Trashionista

Meg Cabot and Read Our Lips

Meg Cabot and Michele Jaffe have created an advice vlog entitled Read Our Lips which they are hoping to turn into a regular feature. To find out more click on the clip below, or visit her website.

Sarah Waters' New Website

Fans of Sarah Waters should check out her new website. Sarah's new book, The Little Stranger, is out at the end of May but you can read part one of chapter one on her site. Three more extracts will be added over the coming weeks. The site also includes Sarah's top ten ghost stories, frequently asked questions and a gallery of the books that have been adapted. Well worth a look.

Marian Keyes' St. Patrick's Day Message

I am a little late with this, but here is the fabulous Marian Keyes' St. Patrick's Day message. Talking about sales of This Charming Man, insomnia and painting a dog green. I kid you not.

Marian Keyes news

There are some Marian treats coming up.

She will be reading from This Charming Man in Borders, Oxford Street, London on Thursday March 5th with a singer called VV Brown. VV has recorded a cover of This Charming Man by The Smiths which I believe she will be singing (VV that is, not Marian).

Also Marian will be appearing on The Paul O'Grady Show on Tuesday March 3rd (Channel 4, 5pm). Set your recording device now. More information can be found in her newsletter.

Related posts: Marian Keyes news and more | Book Review: This Charming Man

Agatha Christie's House

As a big fan of Agatha Christie I was incredibly excited to read on the BBC this morning that her summer house is now being opened up to the public by The National Trust. Previously only the gardens of Greenway House near Dartmouth in Devon were publicly accessible.

Now, the public will have access to the drawing room in which Christie spent summer evenings reading her novels to family and friends, who had to guess "whodunit", and the author's bedroom, with its view down the River Dart, as well as the dining room and the "fax room", which will display her enormous output of novels.

Guess where my summer holiday is going to be this year?

Related posts: Helen's Heroines: Jane Marple | Agatha Christie's Marple

The New Romantics

What do Kate Harrison, Lucy Diamond, Matt Dunn, Sarah Duncan, Veronica Henry, Jojo Moyes and Milly Johnson have in common? Well, they have just set up a site called The New Romantics, a group dedicated to promoting commercial novels that deal with relationships and love...

If you head on over to their site you'll find events, reading group campaigns and on line promotions. Right now they have a fabulous competition where you can win one book a month for a year.

There is also a debate coming up in Richmond-upon-Thames entitled What's Love Got To Do With it, along with more information about the authors, links to their blogs and extracts from their books.

MOVIE NEWS: Lost in Austen - the movie!

Yes, Lost in Austen is being remade as a feature film!  If you didn't catch this ITV1 miniseries, it was a charming culture-clash romp where a contemporary Austen fan (played by Jemima Rooper) discovers that the bathroom in her flat is a gateway into the world of Pride and Prejudice.  A sort of Narnia story for grown-up ladies.  And perhaps a few gentlemen.

Now Hollywood - presumably having run out of originals to remake - are adapting this twist-on-the-original for the silver screen. 

But unlike many big screen "reimaginings", Lost in Austen is unlikely to be tarred with the "wacky" brush. Original writer Guy Andrews is penning the screenplay, and Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for directing American Beauty (and who is married to corset-aficionado Kate Winslet) is set to produce.

Of course, none of this guarantees that it won't be Americanised or sensationalised, but we here at Trashionista are awaiting more news with bated breath.

Related posts: THURSDAY FLICK: Lost in Austen | FRIDAY FLICK: Lost in Austen (again)

Penguin leather-bound classics

Here at Trashionista we love us some paraphernalia from Penguin Books - so much so that I've privately started calling it "Penguinalia".

Now Penguin Books have collaborated with leather goods designers Bill Amberg to produce six modern paperback classics bound in soft calves' leather.

The titles are

• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• A Room with a View by E.M.Forster
• The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Leather is usually used to bind hardback books, but these soft bindings have been specially designed to "become more beautiful" each time they are handled!  Each book comes with a leather bookmark, and you can buy them for £30.00 apiece.

Related Penguinalia: Penguin deck chairs | Penguin book bags | Lovely Penguin pencils

The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton

We mentioned The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton back in October last year where I admitted to never having read any of Catherine's books before. If you're the same then you can read the first two chapters to see if you want to buy it or not. Brilliant.

Ooh, by the way if you're a fan of Catherine Alliott then you must check out The Telegraph for an interview and photographs of her home.

Romantic Novel of the Year 2009

The shortlist has been announced for the Romantic Novel of the Year by the Romantic Novelists' Association:

Thanks for the Memories - Cecelia Ahern
The Last Concubine - Lesley Downer
Star Gazing - Linda Gillard
East of the Sun - Julia Gregson
Sophia's Secret - Susanna Kearsley
Before the Storm - Judith Lennox

Anyone read any of the above? Do let us know what you thought of them if you have.

The winner will be announced in February.

Related posts: Ex-Girlfriends United | Romantic Novel of The Year 2008