My Cup Runneth Over: The Life of Angelica Cookson Potts

Angel / Life of Angelica Cookson Pots #1

by Cherry Whytock

With a skinny mother and lean friends, Angelica decides to take control of her eating and modify her love for food in order to fit in the mold that she sees all around her, yet after some disastrous dieting results and a successful school fashion show, Angelica comes to see that just being herself is the perfect thing to be. Reprint.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Chick Lit, Teen, Coming Of Age, 21st Century

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Cherry Whytock's shoe collection has increased dramatically since a recent trip to Morocco with her husband. When she's not rearranging her footwear or waiting for her two beautiful daughters to become fabulously famous, she can be found upside down in her Kentish flowerbeds, weeding. Sometimes Lily the boxer helps, but not often.

Cherry loves Vogue magazine, lacy underwear, and face cream, and would like to become a style icon when she grows up.

Reviews

[Sandy Trand · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like humor and relastic fiction stories, than this is the book for you. this book is about a teenage girl named Angelica Cookson. she is also called Angel by her closest friends. She has a life that most people would think is a pretty easy life. She has friends, is not a social outcast, has money, lives in a luxe subbarb of London, goes to an excellent school and has famous parents. Her mother Clarrisa Cookson Potts was once a fashion model and a pretty well known lady in the decades back for her beauty and grace and her husband William "Potty" Cookson Potts was once a famous layer who does not do any more case, they are both retired. Angel and her mother do not get along because they both have different ideas on what angel should do for the rest of her life. Angel wants to be a chef like Jamie Oliver but her mother Clarrisa thinks that Angel should be a beautician rather than be a chef. Although her mother dosen't like Angel's choice of career, Angel does have her support group that includes her three best friends Portia, Minnie (Amelia),and Mercedes. her support group also includes the housekeeper named Flossie. Trouble and pressure starts pilling up when the school fashion show star is sick and Angel is given the job and wether she likes it or not she has to model a dress in her not so model-like body. Read the book to find out more.

[Arooj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, I've been looking for this book for so long! I read it around 5 years ago but I forgot about it. I was looking for this book because it has some really awesome recipes. I FINALLY FOUND IT. Yes!

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, it's got all the problems I have with Brit contemporary YA but it's one of the bigger offenders. Namely, the plot revolves around some relatable aspects but mostly, First World Problems(TM), and it's bogged down by the extremely distant and passive, description-heavy writing that these Brit contemporary YA lit books *love* for some bizarre reason (even Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging does it, but it's probably one of the least offenders). Is this something the British really love for some reason? Also the "comeuppance" of the main antagonist is both overly harsh and just a little bizarre. I almost put this one down as a DNF, despite it's exceedingly short length of ~35,000 words or less (especially when you account for pictures - which are meh-tastic, sorry - and if you skip the recipes - yes this book has recipes). The fact that it took me about 40 minutes to read and I had no real excuse to *not* finish it is the only reason why, but I won't be bothering with the sequels.

2.5/5, really

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare that a book will make me laugh aloud. My Cup Runneth over did that several times. It was a fun read with a likable main character. (And I like the little character illustrations with comments scattered throughout the story) Four stars.

[TheBibleWithTina]

My Cup Overflows – ‘1 minute with Tina’
https://youtu.be/rks7zEAwG18

[Kricket · Rating 3 out of 5]

yet ANOTHER book i took home while weeding because i felt bad that no one loved it! all the others in the series are circulating well; i'm guessing that this one is scorned because of the large cartoon floral bra on the cover. too bad, because it's a super cute book.

angel cookson potts is a plus-sized british teen who loves cooking, her friends, and dreamy adam on the motorbike. but she's conflicted about her size- on the one hand, she loves cooking & tasting food, on the other hand her mom seems to wish her skinnier and she feels large and ungainly next to dreamy adam and her smaller friends. angel tries a few different/hilarious things to lose weight but in the end she learns that it's best to focus on being happy and strong and that the good people will love her as she is. (awwwww) definitely laugh-out-loud, and good for any georgia nichols fans.

[Rebecca]

I read this one in a couple of hours as it was quite a short read. There were a couple of humorous bits in it but not that many.
The characters were nothing too special to be honest. The dad, Potty was about the only slightly interesting character. Angel was a little bit too sensitive about her weight. She really didn't have that much to worry about. I felt that her character just complained all the time.
As for the story line it was really predictable and nothing out of the ordinary. Everything that was meant to be a surprise was obvious.
The only really cool thing was the recipes that were in the book.
Overall, I really didn't think that My Cup Runneth Over was anything great. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes diary sorts of books and for anyone looking for a short, light read.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It may not be a complex story, but it's certainly entertaining! Angelica, more commonly called "Angel," is a British teen with a "completely potty" elderly father and a mother who is a retired model. Needless to say, Angel's very tall, very broad, very busty figure is a source of much contention in the house. Thankfully, she has the culinary wisdom of Jamie Oliver to keep her creative soul going and three fantastic girlfriends to keep her spirits up! This first person narrative is light-hearted and full of life, and all teen girls who loved Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging will enjoy this book.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were so many problems with this book, it's hard to pick just one. Angel is soooooo sensitive about her weight, and no one can say anything without her saying that she's not going to have any fun because of her weight. There wasn't an unexpected moment in the whole thing, I could pretty much make out the whole plot within the first few chapters of the book. None of the characters were very likeable or understandable because they just complained so much or were so stereotypical that it was ridiculous. Oh, and no one who
Is overweight and tries going to the gym for the first realizes that it was a really fun experience. If it were, everyone would be working out.

[Pyrate Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angelica Cookson Potts is a size 14 British girl who is very conscientious of her appearance. She fancies two unobtainable guys- Jaimie Oliver, the naked chef on TV, and Adam, a popular guy at school.

Surrounded by loving and caring mates, Angel manages to survive (even if just barely) the daily struggles of adolescence and high school. But when their school decides to have a fashion show as a school fundraiser, Angel decides to be the hostess instead of a model. Then the top star of the show gets chicken pox and Angel discovers that she must step into the show-stopping gown.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definite fluff read. I need to stop reading young adult books. They simply aren't relevant to my life anymore.

All in all, cute illustrations and lots of yummy discussions of food from an English protag, which means that charming slang reminicent (can I say reminicent if they're contemporaries?) of Georgia Nicholson in the Louise Rennison books.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

READ IN DUTCH

Ik las Wat een zootje! lang geleden toen het werd uitgegeven als een Tina Topper, die ik destijds verzamelde. Ik zou het anders denk ik niet zo snel hebben uitgekozen, maar als een tussendoorboekje voor een regenachtige middag is het heel geschikt. Ik kijk nog steeds met een beetje nostalgie terug op de serie.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful read!
I read this in less than 3 hours and I absolutely enjoyed it.

Angel has issues with her weight and she has to struggle with her crazy parents, her 3 best friends, her crush that won't notice her and a mean boy that won't leave her alone. Also, she has to deal with her school's upcoming fashion show.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one kind of grew on me. The story started off slow and I kept falling asleep. The recipes were the only real bright spot. Then, the main character went on the "cabbage diet", and the story picked up a bit. In the end, I liked it after all.

[Monica Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific British young adult novel...very touching with the struggles and insecurities of all teen girls of all shapes and sizes...and Potty, Angel's father, well he is just a riot!
Oh, and did I fail to mention that recipes are included in this book??? Yeah. My kind of read.

[Jenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less horrifying than a lot of teen chick-lit, really.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun British YA read. Angel is charming.

Fans of Louise Rennison's "Georgia Nicolson" series (i.e. should enjoy this one as well.

[Margaret]

LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!!! It made me laugh so hard! I especially enjoyed the illustrations, lol. ROCK ON, ANGEL!!

:)

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F WHY loacp bk.1

[Mikayla Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This character seems very unrealistic and whiney. But this book is quite humorous and I'm sure those who read will enjoy :)

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cut-rate Georgia Nicholson. Poorly written, but mildly entertaining and quick to finish. Good recipes!!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not expecting this book to be so much fun! :) Definitely a book I can recommend to teens. Hello Ate Yen! :)

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

fluffy and cute. definitely need to try some of the recipes in here.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tears. Running down my face. Laughing in public. Holy crap this was too funny for words!!!