Trashionista: Opinion

January 27, 2009 1:36 PM

OPINION: What do we look for in a female protagonist?

I remember reading a book years ago – I can’t remember who it was by, what it was called, or what it was even about (bear with me!). All I can really remember is that it was written in the first person, and it was about a woman who was beautiful and witty, with a great job. All her friends were beautiful and witty, and also had great jobs. And that was really it. At some point the heroine found herself in mild peril, at which point it became apparent that she was not only beautiful and witty, but also brave.

Which is where I stopped reading.

There was nothing to hook me into the story – no foibles, character quirks or situations I recognised. Everyone had razor-sharp cheekbones and “silvery” laughs – it was all was too glossy, too perfect for me to relate to.

Which has set me wondering – what do we look for in a female protagonist? Let’s have a look at some who have proved popular so far...

1. Bridget Jones from Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding
Oh dear. Not beautiful (at least not in her own eyes), occasionally witty. Goodish job. Wine-swigging, fag-smoking, calorie-counting obsessive. Disaster magnet. Tummy control issues. Far too attracted to bad boys for her own good. But we love her.

2. Maggie Walsh from Angels by Marian Keyes
Staid, sensible, “good with money” (although not to her own standards) and with a personality described by one of her sisters as “plain yoghurt at room temperature”, Maggie Walsh is no one’s idea of a wild child. And yet we cheered her on as she jetted off to Hollywood to prove everyone wrong with her adventures, and never really thought too much, at the end of the book, about how those adventures weren’t that wild.

3. Emma Woodhouse from Emma by Jane Austen
Now, Emma is beautiful. And rich. And meddlesome. And a bit of a snob, in fact. But those characteristics only make the situation funnier when Emma’s slightly smug attempts at matchmaking spiral out of control, and she’s forced to confront her own feelings. Plus, underneath that snobby exterior Emma is ultimately very sensitive to the feelings of the people around her, which makes her much more endearing.

So, after this whistlestop and slightly generalised tour of female literary characters, it seems we like flawed women, women who buck the trend, and women who either have to come down off their pedestals or dig themselves out of tricky situations with guts and imagination.

Female characters have come a long way since Emma’s day – now they have to progress in their careers, raise families, have friends, find love, be occasionally fabulous and have personal lives, which means the situations are only going to get trickier and the books more interesting.

But what do you look for in a female protagonist? Who are some of your favourites, and why? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by DasLive, Flickr.

Posted by Robyn Wilder on January 27, 2009 in Modern Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (10)

November 18, 2008 4:29 PM

Do you suffer from book amnesia?

Peter Robins wrote a piece for the Telegraph yesterday about buying a book only to get it home and find that you already own it.

At first I thought I could confidently say I'd never done this - sometimes if I see a favourite book with a new cover I really, really want to buy it again - but then I remembered, I did do it. Just a couple of weeks ago, in fact. With the first book in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series. (I could have sworn I'd loaned it to someone and, since I wanted to re-read them all before the final instalment comes out, I had to buy it again!)

What about you? Are your shelves crammed with duplicates?

Posted by Keris on November 18, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

November 13, 2008 5:48 PM

World's best paid authors

This info is actually over a month old, but I've only just seen it. I think the full list might have been overshadowed by the woman at the top...

So here is Forbes magazines list of the Top 10 best paid authors:

1. JK Rowling, $300m
2. James Patterson, $50m
3. Stephen King, $45m
4. Tom Clancy, $35m
5. Danielle Steel, $30m
6. (Tie) John Grisham, $25m
7. (Tie) Dean Koontz, $25m
8. Ken Follett, $20m
9. Janet Evanovich, $17m
10. Nicholas Sparks, $16m

Notice anything about that list? Yep, only three women. Seems a bit puzzling to me, since it's women who buy the majority of books and presumably they're not biased by the sex of the author. So it is simply that male authors garner bigger publishing advances and book deals? Or that male books will sell to both men and women, while books by women aren't bought by men? (Apart from JK Rowling's and, let's not forget, that's why she was "JK" - rather than Joanne - in the first place, because otherwise boys wouldn't have read her books.)

I also can't help noticing that many of the books by the male authors have been made into movies. Yes, of course, JK Rowling's have too, and Danielle Steele's have been made into mini-series and TV movies (which, I can only assume, don't bring in the big bucks like a proper blockbuster), but Janet Evanovich's, despite there being talk of movies for years now, have just not happened.

Of course, it's possible I'm being paranoid, but it just seems a bit... uneven. What do you think?

Posted by Keris on November 13, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 28, 2008 10:10 AM

Comparing more than covers!

Helen really enjoyed Elise Chidley's debut, The Wrong Sort of Wife?, except for one thing: the plot hinged on an email sent by Lizzie and read by her husband and which effectively ended her marriage. Helen didn't think the email was bad enough to warrant such a response.

The book is now out in the US with a different title, a much more modern cover and a completely different email (as requested by the US editor).

Carry on over the cut to read both emails and vote on which one you think might throw a spanner in your marriage! (You can vote on the covers and the titles too.)

UK VERSION

From: Lizzie Buckley lizbuckley@hotmail.com

Sent: 12 April

Janie, do you ever feel you need a mini-break from being married—or is it just me?

Lately, I’ve been fantasizing an awful lot about switching lives with a single woman. (But don’t tell Mum, whatever you do!) I mean, things are just so much simpler when James is away on business. I can have a boiled egg for dinner with the kids, watch room makeovers and plastic surgery on TV, turn in early—oh, and not feel guilty that the main thing (the only thing) I want to do in bed these days is sleep.

Another great thing about those business trips: if I have to get up in the night to deal with a twin while James is away, at least I’m spared the seething resentment I normally feel when I finally stagger back to bed to find that he hasn’t even surfaced out of his REM cycle.

To be honest, I’m a bit worried, Janie. All the romance is gone. I’ve picked up too many pairs of soggy underpants off the bathroom floor, I think. (There’s obviously a gene in men that stops them from seeing clothes on the bathroom floor. Or any other floor, for that matter.) Those evenings when James starts lighting candles and putting on mood music and giving me that come-hither look, I just have this awful, dull feeling that I really couldn’t be bothered with all that. Give me a cup of tea and a good mini-series any day. Oh, and a box of chocolate digestives.

Maybe his mum is right. Maybe he shouldn’t have married me in the first place. Maybe I am too common-or-garden for the lofty Buckleys. I’m sure the right sort of girl would’ve breezed through pregnancy, childbirth and the never-ending fall-out without turning a hair. The right sort of girl wouldn’t have let herself go, either. She wouldn’t now be overweight and overwrought. The right sort of girl, no doubt, would be a lady at the table, a cordon bleu chef in the kitchen, and a whore in the bedroom. Frankly, I’m more the TV dinner, flannel pyjamas, bore-in-the-bedroom sort.

Sorry to be such an old misery, but I just had to get it off my chest. Next time I’ll confine myself to pearls of sisterly wisdom about pregnancy, I promise. Good grief, look at the time, got to crack on with things before school pick-up. By the way, is the ginger working for your morning sickness?

Lots of love

Lizzie

US VERSION

From: Lizzie Buckley lizbuckley@hotmail.com

Sent: 12 April

To: Janehawthorn@yahoo.com

Subject: Blue Monday

AAAAAARGH!

You know what, Janie? Some mornings I wake up and I’m sick, sick of it all before the day even kicks off. Then, just in case I start feeling better after my cup of tea, one of the children goes and carves out train tracks on an antique table, or throws up her Reddybrek on a priceless Persian rug. I don’t want to scare the daylights out of you when you’re pregnant, but I feel it’s my sisterly duty to warn you that this whole mumsy thing is way more difﬁcult than people let on.

But worst of all is what the little beggars do to your marriage.

By the time James comes home from work, I’ve already HAD my fair share of physical contact (Ellie squishing my cheeks between her hands so I won’t look at Alex; Alex sitting on me to stop me from jumping up to do the laundry), not to mention body ﬂuids (snotty noses, bloody knees, and my personal favorite, the wee-soaked sheet) — and frankly I’m just not up for any more.

Sorting out the sock drawer sounds like a better option to me than sex right now.

I just wish James would go away on business more, and for longer. Things are so much simpler when he’s away. I can have a boiled egg for dinner with the kids, watch room makeovers and plastic surgery on TV, and turn in early without any pressure to light the scented candles, etc.

Another great thing about those business trips: if I have to get up in the night to deal with a twin while he’s away, at least I’m spared the seething resentment I normally feel when I ﬁnally stagger back to bed to ﬁnd that he hasn’t even surfaced out of his REM cycle.

You know, sometimes I think I wouldn’t miss him at all if he just disappeared. In fact, the quality of my life would probably improve. No more of those great big shoes cluttering up the closet; no more chucked-aside underpants to pick up off the bathroom ﬂoor.

I don’t know how it’s come to this, really.

I still love him, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more the way you love a comrade-in- arms, or a brother. It’s just not romantic anymore. Poor bloke, at least he doesn’t know how I feel. I’ve done a brilliant job covering up, though I say so myself. But the subterfuge is wearing me out.

All this is his fault, you know. He made me think I wanted it — marriage, children, Spode dinnerware, my own tumble dryer, those blunt little knives with fancy handles for spreading pâté. But I don’t, I don’t. I just want to be left in peace with a Sudoku and a box of chocolates — and nobody nibbling my ear at bloody midnight.

Sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping all this on you now. I’ll try to be more upbeat next time. Has the nausea stopped, by the way? Now that you’re past the ﬁrst trimester, the worst should be over.

Lots of love,

Lizzie

poll by twiigs.com

Posted by Keris on October 28, 2008 in Book covers, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 23, 2008 11:59 AM

Things that make us go "squeal!"

Yesterday, a book arrived that made me squeal with glee. Which reminded me that I've written that very thing on Trashionista a few times over the - gasp! - years.

So I thought I'd have a quick look at the things/authors/books that have made us go "sqeeee!" An excitement overview, if you like.

Our interview with Marian Keyes had a *squeal* in the title, but interviews with Jodi Picoult and Jenny Crusie were (almost) equally thrilling.

Books-wise, Hadley Freeman's The Meaning of Sunglasses caused excitement, but was ultimately disappointing. Far from disappointing was Jen Lancaster's Such a Pretty Fat.

So what made me squeal this time? Eloisa James's An Affair Before Christmas. And what made me squeal even more was that my review of Desperate Duchesses is quoted. Well, misquoted. You can't have everything.

Which authors or books are likely to make you squeal? And has anything on Trashionista? (I remember a certain frisson when Meg Cabot commented!)

Posted by Keris on October 23, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 1, 2008 12:50 PM

Predictable?

Okay, I'm in rant mode again...

Yesterday, after my rave review of Lisa Jewell's Thirtynothing, I checked out the Amazon reviews because I wanted to make sure everyone agreed with me (egotistical, much?). And, do you know what? They didn't. Some people didn't like it at all. Some people thought it was only okay. Some people really loved it. But pretty much every single person described it as "predictable"...

(Sort of spoiler over the cut, but only sort of...)

By predictable everyone seemed to mean that they knew, from the beginning, that Dig and Nadine would end up together. Well, of course! Isn't that how romance/chick lit novels work? And chick flicks? Did anyone sit down to watch, say, When Harry Met Sally, thinking that Harry and Sally *wouldn't* end up together?

My friend (and fabulous author) Luisa Plaja made a good point a little while ago: no-one complains that a crime novel is "predictable" because the perpetrator gets caught in the end, do they? ("I knew from page one that they'd find out whodunnit!") so why is that always a complaint about chick lit? Why?

Yes, we know that the hero and heroine will end up together (that's why they're the hero and heroine), the fun is finding out how it happens. Isn't it?

Posted by Keris on October 1, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

September 19, 2008 11:24 AM

Laugh Out Loud

Over on her blog Jennifer Weiner has highlighted the fact that none of the editors from The New York Times Book Review could name a book, written by a woman, that made them laugh out loud. (Many of them named Catch-22, which personally, makes me want to poke my eyes out with a sharp pencil.)

No female authors at all. Which is sad and slightly bizarre as when I put in the phrase "laugh out loud" into the Trashionista search engine I come up with 149 posts.

Jennifer Weiner often has me chuckling away. But what about you? Which female authors make you laugh out loud?

Posted by Helen Redfern on September 19, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (13)

September 15, 2008 2:23 PM

Haven't I heard this somewhere before?

I originally titled this "Chick lit can be good... when it's written by a man", but then, when I searched, I found that I'd already written a post with a very similar title: Some chick lit is good... when it's written by a man. That particular post was about Nick Hornby's How to be Good, which, the writer decided, is chick lit, but *good* chick lit (it's not chick lit and, according to our commenters, is not good).

Oh and then there was James Collins' Beginners Greek. which, according to The New York Times Sunday Book Review looks like chick lit, sounds like chick lit, but isn't chick lit. Why not? Because it's too good.

So what's rattled my cage this time?

Alex Coleman's The Bright Side. I read it. I loved it. Part-way through reading it, I discovered it had actually been written by a man. Before I learned that, I hadn't been thinking, "Gosh, this is good. This is so good, a woman couldn't have written it. It's too insightful! Too honest!" And yet...

In reviewing it for the Irish Independent, John Spain wrote:

This summer's most interesting chicklit novel The Bright Side has three things that make it different from the competition. First, the writing is brilliant. Second, it is bluntly honest about sex and relationships in a way that most chicklit novels are not. Third, it was written by a man.

Most chick lit novels are not honest about sex and relationships? One has to wonder what chick lit novels John Spain has read, no? After describing the opening scene of the book, in which Jackie finds her husband having it away with their next door neighbour, Spain writes:

It is direct, factual and sharply observant in a way that the average three-best-friends chicklit novel never is. It does not have the romantic gloss that surrounds most chicklit novels even when they're claiming to be telling it like it really is.

Again. What chick lit novels has he read?

Poolbeg, who published The Bright Side, admitted that it probably wouldn't have been given a fair reading had they known on submission that the author was a man. I have to say, I would bet my collection of Marian Keyes books that John Spain's review of The Bright Side would have been rather different if he'd believed the author to be a woman.

Posted by Keris on September 15, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

September 9, 2008 12:02 PM

HELEN'S HEROINES: You decide...

I have been writing about heroines since January and have covered a range from George Kirrin to Miss Marple to Rachel Samstat. So this week instead of giving you a fictional heroine who I worship, I'm turning the tables. I want to know who has inspired you.

Has a fictional heroine influenced you to alter the course of your life? Have they encouraged you to be particularly daring? Or spurred you on to change your career? Maybe something else not so life changing but inspiring all the same?

Please comment and tell us. Don't be shy, we really want to know!

Posted by Helen Redfern on September 9, 2008 in Helen's Heroines, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

June 30, 2008 5:03 PM

What did you read as a teen?

I read a bit of controversy about young adult fiction a couple of weeks ago, but didn't really think anything of it and didn't feel strongly enough about it to write about it here. Um, but now I do. So I'll tell you what and why.

In a review of a young adult book in the Guardian, the author Frank Cottrell Boyce wrote the following:

There's been a lot of fury among authors recently about the proposal to "age-band" children's books, but in a way they're too late. The real disaster has already happened. It's called "young adult" fiction. It used to be the case that you moved on from children's fiction to adult fiction, from The Owl Service, maybe, to Catcher in the Rye. There were, of course, some adult authors who were more fashionable with teenage readers than others - Salinger, Vonnegut, Maya Angelou. But these were chosen by teenagers themselves from the vast world of books. Some time ago, someone saw that trend and turned it into a demographic. Fortunes were made but something crucial was lost. We have already ghettoised teenagers' tastes in music, in clothes and - God forgive us - in food. Can't we at least let them share our reading? Is there anything more depressing than the sight of a "young adult" bookshelf in the corner of the shop. It's the literary equivalent of the "kids' menu" - something that says "please don't bother the grown-ups". If To Kill a Mockingbird were published today, that's where it would be placed, among the chicken nuggets.

I read the above quote on the blog, A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cosy along with the following response:

[Frank Cottrell Boyce] recalls teenagers going from children's lit to adult lit, and worries that today's teens are being kept from that adult lit. He also seems to be saying that good YA books are really adult books with a bad label.

As a lifelong reader, my choices have always been varied. At ten I was reading adult fiction; but I was also reading children's lit. It was never an either/or; and there was never a "don't read this," either at home, in a bookstore, or in a library. So yes, I did read adult lit as a teen; but I see today's teens doing likewise, reading a bit from here, a bit from there.

As for what YA lit has become.... I look at what we have now and get angry and jealous that I didn't have the reading choices as a teen that teens have today. I recall looking at adult shelves to try to find something that was teen friendly - so some of my adult book reading was not a choice, but a default. I would have loved to have the books that are available today; and I hope that these books don't go away.

When I first read this, I agreed with the above and didn't agree with Frank Cottrell Boyce at all. And then I started (belatedly) reading the excellent Fine Lines column on Jezebel. Reminded of books like Paul Zindel's The Pigman and To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford, I could suddenly picture myself wandering the library, desperately trying to find a book that appealed to me and, more importantly, a book that seemed relevant to me.

I can't remember reading any British teen fiction at all. It was all Judy Blume, Paul Zindel, Lois Duncan, Paula Danziger. What I would have given for a Louise Rennison or Sarra Manning. Of course, once I'd read all the above authors, I discovered the Sweet Dreams books, which no doubt led pretty much directly to my love of chick lit...

What about you? What did you read as a teen? And what are your thoughts on YA now?

[via The Boyfriend List]

Posted by Aigua Media on June 30, 2008 in Opinion, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (18)

June 27, 2008 12:44 PM

Do you have to have a happy ending?

I've just read a blog post about The Double Life of Anna Day by Louise Candlish. The blog's author says, "I threw away this book ... cause it's the first chick lit book I ever read without a happy ending!!! For goodness sake author, don't you know why people read chick lits?? Cause we need a run from reality and we turn to chick lit books so we can get all sappy and happy when we read the happily ever after ending! Who would want to read a chick lit book that leaves you in despair? Who would read a chick lit book that solidifies our doubts if true love exist??!! No one."

I haven't read The Double Life of Anna Day, but I certainly don't agree that there's no room for chick lit books without happy endings. (Plus I don't read chick lit to confirm that true love exists.) What about you?

Posted by Keris on June 27, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

June 23, 2008 11:23 AM

Secret reads

I admitted to one of my secret reads a short while ago, then I discovered today that I wasn't on my own in having them. In a Daily Mail article a survey has found that many adults admit to reading something "worthy and fashionable" when instead they are enjoying a "children's book or a bodice-ripping romance".

According to the YouGov survey children's stories such as those by Roald Dahl, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter are still read by seventy five percent of adults. Also on the secret list are Little Women, Jilly Cooper, Mills and Boon, Bridget Jones, Adrian Mole and interestingly, The Kama Sutra. (Little Women, Bridget and Adrian are in fact favourites of mine and, in my opinion, nothing to be embarrassed about ).

So, anyone else dare admit what their secret read is?

Posted by Helen Redfern on June 23, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 17, 2008 12:07 PM

Joanna Trollope loves chick-lit

Joanna Trollope, author of fourteen novels and one of the judge's for the Melissa Nathan Award has blogged for The Guardian about her own view of chick-lit, saying:

it's hard to write good romantic fiction, and it's much, much harder to write funny good romantic fiction.

She continues:

It's odd, isn't it, how squeamish we are about love as a topic. It's fine for a hallmarked classic - Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina - but if the heroine is a modern girl commuting in to a dull job on the Central Line from Epping, we come all over contemptuous. We use words and phrases like shallow and frothy and only fit for women on sunbeds (so RUDE to readers). I don't believe there's a creature on this planet - man, woman, straight, gay, any creed or race - who isn't longing to love and be loved in some way at some point in their lives. It's the Great Topic we all have in common, and quite right too - get your relationships right and most of the rest of life assumes its proper proportion.

And we know men read these books - though they do beg for covers which don't look like they'd been designed by American child beauty queens (and I'm right with them there). Some read the novels to try and understand the women in their lives and some because it's such a relief to read about emotions and not have to pretend they haven't got any.

It isn't a surprise to me that readers love comedy romance. It re-boots the mind and heart after plodding round life's treadmill day after day; it reminds all of us of that fantastic Cresta Run ride of falling in love; it gives us hope, energy and makes us laugh. Oh and it isn't called chick lit. It's called wit lit.

Dorothy Koomson calls it "heart-lit", Joanna calls it "wit lit". I haven't got another name for it myself, but it does make you think, there are so many aspects and layers to chick-lit, how can it be categorised and dismissed by the media by the one phrase? They, after all, often use the term "chick-lit" in a derisive way (unlike Trashionista). There is romantic comedy of the sort Joanna is talking about, and there are also grittier novels, for example with the theme of domestic violence in Marian Keyes latest. Unfortunately I don't think "well written, emotional, deep, comedic, romantic, hard-hitting, gritty -lit" is going to catch on.

Posted by Helen Redfern on June 17, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 11, 2008 12:27 PM

Chick lit cliches

Naomi Rockler-Gladen has written an article about chick lit cliches, including the Gay Best Friend, the Sister's Wedding and The Snippy Boss.

I must admit, of the cliches Rockler-Gladen cites, it's the Surprise Pregnancy that bugs me the most. (How long does it really take most women to work out they're pregnant? Even unexpectedly?)

Which chick lit cliches get your goat?

Posted by Keris on June 11, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (7)

June 4, 2008 11:12 AM

More on Bret Easton Ellis...

I wrote about Megan Crane's comparison of Bret Easton Ellis and chick lit yesterday and last night I was thinking about it some more and I remembered American Psycho.

I studied American Psycho at university and I can't tell you how much I loathed it. But that's not my point, my point is that it is filled with brand names and pop culture - two things that chick lit is constantly criticised for. For example:

Though I view "Casual Fridays" as an excruciatingly middle class invention, I slip on an ecru Polo cashmere turtleneck over chocolate brown suede pants and matching Bottega Veneta loafers. I finish this off with a Vicuna Zegna Blazer that I had made for me in Rome last season, and a Rose Gold Rolex from the early 1940's that once belonged to Porfirio Rubirosa.

In chick lit, of course, the use of brand names is constantly used as an example of the genre's vacuousness (brand names are “so prominent you wonder if there are product placement deals,” said Naomi Wolf). But in American Psycho, it was simply assumed to be satire:

"The novel's long enumerations of brand name consumer goods, denoting the fashion-dictated materialism that constitutes yuppie life," said Kooijman and Laine in their critical essay American Psycho: a double portrait of serial yuppie Patrick Bateman.

Interesting, don't you think?

Posted by Aigua Media on June 4, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008 12:16 PM

Megan Crane on chick lit

I don't know how I missed this, but back in April, Megan Crane had an online discussion with Liza Palmer and, inevitably, they talked about chick lit and Megan said this:

And I said it before, but it bears repeating: these books are sneered at and trivialized because they are about women. I don't recall any sneering or rolled eyes when I was handed the fifty-seventh "young man reflects on the tragedies of war" tome in high school. Why? Because stories about young men and their explorations of self and their worlds and their relationships with other men are considered inherently valuable. Men are interesting. Men are worthwhile subjects for fiction. Write about young men and their worlds and you will be feted and congratulated and called a "wunderkind," and no one will call what you write anything but literary.

How is a Brett [sic] Easton Ellis book any different from, say, a Lauren Weisberger or a Candace Bushnell novel: glossy worlds, jaded protagonists, and all?

The only difference is this: books by and about women are perceived, as women are still perceived, to be less than similar books by men. I've been reading about the chick lit controversy for years now, and despite all the hithering and yonning about what's good literature and what's not and elitist snobbery this and commercial crap that and blah blah blah, I think it all boils down to sexism in action, plain and simple. We do not yet live in a world of gender equality, and I think this endless argument proves that. Again and again.

The thing that really struck me was the Bret Easton Ellis comparison, which I hadn't thought of before, even though it's such a good one! Bret Easton Ellis wrote a book called Glamorama, which is described (on Amazon) as:

The centre of the world: 1990s Manhattan. Victor Ward, a model with perfect abs and all the right friends, is seen and photographed everywhere, even in places he hasn't been and with people he doesn't know. On the eve of opening the trendiest nightclub in New York history, he's living with one beautiful model and having an affair with another. Now it's time to move to the next stage. But the future he gets is not the one he had in mind.

Sounds kind of like chick lit, no? In fact, it sounds like the kind of chick lit that comes in for the most criticism: glossy, trendy New York chick lit. The reviews?

"Does for the cold, minimal '90s what "American Psycho" did for the Wall Street greed of the '80s. - Vogue. "Gets under the skin of our celebrity culture in a way that is both illuminating and frightening" - Daily Telegraph.
"A master stylist with hideously interesting new-fangled manners and the heart of an old-fashioned moralist" - Observer.
"An American masterpiece" - Scotland on Sunday.

Now this is the summary of Lauren Weisberger's Everyone Worth Knowing:

The achingly cool world of Manhattan’s party people ... At the beginning of the novel Bette (Bettina) Robinson, 27 year old daughter of vegan hippie parents is working eighty-hour weeks as a corporate drone in the offices of investment bank CWK Hoffman. The highlight of her social calendar is a dinner date with her uncle and his boyfriend every Thursday night. Handily, said uncle is also a famous, highly syndicated columnist who manages to secure Bette a shiny new job as a party planner at top PR agency. Cue our heroine’s descent into Manhattan’s social whirl as she struggles with the outrageous demands of celebrity clients plus unwelcome exposure in a regular gossip column.

Doesn't sound so different, does it? The reviews? Or rather, review?

"The Perfect Read for girly fashion lovers" - Sunday Express

I haven't read either of these books, so I don't know if it's a fair comparison (and I know a lot of people were disappointed with Everyone Worth Knowing), but even so the difference is striking, don't you think?

Posted by Aigua Media on June 3, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 29, 2008 12:20 PM

Literary one hit wonders

Lauren Belfer's City of Light is one of of my favourite books of all time. It was published in 1999 and, since then, I have waited in vain for another book from Ms Belfer.

I was thinking about it this morning and it made me wonder ... who are your favourite literary one hit wonders? Whose second novel have you been longing for? And has anyone else read City of Light?

Posted by Aigua Media on May 29, 2008 in Debut Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

May 15, 2008 1:47 PM

Is pink really evil?

A while ago, Shiny Big Cheese, Katie, sent me this link to an article in Radar Magazine about classic books getting "chick lit makeovers" (the illustration, left, comes from the article). Basically, Alice Munro's The View From Castle Rock has been reissued with some pink on the cover. The horror!

The reason it's taken me so long to write about this is that, following Katie's email I got a few more emails from friends alerting me to the sudden pink backlash all over the interweb. So many links to so many demented, irrational arguments that I just couldn't even begin to write about it without punching the screen.

Apparently pink "damages girls' brains" and "not only does a disservice to literature, but to women". But I just don't see it.

Am I missing something? For a start, there are nowhere near as many chick lit books in pink covers as is claimed. ("Where are all the books, pyjamas or sports kit in other colours?" asked Katy Guest in The Independent. Um. In the shops?) But even if every single book aimed at women (which is pretty much every single book published since, as we know, men don't do much reading), how exactly would that damage our brains?

I get that pink might put some people off reading the book, but if you're put off a book solely by the colour of the cover, then perhaps your brain has already been damaged...

Incidentally, the Katy Guest article also included the following: "Last week, the best-selling novel was This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. It is aimed at women, so obviously its cover is pink."

Ah, now I see why Guest only sees "books, pyjamas [and] sports kit" in pink. She's colour blind. I did try to leave a comment to the effect that the cover of the book is purple - PURPLE! - but I couldn't make it sound like I'm not a nutter so I had to give up.

So what do you think? Are you overwhelmed by pink? Horrified by pink? Or do you think it's, you know, pretty?

Posted by Aigua Media on May 15, 2008 in Book covers, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

May 12, 2008 2:22 PM

Domestic violence? No, "hit lit"

I started to read the Daily Mail's review of Marian Keyes' This Charming Man with trepidation. It was in the Daily Mail after all - not a paper that's known for its enlightened views on women.

To begin with, I was pleasantly surprised:

"Chick-lit, like the better class of real chicks, is no longer battery-farmed. It has lost its bland and uniform Wet-Woman-In-Bedsit-Waiting-For-Mr-Right aspects and gone free-range over all sorts of territory — some of it dark and violent."

It's good to know that someone has noticed that chick lit has moved on. And yet...

"This Charming Man ... is about women who've received nasty knocks as well, although this time from the man they love.

Mr Wrong. Domestic violence. Hit lit, I suppose you could call it."

Wow. "Hit lit." That's not at all flippant.

(Just in case you think I'm over-reacting, two women are killed every week by their partner or ex-partner, and almost one in two women has experienced some form of domestic violence. There are almost 13 million incidents of domestic violence annually in the UK, and it is estimated that an incident of domestic abuse occurs every six to 20 seconds.)

But it was the Daily Mail. I couldn't be too shocked. Until I noticed the byline. The review was written by chick lit author Wendy Holden. How disappointing.

Posted by Aigua Media on May 12, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

April 29, 2008 12:53 PM

Authors take on Tesco

Lad lit king and Trashionista fave Nick Hornby is among the authors taking on Tesco this week. Also involved are Marina Lewycka, Mark Haddon and Deborah Moggach

Putting their morals above book sales, the group has condemned the supermarket for prosecuting a Thai business leader who spoke out against Tesco’s expansion. They say Tesco is using "deeply chilling" techniques to silence its critics and that the action is a breach of human rights.

[Via Bookseller]

Posted by Sarah Painter on April 29, 2008 in Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 8, 2008 3:27 PM

The Chick Lit debate continues...

I just read a very convincing argument from Dorothy Koomson over the term 'chick lit'. She thinks it should be renamed pronto (and makes an excellent suggestion for the new name). Check it out here.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Weiner gives her usual balanced, intelligent answer to the chick lit question in an interview on her blog and Meg Cabot weighs in with her own take on the term; hop over the cut to read it.

Whatever. People who have a problem with it are usually other authors who don’t write it, and no one is reading their books because they’re so gloomy and boring and don’t have fun scenes with girls spying on their boyfriends and doing pretend kung fu moves in the dark like in Megan Crane’s English as a Second Language.

Meg goes on to make some intelligent, well-balanced points of her own, but I love her first reaction!

Posted by Sarah Painter on April 8, 2008 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (9)

March 25, 2008 10:18 AM

Another reason we love JK...

Reason I love JK Rowling Number 67: She has spoken (again) about the depression she suffered in her twenties. It warms my heart when people in the public eye speak candidly about mental health issues (I'm thinking of you, Mr Fry!)

While talking to an Edinburgh student magazine, JK explained that she had had suicidal thoughts and that counselling was "absolutely invaluable". She added: "The funny thing is, I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never." Finishing by urging anybody suffering to "go and get help".

[Via BBC]

Related posts: JK Rowling's £40,000 book | Self development archive

Posted by Sarah Painter on March 25, 2008 in British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 14, 2008 5:34 PM

MOVIE NEWS: Rosemary's Baby

Rosemarysbaby Yep, it's another completely unnecessary remake of a classic!

Rosemary's Baby, Roman Polanski's chilling horror, is being remade by Platinum Dunes. Based on Ira Levine's 1967 novel, the original film starred the wonderful Mia Farrow. She played the pregnant woman who is disturbed by the increasingly strange behaviour of her husband and neighbours, and who begins to wonder what she is going to give birth to...

I have enjoyed some remakes (The Thomas Crown Affair springs to mind), but I can't help feeling they are rather pointless... What do you think?

[Via Empire]

Related posts: Movie News archive

Posted by Sarah Painter on March 14, 2008 in Book related, Movie News, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 4, 2008 1:45 PM

Another false memoir...

Best-selling Holocaust autobiography, Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years, turns out to be false.

Released over ten years ago, the story tells how the six-year-old Misha went looking for her parents (who had been taken to Auschwitz), and was saved from starvation by a pack of wolves, who accepted her as part of their family.

Now, after being presented with irrefutable evidence, Misha (real name, Monique De Wael) has admitted to making the whole thing up.

Monique claims that "it is not the true reality, but it is my reality." Huh?

Here's an idea; why not just label it 'fiction' in the first place and avoid the nasty tarnish to your karma?

[Via Independent]

Related posts: And in hoax news... | Yay or Nay: misery memoirs

Posted by Sarah Painter on March 4, 2008 in Book News, Memoirs, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 29, 2008 2:23 PM

Top 30 rude writers

Something for the weekend? Nudge nudge, wink wink... Time Out has compiled a list of "London's 30 most erotic writers".

The list is depressingly light on female writers, though, with only three out of thirty: Molly Parkin, Mary Robinson and Lady Caroline Lamb. Surely women are better represented in erotic fiction than that?

Related posts: Erotic fiction on your 'pod | Book of the year lists

Posted by Sarah Painter on February 29, 2008 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 13, 2008 2:31 PM

Writers go back to work

Yay! An agreement has been reached and the 100-day Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike is officially over. A back-to-work order was approved by 92.5% of the WGA members.

The Oscars ceremony can now go ahead as planned, TV shows such as House and CSI will be back in production, and, most importantly, writers get a fairer payment deal for their work.

[Via Variety]

Posted by Sarah Painter on February 13, 2008 in Movie Magic, Movie News, Opinion, Television | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 6, 2008 11:50 AM

Maureen Johnson on chick lit

The goddess that is Maureen Johnson has responded to my What *is* chick lit post and not only is it one of the best defences of chick lit I've read, it's also the maddest. For instance, I've never before read one that included the words "weasel", "soufflé", "zombies" or "jellyfish".

Read it here.

Related posts: Maureen Johnson interview | In defence of chick lit

Posted by Keris on February 6, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

February 4, 2008 11:26 AM

Um, what is chick lit, exactly?

The marvellous Maureen Johnson is currently guest blogging at teen fiction site, insideadog and introduced the new blog by her agent, Daphne Unfeasible. Funny and full of excellent advice, I immediately subscribed. (Thanks, Luisa!)

Of course it wasn't long before the subject of chick lit was broached. In response to a question from a reader and aspiring writer, Daphne wrote the following:

To be brutally honest, I see no problem in the term "chic lit," or "chick lit," or whatever else they choose to call it. Young women's fiction, if you will. Pink covers, pictures of shoes, female protagonists having existential crises over glasses of chardonnay. But some have decided that description is deader than last season's flats, so we come up with synonyms. "Witty women's fiction" is one. "Upscale commercial fiction" works just as well.

In general, I like my fiction smart and funny. It doesn't need to fall strictly in the confines of what some would term chick lit -- one of the best novels I read last year was Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files, and that fits no one's idea of chick lit. It's less about sticking my interests in a single category than being interested in original stories with intriguing characters, for a relatively young, commercial audience.

There are a couple of things that interest me about this. Firstly, I've recently been asked elsewhere to define chick lit and ... I can't. Apart from that it will probably (but not definitely - see Lisa Jewell's A Friend of the Family) have a female main character with a relatively snarky tone, I think the genre has widened enough that you can't set any parameters on story, setting, age of characters, anything ... particularly not the wine they drink or shoes they wear. The best I could come up with was that I know chick lit when I see it (which isn't at all helpful to anyone else, of course). Which brings me to my second point...

I also loved The Spellman Files and, while reading it, kept asking myself whether it was chick lit. I think it does fit the genre to a certain extent - snarky heroine, challenging romantic relationships and even more challenging family members - but I still struggled to decide whether to review it as chick lit or not. Eventually I decided that if Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series is chick lit (and I think it is) then so is The Spellman Files.

What do you think?

Posted by Keris on February 4, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 27, 2008 10:51 AM

Do chick lit readers really only read chick lit?

Yep, I'm on my high horse again. Neighhhhh!

I just read the following in a Financial Times review of The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby:

[R]ailing against chick-lit, [Jacoby] announces that “in the early sixties, girls headed for the Ivy League were reading Mary McCarthy and Philip Roth, not novels crafted by writers who were still in their teens or barely out of them”.

Thankfully (and, frankly, rather surprisingly), the FT describes this as "cobwebbed snobbery", but it once again raises the question Diane asked in her Guardian column last March - why do people assume that chick lit readers only read chick lit?

Related posts: Old timey chick lit bashing | More Maureen Dowd | If it's good it can't be chick lit

Posted by Keris on January 27, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 25, 2008 3:57 PM

Adopt A Writer

No. Not literally. Supporters of the Writers Guild of America strike have come up with a genius idea. They have pulled together writers who blog to create the Adopt A Writer website. Featuring working writers, it aims to give an insight into writer's lives, finances and experiences of the strike.

Writing is such a misunderstood profession. People either picture the super-rich and successful or someone living penniless in a garret. Hopefully, Adopt A Writer will give a more balanced, infomed view, as well as rallying support for the strike.

Posted by Sarah Painter on January 25, 2008 in Book Websites, Book related, Movie News, Opinion, Television | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 24, 2008 11:55 AM

Some chick lit is good ... when it's written by a man

Just read this and didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

The literary genre known as "chick lit" (think "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "In Her Shoes") is often too simple, too trite. The heroine, usually a clumsy type, always gets her man, and if she doesn't, it's because she learns the true meaning of friendship. But every now and then a chick lit book also happens to tell a great story. For instance, the novel on the agenda for tonight's "Chick Lit Book Discussion Group" ... is premium chick lit. It's called "How To Be Good," and it happens to have been written by a man. You go, Nick Hornby.

I do believe Nick Hornby's first novel, High Fidelity, is basically chick lit (in fact, we included it in our Top 10 chick lit books of all time). But How To Be Good? Not so much.

And isn't it interesting that, with all the chick lit out there (and, yes, some of it is simple and trite, but there is plenty that's neither), a "Chick Lit Book Discussion Group" would pick this book? Almost as if they were embarrassed to be reading chick lit in the first place.

Posted by Keris on January 24, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

January 10, 2008 12:49 PM

Chick Lit Heroine Grudge Match: Rachel Samstat v Cranky Agnes

In the last grudge match, two YA heroines battled it out and Isabel (from Sarra Manning's Let's Get Lost) was deemed too tough to lose.

This week, we're putting two food writers head-to-head. It's Rachel Samstat from the wonderful Heartburn and Agnes Crandall from Agnes and the Hitman.

Rachel Samstat

The book: Heartburn by Nora Ephron. A funny semi-autobiographical tale of the break-up of a marriage (well, that doesn't sound very funny, but just trust me).

The loves: Mark. Current husband and two-timing fool. Also featured are a hamster-obsessed ex-husband and Rachel's good friend Richard Finkel (who is also going through a crisis in his marriage). Ultimately, though, this is Rachel's journey.

The food: Rachel is a food writer with her own show on cable. There are recipes throughout the book - and her frozen Key Lime Pie is to die for.

Agnes Crandall

The book: Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer.

The loves: Ex-fiance Troy Paradou. AKA more hair-than-brains celebrity chef. Current fiance Taylor Beaufort. AKA wonderful cook, wonderful liar. And Shane. AKA the hit man.

The food: Agnes writes a food column under the name Cranky Agnes, and is attempting to write 'The Two Rivers Cookbook' with her ex-husband Taylor. Agnes is a fabulous creation and the book makes you want to hear more from her. Oh, wait, you can! Crusie has kindly published some of the Cranky Agnes columns here.

Conclusion: It's another tricky one... I adore both of these writers and the heroines are both strong, smart, funny women who care about food. I wouldn't want to get in the way of a bake-off. Rachel throws pies and Agnes is pretty handy with a heavy-gauge frying pan...

Posted by Sarah Painter on January 10, 2008 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

January 9, 2008 11:42 AM

Why are we embarrassed to read chick lit?

Lately I've been spending a lot of time lurking around MySpace promoting Trashionista and I must admit I've been disappointed by how chick lit readers talk about the genre.

"Hate to admit it, but I love the chick lit."

"I just read trashy chick lit. You know a little brain numbing never hurt anyone."

"the ridiculous 'chick lit' genre - especially those British ones, they're really quite amusing."

Why are we so embarrassed to read what we like to read?

I think it's probably a female thing, I doubt men are so apologetic about anything they read, whether it be fantasy or thrillers (or comics!).

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm proud to be a chick lit reader! Not just because I edit a chick lit blog, but because chick lit speaks to me. It makes me laugh. I makes me cry. I identify with it and, yes, I learn from it. And not just about shoes (it's really not just about shoes!).

As one savvy MySpacer put it:

"My favorite is a light-hearted good read that makes me laugh out loud and warms my heart."

Exactly. What's wrong with that?

Posted by Keris on January 9, 2008 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (12)

December 31, 2007 10:56 AM

Is chick lit bad for your love life?

Recently I read an article in the Daily Mail entitled "Read my lips! Love stories are just a con". Written by the enormously successful romance author Josephine Cox, it suggested that "countless young women" remain single "because Mr Perfect didn't appear to sweep her off her feet like he often does in books and films".

Cox continued, "I can't help wondering how much writers like me will be to blame for peddling unrealistic expectations of romance. So many books and films feature main characters who are perfect (heroes strongly chiselled, heroines porcelainlike and perfect in face and figure) that I worry they may give an unrealistic definition of what the perfect partner and partnership SHOULD be."

Just last weekend I found myself discussing this with my cousin who is about to celebrate her 30th wedding anniversary. She said she's often disappointed by her husband because he doesn't live up to the men she reads about in women's fiction and sees in chick flicks. And this is after thirty years! And she's not the only one...

I'm guilty of it myself. Jennifer Crusie heroes are the ones who seem to get to me the most often. I finish her books both with a feeling of satisfaction (because her books are so good), but also thinking, "Why couldn't I find a man like that?" And I've been happily married for almost 12 years.

I know that men like Janet Evanovich's Joe Morelli or Jennifer Crusie's Phin Tucker (Welcome to Temptation) or even Sophie Kinsella's Luke Brandon don't really exist - or at least, if they do, I don't know any woman who has found one, but that doesn't stop me wondering if they really are out there and I just haven't found them.

Of course, there's also the fact that we only read about the best of these fictional men. Who's to say that Sophie Dempsey isn't driven demented by Phin's snoring or that Luke Brandon actually has a lapdancer habit on the side?

Or, as Josephine Cox puts it, "Books invariably end as our happy couples often walk off into the distance, hand in hand. They don't continue through the sleep deprivation of a young family, the mounting bills, then the spreading waistlines of middle age and the first grey hairs."

So what do you think? Is chick lit an escape from the tedium of real life so-called romance or are you holding out for a romantic hero?

Related posts: Who are your favourite chick lit heroes?

Posted by Keris on December 31, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (15)

December 27, 2007 11:00 AM

Keris's favourite young adult books of 2007

Yesterday, I told you about my five favourite non-fiction books of 2007, now it's Young Adult's turn.

5. Jinx by Meg Cabot

Fun, funny, charming and totally involving. I'm so impressed at Meg Cabot's seemingly inexhaustible supply of ideas and Jinx is another great one.

4. Forever In Blue by Ann Brashares

This book is intelligent, wise, funny, inspiring and just gorgeous. I'm so sorry it's the last in the series, but I can't wait to see what Brashares does next.

3. Good Girls by Laura Ruby

When I got to the end of Good Girls, I wanted to go back and start reading it again. Despite being entertaining and sweet, it's also an important book and one that teens should read and pass around (yes, even to their parents).

2. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

I flew through this book, in fact I read it in one sitting. It’s clever, funny, though-provoking, inspiring, in fact, I think it should be compulsory reading for all teenage girls (and probably boys too).

1. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

I adored this book. For some reason, quite a lot of YA books seem to be part of a series and so you finish the book knowing that you're going to have to read another to learn everything you want to know. That wasn't the case with I'd Tell You I Love You... - it was one of the most satisfying books I've read for ages (Young Adult or otherwise).

Posted by Keris on December 27, 2007 in Opinion, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 26, 2007 11:00 AM

Keris's favourite non-fiction books of 2007

Because I've read in the region of 150 books this year (!), I couldn't just pick a couple of favourites. I was going to do the Top 10 best books I've read this year, but I found I couldn't even narrow it down that far, so instead I've picked my favourite non-fiction, young adult and fiction. Non-fiction is

5. What Would Barbra Do? by Emma Brockes

If you’ve ever felt your heart lifted by The Surrey with the Fringe on Top or cried at Tony’s death in West Side Story (and what kind of cold-hearted creep would you be if you didn’t?) then you’ll love this book. Utterly fabulous.

4. 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? The 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.

3. The 4-Day Win by Martha Beck

Readable, fascinating and, because it's Martha Beck, hugely entertaining. Has a diet book ever made you laugh out loud before? No, me neither. (My favourite line: "Tracy and I agreed that she would try a two-pronged approach to changing her body and mind. So we got her a fork with only two prongs...")

2. Home by Julie Myerson

An incredible, joyful, inspiring and life-affirming book. I couldn't read it quick enough but also didn't want it to end.

1. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I didn't actually review my favourite non-fiction book of 2007, Diane did (she said it was the best book she read in 2005!), but she then loaned it to me and I adored it too. Diane said, "This is one of those brilliant books that makes you wish you'd written it yourself." I couldn't agree more. It also made me want Amy Krouse Rosenthal for a best friend.

Posted by Keris on December 26, 2007 in Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 24, 2007 9:08 AM

Jill's best and worst of 2007

Today it's the turn of our Inspirational Chick Lit reviewer, Jill Hart, to pick her favourite (and otherwise) books of the year.

What's the best book you've read this year? This is so hard. I love so many books, that I'm not sure I can pick just one. But, since Keris is making me, I'm going to have to go with Sharon Hinck's The Restorer. Her combination of mom-lit and fantasy was unique and fun. Plus, with two more books to come in the series I still have something to look forward to!

Have you discovered a new author and devoured their back catalogue? Jane Green. I'm not sure what rock I've been under, but I hadn't read anything by her until I was sent Second Chance to review. Then I got to interview her and she's such a doll! I'm proud to say that I now own all of her books. I'm not-so-patiently waiting for her next release...

Have you read the first book in a series and can't wait to read more? I'm gonna pick two: Rainy Days and Tuesdays by Claire Allan [I hate to tell you, Jill, but I don't think it's the first in a series - Keris]. I loved this book for being honest and hilarious. I can't wait to read the next in the series! Also Sushi For One? by Camy Tang. It was a fun read and a great glimpse into the Asian culture in America.

The worst book you've read this year? I hate to be a downer, but since Keris asked I'll be honest. I had no idea what I was in for when I read Little Stalker by Jennifer Belle. The book sounds cute and starts off fine, but then come the part where the main character is basically witness to an older man taking advantage of a 12 or 13 year old girl and she does nothing about it - tries to make it seem normal even. Ewwwww.

Posted by Keris on December 24, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 20, 2007 9:50 AM

Sarah's best and worst of 2007

Now it's Trashi writer, Sarah Painter's turn to share her best and worst of 2007.

Well, I think you can probably guess the worst book I read this year ;o) [Here's a clue - Keris]

As for the best, I read lots of fantastic young adult fiction this year. I loved Looking for Alaska, Let's Get Lost, and Under the Rose (is that classed as YA? [I think it's in that in-betweeny grey area - Keris]), but my favourite would have to be Maureen Johnson's Devilish. Just brilliant. I have been avidly reading her blog and working my way through her others ever since...

Carry on over the cut for Sarah's best chick lit book of the year

Best Chick Lit book of my year (although I think it was published in 2006) was Caprice Crane's Stupid and Contagious. Funny, sharp, funny, good dialogue, great characters, funny.

[Funnily - ha! - enough, Stupid and Contagious was No. 2 on Keris's list last year and No. 6 on Diane's. We LOVE this book!]

Posted by Keris on December 20, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 19, 2007 6:52 PM

Dog Wit Lit

Howl I've just been reading Alison Pace's blog and I've decided that Dog Lit can now officially be classed as a sub-genre (by me, at least).

The second collection of doggy-related writing from The Bark is out now. It's called Howl and follows on from the successful - and brilliantly titled - Dog is my Co-Pilot.

Plus, there's a plethora of 'me and my dog' type tales; look at Marley and Me, Rex and the City and What the Dog Did.

Not enough to convince you? How about all the Canine Chick Lit? Okay, that phrase is never going to catch on and Thank Goodness, but still... There's Pug Hill, The Dog Walker and, um, Sick Puppy.

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 19, 2007 in Book News, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 18, 2007 1:38 PM

Sophie Kinsella and others focus on child illiteracy

I was saddened to read recently that England had fallen from 3rd to 19th in the world for reading (Scotland is placed at 26). Then came bleak official statistics that show one in five of our children leaves primary school unable to read to the minimum standard for their age group.

More than 500 authors, including Sophie Kinsella, Nick Hornby and Alexander McCall Smith, have written to Gordon Brown urging him to tackle this problem head on.

They suggest that "children should be taught to read at school for an hour a day until they can do so properly." I have to say, I agree...

[Via Guardian]

Related post: Dolly Parton launches literacy scheme

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 18, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 17, 2007 11:43 AM

Helen's best and worst of 2007

Last week I introduced you to regular reviewer, Helen Redfern. This week she shares her best and worst books of 2007.

The best book that I have read this year – by far – is Caroline Smailes' In Search of Adam. The book tackles a horrifying subject but this contrasts with her beautiful and unusual writing style. I’m predicting a fantastic future for this talented writer.

The most fabulous book(s) of the year was the discovery (for me) of The Princess Diaries series. After Eight was the best one for me and I can’t wait for number nine to come out in January.

Carry on over the cut for Helen's most disappointing read of 2007.

Surprisingly good read of the year was Martina Reilly's All I Want Is You. This had me crying and laughing at the same time.

My biggest disappointment of the year was Sue Townsend’s Queen Camilla. I normally love her books but this was a huge let down.

Look out for more of the Trashionista writers' and readers' bests and worsts through the week.

Posted by Keris on December 17, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

All I want for Christmas is...

Well, there's only six shopping days (or something) left until Christmas and my major panic is pretty much over... My thoughts now, naturally, turn to myself. So what do I hope Santa leaves under my tree this year?

In order of ascending importance/desirability...

3. A book light. The Xtra Flex has an energy efficient super LCD bulb which will 'never' need replacing (it gives 100,000 hours of light) and comes in blue, my favourite colour.

2. Books. Despite writing about and reviewing books for a living, there is still nothing like opening a pile of shiny new releases on Christmas Day. Oh, the anticipation!

1. And in the number one spot this year is (drum roll) - a couple of extra hours in every day. Yep. I'm officially old; time is passing just too quickly. If those extra couple of hours could be spent in bed with my laptop, an endless supply of hot tea, and numbers 2 and 3, then so much the better...

How about you? What are you hoping to find stuffed in your Christmas stocking?

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 17, 2007 in Book related, Bookish products, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 14, 2007 11:06 AM

More WGA Strike news

We told you about the Writers Guild of America strike six weeks ago, when it began. Negotiations were halted on 7 December when the producers' alliance refused to bargain further unless the union dropped six proposals. Today, things have taken a turn for the worse.

The WGA has filed an unfair labour practices complaint, claiming studios broke the law by ending negotiations.

The WGA is demanding (not unreasonably some may say) that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers returns to the bargaining table to, you know, talk this thing through and reach an agreement.

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 14, 2007 in Movie News, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 12, 2007 9:34 AM

Readers' books of 2007

Last week I asked for your best and worst book of 2007 and we've received a few ... but we want more!

Megan said: Succubus Blues was a new fantasy series I discovered. I don't really read fantasy but this new series is so awesome and I just ate it up. It is a great foray into the a fantasy series. Georgina Kincaid will lure you in with her succubus charms but win you over with her heart, love of books and white mochas.

Tami said: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen won my "best of" award. Pontoon by Garrison Keillor and Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton bringing up the rear.

Robin said: The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I read the first five books back to back, and am fixing to start the sixth book. I don't want this series to ever end.

What about you? What have you loved? What have you loathed? Enquiring minds need to know!

Posted by Keris on December 12, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

December 11, 2007 11:42 AM

What are your reading deal-breakers?

The other night I started reading Louise Candlish's Since I Don't Have You. The title, the cover featuring a small blonde child, and a back cover blurb speaking of "tragedy" led me to believe that Rachel, the main character's, six-year-old daughter may die, but when I actually got to the relevant point in the book I had to stop reading.

I've got a 3-year-old son and there was just no way I could read a book about a mother losing a child and still keep my wits about me (or, you know, be able to sleep). I read primarily for pleasure and I just wouldn't find that pleasurable.

I've also received Lullaby by Claire Seeber, a book about a missing baby. I'm sorry, but I can't read that one either.

I know that, for chick lit author Meg Cabot, a child dying in a TV series is a deal-breaker - once a TV shows kills off a child, Meg stops watching ... forever - but I haven't heard of any other reading deal-breakers.

Do you have them?

Posted by Keris on December 11, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (16)

December 5, 2007 8:09 AM

Dolly Parton launches literacy scheme

Having recently read that children in England have dropped from 3rd to 19th in the world for reading skills, I was hoping for some kind of a shot-in-the-arm for the nation's literacy.

I didn't, however, expect it to come from a diminutive Grammy-award-winning country star. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library involves posting children a book every month up to the age of five and is being launched in Rotherham.

The Imagination Library is already active in 40 US states and is funded by the Dollywood Foundation.

[Via AOL]

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 5, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 4, 2007 12:49 PM

Movie News: I am legend

Holy Smoke! I just watched the preview for I am legend (courtesy of Meg Cabot's blog) and my heart is racing.

Based on Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, I am legend depicts New York City after a virus has wiped out every human bar one. Will Smith plays Robert Neville, the last man alive, but he is Not Alone.

It's out later this month and I want to see it. I may have to watch it from between my fingers, but I want to see it...

Posted by Sarah Painter on December 4, 2007 in Movie News, Opinion, Supernatural | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007 1:53 PM

The Writers' Workshop resources

Whether you've started scribbling, have completed your magnum opus, or are just thinking about the possibility of one day, maybe, writing a book, check out The Writers' Workshop; they've put up a comprehensive list of articles with all you need to know.

[Thanks Emma]

Related posts: The Crusie/Mayer workshop | Tips for new writers

Posted by Sarah Painter on November 28, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 22, 2007 10:41 AM

Costa Book Awards shortlist

Last year we were shocked (and depressed) to report that the shortlist for the Costa Book Awards didn't contain a single title by a female author.

The shortlist is looking a great deal more balanced this time around, with eleven out of the twenty written by women. Phew!

The list includes Scottish writer-turned-stand-up-comic A.L. Kennedy, Meg Rosoff, Marcus Sedgwick and Catherine O'Flynn.

Posted by Sarah Painter on November 22, 2007 in Book News, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 9, 2007 3:39 PM

Rereading - are you in on the craze?

According to a new survey quoted in the Guardian 77% of UK readers revisit books they've enjoyed, with 17% saying they have read a favourite book more than five times.

In my life pre-children (and most especially when I was a child/teenager myself), I used to reread books regularly. Now... Not so much.

There simply aren't enough hours in the day for all the new books I want to read (let alone the ones I need to read for review or research), but I do miss the habit. What about you? Do you still/have you ever reread your old favourites?

Posted by Sarah Painter on November 9, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

November 2, 2007 1:33 PM

More book banning madness

Princeoftides Okay, Pat Conroy is not a chick and his books aren't chick lit (although The Prince of Tides was made into a very emotional film with Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand), but his reaction to book banning at a West Virginia High School was just too good not to reproduce.

I'm sure Maureen Johnson, no stranger to book-banning insanity, will be proud.

In response to the school board that stopped students at Nitro High Schol from discussing The Prince of Tides and Beach Music in class, Conroy said: "Because you banned my books, every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them. Because book banners are invariably idiots, they don't know how the world works - but writers and English teachers do."
Go Pat!

[Via Galleycat]

Related post: The Burmudez Triangle banned

Posted by Sarah Painter on November 2, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 21, 2007 9:50 AM

Your thoughts on You’ve Got Mail

Warning: Movie spoiler

There were some strong feelings about The Devil Wears Prada when we discussed it last week so today I’m asking what you thought of You’ve Got Mail?

I knew it was rom com, so I knew that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan had to get together (them’s the rules) but I just didn’t see how it could happen. He destroyed her business! And she fell in love with him! Get a grip woman.

I watched the whole film wondering how the writers were going to wriggle out of the situation but, alas, they didn’t. They let her fall in love with the rat that ruined her livelihood.

I was going to finish this piece with the sentence *I bet it was written by a man*, but then I remembered it’s a Nora Ephron film…

Related Posts: Movie Magic archives

Posted by Nicola pedley on September 21, 2007 in Friday Flick, Movie Magic, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

September 13, 2007 12:53 PM

The Devil Wears Prada - alternative film review

Warning: Movie Spoiler

I finally got round to watching The Devil Wears Prada last weekend (I know I’m a year behind everyone else!) and I was very disappointed. Girl goes to the big city to get her dream job and then jacks it all in because her boyfriend doesn’t like her new lifestyle (and, if you ask me, her best mate seemed jealous as well).

The moral of the story seemed to be that if you want the powerful, glamorous job that Miranda Priestly has you will end up a lonely divorcee, but if you toe the line and get the good little girl job all will be right in your love life. I’m told the book has a different ending so I’ll have to move that up my to be read pile to find out.

Related Posts: The Devil Wears Prada archives

Posted by Nicola pedley on September 13, 2007 in American Authors, Devil Wears Prada, Fashion-Lit, Friday Flick, Movie Magic, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (9)

September 12, 2007 5:32 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

This morning I read a BBC article about how the judges of the Booker Prize are faced with the daunting task of reading 110 books in a little more than four months - which works out at around a book a day. Well, I say I read the article; I actually scanned it and focussed on the important bits.

One of which was Many of us have read a novel in a day. Maybe a Marian Keyes or a Michael Crichton on a long journey. My first thought was Marian Keyes? Her books are way too long to be read in a day! Until I remembered that I read Anybody Out There in one go on a flight to Canada.

The BBC article suggests that, in this age of information, we all need to learn to read quicker. I don't. I read plenty fast enough, thanks. I have to, since I review three books per week for Trashionista. Last year (before starting at Trashi) I set myself a challenge to read 52 books in a year - I ended up reading 129.

When my former co-ed, Diane, wrote about reading as a competitive sport for The Guardian blog, the ever-pompous Guardian blog commenters questioned whether she actually retains much of what she reads. I don't. But I don't care. With books I particularly love, I remember certain details of character and plot and, often, the feeling it gave me when I read it, but books I either didn't enjoy or didn't feel that strongly about? Well who cares if I don't remember them? It just allows more space in my brain for the books I *do* love (I share Homer Simpson's theory that in order to remember something new you need to forget something old).

So what about you? What's the fastest you've read a book? Do you feel the need, the need for speed? Or do you prefer to lounge about in a book?

In other words: speed reading - Yay or Nay and Why?

[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!]

Posted by Keris on September 12, 2007 in Book related, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (6)

September 7, 2007 5:23 PM

What Trashionista has taught me...

I may be leaving (no, I really am now!), but I have lots of good memories and have learned a lot. So here's (just some of) the wisdom I've picked up over the past year and a bit at Trashionista.

I've learned that...

- There will always be people who put chick lit down, and they will usually be people who haven't any.

- There will always be smart, savvy women writing great books. Thank God.

- Caprice Crane, Marian Keyes, Lani Diane Rich, Joshilyn Jackson, Sue Hepworth & Jane Linfoot and many other authors have the power to turn a blah day into a brilliant one.

- I really like me some non-fic chick lit.

- Some people will always spell it 'chic lit' and there's nothing I can do to stop it!

- 99.9% of authors are the most wonderful fabulous people you could ever hope to meet.

- One or two aren't. (I'll never tell!)

- Say the words "editor of a books site" and publishers start flinging books at you like there's no tomorrow. (Woo-hoo!)

- The smallest publishers are often the most polite.

- Bridget Jones's Diary is going to stand the test of time.

- Writing three reviews a week, every week can really take it out of a girl.

And of course...

- Trashionista readers are THE BEST. I'll miss you all, every one!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on September 7, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

August 30, 2007 9:48 AM

Who are you favourite chick lit heroes?

In my review of Caprice Crane's fabulous Forget About It, I mentioned that the character of Travis had made it onto my list of favourite chick lit heroes.

I didn't actually have a list, but then I thought ... we should compile one! So let me start you off... If I was to make any chick lit hero real, so he could whisk me away to do unspeakable things, it would be Jack from Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep A Secret. Then again, there's Mark Darcy (albeit a bit mean and moody) and, oh my, Joe Morelli (from the Stephanie Plum series). I could go on, but I won't.

Who are your favourite chick lit heroes?

Posted by Keris on August 30, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (7)

August 28, 2007 3:47 PM

A word from the (co)editor... and that word is 'goodbye'

Dianephoto2 Yes, you read that right: I'm leaving Trashionista. At the end of the week, in fact. *Sob*

Despite being lucky enough to read and write about fabulous women's fiction for a job - and working with a great friend, and being sent free books! and the wonderful opportunities this site has given me... I'm off.

I may well be crazy, and I'm sure there will be times I'll regret it, but I just feel it's time for me to move on. Not to better things (what could be better?!), just different things. So apart from the occasional review (read what I thought of Alice Sebold's latest when it's released in October) and the probably less-occasional comment, I'll be gone by September.

So before I go, I want to thank all the lovely readers, authors, publicists and publishers who've made the last year-and-a-bit such a wonderful experience. I've discovered a lot about the world of publishing in my time as a books ed, most of it fabulous. And I've read some really good books! I've also got to thank Keris for being such a brilliant co-ed (we didn't argue, not once, even when I was *really* bossy!) and of course to ed-in-chief Gemma for setting up the blog in the first place. And to our predecessor Jenni who took us under her wing when we first started... Jeez, this is getting a bit Oscar-worthy isn't it?! Moving on...

I must admit there is the odd thing I won't miss: panics induced by the size of my review pile, the knowledge that I can't read anything non-chick lit for the next six months due to the afore-mentioned review pile, trying to think up topics for Yay or Nay (you don't know the head-scratching there's been!) ... and re-sizing pictures from Amazon every. blooming. day. Gawd, I hate resizing!

But there's much more I'll miss: reading new releases before other people (hee - sorry!), the doorbell ringing with another new delivery, getting paid to give my opinion on what I'm reading (something I'd gladly do unpaid, though I never told my bosses that!)

I know the site will continue to go from strength to strength without me - I don't know much abut what Keris has planned for when I'm gone (apart from a lot of crying, of course...), but I look forward to finding out. I may not be an editor for much longer, but you'll never stop me being a reader.

Once a Trashionista, always a Trashionista, I say!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 28, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (9)

August 27, 2007 1:01 PM

Brits dream of being authors above all else

According to a new poll, author tops the list of dream jobs for us Britons, with 10% of us hoping to become one. [Via Booktrade Info]

This despite the occasional hardships, that whole 'no guarantee of success' thing and the fact that some people claim becoming an author ruined their lives. I guess we're a gutsy bunch - or we think we all do have a novel in us.

Or we just like the idea of working at home in our pyjamas, not having a boss breathing down our necks, setting our own hours, and earning JK-esque sums of money.

Yes, I think that may be it...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 27, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

The £3 million book (yes, the world HAS gone mad...)

3million I once wrote about a really expensive book, but it was only £4,000, which is nothing these days, as it turns out!

The millionaire reader-about-town now has the option to buy a £3 MILLION book, according to the BBC. Special millionaire editions of Dancing With The Bear by British entrepreneur Roger Shashoua are made to order, and covered with 600 diamonds. The author and businessman is aiming the most expensive book in the world at super-rich Russian millionaires and billionaires, and says:

"There is so much money floating around in Russia that it seemed entirely logical to produce a book designed for the Russian market... I am just happy that conspicuous displays of consumption can now be associated with writing, rather than fashion accessories."

Personally, I think if someone has £3 million to splash on a book, it would be a lot more useful donated to a charity than donated to a rich businessman's coffers. And almost as important, this seems like a waste of good diamonds to me...

What do you think?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 27, 2007 in Book News, Book related, British Authors, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 24, 2007 12:36 PM

FRIDAY FLICK: Get Over It

I can't make up my mind about Kirsten Dunst. She's got that indie-cool thing going, and I know I've seen her in some good films, but man can she pick a stinker. Marie Antoniette was distinctly meh. (I know you don't all agree, but I found it BLAH x 100). Getover

Get Over It really wants to be good, and really, really isn't. It wants to be Romeo + Juliet but fails by being embarrassing and... well, bad.

It's based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, as a cast of high school kids put on Shakespeare's famous comedy. The film descends into weird, Shakespeare-inspired dream sequences and tries to draw parallels between the love lives of teenagers and the love-swapping, drug-inducing players of MND. But it's all rather clumsily done, and I remember watching this film at the cinema, and literally cringing. I suppose the forgiving film fan might find something to enjoy here, but I'd love to know what!

My advice: Get Over It? Don't bother with it.

Friday Flick archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 24, 2007 in Friday Flick, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 23, 2007 11:16 AM

Women read more than men; some Americans don't read at all

A new poll doing the media rounds suggests that 1 in 4 Americans hasn't read a single book in the last year (what do they do instead?!) The poll also reveals that women are reading more than men, with Republicans reading less than Democrats (maybe it's all those Hillary biographies?)

The average number of books read by those who did crack open the spines of some of Barnes and Noble's finest in the last year was a not-exactly-impressive seven. Which is still better than nothing. But if it's a country- and world-wide trend then it's sad news for publishers, authors, booksellers (and book reviewers, too).

How many books have you read this year? And how can we encourage people to read more - or doesn't it matter?!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 23, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (6)

August 22, 2007 11:41 AM

Romance authors, Mills and Boon... and more unoriginal chick lit insults

Australia's Sydney Morning Herald recently featured this interesting article on romance novels, the popularity of Mills and Boon and why romance authors just can't get no... respect.

I learned about the article from a begrdging Bookninja - I love that site, but *wow* they don't love us...

"Romance as the cougar to chick lit’s fox? I think of it more like the laundry lady to chick lit’s halfwit yuppy."

Oooh - zing!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 22, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Romance | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 20, 2007 8:56 PM

When characters come alive...

This morning I was at the train station (I went to Nottingham for two hours - I'm such a jet-setter) when I saw a girl who made me stop in my tracks: with her short platinum hair, battered leather jacket, long legs and punkish look, she looked exactly how I imagine the heroine of the book I'm reading to look.

Spooky, or what?

Carry on over the cut to find out what I'm reading...

The book is Paint it Black, Janet Fitch's long-awaited follow-up to her excellent debut White Oleander (which I heard about back when Oprah's book club highlighted new fiction - aka: the good old days). The main character is Josie Tyrell, twenty year old artists' model and casual drug user, whose painter boyfriend has just killed herself, leaving her reeling.

I'll be reviewing the book next week - so find out what I thought of it then, but in the meantime, have you ever seen characters from a book you're reading 'appear' in real life, and been completely spooked? (I do hope I'm not the only one!)

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 20, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion, Recent Release | Permalink | Comments (6)

How do you treat your books?

Last week I read a fantastic article by Harry Mount in The Telegraph entitled "Our reverence for books is ludicrous", in which he wrote

... people are then amazed when they see me dog-earing a book, writing in it or, with a really big one, tearing it up into chunks to read on the beach. They're bored to death by their own reading, but they still think all books should be treated as precious relics.

Funnily enough, I've also recently read Anne Fadiman's glorious Ex Libris (review coming next Monday), in which she divides readers into "courtly lovers" and "carnal lovers". Basically, if you're a courtly lover you will treat a book as a precious object, holding the book itself sacrosanct.

But if you're a carnal lover, it's the words inside that matter, "the paper, cloth, cardboard, glue, thread, and ink that contained them were a mere vessel, and it was no sacrilege to treat them as wantonly as desire and pragmatism dictated."

I am guilty of dog-earing, writing in and, yes, on occasion tearing up books (but only with good reason).

I haven't got a problem with it. Have you?

Posted by Keris on August 20, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (10)

August 17, 2007 7:16 PM

TRASHIONISTA RECOMMENDS: Magical Musings

At Trashionista, we love us a good group blog. So I was delighted to stumble across (seriously - who knows what I clicked to get there, I'm just glad I did) another one: Magical Musings.

Bearing the tagline "Five writers who believe no story is complete without a little magic", the bloggers write novels ranging from historicals to fantasy to romantic fiction, and you can find out more about them all here.

They have some really interesting book-related blog posts on the main page, such as what happens when one of your must-read authors falls off your must-buy list (Adriana Trigiani, I'm looking at you!) and how much sex is OK in YA? (Read it and see!)

Great. Just what I needed: another must-read bookish blog... pretty soon I'll have no time to write anything myself!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 17, 2007 in American Authors, Book Websites, Book related, Opinion, Supernatural, Trashionista Recommends, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 16, 2007 2:08 PM

Keira Knightley 'too pretty' for Atonement?

Ceri Radford of The Telegraph's books blog can't decide if she's looking forward to the adaptation of Ian McEwan's World War Two-set modern classic Atonement or not. On the one hand, she loves a period drama, on the other hand... there's Keira Knightley. That alone would put me off (me-ow!) but Radford's specific problem is that the pouty one is "too pretty" for Cecilia, who is described in the book as "plain".

Does it matter that actresses look like the characters they're playing, or is a little artistic licence understandable - we are talking about Hollywood after all!

What do you think?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 16, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Modern Fiction, Movie News, Opinion, Prize Winners | Permalink | Comments (7)

Does a book cover matter?

I know we've mentioned this before - and I know you know how fixated I am on book covers - but what about you? We all know the expression you can't judge a book by its cover, but, as this Guardian blog piece points out, "How else are readers supposed to judge books before they've read them - except by how they look?"

So I have questions for you:

Does the cover matter to you?
Is there a book you love with a cover you loathe?
Is there a book you hate with a cover you heart?

Posted by Keris on August 16, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (6)

August 10, 2007 11:40 AM

Women in comics: girlfriends and tag-alongs and also rans - oh my!

Via Bookslut, I came across this excellent piece on the shoddy way women are represented in comic books: whether treated as sex objects, subjected to horrific Supergir and humiliating (often sexualised) torture, or portrayed as simpering idiots, it seems the male-dominated history of women and superheroes has not been a very happy one. Perhaps the best answer to this problem is for more women to write about super heroines.

On a closely-related topic, it wasn't until I read a recent letter in the Radio Times that I realised that of the two women (i.e. a minority) in (the otherwise gripping and well-rendered) drama series Heroes, both of them are stereotypical females: one a blonde, pretty cheerleader, the other a blonde, pretty stripper... Sigh.

How about a super heroine for the 21st century? Maybe she could start by wearing clothes that fit...?

What else?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 10, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

How I know chick lit is not dead

How often do you hear or read that chick lit's time has passed? That publishers aren't interested? That readers have moved on? Monthly? Weekly? (For me, while looking for stories for Trashionista, it's daily.)

Yesterday I went to Borders to drink coffee and read the magazines without buying them (like you've never done it) and I was startled at the amount of chick lit (and a little bit of romance) in the front of store.

Read on to hear about the 48 books I spotted.

On the first table there were 11 chick lit titles, including Momzillas, A Place Called Here and Yours, Faithfully.

The next table featured seven books, including the latest from Tilly Bagshawe, Chris Manby and Belinda Jones.

Another table was groaning under the weight of 16 chicks, including Baby Proof (and its new terrible cover), Everyone Worth Knowing and Dedication.

Was that all? Nope. The hardbacks/featured books wall had a further ten, including Life on the Refrigerator Door, Freya North's Pillow Talk and Getting Rid of Matthew.

And there were four more in the chart: Maeve Binchy's Whitethorn Woods at 22, A Place Called Here (again) at 16, Marshmallows for Breakfast at 15 and Nora Roberts' High Noon at 14.

And, yes, I did get out my notebook and write them all down. And, yes, the staff do think I'm weird, but I don't care. The above makes me very happy and I hope it does you too.

(Just noticed - not a single Marian Keyes!)

Posted by Keris on August 10, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

August 7, 2007 6:02 PM

Do our young heroines need more guts?

Imogen Russell Williams says in The Guardian that they do. She's bemoaning the fact that the female characters in modern-day children's books are a bit too prim and proper (Hermione Granger, anyone?) and wants us to have more heroines like Flossie Teacake (never read any) and Marmalade Atkins (who I LOVED!)

Girls who aren't afraid to get dirty, aren't watching their weight or bothered what other people think of them. Do you agree?

Who's your favourite children's book heroine?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 7, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

August 3, 2007 9:01 AM

What do you think of The Open Library?

When I first read about The Open Library - a plan to build an online catalogue of every book ever published, anywhere in the world - I couldn't imagine what it was for.

But then I read the following comment from Aaron Swartz, leader of the technical team working on the site, "Right now, if you want to link to a book on the web, the main place people go is Amazon. It's kind of a bad idea for one commercial site to be the definitive source for book information on the internet, so we want to have a site that brings together information from commercial publishers, reviewers, users, libraries, everywhere."

It's bothered me in the past that Amazon is the source for book info - that can't be right, can it? And so I love the idea of The Open Library. What do you think?

You can read more - much more! - about it on the BBC.

Posted by Keris on August 3, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

August 1, 2007 5:24 PM

A Trashi fan talks!

Trashionista reader Hannah Davies wrote a wonderful review of An Absolute Scandal for us and sent it in on spec (which all of you are more than welcome to do - especially if you have any summer-themed reviews for us!) We loved it, so we published it.

As a writer with experience of the publishing world herself, we thought Hannah's bio was also interesting enough to publish.

Over the cut she tells us about following her dreams...

"After two and a half successful years in book publishing, I have left my (secure and reasonably well paid) job in order to pursue a career in writing, both journalistic and creative. I agree that this may seem somewhat insane!

I spent my first week of unemployment pitching articles to local newspapers, arranging work experience placements at magazines, and trying to fit in work on my fledgling novel somewhere between these tasks. Having the freedom to write has made me even more determined to make this my career. I am an avid reader, but I'm trying to cut down in order to concentrate on doing things that might one day make me (a tiny bit of) money. Now that I have finished Penny Vincenzi's latest, I really hope I'll become more productive.

I see Trashionista as both an excellent source of all things chick lit and also the literary equivalent of a nicotine patch - every time I'm tempted to leave the laptop and lose myself in a novel, I allow myself ten minutes to go through your site, which keeps the craving at bay for a short while. So thank you!"

You're very welcome Hannah - and what a FAB description of Trashionista!

We'd love to hear about YOUR writing/reading experiences, and what you think of Trashionista (especially if it's nice!): email us if you've got something to share.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 1, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 27, 2007 8:45 AM

Is The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls... an insult to women's intelligence?

In The Guardian books blog, writer Melissa McClements despairs of a new book, The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls, which apparently is (according to the book's website): "... an irresistible celebration of girlhood, exquisitely illustrated, deliciously packaged and packed with exciting things to keep every girl, from eight to 80, entertained throughout the years ... It will take women back to a time when we made cup cakes with our grandmothers and a campfire with our friends, we played hopscotch, and domestic crafts were celebrated."

But are books like this undoing the good work of feminism by encouraging women and men to adopt stereotypical gender roles? Or should the liberated woman bake if she wants to? Is it patronising to have a book for 'girls' rather than 'women' and is it even more patronising to assume we all like the same traditional pursuits?

Also... is it wrong that I became very excited when I saw the website contains instructions on doing a proper french plait? (Finally!)

Related: Gloria Steinem on chick lit.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 27, 2007 in Book News, Book Websites, Book related, Girly Stuff, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 25, 2007 5:15 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

I found this piece on the Guardian books blog interesting, as it reflects some of my own uncertainty about books like The Lovely Bones. Although I enjoyed that book (or found it a very good read; 'enjoyed' is probably not the right word for a novel about a murdered teenager...) the parts of the novel set in 'heaven' didn't ring true to me - how could they? No-one knows for sure what heaven is like, or if it even exists. Chris Power, who wrote the Guardian article agrees, saying that Lovely Bones is a very readable book but "Susie's narration softens the facts of her horrific death and throws open the door to mawkishness."

So what do you think: does a narration from beyond the grave give a book an added mystique? Or perhaps make the death in the book less harrowing? Or can it ruin things for the reader?

Is it a Yay or a Nay, and why?

Yay or Nay archives. - A more cheery topic next week, I promise!

[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!]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 25, 2007 in Book related, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Supernatural, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (4)

July 24, 2007 10:34 AM

The best days to sell books?

You might think that the day the new (last) Harry Potter was released would be a bad day to try and get readers interested in buying any other kind of book, but you would be wrong.

That's according to Elaine Viets of The Lipstick Chronicles blog. In a recent post, she explains why Harry Potter nights can be one of the very best days to sell books.

Find out more here (and don't forget to check out the rest of this excellent blog!

Related: Book websites archive.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 24, 2007 in American Authors, Book Websites, Modern Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 23, 2007 1:15 PM

MORE ON MONDAY: The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Subtitled 'The Diary of an occasionally exasperated but ever hopeful reader", Nick Hornby's new work of non-fiction The Complete Polysyllabic Spree comprises 3 years of his What I'm Reading columns for The Believer magazine.

He starts each column with two lists: books bought that month, and books read that month, which often differ substantially! He then talks about what he read (and sometimes what he bought) that month, and why.

Anyone who's read Fever Pitch (or per haps 31 Songs) will know how good a non-fiction writer Hornby is. After falling out with the author (admittedly it was a one-sided argument) after reading his - ugh- How to be Good I was happy to find that I could still love this author's work!

His discussion of the reasons we read the books we do, and the influences on his own reading is intelligent but always accessible: although he often enjoys what could be called 'highbrow' books, his approach to them is down-to-earth. I knew I was going to love this non-snobbish analysis when in the introduction, Hornby rails against literary snobbery. He says,

"In Britain, more than twelve million adults have a reading age of thirteen or under, and yet some clever-dick journalist still insists on telling us that unless we're reading something proper, then we might as well not bother at all... reading for enjoyment is what we should all be doing."

Hear hear!

I just have a couple of slight criticisms about this otherwise excellent book: whenever Nick reads (and abandons) a book he hates, he isn't allowed to name it in his column, as the ethos of The Believer is to not slag people off. But surely he could have elaborated in this book? Second, although the inclusion of passages of books he enjoyed is probably a good idea, for me it slowed down the narrative - I wanted to find out what Nick read next!

But I raced through this, and it only inspired me to read more. Funny, entertaining and book-related - what more could a reader want?

Rating: 5/5

Like this? Try So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 23, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion, Rating: 5/5 | Permalink | Comments (2)

But what about Christmas? hides

We may be firmly in summer mode right now (despite the weather) but the publishing industry is apparently now turning its attention to Christmas.

It seems unlikely that the new Harry Potter (yes, we'll shut up about it soon) will account for a large percentage of seasonal sales (everyone who wants one will surely have read a copy by then) so Publisher's News asks independent sellers who they tip as the big Christmas sellers.

Carry on over the cut for their ideas...

Predictions include high hopes for The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls and children's story The Nativity Story by Geraldine McCaughrean and Sophy Williams. Read more here.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 23, 2007 in Book related, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Harriet Klausner: the speediest reviewer of all time... or a total con artist? Discuss.

Debate is raging is some corners of the bookish blogosphere about reader and reviewer Harriet Klausner's claims to have written over 12,000 reviews since the year 2000. (Makes my wrists seize up just thinking about typing that much!) That breaks down to 4 books a day, 7 days a week.

So is she a freakishly book-obsessed speed reading talent? Or a book blagger rather than a blogger, who's only pretending to have read some of the books she writes about and who makes things up based on the blurbs on the back of books? The fact that her reviews are almost always 4- and 5- starred has also raised suspicion.

Read more about this whole controversy over at Bloggasm...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 23, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 17, 2007 4:24 PM

Bookslut prefers misery lit to chick lit (oh-kay then...)

Much as I find literary book blog Bookslut an informative and (mostly) enjoyable read, they have got it in for chick lit big time over there. (To each her own? Not so much).

On the site today, Jessa Crispin suggests that the current glut of books about women having nervous breakdowns (yes, apparently there is such a glut) could be an extension of "the chick lit backlash", suggesting: "Perhaps writers were as desperate as readers like me to see a female character be portrayed as a whole person."

So portraying a woman as a whole person = writing about her in the depths of misery? Wow, I feel invigorated. Better put down my fantastically entertaining books about women dealing with the ups and downs of modern life and read about some real women for a change!

Remind me, I forget (I'm just a simple-minded chick lit fan): is life supposed to be all about misery for the modern day woman?... Or about reading what I want and enjoying myself?

I know which I prefer.

Your thoughts, please...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 17, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 16, 2007 5:30 PM

It's official: reading makes you more attractive!

A piece by Sarah Crown in the Guardian's Culture Vulture blog has just come to my attention via Brain Stab. And, despite the fact that it's from August last year, I thought it was interesting.

Apparently, according to a survey carried out on behalf of Borders, books play a crucial role in influencing our opinions of strangers. Half of the 200 adults asked admitted that they would look again or smile at someone on the basis of what they were reading.

A third of those surveyed said that they "would consider flirting with someone based on their choice of literature". This interests me particularly because one of the first things that attracted me to my husband was that he was a reader.

But it's not all good news: erotic fiction, horror, self-help books and chick lit were all deemed turn-offs, whereas the genre most likely to help you pull is the classics, followed by biography and modern literary fiction - "think Zadie Smith and Sebastian Faulks, rather than Dan Brown and Martina Cole," says Crown.

So, shamelessly nicking Crown's questions because I couldn't have put it better myself: "What, books-wise, does it for you? And are there any books that would put you off absolutely, no matter how attractive the reader?"

Posted by Keris on July 16, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 12, 2007 9:25 AM

THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: Helen Fielding

Helenfielding Of course. Couldn't really leave her out seeing as she started all this chick lit lark! (Maybe).

Whether you think Helen Fielding, Jane Austen, Nora Ephron, Gail Parent or even Janet Evanovich invented the genre, what's pretty clear is that Helen Fielding helped make it what it is today. Her newspaper columns detailing the life and loves of one Miss Bridget Jones made both her and Bridge cultural icons and had publishers on both sides of the pond jumping on the chick lit bandwagon. It has to be the best-known and most-loved chick lit novel of all time, ever. (And it's the number one choice for fave chick lit novel in our author interviews!)

Fielding's inspired lots of modern-day writers and even many years later her best-known book is still a touching and brilliantly witty read. Bridget Jones's Diary is everything a chick lit book should be: funny, satirical and entertaining with a main character we can relate to.

And that's what makes Helen Fielding a Trailblazer.

Thursday Trailblazer archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 12, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Thursday Trailblazer | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 11, 2007 2:00 PM

'Blah' books - let's name and shame!

A friend of mine recently read Robyn Hardyn's Journal of Mortifying Moments.

"It's okay," she said. "Very predictable and not what I was expecting."

I said the exact same thing last year, when I bought the book in the hope that it'd deliver the gossip-fest that the cute, pink and downright appealing cover promised. Did it? No. But that's not to say that it's a BAD book - just... well... not as good as it looks.

I figure 'blah' is the ultimate word to describe books like these. Take another potential scandal-fest - Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl. Judging by the blurb, this title was full of wit - yet in reality, it was completely void of laughs. And, seemingly, an ending. Pity really, as the book had SO much potential to be a laugh-a-minute read.

It was one of those dreary chick-lit efforts which make you want to jump up, grab the nearest Bic, and proclaim that your newest life goal is to write a girly masterpiece ten times better than the yawn-inducing disappointment you just read.

So what becomes of the 'blah' books? The books that have so much potential, but just don't live up to their expectations?

Do you throw it out the window? Use it as a doorstop?

Or are you like me? - I sigh heartily, put it back on the shelf and use it as an example of what NOT do to when I'm writing my own stuff. (And bitch about it on Trashionista. Like, duh.) There are some titles as to which readers have questioned publishers' sanity - Citizen Girl, anyone? - and it drives me round the bend at times to see a really good set-up wasted.

Granted, some authors have it. Some can take a small everyday situation and make it hilarious. Others? Well, we can't all be blessed with the gift of humour.But what about you?

Which books do YOU think you could have written better?

Posted by Danielle Symonds-Yemm on July 11, 2007 in Book related, Girly Stuff, Opinion, Rubbish Books | Permalink | Comments (8)

July 10, 2007 4:20 PM

Nora Ephron on the six stages of email

The brilliant Ms Ephron has written a great article in the New York Times about the six stages of email, from infatuation to... well, you'll have to read it to find out.

Don't tell me you don't relate! (I know I do).

More tech-related news and gossip for girls (and boys!) at our sister site, Shiny Shiny.

Related posts: Review: Heartburn | Review: I Feel Bad About My Neck

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 10, 2007 in American Authors, Opinion, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gloria Steinem on chick lit

Journalist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem's article for AlterNet entitled "In Defense of the 'Chick Flick'" also included some excellent comments on chick lit:

"... if you think back to your school days, much of what you were assigned as great literature could have been dismissed as "chick lit." Indeed, the books you read probably only survived because they were written by famous guys.

Read the rest of her comments over the cut.

"Think about it: If Anna Karenina had been written by Leah Tolstoy, or The Scarlet Letter by Nancy Hawthorne, or Madame Bovary by Greta Flaubert, or A Doll's House by Henrietta Ibsen, or The Glass Menagerie by (a female) Tennessee Williams, would they have been hailed as universal? Suppose Shakespeare had really been The Dark Lady some people supposed. I bet most of her plays and all of her sonnets would have been dismissed as some Elizabethan version of ye olde "chick lit," only to be resurrected centuries later by stubborn feminist scholars."

And this is my favourite bit:

"Indeed, as long men are taken seriously when they write about the female half of the world -- and women aren't taken seriously when writing about themselves much less about men or male affairs -- the list of Great Authors will be more about power than about talent."

[via After Ellen]

Posted by Keris on July 10, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 3, 2007 12:47 PM

Why we love Austen... or not?

An article in Salon.com (via Bookninja) suggests that the recent resurgence in popularity of Miss Jane Austen is because, as one interviewee suggests: "Everybody really wants to be Jane... to wear long ball gowns and go to dances and be genteel.” Also: we love the romance... bless our pretty little heads.

Surely there's a little more to it than that? The quality of the writing, the subtle social satire? Anyone?

Related: The Austen backlash begins.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on July 3, 2007 in Book Websites, British Authors, Classic Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 28, 2007 10:10 AM

BJD TV: What would Bridget watch?

Cultclassicweek_2 All is revealed (thanks to the power of conjecture) over on TV Scoop!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 28, 2007 in Cult classic week, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Television | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 27, 2007 5:59 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Diana You'll now no doubt all be aware of Tina Brown's book, The Diana Chronicles, released in time for the ten-year anniversary of Princess Diana's death. (Find out what The Guardian thought of it here).

So my question to you this week is simple: do you want to read it, or not? Is it an honourable tribute, or exploitation?

Do you care?!

Basically: is it a Yay or a 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!]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 27, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 21, 2007 7:25 PM

THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: You tell us!

Yep, call it a cop-out or call it (more accurately of course) gauging mass opinion, this week I'm asking you, the reader to tell us: who's your favourite Trailblazer? By Trailblazer, we mean someone who did something new and exciting, left their mark on the literary world. I've got lots of ideas for future weeks but this week, I want to hear from you.

It could be a chick lit author, a "classics" type, or even a man(!)... or it could be someone we've already featured (scroll down to see them all). It could even be a few people!

Tell us who your Trailblazer is...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 21, 2007 in Book related, Opinion, Thursday Trailblazer | Permalink | Comments (6)

Just (don't?) help yourself! - How self-help books could sabotage your love life...

I'm not someone who believes in judging people by their choice of reading matter. (Actually in all honesty that's probably not true: I just don't like to be judged myself!) Anyway, this entertaining article in Nerve.com is all about the problems that being a regular visitor to the self-help section can cause when you're looking for love.

What do you think: should self-help books be hidden at the start (or even during) a relationship? Or if you really like someone, doesn't it matter? Or (say it ain't so!) have you never even read one and don't really care?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 21, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you don't read chick lit, you shouldn't really criticise it

Yep, I'm cross again. One of my biggest pet peeves is people criticising chick lit when they quite clearly haven't read any (or at least not much).

In Rachel Kramer Bussel's Huffington Post interview with Anna David, author of Party Girl, David says,

To me, chick lit describes the kind of book that focuses on a girl with very simple and superficial needs─there doesn't tend to be a great deal of subtext, the characters don't seem very nuanced and the biggest lesson is often that a girl is much happier when she has a guy.

Here I wrote a book about the most important and profound experience I'd ever had─getting and staying sober─and it's being categorized among books about wearing Manolo Blahniks while trying to land a guy?

Do you want to send her a copy of Rachel's Holiday or shall I?

Posted by Keris on June 21, 2007 in American Authors, Debut Novels, Marian Keyes, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

June 20, 2007 5:02 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Now, I think a hardback book makes a lovely present, especially if it has a gorgeous cover, like this one.

But Henrietta Clancy in The Guardian books blog puts forward the opinion that a paperback is better: more portable, easier to read and who cares about the pretty?!

So I'd like to know what you think: in the hardback vs paperback wars, who wins?

Hardback books: is it a Yay or a Nay... and why?

And! I nearly forgot... I said I'd give my opinion of women-only prizes like the Orange this week. Well... I love 'em. The Orange consistently shortlists books that sound 10 times more appealing to me than those that win, say, The Booker, And most literary prizes still favour men, so I think it's still needed, too!

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!]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 20, 2007 in Book related, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (8)

June 14, 2007 5:38 PM

BOOK REVIEW: The Big Fat Bitch Book For Girls by Kate Figes

Bitchbk This week, I read The Big Fat Bitch Book For Girls... or did I read The Big Fat Bitch Book for Grown-Up Girls? Yes, this is one of those confusing, split-in-half books that you turn upside down halfway through: one side is aimed at teenage girls, the other at women. And that's not the only confusing aspect of this book (but more on that later)...

The Big Fat Bitch Book... is an interesting and worthwhile idea: it's a look at the history of bitching in life and on the big and small screens as well as an exploration of the role of bitching in women's lives. Is it an important bonding experience - or a form of bullying that hurts far more than physical aggression? Kate Figes shows that bitching can be both.

Back to the confusion thing, though - the book is an odd mix of iconic bitchy quotes from stars like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (those legendary feuders!) and films like Mean Girls and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf... mixed in with devastating stories of the effect truly bitchy behaviour can have on girls' and women's self esteem. This would have been better as a study of bitchery which asked us all to be a bit nicer or as a book for teenage girls (or their mothers) about how to cope with bullying bitching. OR it could have been devoted to good-natured bitching without delving into the darker side. It's hard to read about a fifteen year-old who self harms because of the bitchy remarks of girls at school and then to laugh about Katharine Hepburn slagging off Shirley Temple, for example. It seems like Kate Figes's argument is enjoy bitching... but not too much. It's a confusing message. If your moral argument is we all need to think more about what we say, don't then glorify hurtful remarks, however iconic.

I also didn't like the two books in one deal - I think it meant some of the material was repeated and while it's a fun gimmick, again, it meant the book wasn't very (my watchword of the week!) cohesive.

While I may seem very criticial, I did for the most part enjoy this book, even as I found its messages more than mixed. (But I mean that in the kindest possible way...)

Rating: 3 out of 5

Like this? Try Watching the English by Kate Fox

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 14, 2007 in British Authors, Girly Stuff, Non Fiction, Opinion, Rating: 3/5, Recent Release | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 1, 2007 11:51 AM

Two takes on call-girl lit - is it sexy or squalid?

Tracy Quan, author of the (fictional) Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl which has been optioned by Sony Pictures and Darren Star, talks exclusively to Bookslut. Quan admits she's been accused of glamorising prostitution. On her fabulously insightful publishing ishoos blog, Danuta Kean talks about 'The Squalid Truth About Call-Girl Lit'.

We'd love to hear your thoughts: do you love it or hate it?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on June 1, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 31, 2007 7:37 AM

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

Posted by Keris on May 31, 2007 in American Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 29, 2007 2:15 PM

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

Posted by Keris on May 29, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 28, 2007 11:15 AM

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.

Posted by Aigua Media on May 28, 2007 in Book related, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 22, 2007 10:07 AM

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?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 22, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (7)

May 16, 2007 5:00 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

If you're a long-time Trashionista reader, you'll know by now what a 'blook' is, but if you're new (hello and welcome!) you might not, so I'll explain: it's just a blog turned into a book.

The annual Blooker Prize for the best blook of the year has just been announced, and the winner (netting himself a nice wad with the $10,000 prize) is Colby Buzzell, whose memoir My War: Killing Time in Iraq most impressed the judging panel. But should it have?

From now on, US soldiers will not be allowed to write 'mili-blogs' about their time in Iraq or any other part of the world. Do you agree this is for the best? Is it okay if their time in the military is over, or is it always too dangerous a compromise to national security? Will more soldiers be traumatised if they can't set down their thoughts? Is it okay to write it all down as long as it's not published, or is it always too risky? Is freedom of expression too important to be censored in this way - or is the military right? That's a lot of questions, but it all boils down to just one:

Should soldiers be allowed to write blogs, books or blooks about their experiences? 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!]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 16, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Book Websites, Book related, Memoirs, Opinion, Recent Release, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (4)

May 14, 2007 12:12 PM

E-readers reviewed by The Guardian and Shiny Shiny

We've talked about e-books before, but none of us at Trashionista has actually tried an e-reader, so I found this article in The Guardian, in which BBC journalist Andrew Marr tested one out, very interesting.

Inspired by that article, our sister site Shiny Shiny covers the full range of e-readers and gives you their opinion - well worth a read!

Technology archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 14, 2007 in Book related, Opinion, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 10, 2007 9:42 AM

What's on your bedside table?

Book-wise, I mean - we don't need to know about any mouldy coffee cups! Sarah Crown at The Guardian books blog asked the question last week, inspired by a regular feature in Mslexia. I'm not just linking to that because she mentioned me (promise!), but because I'm interested:

What are you reading now?

What else do you have lined up?

Basically, what's on your bedside table, and why?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 10, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (10)

May 9, 2007 11:37 AM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Annak You know how classic novels can sometimes be a bit... long?

Well now Orion has released a series of classics all of which have been "sympathetically edited" - or cruelly chopped, depending on your point of view.

Vanity Fair, The Mill on the Floss and Anna Karenina all now come in at under 400 pages for the first time ever. [Via The Guardian].

So is this a great way of encouraging reluctant readers to pick up the classics? Or is it sacrilege? Would you rather read a more pacey version that's seen the sharp pencil of a modern editor, or do you want to battle through the book as it was originally intended? In other words...

Classics in half the time : is it a Yay or a 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!]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 9, 2007 in Book related, Classic Novels, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (6)

May 8, 2007 10:57 AM

YA author Maureen Johnson's book The Burmudez Triangle banned!

We seem to hear a lot about American school libraries banning books - Harry Potter has come under fire a lot. And Judy Blume was never very popular with parents, was she?!

But YA chick lit author Maureen Johnson was surprised to find out that her book The Bermudez Triangle was tossed from a school library in Oklahoma. One mother complained that lesbian content and underage sex and drinking were not suitable topics for her (get this) 15 year old daughter to be reading about. Fellow YA author John Green has apparently called for a letter-writing protest campaign, while Meg Cabot teases she's just jealous that her books never get banned!

April 30, 2007 3:29 PM

Book covers: are eggs the new butterflies (which are the new feet)?

Phew, are you still with me?!

Author Justine Larbalestier was interested in our feature on Butterflies being the new book cover trend for women's fiction (taking over from feet, of course). Her new book, Magic's Child also has a butterfly-themed cover. She says that she'd rather see butterflies than dismembered women with heads or feet 'chopped off' but scroll down and she reveals...

That the next book cover trend seems to be: eggs!

Eggs1

A reference to ovaries, or just a nice symmetrical image - who knows?!

What do you think to these cover trends - and what would you like to see next? (Or do you *cough* not really care?)

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 30, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (6)

April 26, 2007 11:46 AM

Another cover 'snap'!

Trashionista writer Danielle thoroughly enjoyed Sara Manning's Let's Get Lost, a book that's won almost as many plaudits for the coolness of the cover as the fabness of the story...

Here's the coolness in action:

Sarramanning1

Pretty, no? And unusual looking, too... So imagine my surprise when I found another young adult author has almost exactly the same cover:

Carry on over the cut to see...

...the cover of Sarah Dessen's new book Just Listen: Sarahdessen1

Don't even try to tell me that's not "inspired by"! I know it's the publishers fault, never the author's, and Sarah Dessen's book, a newcomer to my toppling review pile, looks very interesting. But really!

At least Puffin have time to pull their socks up and change the cover: it's not released until July...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 26, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Debut Novels, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion, Recent Release, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (2)

April 25, 2007 8:45 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week, we talked about whether a new Sense and Sensibility was a good thing and scored a big fat yay from my co-ed Keris and a slightly more reluctant yay from our editor-in-chief Gemma.

This week, I'm getting controversial. Waterstones recently published its top 100 books of the last twenty-five years as decided by 5000 of the book chain's staff ... and only TWENTY-SEVEN of them are by women! Whaaa...? Man

Is it possible that they're right: do men write better books than women?

Tell us what you think: is it a Yay or a Nay - and WHY?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

[Picture courtesy of Getty Images].

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 25, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (5)

April 23, 2007 12:46 PM

Did Janet Evanovich invent chick lit?

As usual, I'm months behind on my magazine reading, so I've just come across an interview with author Janet Evanovich in February's Writer's Digest. Asked if other authors were writing crossover romance/mysteries when she began the Stephanie Plum series, Janet answers:

No. There were people writing with humor but [it wasn't a] broad humor. My humor is like "I Love Lucy." So I think I brought more humor in and created the romance hybrid. I hate to take credit for chick lit - and I don't think I can - but I contributed to it. And I don't think what I write is chick lit, but I think that the people who came after me and created chick lit were looking at Stephanie Plum.

We didn't include Evanovich in our Top 10 Chick Lit Precursors list, but should we have done? One For the Money was published in 1994, which puts her ahead of both Helen Fielding and Marian Keyes (who are usually in contention for the crown), but that would depend on whether the Stephanie Plum series is chick lit or not. What do you think?

Posted by Keris on April 23, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (6)

April 11, 2007 4:15 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week, we talked about acknowledgements - and acknowledged that most of us love reading them, although not everyone agreed... click over there to find out more! Sad confession: I love to mentally draft and re-draft mine - for that book I haven't written. (Yet). Moving on...

Last week we were talking about the HUGE advance likely to be paid British funny woman Dawn French for her memoirs. This week, it turns out all predictions were under the mark: her story is actually apparently worth £2 million. But what do you think: is anyone's life worth that much? Do you dream of a big advance one day (most authors won't get near it) or do you begrudge the fact that big-name authors get huge amounts of money thrown at them, while most writers toil in garrets? Should publishers be investing that cash in a wide range of authors, instead? Or do the famous people make it all back (some of the time) so it shouldn't matter? Is a huge advance more justifiable if (as in Dawn's case, I think) there's no ghostwriter?

So many questions! But it all boils down to one: big advances (especially for famous people) - is it a Yay or a Nay, and why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 11, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Celebrity Authors, Memoirs, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (10)

April 4, 2007 4:16 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Because I'm the nosy type ~~with no life of her own~~ I always enjoy reading acknowledgments - especially if they're quirkily-phrased or the author has an impressive roll call of famous friends.

But some authors do go on a bit, don't they? This piece in the Guardian arts blog asks if authors should ramble on so much - or is there a limit? Is it tacky to do a Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars and thank everyone you've ever known, or is it sweet and only right?

Tell us what you think: is is a Yay or a Nay, and why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 4, 2007 in Book related, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (7)

April 3, 2007 4:36 PM

Are butterflies the new feet?

Awolff (...And other weird questions you'll only find at Trashionista!)

We've been talking a lot about book covers lately: are UK ones nicer than their US counterparts? Jill (Interestingly, we're most split down cultural lines on that one, so publishers are doing something right!) Why do so many books look like those of another author? And of course - what's with all the feet on chick lit books?

Well, if these two book covers (and others like them - this seems to be a trend) are anything to go by, feet may be about to be ousted by butterflies! It's obvious really - what are modern women interested in apart from shoes and insects? Seriously though, I welcome the change but would like a little more variety in cover design... What do you think?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on April 3, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

March 28, 2007 6:38 PM

UK's only gay bookshop under threat

You mean a bookshop can have a sexual orientation - whatever next? Ho ho. I joke, but this is serious: Gay's the Word in London, the only gay bookshop in the UK dedicated to gay and lesbian authors, needs to raise £20,000 or risk closure. Many-time Booker nominee and openly gay author Ali Smith said: "It'd be a political, cultural, communal and human loss if it went. The independents will be on the up again soon in a big way as readers get increasingly fed up of the three-for-two faceless chainstores." [Via The Guardian]

I like a good chainstore as much as the next person, but it's sad that independents are doing so badly. And they're not the only ones: Borders is to retreat from the UK and Waterstones's profits have been falling, causing them to reduce their stock. Looks like the mighty Amazon may soon be all-conquering...

What do you think?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 28, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 27, 2007 4:10 PM

In defence of romantic novels

At the risk of incurring the wrath of literary snobs (as I did a couple of weeks ago when I blogged that chick lit... could be good), Guardian books blog writer Henrietta Clancy is today standing up for that frequently maligned genre, the romance novel. In particular, Mills and Boon.

Do we have any big romantic fiction fans out there? I'd always prefer chick lit and, to be honest, romance doesn't appeal to me (maybe I'm just not very romantic) but, of course, I won't sneer at anybody who enjoys it! Unlike some people.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 27, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Romance | Permalink | Comments (3)

March 26, 2007 4:38 PM

It's hard out there for a critic

Aatrash Finally! Some recognition... Author Meg Rosoff recently wrote about how hard it can be to be a book reviewer - very true! It's a hard, hard life...

But she also talks about how, after finding writing a bad review an unpleasant experience, she now only reviews books she enjoys. Which is good for her, I guess - but it wouldn't be very democratic if everyone did that, surely? We need good and bad reviews, don't we?

Well, here at Trashionista, we review whatever we read, and always tell you honestly what we think. And we think you like us for it - don't you?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 26, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 21, 2007 12:42 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week, we decided that accuracy and great writing were more important than having been to the place you're writing about - thanks for all your great responses!

This week, Muriel Grey, chairwoman of the Orange Prize judging panel has really been stirring things up by claiming that women's fiction is dull, concentrating on trivial concerns and lacking in grand literary ambitions. (Read more of her opinions here - and an excellent rejoinder here).

Do you agree - should women be attempting more epic literary works, or is that not what women want to read? Are books about political coups inherently more worthwhile than ones about single motherhood? Should men and women be writing the same kind of books? Does it matter what a book's about, as long as it's good? And finally...

Is Muriel right? - Tell us what you think: Yay or Nay, and why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 21, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (7)

March 20, 2007 12:10 PM

Adaptation: tricky, but worth it?

Did you see Mansfield Park at the weekend? (I recorded it but have heard mixed reviews!)

What did you think?

An interesting article in The Guardian looks at ethics of adaptation for the small and silver screens and the difficulty of doing justice to the original text - but points out that when it works, it works.

Which is why we devote a regular feature to it every Friday, of course!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 20, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Friday Flick, Opinion, Television | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 15, 2007 4:17 PM

THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: Patricia Highsmith

Apat The Talented Mr Ripley. Ripley's Game. Strangers on a Train. All came from the talented and slightly disturbed mind of Ms Patricia Highsmith, award-winning author of a ream of bestselling crime books which transcended 'genre fiction' (Not that genre fiction is a bad thing!)

I had a Patricia Highsmith-filled summer a few years ago (I like a touch of darkness in my summer reading - too much sun is bad for you) and read all her Ripley books, some short stories and a couple of her other novels. It was a wonderful time! Highsmith was such a great writer with a brilliant talent for creating suspense from thin air, and making the reader care about eminently detestable characters (I found myself hoping Tom Ripley would get away with his crimes!) Her books are much more that whodunits and don't go in for any autopsy description or gore, she's much more interested in psychology and has surely influenced every female (and male) crime writer who followed her.

Highsmith's own life was sometimes the inspiration for her fiction: she wrote a lesbian stalker story, Carol in 1953 (very controversial at the time, so she used a pseudonym) based to some extent on her own experience. It's thought to be the first openly gay novel with a happy ending!

Macabre and dark, Highsmith certainly wasn't a girly girl, but her books aren't heavy or a struggle to read: they capture you and don't let you go.

Read this: The Talented Mr Ripley.

Thursday Trailblazer archives | Crime/mystery archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 15, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Classic Novels, Crime / Mystery, Opinion, Thursday Trailblazer | Permalink | Comments (2)

Elinor Lipman's ode to her mother (and her mother's condiment phobia... yep)

Yes, I know that sounds bizarre!

I was browsing Elinor Lipman's beautifully-designed website the other day, and came across one of the rare essays of hers I haven't read: about her mother, and her mother's phobia of condiments: mayonnaise, ketchup, you name it! It's very funny, and of course, is as much about her relationship with her mum as food phobia. Read it here.

And expect a review of Lipman's latest book, called My Latest Grievance, soon.

Related post: The Mums' Book

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 15, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

In defence of chick lit

I'm sticking up for chick lit (to the dismay of some of my commenters over there!) on the Guardian books blog: read it here.

And if any of you lovely chick lit readers and authors would like to answer chick lit's critics, please hop on over and leave a comment (I think you have to register but it's easy, promise). Ms Shanna Swendson, you'd have something great to say, I just know it... as would so many of you.

*Go chick lit, go chick lit... *

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 15, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (16)

March 14, 2007 5:37 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Thanks for the great responses last week, when we tried to figure out if 'literary' is a term of endearment or abuse! (Not sure what we agreed, but none of us liked lit snobbery).

This week... Stef Penney had good reason to not visit Canada whilst researching her Costa award-winning novel* The Tenderness of Wolves: she was agoraphobic.

But in general, what do you think about writers, for example, setting their books in a country they've never been to, making up geographical details (as Jenny Colgan admitted to doing with her novel Working Wonders) or otherwise not letting accuracy get in the way of a good story?

In other words... is it a Yay or a Nay, and why?

*Guess I was wrong about there not being a woman on the shortlist - slapped wrist for me.

Yay or Nay archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 14, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Prize Winners, Recent Release, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (11)

March 13, 2007 4:22 PM

The Austen backlash begins

Austen Just in time for ITV's upcoming Austen season and to coincide with the release last Friday of Austen biopic Becoming Jane, the BBC and Telegraph books blog are both trotting out the usual cliches that Jane was only writing about crinolines and love affairs (when actually she was writing about women's rights and gently but pointedly satirising the society she lived in, but whatever). And yesterday, Keris reported that even chick lit star Marian Keyes isn't a fan of J.A. Horrors!

If you haven't yet read the fabulous Flirting With Pride & Prejudice, now might be a good time to remind yourself why you love Austen. Unless... maybe... you don't?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 13, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 12, 2007 3:54 PM

BOOK NEWS: Live to Tell by... Madonna's ex-Nanny

Madonna's former nanny Melissa Dumas has obviously been influenced by the success of The Nanny Diaries (now being made into a film) and You'll Never Nanny in this Town Again (which she might find to be true) - she's got a book deal for the September '07 release of her memoir, Live to Tell. No exact details of the contract are available yet but according to Galleycat, she'll get at least a $500, 000 advance.

But should nannies be allowed to tell all? And can't employees prevent it? On one hand, I don't really agree with dishing the dirt on your past employer (if they treated you well, anyway - which begs some questions...), but on the other, I'm as intrigued as anyone else to find out all about the inner workings of the Ritchie household! Should be interesting...

What do you think?

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on March 12, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, Celebrity Authors, Memoirs, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

March 8, 2007 2:23 PM

Best women authors of all time

As a way both of celebrating International Women's Day today and introducing our new Thursday Trailblazer regular feature in which we will look in detail at some of the female authors who have paved the way, we look at twenty women authors we believe to be the best of all time.

Putting then in order would be both impossible and pointless since - as yesterday's Yay or Nay made clear - one woman's Helen Fielding is another's Iris Murdoch. (And, as The Guardian newspaper found recently after describing Martin Amis as Britain's greatest living author, "best" is entirely subjective.)

So you'll find them in alphabetical order after the cut.

Maya Angelou
American poet, memoirist and actress, probably best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Margaret Attwood
Booker Prize-winning Canadian author and poet.

Jane Austen
You don't really need me to tell you about Jane Austen, do you?

Pat Barker
Booker Prize-winning author of the fabulous Regeneration Trilogy.

Enid Blyton
Hugely prolific British children's author.

Charlotte Brontë
Eldest of the Brontë sisters and author of Jane Eyre.

Emily Bronte
Author of Wuthering Heights and sister of Charlotte.

Angela Carter
English novelist and feminist.

Helen Fielding
The Mother of Chick Lit. Probably.

Harper Lee
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Doris Lessing
British author of, amongst other books, the feminist classic The Golden Notebook.

Nancy Mitford
British comic writer and biographer.

Lorrie Moore
American author of short stories.

Alice Munro
Widely considered to be the world's best short story writer.

Iris Murdoch
British author whose novel Under the Net was chosen as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Dorothy Parker
American writer, poet and humourist.

JK Rowling
You may not have heard of her, but she's written a fairly successful series of children's books.

Dodie Smith
Probably best known as the author of The Hundred and One Dalmations, but also the author of the wonderful I Capture the Castle.

Alice Walker
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple.

Virginia Woolf
English novelist, considered one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.

Let us know if you agree or disagree, who you think we've missed or who you don't think should be included.

Posted by Aigua Media on March 8, 2007 in American Authors, British Authors, Classic Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (13)

March 1, 2007 1:45 PM

Ten Books You Can't Live Without

We told you yesterday about World Book Day today and the request for nominations for Ten Books You Can't Live Without.

Of course, there are no books you genuinely, literally can't live without, but here, in no particular order, are the ten books without which my world would be a much sadder place.

10. The Framley Examiner
A collection of utterly ridiculous fake newspaper cuttings that never fail to raise a laugh. Particularly the classified ads: Four hundred and ninety nine "I'm leaving you, Geoffrey" T-shirts. Minimum print run, but slightly excess to requirements. Call 01999 876 431, but hang up if Geoffrey answers.

9. Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
If you haven't read it yet, why not?

8. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
I know it's cheating, but I would need the whole series.

7. The Wish List by Barbara Ann Kipfer
Ridiculous collection of "ideas for things to do, see, taste, learn, and experience" that I bought for 5 cents in the US years ago. Includes suggestions such as "put on a burlap sack, belt it, and call it a dress" that I haven't done (yet!) and others like "pay my bills by telephone" that I have. Genuinely inspirational and unintentionally hilarious.

6. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Funniest. Book. Ever.

5. An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan
The story of Keenan's kidnapping by Shi'ite militiamen in Beirut. Inspirational, shocking, funny, moving and, unfortunately, just as relevant now as when it was written fifteen years ago.

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Of course.

3. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The most inspirational (and hilarious) book on writing I've ever read. And I've read lots.

2. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
My all-time favourite novel.

1. The Joy Diet by Martha Beck
My favourite non-fiction book. Read this book and learn to live better.

So there's mine, now please tell us yours!

Posted by Keris on March 1, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

February 15, 2007 2:33 PM

Munchkin's Bookshelf

I asked you last week about your favourite independent bookshops and Susan Helene Gottfried recommended this one, Munchkin's Bookshelf, which looks fantastic. And not just because it looks like Meg Ryan's shop in You've Got Mail.

Any other recommendations?

Posted by Keris on February 15, 2007 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

February 13, 2007 8:41 AM

More Maureen Dowd

We're all understandably bothered by the Maureen Dowd business, but author Whitney Gaskell's response, quoted on Galleycat, made me laugh the most: "Hey, Maureen, 2003 called, it wants its column back."

Whitney goes on to sum my feelings up perfectly: "How many chick lit critics have actually read beyond the cover copy? They always seem to miss the fact that behind the pink covers, books in this genre are often thoughtful and richly drawn, covering topics from rape to infidelity, from infertility to finding one's path in life. In other words, they're books that are relevant and real to the women who read them."

Seriously, how many times are we going to have to go over this?

Posted by Keris on February 13, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 12, 2007 9:23 AM

Old timey chick lit bashing

You've probably already read about journalist Maureen Dowd's New York Times column complaining about the ubiquitousness of chick lit so I won't bother going over it here, except to say that it's interesting, isn't it, how much press chick lit gets considering it's supposedly over (even if it is in dated, ill-informed, lazy* articles like Dowd's).

* Dowd informed New York Times readers that chick lit is not only popular, but that it has split into sub-genres like Assistant chick lit and Brit chick lit (citing Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging as an example, despite the fact that if Dowd had an ounce of sense she'd realise that's a Young Adult book and not a representative example of Brit chick lit).

Posted by Keris on February 12, 2007 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

February 8, 2007 5:45 PM

What's your favourite bookshop?

This piece in Galleycat yesterday on declining sales in independent bookshops inspired me.

You've shared your feelings about independents before and I also asked about your ideal bookshop, so today I thought I'd ask you to recommend your favourite independent bookshops.

And just so you don't think I'm trying to get you to do my job for me, I've started us off with one of mine (oh yes, I've got more than one) ... over the cut.

I haven't been to this shop, but I only need to go on the Olivia & Co website to feel relaxed. It's a used bookstore in Picton, Ontario - I've actually been to Picton, but didn't find out about the shop until afterwards! - with over 20,000 books and, judging by the photo gallery, a resident cat.

Posted by Aigua Media on February 8, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (5)

January 26, 2007 5:09 PM

Oprah’s latest bookclub choice

Is The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier.

While this is I’m sure an interesting and well-written memoir, I’m kind of put off by the fact that Sidney Poitier is one of Oprah’s closest friends, but should I be? What do you think?

Posted by Keris on January 26, 2007 in Book News, Book related, Memoirs, Non Fiction, Opinion, Television | Permalink | Comments (2)

How much for a review?

You’ve heard of vanity publishing, how about vanity reviewing? Online magazine Slate reports that Amazon.com's print-on-demand division, BookSurge, offers a 'personally crafted review written by "New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Tanner Marsh"' to authors for $399.

We’ve discussed before whether online reviews can be trusted and now, with this news, it seems they really can’t.

Posted by Keris on January 26, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 25, 2007 4:03 PM

New Little House on the Prairie covers

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series of novels celebrates its 75th anniversary this month with the first eight stories being published with photographic rather than illustrated covers.

Tara Weikum, executive editor for the "Little House" series, thought the illustrated covers might be perceived as old-fashioned. "We wanted to convey the fact that these are action-packed. There were dust storms and locusts. And they had to build a cabin from scratch." [via Galleycat]

I like them and I must admit, I do love the new tag line: "Little House, Big Adventure." What do you think?

Posted by Keris on January 25, 2007 in American Authors, Classic Novels, Opinion, Series | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 18, 2007 11:29 AM

How to write a book review... kind of

This wry little piece by Miles Kington in The Independent at first seems like it tells you how to write a book review... but is actually poking fun at reviewers's egos!

See, some of us can laugh at ourselves... and actually, it probably would work as a guide! (I'm sure I've done some of those things before... oops).

[Via B2B].

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 18, 2007 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 17, 2007 1:58 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Bj_2 Back on Monday, I told you that Anne Hathaway will play Jane Austen in an upcoming film about the classic author's young life called Becoming Jane.

So we now have Americans portraying Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter and ultimate chick-lit heroine Bridget Jones.

But should they? Is it necessary in order to pull in crowds at the box office? Does it matter, as long as the accent - I mean performance - is good? Or should we be giving British actresses more of a chance? (And if you're American, what do you think?)

Americans playing classic English heroines - tell us, is it a Yay or a Nay, and why?

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

Photo courtesy of BBC online.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 17, 2007 in Book related, Classic Novels, Modern Fiction, Movie News, New Releases, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (7)

Book clubs - not just for books?

Anyone who knows me will laugh/nod their head in recognition when I say that I'm far too much of a control freak to be in a book club and have other people set my reading list. Plus, I have way too many books lined up to review! But there's no denying their popularity, and I have enjoyed some of the books about book clubs. (This one more than this one, which I found shocking in its pro-life propaganda - but that's anther story!) And if it's good enough for Rory Gilmore, it can't be a bad idea...

But a recent post on the Galleycat book blog suggested that book clubs are more about gossiping, or wine-drinking, or problem solving than actually talking about books! I can see that might be the case if you're with a group of good girl friends, but perhaps not so much if you're part of a group at say, your local library... Apparently clubs are now evolving to include meals, movie adaptations and other social activities (so more of a get-together than a 'book club' then...)

Are you part of a book club? Do you actually read and discuss the books, or does your attention wander? We'd love to know!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 17, 2007 in American Authors, Book Websites, Book related, British Authors, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 12, 2007 3:46 PM

Can I offer you some Seduction, for free?

Ha - bet that title woke you up on a dreary Friday afternoon (if not, nothing will...)!

I loved Catherine Gildiner's very funny memoir of her unusual Canadian childhood Too Close to the Falls, and now she's written a novel, called Seduction, which for some CRAZY reason isn't available in the UK yet. But you can read an excerpt on this website here, and I think it reads a bit like a Jennifer Crusie novel... which can only be a good thing.

Let's hope it hits these shores shortly!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 12, 2007 in Book News, Book related, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chick lit at the Aye Write festival

Chick lit fans in Scotland will be happy to hear about Glasgow’s Aye Write! book festival which will be running from 16 to 25 February. Over 100 authors are appearing including Sophie Kinsella, Jenny Colgan, Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, who will discuss the success of chick lit as well as ‘read from their new work and debate the future of the genre’ at a panel on Saturday 17th at 4pm.

Look out for a special "eyewitness" report from Trashionista’s girl in Glasgow, Nicola Pedley.

Posted by Keris on January 12, 2007 in Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 10, 2007 2:44 PM

The £4,000 book!

Much as I love books, I'd never, never ever even if I was a millionaire, pay £4,000 for one. (Spend that much on lots of different books? Possibly).

But there's obviously a market for exclusive luxury books, as niche publisher Gloria has announced the success of its first book (about Brazilian footie star Pele). The book was priced at £4,000 for a special edition and £1,000 otherwise. Gloria's next book, due in June, is called Superyachts...

To each his own!

[Via The Guardian].

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 10, 2007 in Book News, Book related, British Authors, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion, Recent Release | Permalink | Comments (2)

January 9, 2007 11:28 AM

Gawker on Ann Brashares

Last week we told you about the final book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, and now Gawker reminds us that it wasn’t Ann Brashares’ idea in the first place. They were inspired to point this out by a feature (and slideshow) on Brashares’ New York house in the New York Times and it’s well worth a look if you like nosying at people’s homes (and I really do). (After Brashares described the house as a "bargain," Gawker went on to learn it cost $3.65million. Ouch.)

All snark aside, in the NYT article, Brashares reveals that her first book for adults, The Last Summer (of You & Me) will be published in June. Let’s hope she came up with the idea for that one herself.

Posted by Keris on January 9, 2007 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion, Series, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 4, 2007 6:39 PM

Augusten Burroughs latest author to face accusations of lying

Yep, another day, another hoax/faux-memoir accusation! Now Augusten Burroughs, whose autobiographical (or so he says) Running with Scissors divulged details of the weird and sometimes sordid time he spent living with his mother's psychiatrist and his family is facing a lawsuit from said family, who say his allegations have caused them stress, illness and irreparable harm to their reputations. They also say he lied. A lot. There's conflicting evidence and so it looks like we'll have to wait for the courts to decide on this one... Honestly. It's enough to make me swear off memoirs...

Well... almost!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on January 4, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, Memoirs, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 2, 2007 4:25 PM

Kitty Kelley on Oprah

Infamous unauthorised biographer Kitty Kelley has chosen Oprah Winfrey as the subject of her next book. Kelley has previously written about celebrities including Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor. Her book about Nancy Reagan was the fastest selling biography in publishing history.

Although controversial, Kelley has never been successfully sued for libel, but her biography of the British Royal Family, The Royals, wasn’t published in the UK due to concerns over libel laws.

Kelley’s publishers claim the author will “interview hundreds of sources, many of whom have never before spoken on the record about her subject.” Something tells me the book isn't destined to be a future Oprah’s Bookclub pick!

[via Publishers Weekly]

Posted by Aigua Media on January 2, 2007 in American Authors, Book News, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 29, 2006 7:24 PM

Top 10 chick lit books of all time

For the final Top 10 of our Top 100 Extravaganza we had to be strict. We wanted to include our own all-time favourites and the books we think are the best chick lit books, but we thought the most influential and successful - the books that, for whatever reason, define the genre - should be included too. Following a flurry of emails (Diane: “We need a Weiner!”), we have our Top 10 Chick Lit Books of All Time. Let us know what you think.

10 Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

I didn’t actually manage to finish Sex and the City the book, although of course I love the TV series. We’ve included the book because it’s been highly influential, although perhaps not in a good way. Many of the critics of chick lit who claim that it’s all about shoes, shopping, drinking and searching for a man are actually thinking of Sex and the City, the TV show, and not chick lit at all. Annoying, but what can you do?

Anyway, it gave us Carrie Bradshaw, so we have to love it, don’t we?

9 Thirtynothing by Lisa Jewell

Thirtynothing is probably my second favourite chick lit book of all time. Like all of Lisa Jewell’s books, the setting is perfect, the characters realistic and believable and it also has one of my favourite ever first chapters. Lisa Jewell is a glorious writer and Thirtynothing is a delightful book. If you haven’t read it, you really should.

8 The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin

One of the most successful books in the Top 10, The Nanny Diaries was so popular its two authors scored an incredible $3 million advance for their second book, Citizen Girl, which they had to return when it turned out to be a stinker. Proof that it’s not that easy to write chick lit after all.

The film adaptation of The Nanny Diaries is due out in April in the US.

7 The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

I haven’t actually read this one yet (I must, I know), but clearly it is the most successful chick lit book of the last few years. The title has become a household name, the book sold millions of copies in hardback, stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for six months and has since been translated into 27 languages and the film’s been both a critical and commercial success. And they say chick lit’s dead. Sheesh.

6 High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Ooh, a controversial one. Yes, I’m aware that Nick Hornby isn’t a woman and that High Fidelity isn’t chick lit, but it’s close enough and influential enough that it has to be here. Plus it’s the book that inspired Lisa Jewell (amongst others) to start writing and that’s good enough for me.

Fever Pitch is often credited as the book that created Lad Lit, but, as I’ve already mentioned, Fever Pitch is non-fiction. High Fidelity was Nick Hornby’s first novel and is the brilliantly written and hugely entertaining story of Rob Fleming’s relationship history. While it is a great book, Nick Hornby has gone on to be critically acclaimed and accepted as literary, unlike any chick lit author I can think of. Now that can just be because he’s a man ... can it?

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5.

5 Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

Welcome to Temptation was Jennifer/Jenny Crusie’s third mass-market (i.e. not romance) novel, but it’s a favourite of anyone who reads Jennifer’s books. Actually, you don’t read Jennifer Crusie’s books, you devour them. Welcome to Temptation has all the essential Crusie ingredients: a feisty heroine, a sexy hero and an arguably even sexier anti-hero in Davy Dempsey. This was the book Diane insisted made it into the Top 10!

4 In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner

My favourite chick lit book of all time, In Her Shoes has got everything - the antagonistic sisterly relationship so popular in chick lit, a love story, personal growth, humour (of course), even an evil stepmother. Plus Jennifer Weiner is the woman most likely to emulate Nick Hornby and be accepted by the literary establishment. But don't hold your breath.

3 The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

This, the first book in the enormously popular series, is yet another example of how much skill is involved in writing an apparently simple book. Kinsella came up with the perfect chick lit conceit: if chick lit is all about shopping, then what about a character who is, quite literally, all about shopping? And it worked. Becky Bloomwood is a charming and hilarious heroine, just on the right side of irritating.

(Look out for the latest Shopaholic book, Shopaholic and Baby, due out in February 2007.)

2 Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes

The Marian Keyes connoisseur’s favourite Marian Keyes book and the chick lit connoisseur’s favourite chick lit book*, Rachel’s Holiday is the story of Rachel Walsh - one of the Walsh sisters who also appear in Watermelon, Angels and Anybody Out There? For anyone who thinks chick lit is lightweight, meaningless and obsessed with shoes and shopping, here’s a book about drug addiction, alcoholism and anorexia (although it was still described as “fluffy” by one of the broadsheets!).

* Both Megan Crane and Hester Browne chose it as their favourite in our author interview.

1 Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones’s Diary may not have been the first chick lit book, but it’s certainly the most famous. Spawning a sequel, two films and introducing “singletons” and “smug marrieds” into the vernacular (not to mention increasing sales of big knickers), Bridget remains the “face” of chick lit. It is also v. v. funny.

Bridget is also the most commonly referenced book and heroine in our weekly author interviews, cited by Laura Zigman, Janet Evanovich, Kelly McClymer, Rebecca Agiewich, Sara Gruen and Deanna Carlyle!

So what do you think? Have we got it right or are we completely wrong? Is your favourite missing or a hated book included? Let us know!

Posted by Aigua Media on December 29, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Debut Novels, Devil Wears Prada, Irish Authors, Marian Keyes, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Sophie Kinsella, Top 100 Extravaganza! | Permalink | Comments (15)

December 28, 2006 1:31 PM

Alison Pace's books of the year

This is the gorgeous cover of Alison Pace's third book, Through Thick and Thin, which isn't due out until August 2007, but you know how much I love beautiful covers and this is a beautiful cover, so I had to share.

Head over to Alison's blog to find out about her favourite books of 2006. A few of them we loved too.

Posted by Keris on December 28, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 27, 2006 12:55 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

The LAST Yay or Nay of the year! So let's make the most of it shall we - BOMBARD us with your opinions, please!

As we've just had Christmas (well, most of us), here's an xmas-themed question. Richard and Judy devoted a whole TV show/book party to discussing the best Christmas gift books... but do you like them? Are Schott's Miscellanys and Almanacs or books answering all those annoying little questions you've (n)ever wondered about actually worth the money? Do you read them after a quick flick through on December 25th, or are they consigned to a dusty old corner of the book case forever more?

In other words, for the last time this year, please tell us - Is it a Yay or a Nay, and Why?

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

Posted by Aigua Media on December 27, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion, Recent Release, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (5)

December 26, 2006 3:00 PM

Top 10 Lad Lit

Our Top 100 Extravaganza continues with a look at the boys' version of chick lit: lad lit.

10 Dead Famous by Ben Elton

Ben Elton’s books are hugely successful and Dead Famous, with its Big Brother show style setting, was bound to be a hit. The back cover reads "One house, ten contestants, thirty cameras, forty microphones, one murder... and no evidence." Who wouldn’t want to read that?!

"The idea is brilliant, but unfortunately the book itself just doesn't live up to expectations. It is not Ben Elton's finest effort, but for those who can persevere with it the ending is pretty good."

9 Just Like Heaven by Marc Levy

Released originally in 2000 as If Only It Were True, Marc Levy’s debut was reissued under the name Just Like Heaven to coincide with the film adaptation. It’s the story of Lauren, a resident in a busy ER department and what happens when she ends up in a coma following a car crash. Arthur moves into her former apartment and finds ... Lauren.

"I would definitely recommend this book to anyone as a quick and enjoyable read."

8 A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is arguably the father of lad lit. It all began with Fever Pitch (which is ironic, since it’s non-fiction). Anyway, it’s New Years Eve and four people have gathered on the roof of Topper's House with the intention of ending it all. Instead, they end up talking about their lives and getting to know each other.

"I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. I don't think its quite up there with some of his previous efforts, but it is still definitely worth a read."

7 The Three Day Rule by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees.

Yes, I know Josie Lloyd isn’t a lad, but Emlyn surely is and it didn’t seem fair to leave him out. The book follows the Thorne family, unhappily spending Christmas at their father's house on a remote Cornish Island.

"I truly wasn't expecting anything amazing when I opened this book, but a couple of pages in and I was already hooked. I'd go as far as to say that this is one of the best books I've read this year. It doesn't try too hard, it touches on a lot of issues without ramming them down your throat, it’s equal parts funny and tragic, and it all ties up nicely at the end in perfect 'happily ever after(ish)' Christmas style. Definitely recommended for escaping your family this Christmas!"

6 Mr Nice Guy by Thomas Dowler

Fed up of getting rejections on his manuscript, Thomas took things into his own hands self-published, giving away his debut novel as a free e-book and audio book, via his website.

"It's written in a very pacey, snappy style ... and there were some unexpected twists and turns ... it wasn't predictable but it did deliver the happy ending I hoped for."

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5. Any guesses on who might be at number one? (Here's a clue: it's not Marian Keyes.)

5 Mr Commitment by Mike Gayle

Mike Gayle is another lad lit success story and Mr Commitment tells the tale of Duffy, whose life is not going to plan. So he decides to marry his girlfriend. As you do.

"I am really pleased I perservered with reading this book. I found myself desperate to get back to reading it whenever I was supposed to be doing something else. Definitely one to read!"

4 Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About by Mil Millington

I know we only reviewed it earlier today, but it’s so great we couldn’t leave it out.

"Yes, it is sarcastic and facetious, but it somehow manages to be charming and sweet at the same time. Most of all though, it’s just really, really funny. Read it. You won’t be sorry."

3 The Food of Love by Anthony Capella

Anthony Capella’s debut is a modern-day re-telling of the classic story, Cyrano de Bergerac, set to a backdrop of gorgeous Italian cuisine.

"This book is a great read but beware, it's written with such passion that it makes you want to eat, so make you have stocked up on all the ingredients for a good Italian meal prior to reading because you will suddenly become convinced that you can cook."

2 How I Paid for College by Marc Acito

Edward, a high-school senior in 1980s New Jersey, is desperate to study acting at the prestigious Julliard in New York City but his overbearing father has refused to pay and his flaky mother is incommunicado. And so Edward hatches a number of outrageous schemes to fund his college education.

"A fabulous, over-the-top, brilliantly written, laugh-a-minute American lad lit (is that enough adjectives yet?!) novel that I can’t recommend enough to anyone with a sense of humour and a pulse."

1 The Family Way by Tony Parsons

Tony Parsons is probably the most high-profile lad lit writer after Nick Hornby. The Family Way focuses on three sisters, all reaching the time of their lives when children are on the agenda. The book follows the trials and tribulations of all three sisters as they follow the path their hearts have set them.

"This is a book that will take you through a complete rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I even shouted out loud at a couple of points - would have been great if the characters could have heard me! I would definitely recommend this book very strongly to anyone. It has something for everyone, irrespective of age or gender."

So what do you think? Have we included your favourite lad lit tales or is there a book you think we've missed?

Posted by Keris on December 26, 2006 in Book related, British Authors, Debut Novels, Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Romance, Top 100 Extravaganza! | Permalink | Comments (3)

December 21, 2006 8:02 PM

Top 10 burning book questions

Our Top 100 Extravaganza continues with the most-discussed questions from our weekly Yay or Nay feature along with some of your comments.

10 Can book bloggers be trusted?

After author Susan Hill suggested book bloggers hold more power than the traditional press and John Sutherland claimed online book reviewers just enjoy “shooting off their mouths”, we asked if book bloggers have as much sway as the traditional media.

Shanna: “The traditional media doesn't tend to cover the kinds of books I want to read.”

Newsbitch: “As a public, us readers are the ones paying for the books so why shouldn't we be entitled to our own opinion?”

9 Should children’s books only be read by children?

In these days of adult/children crossover books (Harry Potter, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, His Dark Materials, etc.) are we happy to read a kids book on the train?

Ms Mac: "Good writing should not be restricted to the demographic some anonymous bod has deemed it appropriate for."

Shanna: "The way I look at it, the authors I loved as a child and young adult didn't stop writing just because I grew up, so why should I stop reading their books?"

8 Can a film adaptation ever be as good as the book?

Inspired by the release of The Devil Wears Prada movie, we asked if a film adaptation can ever match up to the source material, or is something always lost in translation?

Shanna: "It's a very, very rare case when the film is better than the book, simply because so much has to be cut to fit the film into a reasonable length, and that usually messes with the plot and characterization."

Camilla: "I have a feeling Devil Wears Prada is going to be much better as a film." (See if we agreed.)

7 Should books by convicted criminals ever be published?

Following the outcry about the proposed OJ Simpson book (subsequently dropped by the publisher), and news of Jeffrey Archer’s latest book deal, we asked how you felt about books by convicted criminals.

Charlene: "Sure, let them write a book, BUT the profits go to charity or the victims, if they can't agree to that, then their books should not be published."

Ms Mac: "I say let them publish whatever they like. None of us have to buy or read them."

6 Do you want your partners to read your work?

After hearing that Gordon Ramsay apparently refused to read his wife's cook book, we asked how you would feel if your partner didn't want to read your work - rejected ... or relieved?

Maz: "All men should just be left to their own devices. After all, nobody made anybody write anything in the first place."

Charlene: "I think the operative word here is "read." My dh doesn't read anything except the daily newspaper."

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5 and the year's number one burning book question!

5 The new Jane Austen cover designs.

After author Deborah Moggach claimed the chick lit style covers of the Austen reissues 'demean' the author, we asked if you agreed!

Luisa: "I like them! I'm all for it!"

Gemma: "I'm really on the fence. I think in some ways it makes perfect sense to rebrand them in a chick lit style, after all she was one of the first real chick lit writers ... but at the same time I always think Austen books should be in those 99p 'classics' jackets, with old paintings on ..."

4 Celebrity authors.

With the current trend of famous people being given contracts to write books (Katie Price, Nicole Richie, Pamela Anderson for a few examples), we asked if you think it's right that these writers get contracts purely because of the fame.

Victoria: "It's irritating when they're purporting to have 'created' some work of fiction of their own, when in fact what they've done is ramble on about 'that time in the Viper Room' and settle some 'too libellous for the autobiography' scores under the guise of fiction, while the poor ghostwriter cobbles a novel out of it."

Gemma: "If they actually write the books themselves, why not. But too often the whiff of ghostwriter is in the air and it's a bit too fishy for me."

3 Is it okay to use famous dead people as characters in a novel?

Eve Pollard's new book Jack's Widow - in which JFK's widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is depicted in fictional form as a spy for the CIA - was the inspiration for this one. Should we be more respectful of the deceased, or is this a way of keeping their memory alive?

Melanie: "I think it's better to read about someone who's sorta-like-this-one-person, but has their own issues and flaws and personality. If Pollard's character had been based on a first lady from the 60s with a kick-ass wardrobe and unflappable grace to boot ... well, there would be speculation but no family members could chew her out for her imposed character flaws."

Camilla: "What next, Princess Diana as a KGB secret agent? Whoops, that was probably the sequel."

2 Can men write romantic fiction?

Reader, I Married Him host Daisy Goodwin suggested that few men enjoy, or enjoy writing, romantic fiction. Did you agree?

F G Gerson: "But of course. Chick-lit is very inclusive ... and extremely alluring beyond gender: modern, fun to read, fun to write! I'm a straight French man (whatever that means) shamelessly writing chick-lit for Red Dress Ink (and sort of proud of it)."

Jenni: "It's unfortunate that the number of men writing is so small - that way when you come across one or two that you don't like it can cloud your judgement of the rest."

1 Do you love a raunchy read or do you wish authors would leave it out?

Typical. All these interesting discussions and it was the smut that got you all going!

Linda: "Yay, yay and thrice yay. I love a bit of raunchiness, and the worse it is, the better."

Shanna: "If it fits the story, is in character, and is done well, then Yay. Otherwise, Nay."

Dataceptionist: "I love the bedroom scenes, but you gotta work up to them, set the scene, or they feel awful. If it's really bad it's good to laugh at though."

It's not too late to chime in on any of the above! Let us know what you think.

Yay or Nay archives

Posted by Keris on December 21, 2006 in Book related, Opinion, Top 100 Extravaganza!, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (29)

December 20, 2006 1:43 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week you were unanimous in your willingness to read outside your demographic (i.e. young adult and children’s books).

This week I’ve been thinking about TV book clubs. A recent article in The Times examined The Richard & Judy effect: the process whereby a book recommended by the couple on their afternoon chat show immediately results in an enormous increase in sales. So much so that the Bookseller magazine suggests Richard and Judy’s recommendations are responsible for one in every 50 books sold in Britain! A similar phenomenon has been seen with Oprah Winfrey’s book club in the US.

Surely this can only be a good thing, particularly since there is so little book-related broadcasting in the UK. Not necessarily. Arts broadcaster Mark Lawson recently complained that, by picking books that would probably have done well without their help, Richard and Judy follow rather than lead public opinion.

There’s been criticism of the Oprah Book Club too. Jonathan Franzen’s comment that books chosen by Oprah were schmaltzy and one-dimensional led to the talk show host retracting her invitation to feature his book, The Corrections. (Following Oprah’s original endorsement, Franzen's publisher had increased the initial print run from 80,000 copies to 800,000 - proof of the Oprah effect!) [via a really interesting article at Moby Lives]

Thanks to Richard and Judy, I’ve read and enjoyed a bunch of books I wouldn’t otherwise have picked up. If because of Oprah, 800,000 people read a book that a tenth would otherwise have read, who’s to complain?

So what do you think? TV bookclubs: Yay or Nay and why?

Yay or Nay archives / Richard and Judy archives

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

Look out for a special Yay or Nay Top 10 tomorrow!

Posted by Aigua Media on December 20, 2006 in Book related, Opinion, Richard and Judy, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (3)

December 19, 2006 4:15 PM

Keris's "Top 10 books I reviewed this year"

Our Top 100 Extravaganza continues with my favourite books of the year (read Diane’s list here). Like Diane, I limited myself to books I read for the first time this year and, because I’m doing a Top 10 Young Adult list, I didn’t include any young adult books here.

Don’t forget to tell us about your favourite books of the year.

10 Little Lady, Big Apple by Hester Browne

The sequel to The Little Lady Agency, Little Lady, Big Apple follows Melissa’s adventures with her etiquette and grooming agency. As you can guess from the title, she’s off to New York.

"It's a testament to the strength and charm of the characters that when I sat down to read I felt I was catching up with old friends (even though I only read the first book last week). It's fun, funny and sweet."

9 Pick Me Up by Zoe Rice

Pick Me Up is the story of Izzy who works in an art gallery and loves Robbie Williams. Clearly, I was destined to love her. And I did.

"I really enjoyed this book. Izzy's a charming, down-to-earth character and the supporting cast is great fun too. There are laugh-out-loud moments and an enormously romantic ending."

8 Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston

The follow up to the enormously successful Sophie’s Bakery for the Broken-hearted brilliantly chronicles the breakdown of a marriage.

"I've never read a book where wanting more than one person at the same time is portrayed so convincingly. I had no idea who to root for. I wanted everyone to be happy. Winston writes about the minutiae of life beautifully."

7 Ex and the Single Girl by Lani Diane Rich

I hate to compare Lani Diane Rich to Jennifer Crusie - because everyone does - but I have the same confidence in Lani’s books as I do in Jennifer Crusie’s. I just know I’m going to get an entertaining and involving story and Ex and the Single Girl didn’t let me down.

"Portia is funny and real and Ian is sexy. Ex and the Single Girl is a fun and fast read about following your heart and finding your place in the world."

6 Me vs Me by Sarah Mlynowski

Sarah Mlynowski is an author at the top of her game and Me vs Me is her first foray into chick lit paranormal. Unable to decide whether to stay in Arizona and marry her boyfriend or move to New York for a great job opportunity, Gabby wishes (on a star) that she could do both. And she does.

"I really loved this book. It’s an original and interesting idea, entertainingly executed."

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5.

5 Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

Jennifer Crusie is one of our Top 10 chick lit authors and her books are always a cause for celebration. Anyone But You is one of her simpler stories, but it’s full of her usual humour, romance and great sex.

"A lovely, charming, sweet and romantic book. I loved it."

4 Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocello Marchetto

A bit of a departure, Cancer Vixen is a graphic novel and non-fiction so it really shouldn’t be in this list at all, but it’s amazing and inspiring and I couldn’t leave it out.

"The word 'unputdownable' is overused in book reviews. I mean, it's not true, is it? There's no book that you literally can't put down, but there are some books that once you start reading you don't want to stop and, for me, Cancer Vixen was one of those books."

3 Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

Marisa De Los Santos’s debut novel tells, in alternating chapters, the stories of 30-year-old Cornelia and 11-year-old Clare and what happens when their lives intertwine.

"Love Walked In is a beautiful, magical book. It's old-fashioned, cleverly crafted and constantly surprising. The characters all seem utterly real - they are flawed, intelligent and interesting."

2 Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane

I heard a lot about Stupid and Contagious before reading it - it was probably the most-recommended book of the year. I was worried I’d be disappointed. Far from it.

"Stupid and Contagious is extremely funny, it made me cry and when I finished it I could happily have turned back to the first page and started it again. One of the best chick lit books I've ever read."

1 Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes

Marian is a chick lit goddess and number one in our Top 10 chick lit authors list. Her latest book, Anybody Out There?, is also, in my opinion, her best.

"Anybody Out There? made me laugh out loud. It also often gave me that trying-not-to-cry pain in the throat. And once I gave up and sobbed. It made me think. It made me want to move to New York. It's a wonderful story with brilliant, believable characters and a truly satisfying ending."

Top 100 Extravaganza archives

Posted by Keris on December 19, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Debut Novels, Irish Authors, Marian Keyes, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Romance, Top 100 Extravaganza! | Permalink | Comments (7)

What comes after "mommy lit"?

You've probably already seen the New York Times article about "Mom Lit", but the quote from Jennifer Weiner reminded me of something.

She says, “My feeling about my own work is, I could be writing The Aeneid and they would still have to call it chick lit or mommy lit or menopausal old hag lit ... Crone lit - is that what’s coming next?”

Well ... yes. The Times called Sue Hepworth and Jane Linfoot's Plotting for Beginners 'old-boiler-lit'. Charming.

Posted by Keris on December 19, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Debut Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

SPOTLIGHT: Joshilyn Jackson

Inspired by the fact that Diane adored both of her books (and even chose Between, Georgia as her favourite book of the year), I thought I'd shine this week's spotlight on Joshilyn Jackson.

Joshilyn was born and raised in the Deep South of the US. After dropping out of college to pursue a career in acting, she worked in regional repertoire and travelled with a dinner theatre troupe, but after a few years realised she preferred writing plays (including Another Snow White and Screwing Lazarus) to acting in them.

She went back to college to study English literature and graduated with honors from Georgia State. After moving to Chicago she earned an MA in English from the University of Illinois. She then taught English at the same university, before returning to her home town and marrying the boy next door.

Joshilyn says she's been writing for as long as she can remember and - even though novels are her first love - her first success was with short stories. She says now, “It took seven years and three manuscripts from the day I grew enough of a spine to take a serious run at a career in fiction to the day I sold my first book.”* This book was gods in Alabama and it was a bestseller, as was her second novel, Between, Georgia.

Joshilyn lives just outside of Atlanta with her husband, their two children, and a cat named Franz Schubert, and is currently at work on her next novel, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, the story of a good mother who is visited by a drowned girl's ghost.

*[via Barnes & Noble]

Carry on over the cut for Joshilyn's bibliography.

gods in Alabama
Between, Georgia

Did you know? Arlene Fleet, the main character in gods in Alabama, briefly appeared in a short story Joshilyn wrote ten years ago. It's called Little Dead Uglies and you can read it on her website.

and

Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants is one of Joshilyn's favourite books.

Related posts: Joshilyn Jackson arrested! / Joshilyn Jackson video

Posted by Keris on December 19, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Debut Novels, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Spotlight | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 18, 2006 12:20 PM

What to read next ...

How do you choose which book to read next? Do you simply pick the next book on the shelf? Are you inspired by the book you’ve just read to find something related or similar? Or do you simply read everything Trashionista recommends?! Well if you’re struggling, there are a few great books out there that will help you choose.

I’ve been meaning to buy Bibliotherapy: The Girl’s Guide to Books for Every Phase of Our Lives by Nancy Peske and Beverly West for ages (I might manage it in 2007) - it looks like fun.

Sara Nelson’s book, So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading, will not only help you pick a book, it’s also a great read in its own right.

We recommended Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Wiki and now we’re recommending her book - Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason.

Finally, since we’re all going to be another year older, how about 1001 Books: You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall.

Let us know how you choose what to read next.

Related posts: Unsuggester / Literature Map

Posted by Keris on December 18, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 14, 2006 5:03 PM

Top 10 chick lit precursors

Can you remember a time before chick lit?

We’ve sort of established that chick lit began in 1995 (with Marian Keyes's Watermelon), but there have always been books about strong women trying to come to terms with their place in the world, haven’t there? They just weren’t called chick lit before. We’re calling them chick lit precursors and here’s our Top 10 (along with a recommendation of their more recent chick lit "cousins").

(The following list is, of course, entirely subjective; my only rule was that the books had to have been originally published before 1995.)

10 Postcards From the Edge by Carrie Fisher (1987)

Suzanne Vale is an actress trying to recover from drug addiction, resume her career and get on with her life, while dealing with her difficult relationship with her mother. Like a lot of good chick lit, Postcards From the Edge is written in the first person, it’s also stuffed with Carrie Fisher’s trademark humour.

Chick lit cousin: Why Moms Are Weird by Pamela Ribon

9 Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983)

The story of Rachel Samstat, a food writer whose husband has an affair with the wife of a prominent politician ... during month seven of Rachel's second pregnancy, it’s as hilarious and insightful as you’d expect from the writer of When Harry Met Sally.

Chick lit cousin: Watermelon by Marian Keyes

8 Sheila Levine is dead and living in New York by Gail Parent (1975)

As Diane reported, Jennifer Weiner reckons this was the first chick lit book, so who am I to argue? Sadly out of print, it’s the story of Sheila Levine, a Jewish girl living in Manhattan, her search for Mr. Right, and her struggles with her weight. Certainly sounds like chick lit!

Chick lit cousin: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

7 Jilly Cooper

Yes, an author rather than a book, but I’m specifically thinking of her "girls' name" books: Emily (1975), Bella (1976), Harriet (1976), Octavia (1977), Imogen (1978), Prudence (1978), Lisa and Co. (1981). More romances than the bonkbusters Cooper has become known for, these books are funny and romantic and have been reissued more than once with more chick lit style covers (most recently last year).

Chick lit cousin: Jill Mansell or Katie Fforde

6 Fear of Flying by Erica Jong (1973)

Fear of Flying created a sensation in the seventies with is frank descriptions of women's sexual appetites. The author Henry Miller said of it, "This book will make literary history ... because of it women are going to find their own voice and give us great sagas of sex, life, joy, and adventure." [via Erica Jong’s website]

Yep, that’s a chick lit precursor alright!

Chick lit cousin: Freya North (for the sex)

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5 (once again, number one might not be what you think!)

5 Forever by Judy Blume (1970)

The author Sarah Mlynowski says, “People always call Helen Fielding the mother of chick lit, but I think it’s Judy Blume. She’s who we all (chick lit writers) grew up reading, and she’s the one who helped shaped our consciousness.” [via Deanna Carlyle]

As if to prove Sarah's point, next June sees the publication of Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume , a collection of essays from authors including Trashionista faves Meg Cabot, Megan Crane, Diana Peterfreund and Alison Pace and Sarah herself.

I’ve picked Forever because it’s the Judy Blume book that had the most impact on me (stop sniggering) and it’s still causing a stir today, being one of the most challenged books in schools and libraries (it wasn’t shelved in my library growing up; you had to ask for it “under the counter”).

Chick lit cousin: The Boyfriend List by E Lockhart

4 Nancy Drew (from 1930)

We’ve mentioned the influence of the Nancy Drew books a few times, and the “girl detective” remains as popular today as ever. Nancy has gone through a few incarnations over the years, but has always been intelligent, brave, talented and independent. An excellent chick lit heroine!

Chick lit cousin: Stephanie Plum

3 Dorothy Parker (from 1926)

A commonly quoted important chick lit characteristic is “snark” and they don’t come much snarkier than Dorothy Parker.

In her review of the Parker biography What Fresh Hell is This, Diane wrote, “One of the founder members of the Algonquin round table - an influential group of writers in 1920s and 30s New York - Dorothy Parker was a gossipy journalist, well-known short story writer, clinical depressive with a tendency to suicide attempts - and a famous wit.”

Chick lit cousin: Wendy Holden

2 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Ha! Bet you thought this would be number 1, didn’t you? As I'm sure you know, Pride and Prejudice is the story of the Bennet family, particularly Lizzie - who would make a perfect chick lit heroine even today - and Mr Darcy (on whom the best chick lit heroes are inevitably based).

In my review of Flirting with Pride and Prejudice, I wrote, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that if Jane Austen were writing today, she would be considered a chick lit author" and Austen’s influence on chick lit (not least Bridget Jones’s Diary) is well-known. She wasn’t first though. Oh no.

Chick lit cousin: Bridget Jones’s Diary, of course!

1 Evelina by Frances Burney (1778)

Beating Pride and Prejudice by 35 years is Frances Burney’s Evelina.

Written as a series of letters, this is the story of innocent Evelina's entrance into London society. “Evelina, comic and shrewd, is at once a guide to fashionable London, a satirical attack on the new consumerism, an investigation of women's position in the late eighteenth century, and a love story.” [via Amazon]

That’ll be the earliest chick lit book then!

Chick lit cousin: Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

So what do you think? Do you agree? Have I missed any? We’d love to hear from you.

Top 100 Extravaganza archives

Posted by Keris on December 14, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Celebrity Authors, Classic Novels, Crime / Mystery, Debut Novels, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Romance, Series, Top 100 Extravaganza!, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (7)

Turning boozers into bookworms

The Times reports that Gloucester's library service has come up with a cunning plan to convert binge drinkers into binge readers - by handing out 20,000 specially-printed beer mats in pubs across the county.

The mats are printed with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of lager lout: "noun, a rowdy or aggressive male," the slogan "Fill your head with something you’ll remember tomorrow" and a picture of a man pouring beer into his flipped open head (surely he should be sticking a book into it?).

So what do you think? Are the libraries going to fill up with beer-bellied men desperate to get their hands on the latest Danielle Steele? Or is it a waste of public money?

Posted by Keris on December 14, 2006 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

December 13, 2006 2:34 PM

The most overrated books of the year?

Current affairs magazine, Prospect, asked contributors to nominate their most overrated books of 2006. [via Book 2 Book]

The top three were:

1 The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
2 The Blunkett Tapes by David Blunkett
3 Everyman by Philip Roth

But it was broadcaster David Cox's response which made me laugh (don't sit on the fence, David, say what you mean!):

"The Night Watch, Sarah Waters. An imitation Catherine Cookson for dim but pretentious lesbians. The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai. A typically box-ticking, offence-avoiding Booker winner whose supposedly innovative structure is more sensibly viewed as narrative incompetence ..."

So what are your most overrated books of 2006? And, for the sake of positivity, your favourites?

Posted by Aigua Media on December 13, 2006 in Book related, British Authors, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Prize Winners, Rubbish Books | Permalink | Comments (7)

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week you were (perhaps unsurprisingly - thanks!) unanimous in your support for book bloggers (although a little wary of Amazon reviews)!

This week a less controversial topic! Last week I picked my Top 10 chick lit film adaptations as part of our Top 100 Extravaganza, and at number 10 was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants about which I wrote, “Yes, it's a young adult book, but it's a great read and a lovely film too.” Buffy subsequently left the following comment: “Sisterhood really was well written. Young adult or no.” To which I responded that I wasn’t disparaging YA, but I know some people won't read something they perceive as being for children. Which led me to this week's Yay or Nay ...

Are you happy to read a kids or young adult book, not matter what your age, or do you think children’s books should be left to children? And in these days of the crossover book (Harry Potter, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, His Dark Materials, etc.), do we even care who books are aimed at as long as they’re good?

Basically, adults reading children’s books: Yay or Nay ... and Why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by Aigua Media on December 13, 2006 in Book related, Opinion, Yay or Nay?, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (6)

December 12, 2006 9:30 AM

TRASHIONISTA RECOMMENDS: Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Wiki

Nancy Pearl’s first book of reading recommendations, Book Lust, has been on my Amazon wishlist since 16 March 2004 (I just checked). While I haven’t had a chance to read it yet (and no-one’s bought it for me; Christmas is coming, you know!), I just discovered Nancy’s Book Lust Wiki site.

Subtitled “a community for people who love books” (just like Trashionista!), once you register you can easily edit the content and add your own contributions (which is what a Wiki is, in case you didn’t know).

Nancy Pearl is a “rock star librarian” and has even had a Librarian Action Figure made in her likeness. In 2004, she became the 50th winner of the Women’s National Book Association Award for her contribution to the world of books and there is so much on the site it would take days to investigate everything. From Nancy’s “reading itineraries” to book club picks to children’s books to out of print books, it’s an incredible, informative and user-friendly resource.

Trashionista Recommends archives

Posted by Keris on December 12, 2006 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 11, 2006 2:00 PM

Top 10 chick lit authors

Our Top 100 Extravaganza continues with the Top 10 chick lit authors chosen from our weekly Spotlight feature.

10 Belinda Jones

Belinda Jones has carved herself the best career ever - she travels the world and writes always-entertaining chick lit books based on her adventures.

9 Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell’s Thirtynothing is one of my favourite books of all time and her latest, Vince and Joy is wonderful too.

8 Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin is one of the new breed of chick lit authors, scoring huge sales in an allegedly dying market.

7 Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot may be better-known for her young adult novels, but her adult chick lit books are entertaining and very funny.

6 Jennifer Crusie

Jennifer Crusie (pictured) was writing chick lit before it was called chick lit and she just keeps getting better.

Carry on over the cut for the Top 5 and find out who's number one (it might not be who you think!)

5 Sophie Kinsella

The Shopaholic books are chick lit classics and rightly so. Plus Can You Keep A Secret has one of my favourite ever chick lit heroes. (Look out for the latest Shopaholic book, Shopaholic and Baby due in February 2007.)

4 Lauren Weisberger

Had to be Top 5 due to the enormous success of The Devil Wears Prada (the only book to get its own Trashionista category!). Weisberger’s debut brought the chick lit debate back with a bang.

3 Jennifer Weiner

One author who has apparently begun to transcend her chick lit label. Graduating from an Ivy League school and writing short stories has probably helped.

2 Helen Fielding

Nope. She’s not number one, but she had to be up there. The one who - arguably - started it all with Bridget Jones and still the author still most associated with chick lit.

1 Marian Keyes

Why? Because her first book, Watermelon, came out in 1995 - a year before Bridget Jones’s Diary - making her arguably the originator of chick lit. Plus she’s published a further seven gorgeous novels and two wonderful books of non-fiction. And because she’s a goddess.

Posted by Keris on December 11, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Devil Wears Prada, Irish Authors, Marian Keyes, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Top 100 Extravaganza! | Permalink | Comments (5)

Donate spare books to charity

Christmas is coming and it’s likely that anyone reading this will receive at least a couple of books as gifts. But what to do with the tons of books already cluttering up the place? We can’t all have unlimited shelf space and Christmas is for giving, after all.

We’ve mentioned book-swapping sites before, but you might also consider libraries and hospitals, who often accept book donations, or you can donate them to CharityBooks whose aim is to get the best price for your nominated charity. There may also be a book recycling bin at your local recycling centre. [via Mslexia]

Related posts: Get books for free ... well, almost / Bookmooch / More book-swapping sites

Posted by Keris on December 11, 2006 in Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 8, 2006 8:09 PM

Diane's "Top 10 books I reviewed this year"

Trashionista's Top 100 Extravaganza! continues...

I've reviewed A LOT of books since I started writing for Trashionista back in July, and here are my top ten favourites - do you agree that these are some fabulous reads? What are your top reads of 2006? I'm making myself abide by two rules:

As I've already written about the top 10 non-fiction chick lit books, I'm going to stick to my fictional faves and

No re-reads or old favourites allowed - only books I read for the first time this year!

With that in mind, here's my top 10 for 2006, with what I said about each in quotes...

10. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. A classic novel with an engaging heroine and a lot to say. "Based in early twentieth-century Brooklyn, it tells the story of Francie Nolan and her family’s fight to get by in a time without electricity, a welfare system, or even windows in the bedrooms of their tiny apartment. Francie lives with her hard-working mother, hard-drinking father and younger brother Neely in a slum neighbourhood of the city. If all that sounds depressing, it isn’t... If you want a compelling story that teaches you something, this is a great read, and despite its size, a fast one."

9. Singeltini by Amanda Trimble. Fun, fast-paced, a bit farcical but a very enjoyable read in a fabulous cover! "Singletini is pretty standard, fairytale-ending chick-lit but written in a fast and compelling style, (perhaps as a result of the author's time in advertising?) that never becomes boring... This is Amanda Trimble's debut novel - I'd definitely like to read more."

8. Twenty Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak. Great premise and a very well-written, fun story! "A fast, funny and very enjoyable love story/road-trip novel. Whilst you may be able to predict how the book will end, you won't predict how Delilah gets there - and that's the mark of a good writer. The book speeds along, and there's a lot of surprises on the way to a happy ending. I loved the fact that the main character is a risk-taker, not afraid to seem stupid- and brave in sharing her feelings. And I frequently found myself snorting with laughter at her remarks!"

7. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. Weiner's latest is actually a collection of short stories... and very good it is too. "Despite some stories being stronger than others, the book works as a whole and is very entertaining. It's a treat for Jennifer Weiner fans who love her previous work, but newbies would get a lot out of it, too. Although I raced through (er, I mean savoured slowly!) the stories, my favourite part of the book was actually the "Notes on Stories" at the back of the book, sharing some of the gossip behind the writing process."

6. Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. Okay, so I'm cheating a little with this one, as Keris actually reviewed it - but then she lent it to me quick-smart and I adored it too! The best new chick-lit writer of the year, no doubt. Said Keris, " Full of pop culture references and more than I ever needed to know about the disgusting things wait staff to rude customers, Stupid and Contagious is extremely funny, it made me cry and when I finished it I could happily have turned back to the first page and started it again. One of the best chick lit books I've ever read." I concur.

What will the top 5 be? Carry on over the cut to find out!

5. How I Paid For College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theatre by Marc Acito. I'm allowing a man to infiltrate the sacred top 5, because this book was just so, so good! Original, inventive, fresh and packed full of sex, theft, friendship and musical theatre it perfectly captures the feeling of 80s teen flicks. "How I paid for College… is a fabulous, over-the-top, brilliantly written, laugh-a-minute American lad-lit (is that enough adjectives yet?!) novel that I can’t recommend enough to anyone with a sense of humour and a pulse."

4. The Vanishing Point by Mary Sharratt. Not precisely chick-lit, but with strong heroines and a killer plot, it's not to be missed. "More than anything, this book is haunting, and stayed with me long after the final heart-wrenchingly unpredictable twist revealed the truth I'd been waiting all novel to find out."

3. A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews. A warm, funny and poignant story, wonderfully written. Nothing much happens, but it keeps you hooked all the same. "There's occasional silliness and moments of great humour, but written in a wry, observant way that's always intelligent and never carries a joke too far. It's easy to believe in this quaint little town with its slightly unusual residents... A Boy of Good Breeding is superbly written and the kind of book you want to re-read immediately."

2. Plotting for Beginners by Sue Hepworth and Jane Linfoot. Brilliantly-written and heartfelt hen-lit for the over-50s, I loved this very funny book. "Plotting for Beginners is a wonderfully funny novel about starting again after your children have left home, your husband is AWOL and you want to fulfill your dreams... found this an enormously satisfying, well-written and perfectly-plotted novel with a main character who's as lovable and funny as Bridget Jones - if a tad more prone to a hot flush..." Look out for an interview with the authors in the new year!

Finally, number 1 in my list, and my heart, for 2006, is...

1. Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson! The book I've been boring all my friends and family about! My read of the year hits the perfect balance between a pacey, exciting storyline and real emotion, and it made me laugh, cry and gape at the quality of the writing. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy it. "Dealing with themes of abandonment, betrayal, family loyalties and nature vs. nurture, this novel is addictive, thought-provoking reading that's practically perfect in every way. I defy you not to fall in love with it!"

Trashionista Top 100 Extravanganza! archives / Joshilyn Jackson interview.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on December 8, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Girly Stuff, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion, Recent Release, Romance, Top 100 Extravaganza! | Permalink | Comments (4)

December 6, 2006 9:49 PM

Chick lit writing tips

If you're interested in writing chick lit then you could do worse than read this article with quotes from authors including Louise Bagshawe, Lisa Jewell, Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella and many, many more (as they used to say in the Ronco Christmas ads).

Related posts: See Jane Write / Will Write for Shoes / Lisa Jewell in Eve magazine

Posted by Keris on December 6, 2006 in American Authors, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week, those publishing books drawing on their past crimes were, not surprisingly, roundly chastised - unless they showed some contrition, by giving their advance to charity, for example.

This week - another controversy! The Guardian reports that author Susan Hill has been banned from the pages of an unnamed book review section after she claimed that book bloggers hold more power than the traditional press. (Yay! Say we). John Sutherland, another British author, was most condescending about online book reviewers, claiming their (our) motivation is, "Partly for freebies. But more because they enjoy shooting off their mouths. And they enjoy the power." (And also because we get to walk around wearing crowns and velvet robes...)

Do you think book bloggers - whether paid or not - have as much sway as the traditional media? Do you trust them (us)? What about the reviews on Amazon: is it a dangerous trend when the views of so-called 'amateurs' can be read by so many people? Or is it a wonderful thing?

To any (or all!) of those many questions, tell us: Yay or Nay, and why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on December 6, 2006 in Book Websites, Book related, British Authors, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (7)

December 1, 2006 10:38 AM

Sara Gruen guest blog

No, I didn't forget about this one! I saved it to take the sting out of the end of NaNovember! If NaNoWriMo's put you off writing for a while, lovely Sara Gruen's got some tips ...

Sara’s Tools for Avoiding Writing by Sara Gruen

I began this morning as I do every other work day, which is to say I sat down with my cup of tea and immediately glanced around the room seeking reasons not to write.

I paid the bills yesterday. Ditto with watering the plants. I called the piano tuner and made the kids' orthodontic appointments and checked that they were up-to-date on their vaccinations. Hmmm, let me see... I could work my way through the pile of manuscripts I've promised to blurb. I could swap out some of my desk fish’s water. I could update my Web site. I could figure out how to get music onto this iPod I've had since July. Then I remembered I promised to do this guest blog! Elation!

As you may have gathered, I have procrastination down to a fine art. Even though I have two deadlines, one self-imposed (NaNoWriMo - let us know how you got on, Sara!) and one publisher-imposed, I can’t seem to help myself. As such, I’ve decided to share my wisdom and experience:

1. Email. One of the very best tools, and even better if you have multiple accounts, because while you're checking one, something might be arriving in another, so you have to go back and check. This loop can keep you occupied endlessly.

2. E-bay. Haven't you always needed—yes, NEEDED—a sequined paisley clutch bag from the early 60s? Clearly you need it more than that hateful Snoopy123 person who keeps bidding you up. Remember to stay poised on the Refresh button for the old swoop-and-scoop at the very end. It’s all about winning!

3. Google yourself. Yes, virtual naval gazing. Frightfully egocentric (and occasionally just plain frightful), yet very effective for procrastination. You'd be amazed at what turns up! Pages and pages of it!

4. For the truly desperate, there's always housecleaning, furniture rearranging, and interior wall painting. My family room sags under the weight of the five colors I’ve applied (it turns out to be difficult to get just the right shade of orange) and the windows are hermetically sealed, having gone from white to green (don’t ask) to purple (again, don’t ask) to dark brown and finally, back to white. Gardening is also good. I once went out with a pair of shears and butchered my lilac down to a third of its original size and something resembling a shape. When I saw what I’d done, I was horrified. Fortunately, it appears to be impossible to kill a lilac.

I joke about procrastination, but it is a real problem—and I suspect not just for me. My personal low was the time I sorted my rubber bands by size. This was while I was avoiding writing Water for Elephants, and the result was that I asked my husband to move my desk into our walk-in closet, I covered over the window, closed the door, and wore noise-reduction headphones. No internet access, no view, no telephone—nothing but me and my laptop. I spent more than three miserable months in that sensory-deprivation pod, but when I staggered forth into the daylight, I had a finished book.

I now know myself and my writing habits well enough to allow myself limited procrastination. I give myself about half an hour to get caught up on my e-world when I sit down at my desk, and then I open my file. My theory is that if I stare at it long enough, I’ll eventually start writing or editing, and so far I’ve been right.

And if I ever find myself pondering wall colors again, I’ll move back into the closet. I won’t like it, but I’ll do it.

Thanks, Sara! Now, excuse me while I clean my keyboard with a paperclip and a cotton bud ...

Posted by Keris on December 1, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Modern Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 30, 2006 11:33 AM

The Costa Book Awards shortlist shuns women

Sigh. Just when you think women's fiction might be on an equal footing with men's at last (with Kiran Desai winning the Booker prize), along comes the Costa Book Awards (formerly the Whitbread prize) and its shortlist for best novel, which doesn't include ONE book by a woman... you're not telling me that no woman has written a prize-worthy book in the last year!

What's even more surprising and disappointing? Sophie Kinsella (or rather "Sophie Kinsella") was on the judging panel as were Kate Adie and Adele Geras-you'd think all three female authors would be advocates for woman writers... but no.

[Via The Times]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 30, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Opinion, Prize Winners, Sophie Kinsella | Permalink | Comments (3)

November 29, 2006 8:09 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Hi, Yay or Nayers! Last week you were pretty much agreed that it's OK if your partner doesn't read your writing... better than him/her reading it and making lukewarm/disparaging comments, at any rate! (But I think I'd want my boyfriend to read and love my masterpieces - if I had a boyfriend. Or any masterpieces.)

This week, the question is simple, if controversial. (And in several parts...) You may have heard all the outcry about the proposed OJ Simpson book (worst taste idea of the year), which has now thankfully been dropped by the publisher. Found not guilty in criminal court of the murders of his ex-wife and her boyfriend, OJ was nevertheless found guilty in a civil trial. And although he's not in the same league, disgraced ex-politician Jeffrey Archer has a new book deal (oh joy) and indeed released a book from prison. Great! On the other hand, this prison diary is one of the best books I've ever read.

So what I want to know is this: should books by convicted criminals ever be published, and should they receive money for them? Does it depend on whether the book draws on a crime they've been found guilty of? Is it only okay once they've served their time? Should it be taken on a case by case basis (eg. Jeffrey Archer - bad writer but not in bad taste, OJ - bad to the bone *allegedly*?) What do you think?

To answer all or any of that(!), tell us: is it a Yay or a Nay... and Why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 29, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Crime / Mystery, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (8)

Poor show from celebrity memoirs

Remember how we told you this Christmas we'd be facing Celebrity Memoir Mania in our bookshops with an estimated 60 books to choose from? Well it looks like the bubble may have burst.

An article in The Independent focusses on the high-profile celebrity books that failed to earn back the advances. The worst example is that of former Home Secretary David Blunkett, whose book, for which he was paid £400,000, has sold around 1,000 copies! Rupert Everett (£1million; 15,000 copies), Ashley Cole (£250,000; 4,000 copies) and Chantelle's (£300,000; 4,000 copies) books haven't done too well either.

The frenzy was apparently started by Jordan (yep, blame Jordan) who was paid £10,000 for her book, Being Jordan, after a number of publishers turned it down. It went on to sell 900,000 copies. [via Galleycat]

Posted by Keris on November 29, 2006 in Book related, Celebrity Authors, Memoirs, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

November 28, 2006 1:22 PM

The rise of romance in the UK

Romantic fiction, that is. An interesting article in The Book Standard explores the news that five million romantic fiction titles (with a value of £21.3m) were sold in the 52 weeks ending September 17.

Jenny Haddon, chair of the Romantic Novelists' Association, claims the upsurge in popularity is due to a drop-off of the embarrassment factor: 'Readers are now much less self-conscious about reading romantic fiction and take it as part of the mix.'

The article also mentions the increase in sub-genres - 'Alongside the classics and the Regency romances, there is now divorce lit, hen lit and even so-called "granny lit".'

Posted by Keris on November 28, 2006 in Book related, Opinion, Romance | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 24, 2006 5:50 PM

World's youngest author

Remember how we told you about an 11-year-old with a book deal? Well this makes her seem embarrassingly advanced in years. Sort of.

Christopher Beale completed his novel This and Last Season's Excursions when he was six years and 118 days old. The book, which is published in the UK tomorrow, is about a boy and his favourite stuffed animals - Biscuit the puppy, Daisy the kitten, and the fierce Big Hinnies - as they "rescue owls, fight lions and search for a mysterious moving city, Quarles".

Christopher, who lives in Switzerland, speaks English and Italian and is currently not only working on his second novel, but also translating This and Last Season's Excursions into Italian. [via The Independent]

Posted by Keris on November 24, 2006 in Book News, Book related, Debut Novels, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 23, 2006 2:59 PM

Romance novel cover comedy

Part of the fun of romance novels is surely the fabulously OTT covers, no? Well a bloke called Longmire has had a bit of fun of his own, replacing the titles with more appropriate/descriptive/hilarious ones.

Click here and prepare to laugh until tea comes out of your nose (even if you haven't been drinking tea). Longmire has also encouraged readers to send in their own covers. (Kangaroo Gangbang is my favourite. Obviously.) [via Meg Cabot]

Posted by Keris on November 23, 2006 in Book related, Girly Stuff, Opinion, Romance | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 20, 2006 1:00 PM

Trashionista Recommends: Fresh Yarn

You know how much we love Hillary Carlip here at Trashionista, so we were excited to discover Fresh Yarn, a site she set up to feature personal essays by some great memoir/essay writers. (The current issue includes a very timely essay, The Federlines and Us by Elizabeth Crane). Hillary edits the site and it's updated with six new essays every month with past issues still available to read in the archives. If you're already up to date, the new issue will is due on 1st December.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 20, 2006 in American Authors, Book Websites, Book related, Non Fiction, Opinion, Trashionista Recommends | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 17, 2006 11:02 AM

BOOK NEWS: Perfectly Plum

Who doesn't love curling up with a good Plum? A Stephanie Plum book, that is... Janet Evanovich's series of books about Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter (the latest of which, Twelve Sharp, came out this year) have been one of the most popular series ever. Their kick-ass, take-no-prisoners heroine has become a female icon and the books are simultaneously fun, inspiring and edge-of-your-seat dramatic. So it's not surprising that BenBella books, publishers of This is Chick Lit, Welcome to Wisteria Lane and Totally Charmed have an upcoming anthology devoted to all things Plum. Called Perfectly Plum (subtitle: Unauthorized Essays on the Life, Loves and Other Disasters of Stephanie Plum, Trenton Bounty Hunter) it will be released in June.

And the best part? Trashionista's very own Keris Stainton is one of the contributors, with an essay on Stephanie's relationship with her sister- you won't want to miss this!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 17, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Crime / Mystery, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 16, 2006 2:21 PM

Guess who's reading Trashionista?

British broadsheet writers apparently! First The Guardian reported on celebrities reinventing themselves as authors of children's books. You know, like we did a month earlier!

And now The Telegraph ponders book to movie adaptations, like we do every Friday.

It's a form of flattery, really ...

Posted by Keris on November 16, 2006 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 15, 2006 5:26 PM

Nosing at authors' finances

You probably wouldn't expect a financial website to be a hotbed of info about your favourite authors, but you'd be wrong! US site, Bankrate.com has featured both Janet Evanovich and Meg Cabot in its series on celebrities' money habits, Fame & Fortune. It's not all stocks and shares, these are surprisingly interesting and revealing interviews.

Janet Evanovich talks about the bottom falling out of the romance market, creating a brand, the family business - Evanovich Inc, selling the movie rights to One for the Money for $1million and why, if she did it all again, she'd do it under a different name. [via Galleycat]

Meg Cabot spills the beans about moving around a lot as a child, being a "drama freak" and how she spent the money Disney paid for the movie rights to The Princess Diaries (and you'll also notice how brilliant she is at hyping her own books!).

Laurell K Hamilton, Tami Hoag and Sweet Potato Queen Jill Conner Browne have also been featured.

Coming up in December: Our own exclusive interviews with Janet Evanovich and Meg Cabot!!

Posted by Keris on November 15, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 14, 2006 12:11 PM

The play's the thing (apparently)

We often feature book-to-movie adaptations, but what about books-to-plays? The London theatres seem to be full of them at the moment.

From the end of this month, Nina Bawden's classic, Carrie's War - about a former evacuee returning to her wartime home and telling her story to her children - is on at Sadler's Wells. The book has been adapted by Emma Reeves and the show is directed by Andrew Loudon (creators of Little Women and Anne Of Green Gables at Sadler’s Wells).

Coram Boy, Jamila Gavin's Whitbread award-winning children's book about growing-up, struggle, tradition and corruption, returns to the National Theatre from 29 November. Its previous run was a sell-out.

The smash-hit musical, Wicked, is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel - about the witches from The Wizard of Oz and how the wicked witch perhaps wasn't so wicked after all - is currently showing at the Apollo (not to mention New York, Chicago, LA and more!).

Susan Hill's ghost story The Woman in Black is in its 15th year in the West End at the Fortune Theatre. (A friend of mine went to see this and was so terrified she literally wouldn't go to bed afterwards - she was about 35 at the time!)

My personal favourite - Lauren Child's That Pesky Rat - opens at the Soho Theatre at the beginning of December. (The pesky rat even has a rat blog!)

Posted by Keris on November 14, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Classic Novels, Crime / Mystery, Girly Stuff, Modern Fiction, Opinion, Prize Winners, Young Adult | Permalink | Comments (1)

BOOK REVIEW: Under The Duvet by Marian Keyes

Show me a chick-lit fan, and I'll show you a woman who loves Marian Keyes (at least 99% of the time). Her book Under The Duvet was a bit of a departure for Marian though. It's a collection of pieces of journalism, opinion pieces and slices of autobiography- some previously published, some published only in Ireland and some that had never before seen the light of day. First published in 2001 (and with a sequel, Further Under the Duvet released in paperback this autumn) it seems about time we reviewed it. We 'Yay or Nay'-ed you on whether you wanted La Keyes to just stick to fiction, and the answer was a unanimous no, even from those who hadn't read about any of her Under The Duvet experiences (um, so to speak!)

So can she be as successful in non-fiction as she is in fiction? Carry on over the cut to find out.

Course she can, silly! This is Marian Keyes we're talking about! The signature humour, warmth and poignancy that we love in her novels is all here as she talks about her real life. She sets the record straight about what life as a writer is like, letting fans into her daily routine (lots of typing and banana-eating in bed, apparently!) talks about her research trips and travel experiences and why she can never get enough shoes. But this isn't just a cosy romp through chick-lit subjects. Marian comes across as intelligent and astute, very kind and very appreciative of her good fortune. She also handles more serious subjects than those I've just described, telling the story of her alcoholism, her recovery, and how she came to be a writer as a result- which is extremely moving.

If you want a book to curl up with, laugh at and just generally cherish (particularly if you're having a 'duvet day' yourself) then you can't go far wrong with this. And if you've only ever read Marian Keyes's fiction, then you're missing a treat! When I told my co-ed Keris I was reviewing this she said, "LOVE it. Doesn't it make you just want to move to Ireland, hunt her down and force her to be your best friend?" Much as that makes us sound like stalkers, it's true.

(My one complaint is that more women writers don't try this type of non-fiction collection!)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Like this? Try Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes.

Marian Keyes archives.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 14, 2006 in Book related, Girly Stuff, Irish Authors, Marian Keyes, Memoirs, Non Fiction, Opinion, Rating: 5/5 | Permalink | Comments (3)

GUEST BLOG: MARY SHARRATT

As part of our NaNovember celebrations, Mary Sharratt, a fave of Joshilyn Jackson and loyal friend of Trashionista, talks about how long it took her to write her book The Vanishing Point- and why she set it way back in the past...

Mary Sharratt on... why timing (and research!) is everything.

Back in the early 1990s, long before the whole NaNoWriMo phenomenon began, I wrote the first draft of my novel, The Vanishing Point, as a novella. The writing didn’t take long—the story itself flowed out of me in the form of a dark fairy tale. Full of love and longing, deception and betrayal, the narrative was informed as much by folklore and tragic ballads as historical research. The setting in the Maryland wilderness was in place, as was the skeleton plot, including the sleight of hand twist and revelation at the end.

Then it occurred to me that in order to do justice to this plot, the story had to be much bigger than a novella. To fully develop the characters and setting, I would have to do a significant amount of research. This proved daunting, as I was living in Germany at the time, in what for me, at least, was the pre-internet era. The old chestnut, “Write What You Know,” reverberated. But what did I know about 17th century Maryland tobacco plantations? I had no connection with that region. But my two 17th century sisters would not leave me in peace.

Abandoning my safety zone, I leapt into the void and researched the novel for over a decade. Why go to all this trouble when I could have made my life easier by writing something contemporary? Because writing is at its most addictive when it becomes as escape for the writer, as well as the reader. Historical fiction is my mode of time travel. By setting my story in the distant past, I hope to evoke the same sense of timeless wonder and “otherwhere” that is found in fairy tales. It’s my great challenge to make that historical world as real and alive for the reader as it is for me.

[I've just started the book and so far, it's fabulous, and seems brilliantly well-researched- but not boringly so!- Diane].

Thanks Mary!

Related: Author Interview: Mary Sharratt / Mary Sharratt's dressed-up book tour / Mary's website.

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 14, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Modern Fiction, NaNovember, Opinion, Recent Release | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 8, 2006 2:02 PM

Studying Chick Lit

We told you a while ago that Harvard University was offering a degree in chick lit and now it seems other seats of learning are following suit: Indiana University South Bend is offering a chick lit module as part of its Women and Literature course.

Among the books the students will be studying are Bridget Jones's Diary along with "its literary predecessor Pride and Prejudice", The Nanny Diaries and warring anthologies This is Chick Lit and This is Not Chick Lit.

[thanks to Lauren Baratz-Logsted]

A Degree in Chick Lit? / Now the This is (Not) Chick Lit comic strip / This Is Chick Lit review / Chick Lit on top

Posted by Keris on November 8, 2006 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 1, 2006 6:07 PM

YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY

Last week, we discovered that most of you have nothing against a nice novelisation, with one lone dissenter who'd prefer authors left well enough alone. This week, I want to know what you think about a different genre altogether: misery memoirs, also known as 'grit lit'. With JT Leroy and James Frey exposed as fraudsters and questions raised about the authenticity of other authors' recollections, the genre has been under scrutiny as never before.

Since the popularity of A Child Called It, there's always one of these books in the top ten lists every week. You can recognise them by the black and white picture of a sad looking child, and the handwriting font of the title, and some people specifically look for that type of book. But should they? Is it interesting and helpful to read memoirs of abject misery, or is it intrusive and gruesome? Are vulnerable people being exploited, or causing themselves more pain and misery, by writing this type of book- or is it healing and cathartic? Do you enjoy reading them, or not?

Basically... is it a Yay or a Nay- and why?

Yay or Nay archives.

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

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on November 1, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Memoirs, Non Fiction, Opinion, Yay or Nay? | Permalink | Comments (5)

October 27, 2006 6:24 PM

Virtual bookshops

Earlier this month, Diane told us about Second Life - a virtual world in which .. er .. you can do virtual stuff. Yeah, okay, I don't understand it at all. But I've just read something that's definitely piqued my interest: a virtual version of legendary Paris bookshop Shakespeare & Company.

According to an article in the Guardian, the Second Life version of the shop works well: "I walk through the doors and into a room lined with bookshelves filled with brightly coloured spines, armchairs and stools tucked into cosy nooks and crannies ... It is also a bookshop with a sense of atmosphere, the kind where you feel that maybe you'd like to sit down, kick back and browse for a while. It conveys both warmth and purpose - features that many virtual world buildings lack."

Which got me thinking .. what if we could create our own perfect Trashionista (virtual) bookshop? What are the must-have features (sofas, coffee, George Clooney at the till)? Where would it be (New York, Rome, London)? Which authors would we invite for readings? What would our bestsellers list look like? All suggestions gratefully received.

(Just don't expect me to actually create it. Like I said, Second Life flummoxes me ...) [via AOL's Book Maven]

Posted by Keris on October 27, 2006 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

October 26, 2006 4:11 PM

More "chick" and less "lit"

I've read a couple of interviews today with opposite takes on the same subject - how do authors feel about the term "chick lit".

In the November 2005 issue of Writer's Digest (no, it doesn't take me a year to read a magazine - I just bought it on ebay), Melissa Bank says she doesn't like the term, saying, "It sounds derogatory to me - that it's not serious or substantial or wouldn't be of interest to anybody who isn't a 'chick'. I feel like it's a funny ghettoization, the way African-American or gay literature is classified that way. It puts them in a category that says, Oh, you'll want to read this if you're one of 'them' - that it's not really for everybody. It's a code word for limited audience or limited appeal."

But don't all books have "limited audience or limited appeal"? Let's face it, if the term "chick lit" hadn't been invented Bank's books would be categorised as "women's fiction", wouldn't they? I mean, her first book was called The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing - does she really think men are going to read a book with a title like that? (Bearing in mind that men apparently don't read books by women authors no matter what they're called!)

Read on for Jennifer Weiner's take.

Jennifer Weiner is more realistic in an interview with nextbook. When asked how she feels about being called "literary" in relation to her new book, The Guy Not Taken, she says, "I will admit to being sensitive to the chick lit moniker when my first book came out. I was like, 'I went to Princeton just like Jonathan Safran Foer, goddamnit!' But I realized if you call a book Good in Bed and there's a pair of legs and a piece of cake on the cover you're not exactly asking for a Pulitzer. And I also realized that nobody really cares, readers just want what they want. And, at the end of the day, I'm writing the books I want to write, so who cares about the rest of it?"

So what do you think? Does it matter? Can "chicks" ever really be "lit"?

Related posts: If it's good it can't be chick lit / Tolstoy Lied: Putting the Lit in chick Lit? / In praise of chick lit (at last!) / Chick lit is a feminist issue / The Wonder Spot review

Posted by Keris on October 26, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

October 16, 2006 12:22 PM

Playtrade- a new way to buy (and sell) books

Anyone who's used Amazon over the last what- three or four years? Should be familiar with Amazon marketplace- their system for buying and selling used books. I always thought Play.com, while a fabulous site (free P&P, people!) was missing a trick by not having anything similar. But now they have! Playtrade has many of the same features of Amazon's Marketplace, but only approved traders with a track record in book sales can sign up to sell stuff at present. (I would think this will change pretty soon). I think prices will need to come down soon, too- When Play is offering a book at £1.99 including shipping, I can't see that Playtraders offering the same for £6.88 are going to get much business... but it's early days, and I see potential!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on October 16, 2006 in Book News, Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 12, 2006 10:07 AM

A little bit of politics

A couple of weeks ago we told you about author Louise Bagshawe's political ambitions, well it seems now she's on her way. According to The Independent, she has been selected to stand in Corby, Northants.

Meanwhile, in the US, a man named Fred Head (no, really) is running for Texas Comptroller and claims his opponent, "Republican Pornographic Book Writer" Susan Combs "is a two faced, hypocrite who was obviously more concerned with her literary career and seeing her name in print than the morals of the young People of Texas". The pornographic book? It's called a Perfect Match, it's a Kismet Romance and it was published 16 years ago!

Does anyone remember the episode of Ally McBeal in which a politician tried to close down a bookstore for selling books "with nudity, pictures of copulation ... graphically describing sex acts" which turn out to be by Herb Ritts, John Irving, Balzac? And the Biscuit's summing up was a version of Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man? It's uncanny! (If you don't remember, or if you'd like to revisit it, there's a transcript here.)

Posted by Keris on October 12, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Opinion, Romance | Permalink | Comments (5)

October 6, 2006 12:15 PM

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!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on October 6, 2006 in American Authors, Bafab, Book related, British Authors, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, Non Fiction, Opinion, Series | Permalink | Comments (10)

October 4, 2006 7:09 PM

Five Books

In the Wall Street Journal, First Lady Laura Bush has listed the five books that inspired her to champion literacy. They are:

1. Hop on Pop by Dr Seuss
2. The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

So since we're all interactive here on Trashionista this week (and inspired by/blatantly ripping off of AOL's Book Maven), I thought I'd ask - what are yours? What are the five books that encouraged and inspired you as a reader?

Carry on over the cut for mine.

1. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (I wanted to get scarlet fever and have to stay in bed)
2. The Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton (I wanted to go to boarding school and have midnight feasts)
3. Heidi by Johanna Spyri (I wanted to sleep on hay bales and spend all day on a mountainside)
4. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (I wanted to live in New York .. still do)
5. Her Benny: A Tale of Victorian Liverpool by Silas K Hocking (The only book I remember being read to me, by my nan)

Posted by Keris on October 4, 2006 in Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (8)

October 3, 2006 6:03 PM

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."

Posted by Keris on October 3, 2006 in Bafab, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

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...

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on October 3, 2006 in Bafab, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Product Placement in Books

We're used to product placement in films, TV shows and even music videos, but how do we feel about it in books? Characters often wear (or lust after) Jimmy Choos or drink Coke, but what if the authors were paid to have them do so? Is that a natural progression of advertising or is it selling out of the worst kind?

Meg Cabot has joined forces with Clinique to promote her latest young adult book, How To Be Popular. The book includes a set of stickers made by the cosmetics company and to be used, Meg says, to "stick on your favorite scenes - such as the ones to do with kissing - or tips from the book, for easy later reference". According to Meg, the book and Clinique were a perfect fit. "Because How To Be Popular is about a girl who is trying desperately to be popular, and who gives herself a physical and mental makeover to become that way, we thought partnering with a cosmetics company to promote the book would be cool. And since Clinique's got such a groovy teen skin care line (which I myself used when I was a teen, and still use today), we were like, Kismet, baby." [via Meg Cabot]

Publishers Running Press have done a presumably similar deal for the forthcoming young adult novel Cathy's Book: If Found Call (650) 266-8233 which features a character using CoverGirl make-up. In return for the mentions of CoverGirl in the book, Proctor & Gamble (the owners of CoverGirl) will promote the book on CoverGirl.com and BeingGirl.com (a website for teen girls). [via the Hartford Courant]

This type of promotion is unusual, but it isn't new. In 2004 Ford Motors paid chick lit author Carole Matthews to mention their cars in her books and commissioned her to write short stories for women's magazines and Ford's own website. One story, A Racy Little Number, includes the lines "I look out of the window of the shop and eye my lovely Ford Fiesta Roxanne with something approaching misery. Last year was a different story. Business was booming and I splashed out on my first-ever new car. Brand spanking new - complete with enough gadgets to keep even Alex amused. She's red, raunchy and drives like a dream and now, she's got to go. Believe me, it will be like cutting off one of my own arms." Carole says now her characters will only ever drive Ford Fiestas.

Even the Carole Matthews deal wasn't the first, in 2001 Faye Weldon was paid by Italian jewellery maker Bulgari to plug their products in a novel appropriately entitled The Bulgari Connection. [via BBC]

So what do you think? Perfectly harmless or reprehensible manipulation?

Posted by Keris on October 3, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 2, 2006 4:45 PM

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.

Posted by Aigua Media on October 2, 2006 in American Authors, Bafab, Book related, Girly Stuff, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (2)

September 26, 2006 11:10 AM

The Times gears up for an all-male Christmas

Two days ago, The Sunday Times previewed the books they think will be big this Christmas. As we told you yesterday, celeb memoirs are especially big this year- something the newspaper acknowledges, mentioning Stephen Gerrard, David Hasselhoff, Rupert Everett, Peter Andre (!) and Gary Barlow. As for fiction, although there's a token mention of Janet Fitch and Margaret Atwood releasing books for the American market, it turns out that the big names to look out for in Britain this autumn are: "Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton, Charles Frazier, John Grisham, Robert Harris, Stephen King, John le Carré and Thomas Pynchon."

I can't work out if the blokes at The Times are sexist or just a bunch of old fogies, but I don't for one minute believe that literary quirk Thomas Pynchon or Charles "Cold Mountain" Frazier will outsell Marian Keyes or Lauren Weisberger this Christmas! Come on Sunday Times writers- How about you do another article highlighting all the great books by women that have been released this year?

Update: The ever-insightful Galleycat sees my point!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on September 26, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Celebrity Authors, Devil Wears Prada, Irish Authors, Marian Keyes, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 20, 2006 12:21 PM

Meg Cabot reads Trashionista (Probably)

While I'm on the subject of inspiring authors, I noticed that Ms Cabot seems to be blogging about a lot of the same stuff we're blogging about! The new Bridget Jones scandal, This Is Chick Lit and See Jane Write.

Coincidence? I'm not so sure.

(Meg, if you're reading, there's a review of Princess Diaries 7 coming up and unlike the Queen of Babble review, it's a rave.)

Posted by Keris on September 20, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet more lookalike book covers

This is my favourite book cover lookalike yet. Jennifer Weiner's In Her Shoes and Best Fetish Erotica.

Funnily enough, I couldn't remember the title of the lookalike book so I emailed Jennifer and asked her. Being a total sweetie, she emailed me back the following day and then blogged about it herself. I inspired Jennifer Weiner. Hee.

Posted by Keris on September 20, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Girly Stuff, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 18, 2006 8:11 AM

9/11 Chick Lit?

An article in the Chicago Sun Times asks 'Is the chick lit world ready for 9/11 plot?'

The piece, by Debra Pickett, begins 'It's easy enough to imagine the plot: Bond trader's Wall Street widow finds herself falling in love with rough-around-the-edges firefighter. But, somehow, the 9/11 chick-lit novel has not been written.' She suggests that 9/11 has featured in literary fiction - citing Jonathan Safran Foer and Jay McInerney (there is also, of course, Claire Messud's new book) - but not yet chick lit (although terrorism played a role in Helen Fielding's Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination) and suggests that, in chick lit, 'Real tragedy must be distant enough to be mentioned but never truly felt' going on to say 'A heroine who is slightly overweight and has had some bad luck with men is sympathetic. One who is six months pregnant and has lost her husband to a terrorist attack is simply too frightening to contemplate.'

As I'm sure you can imagine, I disagree. Marian Keyes has proved time and time again - most recently with Anybody Out There? - that chick lit can and does tackle much darker subjects than 'shoes'n'shopping' and I certainly think Marian is capable of giving us a 9/11 chick lit book. But is any other author? And do we even want a 9/11 chick lit book? Since New York is such a chick lit staple, it's certainly a valid question. What do you think?

Posted by Keris on September 18, 2006 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 15, 2006 9:50 AM

Tolstoy Lied: Putting the Lit in chick Lit?

A review by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post begins with the following assertion, 'Any genre, no matter how seemingly common or commercial, may serve as the foundation for a work of art. Perhaps even chick-lit.' Chick lit as art? Say it's not so!

But, yes, Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish is the tale of Tracy, a young New York professional woman who has problems at work (a colleague has taken a dislike to her) and worries about her love life (a "dependable" ex-boyfriend is marrying someone else). She has a "well-meaning" family and a "nosy aunt" who are suggesting it's time for her to settle down. She's got both a female best friend who's about to get married and - yes! - a gay best friend. It's written in a "brisk sassy first-person".

Sounds like chick lit, yes? Well, no. Carry on over the cut to find out why it's (apparently) not.

According to Dirda:

'Kadish clearly aims to give all these stock items an intellectualized twist. Naturally, Tracy's best friend at work is a witty, gay guy, but he's also a hot professor of British Literature. Tracy's graduate student Elizabeth is not only sensitive and brilliant, she's diligently writing a dissertation on Emily Dickinson. When the new lovebirds go on their first date, it's to a play based on the poet H.D.'s infatuated and doomed relationship with Freud. Back at the office our heroine keeps a photograph of Zora Neale Hurston on the wall.'

So it can't be chick lit because these characters aren't brainless? I see. But don't get too worked up just yet. Even though it's better than chick lit, Dirda's still not impressed: 'Perhaps my view of Tolstoy Lied as an attempt to "transcend" the chick-lit genre is simply an aggressive, masculinist misreading.' You see, he thought the 'Lied' of the title referred to a German word for an art-song, so is disappointed to find it refers to Tolstoy's assertion, at the beginning of Anna Karenina, that 'happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.'

He thought it was going to be 'wise and mournful' but found it was just 'a reasonably entertaining academic chick-lit novel' after all. What a shame.

But why did he expect it to be anything else? Because Rachel Kadish is a graduate of Princeton University and earned her M.A. in fiction writing at New York University. She has received a Koret Award, a Pushcart Prize, and citations in the 1997 and 2003 editions of The Best American Short Stories. In other words, she's a 'serious' author. And yet, apparently, she's writing chick lit. Imagine.

Posted by Keris on September 15, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 14, 2006 11:37 AM

THURSDAY THREE: Bridget, meet Carrie...

"Bridget Jones meets Sex and the City." Yep, that old chestnut. Sounds like it would be the perfect way to describe a chick-lit novel, doesn't it? It's pretty much an author's dream to hear their work is an amalgam of two of the most influential books in the whole genre (unless you were aiming for something a little more Martin Amis-esque, of course!) But it's been overdone. Some reviewers still seem to think it's an original remark, and trot it out at every opportunity. It's been devalued by being used about every author who so much as mentions Manhattan. Let's stop the madness! And discuss whether these three contenders are worthy of the cliche...

First up, Tabloid Love by Bridget Harrison, and this one actually IS well described as a cross between Bridget Jones's Diary and SATC- it's a memoir about a single British girl called Bridget looking for love in NYC, who has a Carrie-style relationships column in a popular newspaper. No wonder the quote on the cover is actually from Candace Bushnell herself...

Second, we have Girls' Poker Night by Jill A. Davis, this time a novel but again about a young woman in NYC who's looking for love (kind of). And playing some poker (which is more of a Desperate Housewives kinda thing, no?) This time the label "Bridget Jones Meets Sex and the City" is from Library Journal- and I'm not convinced.

What will the third book be? Read on to find out (I'll make it worth your while!)

Amy Cameron's Playing with Matches is a collection of true-life tales from herself and other women, focusing on disastrous dating. As you can see from the above link, the first line of its blurb is "Part Sex & the City, part Bridget Jones’s Diary." Quelle original! Read a wry/mocking article on this overexposed/lazy book description here.

In other Canadian book news, Leah Mcclaren's debut novel has also been described in the press as... well, take a guess! Watch this trailer for her book The Continuity girl [warning: lots of flashing lights] however, and marvel at the surprising use of the phrase "sperm bandit." Now that's not a phrase book reviewers see every day!

(These last two books appear to only be available via Amazon.ca at present).

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on September 14, 2006 in American Authors, British Authors, Debut Novels, Girly Stuff, Memoirs, Modern Fiction, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion, Television, Tuesday Three | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 8, 2006 12:09 PM

Paul Burrell, Give it a Rest!

I generally ignore/avoid/am oblivious to any and all news about book serialisations, Princess Diana's untimely death conspiracy theories etc.

But even I in my ignorance can not fail to notice the biggest publishing news of the season: Paul Burrell's written a book (yes, another one!) about Diana. Called The Way We Were (he keeps getting camper, that man!) I'm sure it tells you much more than you ever wanted to know about his close friendship with the princess... Hmm, I hope all my friends sell stories on me after I've gone!

Apparently he fled to his home in Florida (I guess dishing on Di is profitable) to escape the media furore this week... wise move. A family friend of Diana is unimpressed with his actions: "To say that he is addicted to the spotlight is an understatement, it is as if he cannot help himself." [Via Galleycat.]

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on September 8, 2006 in Book News, Book related, British Authors, Celebrity Authors, Memoirs, New Releases, Non Fiction, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (6)

September 7, 2006 9:01 AM

I'll stop going on about it soon ...

I was amused to notice that on Amazon US that customers who bought This Is Not Chick Lit also bought This Is Chick Lit and See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit.

Perhaps the customers are buying This Is Not Chick Lit as a guide to What Not To Write.

Also This Is Not Chick Lit seems to be outselling This Is Chick Lit. Doesn't that disprove the Not-Chick-Litters argument (that chick lit is stealing readers from more worthy books)?

Or perhaps it just shows that sticking the words Chick Lit in your title (even if you have to stick the knife into a bunch of fellow women writers) will sell more books.

Posted by Keris on September 7, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, New Releases, Opinion, Short Story Collections | Permalink | Comments (6)

September 4, 2006 10:38 AM

If it's good it can't be chick lit

I recently read a review that included the words 'It's not like you're average chick lit book. It ran a little deeper than that.' The same day I read, 'I have to admit that I do not normally read chick lit, but [this book] is different. Firstly, it has depth of character and a well-developed, albeit predictable, plot. While it is no Jane Austen, this book has a certain charm and humour that other books in the chick lit genre lack.' While I was banging my head against the wall, a memory was dislodged. A memory of a brilliant blog post I read about this very thing. Turns out it was by the author Diana Peterfreund and she has kindly allowed us to reproduce it here.

Continue over the cut to read:

I don't like french fries. They're soggy, cold, mealy and tasteless. Oh, the hot, crisp, golden-brown ones? I don't think of them as french fries ...

The blogosphere is exploding with attacks on chick lit. Look here (and the several dozen responses that follow), here (ditto), here, and here (comment #2).*

The most interesting thing I've noted on all of these posts is that the people proclaiming the loudest about their dislike for the genre of chick lit said mainly that they didn't like the fashion-obsession and the shopping and the stupid heroines and the deus ex machina happy endings and the plotless books. To my thinking, that's like saying you don't like romance because you hate books with arranged marriages or beautiful bluestocking heroines or rich heroes or secret babies. That is not what comprises the genre, folks.

But when someone tries to make that point by presenting examples of chick lit books that don't have the qualities the chick-haters describe, the response was almost universally, "Oh, I don't think of that as chick lit."

Well, isn't that convenient! It's so much easier to dismiss an entire genre when you decide that any book that doesn't have the qualities you dislike is not part of that genre.

Sheesh. This is why so many chick lit writers are disavowing their own genre, why my own editor is describing my book as "more than chick lit." Isn't it better to say that the genre is more than what the detractors are calling it? I've read flat, shallow chick lit books that I've disliked, and I've read riveting, deeply funny, deeply moving books about women growing into their lives and taking charge and saving themselves. One of my very good writing friends say that the true romance in chick lit is about loving yourself.

To misquote agent Lucienne Diver: "Don't tell me that you space-set book with the phase-guns isn't science fiction because it's better than science fiction. Don't put down your own genre."

My book is chick lit. It's a coming-of-age story about a young woman told in a tart, funny, confessional tone. She doesn't go shopping (though I think I mention her picking up a package of underwear in chapter one), she's not an idiot (though she could probably stand to brush up a bit on her literary critics), there's suspense and drama and plot to spare and she's going to have to fight pretty damn hard for her happy ending.

I do not write in the "shopping genre." I write modern, funny, female-oriented coming-of-age stories. I don't give a damn about shoes, but it's still chick lit.

Reproduced with permission from Diana's blog. A review of Diana's book Secret Society Girl is coming soon(ish).

* Diana's post linked to a couple of defences of chick lit, but those links are sadly no longer active.

Posted by Keris on September 4, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 1, 2006 11:31 AM

Virtual Book Tours

You know how sometimes you go into a bookshop and there's an author sitting at a table, a pile of books in front of them, an embarrassed look on their face? Well that sad scene could be a thing of the past. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, authors can go on tour without leaving their homes. They don't even have to get dressed if they don't want to. Yes, like garlic bread, virtual book tours are the future.

Continue over the cut to find out how it works.

Basically an author 'visits' a series of websites for an interview or review or they may even guest-edit the site for the day.

A popular tour - and of most interest to Trashionistas - is the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit, created by Karin Gillespie. So you can start the day with Joshilyn Jackson, visit Melanie Lynn Hauser, drop by Alison Pace's place and say hello to Shanna Swendson. All without leaving your chair. Genius.

Posted by Keris on September 1, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book Websites, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 31, 2006 1:37 PM

New women's imprint (but it's not for us)

Publishers Hyperion have announced a new imprint - Voice - for women 35 and over, which will, they claim, have 'a resolutely anti-chick-lit bent'. Instead it will 'offer books that answer today’s women’s needs to dream, to learn, to reconnect and to recharge their lives ... that explores our own day-to-day experiences or transports us to another time and place entirely ...' Sounds like chick lit to me.

An article in the New York Times says, 'To help Voice pinpoint what women want, [the founders] have recruited a panel of 10 professional women to meet twice a year. Members include Subha Barry, a vice president in charge of global diversity for Merrill Lynch; Ellen Levine, editorial director of Hearst Magazines; and Candace Bushnell, a novelist.'

I know what you're thinking - Candace Bushnell?! But it's okay, because apparently Candace Bushnell has 'evolved from writing chick lit' (according to one of Voice's founders).

If only publishers would evolve from using chick lit bashing as a marketing tool.

Posted by Keris on August 31, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 25, 2006 9:48 AM

Chick Lit for little chicks

The Philadelphia Inquirer's piece about the crossover appeal of young adult fiction [via Bookslut] reminded me of the numerous chick lit authors branching out into writing for young adults. It seems like every time I go into a bookshop I find another YA book by an established adult author (both Marian Keyes and Jennifer Weiner have expressed an interest in writing YA at some point.)

It's a natural progression: chick lit was originally about women trying to find their way in the world and that journey begins - often horribly, but also hilariously (with retrospect) - as a teenager. Read on for some YA chick lit recommendations.

The adult and teen combo poster-girl must surely be Meg Cabot, who writes for both at an exhausting rate, though she has been criticised lately for her adult books sounding too "teen". But I recently read an interesting interview with Cabot's friend Michele Jaffe in Writing magazine in which she said the only difference in writing YA is that the characters are teenagers - claiming the mistake you can make is to write for teenagers instead of about them and risk being condescending. I haven't read any of her adult books, but I really loved Bad Kitty so I'm happy to agree.

Sue Limb's Girl, 15, Charming But Insane is hilarious and I enjoyed Tyne O'Connell's Pulling Princes. I'm looking forward to Melissa Senate's Theodora Twist and Valerie Frankel's Fringe Girl, but I wasn't over-excited by Rowan Coleman's Ruby Parker Hits the Small Time (though I did love her adult debut, Growing Up Twice). And, of course, there's Sarah Mlynowski's hugely successful All About Rachel series (and a review of Mlynowski's See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit is coming soon). I can't wait to read Ally Carter's I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You and Lauren Baratz-Logsted's forthcoming YA debut Angel's Choice.

Don't be put off by the shelving of these books in the children's section (you can always pretend you're buying them for someone else if it makes you feel better). As Meg Cabot has proven, YA fiction can be equally, if not more, enjoyable than more 'grown-up' chick lit!

(In the interest of full-disclosure (and, um, self-promotion) I should mention that I also edit a fledgling YA chick lit site: Chicklet.)

Posted by Keris on August 25, 2006 in American Authors, Book News, Book related, British Authors, Girly Stuff, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (3)

August 24, 2006 7:58 AM

Judging books by their covers

I've been really enjoying the official Penguin Books blog and yesterday they had some interesting insights into book covers. I also recently discovered this site focusing on cover art. Then a few days ago I saw the cover of A Hopeless Romantic, Harriet Evans's follow-up to Going Home, in The Bookseller and gasped at its gorgeousness.

So it got me to wondering what attracts me about a cover. Continue over the cut to find out (and for more purty covers).

I've mentioned before that a sniff of New York and I'm easy so this one was a shoe-in.

I bought Lisa Jewell's Thirtynothing on the basis of the cover despite the fact that I hadn't been that impressed by Ralph's Party (I know, I need to re-read it).

And this one - cherry blossom and New York! - just makes me sigh with longing.

Apparently, I too am a hopeless romantic. But what does it for you? What kind of cover do you cross a bookstore for? (I'm guessing it's not feet.)

Posted by Keris on August 24, 2006 in American Authors, Book Websites, Book related, British Authors, Girly Stuff, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (7)

August 21, 2006 10:04 AM

Books and Feet!

On her fabulous Snarkspot blog recently, Jennifer Weiner shared her excitement that unlike her previous book covers [and they're all lovely], The Guy Not Taken doesn't feature legs, feet, shoes or some combination of the above. I know what she means- it seems to have become the biggest woman writer cover cliche of all time, as this article points out. [via mimi smartypants].

I mean come on book cover designers, we do sometimes have other things on our mind besides shoes! (I said 'sometimes', don't worry Shoewawa ladies!)

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 21, 2006 in American Authors, Book Websites, Book related, Girly Stuff, New Releases, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 15, 2006 9:35 AM

Latina Lit

It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind and despite my irritation at the neverending list of chick lit subgenres here's another - fans of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's book The Dirty Girls Social Group will be interested to know that Latina Lit (or Chica Lit) is predicted to be the next big thing in chick lit.

The US Latino community - which includes Mexican-Americans and Cuban-Americans - is over 40 million strong, and is a previously untapped chick lit audience.

But authors such as Mary Castillo and books like Caridad Ferrer's Adios To My Old Life are proving so popular a boom is inevitable.

A great way to find new authors in this sub-genre is to try the chica lit anthology, Friday Night Chicas.

Posted by Keris on August 15, 2006 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 14, 2006 12:30 PM

Is Fratire Chick-Lit for Men?

Despite good efforts by the likes of Mike Gayle, Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons, there's never really been a strong male equivalent to chick-lit. But that could change: recently there's been a lot of buzz in the American media (which means there's about to be a lot of buzz here) about "fratire", which has been touted as chick-lit for men- a new genre focused on young men's issues (the 'frat' of the title referring to fraternity houses).

Sound interesting? Well, I guess it could be... if all the books falling under this new heading didn't just seem to be about getting drunk and having one-night stands. Come on, American (and British) men- you must have more interesting issues on your minds than this! I know chick-lit often deals with finding or losing love (often both) but it also deals with all manner of modern relationship and life dilemmas... in other words, apart from a few exceptions, girls still do it better!

Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on August 14, 2006 in American Authors, Book related, British Authors, Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006 11:33 AM

Chick Lit on Top

Warring anthologies "This Is Chick Lit" and "This Is Not Chick Lit" (which you can read about here) are reviewed jointly in the current issue of the completely fabulous Bust magazine and, perhaps surprisingly (though not to Trashionistas), "This Is Chick Lit" comes out on top.

After calling Elizabeth Merrick’s introduction to the allegedly more literary anthology "condescending", reviewer Priya Jain writes, "Like a lot of snotty literary types, I have often sneered at chick lit … I’m here to tell you: I was wrong. These stories, which take chick lit beyond its Bridget Jonesian beginnings, show that it’s time to take this maturing genre a little more seriously. In this round of the culture wars, at least, the point goes to the chick-lit girls."

via Karin Gillespie

Posted by Keris on August 10, 2006 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 7, 2006 11:52 AM

Whatever next?

First there was chick lit. Then lad lit, hen lit, mommy lit, chick lit mystery, paranormal chick lit .. the list goes on. Now, according to the New York Observer, there's Ivy League Chick Lit.

But how many books does it take to create a sub-genre? Read on and find out.

The article only mentions three: Kaavya Viswanathan’s "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life", Diana Peterfreund's "Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel" and Robin Hazelwood’s "Model Student". If you expanded the idea to include college in general (i.e. not just Ivy League), you'd have Lauren Barnholdt's recent "Reality Chick", Sarah Mlynowski's "Monkey Business" and more.

By this token, we could herald a new sub-genre every Thursday! London Lit! Sister Lit! Country to City Lit (and Back Again .. Lit!).

It did make me wonder, though .. I can't think of any chick lit books set in British universities. Can you?

Posted by Keris on August 7, 2006 in Opinion | Permalink | Comments (24)

July 24, 2006 3:48 PM

In praise of chick lit (at last!)

I've mentioned before how fed up I am with all the chick lit bashing and finally I've found an article in support of chick lit. The wonderful Jennifer Weiner has written a fabulous piece about women's fiction in the American edition of this month's Elle magazine. Beginning with a discussion of how women's fiction has always been considered more trivial and less profound than men's (even though women are the primary purchasers of fiction and that women's fiction dominates the best-seller lists), she goes on to say:

'And woe to the woman who writes a breezy novel with a likable female protagonist and a happy ending. This is chick lit, of course, the ghetto within the ghetto [of women's fiction]. At best, critics call the form "entirely disposable," "merely entertaining," "entirely unchallenging." At worst, they call it vile, contemptible; guilty of trafficking in cliche, crowding legitimat