Category Archives: Chick Lit

Comedy, Chick Lit, Public Library, Goodreads, 4 Treasure Boxes

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella

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Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Dell (December 27, 2005), Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages, Language: English, ISBN-10: 0440241901, ISBN-13: 978-0440241904

A delightful and funny story about a woman, Emma Corrigan in her mid-twenties who shares with us all her private thoughts.  Unwittingly, these very personal thoughts get shared with a stranger, who turns out to be the successful CEO and founder of Panther Cola (Emma’s employer.)

Madeleine Wickham is the author of this book written under the pen name of Sophie Kinsella.  She has written 10 books under this name, 6 of these books are Shopaholic books and the other 4 are stand alone novels centering around various characters. Please see my other reviews of Sophie Kinsella at https://books-treasureortrash.com/?s=sophie+kinsella. All of these novels including Can You Keep a Secret are considered chick lit and should also be under comedy as they are all quite funny and amusing. The story is told in the first person narrative with Emma’s voice and thoughts as we follow her through her life.

Emma is a charming and amusing woman struggling to make her life work.  This story has it all, it made me laugh and it made me cry. At the beginning Emma is struggling with her career, but it appears that she is in a happy relationship.  However as the story unfolds, Emma examines all areas of her life, including her current relationship.  We also get to know Jack Harper, the man who she told all her secrets to in a moment of fright, when she was on an airplane.  She thought the plane was about to crash and everything just tumbled out.  But that was OK, since he was a perfect stranger and she would never see him again, or so she thought.  Things become really interesting when she goes into work and sees Jack. We also get to know Emma’s best friend Lizzy as well as the other people in her life. All the characters in the book experienced growth by the end of the book and became better people. The story had a good build up to the final climax with a few peaks and valleys. It flowed well and kept up a good pace. 

This was a great read, I had a lot of fun reading this book and I was sorry when it ended. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading chick lit and wants to laugh.  I thought it was the best Sophie Kinsella book and I have read all 10 books. This is a stand alone book and it is not part of any series.

Book Review, 3 Treasure Boxes, Chick Lit, Kindle, Goodreads

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

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Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
6th Book in the Shopaholic Series
Publisher: The Dial Press (September 21, 2010), Format: Kindle Edition, File Size: 589 KB, Print Length: 448 pages, Language: English, ASIN: B003EY7IUY

Becky tells an amusing story of the numerous interesting things that she needs to deal with in her life. One of these is her rambunctious 2 year old daughter who is a handful and very much a mini-shopaholic and another is her attempt to plan a surprise birthday party for Luke.

Mini Shopaholic is the 6th book written by Sophie Kinsella that centers around a lovable character, Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) who loves to shop. She has also written four other novels under this pen name. All of these novels including Mini Shopaholic are considered chick lit. They are also quite funny and amusing. The story is told in the first person narrative with Becky’s voice and thoughts as we follow her through her life.

Becky and Luke Brandon now have a 2 year old daughter named Minnie and she is a mini-Becky in many ways. However, Minnie, as most 2 years olds can, creates a lot of havoc. With the economy in a down swing Becky needs to cut back and it is not easy, especially when she is planning a special surprise birthday party for Luke.

The story is amusing and I absolutely LOVED the end of the book, it was a real feel good conclusion.   I did not think it was as funny as some of the other books, but it certainly did have me chuckling throughout the book.  I thought the beginning was a bit slow to get going and other than Becky’s idea of pockey money for Minnie, did not have any laughs for the first quarter of the book. I also thought the letters at the beginning of the book where a bit too much.  But as the story progressed so did the depth of the book. This story really shows the true character of Becky, what a thoughtful and caring person she is, but by no means perfect.  She is the queen of rationalization.  There was a certain amount of character development, especially when Becky was forced to really look at her shopping addiction. The story had a really good build throughout with a great conclusion at the end. 

This is a stand alone books that can be read independently from any other book in the series, but I would recommend that you read the books in order.  Since each book is very enjoyable and the story does build from book to book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading chick lit and who enjoys a laugh. The second half of the book was really good and is the reason I gave the book a 3 Treasure Box rating. The first half was slow in getting going but I recommend you keep going  because you will not be disappointed.

1 Treasure Box, Chick Lit

Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

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Book Review: 1 Treasure Box

Emily Giffin’s 3rd novel

This book covers a different topic in the chick-lit scenario.  It is about a nice, successful woman named Claudia Parr who doesn’t want to have children.  It is the story of her path. She is 30 years old and has given up on meeting a man who shares her desire when she meets Ben, another wonderful person, with whom she finds a soul connection.  However, things start going sideways and we read about how Claudia deals with the challenge.

I liked the characters, although I did not feel they had a lot of depth.  The story was entertaining but it was not very compelling. I thought the premise of the story was entertaining and I liked how it all played out.  The story was not predictable although it was a bit formulaic.  For these reasons I gave it a 1 treasure box rating. 

I did enjoy her first two books, Something Borrowed and Something Blue.  I also like that she writes her stories with a different slant, so I will give her next book a try.

2 Treasure Boxes, Chick Lit, In Library, Goodreads

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

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Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback; Reprint edition (March 9, 2010), Paperback: 448 pages, ISBN-10: 0385342039, ISBN-13: 978-0385342032

Twenties Girl is an enjoyable feel-good book with a new heroine, Lara Lington and her side kick, a ghost named Sadie.  It is in the same style as the Shopaholics books with a story that centres around a young woman in her early twenties who is trying to make it out in the world on her own.  There are certainly some parts in the book that are laugh out loud funny.

Madeleine Wickham is the author of this book written under the pen name of Sophie Kinsella. She has written numerous books under this name, both Shopaholic books and the other standalone novels centering on various characters. Please see my other Sophie Kinsella reviews at https://books-treasureortrash.com/?s=sophie+kinsella. All of these novels including Twenties Girl are considered chick lit. Most of her books also fall under comedy as they are usually funny and amusing. The story is told in the first person narrative with the voice and thoughts of the main character, Lara Lington, as we follow her through her life

It took me a while to warm-up to this book as I found the ghost Sadie to be a bit irritating in the beginning of the book, but as the story goes on Sadie becomes more likable. Lara is not as quirky as Becky is in the Shopaholic books, and most of the humour stems from things that Sadie does but Lara is a very likable person. It would be a lot of fun to have someone around who can go an anonymously check things out for you and who can influence the people around you to do what you wanted through ghostly influence.

I liked both Lara and Sadie’s stories although it was very formulaic. I enjoyed the twenties aspect of the story as well and it was a nice tribute to the elderly. Sadie’s story was very sad although it did have a satisfying ending.  I also thought the uncle’s journey was unrealistic, but overall it was a lot of fun to read and it left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end of the book.

Question to ponder: Would you like a helpful ghost around helping you with their ghostly influence?

To Purchase: “Twenties Girl” from Amazon, click here or on picture above