Latest Philippa Gregory novel to be tweeted

Philippa Gregory’s latest historical fiction is about to hit the bookstores and her publisher is embracing social media to promote it.

The White Queen will be serialised on Twitter in the week preceding its publication, with the first tweet to be posted tomorrow (August 11) at 5pm. You can view the tweets here.

The novel will then be released internationally on August 18.

Gregory, who has written the tweets herself, said it was a difficult process to turn her 150,000 word novel into 140 character bites.

“Tweets are a discipline, rather like a haiku, and the shortness of the sentence gives each one a rhythm which is really interesting for prose. It was more like writing poetry than prose.

And some of the tweets seem to me to be more arresting than the prose of the book. I especially like the first one: 'If my mother were not a witch, and the descendant of the goddess Melusina, I think none of this could ever have happened to me. But it did'. I like this so much, I have re-used it when describing the novel, it doesn't appear in the novel but only in the Twitter version, but it encapsulates for me the mood of the novel, its dreamlike quality, the character of the heroine and invites you to read more. I am certainly going to write creative tweets again."

The White Queen is the first in a series of novels set amid The Wars of the Roses. The book is a tale of one woman's ambitious ascent to royalty and the unsolved mystery around her son's imprisonment.

I'm a mad-keen twitter fan and I love how more and more businesses are latching on to the opportunities social media has to offer - as well as being a great way to catch up with friends and meet new ones. I will definitely be following Ms Gregory's tweets with interest.

Is it something you will follow too? Do you like publishers trying to engage with consumers this way? Is it something you would like to see more of?

Tell all book on the way about Paris Hilton

The man who says he created the Paris Hilton brand, is planning to tear the socialite apart in a tell-all book.

The heiress’ estranged manager, Jason Moore, is shopping a book about her which has sparked something of a bidding war among publishers.

Pitched as a business book about how Moore moulded "this blond piece of clay into a global icon" with her own reality TV franchise and fashion and beauty lines, it is also expected to dish the dirt on behind the scenes, never before told dramas – Moore allegedly never signed a confidentiality agreement with Hilton

"Jason will demonstrate how, for 10 years, he managed to save his mercurial client from disgrace by manipulating the media, and Paris herself," according to a pitch letter making the rounds.

"Paris was often times her own worst enemy, making a sex tape with a former boyfriend, nursing hangovers during photo shoots, falling asleep everywhere, and getting thrown in jail for numerous driving violations. If Paris Hilton didn't have Jason Moore pulling the strings, cleaning up her messes ... she could well have faded into oblivion."

Moore, who'll call his memoir "Controlling Chaos," says the girl unkindly branded a "celebutard" was more than willing. "[She] spent hours at a time posing in front of the mirror, nailing down the ideal position to create the perfect paparazzi photo."

Her hope, he says, was to become "the kind of character ... that would land commercials, international endorsements, film and television roles." He winkingly adds, "... and the man (or maybe even the girl) of her dreams."

Moore, described in the proposal as Hilton's "Wizard of Oz-like manager," will also talk about the temptations he saw - "the all-night partying; easy access to women and drugs."

Moore and Hilton parted ways last year amid reports that his wife was fed up with the time he was devoting to his client.

Hilton, who recently returned from taping a new international version of her "BFF" series in Dubai, also had no comment. But a friend of hers claims, "Given the legal issues, I'd be surprised if this book sees the light of day."

Inked up librarians pose for great cause

A group of Texas librarians are banishing the stereotypical librarian look: no hair in a bun, spectacles on a chain, long covered up dress, and a finger poised at her lips ready to hiss “Shush!” for these luscious ladies.

Instead they are showing some skin - tattoos and all - to raise disaster relief money to help damaged libraries.

Members of the Texan Library Association have put together an 18 month calendar, The Tattooed Ladies of the TLA, showing off their usually concealed body art.

Librarian Shawne Miksa says it's a way to get people to notice library issues. As the model for November 2010, she shows off Chinese characters on her lower back that mean "wisdom" and "desire".

The ladies' calender is a follow-up to the successful Men of Texas Libraries calendar, which raised $US9000 ($NZ13,936) to help libraries damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The TLA says libraries promote diversity and freedom of expression and The Tattooed Ladies of TLA calendar is a testament to both.

More celebs attempt to be authors...

It's a trifecta of celebrities making publishing houses wring their hangs together in revenue-gathering glee and book lovers shaking their heads in bewilderment.

First up is former playboy girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson, following in the footsteps of former housemate Izabella St James who wrote Bunny Tales: My life at the Playboy Mansion. Who? I hear you ask. Exactly. And her book is equally uninteresting nonsense - I know because I had the misfortune to read it, thinking it would spill juicy gossip about Playboy life that for some reason I thought I wanted to know. It didn't. But if you don't believe me, here's the first 40-odd pages.)

Anyway...Kendra, who dated the Playboy lethario for four years is writing a memoir and plans to reveal details of her life at the mansion. (Isn't that what the tv show Girls Next Door was for?)

The one-time glamour model who is expecting her first child with new husband Hank Baskett also described her untitled manuscript, due out next summer, as a "humorous, relatable, fish-out-of-water tale".

"I feel like the luckiest girl in the world," Wilkinson said in a statement released by her publisher Simon Spotlight Entertainment. "I have a husband I adore, a baby on the way, and now my memoir is going to be published!"

The second celeb penning a memoir is Good Charlotte star Joel Madden. The band's singer, who is currently expecting his second child with partner Nicole Richie, told People that he was "lightly working" on a literary project.

"I don't want to put a book out there if it's not actually meaningful. I'm not going to go there unless I can deliver," he explained. It would be about my life. It would be about, mostly, the big changes in my life, kids, relationships, moving to LA... the big life changes that I've gone through. If I put a book out, I want it to be something that matters to me. It has to be real, you can't just put a book out, to put a book out. I want every page to mean something."

There is no word whether Madden has a agent or publishing contract as yet.

And lastly Jennifer Love Hewitt, who last month revealed she is working on a dating book, has also been busy penning a 10 part series of comic books. "Jennifer Love Hewitt's The Music Box," will hit stores in November and is about a possessed music box and the strange things that happen to those who come in contact with it.

The "Ghost Whisperer" star describes the series as a "horror/thriller," and said that creating the comic has been "like a very fun nightmare come true."

"I've always been fascinated by the notion that an inanimate object can hold as much malevolent energy as a human being can," said the 30-year-old actress, "and when the two meet, or are at cross purposes, very bad things can happen."

Hewitt recommends the "Music Box" as "lights on" reading.

Any of these sound like your cup of tea?

BREAKING NEWS: Novel About My Wife wins Montana New Zealand Fiction Book of the Year 2009

Congratulations to Emily Perkins - just annoucned winner of New Zealand's post prestigious literary award, the 2009 Montana Fiction book of the year!!

Perkins took out the award with her book, A Novel About My Wife which centres around Tom Stone. Madly in love with his wife Ann and pushing forty the couple are expecting their first child, and buy a semi-derelict house in Hackney. Despite their spiralling money troubles, they believe this is their settled future. But Ann becomes convinced she’s being shadowed by a homeless man whose presence seems like a terrible omen. As their child grows, Ann’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, feverish and disturbed. On the verge of losing everything, Tom makes a decision that he hopes will save their lives.

Novel About My Wife is described as a taut, sensuous and chilling portrait of a marriage beset by paranoia and obsession.

Want to know a little more about the author? Emily Perkins was born in Christchurch in 1970. She is the author of Not Her Real Name, a collection of short stories which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and the novels Leave Before You Go and The New Girl.

Emily Perkins was the 2006 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellow. She used the fellowship to work on Novel About My Wife (Bloomsbury, 2008). She lives in Auckland.

Congratulations to Emily!!!

And commiserations to Kate de Goldi - her young adults novel "The 10pm Question" was a fabulous contender and it must have been a very tight race!

New Zealand Book Sellers Awards

Tomorrow is the big one, the announcement of New Zealand's biggest literary prize - The Montana book awards.

But tonight was the chance for the book stores around the country to have their moment to shine at the Hachette New Zealand Ltd Conference Dinner & Industry Awards.

I'll bring you a full list of winners as soon as I can but for now a huge congratulations to Independent Bookshop of the Year recipients Unity Books in Wellington. And I am so proud that one of my all time favourite book stockists in my beloved home town of Palmerston North took out Regional Bookshop of the Year - North Island - yay for Bruce McKenzie Booksellers on George Street!!

Authorised Winehouse Biography in time for Christmas

For those of you who like to get in early with your book wishlists to Santa, comes the exciting news you can now add the authorised biography of Amy Winehouse to it.

New Holland publishers will release Saving Amy by celebrity interviewer Daphne Barak in October/November. It will draw on six months of in-depth and exclusive interviews with Winehouse and her family conducted in St Lucia.

The book will look at the singer's life as a child, her rise to fame and her fall into the depths of addiction.

Written from Barak's point of view, it will also include photographs. And while it will be Barak's first book she has previously interviewed hundreds of high-profile figures including Michael Jackson, Mother Teresa and Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile still to hit the shelves is an offerings from Winehouse herself.

The “Rehab” singer, now famous for her drug and alcohol indiscretions as much as her music, was reported in April to have penned a book of poetry about her troubled life and chaotic relationship with her estranged husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

A source claims that since living on Caribbean island of St Lucia Amy has been stimulated to write.

“She loves the chilled-out Caribbean atmosphere and has found it has encouraged her to write again. Pete Doherty once told her that poetry was a good way to express yourself, so she thought writing a book of poems about her life would be a fine start. She really wants to write a children's book one day so thought a book of poems would be great practice."


Please note: I did not photoshop the picture :P

Also please note: this one is not going on my Christmas wish list. I quite like Ms Winehouse's Back to Black album but I treat every Santa wish as precious and wouldn't be wasting one on this book when so much of it can be read in the English tabloids.

Joe Karam book delayed

HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand advises that Joe Karam’s new book analysing the recent David Bain retrial and its aftermath has been delayed.

During the last three weeks of planning and drafting, Karam and HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand have taken stock of the extensive information still coming to light in the aftermath of the retrial and have decided to delay the publication date to allow for Karam to fully develop and research these underlying themes further.

‘The David Bain story, and in particular the retrial, and ongoing repercussions, is an extraordinary one,’ says Lorain Day, Publishing Manager, HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand. ‘It is one that only Karam is qualified to tell, and it deserves maximum time for full analysis. The resulting book will be bigger, and even better than originally expected. As such, we have asked Joe, who has agreed, to expand the book considerably from our original conception. It will be well worth the extra time it takes, and will be an even more significant book as a result.”

The book was originally scheduled for publication in September. It will now be published in 2010.

A quick word with Jeff Lindsay

"When one of my early reviews said "Jeff Lindsay is revitalising the genre" it shocked the hell out of me, I was not aware it was a genre. It's certainly not anything I read. I like historical fiction. But there is too much research for a lazy bastard like me."

- Jeff Lindsay

I'm a huge fan of the lovable serial killer Dexter books. Weird but true, the savage softie holds a huge place in my literary heart despite these novels are nothing like my usual reading fair.

So it was with a "SQUEEEE!!!" of excitement that I read this awesome little interview with his creator Jeff Lindsay on the NZ Herald website and a double "SQUEEEE!!!" I read that number five in the series is already underway!!!

I've never watched the telly series though - has anyone else? Have you read the books as well and how do the two compare?

Calling all Outrageous Fortune Fans...

Okay, so I know posting this at 9.40pm on a Tuesday night means you will all be glued to your telly getting your weekly OF fix but...New Zealand's favourite Westie family are coming to a bookstore near you this winter.....

"Outrageous Fortune: The West Family Album" is described by independent publisher Oratia Media as 'the ultimate fan handbook to the West family and their associates.'



In a lively four-colour design featuring over 100 photos, the book gets the actors’ and writers’ take on the series – with script extracts, a trivia quiz and a drinking game – and probes the characters to reveal all from Cheryl’s recipes to Pascalle’s philosophy, Ted’s racing tips to the Tool Guy code.

Due to hit the shops in August, it's written by James Griffin and Rachel Lang, the multiple award-winning creators and executive producers of Outrageous Fortune, aand Tim Balme, who has been a storyliner and scriptwriter since the show’s second season. It will retail for $30.00.

Convicted Murderer plans book to tell "the truth"

I'm not sure why it is those accused of crimes (and/or found guilty of them) think we, the book buying public are going to want to hear their version of the "truth."

First we had former police assistant commissioner Clint Rickards, the man accused of group sex/rape shopping for a publisher and we are soon to have another tome from David Bain campaigner Joe Karam.

But the latest would-be author is Nai Yin Xue.

In 2007 Xue murdered his young wife, An An Liu, in Auckland and dumped her naked body in the boot of his car outside her home. He then fled New Zealand with his three year old daughter Qian Xun Xue, nicknamed Pumpkin. He dumped the toddler at a Melbourne train station and hid out for months in the USA before being apprehended.

Xue plans to publish a book "so people can know the truth" he was quoted as telling the New Zealand Chinese Herald.

"The day will come when people will know that I am innocent."

The self-proclaimed kung fu master says he is not a good writer, but was determined to write a book "so people can know the truth".

A former Chinese newspaper publisher in Auckland, Xue has produced two books: Inner Strength Kung fu shocks US in 2002, and The Pearl of Wu-style Taiji in 1998 - where he described himself as a "gift from the gods", a product of a miracle birth and a man destined to be the great grandmaster of Chinese martial arts.

Xue remains in denial about the murder of his wife. He is due for sentencing on July 31 and faces life imprisionment.

I personally have absolutely no intention of buying any of these books and cannot imagine they have anything I want to hear them say. I have faith in our justice system and the jurors that are selected to judge their peers. Okay, I'll qualify that by saying, I have faith most of the time: the revelations from the Bain jury trial do leave me concerned but I highly doubt Joe Karam s new book is going to say anything against them either!

I think, when the weight of evidence is overwhelming as it is in particularly the Xue case, these men should do the honourable thing and leave the victims to rest in peace and the remaining families members to grieve in private. After all, not only have the families suffered the loss of their loved one but also a trial (or two) with often the most distressing and private details dredged up.

Are these the kind of books you would be interested in reading? Do you have any intention of grabbing copies when they hit the book shelves?

And God help us all if Clayton Weatherston decides to write a book when his trial is over (Rest in peace Sophie).

Montana book winner mistakenly announced

Next Magazine has committed a most almighty faux pas: their August issue, in print now announces the winner of the fiction section of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards - before the judges have even made their decision!

The magazine published who it believed had won the fiction category in the August edition of its magazine.

Booksellers NZ chief executive Lincoln Gould said the magazine has advised Booksellers NZ they have done this in error, that they do not know who has won the awards.

Next explained they became confused in an article which also discussed this year's winner of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

"The Next article was written before judges had even decided who the winners were," Mr Gould said, "any suggestion as to the winner of Montana New Zealand Book Award categories at this stage is purely speculative - guess work."

The actual winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony at the Auckland Museum on July 27.


Quite the embarrassing stuff for Next magazine!!!

I'm really looking forward to this year's Montana New Zealand Book Awards and think there are two very strong contenders in particular, these being "Novel About My Wife" by Emily Perkins and the title I suspect Next had has winner, the marvellously heart-warming "The 10pm Question" by Kate De Goldi.

Has anyone seen the August edition of Next to confirm my suspicions? My curiosity has got the better of me to the point that I think I will drag my cold-ridden self on a mission to track it down...and stock up on aloe vera tissues and lemon drinks while I am at it!

Another day, another celeb writing a book...

Pop superstar Justin Timberlake plans to add author to his resume.

It's no secret the singer who found fame with N*Sync before turning solo loves golf, and now he plans to write a book about this passion outside of music.

The New York Observer is reporting that JT is proposing a book about his hobby with the help of David Vigliano.

Vigliano is behind Shannen Doherty and Clay Aiken's book deals. Celebuzz.com reports that Vigliano sent out Timberlake's book proposal to editors last month.

The book will be like a memoir – recalling his experiences with golf and the people he has played with.

"I can go on any golf course, anywhere," Timberlake said about the sport according to MTV.com. "I can go on a golf course in Abu Dhabi and feel like I'm back home. That's what I love about it."

Timberlake's love of golf is well known, and he plays with an impressive six handicap. The 28-year-old singer owns his own golf course - the Big Creek Golf Course near Memphis and last year he started a charity golf event, The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open.

The six-times Grammy winner has previously even admitted his proudest moment in life relates to the sport he loves.

“I loved appearing on the cover of Golf Digest magazine. I'm not going to lie. I mean, I'm done. I don't have to do another magazine cover ever again.”

It has also been claimed the "Sexy Back" singer refuses to take to the course with his girlfriend Jessica Biel as she is such a strong competitor.

“He prefers not to play with her since she's gotten so good. It's too bad because he got her into golf in the first place.”

If Justin does publish a book on the sport he won’t be the only famous person to have done so. In 2008, rocker Alice Cooper penned a book called ‘Golf Monster: A Rock ’n’ Roller’s Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict’.

A Little Bit More Michael Jackson Book News

From reuters...

Chinese pen 'instant' Jackson biography

Two Chinese writers slaved for 48 hours straight to produce an "instant" biography of late singer Michael Jackson, despite having never met him, a state-run newspaper said.

The book, called Moonwalk in Paradise, hit the bookshelves over the weekend, the China Daily said, after the authors subsisted on a diet of coffee and cigarettes and worked round-the-clock to complete it.

While they are not as popular as the Taiwanese and Hong Kong stars who dominate the music scene in China, Western artists are making inroads in the local market, thanks to young fans.

Jiang Xiaoyu, one of the writers, had previously written blogs and reviews about Jackson, who died on June 25 when he went into cardiac arrest at his rented mansion in Los Angeles.

"I am not only a music critic but also a fan of the King of Pop, so I understand what fans really need," Jiang was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"I fought the deadline around the clock, as fans cannot wait for months."

The China Youth Daily said the writers wrote the book based on their "accumulated knowledge about the King of Pop".

"Though it is hard to tell how big the market for instant books is in China, I am sure we have done a nice job on quickly responding to market needs," the China Daily quoted Zang Yongqing, an editor at the publishing house, as saying.

The report added that at least 10 other Chinese publishers were planning "instant" books about Jackson.



I promise that is my last entry on the King of Pop - my nana said things always come in threes, so that's my three entries on the Gloved One done :-)

Also, I totally love the Chinese authors - such insane dedication to get it done!

That didn't take long....

Book publishers Headline UK have confirmed the release of "Michael Jackson: Life of a Legend."

Billed as the ultimate celebration of the performer’s life following his untimely death, the book will go on sale in the UK on July 17 and in Australasia on July 30 with a retail of NZ$50.

In their release blurb the publishers state "this lavish, full-colour, illustrated book will feature over 200 images taken from the Daily Mirror’s unrivalled pictures archives. With top-class photography and full support from the Daily Mirror, this will be the ultimate book for fans."

Respected music writer and journalist, Michael Heatley (author of over 30 books including biographies on Rolf Harris, John Lennon, Deep Purple, John Peel, Bon Jovi and Neil Young) has drawn on his five years of research into the Jackson family to tell Michael’s story from his earliest days in the Jackson 5, through the glory days of Thriller (still the world’s all time biggest
selling pop album), to the planned comeback tour.

Carly Cook, Headline UK Non Fiction Publisher says: "We are thrilled to be publishing the first celebration of such an amazing artist. The book is going to be gorgeous and a fitting tribute to a legendary performer. It will be an absolute must-have for any Jackson fan. Jackson’s sudden and untimely death has created an outpouring of grief not seen since Princess Diana or Elvis. Jackson crossed the generations with his music and extraordinary choreography. Michael Jackson: Life of a Legend, will celebrate that talent. This book is not a tell-all, it is a fitting tribute to a legendary performer."


Destined to be a best seller for sure but will you be buying it?

School bribes boys to read with Coke

They say that every man has his price – and now a New Zealand school has discovered that the cost of getting a teenage boy to read is a can of Coke.....

A Wellington school is spending thousands of dollars on fast-food vouchers, movie tickets and mobile phone top-up cards all to "bribe" boys to read books.

The scheme at Rongotai College has raised the interest of the education minister, but a principals' union is concerned that it will make children read for the wrong reasons.

Pupils get prizes when they have read a certain number of books. The school, which is trialling the system with year 9 and 10 pupils, says the initiative has been so successful that the number of books borrowed from the library has doubled.

Teacher Kit Norman, who is in charge of the programme, admitted the prizes were a payoff, but was prepared to do whatever it took to get pupils reading.

"I am the first person to admit it is a bribe, but the results speak for themselves.

"Boys don't read enough. Some are only reading one book a year, so we want to push them. We are not trying to turn them into English students, we just want them to read books."

The trial will finish at the end of the year, but the school is keen for the scheme to continue. It costs about $5000 and is funded by the Lions Club and the school's Parents' Association.

The school wants the 250 pupils taking part to read at least 10 books before the end of the year. They have to fill in a reading log, which includes information about the book and why they liked or disliked it, and are marked by teachers. They also have to get their parents to confirm home reading sessions.

Mr Norman said that, if boys read more books, it would improve their writing and comprehension skills in all subjects.

The school has had to order more books to meet demand, but Mr Norman admitted he was facing an uphill battle against other attention-grabbing time consumers such as PlayStation and social networking websites.

Willie Pouao, 13, said he was confident of meeting the 10-book target. He usually read about one a year.

"I never really enjoyed reading, but now it's much more fun that we can get prizes."

He has qualified for a can of fizzy drink by finishing former All Black Tana Umaga's autobiography. He now has his sights on a fast-food voucher.

Education Minister Anne Tolley wants to learn more about the scheme, saying she was interested in any programme that motivated pupils and improved achievement.

But Principals Federation president Ernie Buutveld was concerned that pupils could be reading for the wrong reasons and a "pat on the back" from parents was a better reward.

"As an interim step it's OK, but as a long-term solution there has to be another method."


REWARDS SYSTEM

Two books: Can of fizzy drink.

Five books: Subway voucher.

10 books: Movie ticket.

20 books: Mobile phone top-up voucher.

Top two pupils in each class: Rongotai College blazer.

Top three pupils overall: $50 voucher at Real Groovy/Rebel Sport.awarded a mobile phone voucher, with each class's top two pupils winning a school blazer, and the top three students overall taking home a clothes voucher.



I'm all for encouraging kids to read and am not above bribery - I'm realisitic enough to know that sometimes that's the only way you will get some kids to read. But I think it needs to be healthy bribery that doesn't encourage munching on junk food for a start. I just hope the scheme fosters a love of reading in these students, not just another way of getting a top up on their cellphones.

What do you think? A good, bad or just plain stupid idea?

New Bain Book on the way

It's the case that has gripped New Zealand like no other - the retrial of David Bain for the murder of his parents and siblings in their Dunedin home in 1994. Whether you think Bain was innocent or guilty (and this excellent opinion piece from Christchurch Press journalist Martin Van Beynen is compelling reading on the trial), there is no doubt his aquital is thanks to the passion and dedication of former All Black and Bain campaigner Joe Karam.

Now Karam is to pen a third book around this family slaughter tragedy, this time about the David Bain retrial.

It is understood the book will provide commentary on Mr Bain’s recent acquittal and the aftermath of the trial. The book – which has yet to be titled – will be published by Harper Collins.

Harper Collins Managing director Tony Fisk said the events following the Bain murders had been a seminal event in the history of New Zealand’s judicial system. The significance of the Bain case was destined to be discussed and debated for many years, Mr Fisk said.

"This will be a very important book and we are excited and privileged to be involved in its publication."

The book will be published in September.


Have you read the previous two Joe Karam books on the Bain family murders? Did reading them influence how you feel about the case? Do you think the jury got the verdict right? Will you read this latest book? Would you read a book Bain himself wrote, as rumours suggest might also be on the cards?

Let me know your thoughts....

Would you take dating advice from a celebrity?

Hollywood starlet and perennially unlucky-in-love actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is penning a dating book.

Titled "The Day I Shot Cupid," and slated for a March 2010 release, the book will "reveal a surprisingly wicked sense of humour as Jennifer explores the new landscape of modern dating and offers up a wide range of practical tips, from text-flirting and IM-ing to what men and women really want, and how to start over after a breakup."

Currently starring in The Ghost Whisperer, Hewitt has said the book is in part a response to the media.

"Throughout my career, there has always been so much written about my love life. Some true, but mostly made up. I thought it was time to share the real story of what I’ve learned navigating the dating waters," she says. "Hopefully, in addition to having a good laugh, women reading this will learn from some of my hard lessons."

On the one hand, I'm intrigued. She's has been named #1 in Maxim's Sexiest Women In The World in 1999 as well as placings in the top 30 in subsequent years meaning she has compiled a pretty impressive dating dance card.

Honourable mentions include singer-guitarist John Mayer, talk show host Carson Daly, actor/model Kip Pardue, writer Chris Benson, singer-songwriter Rich Cronin, actor and singer Joey Lawrence, professional kayaker Brad Ludden, actor Will Friedle, and singer Enrique Iglesias. I'd love to know what lessons she has learnt from some of these men!!! Not to mention her engagement to Scottish actor Ross McCall, which ended at the beginning of this year only for Ms Love-Hewitt to promptly fall into the arms of Ghost Whisperer co-star Jamie Kennedy. (Yes, I love my celebrity gossip!)

However are celebrities, who live their lives in gated private communities, have maids, chefs and personal trainers at their beck and call, and papparzi shadowing their every move really live in the same dating world as the rest of us? Do the same rules that apply to us mere mortals here on planet Real World exisit on Planet Hollywood? Would you seriously take dating advice from a celebrity, with or without her track record?

I'm intrigued, so don't be shy, lemme know your thoughts!

Josef Fritzl book in "Top 50 books for Dad" this Father's Day.

UK book stores are under attack for displaying a non-fiction book on the infamous cellar rapist, Austrian man Josef Fritzl, as a suitable gift for Father's Day.

"The Crimes of Josef Fritzl" details the atrocities committed by Fritzl who locked his daughter in an underground dungeon for 24 years, fathering seven children to her and murdering one.

A branch of high Street chain WH Smith had the book listed in a "Top 50 Books for Dad" display while a branch of Tescos similaly had it displayed.

Tescos initially defended its decision saying through a spokesperson that it would smack of censorship to remove certain books because some people found them offensive.

However, the supermarket chain later changed its policy.

“It was never our intention to cause offence to any of our customers. It was placed there by mistake and has been removed," a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, WH Smith has apologised for its store displaying the books saying it was “a mistake by one store. It is not national policy. We will rectify this immediately.”

Outraged shopper, Matt James, who spotted the book in the WH Smith's Father's Day display expressed his disgust.

“Are they mad? He's probably the worst dad in the world. What he did to his children was horrible.”

Controversy aside, the book itself looks like a fasinating read into a sick and sinister man.

The Crimes of Josef Fritzl: Uncovering the Truth was written by Stefanie Marsh and Bojan Pancevski - the first English-speaking reporters to break the case and were there as the police uncovered the dungeon. They draw on previously unreleased testimonies from the trial as well as exclusive interviews and documents including confidential official files on the case to give the only complete and authoritative account of the forces that drove Fritzl to create another world, far from the light, in which his fantasies of control could be played out.

-----------------------------------------------------------

- Also, even looking at pictures of this man make my skin crawl. I hope his victims find peace and strength in their lives free of him. I was heartened to read that Elizabeth may even have found love during her recovery.

Britney writes

The internet is abuzz with news that 27-year-old Britney Spears is set to sign one of the most lucrative book deals in showbiz history.

The Daily Mirror is reporting tha the Toxic singer is about to sign a $14 million publishing deal!

"There have been numerous unofficial autobiographies about Britney, but she’s never agreed to pen her own tome until now. "And some of the stories she’s got are absolute dynamite. She’s kept diaries so there’s nothing she’ll leave out unless she wants to. If the deal goes ahead she will write three and five books throughout the next decade."

As for me, I LOVE Britney - she's a pop goddess as proved by being able to produce a fantastic album like last year's Blackout while suffering all kinds of mental and emotional anguish/paparazzi frenzies/custody disputes/car accidents/marriage break ups.

But I don't know if spilling everything to the world is such a good idea. Surely we know too much about her already? She's entitled to a private life after all and does the public really need to know the nitty gritty details? Didn't her mummy dearest share enough?

So I'm kinda torn as to if her autobiography would end up on my TBR pile. What about you, would you read it?