All I Want

by Margaret Johnson

Award-winning original fiction for learners of English. At seven levels, from Starter to Advanced, this impressive selection of carefully graded readers offers exciting reading for every student's capabilities. Alex is a 30-year-old art gallery assistant and hopelessly in love with her boss, Brad. Then, an incident at the gallery means they have to spend a few days at Brad's country house. This is Alex's opportunity to impress but nothing seems to go the way she planned. A surprise guest and a Christmas party help Alex to discover what she really, really wants. Contains a paperback and 3 Audio CDs with complete text recordings from the book.
[Level 5 Upper Intermediate]

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Margaret K Johnson was born in Hertfordshire, England. She writes women's fiction and readers for people learning to speak English.

Margaret's novel The Goddess Workshop is a roller-coaster comedy about a mismatched group of women with a common aim - becoming confident, sensual beings. Her second women's fiction novel, The Dare Club is about a group of people who meet on a Divorced and Separated course. They decide to challenge each other to do daring things as part of their discovery process. But is saying how you really feel the most daring thing of all?

Margaret's readers for people learning to speak English are published by Cambridge English Readers, Cambridge Discovery Readers and Cengage Learning. They are in lots of different genres including Fantasy, Romance, Human Interest, Thriller, Fact Book and Adapted Short Stories.

As well as fiction, Margaret has written plays and screen plays. Her comedy GODDESS was performed at Cambridge Drama Centre to rave reviews.

Margaret has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.

You can find out more at www.margaretkjohnson.co.uk

Or follow her blog at www.margaretkajohnson.wordpress.com

Reviews

[Close Enough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex is 30 years old, she works as a temporary assistant in an art gallery, she had crush on her boss Brad, even though she has a loyal boyfriend. She planned to marry Brad or rather she dreamed to be his future wife instead of his pretty girlfriend, Tania.

Brad got into some troubles with police and journalists because he sold some fake paintings by mistake. They went countryside to run from all those terrible stuff and get some relaxing moments but Alex's dominant thought was impressing her crush and got his attention.
Unfortunately, none of her dreams came true but instead she found out his real personality; he has bad features that she couldn't notice until she got closer to him.

Alex's personality is akin to an adolescent one, I think she is not mature enough to take serious decisions, on the other side, she is innocent and has such a sweet spirit  but she could make me smile overall.  I loved her vitality and her dreamy romantic mood . All she wanted was a happy life among real people who love her the way she is and accept all her faults and appreciate her good traits.

This book is pretty easy to read, it offers an enduring amusement till the last page of it, I can't say it is a great book and everyone ought to read and but I prefer to say if you want to rejoice pick up this book and enjoy your journey :)

[Kay Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

pp1-28
Q5.
The owner Brad Courtney was late for the art Gallery and he was sorry to his staff Alex waiting so long. This situation would be changed in my life. Most companies will assign one or two staff to open the door at the opening time to avoid the same situation in the book. In most companies, when the staff made the same mistake, the boss will be mad instead of saying sorry for the staff.

Q9
I would like to ask Alex what's the feeling of falling in love at the first sight. Is there any problem between your boyfriend and you? I was wondering why can people being loved someone so quickly. She doesn't know her boss deeply. DId she theink that will break his boyfriend's heart? I wonder to know why the Arthur won't show his painting any more? The author didn't tell that.

PP29-96 end
Q6
I identify with Diana because she acts the real true friend should do. She understands and supports what Alex thought even though Alex seems to have fantastic notions. Diana also reminds Alex what she have to do, to start writing and make life meaningful and remarkable.

Q14
I think the author shall have the same kind of experience but the different ending. Maybe she broke up with his boyfriend and get with another guy but she found out that the new boyfriend didn't suit her. She probably felt sorry to the ex-boyfriend but she didn't have a chance to fix up the relationship. Even though Alex seems like a anthomaniac but at the end she found out who is the one. Alex felt content and joyful.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

After finishing reading the book, i know i was using this book as a way to learn English, but not really interested in the story. I prefer to believe its the true story of the author herself. It seems a party made Alex find herself and knew the difference between love and lust, but, how come a female had a crush on Brad suddenly changed her mind? I think a party is not enough, something more inside Alex's heart should have been described.

[Batul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about the difference between Love and Lust.

[Linh Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading to improve my English.

What I think about the book? Hmm, I like it a lot. I enjoyed a different style of writing. I like the fact that the main character was like talking/explaining to me the reasonings behind her every action.

I like the story. As many of us know that things never turn out the way we wish them to be. If we could see it at the time why they were important to us and appreciate them, we wouldn't have so many regrets in life.

The book was easy to read. Not too many difficult vocabularies even though it is a level 5 book.

[Khushboo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically it was a very simple romantic story but I enjoyed it. Even though it was different from so many romantic novels I have ever read.This book also showed me that love and attraction are two different things and we should remember it.

[raquel · Rating 1 out of 5]

el es un abusador y se puede ir al diablo

ella es una obsesiva, una idiota, gordofoba, romantizadora de la inseguridad y una tóxica con barry. Además de aceptar los abusos DIRECTOS del Brad solo por su fisico

[Benedito Cezar G. de Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

It’s a very good romance. I couldn’t stop reading until The end. It is really a good way to learn English.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Letto per allenare il mio inglese.... molto semplice, in tutti i sensi :)
Credo sia scritto per studenti delle medie!

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entretenido. Para mejorar un poco la lectura en inglés.

[Iseul]

book title : All I Want
author : Margaret Johnson
number of pages read : 5~62
9. If you could ask any character a question, what would you ask? If you could ask the author a question, what might that be? Explain why you chose these questions.

I want to ask Alex who is main character. “Why didn’t you break up with Barry?”
And I want to ask author “Have ever experienced like Alex’s situation on your birthday?”

The reason why I chose the first question is I think she doesn’t love him. She just likes him as a friend. I wonder she doesn’t love him anymore because of Brad or she didn’t love him at the beginning.
And I chose the second question because this story starts in Alex’s birthday morning. This is very interesting for me. And I’ve never experienced something strange situation on my birthday.

13. It is not unusual to wish that our lives were more like the lives of characters in stories. How would you change your own real life to be more like the world of your story?

I want interesting life like Alex. Of course, Alex’s story is not really happy so far. But she can feel love and expect something happen with Brad. My life is so boring. I’m living normal life. I really want more funny life. And also I want to feel love with someone. I think if I look for someone who I feel love, my life will become more interesting.
--------------------------------------------------------------

book title : All I Want
author : Margaret Johnson
number of pages read : ~96

15. Summarize the book.

Alex is a main character. She’s working for Brad temporary. She thinks that she’s falling in love with Brad even though she has a boyfriend. She tried to break up with Barry but she couldn’t. Next morning when she arrived at work, the gallery was closed and there are many journalists. This situation occurred because Brad sold fake painting. He didn’t know.
They went countryside for relaxing. In there she found Brad’s personality. At that point she realizes she loves her boyfriend Barry.

3. If you could change the setting in this story to another setting, what setting would you choose? Would you change just the time period? Or would you change the place, the season, the actual environment? Why would you make those changes?

I would change that the actual environment because in the story Alex is common person economically. If Alex is rich woman, the situation would be changed.
I think Brad loves Tania because of money. I don’t think Brad really loves Tania. He seems that he ignores Alex. He laughed when Alex told him that she wants to be a writer. If Alex is as rich as Tania, he might change. Brad would be interested in Alex and the story would be complicated. Maybe Alex would realize late that she doesn’t love him.

6. With which characters do you identify in the book, and why do you believe you identify with them?

I identify with Alex. I experienced the situation. 2years ago, I thought that I love one man. I thought of him every time, and I was nervous and shy when I talked with him. That’s why I thought I love him. But one day I realized that I love only his face like Alex. Alex and I thought that we love a man very much. But it was not true. We didn’t know real them.

[Bingjie]

(Question 2&15) All I want is written by Margaret Johnson.The main character in this book is a woman named Alex Faye ,who falls in love with her new boss, Brad Courtney. She felt she was not very beautiful,and Brad already had a girlfriend who is very beautiful.But she can't stop loving Brad even she is already 30 years old.She hopes she can break up with her boyfriend and be Brad's girlfriend.She even thinks about she will marry to Brad.Alex is a girl with many problems,no matter how hard she tries ,everything keeps going wrong.Finally ,Alex found what she really wants and be together with Barry again.
This story reminds me another story.It has too parts,It Started with a Kiss and They Kiss Again.At the first part,Xiangqin and Zhishu met in high school,Xiangqin fell in love with Zhishu at the first sight. Zhishu is the smartest and the most handsome guy in their school,but Xiangqin is a kind of foolish girl.She said she loved Zhishu,but he refused her.Xiangqin didn't give up and all she wants is to be Zhishu's wife.She can do everything for Zhishu and he finally fell in love with her.They got married after they graduated from high school .It's the beginning of part two.They went to university ,Zhishu changed his major from Business to Doctor because he wants to save more people and he promised a child who suffered from a disease he would save him. Xiangqin didn't know what she could do to help her husband.In their marriage ,Xiangqin is always passion and Zhishu is very cold.She confused if her husband is really love her and why he married her once.In fact ,Zhishu loves her very much ,but he doesn't know how to express his love.When Zhishu became a doctor,Xiangqin began to learn how to be a good nurse and finally she succeeded.
This is a very good love story.But in my opinion,Xiangqin loves Zhishu too much.Everything in her life is Zhishu,she doesn't have her own dream.Fortunately ,she is a very luck girl and she finds her true love. Generally speaking, I like the story very much.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book

Q7 : " Get married to Brad Cooutney " , " Me and Dad", " he was going to put them on his tree at home" <--- these lists I think is wrong grammar that make it strange. How can the author write wrong grammar in her novel? And some Italic words such as :" Five past ten", " one", " Please"," That"... make me uncomfortable when it keeps appearing in the story.


Q11: I hope Alex will get married with Brarry because in my opinion, he is a kind of kind-hearted and taking care of Alex. That's great!Also, he is a person who is supported to Alex becoming a writer, although he is a kind of boring person [ I don't think so :]. If I am an author, I would not let her meet a person like Brad. He is a kind of not taking care of his wife so Alex will be suffer.

Q14 : I think the author wrote this story because she wants our girl and lady to know about the men who have an attractive look and believe in the bright advice of the person who usually talk with you. She got idea from her life because she is the lady [ and maybe she got married, I don't know ^^:] . The message I think the author is trying to share is feeling about love. Feeling about love is very improtant to everybody, that's why Alex chose Barry.

[Anh Dang · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend recommended me to read this novel. In this book, the main characteristic is Alex. She is a thirty years-old art gallery assistant. She always hopes to fall in love with her boss, Brad, a handsome man, although she has a good boyfriend, Barry. After that, there is a serious problem with gallery that made Brad and Alex have to spend a few days at Brad’s countryside house. Alex thought that that is a good opportunity for her to impress with Brad, but nothing seems to go to the way she planned. And then, a surprised guest come (Brad’s nephew) and a Christmas party helped Alex to discover what she really wants.
In my opinion, I think we should respect all things we’re owning, shouldn’t dream things that are far from our ability. As Alex, she is having a good boyfriend, but she still dreams more handsome man. Fortunately, she realized her boyfriend’s really good and suitable with her, if not she could lose a good partner. This novel is very close with situations in our life. This novel is good and have a little fun.

[Saliha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Page 96 (finish)
4. I think this a bad title for the book because Alex ,personal asistant to Brad Courtney, made a list what she wants at the beginning of teh story. However, she did not do anything about her plans at the and of the story. She falled all of her plans. I did not expect this conclusion. For example she told about her boyfriend to us 'He is boring, I do not like him.' She liked him end of the story.
8. This story remind me of another story which has same publisher I have read. All of the girl characters want to chance their life but nobody get it. So when I began to read this book, I do not expect anything so I will not shock when I will read another book from this publusher.

[Yuki]

I hate the main character by the way. I think she is stupid at some point. She thinks deeply too much about a man who is unattractive. I think she needs to learn more about boys at the first point. I also think she needs to learn to cook lol. In the book, she does not seem to be satisfied what she encounters. I know this happens most of the time and that really irritates me because it sounds stupid. However, this book ended surprisingly so I do not hate the ending. It ended pretty well and I do like stories that ended happily. Most of the books that are short neither end good nor bad. So, I think it was well written but I do not like the overall story because the main character is most of the times, STUPID.

[Haruka Furuta · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. CAMBRIDGE LEVEL5
2. 12/11 20 min 12/13 10 min 12/14 30 min 12/15 20 min
3. birthday, terrible, wrong, embarrass, love,assistant? drunk
4. main character, Alex loves Brad. Brad is owner of the country art gallery which Alex works. even Alex has a boyfriend she loves Brad and want get marry with him.
B I can't understand why Alex want to get marry with brad even she has a boyfriend. I haven't finished reading this book, but at this point I don't want to be like Alex.
5. it is interesting to know how Alex loves two man. but this book develop little slow for me. however, I'm going to try reading this book!

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

All I Want es un libro que disfruté bastante: es de rápida lectura y entretenido, ya que no se vuelve tedioso en ningún momento.
El final me sorprendió, ya que había imaginado uno totalmente diferente.
Kudos para ti, Margaret.
Lo recomiendo a cualquiera que esté en búsqueda de algo liviano para leer :-)

[Namiko]

It is written in the present tense. I found it easy to imagine what are the places like in this story. It is very difficult for me to imagine and understand descriptions of scenes in English books, such as "the Hobbit."

[Dina dizdarevic]

dfdfdsgfdsg

[Meho]

About cars

[Clairysse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Speed read this throughout the school day. Pretty interesting read though there were many times where I found myself rolling my eyes at Alex's naivete. Funny.

[Yasuko · Rating 3 out of 5]

2013.5.15 Kikiyomi