In My Mailbox #44

As you all know, IMM is hosted by The Story Siren and here are the books I received in the past week ...

FOR REVIEW:

• THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson (Thank you, Walker Books!) - This is the UK edition, which comes out soon (June 7th!), and it literally looks amazing with the elastic band and different format and all the pictures etc. inside, it's quite special (more in my review). I expect the inside to be just as unique - look out for my review soon!
• ALL THAT MULLARKEY by Sue Moorcroft (Thank you, Choc Lit Publishing!) - I love the sound of this one and the cover is so pretty! Can't wait to read it!
• THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN by Linda Green (Thank you, Headline!) - I was instantly hooked by the great premise of this one, but I'm a tad worried I won't get all the 80s references, seeing how I was born in 1985 and have absolutely no recollection of that decade, lol. I'm sure I'll enjoy it regardless seeing how I've heard nothing but praise soon far! Oh and this book arrived with a fab 80s-themed press release, yay!

BOUGHT:

• THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DUMPED by Jenny Colgan - I've seen mixed reviews about this one, but I'm still very excited about it, seeing how I absolutely loved my previous Jenny Colgan reads. Oh and Amazon has the next Jenny Colgan book listed as The Cupcake Cafe, but on Twitter Jenny said it'll actually be called Welcome to the Cupcake Cafe or Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe - how totally AMAZING are these titles?! I'm already in love! And can you just imagine how cute the cover will be! :D Can't wait!!
• GIMME A CALL by Sarah Mlynowski - This is the UK edition and I think it's much prettier than the US one, plus it's in paperback, yay.

Hope you all had a great book week as well!
Oh and those of you who are attending BEA - have fuuuuun and don't forget to take a lot of photos and post a full report on your blog when you get back!
Happy reading, everyone! :)

ps: Don't forget to enter my contest to win a copy of DELLA SAYS: OMG! - it's international and it ends on May 31st!

Review: OPERATION SUNSHINE by Jenny Colgan *****

"Evie needs a good holiday. Not just because she's been working all hours in her job as a receptionist for two high-powered plastic surgeons - but also because every holiday she has ever been on in her life has involved sunburn, arguments and projectile vomiting - and sometimes all three at once. Why can't she have a normal holiday, like other people seem to have - some sun, sand, sea and (hopefully) sex? So when her employers invite her to attend a conference with them in the south of France, she can't believe her luck. At last, the chance to hob nob with the rich and glamorous, to party under the stars, to live the life she's dreamed about. It's certainly the holiday of a lifetime - but not quite in way Frances imagined!"

(summary)

My lovely boyfriend (who actually reads this blog ♥) got me this book for my birthday last year and I'm so glad I saved it (unintentionally) for the holiday as it was indeed the perfect sun-lounger read, just like it's described on the cover!

The story itself is perhaps a bit far-fetched, but whatever the books lacks it plot, it makes up ten fold in the hilarity! It honestly cracked me up many, many times and I just love books that manage to do that. Evie is such a loveable and funny character and her narration makes this novel a fantastic feel-good comedy!

Evie was possibly my favourite character, but I loved most of the others too. Lydia was such a fantastic bitchy friend you just couldn't hate her (her nastiness was just too funny) and most of the male charaters (Tom, Bailey, Wilf) were just such sweethearts - a bit silly at times indeed, but none of them annoyed me because they were just so well written that even their sillyness was funny.

As I said before, I can't say that the plot was smashing, but I honestly really truly enjoyed the book because it was just hilarious and I'm honestly surprised at the bad reviews on Amazon, couldn't disagree with them more (happens quite often). I thought the book was fantastic and a perfect summer read! Click here to learn more about the book from the author herself (her husband works on fancy boats - jealous!!).

Now *this* is a worthy comparison to Sophie Kinsella, who is of course the queen of wit lit, but Ms Colgan has just earned herself the princess title (imho)! This may only be the second book by her that I've read, but I'll definitely read the others too - I've already got The Boy I Loved Before and West End Girls in my book collection and look forward to reading them.

overall rating: 5/5
plot: 4/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 4/5


ps: Below are two other covers for this book (hardcover and Australian respectively). Which one out of three is your favourite?

DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND by Jenny Colgan ****

"Sophie is a girl about town - living the party lifestyle with Daddy footing the bill. But when she gets embroiled in a scandalous affair, she is thrown out of home and left to fend for herself on the mean streets of London. Scraping a living as a cleaner in a photographic studio, living in a bedsit on the Old Kent Road, eating baked beans from the can - this is one spectacular fall from grace. On top of that, she is papped by photographers every time she leaves the flat, with her so-called friends laughing at her downfall. But stepping in to solve a crisis at the studio, Sophie discovers that she is also quite handy with a camera, and a new career behind the lense is born. But when she is hired as the photographer for a society wedding, Sophie is thrust back into her old lifestyle, and discovers that perhaps money can't buy you happiness after all ..."

(click for detailed summary)

This was actually the first Jenny Colgan novel I've read and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised as the story was more serious than I expected and the heroine was luckily less ditzy than I imagined her to be from the description. The beginning was rather sad and Sophie's world crushed completely, but she managed to pick up the pieces and eventually start again. In the process, she discovered her strengths and learned to stand on her own two feet while also started to accept the little things in life that she used to take for granted before. I have to say, Sophie handled her fall from grace surprisingly well and the novel on the whole was very enjoyable with quite a few hilarous bits, which is always a plus. As I said, I was pleased to discover that the novel was far less silly than I anticipated it to be and I'm glad Sophie got her happy ending, even though it wasn't a fairytale one.
I could easily give this one a 5/5 as it was well written and funny and real, but it didn't completely blow me away (plus the title is rather misleading, no?) so I guess I'll have to go with 4/5 - make that 4.5/5 actually!

I think this book was a great introduction to Ms Colgan, whom I shall definitely be returning to - possibly sooner than later as I already have a copy of Operation Sunshine waiting to be read (my boyfriend gave it to me for my brithday last year), but I think I'll save it for my holiday as it does seem like a beach read. Lastly, I'd be happy to receive some suggestions which other Jenny Colgan novels are particularly worth reading. :)

ps: The plot seems very similar to Cecelia Ahern's next book The Girl of Tomorrow - cannot wait to see how Cecelia will deal with the story!