Sophie Kinsella - I've Got Your Number

A couple of glasses of bubbly with the girls and Poppy's life has gone into meltdown. Not only has she lost her engagement ring, but in the panic that followed, she's lost her phone too. When she spots an abandoned phone in a bin it seems it was meant to be…Finders Keepers!
Except the phone's owner, elusive businessman Sam Roxton, doesn't agree. He wants his phone back, and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life. Can things get any more tangled?

Comment: I wouldn't say I consider myself a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella but I did read many of her books. Some, as always, have been more enjoyable than others to me but this one had led me to expect good things, especially considering the good opinion of some people who don't usually appreciate much the chick lit sub genre.

In this book we meet Poppy Wyatt, a young woman who is engaged and will marry very soon but when the story starts, she has just lost the family heirloom ring she was presented with when her fiancé proposed. While looking for it, what she finds instead is a "discarded" cell phone in a garbage bin. She immediately takes it since her own was stolen but apparently it's a company phone and the boss is on the other side demanding Poppy to return the phone but of course Poppy gets herself in quite the situation and somehow she and Sam, the apparent "owner" of the phone start sharing the phone, enabling them both to be together in funny but interestingly necessary situations.

But Poppy's life is sorted at last, will she be ready to say goodbye to her new found friend?

Unlike some of the other books by the author which I sometimes think are too obvious in the attempt to be funny, this one felt a bit more balanced when it comes to the amount of funny/comedy scenes v the more serious ones. Maybe this is why I found this story in particular more to my liking than some others.

I liked Poppy and her personality and I especially liked how such a likable person she seems to be and it was quite easy to imagine her as someone real I could be friends with. Interestingly, I saw in her not many of the usual traits of the type of characters the author uses as her protagonists, and this has definitely made me appreciate the story more. I was very eager to see Poppy succeed and understand the things wrong in her life.

The plot is filled with sometimes silly situations one could only see in movies and not real life, but I liked how each detail somehow let us know a bit more about Poppy and her relationship. I liked how the author has crated Poppy's personality and background and how that made this heroine more likeable. I kind of could guess some things so in terms of originality, the story isn't as perfect as that but the premise is probable enough for the situations to be more acceptable, unlike some plots in other books.

Sharing the phone makes us see through the lives of both Poppy and Sam and it's quite interesting how we get to know them both quite well though some apparent inconsequential details. Of course, we kind of are led to expect Poppy's close wedding doesn't seem to be such a great choice but the author has made this situation solve itself quite well and although I'd have enjoyed a more obvious HEA, it was still quite amazing as it was.

Something I also liked was to get to know about Poppy and Sam's pasts and how serious they were when it mattered.

I really had a great time reading this story and I can understand why this must be one of the fans' favorite. Hopefully more books will be more alike this one instead of some others.I actually think Poppy must be my favorite Kinsella heroine. Except for one or two plot decisions which I think have dragged the story here and there, this was quite a great book and I will certainly remember it fondly and will likely re-read my favorite scenes often.

Grade: 8/10

Mini Comments

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is in Hollywood! She's hanging out with celebs . . . or at least she will be, once her husband Luke introduces her to his new A-list client Sage Seymour.
Becky sets her heart on a new career – she's going to be a stylist to the stars! And when a chance encounter thrusts her into the limelight, she grabs her opportunity. But in between choosing clutch bags and chasing celebrities, Becky loses touch with her family and her best friend . . .
Caught up in the whirlwind of Tinseltown, has Becky gone too far this time?


A man returns from the dead, and the body of a mysterious stranger is found in his room…
A few weeks after marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune.
Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by ‘spirits’ that Mrs Underhay’s first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman’s true motive for approaching him…

Comment: Well, one more round of mini comments to speed up the commentary around here. These two books are very different but since I don't have a lot to talk about them makes this "mini" tactic quite useful.

Taken at the Flood is one of many books by author Agatha Christie featuring the amazing detective Hercule Poirot. I've loved his adventures since I read the first book at the library by the author decades ago. All the books present us a cast of interesting characters, a crime and how Hercule Poirot interviews the suspects, reunites proves and with only following the logic and the clues he manages to solve what others wouldn't. In this book we see it again, this time the crime points out to a certain suspect but is he and his sister the true culprits? I always find fascinating how things that appear simple can be built on so well and in a way that leaves readers guessing what can possibly be happening and why. The fun part is to get our own ideas and face them with the obvious explanations by Poirot at the end of the book. How such things can be so obvious after we see how! I liked this story and its conclusion, although the pace in the middle wasn't the most intriguing. The amount of time setting up the crime and the characters was a bit too much, and in some other novels it feels not as long so it's more time for Poirot to investigate and I always like that better. Nevertheless, a good entertaining story.

Grade: 8/10

Shopaholic to the Stars is the 7th installment in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. This is the type of book you can only read from time to time because it's both ridiculous and repetitive. After 7 books and so many close calls because of her addiction to shopping, Becky still hasn't learned her lesson. What saves this however, is that Becky has a good heart and many of her actions come from a lack of attention. It's really sweet to think about the good, positive and heartwarming scenes that, like hidden gems, we can glimpse during the reading. But Becky also gets herself in situations that only a comedy could justify.... well, if things were too different, then it wouldn't be Becky nor this particular series but.... part of the evolution of a series is to see characters change, become better, overcome difficulties...Becky just doesn't always seem to do it. In this book she gets into certain situations in Hollywood, too bad some of them don't seem to match or fulfill the expected "lesson learned" at the end. I think that in terms of presenting dilemmas and character growth this wasn't the best book in the series but I have to admit I laughed out loud three or four times and that counts as well...

Grade: 6/10

Sophie Kinsella - Mini Shopaholic

Becky Brandon thinks that having a daughter is a dream come true: a shopping friend for life! But two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping. The toddler creates havoc everywhere she goes, from Harrods to her own christening. Her favorite word is "Mine!" and she's even trying to get into eBay! On top of everything else, Becky and Luke are still living with her parents (the deal on house #4 has fallen through), when suddenly there's a huge nationwide financial crisis.
With people having to cut back, Becky decides to throw a surprise party for Luke to cheer everyone up. But when costs start to spiral out of control, she must decide whether to accept help from an unexpected source--and therefore run the risk of hurting the person she loves.
Will Becky be able to pull off the celebration of the year? Will she and Luke ever find a home of their own? Will Minnie ever learn to behave? And . . . most important . . . will Becky's secret wishes ever come true? 

Comment: This is a book I've had to read for some time. My problem is always the same, not enough time to get to every book right away...

I've been a fan of the Shopaholic series mostly because of some scenes but I wouldn't rate the whole series more than average. This is fun and cute sometimes but overall, I feel it's too focused on the silly to be something I could enjoy more.

In this installment, Becky and Luke's daughter is two years old and already an expert on brands and her mother's routines. However, Minnie is too young to really appreciate shopping and like any little girl, she causes more scenes than her mother would expect.

While dealing with a little girl, Becky and Luke still need to find their own house because all deals don't work for some reason or another. And it's almost Luke's birthday and Becky wants to give him the best surprise party ever but with the costs and the challenges and the need for secrecy, can Becky organize everything or will she need to face the truth and ask for help?

I'm perfectly aware this is not going to win a literary award and despite mrs Kinsella dedication to the character of Becky and her quirks, the books have flaws.

I mean, the stories certainly match their purpose, which is to entertain and make us smile over Becky's adventures and attempts to shop more without being a responsible adult, but even funny and comic stories must have some balance or everything turns into a caricature.

After all the books I've read in this series - and some of the author's the single titles too - what makes this so popular is also what gets the most on my nerves. The characters aren't realistic enough and the more serious ones aren't enough to properly counterbalance the most silly/flighty ones, like Becky.

The idea is that Becky is always going to get herself in trouble or sticky situations that most of us would consider avoidable or too humiliating but that are supposed to be funny and comic. I can understand this idea, as I do the point of making hr see her issues close to the end of the book, where she can finally learn a lesson or act adult or become responsible for some chapters. But there's such an amount of time where she is inconsistent and reckless and rarely uses reason that I can't think positive things of her all the time.

Becky also has the problem of saying no, she just can't do it. I know it's complicated to battle peer pressure and just say what we feel and think but Becky takes it too the extreme to be what others want of her and she buys things and she does things to make her look good in certain situations, often along her own selfish addiction of buying more than she needs.

I applaud her decision here to not buy more things because she promised Luke but then she thinks getting a dress for Minnie's 21st birthday is a clever way to not buy things for herself. Minnie is still 19 years away from that event....

I could have topics of all the things I get annoyed at but the truth is that there are scenes here and there that make me think. There's a thin layer of angst when Becky tries to make things perfect for Luke and he seems to not pay attention to her and one can't help but imagine what it would be like to be in that position. The writing isn't all bad and yes, many scenes are interesting and worth reading. The too silly ones just happen more often.

All things considered, this is not the best book in the series (the previous one worked out so much better for me in terms of content) but it keeps up the same things we expect to see. I just think Becky could act more like her age and still be funny and sweet and addictive to shopping without bordering on the ridiculous and selfish as she currently does. 

It's weird to like this but then hoping to see an improvement in Becky's personality but if that doesn't happen, what's the point?

Grade: 6/10

Sophie Kinsella - Twenties Girl

Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without.
Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life.
But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?

Comment: I bought this book along some others last year in a used books bookstore because despite my pet peeves with this author's work, I still appreciate the time I spend with her characters, so I added this one to my TBR list. This month I gave it a go.

This is the story of Lara Lington, a young woman who works at a job she doesn't understand, has a family she can't impress and at her grand-aunt's funeral she starts seeing ghosts, namely the young version of the deceased talking to her, asking about a necklace.

Lara can't help bust listen and that will put her in positions where others think she's weird and where she ends up making a fool out of herself... in trying to help Sadie, the ghost, and trying to get together with her ex, Lara also meets Ed and gets to know the history of a famous painting...somehow all this will be important to help Sadie. And what about the family secrets?

Will Lara be able to do something to make the past right?

This is quite the story, a woman helping the ghost of her great aunt so she can find peace and all in a comic sort of style. The author is known for her funny books, funny heroines and completely unlikely situations which somehow translates into a quirky book with a HEA at the end.

Usually I feel entertained enough by this author's books because there's always a certain spark of seriousness, of human emotions in a scene, a moment, which make me think and "feel" for while and that's the key points for me. But oh, to suffer through some of the silliest situations ever to get to that...

I understand it's probably the thing that appeals the most to readers. I mean, if one can't stand this anyway, the book wouldn't be read, but often, to me, it's too much.

Some situations are too unlikely, too exaggerated to be credible, even in a fictional/comic book. And the fact it happens so many times in one book...

Yes, this is the author's style and I expect it so, but at the same tie I keep hoping the next book will be more balanced, not as silly, with less caricatures of British people...it seems difficult to accept people could actually behave like that in real life, even if in a controlled way.

The plot is interesting, although Sadie the ghost could be annoying at times. Lara is a good person and we get to understand her softer, more romantic side as the book moves along. I liked how she grew to realize it was important to Sadie to find a special necklace and from then on, the best part of the story developed, when Lara started to think seriously about it and the plot gained a new, more polished, life. Like I said, it is a good plot, even more so with the Lington family secrets arising as the book went towards it's finale, too bad about the ridiculous parts which never seem funny to me anyway.

Lara is trying to reconnect with her ex and she can't seem to "see" reality, and when she finally does, it's so quickly done...I mean, I know she had to, so she could be prepared later on to accept she could develop true feelings for someone else, but still...

The good romance is between Lara and Ed, someone she only goes after because Sadie thinks he's attractive. I liked their personalities and how calm they seemed to be together. Most times, in the single title books by the author, we get the notion they will have a HEA but there's never epilogues showing us that, so I liked it enough when things work out well and we can imagine how things could develop out of the page.

Lara is a special person. I liked her, especially in the end when she finds the truth behind a famous painting, its history, and also how that is connected to Sadie and her uncle Bill, who the world knows a  renowned coffee entrepreneur. There's a certain layer of interest int his book which gives it points and I liked that. Good was also how Lara realized some things and did what she could to make her life happier. This is the best message int he author's books: we have the tools to make out life happier but that may mean we have to overcome hurdles that aren't easy for us to deal with. But the result can be amazing, we just have to believe in ourselves. (And having someone believing with us helps too).

After finishing the book, I was glad I read it, I liked the romance, Lara, Sadie after all... but I can't put aside the ridiculous scenes and how totally unapproachable they are to relate to our real lives. It removes some of the appeal for me but I can understand why it meets expectations of many.

Grade: 7/10

Sophie Kinsella - Can You Keep a Secret?

Emma is like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets.
Secrets from her mother:
1. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom to Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben Hur.
...From her boyfriend:
2. I'm a size twelve. Not a size eight, like Connor thinks.
3. I've always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.
...From her colleagues:
4. When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day)
5. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.
...Secrets she wouldn't share with anyone in the world:
6. My G string is hurting me.
7. I faked my Maths GCSE grade on my CV.
8. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is...
...until she spills them all to a stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger...

Comment: I've had this book in the pile for some time and this month I finally picked it and wanted to read something light. In fact, it was so easy to read this book, even despite the not so interesting details about it, that I've read it all in one day.

Isn't there any sort of unfairness in having to spend time waiting for a book to arrive, then letting it wait even longer in the TBR pile and then when one finally gets to it, it's over in one day? Humm...

 

So, this is Emma Corrigan's story. She was sent to Scotland to close a deal but she makes a mistake and the company that was signing the deal is even quicker in saying no. Emma gets home to London in a turbulent flight and she can't shut her mouth, so she tells a stranger all her secrets. All of them. from the silly to the important ones.

Back in her job, Emma is thinking about how to explain things when the company she works for gets the visit of their founder and boss, someone who hasn't been in the spotlight after the death of a co-founder. And, suddenly there he is...the stranger from the plane, someone who knows all about Emma, who recognizes Emma, who is her boss...

 

I had fun with this book, well, some of it. I know this author writes silly, light stories focused on the comic side of life and about how things can be seen through a different lens, it's not full of drama even if some situations seem to be perfect for it, and of course, there's a HEA.

However, I think the situations that could introduce more dramatic effects are lost in the silliness. I get why, but I still wish that sometimes things could be a bit more serious, more balanced at least. It didn't have to lose all the fun and comic scenes! It's just that some things just can't be put aside as easily as that, I would think.

The HEA happens, yes, but then I don't feel the couple's connection is that powerful or strong if they spent so much time joking around or not focused on each other. In this novel they go through some interesting and personal situations that helped them get closer in a way, but I still feel the HEA wasn't as great as it could be. I also would have loved an epilogue or something, jut to let me see how they're doing.

 

Of course the more funny situations are the key points in the book. I especially liked Emma's replies to some things but she doesn't seem someone very focused on being aware of things around her. Emma is a good person and I really felt for her when she felt down because of how her cousin treated her, how she felt she couldn't measure up and how she felt when she and Connor, her boyfriend of two years, broke up. I liked her and I liked she got an HEA at the end, but I also felt frustrated by her lack of interest in news, in finding strategies to work less, in controlling her actions a bit more... I know it's meant to focus on her "change" to someone more decisive and with a better attitude, but still...

Jack is the hero and he has reasons to be mysterious but sincerely, despite liking him with Emma, and understanding his reservations, I got the feeling I never knew him that well...

 

The plot is funny because Emma gets herself in all this situations any "normal" person would deal with more gracefully, but she is quite genuine and that's the appeal. In the end, she is just a girl trying to prove her skills, trying to have a better life, trying to show to who matters that she can do it. Of course I liked this aspect of hers.

The book has several silly scenes that obviously are meant to entertain and I did laugh here and there.

My favorite part was knowing what print Emma had on her bedspread...lol

 

I think the talk Emma and Jack had about her secrets, and his for that matter, wasn't as profound as the subject required. That's my biggest issue with the author's novels. the serious part isn't balanced properly and it always looks like the situations get solved rather lightly for their importance.

 

All in all, it was still a good read, I read it so fast I can't say I didn't have a good time. I would change some things but I think any reader does that, there's always something else we can adjust to our preferences. Still, if one likes the style, the author, the type of book, this one is very entertaining.

Grade: 7/10

Alphabet Soup Challenge: Sophie Kinsella - Remember Me?

Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking it's 2004 and she's a twenty-five-year old with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life.But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually 2007 - she's twenty-eight, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married! To a good-looking millionaire! How on earth did she land the dream life??!
She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new home. She's sure she'll have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'manual of our marriage', which should help.
But as she learns more about her new self, chinks start to appear in the perfect life. All her old colleagues hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up... and lands a new bombshell.What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?
Comment: I got this book almost an year ago at a used books shop and more than the book itself, it was the author's name that made me get it because I've read her before and although her books aren't to serious or perfectly executed, I liked them enough and thought this would be just as entertaining.

This is the story of Lexi Smart, she's a young British woman who works with her best friends in the same company and the story starts with them celebrating the bonus they all received..except Lexi because she joined the company one week later than all the others.

But while looking for a taxi, Lexi slips and falls and when she wakes up she is confused because everyone keeps telling her she' married, has a very different life than the one she had, has a different image and the date is three years later than that last day she remembers. What could have happened to Lexi?

Ok, I confess. I admit I thought the solution to this book was a weird time travel but it's really not the author's style. Then I thought the reason Lexi didn't remember time passing was because she had actually been in a long coma and everyone around her didn't want to shock her and pretended a different reality. But this is really an over the top plot, although not new or impossible!

So, the solution was simpler and rather obvious as soon as the book starts, she had an accident in 2007 and when she woke up she had memory loss and it looked like her life was still in 2004 before that slip waiting for the taxi.

Once Lexi realizes this she has to come to terms to her new life which she doesn't remember. At first everything is exciting and the reality she sees around her lets her know she has a dream life: she did something to her teeth which were crooked and now are perfect, she is one of the bosses at the place where she works, she has a beautiful house, countless clothes and shoes and is married to a gorgeous, caring husband.

However, because of her memory loss she can't connect the dots on why some people no longer seem to like her, why her behavior is weird to everyone, why those she loved are away from her, she can't remember details about her job or her new life and then she realizes someone at the job wants to humiliate her and a man she doesn't remember tells her the biggest shock of all.

All these things are expected in a story where the protagonist can't remember anything from a certain date. I think the author did well in setting the stage to let us know how Lexi was struggling to be the same person while she was different and still in the past. 

The way the book is written, we, the reader, find out at the same time Lexi does, what she did with her life, what happened to make her change, why things are the way they are three years later. Of course this had to be this way for the story to have a bigger effect, but honestly I think such a theme has to have heartbreak. Things can't just be solved with magic dust and someone in Lexi's shoes would have a really hard time coping and getting back on their feet. I liked that this story didn't end in a traditional HEA. To me, it was more of a HFN because the idea is there but rest assured, Lexi's life isn't magically restored, when the book ends things are still confusing, processing. In a way this is god because it's closer to what would happen in a real life situation. 

But, being this a fictional romance, it means the plot looses some rhythm and power when things don't have a stronger path or decision making. It felt like the author told a story, shared some information about Lexi and those around her, but nothing really happened and the only  - cliché / expected - lesson to learn is you should be truthful to who you are deep down.

There's a situation, which is the main shock in the plot, that while I understand for plot and drama effect, I didn't like seeing, no matter how it was made to look good or positive. I think memory loss is an already enough problem to deal with, much less what happened. I'd have done it differently. Those who read must know about it and I would have made it happen after Lexi wakes up and makes another decision first. 

I think the idea is god, some paths are necessary but overall I think the story wasn't executed in the better way. I liked Lexi but the way the story develops isn't the most likable one to make Lexi someone we can fully connect with. My opinion at least.

This was so so.

I do plan on reading more by the author, though.

Grade: 6/10