Trashionista

No more giveaways... until next week!

Yep, Bafab was a whole heap of fun, and we had a brilliant response from all of you. (Thanks for making it so special! *sob*) We're still getting the occasional hopeful Bafab competition entry but I'm afraid those book giveaways have now ended.

But don't despair! We have more giveaways coming during November, and some very exciting stuff on the way... stay tuned to find out what!

BOOK REVIEW: London is the Best City in America by Laura Dave

You know how you sometimes read the title of a book and then make up your own mind about the storyline? (It's not just me, is it?!) Well, I had this one completely wrong: I assumed it was about an American girl who dumped her fiance and came to live in London... er, no. It is about a girl who dumps her fiance, though.

London is the Best City in America is a debut novel from Laura Dave (who wrote an excellent guest blog for us during Bafab week). It tells the story of Emmy, who left her fiance while he was asleep in a hotel room, moved to Rhode Island and tried to get on with her life. Three years later, she's forced to return home to New York State for her brother Josh's wedding, the first time she's been home in all that time. She's hoping her brother's wedding will go off without a hitch, she won't run into her ex, and she can justify her long absence to her family.

Things don't go quite as planned...

Her first big shock is that, two nights before the ceremony, her brother confesses that he's not sure he wants to get married after all. The two siblings go on a road trip back to Rhode Island, where Josh is briefly re-united with his other woman... and her daughter. Then they travel back to NY so he can decide what to do next... In the midst of all this chaos, Emmy meets up with her old high-school boyfriend, runs into her ex, flirts with Josh's best friend, and tries to make sense of why her relationship with her ex didn't work- and what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

For a novel with so much going on, however, it's told in quite a languid way. The tone is very thoughtful, ponderous (but never dull). It's as much- in fact more- about internal realisations than it is about external events. I liked that a lot, the fact that we see Emmy's progression, and feel that she's happy and knows what she wants by the end of the book. Having said that, I was occasionally slightly frustrated that just as the action got going, we stepped back into Emmy's internal narrative again. But it was always worth the wait! I liked the way the author ties everything together at the end: there's a hopeful, happy ending, but it's realistic, too.  Laura Dave's style reminded me a lot of Melissa Bank, although it's a bit less dialogue-based.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read that has something to say. The characters may not make it to London, but I won't hold that against them!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like this? Try The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank; The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner.

BOOK REVIEW: Queen of the Oddballs by Hillary Carlip

Author of Queen of the Oddballs Hillary Carlip is a bit of a female Forrest Gump. Not because she has sub-normal intelligence and rambles about the similarities between life and Thorntons's finest (she doesn't!) but because she seems to have been on the edge of so many pop cultural moments: from stalking (sorry, "befriending") seventies songbirds Carly Simon and Carole King, to having a bit part in Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John, seeing John Cusack with his zit cream on and being all but ignored by Oprah on an episode dedicated to her first book (and much more besides!)  Hillary's seen it, done it and taught herself to juggle and breathe fire (really). Her memoir's subtitle is "...true stories from a life unaccording to plan". Very, very apt!

I simply loved this book. Part of its charm is, to be honest, that Carlip has a lot of quirky celebrity stories to share (I guess growing up in L.A will do that). But the biggest selling point of the book is Hillary's sense of humour, wit, and honesty. She's not afraid to make herself look stupid or insecure if it makes her story more honest and true, and that's what I responded to most. There are moments of almost unbearable poignancy, especially towards the end of the book, which made me weep. But more than anything, this book made me laugh.

The book moves chronologically and at the start of each chapter, there's a summary of events from that time period (usually illustrated with a picture of the author at the time) which I found informative and very entertaining. Example from 1980: " I use a whole sheet of paper to remind myself to try the newly released new product by 3M- post its." The author also uses different formats for some of the chapters (a script, a diary, a letter to Olivia Newton-John) but this never becomes gimmicky or annoying, which must be a reflection on the talent of the writer.

Hillary really is an interesting and unique individual who's taken an inspiring yet down-to-earth "Oddball" journey through life. And I'm so happy she decided to write about it!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

*DID YOU KNOW?* Hillary is also a talented web visionary. You can check out her home page here, with links to her other fabulous sites, including the Queen of the Oddballs site. (So pretty!)

Like this? Try But Enough About Me by Jancee Dunn.

Mary Sharratt's dressed-up book tour

When we interviewed Joshilyn Jackson, she told us she was reading (and "really digging") The Vanishing Point by Mary Sharratt*, so it was natural that we'd want to interview Mary, too. Mary's something of an innovator- instead of taking her book tour high-tech, she went way low tech: inspired by the seventeenth-century setting of her novel, she undertook a tour in historical clothing! Read a fascinating tour diary here or visit Mary's site for more info- where she's promoting her latest book, the decidedly modern-sounding collaborative effort, Bitch Lit...

*Which was one of the recommendations on the Bafab home site, incidentally.

That was the week that was!

Anyone who visited our site last week couldn't fail to have picked up on the party atmosphere! Wasn't Bafab just brilliant? We had a great time, and we hope -and suspect- you did, too! Maybe we even inspired some of you to buy a friend a book... if we did, tell us about it!

We have to thank all of our lovely readers for helping make the week such a brilliant success, as well as the Shiny team for promoting us and for answering our question "If  you could buy a friend a book, which would you choose and why?"

And of course, the week would have been nothing without Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Shanna Swendson, Hester Browne, Lily Burana, Laura Dave and Jo Elliot, our wonderful guest blogging authors, for generously writing for us AND donating a book each. PLUS, we had very generous donations from Snowbooks & Seal Press, Faber, Andrea Semple, Kathryn Finney and... I hope I haven't forgotten anybody!

You can still enter our giveaways over the next couple of days, if you were silly- I mean unlucky- enough to have passed us by last week... Check out the Bafab archives for a full list.

Here's to another great week on Trashionista this week- we may not have quite the star line-up of Bafab, but we can promise you great book news and reviews all delivered with our trademark sense of fun. So stick around!

GUEST BLOG and GIVEAWAY!!: Jo Elliot

Jo Elliot is the author of I'm Celibate, Get me out of Here! which we raved about back in May ("This book is witty, fast-paced and highly entertaining... 5/5") and her guest blog for us gives us an insider glimpse into the topic of her book, about looking for the love of your life online.

AND! One lucky reader can WIN! a free copy by emailing us your name and address with Celibate in the subject line- you won't regret it!- Sorry, we love our international readers but this one's UK only.

Jo Elliot on Finding the Love of Your life... or not

Internet dating. Isn't that for freaks and weirdos? That's certainly what I thought when I inadvertently joined a dating site 6 years ago. Having been single since God knows when, I was strangely flattered when 'Handsome_Gentleman' landed in my inbox telling me I was his ideal woman. However, one click on his profile revealed that he most certainly wasn't my ideal man.

Tom Evans was, but he broke my heart in 100 places (one of them was Soho). But if at first you don't succeed, then try, try again. Surely there was someone for me in this enormous virtual meat market? And what's more, I could search for them from the comfort of my own desk. And so began a journey that sometimes made me wonder if I'd joined a joke site, and other times took me to such salubrious places as Birmingham Travelodge. Who says romance is dead?

It's just on a life support machine. My friends' hysterical laughter as I recalled my dating stories made me realise I'd be doing the rest of the world a disservice if I didn't share the amusement. So I wrote 'I'm Celibate...Get Me Out Of Here!' I'm glad I'm not Bridget Jones, with two rich, handsome men fighting over me.

I'd never have met The_Hairy_Cornflake.

More "If we bought a friend a book" for your delectation...

Kat, editor of The Bag Lady says: "The books I would recommend to anyone would be Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel, and the sequel, More, Now, Again [follow those links to read extracts] - although both are not particularly well-written, it's more the subject matter which interests me, mainly mental illness and drug dependence.

They're a must-read for anyone who lives in the 21st century, when 1 in 3 are going to go through some form of mental illness in their lifetime. It really gives you a perspective on what it's like to be in that situation. And, for those affected by depression or drug dependence, it's a relief to know that other people of the same age are going through the same traumas, and that yes, you too can pull through as well. I'd also recommend Vice's 'Do's and Don'ts', a capsule of all their best do's and don'ts over the years - only for the young at heart and those  who have a strong sense of humour. A real leave-in-the-toilet book that will have you bursting out laughing whilst on the job, to the worry of your housemates!"

Stuart writes for lots of Shiny's technology and pop culture sites, including the hugely popular Tech Digest. What does he recommend?

"Peter Ackroyd's London: The Biography. It's an amazing warts'n'all (and there are LOTS of warts) biography of the capital, organised by themes rather than chronologically. The best thing I can say about it is that it makes you want to get out there and explore the streets and locations he talks about, from wandering along the route of the old London Wall looking for old bits of masonry, to poking around where Newgate used to be or wondering if you can get a whiff of the noxious River Fleet. As someone brought up on the edge of London, I never really had much interest in its history, but this book really brought it alive. And even though it's huge, the writing crackles along with real pace, so it's never dull."

Meanwhile, John of TV Scoop says.... "OK, you said it's a "generic friend" so I don't know whether they're a lover of sci-fi/fantasy or not, but I am, so maybe I'm trying to convert them;) In which case... I would have to pick something well written, well known, well loved (as in I've reread it many times) and epic in scope. It also helps that it's the first of a trilogy and the world it inhabits is explored in two further trilogies, one set after it in time and one before. Heck if I was feeling generous I might even BAFAT (Buy A Friend A Trilogy). It's The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May, the first book in the Saga of the Exiles series" (No, I'm not sure what's going on in that photo, either...)

Finally, Gemma, our lovely editor in chief and head honcho at  Shoewawa and Catwalk Queen (for starters!), is on a business trip to Las Vegas all week (not for the first time- and she's off there again in January, lucky woman!) so it's not surprising that she suggested Divas Las Vegas by Belinda Jones...

Want to know more? Remind yourself what Mof and Keris, Star, and I all said in answer to the question. Or check out the Bafab archives... it's been quite a week!

MAMA LAMA DING DONG GIVEAWAY!

Remember how much I enjoyed this book? Well, you could be in with the chance to find out for yourself how fab it is with yet ANOTHER fantastic Bafab giveaway, thanks to Snow Books.

And if that wasn't enough, we've got a copy of another of Ayun's books - Dirty Sugar Cookies, this one from Seal Press. (This one's UK only though, sorry.)

To win, just email us with your name and address (so we can send the book to the winner, we won't stalk you, promise) with Mama in the subject line for Mama Lama Ding Dong and Dirty for Dirty Sugar Cookies.

Our other giveaways: This is Chick Lit, Wedding Belles, Shanna Swendson and Queen of the Oddballs (which no-one has entered- come on people!) Hester Browne,  Budget Fashionista and Try.

GUEST BLOG and GIVEAWAY: Laura Dave

Laura Dave is the author of new novel London is the Best City in America, which Reese Witherspoon is making into a film. (I know!!)

And, she's guest blogging for us for Bafab, about relationships and writing... which means, of course, that we have a copy of her book to give away, if you... what? Email us with your name and address, that's right! (Put London in the subject line).

Torn in Two: Thinking About (And Writing About) Relationships by Laura Dave

When I was waiting for the subway a few weeks ago, I was squeezed between two guys who were talking about love. (Okay, by “squeezed between” two guys, I mean “leaning in” to hear what they were saying, but you get the idea…) One of the guys—let’s call him Teddy—was talking about a woman named Marietta, who he couldn’t get out of his head (with a name like Marietta, who could get her out?!). Teddy was telling his friend that he has never felt this way about anyone before, that he is sure this is love (he actually said love), and he can see himself spending his life with her. Which is when his friend spoke. “What about Meredith?”

Teddy looked demolished—at least to my nosy-body eyes. “I don’t know how I can leave her,” he said. And there’s the rub.

And here’s the common ground: my first novel, London Is The Best City in America, focuses on 26 year old, Emmy Everett, who comes home for the first time in years for her brother Josh’s wedding—only to discover that Josh thinks he is in love with another woman, who is not his fianceé. Trying to be the good sister, Emmy embarks on a road trip with Josh to find this mystery woman and try to make sense of his true feelings.

As the subway pulled into the station—and Teddy and friend disappeared into a different car—I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d decide his true feelings were. I know what I decided Josh’s were. One of reasons I like writing about relationships so much is getting to make those decisions: who is going to be brave, who is going to stand up for the person he loves, who is going to make a bad choice for herself. In all of the best ways, my characters often surprise me—often hold their ground—and I end up making choices for them I didn’t see coming. I end up making choices for them that teach me something.

About a week after I saw Teddy on the subway platform, I ran into him again: Same platform, same busy time of day. Only this time he was with a woman. Which woman was it: wearing a red skirt, and the kind of stiletto heels that make me trip, just from looking at them? It was all I could do to not call out Marietta and see what happened. But, whichever woman she was, Teddy reached out to take her hand and she smiled at him. And maybe that’s the best end of the story either way. At least, I think, that’s how I would write it.

Oh, I'm so intrigued! Thanks Laura!

BUDGET FASHIONISTA GIVEAWAY!

Yep, it's another Bafab giveaway- and there's still loads more to come! This is one our friends at Catwalk Queen, Shoewawa and The Bag Lady will be salivating over... How to be A Budget Fashionista's lovely author Kathryn Finney has donated THREE signed copies to be won by three of you!

You should have got the hang of how this works by now- To win, just email us with your name and address (so we can send the book to the winner, we won't stalk you!) and "Fashionista" in the subject line.

And speaking of Catwalk Queen, go there to read what Anne Hathaway, Star of The Devil Wears Prada, has to say about her personal style... or lack thereof. (You can enter our giveaway, Anne!)

Our other giveaways: This is Chick Lit, Wedding Belles, Shanna Swendson, Queen of the Oddballs, A Faber Double, Hester Browne, Try and The Man from Perfect. (Plus we'll have more to give away later today and Friday! Phew...)  You can enter as many as you like, just send each one on a separate email and we'll pick a winner at random once Bafab's over!

ANDREA SEMPLE GIVEAWAY!

The lovely and talented Andrea Semple has kindly pledged a copy of The Man From Perfect to our Bafab giveaway bonanza- thank you Andrea!

To win, just email us with your name and address (so we can send the book to the winner, we won't stalk you!) with Perfect in the subject line.

Our other giveaways: This is Chick Lit, Wedding Belles, Shanna Swendson and Queen of the Oddballs (which no-one has entered- come on people!) Hester Browne,  and Try. (PLUS! More coming soon- Click on Bafab to keep up-to-date!)

If Diane bought a friend a book ...

It would be The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

I know very few people who've read it, and yet I can't think of anyone I know who wouldn't find it fascinating and change the way they look at the world.

His second book, Blink is also well worth reading, but I think The Tipping Point is a guaranteed success- buy it for your friends today... (I swear I don't get paid to say that!)

Brought to you by Bafab! (.. and the letter "D" ...)

GUEST BLOG and GIVEAWAY!!: Lily Burana

Former punk turned journalist and author Lily Burana's first book was a memoir, Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America. Her second book, the novel Try might not have quite as intriguing a title, but it does boast one hell of an opening line.

(And you can win a copy in hardback by emailing us your name and address with Try in the subject line- you won't regret it!- Sorry, UK only).

But now, on with Lily's fabulous guest blog-

The Rocky Road to Rodeo Romance by Lily Burana

The old maxim “write what you know” may be wise counsel indeed, but how long can you write before you reach the limits of your life experience? A writer’s only got one thinly veiled autobiographical novel in her, and in my case, my first book was a memoir, so I had already used up all my source material by the time it was time for book two. I knew I wanted to write a love story for my second book—a raw, rowdy, dare I say kinky love story, and I had been in love, so in that respect I could work from personal experience. But in my heart, I wanted to set the book in the West—not the old-school Lone Ranger Sunday matinee Hollywood fantasy place, but the modern, totally country, bikini bull ride and rodeo real-deal West.

I lived in Wyoming for a few years, and saw the drama, romance, and excitement of cowboys, rodeos, and honkytonks, but since I didn’t come from that world, I didn’t feel entitled to write about it. But the more I thought about the book I longed to write, the greater my courage grew. F*ck it, I thought, Dr. Suess didn’t live in Whoville before he wrote “Horton Hears a Who,” and Roald Dahl didn’t work in a chocolate factory before he wrote “Willy Wonka,” so why was I being such a write-what-you-know purist priss?

I got some guts and started traveling the rodeo circuit, asking all kinds of nosy questions of the cowboys and the women who loved them, and ended up with a book that several rodeo girlfriends have told me rings totally true. So my advice is to write what you’re obsessed with, and the critical details will fall into place during the process. It’s passion—more than first-hand life experience—that gets the story to stick to the page.

GUEST BLOG: Hester Browne

Hester Browne, author of The Little Lady Agency and Little Lady, Big Apple writes about the difficulties in adapting your own book for a different audience (in this case, from the UK to the US). Come back later for a very special Hester Browne giveaway (the clue is in the theme of this guest blog!).

From British to "American" by Hester Browne

Translation rights are the author's best friend: the thrill of seeing your book in a foreign language with none of the stress involved of writing it again. My agent has sold The Little Lady Agency in Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, and Germany, and I've got no idea how the translator is going to make the jokes about Mr Sheen work. I can't even imagine what Melissa's voice sounds like in a German reader's mind.

But when the series was sold in the US, I didn't realise that it would need a translation job and that I'd be doing it myself.

First of all, it's not just the language that has to be translated, so much as the culture. All the references to British TV soaps, chocolate, specific places in London that tell a UK reader exactly what kind of girl Melissa is ­ they all had to be changed, or explained, or deleted. British chick-lit is stuffed with pop-culture references (another reason why it'll be fascinating to read in 100 years' time!), and though US readers apparently love the flavour of British slang, there comes a point where it's just incomprehensible. It's not such a bad thing to have to explain properly, it's kind of lazy to use LK Bennett as a defining character trait, and it really does make you look at London in a new light. You try explaining the WI to a New Yorker. Or the subtle difference between John Lewis and Marks & Spencer.

I didn't completely appreciate how subtly humour changes on the other side of the Atlantic either. British humour is sarcastic, verging on the downright cruel, and it's done on the tongue-in-cheek understanding that we don't really mean it. Like, Melissa's father, Martin Romney-Jones, MP. He's a horrendous character, who schemes, cheats and screams at his family, especially poor Mel. But in the tradition of Basil Fawlty or Edmund Blackadder, he's usually villainous for effect we know the Romney-Joneses love each other really, because they're nice to their dogs, but they're never happier than when they're engaged in a screeching match.

Hmm. I don't think that really travelled, to be honest. American readers took parts of Melissa's story quite seriously, especially her struggles with her family, who they felt should be in therapy or possibly, in court. And when I came to write the sequel, Little Lady, Big Apple, which is set in New York, I suddenly found I couldn't bring myself to be as sarcastic about New York men as I had been about the Londoners I knew so well, because that sort of British sarkiness is just affection, inside-out. I didn't want to offend all the kind, welcoming New Yorkers I'd met, so I had to do a crash-course in NYC Male Failings. And you know what? They're grooming freaks who insist on paying for dinner, and constantly check their mobiles for messages. Try making a job for Honey out of that.

But what I did learn, after the most rigorous editing ever, was that so long as the heart of a novel is true-to-life, it doesn't matter where it's set, or which supermarket the heroine uses. And I hope useless men, ingenious women, and quality lingerie are things everyone can relate to!

YET ANOTHER FAB BAFAB GIVEAWAY!

Are we good to you, or what?

First, remember how much I loved A Boy of Good Breeding? Well, you can find out for yourself what a great read it is by winning a free copy!

AND the good people at Faber are so generous they gave us another great new read to give away- Arlington Park, the new hardback release from Whitbread Prize winner Rachel Cusk.

To win, just email us with your name and address (so we can send the book to the winner, we won't stalk you, promise) and "Breeding" or "Park" in the subject line. You can enter for as many giveaways as you want this week- just make sure you send each entry as a separate email!

Our other giveaways: This is Chick Lit, Wedding Belles, Shanna Swendson and Queen of the Oddballs (plus we'll have more to give away later today, tomorrow and Friday! Phew...)

EXCLUSIVE FORUM GIVEAWAY!

If you haven't yet joined our lovely Shiny Forum, then you've still got time before the winner of this prize is drawn... but get to it, or you'll miss out!

We have an extra copy of Queen of the Oddballs, and we're giving it away to one of you... (I'm sorry, this is UK only). It's a FANTASTIC book, a memoir about Hillary Carlip, who's starred in films with Tom Hanks and Olivia Newton John, seen John Cusack with his acne cream on and taught famous chat-show hosts to breathe fire. Of course!- But who hasn't?

She's had an odd and wonderful life and her book makes a fantastic read. (I'll be reviewing it soon, but let's just say it will be very favourable!)

To win, you need to sign up for forum membership here (it's free, and simple!) and then answer the question on this WIN A BOOK! thread. Go on, you know you want to...

GUEST BLOG: Shanna Swendson

Shanna Swendson, author of Enchanted Inc and Once Upon Stilettos (win a copy of the book of your choice here!) explains why she can't pick just one book to buy for a friend.. she'd have to buy up almost the whole bookshop! (Been there, done that...) Talk about encapsulating the spirit of Trashionista...

I just can't pick a favourite book! by Shanna Swendson

I've never really been a "best friends" kind of girl. I'm more likely to be part of a larger group and to move between different situational groups (in the "Queen Bees" terminology, I'm a textbook case of a "Floater"). I think that has a lot to do with why I can't pick a favorite book or even a favorite author. I have a lot of "book friends" I turn to for different situations or when I'm in different moods.

When it comes to chick lit, Bridget Jones's Diary is a reliable stand-by. I can read a few pages or the whole book if I need a laugh or a reminder that my life isn't as crazy as it sometimes feels. This is also a good book for a stay-at-home New Year's Eve, since it puts resolutions in perspective. I once tried to start a Bridget-like diary for the new year, but it lasted about three days.

For a rainy Saturday afternoon with nothing on my to-do list or calendar, there's nothing better than curling up with Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes. The large ensemble cast and interwoven plot lines are perfect for a good, long, uninterrupted read.

If I need a guaranteed feel-good, I turn to Wendy Holden. Farm Fatale captures the fantasy of moving to a small English village (though why that's a fantasy for me when I'm from a small town and couldn't wait to escape from it, I don't know), and Bad Heir Day has possibly one of the most satisfying endings ever, worthy of a good fist pump and victory dance.

I seem to re-read A Promising Man by Elizabeth Young (I think it had a different UK title) every holiday season. It's a great romance with lots of fun plot twists that goes perfectly with hot cocoa and Christmas cookies as I sit by the Christmas tree and enjoy a rare peaceful moment during the busy season.

Sarah Bird's The Boyfriend School is a great summer-afternoon book to read by the swimming pool or on the back porch with a glass of iced tea handy.

So, if I wanted to give a friend a book, I'd have something for almost every friend at every time of the year (and that's just my chick lit choices -- the list gets longer if you include fantasy, science fiction or mystery!)

If Star bought a friend a book ...

You may have noticed (!) that it's Buy A Friend A Book week and earlier today we revealed the book our Shiny colleague Mof would buy his friends (and the book I'd buy mine). Now it's the turn of Shiny Shiny's Star.

"I think the book I would buy would depend entirely on the friend in question. Anything by Wodehouse (or maybe Stephen Fry) if they like their writing witty, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell if they like the Victorian and the Fantastic, and The Three Musketeers if they're the very good sort of mate who would happily loan a friend a book, because there's a new translation out by Richard Peaver that I'm looking for an excuse to buy even though I own two copies of The Three Musketeers already."

SHANNA SWENDSON GIVEAWAY!

Yes, it's another great Bafab giveaway!

No, we're not actually giving away the respected chick-lit author, that would be silly! But she is donating one of her books to a lucky reader, and here's the great thing: you can choose which one! If you win and haven't read first book Enchanted Inc. then you'll get a copy of that, and if you have, you can claim a copy of sequel Once Upon Stilettos.

To win, just email us with your name and address (so we can send the book to the winner, we won't stalk you, promise) and "Shanna" in the subject line.

and look out for Shanna's special guest blog for us later this afternoon... it's a good 'un! (as I'm sure she wouldn't say in Texas...)

You can still enter our This is Chick Lit and Wedding Belles giveaways, too.

If we bought a friend a book...

We chatted with some of our Shiny Media pals about what book they would like to buy for a friend (in honour of Bafab), and why... it didn't have to be a specific friend- we just wanted to know what books they recommended, perhaps something we might not have heard of. And we got some great answers!

Mof of Pop Junkie says: "Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. A book that really has everything. Humour (both macabre fun and gut busting laughs), depth of characters, plot twists, originality, power struggles, highs, lows, cults developing relationships, murder, love, intrigue...a book that really does have an embarrassment of riches.

For those unaware, it's a book based around a family who are in, and run, a circus. The two parents devise a method of ensuring that their children are born as, literally, 'circus freaks'. The story follows Olympia Binewski, a bald, humpbacked albino dwarf and the fortunes of her maniacal brother Arturo. A book that reverses the roles of us 'normals' and makes a cracking statement about 'different' people."

Continue over the cut to see what my co-ed the lovely Keris would buy a friend for Bafab week (and why)...

Keris says: "It would be Asta's Book by Barbara Vine*. Books are always being described as "unputdownable" but this one .. I sat down on benches on the way to work, I read it under my desk, I stayed up until it was finished. And everyone I've recommended it to has said the same. (One friend was annoyed with me because she took it on a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend and was more interested in the book than she was in him. Which isn't really my fault, is it?!)"

*According to an Amazon reviewer, it's called Anna's Book in the U.S- another name-change book!

Hope that gave you some inspiration! Stay tuned for more recommendations over the week...

WEDDING BELLES GIVEAWAY!

Yep, we have another fab Bafab giveaway for you, dear readers! (And more tomorrow, and the day after that...)

Wedding Belles is the newest book by Zoe Barnes: Nothing is going to go wrong with Belle Craine's dream wedding... or is it? Find out by bagging yourself a free copy! (and go to Bridalwave if you're really planning a dream wedding- they can help!)

To WIN, Just email us with your name and address (so we can send it to you) and put "Wedding Belles" in the subject line. That's important, as we have a lot of books to give away this week and you can enter as many of our giveaways as you want- so you might win big!

Check out our This is Chick Lit Giveaway,too.

GUEST BLOG: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is a chick-lit and non chick-lit writer, editor of This is Chick Lit (we have a copy to give away to one lucky reader!) and of course, special friend of Trashionista. In the first of our special Bafab guest blogs, she tells us why...

I Never Set Out to be a Chick-Lit Writer by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.

I never set out to be a Chick-Lit writer. Not that I’m in denial or anything, but I simply never set out to become any particular kind of novelist; I merely wrote. In November of 2001, having written seven unsold novels, I started reading reviews of books put out by a new publisher, Red Dress Ink. The reviews weren’t universally positive, but one thing I could tell right away: the editorial sensibility behind these books would be interested in my sixth unsold novel, The Thin Pink Line, a dark comedy set in London about a somewhat sociopathic woman who fakes an entire pregnancy...

And so it came to pass: In July 2003, RDI published The Thin Pink Line as their first-ever hardcover. I’ve since gone on to write three more books for them – Crossing the Line, A Little Change of Face, and How Nancy Drew Saved My Life – with a fifth to follow next year. In the years since my first book was published it’s been hard to ignore the slings and arrows Chick-Lit has regularly been subjected to. People who have never read the genre, or who have only read a few books, dismiss the books wholesale as being empty, an error akin to dismissing all literary novels because you find Joyce’s Ulysses too dense.

The Grumpy Old Bookman - in a blog written on June 30 about the genre novelist Laurell K. Hamilton- has these wise words to offer for people looking down their noses at what they perceive to be inferior fiction: “…may I remind you of a point made elsewhere on this blog, namely that it is a fundamental error, with moral implications, to think of fiction as a hierarchy, a sort of tower block, if you will, with literary fiction at the top and the ‘lower’ types of fiction tucked away in the basement. That is a concept which has no intellectual validity. The correct way to think of the various genres of fiction is as a street of many bookshops; and in this street there are no prime sites. Each shop pays the same business taxes as any other: all shops are equal. And the smart customer places her business in different shops at different times; to the advantage of everyone, most importantly herself.”

For those open-minded readers who do not want to be guilty of committing “a fundamental error, with moral implications,” I would like to point them toward This Is Chick-Lit, a positive anthology of stories showcasing the broad range of Chick-Lit – satire, dark comedy, futuristic, paranormal, mystery, romantic comedy, metafiction and magic realism – of which I am editor as well as one of the 18 contributors.

In addition to the Chick-Lit books she’s written, Lauren Baratz-Logsted is also the author of the forthcoming books VERTIGO, a literary novel set in the Victorian era with erotic and suspense undertones, and ANGEL’S CHOICE, a serious Young Adult novel about teen pregnancy. Author website.

Hello and Welcome to Bafab!

It's Bafab- Buy a Friend a Book- week here on Trashionista, starting now! I'm resisting the urge to say "Bafab will be fab!" but truth be told, I'm not resisting very hard...because it will be fabulous!

So what have we got in store for you for this very special week? Well, a Bafab book bonanza with fabulous free books to give away EVERY DAY, plus special guest bloggers whose names (and book covers) you might well recognise...for starters!

Oh yes, it's all going to be happening here on Trashionista, so stay tuned, keep your eyes peeled, don't go anywhere, and all those other old cliches that mean you really won't want to miss this!

You can also check out the other great sites running Bafab giveaways and excusives (but hurry right back!): A Reader's Journal, Bookblog, Front Street Reviews, Life's Weirder than Fiction, Keeper of the Snails, West of Mars, Write with Karen.