Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Copyright 2001
312 pages
Reason for reading: I read this book for the 1st in a Series Challenge.
Days to finish: 1

I had low expectations going into this book. I had heard people say that they liked it, it was funny, etc., but that they didn't love it. I also figured it would make for nice, light, undemanding reading. I was correct on all accounts.

It was an extremely easy read to get through. Becky, our shopaholic, was funny and likeable although I didn't really feel all that sorry for her situation. If Kinsela said how old she was in the book, I must've skimmed over that part but I'm assuming that Becky is in her early twenties and very much in debt. Why? Because she can't control her shopping habits. Not only does she shop like there's no tomorrow, but she can't resist designer labels either. Her shopping, which increases her debts, which increases the amounts of letters she receives from her creditors only serves to increase her guilt which she assuages by buying herself a "little" something. Can you see the pattern? I honestly hope that it wasn't the author's intention to make the reader feel sorry for Becky because I didn't have an ounce of pity for her. She made her bed with her 2000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, now she has to lie in it.

Hmm. I don't really sound like I liked the book at all at this point, do I? Well, I will be honest and say that it could be tedious at times to read. Becky's problems seem so shallow and the way she handled them, extremely childish. But the holes she dug herself into and the way she contrived to get out of them were funny to read about and I laughed out loud several times. The ending, I wish I could give it away and say why, was...disappointing but not enough to kill my interest. I'm intrigued enough by the series' start that I plan on reading the rest. I love British literature, comedies, television, music, etc. and this book certainly fit that bill. I don't plan on reading the rest of the series to find existential meanings in life by any means. They would make excellent beach reads and the beach season, at least in my part of the world, isn't that far away.