Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (Audiobook)

           

Title:  Confessions of a Shopaholic  Author:  Sophie Kinsella

Performed by:  Emily Gray
ISBN:  1419304828  CD's: 10   Running Time:  11.75 hours
Publisher:  Recorded Books, LLC, New York, 2002

Readers Annotation:
Rebecca Bloomwood is a financial journalist who loves to shop. However, when she can't stop her shopping habit and spirals into debt, the only way out for Becky will be with the story of a lifetime.  

Author Information:
Sophie Kinsella, a former financial journalist, started writing under her real name, Madeleine Wickham. Her first book The Tennis Party, became a top ten bestseller. In 2000, Kinsella became a bestselling UK author with her novel Confessions of a Shopaholic. Outside the Shopaholic series, Kinsella has also written Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, and Twenties Girl. Sophie was born in London, where she lives presently with her husband and children.

http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/sophies-world/Biography/

Narrator Information:  

Emily Gray went to college at Warwick University, and graduated with honors. She also trained at Drama Studio London. Gray has performed in Too Rustic! at the Chelsea Playhouse, The Phantom Lady, The Way of the World, The Oresteia, Blithe Spirit at the Pearl Theatre Company, and Yes Is for a Very Young Man at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange. She's also played the part of Goneril of King Lear in a documentary for BBC 2.

Plot Summary: 
Rebecca Bloomwood, known as Becky by her family and friends, lives in a trendy neighborhood with her best friend Suze working as a financial journalist with Successful Savings. However, her favorite thing is not writing journal articles about money. Instead, Becky likes to spend money. Becky knows shopping like the back of her hand, and loves to peruse high end stores during her spare time. The problem is, all this shopping has put Becky in a tremendous amount of debt. Her situation gets to be so bad, that Becky refuses to even look at the menacing letters being sent by her credit card companies and her bank. While Becky tries to fix all of her problems, she encounters love, bravery, loyalty, and begins to discover much about herself.    

Critical Evaluation:

The narrator pulls the listener into the story by speaking in the manner in which the prose has been written. Truly, one can feel the story come alive as the single narrator uses different sounding voices to differentiate between the main character and supporting characters. This, coupled with the author's style, allows the reader to 'hear' the female protagonist's thoughts, making for an intriguing and entertaining tale. The author intermittently adds laugh out loud humor to the narrative, and in general, the entire book is somewhat light and fun. Interspersed with the threatening letters that Becky has received from various financial  institutions, the reader also gets a feel for her increasing stress that results from her shopping addiction. Confessions of a Shopaholic appeals specifically to the reader who similarly desires to always be shopping for fun and new items. 

Genre:  Humor/Fiction

Curriculum Ties:  Culture - British lifestyle, Addiction

Book-talking Ideas: 

     1. Becky is constantly rationalizing her shopaholic tendencies. Do you know anyone who has a shopping addiction?

     2. Becky attempts to curb her shopping addiction by cutting back. Have you ever been on a budget and had to cut back, and found it difficult?

Reading Level/Interest Age: 16+

Challenge Issue: none

Why I chose this item: I remember liking the movie, and thought that the shopping and addiction aspects would speak to my teenage audience. Additionally, I wanted to include an audio-book in my collection.

Further Series Reading: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic & Sister, Shopaholic & Baby, Mini-Shopaholic