Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
19th out of 58 books
—
32 voters
Shoe Addicts Anonymous (Shoe Addict #1)
by
Beth Harbison (Goodreads Author)
Helene Zaharis's politician husband keeps her on a tight leash and cancels her credit cards as a way of controlling her. Lorna Rafferty is up to her eyeballs in debt and can't stop her addiction to Ebay. Sandra Vanderslice, battling agoraphobia,pays her shoe bills by working as a phone sex operator. And Jocelyn Bowenis a nannyfor the family from hell (who barely knows a so...more
Hardcover, 327 pages
Published
June 12th 2007
by St. Martin's Press
(first published January 1st 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Jul 06, 2008
Kristenhaynes2
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
shoe lovers, ladies in DC, chick lit readers
I liked this book a lot. Yes, it's a bit vapid and implausible, but whatever, it's chick lit! I'm glad someone finally showed that women in DC have style and excellent taste in luxury. While I'm not part of the exquisitely elite, I could appreciate a lot of the name brands, political parties, money manners, and behaviorisms of the supporting characters in this book. I DO wish that the author would have gone more into areas where the women could have gotten shoes, mentioning the blossoming U Stre...more
A fun book about shoes bringing a diverse group of women together. The unlikely group forms a very strong bond. It's interesting to watch the development of the relationships and the addiction to shoes!
This wasn't a bad book, but I found at least the first hundred or so pages to be fairly depressing. The book is equally about four female characters, and the beginning chapters are devoted to learning about them and their problems. Each of the characters is facing some large issue, making the book start off heavy and dreary. As the characters meet and get to know one another, the tone does lighten up some. The issues were all dealt with, and the book ended on a much happier note than that on whi...more
It was good fun, considering I feel half my life is wanted if i dont buy at least a pair of shoes evey month. Of course, the book is over the top. Irrespective of HOW MUCH one likes shoes, there is a point where a normal person can draw the line (work as a phone-sex operator to buy a pair - make that TWO - one in black and one in a deep pink of Ralph Laurens, realy????). Which is really ironic, coz all these woman are potrayed as normal people, albeit with an abnormal liking for shoes.
So you hav...more
So you hav...more
A friend and I have taken to exchanging books that we've enjoyed reading. I was intrigued when she loaned me Shoe Addicts Anonymous. At first the title threw me off a little because I'm not a shoe addict myself (although purses are another story, lol) But once I started reading this book I realized it's more about the bonds that women can form and how important friendship can be than it is about shoes.
Shoe Addicts Anonymous throws four unlikely strangers together from a personal ad on 'Gregslist...more
Shoe Addicts Anonymous throws four unlikely strangers together from a personal ad on 'Gregslist...more
At this point, I assume you're already familiar with the storyline: four women, different backgrounds, love of shoes, etc. From the amount of 5-star reviews it's gotten, it's evident quite a number of people have enjoyed it a lot, and I can't say that I hated it, but I honestly believe that, while the premise itself is interesting, the characters, and by consequence, the story... are all a little flat.
The movie based on the book is apparently set to be out this year. If I had any word in it, I'd...more
The movie based on the book is apparently set to be out this year. If I had any word in it, I'd...more
In the realm of chick-lit books, this one defiantly falls below the 50% line that I seem to have for these books. I don’t know what makes a book goes above the line, just some do and some don’t and this one defiantly does not. The characters were kind of lame and just stupid! And I hate stupidity!!! A group of women who have nothing in common but their love of shoes. And their loneliness, which brings them together in the first place. One woman has money problems and ends up falling for the dude...more
I was looking for something light and fun, and this book definitely delivered. It had all of the great components of a "beach" book, and it discussed the characters' love of shoes. How can you not like that?
The characters were all well developed, and a one of them (Helene) was so interesting that I would love to read a book just featuring her. The writing was fast-paced and easy, making it perfect for my day spent in bed with a cold.
The basic plot is about women who meet because of their love o...more
The characters were all well developed, and a one of them (Helene) was so interesting that I would love to read a book just featuring her. The writing was fast-paced and easy, making it perfect for my day spent in bed with a cold.
The basic plot is about women who meet because of their love o...more
This book was ok. It was entertaining but easily forgettable. In fact, I just finished but I can't really remember many details. One problem I had with the book is how the women had all these problems at the beginning and then they are all resolved but we never get to actually see how they are resolved. The author just glosses over issues. At the end the women have great new lives but we don't see how they got there. They just invent some made up business and yay it works! hmm...and I really don...more
I hadn't heard of this book before seeing it at the library a few weeks ago, so I didn't go into it thinking that it would be great or awful and it didn't offer me some great surprise when I realized it was neither. It's an okay piece of chick lit. It took me a while to get into it, which seems a bit messed up for a work in that genre. Chick lit is supposed to be mindless fun, and this wasn't.
The characters were interesting, but there wasn't really any structure to the story. Going back and fort...more
The characters were interesting, but there wasn't really any structure to the story. Going back and fort...more
Jan 13, 2012
Sophie
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-books,
audio-book
I wish I could rate this book higher, but I was often so impatient with the characters that I had a hard time enjoying the book as much as I would have liked. The premise is cute, that a group of women addicted to buying designer shoes would meet and swap stories and shoes. The author drew me in with her portrait of three very different women who all use shoe therapy to deal with the problems in their lives, and how they end up together in Shoe Addicts Anonymous. I started to have problems with...more
What started as a way to fix her debt Lorna Rafferty created a group titled Shoe Addicts Anonymous. I only wish this could have happened in real life. Harbison has a way of bringing four women with major issues and making you laugh out loud and long for their friendship. These women bond in such an amazing way it's hard to not want to be them. Watch out Carrie Bradshaw because these women have a shoe addiction bigger than even hers.
I loved this book. I couldn't get enough. If I wasn't on such a...more
I loved this book. I couldn't get enough. If I wasn't on such a...more
Twice now I've attempted this book and TWICE I couldn't finish it.
It seemed like a light cute premise, but then it got serious and strange. I loved a story about a vampire who shops at the Mall of America, so I'm fine with whimsy. Really I am.
These 5 women are all shoe addicts who happen to wear the same size. One is in serious debt, one is arrested for shoplifting (her husband's secretary gets her husband's pubic hair caught in her teeth - ugh!), one is a phone sex operator, one is fat. In th...more
It seemed like a light cute premise, but then it got serious and strange. I loved a story about a vampire who shops at the Mall of America, so I'm fine with whimsy. Really I am.
These 5 women are all shoe addicts who happen to wear the same size. One is in serious debt, one is arrested for shoplifting (her husband's secretary gets her husband's pubic hair caught in her teeth - ugh!), one is a phone sex operator, one is fat. In th...more
This was a fun beach read. Four women, all with an expensive taste for designer shoes, all from different backgrounds and with major life issues, find a way to come together to indulge their habit without actually buying: a shoe swap. Eventually they realize how much their new friends are just like the perfect shoes: they're comfortable, supportive, and make you happy.
I really like shoes myself...with a size 10 I'm always on the hunt for ones that are comfy but stylish...they're out there somewh...more
I really like shoes myself...with a size 10 I'm always on the hunt for ones that are comfy but stylish...they're out there somewh...more
I was looking for a light, fun read and I got it. The problem with most light fun reads for me though is that it's forgettable. Ask me a few months down the line what this book was about and I probably won't be able to tell you more apart from the obvious "It's a book about shoe lovers." I'm quite a shoe lover myself but these girls take it to the extreme. There were some nice laugh out loud parts though but it got too predictable and implausible towards the end. I used to lap up books with happ...more
This book has always caught my eye, but I avoided it because I thought it would be about a bunch of flakey girls who did nothing but buy shoes. But that wasn't the case. This is a story about 3 girls who love shoes, but don't let their whole world revolved around them. Shoes to them are like books to me. You buy them when you are happy because they make you even more happy, and you buy them when you are sad because they make you feel better. Each character has her own problems, which makes them...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I liked this book a lot. It was hard to follow at some points and maybe that was because I was reading the Kindle version. I have read in a few reviews that some eBooks have typo's but this one had quite a few. At some points I had to read a page a few times or even go back a page to make sure I knew which character I was on. Over all it was a very cute book about how these woman came together. The ending was a little abrupt for me and some of it should have been more towards the middle of the b...more
(audio version) This didn't knock my socks off but then again, I haven't been reading much chick-lit lately so comparing it to books that have made me think, this fell flat. But I suppose that's why I chose this to begin with--I didn't want to have to think too much!! It was good enough to stick with (I never abandon a book, anyway - I always have to find out how it ends) and a decent enough mind distraction as I sat in traffic...but not something I'd rush to read more of (it's a series, yes?)....more
Fun chick lit.
Four strangers form a club revolving around their love for expensive footwear. Helene's controlling politician husband has cut off her "allowance" until she produces a child for him; Lorna has ruined her credit and is floundering in debt; Sandra battles agoraphobia and pays for her fabulous shoes by working as a phone sex operator; Jocelyn is a nanny for the "family from hell" and doesn't know a thing about fancy footwear, but needs to escape from her employers on her night off. Th...more
Four strangers form a club revolving around their love for expensive footwear. Helene's controlling politician husband has cut off her "allowance" until she produces a child for him; Lorna has ruined her credit and is floundering in debt; Sandra battles agoraphobia and pays for her fabulous shoes by working as a phone sex operator; Jocelyn is a nanny for the "family from hell" and doesn't know a thing about fancy footwear, but needs to escape from her employers on her night off. Th...more
This belongs to the realm of "HEY THIS HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE, AND DONE TO FREAKIN' DEATH". The characters were not terribly original (a woman with a compulsive shopping problem? Becky Bloomwood is that you?) and though I do love me a nice pair of shoes, I am getting really tired of the continued implication that shoes are something all women are willing to sell their souls and mortgage their houses for. Honestly I'd mortgage the house to clone my roommate's cat before I would to buy some over-pri...more
Dec 10, 2011
Mickey (I'm A Book Shark)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Chick novel fans, funny book fans
This book is hilarious! I laughed pretty hard a couple times. These are characters we can all relate to! They're slightly down on their luck, they're working crappy jobs, they're putting up with cheating and slimy men, and they're shy and overweight. They each have a trait or characteristic that makes this book personable and humorous.
A coworker recommended this book, so I was all over it. After finishing it, it didn't seem like a book she would have read and enjoyed, but she really did. We bot...more
A coworker recommended this book, so I was all over it. After finishing it, it didn't seem like a book she would have read and enjoyed, but she really did. We bot...more
Jan 02, 2013
Marieanne Fabiano
added it
In short, this book was about four women - Helene, Lorna, Sandra and Joss - each battling their own very difficult problems. But, because of a club called Shoe Addicts Anonymous, started by Lorna, these four women met, became fast friends and helped each other along the way. This book took off very slowly and in the beginning reminded me a lot of the plot of "Confessions of a Shopaholic." However, the last 100 pages were fast moving, very funny and the ending was AWESOME! I am looking forward to...more
I liked it. Had a lot of fun reading this book. It's an easy read ~ I had it read inside 24 hours. I love the innocent naiveté of the characters, it adds to the fun and makes the characters likeable and easy to relate to. There were a couple things I wondered about though. Like, what was the purpose of Florence, the woman who dropped out of the group at the first meeting? And the transvestite? It just seemed to me like those two characters were just tossed into the mix, that they really had no c...more
A really fun and quick read. Not just for shoe lovers.
I thought this book was great. The cast of characters I could relate to easily, even though my addiction is purses, and theirs were shoes. The only thing that stopped me from giving it a 5-star rating was that a couple of places in the book, the editor and/or the writer needed better proof reading. She started talking about one person and ended up switching to another character at the same time. That was annoying. Overall though, the book was light and funny, and very affirming of the fact that...more
I only finished this book because I'm a little OCD and I didn't want to abandon a book that I had started. This book is poorly written. It constantly gives the reader NO credit, explaining the most obvious things that a reader can deduce herself (the fun part of reading, I think) and it annoyed me the whole time.
I picked up the book to begin with because it is set in Bethesda, MD, and it was about shoes, which seemed fun at the time. Turns out the location wasn't significant, and the plot was ri...more
I picked up the book to begin with because it is set in Bethesda, MD, and it was about shoes, which seemed fun at the time. Turns out the location wasn't significant, and the plot was ri...more
Honestly, was just looking for a quick read to have out in the sun. (Hate reading on my iPad in the sunlight).... Ran up to Barnes and Noble, and since I LOVE shoes myself, I grabbed it. It's nothing to write home about, but it was an entertaining read nonetheless. Characters from a variety of backgrounds/sizes/shapes/lifestyles/etc. all able to find a common connection and friendship around SHOES! If you're looking for a no-brainer, non-thought provoking book to read on a lazy afternoon, feel f...more
Reading this book, make me feel normal. I am not the only one on earth who has addiction and credit cards problem. Lorna Rafferty is dealing with the same issues. I am glad Beth put her character in the first chapter, because I can relate with her really. Especially the ignorance part, we both don’t bother to open the bills and always “believe” everything was settled on time. Hehe, I like her thinking. And I praised her for the “Shoe Addicts Anonymous” because whatever that was about to fall apa...more
Dec 30, 2010
Chiara (Oscuro y Seductor Romance)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2010
El libro me ha encantado absolutamente. Sería algo raro que no lo hiciera pues me encantan los libros de chick-lit. Hacía tiempo que no leía uno y he disfrutado leyendo cada página de éste. Ha sido una pena que durante la lectura del mismo me haya encontrado tantos fallos de transcripción que a veces me hacían interrumpir la lectura de la misma. Es por eso que ha perdido media alita, pero por el resto ha sido de rechupete.
Véreis, las mujeres somos cotillas de por sí y leer sobre la vida de mujer...more
Véreis, las mujeres somos cotillas de por sí y leer sobre la vida de mujer...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Beth Harbison grew up in Potomac, Maryland, in the shadow of Washington, D.C. Apart from the occasional irritation at being held up in traffic by a presidential motorcade, she has remained fairly uninvolved in the politics that define her home town.
More about Beth Harbison...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“I think things ultimately work out the way they're supposed to, even if it's not always the most comfortable, cushy way.”
—
16 people liked it
“Trust that things do work out by themselves sometimes.”
—
9 people liked it
More quotes…
Jul 07, 2008 03:51pm
Sep 09, 2011 11:29pm