Absolutely Faking it - Tiana Templeman

For Tiana Templeman, travel has always meant hiking boots and hostels, so when she wins a trip for two to stay at thirteen of the world's most exclusive five-star hotels including economy airfares, it sounds like the chance of a lifetime, an opportunity to see how the other half lives.

But with a travel budget stretched tighter than the straps on their bulging backpacks, Tiana and her husband have no room for diamonds and designer clothing (if they actually owned any in the first place). From the Ritz in Paris to the Dorchester in London and the Peninsula in Hong Kong, Tiana is faced with questions of etiquette she never thought she'd have to answer: is it all right to cook instant noodles beside the Chanel toiletries in the bathroom? How do you deal with tipping when you can't even afford a bottle of water from the mini-bar? And what on earth are you meant to do with a private butler?

Through fourteen countries, over five months and with countless hilarious and mortifying adventures, Tiana learns that in establishments catering for those with champagne tastes when you're on a beer budget, life can be harder than it looks.

It took me two attempts to start reading this book, but once I got into it I actually really enjoyed it.

At first Tiana and her husband are so worried about how they look and fit in to their surroundings in their flash hotels that I actually gave up on the book I was that frustrated with their whining, but once they settled in to their accommodations, the book actually got interesting and you got to hear about some pretty interesting places (Some that I have never thought about visiting before and now am intrigued by).

I still think that more detail could have been give at each of the locations hey visited. For a 5 month long holiday it is a surprisingly short book, even in the places written about that I have been to, I felt important or obvious details were left out. But it did give me a good sneak peak in to some of the extravagant hotels that I will probably never get to experience myself.

I would probably read this book again one day, and would definitely recommend it as a light read for those who enjoy travelling, but a word of warning – reading this book can lead to a sudden onset of travel bug fever!

Testimony - Anita Shreve

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora’s box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices–those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal–that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

Anita Shreve is one of my favourite authors, and this book is a perfect example why. Beautifully written, this novel is a cautionary tale that explores the precipitating factors and aftermath of a student sex scandal at a private Vermont high school. Told through the alternating personal testimonies of 21 people involved or impacted, its creative structure is an all-out exploration of viewpoint: first-, third-, and even second-person, in past and present tenses.

The writing style of this book was very clever and wove all the parts of this challenging topic together seamlessly. For what could have been an uncomfortable issue (and sometimes was when reading the novel) it brought together each point of view to give the reader an overall picture on what went on, and your opinion on the matter at the beginning of the book, might not necessarily be the same once you finish reading.

Full of strong emotion, without the melodrama, this one is definitely worth a read (and re-read!)

Handbags and Gladrags - Maggie Alderson

Emily Pointer seemingly has it all--a job as a stylist for the hot British magazine Chic, a killer wardrobe, trips to glamorous locales, and a cosmopolitan husband. So why is she jeopardizing it all for an affair with a roguish Australian photographer? Perhaps because everything's not as it seems on the surface. Emily and her husband have a relationship based more on how they look together than how they feel about each other. Emily's superficiality and her ambivalence about her infidelity initially make her a very unsympathetic character. But, after a somewhat inauspicious introduction, she begins to change--coming to terms with her tumultuous childhood and reexamining her shallow lifestyle.

If you look on other book website, this book averages a 3.5 out of 5 rating. Maybe it’s because I read such a wide variety of books, that I actually really enjoyed reading something that was light-hearted and easy to read for a change.

I thought the writing style was great, the characters were believable and suited the storyline, the story itself moved at a great pace and not once did I find myself getting bored with it, and the writing was so casually descriptive that I could imagine everything perfectly, without getting annoyed or bored with tonnes of words to describe one item or setting. And even though I don't closely follow the fashion world, I could still keep up with what was going on in the story.

It was a great story and one I enjoyed floating away to – and it had the perfect mix of fashion, backstabbing, name-dropping and hot sexy moments (without going in to too much detail that it made me feel like I was reading a men’s magazine)

If you are looking for a humerous, light-hearted easy chic story then this one is for you. I would even go as far to say I would probably put it in the pile of books I would read again at some point. Loved it.