Tag Archives: Sophie Kinsella

Top Five Books of 2012

I’ve seen all over the internet that people have done memes putting up top 10, and top 20 best books they read in 2012. Unfortunately, since I only read 26 books in 2012, it doesn’t make any sense for me to take part in them.

Instead, I humbly list my top five books of 2012, in order of preference:

The Handmaid’s Tale – Hands down my favorite book of 2012. I had long ago read The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, and decided that she was not for me. But, this book just blew me away. I definitely see more Atwood in my reading future.
Unaccustomed Earth – Again, I am not a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri, or short stories for that matter. I should hate this book, but I was very surprised by how much I loved it, and how much I related to it.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes – This was a book that grew slowly on me. My first reaction was not very positive, but the more I read this book, and the more I thought about it, I realized it’s very cleverly written with all those multiple viewpoints. May not be the most satisfying read emotionally, but it really appealed to me intellectually. The author Mohammed Hanif really hit a sixer (hit the ball out of the park if you’re American) with this first novel of his.
I’ve Got Your Number – Light chick-lit, true, but it’s really well-done. Sophie Kinsella’s writing style really appeals to me. I actually went back to read it again one late night couple of weekends back, and I found it just as lively and hilarious as when I first read it.
Beloved – This book has faded a little in my memory, but re-reading my review reminds me of how this book affected me powerfully then. I am not a fan of Morrison’s writing style in some parts of this book, but the story was strong enough to overcome these issues. So, this book rounds off my top 5 of 2013 list.

Probably, the most painful book of 2012 was The Canterbury Tales – a book I read for the better part of 6 months without really getting anything very positive from it, apart from the satisfaction of mentally crossing it off my Classics to Read list .

What were your favorite books of 2012? What were your disappointing reads?

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The Wedding Girl – A Book Review

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The Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham

When ‘I do’ gives you déjà vu it could be a problem.

At the age of eighteen, in that first golden Oxford summer, Milly was up for anything. Rupert and his American lover Allan were all part of her new, exciting life, and when Rupert suggested to her that she and Allan should get married, just so that Allan could stay in the country, Milly didn’t hesitate.

Ten years later, Milly is a very different person. Engaged to Simon – who is wealthy, serious, and believes her to be perfect – she is facing the biggest and most elaborate wedding imaginable. Her mother has it planned to the finest detail. Milly’s dreadful secret is locked away so securely she has almost persuaded herself that it doesn’t exist – until, with only four days to go, her past catches up with her.

~ Synopsis from Good Reads

This book is written by Madeleine Wickham who is more popularly known as Sophie Kinsella – the author of the Shopaholic series.

Reading the above blurb, you can be forgiven for thinking that this is another light-hearted airy chick-lit novel. You would be right, but it also does have its really serious moments.

The focus of this book starts with the daffy wedding girl Milly who doesn’t think it’s a big deal to marry her love when she is already married to another man, but the focus thankfully quickly moves to other more interesting characters and relationships. There is her sister Isobel – pregnant with a mystery man’s child and wondering what to do next. Milly’s fiance Simon – a rather spoiled and childish man who never looks like your traditional hero material, and his dysfunctional relationship with his millionaire father – Harry. There are Milly’s parents – Olivia and James living a dead marriage, and then the story of Milly’s first husband – Allen and his ex-partner Rupert.

So, yes, this is a book which is much deeper than most chick-lit novels. It’s also a lot more realistic about life, people, and relationships.

I liked this book because I generally like Sophie Kinsella’s writing. It doesn’t matter to me whether she writes as Madeleine Wickham (more serious) or Sophie Kinsella (true chick-lit), I like her books anyway.

I did feel though that sections of this book are a little uneven. While I liked reading about each person’s dilemma, in some places, the story just felt too unbelievable. Also, each person’s storyline ends on a pretty unrealistic note. The man who says he doesn’t want children suddenly wants them. The man who hated his father all along suddenly appreciates him…you get what I am saying? The resolution was all too pat and neatly tied up…and you all know how much I hate those.

The story line about Allen and Rupert – the gay couple, was poignant but at the same time calculatedly so. I don’t want to reveal too much detail, but it felt like it was written especially to tear at the heart.

I still did like the book overall, but it’s not one that I will re-read. This book is a not-so-great effort by a generally talented and entertaining author.

Thanks to Random House for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

Mailbox Mondays: October 22, 2012

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Welcome to this week’s Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by Marcia at The Mailbox Monday Blog.

Books I received last week

Random House India again very kindly sent over a wonderful collection of books.

I have long been curious about A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif, but not curious enough to actually pick it up and give a read. When it came highly recommended from the chappie from Random House, I knew I had to give it a go. Reviews that say it’s a little like Catch-22 and because it’s set in my favorite time period of Pakistani history vaults this book right to the top of my TBR list.

The next one is some easy reading from Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham – The Wedding Girl, and then comes Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri – a book of short stories about the immigrant experience among Indian Bengalis in the United States.

I received A Mysterious Death at Sainik Farms directly from the author Rukmani Anandani (through her publisher Rupa Publications). I just finished reading it over the weekend, and it’s a nice pleasant, cozy mystery in the classic Christie-esque style. My review will be up shortly on the blog.

This week I also won an iPad book app – The Berenstain Bears Go on a Ghost Walk from iGameMom. Thanks, iGameMom, it was a pleasant surprise for my daughter and she really enjoyed the book.

So those are the books I received last week. It’s a list I am quite excited about. Have you read these books? What books did you receive?

I’ve Got Your Number – A Book Review

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I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella has taken over the chick-lit market with her brand of books. Although I am not a fan of the flaky heroine (her speciality), I like it when it’s done by Kinsella. Her heroines may not be the brightest bulbs, but they are full of heart, vitality, and some amount of street smarts.

This book also follows the same formula. Poppy is a physiotherapist engaged to a brainiac man who she thinks is too good for her. In fact, she can’t believe her luck when he proposes to her with an antique family heirloom ring. Unfortunately, she goes and loses it during a party with friends. To add insult to injury, she loses her cell-phone as well. At this point, you and me would perhaps have had a drink or two, geared ourselves up to confess and then be done with it.

Poppy, instead filches a phone out of a bin (a bin, blech!!!), and uses it as a back-up so that the hotel staff can contact her if they find her ring. She refuses to give the phone back to the owner Sam Roxton, and instead they come to an agreement, where she will forward him all messages and phone calls until she finds her ring.

What happens when you forward someone’s messages? Well you can’t help but read them right? So as Poppy is keeping up with forwarding Sam’s emails she can’t help but be curious about all the back story behind them and she ends up reading everything in the phone.

She begins to get to know Sam through the email and test messages. Poppy’s and Sam’s communication styles are so different, and she can’t stand his two-word messages, so she starts replying for him in her usual kisses and hearts style, only to create a mass of confusion.

Sam gets pissed off and reads her communications. He says she is too indirect and people pleasing, and she should learn to be more assertive.

In the end, both learn from each other. Poppy becomes less of a doormat and Sam becomes a bit more people-pleasing.

But in the meanwhile, there is a wedding to be cancelled, and a company scandal that must be dealt with before Sam and Poppy (don’t their names sound perfect with each other?) get together and ride off into the sunset.

My Review:

I loved, loved, loved this book. This is not my favorite Kinsella, but still pretty good and oodles better than her last book I read – Twenties Girl, which I found annoying in the extreme.

I loved the slow romance between Sam and Poppy. They first get to know each other as friends, and it is only in the last half of the book that we see the romance bloom between them. I liked how comfortable she felt with him. After reading so many books, where the girl is floored by the guy’s looks and heroism (Twilight, I am looking at you), it was refreshing to read a natural flowing romance where both are likable, with believable strengths and weaknesses. The chemistry between them also crackles in a very believable way.

Did I mention this book is funny? There’s a scene in a jewelry shop that is hilarious, and this book is worth reading just for that section alone!

Definitely a must-read for Sophie Kinsella and chick-lit fans.

Thanks to Random House for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Teaser Tuesdays – I’ve Got Your Number

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I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I’ve never shared an in-box with anyone in my life. I didn’t expect it to feel so…intimate. It’s as if we’re suddenly sharing an underwear drawer or something.

- I’ve Got Your Number – Sophie Kinsella

Totally fun, hilarious book that I highly recommend for chick-lit lovers. Book review coming up soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mailbox Mondays: October 1, 2012

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Welcome to this week’s Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by Marcia at The Mailbox Monday Blog.

In my mailbox today

I received these books today morning, and I am already halfway through the Sophie Kinsella book. Her stories are always so breezy and fast-moving. Also looking forward to Guilty Wives by James Patterson and Fallen by Karin Slaughter. I have never read Karin Slaughter before, but I have heard good things about her books on many book blogs. Here’s hoping I find one new thriller writer to add to my regular reads.

What books did you get this week? What are you looking forward to reading?

My First Tag of 2010

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My reading efforts and my life in general has been pretty lacklustre of late. Nothing eventful to blog about. Couple of weeks back, the snubnose was down with pneumonia. In the ensuing worry, leave from office, and so on, I have had to do some massive catch-up with work, and it is not over yet.

I have also had to ~~slow down~~ completely halt my reading of Bleak House. I stopped reading when the snubnose fell ill, and I have just not been motivated enough to pick it up (or even any other book) again. Strange for me! I must really be feeling the blues…

Anyway, I saw this interesting meme on Mae’s blog, and I liked the questions enough to take part myself. So, without much ado, here we go:

Favorite childhood book?
If it was early childhood, I would agree with Mae and list The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. By the time I was ten though, I was headlong in love with Robert Louis Stevenson … in particular Treasure Island and Black Arrow.
What are you reading right now?
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
What books do you have on request at the library?
None
Bad book habit?
Spilling food/water/tea on my books. I always munch when I read.
What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. I am on a classics kick now.
Do you have an e-reader?
I have an iPad, and I do use iBooks for reading.
Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?Strictly one book at a time.
Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
I pay more attention to the book, I think…I note down sections that I like. I make the effort to check up certain facts mentioned in the book to see how accurate they are. Basically, blogging has made me a more conscientious reader…or that’s what I’d like to think .
Least favorite book you read this year (so far)?
That’s easy…Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
Favorite book you’ve read this year?
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky comes close, but I have to admit that my favorite book was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I love books with dogs.
How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
A lot. I love variety when it comes to books.
What is your reading comfort zone?
There are some authors – unfortunately most of them dead who always do it for me. My favorite authors I turn to are Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, and Victoria Holt (gothic romances). Generally, any well-written mystery with a dash of romance will do the trick for me.Of the living authors, I think Sophie Kinsella is creeping up on me.
Can you read on the bus?
Nope…not on bus, train, airplane…nothing. I tend to fall asleep when the vehicle is in motion.
Favorite place to read?
Sofa
What is your policy on book lending?
I have no problems with it…no problems when it is not returned either…I just go ahead and buy a new copy if it is a book I particularly like. I generally bargain hunt a lot while book shopping, so monetarily also it’s not a huge loss.
Do you ever dog-ear books?
All the time. I am not precious with books ever…my dad keeps complaining about how he knows exactly which books in his massive collection that I have read just by the number of dog-ears!
Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Never…my dad would kill me if I ever did that.
Not even with text books?
OK, that I do…
What is your favorite language to read in?
English. I can read Hindi and French, but it’s really a struggle. I’d just cave in and read a really good translation. I do wish that I could read Bengali. Kal’s blog with its frequent references to Tagore’s poetry and books makes me wish that I could read them in the original language. Our Indian languages are extremely rich…something always gets lost while translating into English.
What makes you love a book?
It’s really hard for me to say. I think the plot must be interesting enough to span the length of the book. Some books lose out when they are needlessly long, while other books end rather abruptly. I think a well-plotted, and well-edited book regardless of the genre will always win with me. I’m being rather vague with this answer, but that’s how best I can explain it.
What will inspire you to recommend a book?
In person, I rarely recommend books. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, and I believe that strongly. Mostly friends read my blog for recommendations. Also, in real life…very few of my friends are bookish.I do sometimes recommend books to my mom, though
Favorite genre?
Thrillers and Fantasy
Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Non-fiction, philosophy
Favorite biography?
Nothing in particular comes to mind. There was a mad phase when I read a bunch of stuff on the life of Marilyn Monroe. I outgrew that pretty fast. I am not very much into biographies in general.
Have you ever read a self-help book?
Ah, no…I read strictly for pleasure, not to improve myself ;. Also, some of the more obnoxious people I know are heavily into the self-help style of reading, so I have always felt self-books are rather dangerous . Plus, I am really not that interested in knowing who moved my cheese
Favorite cookbook?
Nah…I just filch recipes off from the internet or from my favorite cooking blogs. Not that I ever actually cook them . They are just saved up for the time when I retire and have all the time in the world to really cook, rather than the 20-minute slap dash fare I make now.
Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?Inspirational? Nothing this year. Last year, I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and felt very inspired by the strength of the two women protagonists.
Favorite reading snack?Chocolates
Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I won’t say my reading experience was ruined. Ruined is too strong a word. I will just say that I did not enjoy The Swan Thieves as much as I expected to. I don’t think the book really lived up to the hype. Not that it’s a bad book…but just overhyped. I also think the Inkworld series by Cornelia Funke was way overhyped.
How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don’t always agree, but I like and respect the different perspectives that people bring to a book review
How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
If it’s a book I bought or borrowed, I don’t have a problem with negative reviews at all. I do struggle though when authors/publishers give me bad/mediocre books to review. Then I really struggle .
If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
There are so many. I would choose French because how awesome would it be to read Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas in French. But, I would also choose Bengali for its rich regional literature, and Tamil – also rich in local literature, and it’s my native tongue and I can’t read it. Shame on me!!!
Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. Indecipherable and BORING. The fact that I finished it is a true tribute to my will-power and persistence.
Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Nothing really. I don’t get intimidated…I start off and then get stuck.
Favorite Poet?
Edgar Allan Poe
How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
4 because that’s my library’s limit.
How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Hardly ever. I’m persistent, remember .
Favorite fictional character?
Current faves are Harry Bosch – the detective from the Michael Connelly series, and Vish Puri – the detective in the Tarquin Hall books.
Favorite fictional villain?
Long John Silver from Treasure Island. Also Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair.
Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
A book based on the place I am going to. Or, at least as close as it gets.
The longest I’ve gone without reading.
I did neglect reading during my school board exams – for about 2 years, I read nothing but textbooks. During my college years, I partied a lot and read very little. That’s the only time I can remember when books took a back seat in my life.
Name a book that you could/would not finish.
War and Peace is a book I never managed to even get halfway through, forget about finishing. I hope Bleak House does not end up in this category!
What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Nothing, really. I tend to get engrossed. My family members get really annoyed sometimes.
Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Lord of the Rings, and Silence of the Lambs. Generally, most thrillers make good movies as well.
Most disappointing film adaptation?
The Harry Potter movies – especially the later ones seemed to miss a lot of the richness and wonder of the books.
The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I’m quite thrifty when it comes to book buying. Mostly second-hand for me. I don’t think I have ever spent more than Rs.1000/- at any given time.
How often do you skim a book before reading it?
I don’t skim. I just go ahead and read.
What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Usually, if something much more attention-grabbing happens in real life, and I end up having to stop reading, or if it is blah, blah, blah like War and Peace.
Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, Organizing my book shelf is actually a comforting activity for me. Though, I always end up leaving it half-finished and starting on some book that has caught my interest there
Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I would keep some – the ones I loved, the author-signed ones, etc. The others I wouldn’t mind giving away.
Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
I am avoiding books 2 and 3 of the Stieg Larsson series and the Hunger Games trilogy. I want to take my time and read those books long after the blogosphere chatter has died down, and I am no longer as influenced by the hype.
Name a book that made you angry.
I think the sloppy writing on The Dangerous Days of Daniel X made me very angry. My book review also reflects that I think
A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I expect to like most books, that’s why I read them
A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
I know I am flogging a dead horse here, but I really expected to like Twilight and the rest of the books in the series. I find vampire fiction fun as a rule, but these books were damp squibs.
Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, Victoria Holt

Whew! I finally finished this meme. Anybody else want to take it up? Go on, do it, and then link to me after

Cocktails for Three – A Book Review

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Cocktails for Three by Madeleine Wickham

I have always liked Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic books and so last week, while browsing the chick-lit section at Eloor Library, when I came across a series of books written under her actual name – Madeleine Wickham, I just had to try one.

I picked up Cocktails for Three randomly just because it sounded light, fun, and frothy. And that is exactly what it is. The story is pretty simple and straight-forward with a very basic plot. Three friends and co-workers each with a secret of their own meet every month for cocktails. The heroines’ stories unfold after one such meeting. Maggie is due to have a baby at any moment, Candice is about to run into a ghost from her family’s sordid past, and Roxanne is in a relationship with a married man.

When Candice rekindles a friendship with a childhood buddy, a series of events are set into motion, which tries the friendship of the three girls and makes them all reconsider what is important to them.

My take on this book:

To me, this is superior chick-lit primarily because men have little role to play. There is romance in the novel, but really it plays second-fiddle to the actual story- how these girls manage to support each other through their mistakes and bad decisions.

I also loved the characterization of the three girls. I could identify with them at all stages – even Roxanne the girl in an affair with a married man did not come out sordid! I especially loved Maggie – the career woman who is struggling as a new mother. There is a moment when she admits she is terrified of leaving the hospital after the delivery and facing taking care of the baby at home. As I was reading this passage, I was chuckling to myself and nodding along – yeah! totally been there and understand that. Candice is also very sweetly written. She comes across as a bit too naive, but I have also been that person once, so she also resonated with me.

In short, I absolutely loved this book. It was just what I needed to read right now and I am planning to check the library for more Madeleine Wickham.

I do think my love for this book might be colored a bit because I could relate it so well to my personal experiences and my relationship with my friends. This book may not suit everyone’s tastes but it suited mine, just fine .

Certain Girls – A Book Review with Some Mild Spoilers

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Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

I picked up Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner, because it was a kind of sequel to “Good In Bed”, which I had read many years back and enjoyed thoroughly. Jennifer Weiner is also one of the better “chick-lit” writers out there whose books always offer something a bit more meaningful than the Sophie Kinsella-esque fluff that is so common these days.

If you have not read “Good in Bed”, do read it if you get a chance. It is a really good read; and far better than it’s rather suggestive title and cover would imply. It is also far better than this rather tepid sequel.

Certain Girls takes place about 15 years after Good in Bed ends. Cannie Shapiro (the heroine in Good in Bed) is now happily married to her dream guy, and she has a 13 year old daughter (from a previous relationship). She spends her time ghost-writing some science fiction novels and planning how to organize her daughter (Joy’s) upcoming bat mitzvah.

Cannie’s husband Peter is dreaming about having another baby and convinces his wife to try out for another baby. Following the trauma of Joy’s birth, Cannie’s not able to have more children, so it means finding a surrogate.

Joy is struggling with an identity crisis. She feels stifled and embarassed by her mother’s over-protectiveness. She has also stumbled across an old book written by her mother, which reveals certain family truths that disturb her.

The story alternates between Joy’s and Cannie’s points of view, so it makes it easy for the reader to understand their motivations.

Eventually, this is a family story that revolves around how mother and daughter resolve various issues that are tearing the family apart, and the life lessons they learn along the way.

My take on this novel:

I don’t know what I was expecting when I checked out Certain Girls; but it definitely wasn’t this.

The first half of the story was quite predictable and I found the mother-daughter fights to be a wee bit on the hysterical side – way too much drama for very trivial things.

For example, for half the book there is an ongoing drama about a Badgley Mischka dress that Joy wants to wear for her bat mitzvah and to which her mother strenuously objects. I just didn’t get why there was so much fuss over what seemed to be a non-issue. Cannie objects (not for financial reasons, which might make sense), but because it is too party-like for what is essentially a religious ceremony. I really felt that she was being quite unreasonable there. A young girl on the brink of a ceremony that symbolizes her entry into adulthood would definitely want something a llittle grown-up. Also, the dress sounded prefectly lovely and perfectly suitable to me.

In addition, I was quite disappointed by Cannie’s character. She was very lively and witty in Good in Bed, but here, she seemed to have settled down into becoming a suburban and somewhat whiny mum. She is unable to forget and forgive the people who have done her wrong in the past. I found that rather childish; I mean it’s been more than 10 years for God’s sake. Surely, you can’t still be holding a grudge against people!!

Well, anyway the hysteria builds up to a point where Joy decides to run away from home. And I must say, that is the point onwards where the story direction starts to move in a very unexpected manner. The end of the novel is a complete shocker; I just did not see it coming and neither will you.

In the end, I think the final bits of the novel redeemed it for me. I know the ending would have disappointed some other readers who were looking for something more upbeat, but for me I felt it was the only way to end the story in a strong manner, which gives enough substance to the rest of this otherwise lukewarm novel.

Be warned, it is a tearjerker though. Just perfect for those rainy days when you just want to curl up with a book under a blanket and go sob, sob, sob. I must say, I ended up with a rather runny nose after reading this one!

Can you Keep a Secret? – Book Review

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Can you Keep a Secret?

After the somewhat heavy going of The Given Day, I was in the mood for some light n easy reading. With this in mind, in my next trip to Eloor Library, I picked up Can you Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella. I have read and enjoyed Sophie Kinsella’s shopaholic series of books, but I had mixed opinions about her other books.

Reading this book did not change my opinion that Sophie Kinsella is essentially a one-trick pony, reworking her characters and situational comedies over multiple books. Nothing too wrong with this approach – great writers like Agatha Christie and P.G.Wodehouse have done this to a fine art.

The story takes place in London. The heroine Emma Corrigan works for a cola company called Panther Corporation. When she flies back from a bad meeting, she blurts out all her most embarrassing secrets to the stranger sitting next to her thinking the aeroplane that is bouncing around because of turbulence is going to crash. Surprise! the next day, she finds out that the stranger is the CEO of Panther Corporation; and he remembers her and all her secrets. The rest of the story deals with their romance, and how they get together in the end.

You may think that I have hardly provided any details here, but I could find very little of note to mention. There are the usual misunderstandings from both parties before it all resolves itself into a happy ending.

I can’t say that I did not enjoy this book. I was interested enough to read it within a couple of days. However, I also found the book to be a little too Cinderella-esque for my taste. I mean, really, an affair between a CEO of a company, and one of the most junior-most employees? I mean, how much more fairy-tale can you get?

I also found that it would have helped if Emma had done a little bit more growing-up during the course of this book. The book starts off with a list of secrets that she keeps and ends with a list of secrets. I was not too impressed by that.

I guess I am also getting very tired of the write-by-numbers style of chick-lit fiction that is available these days. After the ginormous success of the Bridget Jones series, almost every other chick-lit book seems to have the same formula. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bridget Jones, just cannot stand her various clones floating around through countless novels.

Most chick-lit books now seem to have the same standard formula, which I have attempted to outline below:

Blond, flaky British heroine living in London working in a boring office, with a manager who hassles her, and colleagues who boss over her.
One question: Is it common practice for managers in British companies to use four-letter words in the workplace? I thought people could get fired for that!
A hero who is slightly aloof. The heroine manages to catch his attention by doing something goofy or kind; manages to embarrass herself thoroughly, and the hero comes to her rescue. Repeat this scenario as many times as required through the course of the novel.
The obligatory other man/other woman. The other man is usually a dolt who creates a messy scene for the girl in front of the hero. The other woman is usually extremely beautiful and catty, and is all out after the hero.
Note: Can you Keep a Secret? slightly divulges from this formula. There is no gorgeous woman throwing herself at the hero, but I also kept getting a vague suspicion that he might be gay. Gasp!
Series of misunderstandings that threaten to derail a relationship.
Interfering / helpful friends and roommates who play a part in getting the two lovers together.
THE END!

I guess what I am trying to say through this rambling, wordy review is that I think I am over chick-lit books. Unless, some kind commentator can recommend something that is a little different from the above formula, but still light n enjoyable!

So, please send in the recommendations! Am waiting with bated breath