Trashionista

New Tesco book club

Jumping on the book club bandwagon is supermarket chain, Tesco, who have teamed up with Random House publishing to offer one Tesco special book each month. Books will be branded with Tesco Book Club branding, feature extra content and include a special bookmark (ooh!).

The launch title, Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, will be followed by One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson in July. [via Galleycat]

Did you know that over £1 in every £8 of UK retail sales is spent at Tesco? Amazing, isn't it?

Related posts: Richard & Judy archives | The Daily Mail book club | Oprah chooses The Road

THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: Enid Blyton

Way before there were such terms as tweenage, crossover fiction or young adult novel, Enid Blyton was cementing her place in the British literary firmament as one of the most loved (and most prolific) children's novelists of all time.

With her Mallory Towers and St Clare's series she made many generations of girls long to go to boarding school and her Secret Seven and Famous Five series of books made us all yearn for huge slabs of chocolate cake to eat at secret midnight picnics around a fire.

I don't think I've read anything as evocative since and Blyton no doubt inspired many children's authors, and still does - even if Madonna said she had never heard of her!

There is some controversy around Enid, though - her characterisations could be seen as conforming to outdated class stereotypes as well as racist and sexist (are golliwogs a crude depiction of black people? It seems likely, unfortunately - I used to love them and had no idea of any sinister connotations!) Her work has also been criticised by librarians and teachers for being limited in vocabulary and outlook. And one of Blyton's daughters has also spoken out about Enid being a bad mother, more interested in entertaining other people's children than her own. (Ouch).

But whatever she was like as a person, Enid truly understood what makes kids tick, and that's why so many of her approximately 600 books are still in print to this day, having sold over 400 million copies. According to the Index Translationum (which measures the volume of translations of writers' works), in 2007, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world - after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare. And for what it's worth, she was one of the most influential authors ever for me personally.

What do you think - and who's your favourite Trailblazer?

Trailblazer archives.

PREVIEW REVIEW: The Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer

Out on 21 June, The Sleeping Beauty Proposal is Sarah Strohmeyer's second fairytale-themed fiction, following The Cinderella Pact.

Despite its name, The Sleeping Beauty Proposal is a modern-day story about Genie Michaels, who has been dating university professor and newly successful author Hugh for four years. So when he proposes to her live on TV during a talk show interview, she's amazed but gratified, and can't wait to start planning her wedding. Until... she rings Hugh and he says he's sorry, he was proposing to the love of his life: but not to Genie.

So Genie's best friend  Patty comes up with a plan: as Hugh goes back to his native England to promote his book (with his new fiancee in tow), Genie will just pretend that he did propose to her after all. It's full steam ahead to a wedding that may or may not have a groom...

I love the concept of this novel: although it may sound a bit silly, Strohmeyer pulls it off. She also has lots of interesting points to make about the inferior way single women are treated in modern society and the way an engagement ring can open doors - even if its a cubic zirconia one you bought for yourself! (But then again, her characters seem to still want to get married rather than buck the system and be unconventional).

It was a little obvious how the book would end, but there were enough surprises along the way to keep it interesting. It made me a bit anxious to think what would happen when everyone found out the engagement was fake so I'm not sure how realistic it was that Genie would have been able to keep up the charade, but I guess truth is stranger than fiction and this is a fairytale, albeit a modern one... But why does the villain always have to be an Englishman?!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Like this? Try London is the Best City in America by Laura Dave.

More wedding related gossip and news over at our sister site Bridalwave.

BOOK NEWS: 'Abduction' (book tour cancelled)

After the sad case of missing four-year old Madeline McCann hit the news, the UK book tour for Barbara Gowdy's novel Helpless, which is about the abduction of a nine-year old girl, has been cancelled.

The book has been out in hardback since March in the US and is released on 7th June in the UK, where it might hit a bit too close to home for some readers. [Via Galleycat].

Book news | Book related.

Free chick lit from Wilkinson Sword

Reading a very funny interview with Marian Keyes (is there any other kind) in the Metro newspaper online, I discovered she's part of a promotion with razor company Wilkinson Sword.

Buy any promotional razor during May (you'd better be quick!) and June (oh, that's okay then) and you can send off for a free book.

Carry on over the cut for details.

Along with Marian's Further Under the Duvet, there's Maggie Alderson's Cents and Sensibility, Jane Austen's Emma. Life Swap by Jane Green, Catch Me If You Can by Nicci French and The Weekend Weight-Loss Plan (er...).

Plus the Wilkinson Sword site features a short (but entertaining, of course) interview with Marian and an excerpt from Anybody Out There. It's almost enough to make me shave my legs...

Jennifer Weiner takes on Erica Jong

Jennifer Weiner can always be relied on for the most insightful take on any literary discussion and, following veteran author Erica Jong's negative comments about chick lit, she doesn't disappoint. My favourite part:

Jong faults my peers' diminished expectations. I give them credit for healthy pragmatism. She sees a bunch of meek, weak sisters, too cowed to make a fuss over what our books get called and where they get shelved. I see something sly and subversive -- a genre that's going to profit in the long run by being beneath the notice of the critics, where women's work always seems to land, and where it almost always seems to flourish.

Related posts: Does chick lit "undermine the women's movement"? | Tolstoy Lied: Putting the "lit" in "chick lit" | This is (not?) chick lit

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

As election fever hots up in the US, a lot of attention has turned to the most famous prospective Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. Galleycat reports that at least three H. Clinton biographies will be rushed out this summer (does that mean publishers don't think she'll get the democratic nomination?) so what I want to know is this: after her own (admittedly tepid) memoir, Bill's autobiography, and eight years of seeing and hearing from her as First Lady...

Do you want to read any more about Hillary? Is there more to learn, anything you specifically want to know? Or aren't you that bothered?

Tell us Yay or Nay - and why!

Yay or Nay archives.

[Don't forget it's Yay or Nay day at Hippyshopper, Bridalwave, Dollymix, Corrie Blog, Catwalk Queen, Kiss and Makeup, The Bag Lady, Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny, too!]

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Joanna Barrett

Joanna Barrett's The Men's Guide To The Women's Bathroom is a great read, out now in the US and in the UK with Little Black Dress. A witty romp through ladies' bathroom secrets, it has generated a huge amount of buzz, and will be made into a movie by Hugh Jackman's production team. So without further ado, here's what Joanna had to say when we grabbed her for a chat...

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:

The Men’s Guide to the Women’s Bathroom reveals the secrets behind the door marked “Women.”    

Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?

I write everywhere!  In fact, I’m answering these questions right now in the waiting room of my dentist’s office!  (Hey, if he’s going to make me wait, I may as well get some work done!) I think Tolstoy wrote War and Peace while waiting for the dentist. 

While in the midst of a novel, I sit in front of my computer in a bathrobe.  I often do not shower nor wash my hair.  I eat takeout and stare into the refrigerator abyss for something sweet.  I tend to ignore the phone and any semblance of a social life.  It’s a lonely time.  When I finish, I like to hear the hum of the printer as it prints out all those pages.  Such a comforting feeling, indeed.  P.S.  Is this too much information? [Not at all! I know the feeling... - Diane] 

Your favourite chick-lit book?

Pride and Prejudice, of course! 

Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?

I like writing about women with moxie. I loved former Texas Governor Ann Richards. She was a larger than life character. She’s probably the only person in the world who could get away with telling George W. Bush that he was “Born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?

It helps to heed the old adage “Write what you know.” Why waste time inventing a story when your story is right in front of you? Of course, the most important part of writing is to put it down on paper. It’s only an idea until it becomes words on a page! I think the best book on the subject is On Writing, by Stephen King. [I do too - Diane]

What are you reading at the moment?

I try to read a book per week. This keeps words flowing through my head in order to make my own writing better. One of my favorite books is A Widow for One Year, by John Irving.

What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

My second novel [Killing Carlton] is due out on Valentines Day, 2008. Its heroine, Madeline Piatro, is in a relationship with a beautiful and yet very bad man. When this man breaks her heart and steals her business idea, she hires a loveable mob hit man to get revenge. And what woman doesn’t secretly yearn to do this!

What question have you never been asked in an interview, but think you should have been? (Tell us the question and answer it too, if you like!)

(I’ve never been asked this question!) That is…I’ve never been asked the question of what I’ve never been asked. Ha! Get it!

Actually, I wish someone would ask me whether I collect real-life stories to use in my novels. I have a good answer for this: yes! While writing The Men’s Guide to the Women’s Bathroom, I used some phenomenal quotes I overheard in women’s bathrooms. Please email me at jobarrett@jobarrettbooks.com if you have a fantastic bathroom story of your own!

And check out Joanna's website at jobarrettbooks.com. Thanks Joanna!

Interview archives.

TRASHIONISTA RECOMMENDS: The Idea Boutique

Now here's a good idea: a blog where authors answer the age-old question, "Where do you get your ideas from?"

So far, The Idea Boutique's respondents have included Lois Winston, Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Carly Phillips, although Lani Diane Rich's answer ("Target.") is still my all-time fave.

Trashionista recommends archives

BOOK REVIEW: Wannabe a Writer? by Jane Wenham-Jones

I first heard of Jane Wenham-Jones when I was trying (or I suppose you could say 'failing', if you wanted to be a bit of a meanie/honest) to write stories for women's magazines. She was the envy of all wannabe writers like me - not only had she had countless stories published, but also the holy grail: she'd had a novel published!   In fact, make that three novels published!

I never lost my respect and admiration for this author, so when I heard that she'd written a book for writers, I snapped it up. But did it disappoint?

In a word: No! In two words: Absolutely not! In three: Not even close! (Right, that's enough of that. On with the review.)

 

Jane Wenham-Jones's book is a lighthearted, highly personal look at the ins and outs of being a writer. Unlike conventional how-to-write books, she focuses on the reality of writing. How can you make yourself sit in that seat and keep producing words? What will happen to your bottom if you do? How will you cope with rejections? And if you succeed, what's in store for you? How can you make it to the Richard & Judy book club? Will anyone turn up to your book signings?

 

In among the jokes - there were loads of those, and they were great - are gems of wisdom. I particularly liked the section on discipline and displacement, which was fun as well as useful. The advice on writerly jealousy (which of course, being angelic and entirely altruistic, I never suffer from) was excellent and I took careful notes. Ditto the section "Diets for Fat Scribes". Ahem. There are sections on sex, and shopping (well, handbags), and even a nod to the Offside Rule in case the more laddish were feeling left out. And there's also a short piece on that Chick Lit writers' favourite love-to-hate topic: snobbery.

 

I loved the little touches like the stick figures and the illustrations of planning and plotting techniques. The book contains quotes by writers including Kate Long, Kate Harrison, Jill Mansell, Adele Parks, Jilly Cooper, Carole Matthews and Isabel Wolff, agents Simon Trewin and Jane Judd, and publishers HarperCollins and Transworld, among others. There is also an intro by Katie Fforde, and details of a writing competition at the end (closing date December 2007, so take Jane Wenham-Jones's advice and get writing!)

 

Slightly more of an autobiography-with-frills than a How-To-Write book, Wannabe a Writer? is entertaining, witty and realistic. Health warning: It's a very British book, complete with alcohol consumption jokes which may shock audiences across the pond.

 

Buy it for yourself and/or give it to someone as a present. Jane Wenham-Jones "could do with the sales" - and with this excellent book, she deserves them.

 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Like this? Try See Jane Write by Sarah Mlynowski 

The book also has a website.

[Luisa Plaja]

The Hay-on-Wye Festival's relay story

I was so busy envying New Yorkers their book festival that I forgot to mention Britain's best festival: Hay-on-Wye. Every year I promise next year I'll go and every year I ... miss it (next year, definitely).

If, like me, you haven't made it, you can read all about it on the Guardian's website, including the relay story, with chapters written at Hay each day by prominent authors (including, so far, Dave Eggers and Beryl Bainbridge).

Related posts: In defence of romantic novels

Read 'Cancer Vixen' online at The First Post

I was surprised (in a happy way) to learn that daily news website The First Post is featuring Marisa Acochella Marchetto's Cancer Vixen online, for everyone to read (yay!) 

I'd still recommend buying the book but you can now see why it's so good by clicking here.

Miss Snark says goodbye

Miss Snark, the wisest and wittiest blogging book agent (and a huge George Clooney fan) has hung up her heels for good: she'll blog no more.

If you never got around to reading her fabulous advice, don't worry: it's all there in the archives. But the Snark has "gone dark". *Sob!*

Book websites.

BOOK REVIEW: My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman

Frederica Hatch is the happy but precocious daughter of two university lecturers, brought up on campus at the small (although not very well-respected) Dewing College. She's always been doted upon by her loving parents, and treated as an equal rather than a child - so she's surprised to find her father's been hiding the secret that he was once married once before.

When Frederica turns 16, she finds out the truth as her dad's ex wife, the glamourous and incorrigible Laura Lee French gets a job at Dewing and proceeds to manipulate everyone around her...

This is the eighth of Elinor Lipman's novels, and definitely one of her best. As ever, Lipman is witty, stylish and unpredictable and I loved the turns this book unexpectedly took. It even made me  cry towards the end! Lipman is simply a great writer, so despite the name, My Latest Grievance was nothing but a pleasure to read. (Boom boom!)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this? Try The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman.

Does chick lit "undermine the women's movement"?

In an interview with The Oregonian newspaper to promote her latest novel Little Stalker, author Jennifer Belle reveals she's not a fan of the term "chick lit":

"It's beyond condescending! It's an incredibly detrimental term for women. A generation ago we were coming up with terms like 'Ms.' and having a movement to help women and raise our pay, and now we're coining these demeaning phrases."

When the interviewer suggests that it's women who buy chick lit, Belle adds, "I just think it's sad that women are undermining the women's movement. I want to write things that are important and last, not something with a pair of legs upside-down on the cover."

A lot of criticism of chick lit seems to focus on the covers rather than the content and I'm surprised Jennifer Belle has done the same. "I want to write things that are important and last" is a perfectly reasonable goal that has nothing to do with "a pair of legs upside-down on the cover."

And I'm sure Belle would be the first to admit that she sold a lot more copies of her first novel, Going Down, by being marketed as chick lit rather than literary fiction. (Whether you can complain about the feminist implications of the term "chick lit" when your first novel was called "Going Down" is a whole other topic...)

What do you think?

Related posts: Review: High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle | Chick lit is a feminist issue | Marian Keyes on The Weekender

Get well soon, sick chick litters!

There was no May edition of Marian Keyes' wonderful newsletter, because "She has been working night and day on the next book, and is exhausted and ill."

Jennifer Weiner recently cancelled an appearance due to an "ongoing situation that is equal parts funny and gross (or, actually, now that I reflect, more gross than funny) that I can't talk about yet and maybe won't want to talk about ever."

And self-confessed hypochondriac, Meg Cabot, has "scarring on my lungs from histoplasmosis, a disease caused by inhaling bat dung that I apparently had at one time and never even knew it, a missed opportunity I will go to my grave regretting)" to go with the Lyme disease and migraines...

Who knew writing chick lit was so hazardous to the health?! I'm sure you'll join us in wishing all three of them huge get well wishes.

TUESDAY THREE: Yummy mummies

Ah, the modern phenomenon of the Yummy Mummy. Two words likely to make most mothers want to punch someone repeatedly. As with any phenomenon, Yummy Mummyness soon turned up in fiction, but thankfully the following books are skewering rather than embracing the idea.

Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy is narrated by Lucy Sweeney, whose housekeeping and organisation skills are on the lax, not to say slovenly side. Her husband despairs of her, as she turns up at the school gates in her pyjamas, locks herself out of the house, runs out of petrol at inconvenient times and loses her credit card, only to locate it later in the fridge - after it's been cancelled!

With three young sons to look after, Lucy knows she has to pull herself together, especially as the presence of Yummy Mummy and Alpha Mummy at the school gate always make her feel bad about herself. Then Sexy Domesticated Dad joins the PTA, and Lucy starts to enjoy the school run. But it's just some harmless flirting... isn't it?

Anyone who has ever looked in the mirror six months after becoming a mother and not recognised the shell of a woman looking back will relate to the gloriously funny, warm and poignant Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams.

Amy Crane may have become a mother, but in all other respects she has lost her identity and she struggles to reconcile her love for her gorgeous baby girl Evie with old life as a career girl, lover and friend. She bounces between two groups of friends - the NCT mothers who don't feel fulfilled without a baby strapped to their boobs, and the yummy mummies with the designer prams and designer children.

Ultimately she falls under the spell of the super glamorous Alice who sets about co-ordinating 'Project Amy' - a makeover to ensure the new mum gets her groove back. At the same time she struggles to keep her relationship together with Joe, who she suspects cheated on her while she was heavily pregnant.

Will Project Amy be a success? Will  her relationship with survive? Will her eyebrows ever grow back?

Fran, heroine of Maria Beaumont’s Motherland used to have a fab career as a voiceover artist. She used to be madly in love with her husband, Richard. She used to be cool, calm and in control. And then she had kids. Frightened half to death at the idea of going back to work, cutting herself off from her two best friends and alienating her husband - plus the small matter of drinking so much that she forgets to pick her kids up from school - watch as Fran hits rock bottom and then drags herself back up again.

Living with a writer: mixing art with life...

I love Sue Hepworth's blog, and while I was reading recently, came across this story which illustrates what it's like living with an author... (Gus is the hero of Plotting for Beginners, just to give you the context). Poor writers' spouses...

Related: Top 10 books I reviewed in 2006.

TRASHIONISTA RECOMMENDS: Dogs & Goddesses

We love Jennifer Crusie. We love Lani Diane Rich. We even love books about dogs (like this one and this one). So how excited do you think we are about Dogs & Goddesses, a new group blog by Jenny, Lani and Anne Stuart (who we don't know yet, but are sure we'll also love)?

Once upon a time, three writers decided to do a novel about three ordinary women who meet at a dog obedience class and discover they’re descended from ancient Mesopotamian priestesses. Well, you had to be there.

Plus there are nine talking dogs. What's not to like? [via Nicola Pedley and Argh Inc]

Related posts: New Jennifer Crusie collaborations |  Will Write for Wine

BOOK NEWS: Non-fiction from Lisa Alther

Our fabulous Guest Blog by Levi Asher on 1970s chick lit highlighted the importance of Lisa Alther's iconic novel Kinflicks to the genre.

Alther hasn't had a novel out since 1995's Five Minutes in Heaven, but her first nonfiction work, Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree - The Search for My Melungeon Ancestors, is out now and getting great reviews.

Related posts: Top 10 chick lit precursors | Best women authors of all time

MORE ON MONDAY: Marley & Me by John Grogan

I'm not sure whether it's because of the cute pup on the cover, but Marley & Me has the dubious honour of being the book I've most frequently picked up and put down again without buying of the past year (do you think they should make that a category in the next British Book Awards?). So when my sister-in-law offered me her copy, I almost bit her hand off.

John and Jenny are young and in love and decide to get a dog. Partly because they both have fond memories of their own dogs growing up and partly because they think it will be good practice for the children they hope to have. They pick Marley from a litter after meeting his sweet and placid mother. Apparently it's important to check out a dog's parentage before buying and the Grogans realise why when Marley's father rounds the house like a demented wild animal.

Reading up on the subject later, they discover that labrador retrievers are a particularly  demented breed and Marley's a good example. He eats everything - all and any food, paychecks, a gold necklace - later, horribly, cat poo. He escapes one day and returns with a pair of knickers in his mouth. He's neurotic too - terrified of thunderstorms to the point of trying to dig his way through the wood and concrete of the garage (and succeeding to a point). Despite all his faults the Grogans love him. Until the babies come along and his destructive behaviour threatens their marriage.

Marley & Me isn't just about the dog or the family's relationship with a dog, it's also the story of the Grogans themselves. Babies, jobs, miscarriages, depression, loving and living. It's beautifully written, sometimes very funny and it even made me cry. Well worth waiting for.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this, try The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery

GUEST BLOG: Laura Kasischke

Laura Kasischke is the author of  Be Mine, an erotic thriller that has been compared to American Beauty (we'll have a review coming soon). Here, she guest blogs excluisvely for Trashionista on:

What lies beneath...

It seems too much of a cliche to be true - that beneath the glossiest facades, you'll nearly always find grit. Surely there are women who present to the world a picture perfect surface, and, beneath it, there's precisely the kind of competence and content you would have imagined. Why, then, does it seem so often that it's the happy-seeming couples who shock us with their bitter divorces? The shining pillars of the community whose private lives, revealed by some scandal, turn out to have been full of sordid secrets all along? Is this just in fiction and film, or is that in itself art imitating reality?

There was a sign at the edge of the town I grew up proudly proclaiming us to be "America's Home Town." I assume this was supposed to be a good thing. Our streets were kept dazzlingly clean. Our stores were closed on Sundays so that we'd have nothing to tempt us away from our churches. I was always a bit ashamed of my family. There had been some years without a lot of money, and let's just say the house was not always kept clean, and my father could be found in the back yard, shirtless, with a beer rather often in a neighborhood where neither of those things was condoned.

But we were, basically, pretty happy, I think. If you drove by our house, pretty much what you thought was going on behind the curtains was what was going on. We threw dishes on occasion. We threw our arms around each other, too. I thought everyone was as dull as we were, but that some people kept things looking nice at the same time.

Across town, I had a friend with a much nicer house, and a mother who wore high heels and pearls and stockings to do yard work. She seemed so happy, that mother. There were freshly-baked cookies set out on the kitchen counter every day at 3pm, just when my own mother was settling down with a cigarette to watch a soap opera, saying, wearily, "Can't you go find something to do?" One day, after a few of those cookies, my friend took me to the immaculate upstairs bathroom and showed me, in the back of the toilet tank, where her mother kept two floating bottles of vodka. "My dad said he'd kill her if she didn't quit drinking." She took me into the bedroom then, and showed me where her father kept his gun.

It might have been around then that I started to wonder if maybe one of the things that was happening in the dichotomy between the outward perfection and the secret shame was that the reason for so much emphasis on appearances in the first place was that there was something to hide. Was that why that couple-friend of ours used to spend so much time kissing passionately on our couch when we'd invite them over for a simple dinner? I always looked at my own husband with a bit of deflated confusion after those two left, until the wife moved out of their house one day while the husband was at work, taking everything down to the last spoon in the drawer.

Rumour was that he tried, after that, to burn the house down, "to get her back," but the neighbors smelled smoke and called the fire department. You could have knocked me over with a straw when I heard that news. Despite what I feel I've learned, I walk around just like everybody else, with my jaw hanging open half the time, saying, "Who would ever have expected that?"

What do you think - is truth stranger than fiction? Does art imitate life, or vice versa? (Thanks for a very thought-provoking blog that gave me a shiver, Laura!)

TRASHIONISTA RECOMMENDS: Early Ink website

This site sounds like an exciting idea: Early Ink's aim is to help publicise new books so it features all the news on books about to hit the shops, and even excerpts that you can print out, PLUS audio and video promos. [Via CrusieMayer.com]

"Help build buzz for your favorite author's next book by leaving comments or by linking its preview to your choice of social bookmarking Web sites," says the site.

Sounds good for authors and readers alike - just the sort of site we like!

Related: Trashionista recommends | Book websites

Posh's new read asks - do you want to be a 'Skinny Bitch'?

Journalist Ursula Hirschkorn in the Daily Mail says no: not if it involves reading books like diet tome Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, which is apparently a fave of her thinness,  Mrs Victoria Beckham.

Since Posh was seen reading (yes!) the book, it's been doing big business, which is a bit sad really, considering one of the recipes involves making a 'pretend' fried egg... Just say no, kids.  [Diane]

Non-fiction archives.

BOOK REVIEW: The Girls' Almanac by Emily Franklin

Emily Franklin's The Girls' Almanac covers relationships, fertility problems, betrayals, illness, death and, ultimately, friendships: how they are formed and why they last. Following the intertwining lives of Jenna and Lucy, two women who eventually become best friends, we are taken on a tour of how people’s lives cross and what brings them together. The book is written in an unusual format. It’s not linear, instead we get a snippet here and a snippet there told in a series of short stories. First up is Lucy as she comes to terms with the death of her fiance and her mother’s second marriage. The second story is also about Lucy but this time she is a young girl with a friend called Alex. Next comes Gabrielle and Andrea, both as young girls, then Gabrielle pops up two stories later as a doctor in Bogota.

There are so many stories and time frames the characters are hard to keep up with (there’s a chart at the beginning of the book just in case the reader loses track). No sooner have we met and been given the background of a character than that story ends and we hear no more about them, which gave me the impression that the book was imparting facts rather than telling a story. Some stories were interesting but there were some I just didn’t see the point of. Unfortunately the second was one of them, which didn’t bode well for the rest of the book.

It has been said that some short stories are a slice of life but the detached way in which these stories were told left me unemotional about the characters and not really concerned about how or why their lives intertwined. [Nicola Pedley]

Rating: 2 out of 5

Like this? Try The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank.

FRIDAY FLICK: Emma

I've already told you how much I love Emma: the book so it shouldn't surprise you to learn that Emma: the film is a firm favourite of mine, too!

I first watched it when it came out in 1996 (if I recall correctly, I did my homework at the library first and then treated myself to a hot dog and some chocolate at the cinema...) and I've watched it several times since. Gwyneth Paltrow may have the wrong coloured hair for the role but her accent is spot on and she's great at conveying the witty nuances of Austen. (In fact this is my second-favourite adaptation - this one of course being number one fave!) It also stars Toni Colette, Ewan McGregor, Alan Cumming, Greta Scacchi and Jeremy Northam as the lovely Mr Knightley, who tries to curb Emma's mischievous matchmaking ways.

It's a great film and if you haven't seen it I demand to know what you've been waiting for!  Run to the video shop or your Netflix/Lovefilm queue, as it still holds up brilliantly eleven years later.

Like this, only more modern: Clueless

...and more recent: Mansfield Park.

Friday Flick archives.

In Search of Adam book trailer

Not long ago we interviewed the lovely Caroline Smailes. Her debut novel, In Search of Adam, is out on the 15 June. Check out the teaser trailer. It gave me the shivers.

Related posts: Step On It, Cupid trailer | Pa-pa pahhhhh...pa!

BOOK NEWS: Lost for Words by Lorelei Mathias

Lorelei Mathias, author of Step On It, Cupid (the book with the best trailer we've seen!) has a new book out now in hardcover and out in July in paperback. Called Lost for Words, it's the story of Daisy, who knows she's in love - she just doesn't know who with! Sounds like fun...

BOOK REVIEW: Steamed by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant

Yes, I did read these the wrong way around! I enjoyed Simmer Down so much I wanted to go back and read the first in the culinary-mystery series by by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant, Steamed.

Steamed takes place a little earlier in the same year as Simmer Down. Chloe Carter has just started at Social Work Graduate school and is having trouble getting to grips with the right social worker mentality especially as Naomi Campbell (not that one!), her boss at her work placement, is a bit too touchy-feely.

Chloe wouldn't mind finding a man to do a bit of touchy feely (snarf) with, but she's having no luck in the boyfriend department: first her fling with her downstairs neighbour ends badly, then she goes on a blind date with a pompous bore called Eric who takes her to a restaurant he's thinking of investing in... until he gets murdered halfway through their date, that is.

Having found the body, Chloe is both terribly shaken and desperate to know who the murderer was. Especially as the prime suspect is a rather tasty chef she wouldn't mind getting to know better... providing he's innocent, that is. However, for some reason Eric's parents have her down as his serious girlfriend, so there's that little mess to sort out too...

I thoroughly enjoyed Steamed, and just wish there were more in this series for me to read - they're addictive, fantastically escapist and well-written with a witty main character. And delicious recipes, too! What more could you want? (An interview with the authors, perhaps? Watch this space... we'll have one with you soon).

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this? Try Simmer Down by the same authors, or The Food of Love by Anthony Capella.

Vernon God Little on stage

We noted the trend in books to stage a while ago and here's another one: DBC Pierre's Booker Prize-winning, Vernon God Little at the Young Vic.

It's the top book that British people are unable to finish. Wonder if the play's easier to comprehend.

BOOK NEWS: Laurie Notaro novel

Laurie Notaro is one of those authors who's been on my radar for years, but whose books I've inexplicably yet to read. So far she's written non-fiction books: I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl and We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive. I can't think why I've wanted to read them, can you? Sigh.

Anyway, she's written a novel and it's called There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble. It sounds great and I'll read it ... one day.

Word for Word series at New York's Bryant Park

Well, as if I wasn't already desperate to live in New York, now there's this: the Word for Word series of panels and readings.

Running from the beginning of this month (sorry, only just heard about it) to the beginning of September, featured authors include Jane Green (20 June), and Caprice Crane and Megan Crane in a "We love chick lit" panel (22 August). 

Sadly, Carmen Electra's How to be Sexy was yesterday, so we've missed it.

BOOK REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

The cover of Sara Shepard's first novel, Pretty Little Liars, compares it to The O.C. It didn't remind me of that show, but it was reminiscent of a few other things: the Traveling Pants series, the Gossip Girls series, Donna Tartt's The Secret History, even the Twilight Zone. And it left me ... entertained but confused.

Aria, Emily, Spencer, Hanna and Ali are the best of friends in the same way many teenage girls are friends, i.e. they know each other's secrets and have a tendency to use them against each other. Particularly Ali, the leader of the pack. So when Ali disappears the girls are of course horrified, but also a little bit relieved. Understandably, they drift apart. Three years later they've all changed a lot and then they start getting messages signed by 'A'. Not only does the mysterious 'A' know their past secrets, he or she knows exactly what they're up to now too...

All the girls are horrified, but don't feel like they can tell anyone, least of all each other, because, well, Ali's dead, isn't she, and ghosts can't send texts, can they?

Pretty Little Liars is the kind of book I would have loved to have read in one sitting. It's utterly compelling and entertaining. The girls' problems aren't particularly original (one's bulimic, one's struggling with her sexuality, etc.), but it's very well-written and I did actually like most of the girls, despite their misdeeds.

My problem with it was the ending. I can't say much about it, obviously, but it's either hugely disappointing or brilliantly ballsy. I don't know. What I do know is that there will be a sequel and I will absolutely be reading it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this? Try Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund

TV News: David Duchovny's 'novel' (ha ha) new series, Californication

Those crazy US TV stars just keep on recycling themselves! First Dharma and Greg's Jenna Elfman is lined up to play a literary agent, then Will and Grace's Debra Messing is a Starter Wife, now The X-Files's David Duchovny is starring in Californication (steal a title from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, much?) a series about a troubled novelist. Not that troubled though - it's a comedy. Five has snapped it up, so we'll keep you posted about when they'll be showing it...  [Via TV Scoop].

More TV news.

THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: Bernice Rubens

Bernice Rubens was a class act, even if the same couldn't always be said for her characters! (See the suicidal woman whose life is turned around by her diary in A Five Year Sentence for an example).

Rubens died in 2004, aged 76, having just completed her autobiography (great timing! - see, classy). Like Marian Keyes, she began writing at the age of 30 (having worked as a teacher and then a film-maker first) but then threw herself into it, writing twenty four novels plus her memoir, When I Grow Up. She won the Booker Prize in 1970 for her book The Elected Member, which established her as one of the best writers of her generation.

She was simply a great writer, with the capacity to create memorable if often odd characters and fascinating scenarios. She was also rather opinionated, laying into Martin Amis for writing a novel about the Holocaust that she found inappropriate. She described her writing as "Better than most, not as good as some." And she was probably right.

Read this: Madame Sousatzka (which appears to be shamefully out of print).

SUGGEST A TRAILBLAZER! Who would you like to see here next Thursday? Leave a comment and let us know - or if you're shy email us instead.

Trailblazer archives.

Save your place(s) with a multi-strand bookmark

You know sometimes you read a book and want to remember certain passages, but don't want to lose your place? Well, I discovered this crafty idea at LifeHacker.com: make a multi-strand bookmark, and you can save your place whilst saving your book (no more dog-eared pages).It might not be the prettiest-looking bookmark around, but it would be handy... and you could even jazz it up with different coloured strings.

Find more crafty ideas at our sister site Crafty Crafty.

Related posts: Book print wallpaper | The self shelf

MOVIE NEWS: Persepolis

I was fascinated by Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, Persepolis and I knew there was a movie in the pipeline, but didn't have any hard info ... until now. The animated film, co-directed by Satrapi, will debut at the Cannes Film Festival. [via Galleycat]

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

I'm still not entirely sure how this might work, but I think I understand the basic idea: Simon and Schuster, one of the biggest publishers in the world, is hoping to take advantage of Media Predict, a new company that believes the public has an eye for what media is worth (books included). You participate by playing a virtual stock exchange game, in which you gauge the worth of certain products - and the executives at Media Predict take notice.

But should books be chosen on the basis of public opinion? Isn't there the chance we might miss a classic of the future? Or do we know more than any stuffy old editors? Should we be able to decide a book's worth? The main question I really want the answer to, though is this:

Can the general public predict which books will succeed and which will flop (without even reading them)? Tell us Yay or Nay - and why!

Yay or Nay archives.

[Don't forget it's Yay or Nay day at Hippyshopper, Bridalwave, Dollymix, Corrie Blog, Catwalk Queen, Kiss and Makeup, The Bag Lady, Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny, too!]

BOOK REVIEW: Summer At Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Honestly, it's some time since I've been as excited about a book as I was about Summer at Tiffany. New York? The forties? That cover? 83-year-old Marjorie Hart's memoir of the 1945 summer she spent working for the famous and glamorous store almost seemed as if it was designed with me in mind.

Along with her college friend Marty, Marjorie got a job as a Page at Tiffany, making the two of them the first women to work on the shop floor. Customers included Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich and the job was wonderful, but poorly paid. Marjorie and Marty shared an apartment, which was used as a weekend city base for their other college friends as they enjoyed New York's sights and nightlife.

I loved this book just as much as I thought I would. Adriana Trigiani's comment on the cover, "Charming and delicious..." is spot on (and Trigiani's novel of working in a department store in '50s New York, Lucia Lucia, is equally charming and delicious). I loved all the details: joining two million people in Times Square to read the announcement of Victory in Japan, lunch from the Automat (which you may remember from That Touch of Mink), getting sunburned at the beach...

It seems like another (and despite the war, much more civilised) world. Summer of Tiffany is a book I can see myself rereading when modern life gets to be just too much.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Like this? Try Lucia Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jenny Colgan

I don't think Jenny Colgan needs much introduction. She's one of the biggest names in chick lit and has been for, ooh, years. Her latest book is West End Girls, which I'll let Jenny tell you about.

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:

Two poor girls move to the big city to try and make it big!

Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?

I don't mind, anywhere. Sometimes home, sometimes a coffee shop, sometimes a local library. Trains are good too. Not bed though, I'd get too many crumbs in it.

Your favourite chick-lit book?

Uhm, difficult question. I Don't Know How She Does It, maybe, that's great.

Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?

I love Thursday Next, in the Jasper Fforde books. She's this incredibly cool literary detective who can walk into the pages of fiction at will.

What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?

I would just say, write every day, and write what's true to you. And don't let your boyfriend read it, you'll only fall out.

What are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading A Curious Earth by Gerard Woodward, which is good. I just finished What Was Lost by Catherine Flynn, which is absolutely brilliant, about a little girl who gets lost in a shopping centre. Highly highly recommended. And I just finished Arthur and George by Julian Barnes which I didn't think I'd like at all, but was actually great. Ooh, and Shopaholic & Baby. Brill stuff.

What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

I'm writing a series of school stories, kind of like modern day Malory Towers. Great fun!

What question have you never been asked in an interview, but think you should have been? (Tell us the question and answer it too, if you like!)

Hmm. How about, would you like James McAvoy's phone number? He wants to take you out for an incredibly romantic meal somewhere fabulous and he says to tell you he's a lot taller than he looks on screen.

Me: Yes please.

Thanks, Jenny!

BOOK REVIEW: Going Overboard by Sarah Smiley

Subtitled "The misadventures of a military wife" Going Overboard sounded very intriguing...

It's a memoir of a year in the life of Sarah Smiley, whose husband Dustin is in the navy and, in this perilous political climate, often abroad in rather dangerous situations. Which means that Sarah is home alone with their two young boys, alternately worrying herself sick and cursing her husband for having joined up in the first place.

I read a review of this which suggested that the U.S Navy and Secretary of Defence would be quaking in their boots at the revelations herein, so was looking forward to some real insider intrigue from the front lines of war... but that wasn't what this book was like at all. It's about how hard it can be to be a military dependant, something Smiley has been all her life, as her Dad was in the Navy too.

I found the insights into military life interesting, and have to admire the strength of wives (and husbands, of course) in Sarah's position. But most of the book is about the ups and downs of her time alone, and these would be true of any long-distance relationship. (I know, I've been there - never again!) Sarah struggles with her attraction to another man, long-distance arguments with Dustin, and feelings of loneliness and overwhelm. She writes about all of this very honestly, and is very open about her own flaws and frustrations, which makes her a very likeable narrator. She's also very funny, if at times frustratingly helpless! I raced through this book and enjoyed every minute, but I think I would have liked to have read something to make the Secretary of Defence quake at least a little bit!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Like this? Try Job Hopper by Ayun Holliday.

Related: TV NEWS: Going Overboard | More memoirs.

Bookswim: Lovefilm/Netflix for books?

This is an idea that to my knowledge hasn't reached this side of the pond yet, but it would be a great idea for book fiends like me, who want to save a few bob and slow the destruction of the rainforests, whilst still getting to read all the new bestsellers. (Authors may not be so keen, however...)

A new site called Bookswim allows Americans only (darn it!) to rent books by post in the same way that Netflix or Lovefilm (depending which side of the Atlantic you're on) does for DVDs. It costs around $20-30 a month, but there's no late fees, so if you're tied to the house, or your library card is racking up enormous fines [Keris!], this could be a godsend... [Via Galleycat].

Here's how it works if you're interested.

Related posts: Create your virtual bookshelf with Shelfari | Reader 2 - the new LibraryThing?

Jodi Picoult on Radio 4's Bookclub

How I managed to miss this until now I really don't know, but I've just (about two minutes ago!) discovered Radio 4's Bookclub, in which presenter James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to leading authors about their best known novels.

The latest author to be featured is Jodi Picoult talking about My Sister's Keeper. You can listen to this show and previous shows online (here).

If you're based in London (or can get there) and would like to attend a recording, you can apply here. On Tuesday 3 July, the featured author is Armistead Maupin discussing Tales of the City, one of my favourite books of all time (I chose it for my book bracelet!).

Related posts: Oneword Radio | To the Best of Our Knowledge | Karyn Bosnak on Radio Scotland

TUESDAY THREE: Sex swap

I've just read an interview with Jennifer Weiner in which she says she's changed the sex of one of the characters in her new novel, Certain Girls (the sequel to Good in Bed):  "One character is getting a sex change; there’s a girl we think is going to work better as a boy. I’m sure writing it is easier than doing it in real life.”

So today I'm looking at men writing as women and women writing as men!

Jay McInerney’s Story of My Life features Alison Poole, a 20-year old aspiring actress living in New York City. Her rich father is supposed to be funding her education, but keeps flaking on her, so she has to survive on her wits (which she does brilliantly, if not always morally). She's quick-witted, clever, promiscuous and a regular drug-user who has seen and done too much, too young. Ye somehow McInerney also makes her sweet, charming and a wonderful narrator for this slice-of-life story, which is also brilliantly sharply written and very, very funny.

Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls tells the story of Jack McBride. Accused of indecently assaulting a female pupil at the school he taught at, Jack’s reputation is destroyed overnight. Despite his continued protestations of innocence, Jack spends 8 months in jail. Upon leaving he decides to pick up the pieces, and start over. When he arrives in Salem Falls, and manages to pick up a job washing dishes at the local diner, he begins to think his life may be starting to pick up. That is until he meets Gilly, Meg, Chelsea and Whitney – a group of friends bonded closer than the outside world realises. When they target him with spiteful accusations, Jack begins to wonder if he is doomed to relive the past over and over. Once more he must fight to prove his innocence, and risk losing the woman he loves.

I thought I’d finish with a classic. Arthur Golden inhabits his heroine’s voice so brilliantly that many people actually believe Memoirs of a Geisha is a true story. The story begins in Japan in 1929. When Chiyo's mother becomes progressively ill her elderly father arranges for Chiyo and her sister Satsu to be taken away to Kyoto where they will be trained as geisha girls. Upon arrival in Kyoto the girls are separated and sold to different okiya where they will be trained. Chiyo quickly realises that the life she has been sold into is one of labour and hardship. The book follows Chiyo through her training until she becomes Sayuri, a geisha. It continues then through her experiences as a geisha, and the ways in which world events affect her. Reading it you get a real sense of what it was like to live as a geisha, but also to live in Japan during the 1930s and 40s.

Royal Mail to release Harry Potter stamps

Yes, it's true. On 17 July the Royal Mail will release a series of Harry Potter stamps to commemorate the release of the final Harry Potter book (it's called Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows, in case you haven't heard about it...).

I think that's completely amazing, don't you? It staggers me how much JK Rowling has achieved in such a relatively short period. I don't know the woman, but I feel really proud!

Related posts: Literary theme parks | Fan fiction pays big

BOOK REVIEW: Frenemies by Megan Crane

I didn't like Megan Crane's first book as much as I'd hoped to (because she's friend of Trashionista, you see), but I absolutely loved her second, so I approached Frenemies with trepidation - which would it be, yay or nay? Well...

Augusta "Gus" Curtis is actually looking forward to the big 3-0. She's on track to having everything she wants: a great job, a gorgeous boyfriend, wonderful friends. That is, until, she walks in on her boyfriend, Nate, kissing her friend, Helen. Gus can't believe Nate would do that to her, but she's actually more upset about Helen's betrayal, especially since Helen won't leave her alone and seems to be doing everything in her power to drive Gus round the twist.

Realising that she's not quite as grown up as she would like to think, Gus decides to take action and drag herself into adulthood.

I loved Frenemies. Lots of the cover reviews (including a fabulous one from Marian Keyes) claimed it was unputdownable and, while no book is literally unputdownable (sorry, but it's one of my bugbears) I really didn't want to leave Frenemies until I got to the end.

Gus is great: the perfect combination of clueless and clued-in. Her friends Georgia and Amy Lee are fabulous too (particularly Georgia). Helen is just so painfully infuriating I wanted to leap into the book and slap her smug face. Even minor characters like Gus's boss and her next-door neighbour are brilliantly realised and entertaining. And I haven't even mentioned the gorgeous Henry (swoon).

I also loved the fact that the book was arranged almost entirely around parties. It reminded me a bit of St Elmo's Fire, which is one of my favourite films, so that's no bad thing at all.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Like this? Try Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

 

Which books would be on *your* bracelet?

Regular commenter Ms Mac said I should make this into a post, and her wish is my command! (Just imagine what I'd do if you sent me gifts, readers...) Anyway, Keris highlighted this lovely book charm bracelet, and I suggested the one thing that would make it better would be to be able to choose your own charms. If you could, which would you select?

To get you started, here's Ms Mac's selection:  "Pride & Prejudice, The Poisonwood Bible, The Handmaid's Tale (which I picked up because it was screaming at me to read and I couldn't resist and now I can't put it down), Middlesex, The Grapes of Wrath and The Kite Runner..."

What would yours be?

The Daily Mail book club features Julie Myerson (and more!)

It may not be my favourite newspaper (no offence to its readers!) but the book coverage at the Daily Mail keeps getting better. Their book club choice for May is The Story of You by Julie Myerson, and you can read more about the book and its author here.

If you want to get ahead, their June pick is The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell and upcoming authors include More on Monday favourites Bill Bryson and Marina Lewycka (with her new novel, Two Caravans).

Don't forget you still have until July 2nd to enter their first novel competition, too.

TV NEWS: Women's Murder Club

Yes, yet another book to television adaptation. This time it's not a chick lit book ... but it is a show featuring a bunch of "chicks", so I figured it counted.

Based on the novels of James Patterson, Women's Murder Club features four San Francisco friends combining their talents to solve murder cases. Sounds like the Famous Five (well there's five in the photo anyway) or Scooby Doo.

[via TV Scoop]

Related posts: US date for The Starter Wife |  Lipstick Jungle news 

BOOK NEWS: Agnes & the Hitman