I read 74 books this year but as I didn’t start this blog until June, I only reviewed 45 of them on here. I’ve decided to pick my favourites from books released this year and have linked reviews where I posted them. I couldn’t pick an absolute favourite as I loved all of these books for different reasons so, in release date order, my books of the year are:

The Blue Bloods Series (published throughout 2010 by Atom)

Actually a bit of a cheat as I read all five of the books in the series when they were released this year plus the companion book Keys to the Repository. This is my absolute favourite vampire series at the moment and I can’t wait for the next installment Bloody Valentine: A Blue Bloods Novella which is released in January 2011.

The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne (published in May 2010 by Hodder)

 I loved this story of a very modern finishing school. Hester Browne was a new author for me this year and I’m hoping to read her previous novels in 2011 and am already looking forward to her new book Swept off her Feet which is released in March 2011.

Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon (published in July 2010 by Simon and Schuster)

I’m a huge fan of Paige Toon’s books and have read them all. Pictures of Lily was the perfect summer love story and I’m already counting the days to the release of her next book Baby be Mine a much awaited sequel to Johnny be Good.

I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk (published by Harper in July 2010)

Angela’s adventures in the ‘I Heart…’ series never fail to make me smile and her jaunt through Paris was another brilliant summer read.  I Heart Paris is also on the Romantic Novelists’ Association longlist for the Pure Passion Romantic Novel of the Year Award so good luck Lindsey when the shortlist is announced in February!

The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur (published by Greenwillow books in August 2010)

A brilliant debut and start to a new college based series following Callie Andrews as she starts her first year at Harvard University. The next book in the series, Secrets is out in May 2011.

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (published by Transworld in September 2010)
In July I set myself a Shopaholic Challenge after confessing that I hadn’t read any of Sophie Kinsella’s books. The challenge was to read and review all of the Shopaholic series before the publication of Mini Shopaholic in September. I had an amazing response to the challenge and really enjoyed it. Mini Shopaholic is a fab addition to the series and I hope we see more of Becky and the gang soon.

 Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (published by Bloomsbury in October 2010)

The sories of Andi (modern day New Yorker) and Alex (occupant of Paris during the French Revolution)  collide in this brilliant historical fiction novel. It’s an absolutely gripping read.

Welcome to my World by Miranda Dickinson (published by Avon in November 2010)

One of my favourite reads this winter, Miranda Dickinson’s second novel sees protagonist Harri locked in the loo for the majority of the book as she ponders the events that have brought her to her hiding place. A lovely warm, romantic winter read.

From Notting Hill with Love … Actually by Ali McNamara (published by Sphere in November 2010) 

My favourite ending in a book this year, this book tells the story of film obsessed Scarlett as she tries to live her life like the movies whilst house sitting in Notting Hill.  A wonderful debut from Ali McNamara and I’m looking forward to reading more from her in 2011.

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (published by Atom in December 2010)

A late addition to my favourite books of the year, Nightshade was released earlier this week and is set to be a huge hit in 2011. Also my favourite cover of the year and I can’t wait for the next book in the series, Wolfsbane.

So, that’s my list of favourite reads this year. What do you think? What was your favourite book of 2010?

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) thought motherhood would be a breeze and that having a daughter was a dream come true a shopping friend for life! But it s trickier than she thought two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping.

She can create havoc everywhere from Harrods to Harvey Nicks to her own christening. She hires taxis at random, her favourite word is Mine , and she s even started bidding for designer bags on ebay.

On top of everything else, there s a big financial crisis. People are having to Cut Back including all of Becky s personal shopping clients and she and Luke are still living with Becky s Mum and Dad. To cheer everyone up, Becky decides to throw a surprise birthday party on a budget but then things become really complicated.

Who will end up on the naughty step, who will get a gold star and will Becky s secret wishes come true?

I’m sure it will come as no surprise when I say I loved this book. Having completed my Shopaholic Challenge by reading all of the Shopaholic series, I was very excited to get my hands on the latest installment and I have to say, of the six books so far it is one of my favourites (the other being Shopaholic Ties the Knot).

Mini Shopaholic is set two years after Shopaholic and Baby and finds Becky, Luke and Minnie living with Becky’s Mum and Dad. Things are just beginning to look up for family Brandon when a number of setbacks crop up and Becky has to do her best to deal with them. Luke has been having a tough time so Becky decides to cheer him up by throwing a surprise birthday party for him. In typical Becky fashion, the whole thing gets out of hand as she tries to stick to a minimal budget and goes to increasing lengths to keep the party a secret.

Sophie Kinsella is one of the funniest writers I know and this book made me laugh out loud more than once. I’ve said before that although Becky is a larger than life exaggeration of a character, there is a lot in her that I can identify with and this is why I love the Shopaholic series so much.  As a Mum to an increasingly assertive two year old boy, I could really identify with some of the scenes that took place and loved Becky’s description of ‘the Mummy Onceover’. I also found Becky’s approach to pocket money inspired!

All of the gang are back for this book and I love the fact that Sophie Kinsella has created a whole community of brilliant  characters that I really care about. I enjoy reading updates on the lives of Suze, Tarkie, Danny, Jess, Janice, Tom and Becky’s parents as much as following the latest adventures of Becky, Luke and now Minnie. Interestingly, the book doesn’t feature as much Minnie as I thought it would. I was expecting a tale of the ups and downs of being Mum to a feisty toddler and although there are some very funny Minnnie centric moments, they are more of a side story than the main event. So don’t be put off if you’re not really a fan of children

I always love the endings to the Shopaholic books and I think Sophie Kinsella has outdone herself this time! I’ll say no more as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but it was my favourite ending to a book so far this year and clearly leaves a hook for the next book. I can’t wait for another installment and I hope to be following Becky’s adventures for many years to come!

I’d like to thank Transworld for sending me a copy of this book to review.

You can find out more about Sophie Kinsella and her books at: http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/

5/5

Becky’s life is blooming! She’s working at London’s newest fashion store The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)…and she’s pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed – especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery…to the latest, coolest pram…to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two…but are there three in her marriage?

Two years ago this week I was heavily pregnant and approaching my due date. I really wish I’d read this book then – it would have cheered me up no end! Becky Brandon (Bloomwood) approaches impending motherhood in the same way as she approaches life – head on with plenty of opportunities for shopping and this book really made me laugh out loud!

Book five in the Shopaholic series picks up shortly after the end of the previous book. As you may have guessed from the title, the book focuses in the main part on on Becky’s pregnancy and the preparations for the birth of Baby Brandon. As is now par for the course with our favourite Shopaholic, not everything goes according to plan; there is quite a lot of drama and plenty to keep those who aren’t particularly interested in the latest Bugaboo, entertained, including a suspected affair, Becky’s fight to save the store she works for and Luke’s business problems with his latest big client.

With all this going on, Shopaholic and Baby is a real page turner and I was pleased to see that all of my favourite characters from the previous books make an appearance at some point, including Danny!

I probably don’t need to tell you how good this book is, as if you’ve read this far in the series, you will no doubt already be a fan like me!

This review marks the completion of my Shopaholic challenge just in time for the release of Mini Shopaholic next week. As I’ve said before – I can’t believe it took me so long to read this series but now I have, I’m sure they will be books that I go back to again and again. I’m now really looking forward to reading Sophie Kinsella’s other novels.

5/5

You can find out more about Sophie and her books at: http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/

Becky thought being married to Luke Brandon would be one big Tiffany box of happiness. But to be honest, it’s not quite as dreamy as she’d hoped. The trouble started on honeymoon, when she told Luke the tiniest little fib, about the teeniest little purchase. Now she’s on a strict budget, she doesn’t have a job – and worst of all her beloved Suze has a new best friend. Then she receives some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! Becky has never been more excited. Finally, a real sister! They’ll have so much in common! They can go shopping together…choose shoes together…have manicures together…Until she meets her – and gets the shock of her life. It can’t be true. Surely Becky Bloomwood’s long-lost sister can’t…hate shopping? A sister, a soulmate, a skinflint?

*Spoiler Alert* I’ll try to keep any spoilers to a minimum but as this is a review of the fourth book in the Shopaholic series, you might not want to read on if you haven’t read the others!

I was very curious about this book from the beginning; how on earth does Becky come to have a sister?! The books starts as Becky and Luke decide to end their ’round the world honeymoon trip after ten months and head back to England. On their return they find that a lot has changed since they went away and for Becky it seems that everyone has moved on and forgotten about her; even Suze, her loyal best friend has a new mummy pal and with Luke back in workaholic mode, Becky is left with a bad case of post honeymoon blues. She brightens up however with the news that she has a sister! Of course, Becky’s sister, Jess turns out to be absolutely nothing like her and on first (and second) impressions, the pair seem to be complete opposites to the point where it looks like the relationship might be over before it begins. Add to this the fact that Becky and Luke are not getting on so well either and the scene is set for a dramatic decision from Becky!

I really enjoyed this book – it’s not my favourite in the series and I found it a little slow at the start, but Sophie Kinsella soon had me gripped again as Becky tries to salvage her relationship with Jess. I loved that a large part of this book was set outside of London and I enjoyed seeing Becky being challenged by Jess for being such a shopaholic but I also felt really sorry for her when everything seemed to be going wrong. The ending was excellent as it has been with all of the books so far and had a little twist that I hadn’t guessed. This is another fab read from Sophie Kinsella and as I near the end of my challenge I can’t believe I only have two more Shopaholic books to go – more, more, more, please!

4/5

You can find out more about Sophie and her books at: http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/

(From the back cover) For once in Becky Bloomwood’s life, things are going smoothly. She’s got the dream job as a personal shopper (spending other people’s money – and getting paid for it). She’s got a fabulous Manhattan apartment with her boyfriend Luke. They’ve even opened a joint bank account (although they can’t quite agree on whether a Miu Miu skirt counts as a household expense).
Then Luke proposes – and all of a sudden life gets hectic. Becky’s Mum wants her to get married in Oxshott and wear her old frilly wedding dress. Luke’s mother wants to host a grand extravaganza at the New York Plaza, complete with woodland glade and the New York Philharmonic.
Becky knows she has to sit down and decide – but to be honest, it’s a lot more fun tasting cake, trying on dresses and registering wedding presents. Time’s ticking by, plans are being made both sides of the Atlantic and soon she realises she’s in trouble…

Shopaholic Ties The Knot… because you only do it once. Don’t you?

*Spoiler Alert* I’ll try to keep any spoilers to a minimum but as this is a review of the third book in the Shopaholic series, you might not want to read on if you haven’t read the others!

Wow! I loved this book. It is definitely my favourite of the Shopaholics so far. There were so many brilliant and hilarious moments. I thought Luke’s proposal was just perfect and even though I knew he proposed,  I really didn’t expect it at the point in the story at which it happens. Well done Sophie Kinsella for a truly romantic and original proposal scene!

Shopaholic Ties the Knot is set about a year after Shopaholic Abroad and finds Luke and Becky living happily together in New York. All is going well and Becky is loving her job as a personal shopper. As soon as Luke proposes and Becky accepts, both Mothers go into wedding planning mode and Becky faces her biggest dilemma yet. Does she make her parents dreams come true by getting married in England or does she accept the offer of an all expenses paid Plaza wedding in New York? True to form, Becky throws herself into the wedding preparations, putting off making her decision until the last possible minute. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what Becky’s decision would be and as with all of the Shopaholic books, the ending was brilliant!

I love the way that Sophie Kinsella’s characters really leap off the page and there are some great new characters in this book; Becky and Luke’s neighbor Danny made me smile and I loved her boss Christina and feisty Lauren too. All of the characters are written with real warmth and are interesting in themselves – I’m sure Sophie could produce a whole series of spin off books about the lives of the supporting characters! Elinor, Luke’s mother features prominently in this one and we learn much more about Luke and his relationship with her. Old favourites such as Suze and Michael are back, united in their aim of keeping Becky out of trouble!

I loved planning my own wedding and really got caught up in the detail of this book – it is another perfect chick lit read so if you haven’t read it, grab a copy now!

5/5

From the back cover:Will travel broaden the mind…or loosen the purse strings?
For Rebecca Bloomwood, life is peachy. She has a job on morning TV, her bank manager is actually being nice to her, and when it comes to spending money, her new motto is Buy Only What You Need – and she’s really (sort of) sticking to it. The icing on the brioche is that she’s been offered a chance to work in New York.
New York! The Museum of Modern Art! The Guggenheim! The Metropolitan Opera House! And Becky does mean to go to them all. Honestly. It’s just that it seems silly not to check out a few other places first. Like Saks. And Bloomingdales. And Barneys. And one of those fantastic sample sales where you can get a Prada dress for $10. Or was it $100? Is Becky too dazzled to care?
Shopaholic Abroad – for the biggest culture shop of your life.

*Spoiler Alert* I’ll try to keep any spoilers to a minimum but as this is a review of the sequel to Confessions of a Shopaholic, you might not want to read on if you haven’t read the first book!

I enjoyed Confessions of a Shopaholic so much that I went straight on to read the second book in the series – Shopaholic Abroad. The book continues Rebecca Bloomwood’s story about a year after the first book ends and it felt like it followed on seamlessly. Having said that, I do think it could be read without having read Confessions first, or after a long break as the story stands well enough on its own and Becky usefully fills in any background details that you need to know or might have forgotten!

So, a year on from the end of Confessions of a Shopaholic, we find Becky still sharing a flat with Suze and dating Luke. Her TV finance advice slot has taken off and her career is going well but despite having paid off all of her debts at one point, she is still a complete shopaholic and has amounted quite a bit of debt again. The story follows a similar plot line to that of the first book with Becky getting herself into increasing debt and ignoring it or weaving a very creative web of tall stories until it all comes back to bite her in spectacular fashion; only this time Luke is along for the ride and her actions affect him too.

The story is pacy and there are times when it was laugh out loud funny, but I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as Confessions of a Shopaholic. I expected a fun filled trip to New York (have I mentioned that it’s one of my favourite cities?) but it takes 150 pages of the 350 page book for Becky to even set foot in the USA and I found myself just wishing she’d get there! Despite a promising start, all does not go well for Luke and Becky in New York and I was disappointed to see her returning home quite quickly, with the last 90 pages of the book set back in London. I realise that Becky had to face the consequences of her actions at some point and the book does this well, however, I just felt it didn’t sparkle as much as the first book did. As with the first book, I did enjoy the ending though and I have already started the third book in the series – Shopaholic Ties the Knot and I’m pleased to say I’m really loving it so maybe this was just a small blip for me!

Shopaholic Abroad is part of my Shopaholic Reading Challenge and is also on my Summer Reading Challenge list. I think it would make a good summer read as Sophie Kinsella has a very easy writing style and the plot will keep you turning the pages, but it wasn’t what I expected as the focus is more on Becky and Luke and their relationship and Becky’s spending rather than her adventures in New York.

4/5

This is the second review in my Shopaholic Reading Challenge. I’m aiming to read and review all of the books in the series so far by September – just in time for the release of Mini Shopaholic. If you are joining me in this challenge, please do leave a comment below with your thoughts on Shopaholic Abroad or a link to your review. I thought I’d also pose a question to go with each book which you can answer just for fun…

In Shopaholic Abroad Becky has lots of fun shopping  in New York. What’s the best or worst holiday shopping experience you’ve had?

Mine is another shoe-related story but this time the shoes were for my then boyfriend (now husband). I dragged him on a two hour (each way) bus journey to the nearest city on holiday in Spain and he snapped up a bargain pair of trainers only to find, when we had returned to our apartment that night, that he had two right trainers in the box. We had to ring the shop and try to explain what had happened (neither of us speak Spanish) and then do the four hour round trip again the next day (and try to remember where the shop was) to finally get a right and left shoe. At least we can laugh about it now

Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She’s a journalist. She spends her working life telling others how to manage their money. She spends her leisure time …shopping. Retail therapy is the answer to all her problems. She knows she should stop, but she can’t. She tries Cutting Back, she tries Making More Money. But neither seems to work. The stories she concocts become more and more fantastic as she tries to untangle her increasingly dire financial difficulties. Her only comfort is to buy herself something – just a little something …Can Becky ever escape from this dream world, find true love, and regain the use of her Switch card? Confessions of a Shopaholic …the perfect pick me up for when it’s all hanging in the (bank) balance.

This book was originally published as ‘The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic’ but had a name change when the film came out last year.

Confessions of a Shopaholic follows the ups and downs of Rebecca Bloomwood’s attempts to tackle her debts. She tries spending less and when that fails she tries to make more money. She looks for a new job; tries making picture frames in her spare time and even tries to make herself fall in love with her flatmate’s cousin who just happens to be the fifteenth richest bachelor in the country… and much more beside.

The book is written from Rebecca’s point of view which lets the reader get right inside Becky’s head so we get to see all of that hilarious logic at work first hand, but the thing that I liked most about Becky is that she is very real. An exaggerated version of real – perhaps most of us have a little more control (maybe not when it comes to books!) and aren’t quite as drastically in debt as Becky but who hasn’t treated themselves to a little something to cheer themselves up when they’ve had a bad day? And who hasn’t convinced themselves that they really really neeeeed that pair of shoes/bag/top/lipstick when you know you should be saving money? I loved the fact that the focus of the book is Becky, her shopping habit and her tactics for dealing with (or avoiding) her mounting debts – it made a nice change from purely romantic chick lit stories.

I love shopping but even if you don’t like shopping I think you should give this book a try. It is very funny. The supporting characters are as well written as Becky and her friends and family are very believable. Don’t be put off if you’ve seen the film version and weren’t so keen. I watched the film version last year and thought it was cute but I can’t believe how different the book and the film are. The basic ‘Becky and her debts plot’ is there but just about everything else is different!

Confessions of a Shopaholic really made me smile. This books still feels incredibly fresh despite the fact that it was actually released ten years ago! As I said in my challenge post, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to start reading this series but now I have, there’s no stopping me! This is classic chick lit and a book that should be on every fan’s bookshelf.

You can find out more about Sophie Kinsella and her books at: http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk

5/5

This is the first review in my Shopaholic Reading Challenge. I’m aiming to read and review all of the books in the series so far by September – just in time for the release of Mini Shopaholic. If you are joining me in this challenge, please do leave a comment below with your thoughts on Confessions of a Shopaholic or a link to your review. I thought I’d also pose a question to go with each book which you can answer just for fun…

In Confessions of a Shopaholic Becky can’t resist a bargain – what’s the best (or worst) bargain you’ve found?!

My answer to this one it a pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals which I found in the sale at Bergdorf Goodman in New York reduced from $1000 to $100 …  in true Becky Bloomwood style I had to have them! Sadly, I realised within five minutes of wearing them to a friend’s wedding that I couldn’t actually walk in them and spent the night dancing barefoot! They have since been sold on Ebay but they were a bargain – LOL!

I have a confession to make …  despite being a great fan of chick lit I haven’t read any of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic books. In fact, I’ve never read a book by Sophie Kinsella! I do have almost all of her books on my ‘to read’ pile though and I’m fairly convinced that I will love the Shopaholic series (it is about one of my favourite hobbies after all!).

As I was reading excited Tweets anticipating the publication of Mini Shopaholic in September, I realised this is the perfect time to set myself a challenge and review the series for those who haven’t read it.

So, starting this week I’ll be aiming to read and review all of the books in the series so far before the release of Mini Shopaholic on 2nd September!  I’ve already started Confessions of a Shopaholic (originally The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic) and am really enjoying it.  If you fancy joining me in my challenge, leave a link to your reviews in the comments section below and I’ll add links to my reviews as I go along.

Confessions of a Shopaholic/Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic Review

Shopaholic Abroad/Shopaholic Takes Manhatten Review

Shopaholic Ties the Knot Review

Shopaholic and Sister Review

Shopaholic and Baby Review