Things I Love Thursday’s: Chick Lit (and not the gum ;))

Ask my parents about my childhood and they will almost immediately mention something about my love of books.  Before I could read, I enjoyed being read to and then when I learned to read, my love of books just grew with my age and ability. 

I was always able to find books that I enjoyed until I got up to high school.  I spent a lot of my “fun” reading time reading biographies of people I loved/admired (Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lucille Ball, Anna Pavlova, etc), but never really found my true reading niche.

When I got to college, although most of my time was filled with reading college texts, I longed to have something to relax and not have to put any thought into.  I was taking a summer literature class and the girl sitting next to me starting talking about a book called Babyville by Jane Green. 

As soon as I got home that evening, I looked it up on Amazon to read more about it as well as find some other suggestions.  I wrote down a few books and headed to Barnes and Noble to begin my search.

They were actually out of this title, but Jane Green had some more books that looked interesting and one of her books was even on a “Summer Beach Reads” display.  While I was looking at all of the fun “beach reads” I saw the cover of this book which completely drew me in:  The Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

I of course am an avid shopper (I’ve revealed my obsession with shoes and accessories on many occasions) so I thought this was a great premise for a book.  I grabbed it up and went home to begin reading.  After the first few pages, I was not only in love with Sophie Kinsella and her character Rebecca Bloomwood, but I had become completely drawn into a whole new genre of reading:  Chick Lit.

According to Wikipedia, Chick lit is defined as a term used to denote genre fiction within women's fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. The genre sells well, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit. It generally deals with the issues of modern women humorously and lightheartedly.

I loved everything about this book and since the second book had   just come out a few months before, I immediately went back and bought the next one:  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan.

I finished that book just in time for Shopaholic Ties the Knot, which came out the following month.  I had read where the next book would be coming out two years later, so I had to fill my time with other authors while waiting on my next fix of Miss Rebecca Bloomwood. 

Since Jane Green got me started into this whole obsessions, I read the majority of her books (except Babyville, still haven’t read that!) and then moved on and read The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  I tried a few more authors, but I just didn’t get drawn into their writing like I did with Sophie Kinsella and Jane Green. 

Before I knew it, the next book was coming out!  I was actually flying to California for a vacation for me/business trip for Mom on the day it came out and as soon as we landed in Dallas, I immediately went to the gift shop and bought it.  Needless to say, I had a hard time putting it down!

While waiting for her next book (only about a year this time), I went back to my usuals:  Jane Green, and Lauren Weisberger.  While researching some other “suggestions”, I found out that Sophie Kinsella wrote under another name:  Marilyn Wickham, so of course I jumped at the chance to get those books. 

I finally read the last of the Shopaholic series (*tear*) when the last book came out in 2007.  Sophie Kinsella has written several other books since then which I adore, but I would love to go back and hear more of Rebecca Bloomwood’s story (she left us hanging with her being pregnant – not a spoiler because the book is called Shopaholic & Baby ;))

As you probably know, the movie recently came out based on her series.  I loved the movie, but as usual, it didn’t live up to the expectations of the book.  It is something about her wittyness in her writing that couldn’t be captured by the movie.

So, the reason I chose this week to gush over my chick lit obsession is that this week Sophie Kinsella released her newest book Twenties Girl.  When I was buying books for class I had thought about pre-ordering it, but I figured I would be fine getting it when it came out (and let’s face it, I would not have gotten any work done!) and sadly, I have yet to buy it!  I have a few weeks in between summer classes ending and fall classes starting so I definitely plan on reading it then :)

P.S.  My wordless Wednesday post yesterday hints to a few things:  obviously my love of books, but also my love of the brightly colored covers of Chick Lit books (yes, I judge a book by its cover ;)

*All images linked to their source