One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (and first completed challenge)

Stephanie Plum has run out of luck. She recently lost her job and has not been successful finding a new one. She has had to resort to selling her appliances and furniture for money to pay her rent and bills. With no other options, Stephanie decides to visit her cousin Vinny, who runs a bail bonding company. Though she has absolutely no experience tracking down and bringing in rather shady and dangerous people, she believes she can handle the job--just until she makes enough money to get out of debt.

However, her first case is not only a murder suspect, but an old childhood acquaintance--Joe Morelli. The more she becomes involved with the case, the more in danger her life becomes. What started out as a way to make a quick $10,000 becomes an investigation into multiple murders and a drug ring. Stephanie knows she is running out of time to find the evidence she is looking for, and every day her life is in even more danger. Joe saves her life more than once, but all the signs point to him as a murderer. She must figure out whether he is a good or bad guy--her life depends on it.

I don't think I have read any negative reviews of the Stephanie Plum books, but I must say I was quite disappointed. I did not find Stephanie to be hilariously funny, as so many find her to be. I am aware of the fact that I have a rather strange sense of humor and the things I generally find funny are not at all humorous to pretty much everyone else. I think that this is just not my type of book. I couldn't just sit back and enjoy it for what it is, but I kept thinking that it was very unrealistic and no one would really make the bad decisions that Stephanie does over and over. I feel like I am missing out, because I know that many people eagerly await the next installment in the series, and I don't quite understand why.

Date completed: July 30, 2008
Number of pages:320


I don't know if this is actually considered chick-lit, but I am going to classify it as such. The main character is a young women, and the story is about her career and love life. Even though there is the mystery/detective type angle involved, I think the other criteria fit the chick-lit bill! With the completion of this book, I have completed the chick-lit challenge, which was to read 3 chick-lit books by September first. The three I read were:

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

My favorite of the three was Love Walked In, but I have decided that chick-lit is not really a favorite genre of mine. In my somewhat limited experience with these types of books, I usually find myself really annoyed at the main character. She is usually shallow and spends most of her time, energy and money on finding a man, or many men. For once, it would be great to read about a young intelligent woman, who makes sound decisions, doesn't sleep around, and is a good example to those around her. Any recommendations?

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Marisa de los Santos' first novel, Love Walked In, is a unique story about love and family. Each chapter alternates between Cornelia, a woman in her early 30s who loves old romantic films and is the manager of a local coffee shop in Philadelpia, and Clare, a girl of 11 who barely knows her father, and who's mother is in a mental downward spiral. While Cornelia narrates her own portions, a third person narrator tells Clare's story.

Cornelia and Clare are both strong female characters who both ache for someone to fill a particular void in their lives. Cornelia longs for a child of her own, and Clare (while she loves her mother), needs a strong parental figure to take care of and understand her. When they meet, they both recognize a kindred spirit, even though there is a 20 year age gap. This friendship enables them to get through several difficult circumstances and heartaches and helps both of them find a place where they feel they are loved and needed.

Although I found last 1/3 of the novel to be a bit too neatly wrapped, overall this was an enjoyable read. Cornelia was far less shallow and annoying than many other women in chick-lit-types of books that I have read. De los Santos has written another book, Belong to Me, and while I'm not running out to the nearest bookstore to purchase it, I would definitely consider reading it when I'm looking for something light and entertaining.

Date completed: July 29, 2008
Number of pages: 307

Read Natasha's review at Maw Books Blog

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

The term "shopaholic" is a bit of an understatement for Rebecca (aka Becky) Bloomwood. She has shopped herself into a large amount of debt from a number of stores, credit cards and her bank. Almost every day, she receives letters or calls from her creditors letting her know that she is overdue on her bills. The ironic part of her situations is that she is a financial journalist. Her job is writing columns for a finance magazine called Successful Savings. However, financial journalism is far from her dream job. She would much rather be writing for Vogue, or any other well-known fashion magazine. Becky strongly dislikes her job and doesn't have a boyfriend, so so she finds her happiness in shopping, even though she is "up to her eyeballs" in debt. Her father tells her there are two ways to escape her financial crisis--cut back, or make more money. The rest of her story revolves around her attempts to do both. Neither option is easy, but Becky realizes she must use her imagination and whatever willpower she can find to get herself out of the mess she has gotten herself into.

I am sad to say that my first foray into the "chick lit" genre this year was a bit disappointing. Confessions of a Shopaholic was predictible and unbelieveable even for me, and I tend to have no idea what's coming in most books. I just couldn't understand why Rebecca kept buying more and more expensive items when she was in so much debt! Now, there have been times when I have made purchases that were a little pricey or impractical, but not every single day, and not when I know I really can't afford it. Also, many of the people who know Becky seemed to think she is quite intelligent and a financial genius. From what I read, I can't understand how anyone would get that impression--she knows next to nothing about the financial world. I'm actually surprised she hasn't gotten fired from her job! While I was reading the last 50 pages or so, I couldn't help rolling my eyes more than once. I won't give away the ending, but you'll probably figure it out if you start reading the book.

There were definitely positives to the book as well. I found it to be a light, entertaining read. Shopaholic would be perfect for a day at the beach, or for a long flight. There were one or two instances when Becky's actions were similar to things I've done myself--such as buying something I don't really need just because it's on a good sale. The book was amusing at times. And in the end, I found myself liking Rebecca, even though throughout most of the book, I really wanted to sit her down and help her make a plan and actually stick to it! I would recommend this book to true shopaholics out there, or to those looking for a very light vacation-y read.

Date completed: June 8, 2008
# of pages: 312
Rating: 2/5

When I was searching for a picture of the book, I discovered that there is a movie in production, starring Isla Fisher set to release in 2009.

If you've read and reviewed this book, please let me know, and I'll post your link.