Short Dawdler’s Review: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Photo from Goodreads

Title: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Genre: Chick Literature, Fiction

Copyright: 2003

Summary:

(from Goodreads)

MEET BECKY BLOOMWOOD, AN IRRESISTIBLE HEROINE WITH A BIG HEART, BIG DREAMS — AND JUST ONE LITTLE WEAKNESS …

Becky Bloomwood has what most twenty-five-year-olds only dream of: a flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is, she can’t actually afford it — not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Saving magazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. Still, how can she resist that perfect pair of shoes? Or the divine silk blouse in the window of that ultra-trendy boutique? But lately Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank — letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read — and they’re getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making moremoney. But none of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something … just a little something …

Finally, a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life — and the lives of those around her — forever.

Short Dawdler’s Review: Looking for Alaska

Photo from Wikipedia

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Genre: Young Adult

Copyright: 2005

Summary:

(from Goodreads)

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Stout Dawdler’s Review: Love, Stargirl

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Title: Love, Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Children’s Literature

Copyright: August 14, 2007

Summary

Stargirl has moved and left everything behind: Arizona, Mica High, enchanted desert places–and Leo, her once (and future?) boyfriend. He’s all she can think about, and her life begins to feel like a parade of unhappy anniversaries. Then Stargirl meets her wonderfully bizarre new neighbors: Dootsie, the curly-headed five-year-old “human bean”; Charlie, who sits among the tombstones; hot-tempered Alvina with that one glittery nail; and Perry Delloplane, the blue-eyed thief who soon lays his own claim to Stargirl’s heart. In letters to Leo over the course of a year, Stargirl comes to find hope in new places: mockingbirds, donut angels, moon flowers, and the Winter Solstice–that turning-point day when dark tips to light. But what’s life without Leo? Will he–can he–answer that one crucial question she asks every morning to the rising sun? In this companion novel to Stargirl, Newberry Medalist Jerry Spinelli continues his beloved heroine’s story in a tale of hurt and healing, promise and revelation, solstice and sunbeams.