1. Andrew Morton - Diana, Her True Story, in her own words
This notorious book was the cause of a huge scandal when it was published. Princess Diana contacted the journalist Andrew Morton to help her tell of her true life in the monarchy and her deep unhappiness she couldn't share publicly. He smuggled questions into the palace for her and she smuggled out tape recordings of her responses. This is an updated version since Diana's death which comes clean about the source of the information and that it was Diana herself who spoke to Morton, but at its initial release it was kept covered up that she herself had initiated the book and supplied the information, and was conveyed as if it came from various sources close to the princess.
On its release it started the ball rolling for her divorce from the Prince, and it is very sad reading of a woman who was quite badly misused. Her husband was quite clearly having an affair with Camilla at the time of his proposal to Diana, but as Camilla was married and he had a duty to produce an heir, he merely found himself an appropriate breeding candidate. Four out of five stars, I found it compelling and couldn't put it down, but now I have read it I don't think I would read it again.
2. Nora Ephron - I feel bad about my neck
I loved this, a collection of articles from the multi talented Nora Ephron who was a journalist, director, screen writer and producer, and is famous for 'When Harry met Sally', 'Sleepless in Seattle' and my favourite 'You've got mail'. It talks about many things, one of which is getting older as a woman. It is very funny and often reads as a love story to New York, which I really like. I want to get more of her books now. Five out of five stars.
3. Pattie Boyd- Wonderful tonight
I didn't have especially high hopes for this autobiography, as last month when I had read several autobiographies, I had found them generally badly written and awkward. I was intrigued by the life of Pattie Boyd though - a sixties icon who had been married to George Harrison of the Beatles, and then to Eric Clapton, and who had inspired several song to be written about her by both. This book was beautifully written and very interesting, if sad.
Her grandparents were from colonial India and wealthy, she grew up until she was eight in Africa, she then moved to England and went to Catholic boarding schools until she was seventeen and moved to London, becoming a model shortly after. At the age of nineteen she met George Harrison, and married him when she was twenty one and he was twenty two. She was the main force behind the Beatles famous trip to India and became a photographer. Four and a half out of five stars.
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| photograph by Henry Grossman via harrisonstories.tumblr.com |
4. Ariel Gore - Bluebird, women and the new psychology of happiness
The premise of this book was that women and men experience happiness through different things and in different ways, and that most studies on happiness have been conducted purely on men. All well and good. The author then asks a group of women to keep a diary on what makes them happy each day... and that seems to be it. It is mainly a rambling story about her own life and makes no direct and logical study on how to be happier. Not impressed. didn't ever get to the point. No stars.
5. Rosalind Wiseman - Queen bees and wannabes
This is the factual book which was used as the inspiration and the basis for the film 'Mean Girls' with Lindsay Lohan. It looks at the social structures of high school and female relationships, and is a very interesting study. I found this compelling reading but skipped some of the case studies of what to do in certain situations if you are the parent of a teen - I'm not. I will be passing this on to a secondary school teacher friend of mine, and would definitely recommend it if you have teens. She has also written a book about boys in adolescence. Three and a half stars out of five. Interesting, but not a book I would want to curl up with.
