Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella. Dell Books, 2001. Genre: Fiction
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is not one of Sophia’s better-known books but it includes a detailed description of her main character Becky Bloomwood and the conflicts she faces. It takes place in urban London, England and Becky has to deal with her financial problems and moving he relationship with her boyfriend Luke to the next level. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is a funny, energetic story that makes you wanting to keep reading and learn more about the crazy life of Becky Bloomwood.
“Kinsella’s Bloomwood is plucky and funny… You won’t have to shop around for a more winning protagonist.” (People) the book jacket says.
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan the personal issues of Becky Bloomwood and how she faces them. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan being the sequel of Shopaholic it is quite similar to in the sense that the work is just as detailed and you meet most of the characters that were in Shopaholic. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is different because a lot of the characters have grown and changed since the last book but they still face many similar conflicts but they have a different twist to them.
“ But as I look up my heart gives an almighty flip and I feel something hard blocking my throat. I don’t believe it.” (128)
I enjoy reading Sophia Kinsella's work and she is one of my favorite readers. I learn a lot from her books and I am able to take away a lot from them. Her themes are easy for me to relate to and I know that they are true. In Shopaholic Takes Manhattan the theme is to go with what you think will be what is best for you and don’t let anyone stop you. I can relate to this because to get what you want in life you have to do what you want and not stop even if people say its not the right choice, as long as you believe it is. I enjoy reading her books because there are things that I can relate to and she has a very funny writing style.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Alone
February 14th, 1994 the biggest snowstorm hit Glendale. Everyone was out enjoying the day together but they had no clue the storm was about to hit. The snow started and everyone started to rush home. It was so heavy you could not see what was happening in front of you. It was that day, they day I would be alone for the rest of my life. My parents were driving home from a hamlet when a car in front of them swerved out of control and hit them dead on. My dad died instantly but my mom was rushed to the hospital were she lived for a couple more hours then passed away. Getting my parents back was irrevocably.
After my accident I became feeble and things became very vague to me.My only family member and only friend left was my dog Parker. Even though he couldn’t really talk, it seemed like he always had something to say. I didn’t know of any other family members so we quickly packed up and ran away so no one could put us in a foster home. The only place where I knew to go was the pond down by the train station. It was quite small but it was perfect for us. The willow trees enclosed us so it could not be seen from the outside. Purple and pink flowers grew all around and the tall cattails blew in the wind. For the first couple of nights we were there Parker and I huddled together for body heat and placed the covers over us that we had took from our old house.
When the spring came I knew we needed shelter. Parker and I collected wood and pieces of long grass, weeds and hay, anything we could use to build a house. I pinioned the branches together and stuck them into the ground to make walls and placed a roof over them. For extra protection I gathered willow tree branches and tied them to the top. I took the little table and put it in the center with a couple flowers in a mug of water on the center of the table and placed the blankets neatly in the corner to make a little bed. I didn't have any prowess on how to build a house but it was perfect for me.
It’s been a couple years since then and I am now 16. Parker and I have survived by catching fish with a gaff that I made and ate vegetables and fruit we have grown. I also built a siff which Parker and I would spend hours on. We looked at our reflections in the water, my blonde hair out of place and my blue eyes blinded by the irredescene. When I get thwarted I sit out there for hours and watch everything around me. Parker sits there his shaggy brown hair sparkles in the sn and his tongue hangs out of his mouth. Other than Parker it’s been very lonely and I wish someone was here to talk to me. Although Parker is here having him is not the same as having a person to talk to, somebody that can actually respond to me. Ever since my parents have died I have had no real connection to the outside world.
It was a cheery sunny morning and Parker and I were lying under the shade of a willow tree watching cygnet when we heard something splashing in the water. It didn’t sound like ducks or fish and we were wondering what it was. We carefully snuck through the cattails making sure we didn’t scare it.
We thought nobody knew. No one had come here since I have been here; I didn’t know anyone knew the pond existed. I didn’t know what to do, she was just swimming there peacefully and I didn’t want to scare her. I sat there and watched; I forgot what it was like to see someone other than yourself and your dog. She swam for a long time and then dragged herself out and laid by the edge for a while. Her long brown hair glistened in the sun and her hazel eyes wandered around taking in all of the beautiful pieces of nature. Her eyes stopped when my house came into view. She picked her self up and started to walk over to it. Thoughts were racing through my head; I had no idea what I should do. I got up and followed her to my house I heard her shuffling through things and I didn’t want her going through the little stuff that I had. “Hello?” I said as she jumped startled that anybody was around. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just hoping you would leave my stuff alone.”
“Oh, I am so sorry.” She said politely, retiring fromy stuff. “But who are you, I haven’t seen you around and what are you doing here?
“I’m Jack. The reason why I’m here, well its along story. Who are you?” I answered and at that point I knew I would not be a recluse any longer.
“My name is Elizabeth, and your story, why you’re here, it can’t be that long can it. She replied.
“Well I guess not.”
“Can I hear it then?” She asked.
“Sure.” We walked out of the house and sat together next to the pond. I explained the terrible day that left me alone and why I came here. She pet Parker as she listened carefully to my story, and by the time I was done it was nearly sunset. We sat there for a moment while she took it all in.
“Wait, are you Jack Harper? Your parents were John and Diane Harper?” She curiously asked.
“Yeah. How… how do you know?” I asked.
“Well ever since your parents died everyone has been wondering where you went and they went looking for you, and now I am the only one that knows where you are.
“Please don’t tell.” I said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I have to go now my parents will be wondering where I am but I will be back.
It’s been seven years exactly from that day. I am getting married to a girl with long brown hair that found me when I was hiding. Every day after that day she came back to see me and we got to know each other. She sometimes brought me food, she thought I was gaunt and would tell me stories about her life. From that one summer day I knew I would never be alone again.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Second Quarter ORB
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, Delta Books, 2001 Genre: Fiction
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is a humorous book with a lot of detail and action although it may not be real. It takes place in London, Europe where Rebecca Bloomwood works as a financial journalist at Successful Savings and goes about her every day life. Rebecca goes through many tough times trying to keep her job, paying bills, trying to make more money, and figuring out her complicated love life.
“ Kinsella’s Bloomwood is plucky and funny… You won’t have to shop around to find a more winning protagonist.” – People
“ If a crème brulee could be transmogrified into a book, it would be Confessions of a Shopaholic.” – The Star-Ledger
Confessions of a Shopaholic shows Rebecca in her energetic, fast pace life style. Being a novel the book gives much detail on the challenges Rebecca faces and the tasks she must face each day. Can You Keep a Secret also by Sophie Kinsella is very similar in the sense that there are two girls in there mid twenties trying to keep their jobs as they try to get promoted. Also in both stories each one of the girls ends up in a relationship with a c.e.o of a major company.
Sophie’s writing style is very similar and the books and it talks about some of the same problems like business meetings, relationships, and work but they both have different conflicts. They are difference between the books is that Confessions of a Shopaholic is about money and being in debt but Can You Keep a Secret is about keeping people from embarrassing you and securing your social status. In both books you get a lot of detail and imagery and get a glimpse of Rebecca and Emma lives.
“ As I sit on the tube on my way home, I stare at my reflection- outwardly calm and relaxed. But inside, my mind’s scurrying around like a spider trying to find a way out. Round and round, legs flailing, no escape…” (Page 181)
I enjoy reading books by Sophie and I would like to read more. This book affects me in a major way because I learned a lot from it. I learned that you should not run away from your problems you will only get in more trouble and find yourself in terrible situations, instead you should deal with them head on and they will get better before you know it. I enjoyed that the book was funny and once I got into I just wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen next. That is one thing about Sophie Kinsella’s work, I always wanted to keep reading and never put the book down.
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is a humorous book with a lot of detail and action although it may not be real. It takes place in London, Europe where Rebecca Bloomwood works as a financial journalist at Successful Savings and goes about her every day life. Rebecca goes through many tough times trying to keep her job, paying bills, trying to make more money, and figuring out her complicated love life.
“ Kinsella’s Bloomwood is plucky and funny… You won’t have to shop around to find a more winning protagonist.” – People
“ If a crème brulee could be transmogrified into a book, it would be Confessions of a Shopaholic.” – The Star-Ledger
Confessions of a Shopaholic shows Rebecca in her energetic, fast pace life style. Being a novel the book gives much detail on the challenges Rebecca faces and the tasks she must face each day. Can You Keep a Secret also by Sophie Kinsella is very similar in the sense that there are two girls in there mid twenties trying to keep their jobs as they try to get promoted. Also in both stories each one of the girls ends up in a relationship with a c.e.o of a major company.
Sophie’s writing style is very similar and the books and it talks about some of the same problems like business meetings, relationships, and work but they both have different conflicts. They are difference between the books is that Confessions of a Shopaholic is about money and being in debt but Can You Keep a Secret is about keeping people from embarrassing you and securing your social status. In both books you get a lot of detail and imagery and get a glimpse of Rebecca and Emma lives.
“ As I sit on the tube on my way home, I stare at my reflection- outwardly calm and relaxed. But inside, my mind’s scurrying around like a spider trying to find a way out. Round and round, legs flailing, no escape…” (Page 181)
I enjoy reading books by Sophie and I would like to read more. This book affects me in a major way because I learned a lot from it. I learned that you should not run away from your problems you will only get in more trouble and find yourself in terrible situations, instead you should deal with them head on and they will get better before you know it. I enjoyed that the book was funny and once I got into I just wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen next. That is one thing about Sophie Kinsella’s work, I always wanted to keep reading and never put the book down.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The value of getting pumped for lacrosse
Is value today what it used to be? Value is different to everyone but value today is much different today then it used to be. Today people care about designer bags, brand clothes, and how much everything is worth. People used to only care about what they had and not how much it was or where they got it. It was the fact that they had it that meant so much to them. I try to remember that and value things for what I think of them not what anyone else thinks.
Beep, beep, beep, my alarm obnoxiously sounds. I lay there thinking of how much I can’t wait to see everyone when my dad yells at me to get up and rips the covers off my bed. I get up casually and get on the most prized piece of clothing I own, my Western Mass lacrosse uniform with my last name embroidered in blue on my shorts and a vibrant 14 on my chest. I run to the car to stop my parents from honking and I get in anxiously. We quickly pick up Kara and we are on or way. The adventure awaits us.
Swoosh! The ball rushes out of my stick and into the back of the net. Woohhh!! The crowed cheers and we rush back to get into our positions. All we hear is the echo of our cleats into the bleachers and the occasional outburst of one boisterous voice from the stands. We chase the ball down the field, hitting everyone’s pocket with a great impact until I see her wind up and fire the ball into the top right corner of the net. The whistle blows and the game is over. We get a roaring applause from our parents as we jog over to our coaches.
Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! The whistle blows as we score again and again. We are unstoppable. There are a couple close calls but we get through them all as a team and we play like we have been together our whole lives. We celebrate our victories for the final time. We all wish this would last forever. We slowly get into our cars and drive away from the place where we had so many memories and moments we will never forget.
I have been playing lacrosse since third grade and there is no other sport in the world that I would want to play more. Gorgeous is the only word I have to describe it, as I see my harrow lacrosse stick shinning across the room. Without it there would be no possible way for me to play. I bought my blue shaft and white head in 5th grade at a lacrosse jamboree. It was quite expensive but in the end it was worth it. I keep it in a special bag that is made to fight it perfectly. It sits in the closet, waiting for my grab. I keep it safe so no one can steal it and in the same exact spot so I can grab it quickly when I am ready to go. Lacrosse is a very important part of my life.
I put the curved pieces around my ears and press play. BOOM! My song abruptly starts and I start singing along. Sadly it stops and I scroll down the list of songs and pick another favorite to play. I look at the silver front the the aluminum back, so perfect that I can see my reflection in it. I listen for hours and hear mostly country mixed with a couple pop and r&b songs. Suddenly my favorite song Summertime by Kenny Chesney starts blaring in my ears and I sing along. Everybodys eyes are on me and I get the hint that I am a terrible singer but that doesn't stop me.
Beep, beep, beep, my alarm obnoxiously sounds. I lay there thinking of how much I can’t wait to see everyone when my dad yells at me to get up and rips the covers off my bed. I get up casually and get on the most prized piece of clothing I own, my Western Mass lacrosse uniform with my last name embroidered in blue on my shorts and a vibrant 14 on my chest. I run to the car to stop my parents from honking and I get in anxiously. We quickly pick up Kara and we are on or way. The adventure awaits us.
Swoosh! The ball rushes out of my stick and into the back of the net. Woohhh!! The crowed cheers and we rush back to get into our positions. All we hear is the echo of our cleats into the bleachers and the occasional outburst of one boisterous voice from the stands. We chase the ball down the field, hitting everyone’s pocket with a great impact until I see her wind up and fire the ball into the top right corner of the net. The whistle blows and the game is over. We get a roaring applause from our parents as we jog over to our coaches.
Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! The whistle blows as we score again and again. We are unstoppable. There are a couple close calls but we get through them all as a team and we play like we have been together our whole lives. We celebrate our victories for the final time. We all wish this would last forever. We slowly get into our cars and drive away from the place where we had so many memories and moments we will never forget.
I have been playing lacrosse since third grade and there is no other sport in the world that I would want to play more. Gorgeous is the only word I have to describe it, as I see my harrow lacrosse stick shinning across the room. Without it there would be no possible way for me to play. I bought my blue shaft and white head in 5th grade at a lacrosse jamboree. It was quite expensive but in the end it was worth it. I keep it in a special bag that is made to fight it perfectly. It sits in the closet, waiting for my grab. I keep it safe so no one can steal it and in the same exact spot so I can grab it quickly when I am ready to go. Lacrosse is a very important part of my life.
I put the curved pieces around my ears and press play. BOOM! My song abruptly starts and I start singing along. Sadly it stops and I scroll down the list of songs and pick another favorite to play. I look at the silver front the the aluminum back, so perfect that I can see my reflection in it. I listen for hours and hear mostly country mixed with a couple pop and r&b songs. Suddenly my favorite song Summertime by Kenny Chesney starts blaring in my ears and I sing along. Everybodys eyes are on me and I get the hint that I am a terrible singer but that doesn't stop me.
I hate CD players and Cd's; they are an inconvenience and not portable without making everything difficult. I don’t care about mp3 players or other music devices. There is one thing I love, my 4GB iPod nano.
My two-year-old 4GB iPod mini was pretty nice but it had problems and wouldn’t play a selection of songs without the hassle of deleting the songs that played so I knew it was a good time to invest in a new one. I hand picked my silver ipod nano and it soon became the love of my life. For the next couple of weeks I only listened to my ipod. The cover flow, pictures, and cool layout grabbed my attention. It became more important then anything for a moment.
My lacrosse tournament in Lake George had a great impact on my life and I will never forget it. The experience helped me get better and will help my lacrosse career. Without it I would never have been able to meet all of my friends and strengthen the relationships I already had. All of the girls have made a huge impact on my life.
My iPod is very important and without it I wouldn’t have experienced as much of the music world as I have today. It also helps me get pumped and excited for games. Without it I wouldn’t be able to play as well. The songs have messages in them that are a constant reminder to always try your hardest and push yourself so you can get somewhere in life.
Both playing lacrosse and listening to music remind me that you should try hard and you should enjoy it. If it doesn't appeal to you then you should try something different. Lacrosse and my iPod are both valuable to me. My iPod and lacrosse tournament compare because without my iPod I wouldn't have been able to be as pumped and as ready to play as I was. Also they both let me experience more in life than I had before. Some days I feel like running around and getting active and sometimes I just feel like sitting around and listening to my iPod. Whatever I feel like doing, playing lacrosse and and listening to my iPod are there for me.
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