Book Club: I've Got Your Number

I feel like I never really have time to read anymore. And by I never really have time I actually mean I never make time. I have plenty of chances to fit in a few chapters here and there, but yesterday was the first day in years that I actually sat down with the intention of thoroughly enjoying a book. My stepdad and Mike were busy putting up a fence in our backyard, and my mom was having a time playing with Toby and watching Power Rangers, so I nestled up on the bench in our backyard and cracked open I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.

Sophie Kinsella is one of my favorite authors (number two, actually). She's famous for the Shopaholic series... you know, the one that was hacked to death and made into that terrible Isla Fisher movie? Yeah, that one. Don't let that movie ruin the series, or any of her other novels, for you. They're full of British humor, wit, dynamic characters and chances are you'll probably cry at some point, too. Sophie also writes under the pen-name Madeline Wickham and she's got a slew of books out for the picking! I've ready every single Sophie Kinsella book (I think! Less Twenties Girl which is sitting on my bookshelf), and now I think I might venture into the M. Wickham section, too. 

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that yesterday I made the conscious decision to forgo anything else I had to do, and to just relax. I've really benefitted from not doing any design work on the weekends. It's nice to just enjoy a little bit of down time, even if it is interrupted by bartending. I'm slowly working out of my workaholic ways. Now more about this book...

I picked it up the day after it hit the shelves in February, and I'm really bummed it took me this long to read it. It was so good! I read the entire 434 page novel yesterday in one go. I simply couldn't put it down. I'm such a sucker for British chick-flick type books. If they were made into (not crappy) movies, I'd watch them all. (Confession: As much as I hate the changes, exclusions and the all around not-true-to-book Shopaholic movie, I've seen it several times)

UK/Australian cover vs. US/Canadian

Here's the synopsis for I've Got Your Number...

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents . . . she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

The last 6 pages just had me in tears. There's just something so undeniably relatable to all of Kinsella's characters. They're sweet and genuine, but flawed like the rest of us. Every book I read I feel like I'm hearing the story from a girlfriend, or even experiencing it myself. In my opinion, if a book makes you laugh and cry all in one go, it's a winner!

Yesterday was much needed. A brief 400 page escape from whatever was going on in the world. I'm not sure how often I'll be breezing through books but hopefully I can share more of my favorites and let you know as I go through them. I've never been a huge reader, but when I find something I really connect with, I simply can't stop.

What are some of your favorite reads?