolutely exciting. I couldn’t stop reading last night and just kept turning the pages to know what happens next!

Rebecca or Becky is 25 years old and she completely adores shopping. She’s a financial journalist at Successful Saving magazine. Although she finds her work hopelessly boring, she sticks to it because it’s a job and she gets paid. Oh, she also gets bombarded with numerous letters from her bank and Visa. Why’s that? Well, she’s spent too much and hasn’t paid the bills yet, that’s why!

Finally, taking her dad’s advice, without his knowledge, she tries to C.B. which means ‘cut back’ on her spending. However, she ends up spending more money instead. When she felt like there’s no more hope, her flatmate, Suze, suggested that she tried to Make More Money so she can pay off her bills.

Somehow, Becky applied to be a Saturday shop assistant at a clothes store. Sure, she loves clothes and all, but hiding a pair of jeans from a customer??? That’s hilarious! You never know what she’ll do next. She makes up lies and all kinds of stories just to get her own way and to me, she comes across as a very selfish person.

How’s her relationship with Luke in this book? He’s deemed a genius and he built his company, Brandon Communications from nothing. Also, he’s in the list of the 100 Richest Bachelors. Tarquin, Suze’s cousin, has also made the list. He’s interested in Becky but she’s not that into him, unfortunately. Anyway, things changed after she spotted him in the richest bachelor list.

Becky thinks that Luke Brandon likes her. But, she’s not quite sure. She even had a good time choosing a luggage bag with him. Apparently, the luggage was for his girlfriend! Was she furious when she found out! And all the while she thought that he actually liked her. Since then, she’s never trusted him and decided to hate him.

At the beginning of the book, only bad things happened to her. Partly because she caused them to happen. You feel sorry for her and yet you just want to laugh out loud at her silliness! It’s like the other Shopaholic books I’ve read. And I have two more books to go – the one where she gets married and the other one with the baby!

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: BookChica

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles C at 10:17 am | Comments (4)



8th November, 2007

The Best Little Girl in the World by Steven Levenkron

Fat and Skinny had a race
All around the pillow case
Fat fell down and broke her face
Skinny said, ‘Ha-ha, I won the race.’

‘The Best Little Girl in the World’ sounds like a really simple title, doesn’t it? Well, this story is much more than simple actually. My sister recommended this book for me to read. I wondered why she never recommended it earlier!

The ‘little girl’, Francesca Louise Dietrich, a normal teenager who loves ballet and goes for ballet lessons. At the beginning of the story, Francesca has already begun to hate her ‘fat body’. Then, I think her ballet teacher made matters worse by telling her to be slim and firm herself up. But I guess her teacher meant for her to diet in a healthy way.

Anyway, Francesca created a new name for herself: Kessa. In her mind, Kessa is thin and perfect whereas Francesca is fat and ugly. So that’s how her obsession of becoming thin started. She drifted away from her family and friends and also from food altogether.

I was quite annoyed with her mother, Grace and also her father, Harold. Kessa must have become terribly thin already and always made up excuses not to eat her food but her parents did not entirely force her to eat. They let her do anything she wants initially. When she complained about the food, they merely scolded her but didn’t make her eat.

After some time, her father could not take it anymore and stood over her and made her eat up her food. However, they did not know that she would throw up all the food she ate in the toilet. And yet they wonder why she’s still so thin. Finally, Kessa’s pediatrician advised her parents to let Kessa see a psychiatrist, a Dr Smith.

Things did not really go well with Dr Smith and Kessa stopped seeing him. Then, her parents took her to another psychiatrist, Sandy Sherman. Well, at least Sherman sounds better than Smith, Kessa’s father thought. Yeah, he’s better too because he made Kessa trust him and confide in him.

Kessa’s condition did not improve, as she still won’t eat and finally landed in the hospital. I like her roommate, Lila, who’s very straightforward and full of common sense. She tells Kessa it’s silly to NOT want to eat when they have food right in front of them. Then what about poor people who don’t have food? Poor people don’t simply starve themselves to become thinner. It’s logical, isn’t it?

I think this is the first book about anorexia nervosa that I’ve read. So far, I’ve only watched a movie, Hunger Point, which is also about an anorexic girl. The Best Little Girl in the World has been an insightful book but at some parts where Kessa was examining herself and when she was counting the number of ribs she has, I felt sort of uncomfortable for her. If one could count the number of ribs one has, then that person ought to feel extremely hungry! I know I will.

This book has its good and bad sides. The good part is that it’ll give us an idea of how an anorexic thinks. The bad part is it may help people become anorexics, which is just bad, bad, bad. Therefore, I recommend that you only READ it for information but NOT to copy what Kessa did. It sounds logical, isn’t it?

In short, when you are hungry, EAT! Your body will thank you for it.

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Posted in Authors L, Girls/Women, Titles B, Young Adult Fiction at 4:39 am | Comments (7)



14th August, 2007

Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2001
ISBN: 0552999407

The story in this book occurs before Shopaholic and Sister but I don’t mind because it’s quite fun when you know what’s happened already. All I needed to know was HOW it all happened.

It’s still about Becky Bloomwood, excessive shopper. As usual, she buys stuff she fancies and then forgets all about it. She can’t pack light and is just an incredibly unrealistic person. I feel she’s an over-confident person and when disaster befalls her, she’s landed in total shock. Not good.

Anyway, she managed to land herself in a huge debt and what’s worse, it’s been splashed onto the Daily World newspaper, for all in England to read! She only found out about it while on a holiday weekend with her career-obsessed boyfriend, Luke. Haha! She’s obsessed with shopping while Luke is obsessed with making it big in his career and in New York!

Her flat mate and best friend, Suze has tried to warn her to control her shopping but Becky is such an impulsive shopper. Becky even bought numerous frames made by Suze even though Suze insisted that she’ll make one especially for her. However, Becky bought the frames because she wants to encourage the other customers in the shop to buy them as well.

I was quite annoyed at the part where Becky’s neighbour, Tom, who was getting married to Lucy. She came to the wedding alone, so what? Why should the bride and the other guests keep asking her where’s her supposed boyfriend, Luke? That was simply childish. Well, it was partly because all of them thought Becky is in love with Tom and they were expecting her to break down any moment during the wedding. I felt sorry for her then!

It’s titled Shopaholic Abroad because Becky goes to New York with her boyfriend, Luke. He might be transferring his business there. She then meets his mom and it was indeed a memorable experience for her albeit a horrible one! And are TV people always making empty promises even though they sound so darn convincing?

It’s an entertaining and light-hearted book. The ending was as sweet as sugar as it’s a happy ending.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: bethany

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles S at 4:02 am | Comments (14)



16th July, 2007

Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2004
ISBN: 0385338090

My first Shopaholic book! No, I didn’t buy it but I was extremely lucky to have borrowed it from my university’s library. Usually, popular fiction books such as this Shopaholic book would have flown off the shelves in the blink of an eye!

I’ve quite enjoyed reading her Undomestic Goddess book, so I was looking forward to a nice and easy read with Shopaholic. And easy it was!

The word ‘Shopaholic’ sounds interesting enough and it’s almost become a frequent usage in daily conversations and jokes. Well, for me though!

I think I should have read the first book in this Shopaholic series, which might be The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic. But, it doesn’t matter now which book I read first as it’s really easy to understand the story and also to understand Becky Bloomwood who adores shopping completely!

In Shopaholic & Sister, Becky’s already married to Luke Brandon and the story starts with their traveling around the world kind of honeymoon. They planned to travel around for one year but after ten months of living like nomads, the Brandons decide to go back home in London.

Becky got the idea of going back home unexpectedly and surprise her parents and friends as well. She doesn’t know that there would be a surprise waiting for her at home, too.

Anyway, all did not go as planned. She expected everyone to be eager to hear stories of her travels but so much has happened at home that her stories had to take a back seat. The surprise her parents gave her was: She has a sister! Half-sister actually. Becky’s dad had a relationship with another woman way before he met Becky’s mom. And the sister tracked them down!

Since Becky’s best friend, Suze, has found another friend to hang out with, she looked forward to spending quality sister-time with Jess, her newfound sister. To me, I feel that Becky is too overconfident and expects other people to find her ideas and activities useful and fun.

But it’s probably because she’s enjoyed spending time with Suze so much before that she thinks Jess would have the same interests, too. For example, shopping! To Becky’s great dismay, Jess hates shopping! In fact, Jess is the total opposite of her. While Becky buys almost everything and anything she lays her eyes on, Jess is quite a spendthrift. She tries to save money whenever she can and thinks before buying, unlike Becky, who buys stuff on impulse.

Then, things start to go wrong. Jess hates Becky and said they might not even be sisters. Becky thinks her husband, Luke, is starting to hate her, too for spending too much money and not thinking rationally. She also thinks that Luke wants her to be more like Jess.

So, when Luke goes to Cyprus on a business trip, Becky hastily packed her stuff and heads off to Cumbria to find Jess. To apologize and to ask for help. And also to learn to be more like her, if possible!

However, when she reaches Jess’ front door, she is SO NOT welcomed there. What do you think will happen then? Will Becky just give up and go home without reconciling with Jess? Is Jess really her half-sister?

This book tries to be funny but at some parts, I am just annoyed. For example, how can Becky not know the exchange rates for money? She is a financial journalist! She should know. And Becky’s quite childish for a grown-up, too. All in all, I like this book for its simple storyline and that makes reading it easier and faster!

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles S at 2:16 pm | Comments (6)



31st March, 2007

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2005
ISBN: 0385338686

Wouldn’t you like to be a high-powered lawyer at one of the most prestigious law firms around? To wear black suits all day and constantly check your e-mails every thirty seconds?

Welcome to Samantha Sweeting’s world. She’s one of the brightest lawyers at Carter Spink and never had any weekends off. She works all day and only arrives home late at night until she had to depend on her ever-caring neighbour to receive her mails and other things for her.

Samantha worked at Carter Spink for a good 7 years, giving her all. All she ever wanted was a partnership there. When she finally got it, she finds something unexpected among the piles of papers on her messy desk, which will ruin her entire career. Feeling shocked and more stressed out than ever, she leaves her office in a hurry and somehow ended up at an unfamiliar place.

When she stopped at a house to ask for a glass of water, she’s mistaken for a housekeeper arriving for her interview. Before she knew it, she made up incredible stories about her ‘housekeeping experiences’ to her would-be employers, Mr. and Mrs. Geiger. They were so impressed that they hired her immediately.

This is the first Sophie Kinsella book that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. It is the book to read if you are looking for something light and hopelessly funny. I also cannot believe that Samantha can’t iron a shirt or even sew on a button! But, the part where she was trying to figure out how to use the washing machine was hilarious. I’ve never come across any washing machines with complicated pre-wash programs like A3-E2, H4, whatever.

Besides that, I don’t understand why she kept insisting that she likes being a housekeeper although she silently retaliates each time orders were being thrown at her. She obviously doesn’t like being bossed around. I mean, who would?

Samantha also falls in love with the gardener, Nathaniel. Initially, she was not sure of the mixed signals coming from him and was about to give up trying to get him interested. But, soon, things turned out well and Samantha started feeling happy being where she was.

While reading, I simply could not wait for the part where her employers and their obnoxious niece will find out who she really is! Samantha thought she was able to keep things a secret but things are not as easy as she thought they would be.

It’s a funny book, though I doubt there can be a real-life Samantha Sweeting somewhere!

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Posted in Authors K, Girls/Women, Humour, Romance, Titles U at 1:31 pm | Comment (0)



22nd March, 2007

Reviving Ophelia - Saving The Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher

Mary Pipher wrote this book based on her own experience helping troubled teenage girls. Some of the girls had just entered puberty while some are already far from it. Nevertheless, they all face the same trouble.

The problems faced by teen girls now compared to 50 years ago are utterly different. Now, girls are driven into starving themselves so that they will look thin and attract boys and be popular. They have to smoke or take drugs to be cool. Girls will also be laughed at if they are still virgins.

Their parents are there for them but adolescent girls think their parents don’t understand them and are only controlling their lives. Girls now are influenced by the media to be thin and beautiful. They are influenced into consuming alcohol. They are pressured to have premarital sex.

In order for them to survive the stormy adolescent years, they need to understand themselves, to understand what they really want, who they really are, then only can they make it safely to shore.

I borrowed this book from my school’s library and read it in 2004.

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17th March, 2007

Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro

‘But that’s not a reason to duck out of life, sweetie. So, you’d be hurt. Big deal. That’s the chance we all take. What’s the point in being alive at all if you’re so afraid of pain that you can’t appreciate the rare gems when they do come along?’

Louise Canova finds a second-hand book simply entitled ‘Elegance’ written by Madam Antoine Dariaux in a second-hand bookshop. Louise looks up to Madam Dariaux completely and turns to her book as a guide to improve her fashion as well as to turn herself into an even more elegant lady than she is now.

Louise decided that it’s time to change her fashion sense and lose some weight after being mistakenly perceived as a pregnant woman! Her husband, however, does not care how she dressed and looked. In fact, Louise just realized that their love life is starting to deteriorate.

So, she started by sorting out her wardrobe and threw out the ones, which might be deemed unfashionable in Madam Dariaux’s eyes. As her fashion changes, her life changes too. She’s beginning to attract men who might not have bothered to look at her twice before. Unfortunately, her husband does not approve of the new ‘Louise’ and so begins their fight.

One day, Louise could not take it any longer, packed her stuff and moved in with her friend, Colin, who’s a homosexual, by the way. Ria, the artistic one is also their flatmate. Louise learns more new things and discovers more about herself while living with them.

Kathleen Tessaro inserts in bits from the original ‘Elegance’ book by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux into this novel of hers. This is Tessaro’s first novel and I think it’s a fine book and easy to read. Her style is straightforward and captures the reader’s attention entirely.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: KittyCat

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Posted in Authors T, Girls/Women, Romance, Self-help, Titles E at 3:21 am | Comments (4)



5th January, 2007

How To Walk in High Heels - The Girl’s Guide to Everything by Camilla Morton

A really catchy title, don’t you think? This was my Christmas present by my sister who is always trying to make me behave more like a lady. Sometimes I listen to her advice and sometimes I try to defend myself. =) Anyways, this book is helpful in a way, with lots of great tips and witty suggestions. It teaches you how to lead the life similar to a celebrity or a princess.

It even mentioned that a 5 cm heel is considered practically FLAT! Moreover, the higher and the thinner your heel is, the higher your status will be. So girls, better invest in a pair of really good and high high heels in order to receive more attention because duh! you will become really tall and easily noticed! It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

I liked one where the title is How to Change a Nappy. There are other eye-catching titles too. It even has tips for the low-tech girl. You can learn how to use a printer, how to ebay, know the different parts of a computer, which is the keyboard, the monitor and the mouse (it does not bite), and more.

In fact, almost everything a girl needs to know is in this book. Well, like I said, almost. So, don’t go expecting that everything can be found in this book.

How to Survive New Year’s Eve, How to swim in shades, How to sound like a politician, How to use a knife, spoon and fork, How to love champagne, How to find and delete viruses, How to make popcorn, How to change a light bulb, etc. And if you can’t do it, take a step back and let a man finish the job for you. No point getting your well manicured nails dirty or broken. That’s a popular tip in there.

Lastly, I guarantee you’ll learn a tip or two, which you may find useful one day. And to all the girls: enjoy being a girl! There’s nothing more you could ask for.

Buy HOW TO WALK IN HIGH HEELS: THE GIRL’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING

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Posted in Authors M, Girls/Women, Humour, Nonfiction, Self-help, Titles H at 9:34 pm | Comments (2)


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