The Kari AnnAlysis

Posts Tagged ‘sophie kinsella’

On My Bookshelf is a weekly meme that was started as In My Mailbox by Kristi at The Story Siren. I just changed the title a little bit to match my reading tastes. I have an itty bitty mailbox and have things sent to work, so they aren’t technically given to me in my mailbox. I’m a little strange, I know! Anyway, the meme is to show the goodies you’ve gotten the previous week, whether you buy them, win them, borrow them, or someone sends them to you for review.

I normally download or get a book or two a week. This week, I went a little overboard. I am leaving for NYC on Thursday evening and although I know I won’t be sitting around much with time to read, I always like to go prepared, so I downloaded several books to my Nook from NetGalley in case I need to read. It is a long drive…..

If you’d liked to read the Goodreads.com summary of each of the books above, just click on the book cover. I am really excited about all of these and have already started I’ve Got Your Number. I’ve never met a Sophie Kinsella book I didn’t love.

I also got a book for review this week. My review for Dead Tease will be up on March 16. Until then, here’s a preview:

A hot August afternoon and Midwest Clinic CEO John McNeil has been working late. Working on his latest conquest, that is. Jen Williams is twenty-six, in charge of graphics for the hospital’s PR division–and quite attractive in a healthy, athletic kind of way. She is quick to laugh and a little too quick to fall for guys. She is no virgin. And she is one of three women–including his wife–intimately familiar with McNeil.

When Jen’s youthful body is found with a single stab wound through the heart, suspicion falls on both McNeil’s wife, who insists she is being stalked, and the striking hospital physician with whom he had just ended an affair. Pressure to find the killer falls on Loon Lake Police Chief Lewellyn “Lew” Ferris and Dr. Paul “Doc” Osborne, the retired dentist and forensic dental expert whom she has deputized to help with the investigation–when they are not taking a break for fishing and other personal pursuits. When the mayor demands Lew take early retirement–and Doc has to babysit his teenage granddaughter who won’t stop texting–the frustrations mount.

Desperate for a few hours off–and persuaded by Ray Pradt (a fishing guide who wears a stuffed trout on his head, so they should have known better)–to try fly fishing from kayaks, Doc and Lew find themselves in life-and-death straits on the river. This leads to an unexpected and macabre discovery that just may break the case.

Did you get any good reads this week that you can’t wait to crack open??

If you’ve ever seen Wedding Crashers, the part where Will Ferrell has turned into a funeral crasher, well that’s the life of Fleur. Fleur’s ultimate goal is to get the big bucks. To do that, she scours funerals, trying to find a widower who can support her life. She weasels her way in, gains their trust and runs of with their trust, money that is.

But this time, her daughter Zara has gotten involved and this may be her final go round.

I picked up this book because I loved every Sophie Kinsella book and read them all in a very short period of time. Well, you all know that Sophie Kinsella is actually Madeeline Wickham. Unfortunately, I liked the books better when Sophie wrote them.

This book just didn’t do it for me. I thought it was extremely predictable, I didn’t really like the characters and I caught myself skimming for something to catch my attention quite a bit. There was one part of the book, in the last third, that I thought gave it hope, but it wasn’t enough to rectify it.

I will still probably BookMooch other Wickham books (that’s where I got this one), with high hopes that this was just a fluke. I only give Gatecrasher 2 bookmarks.

I have been a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella’s books, but this one didn’t do it as much for me. 

I thought that I would really relate with Undomestic Goddess because as much as I love my job, somedays, I wish that I could do something a little less stressful (I think everyone can relate to this).  But this book just didn’t read as well as the rest of hers have.

I think all of the lawyer lingo was what got to me most. I felt like it was a little above my head.

I normally can figure out who the bad guy is, but it totally caught me by surprise in this one.  I didn’t think there was a bad guy at all, just thought she made a mistake (like we all do).

I would like to think if I was in the same position, I’d be able to forget the 6 figures and stay with what was making me happy, but I think it would’ve taken me much longer to figure out where I wanted to be.

There really isn’t a whole lot to say with this book. I’ve been working on this blog over a week now, and it’s still not coming to me.

It was just …. ok. And for that reason, I give it 2 bookmarks.

Another Sophie Kinsella book. Yes, if you can’t tell by now, if I like one book by an author, I’ll buy all of them and chain read them.  I learned the term chain read by watching the original 90210 series over the weekend.  I never thought about chain reading, but I definitely do. Unless it’s 2 or 3am when I finish a book, I’ll pick another and start immediately.

Anyway, back to the point of the post: Remember Me? If you like the ABC show Samantha Who? you’ll like this book.  A woman gets in a car crash, loses a bit of her memory and has to learn about the past 3 years of her life all over again.

I really like Sophie Kinsella books for a few reasons:

1. I always feel like I can relate with the main characters.  I can put myself in their shoes and imagine what it’d be like if these events happened to me.  If I lost 3 years of my memory today, my whole world would change.  It’s close to my and Michael’s 3 year anniversary, but 3 years ago from today and I’d be getting ready for finals, and single. I wouldn’t even know Michael.  I would still understand my job, but not know that I had it.

2. I love that the women all have good jobs.  From Confessions of a Shopoholic to Can You Keep a Secret? to Remember Me? , all the women work for big companies.  They may not always be great at their jobs, but it’s nice to see them being in powerful positions.

3. They make me laugh ALWAYS!

Kinsella’s books use a little cursing, but that’s a part that gets me laughing.  I picture these characters in my head then all of the sudden they drop an F bomb and it totally takes me.  Yes, I’m the kind of person that normally laughs when I hear someone dropping the F bomb because normally they’re unexpected and it just sounds silly.

I really liked this book. And once again, I’ll give a Kinsella book 4 bookmarks.

After reading the Memory Keeper’s Daughter, I knew I needed something light. So, I chose Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret?

I have read her Confessions of a Shopoholic series and loved it.  I know Kinsella’s books are funny and other than the continent barrier, pretty easy quick reads.

I really related to the main character Emma in this book. I have a HARD time keeping secrets.  If its super important or it will hurt someone, I am a master, but I often tell too much to too many people.  I can definitely see myself in Emma’s position, clutching the airplane seat in front of me and getting all my secrets off my chest. When I reach Heaven’s gates, secrets won’t keep me back

Kinsella lives in England, so most of her stories are based from there.  I’ve been to Europe, but England wasn’t one of my stops. I always love reading about it because it sounds so pristine… I mean they have a Queen. I imagine it being such a different life than over here.

Another plus about this book, it made me laugh. I laugh A LOT and normally it doesn’t take much, but when a book makes me laugh, it gets bonus points. I get lost in my books. When I come home from work, I want to forget about all the cruddy news going on and want to relax in someone else’s life and if I can laugh while doing it, I’ll definitely sleep better at night. That also means I’ll be less grouchy the next day, so if you’ve read books that’ve made you laugh, for my Mikey and my co-workers sake, please pass them along!

There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this book.  I don’t understand what some of the London lingo means. I know “knickers”. But that’s only because I watched the Beckham special when they came to the States and Victoria got into an earthquake simulator and was talking about her knickers.

I have a bad habit of getting attached to characters. And I’m just going to put this out there: I HATED JEMIMA! Yeah, her pops paid rent, but what a cruddy friend. Rants make me feel better. Jemima Who?

This book did it for me….like the other Kinsella books. So, I give it 4 bookmarks!