After spending all day yesterday in front of the computer hammering through some copywriting work I felt like I needed to get out of the house today.  One of my favourite places to hang out when I’m over here in the UK is at the huge Borders we have nearby.  It has the best selection of history and architecture books I’ve ever found (it also has a Starbucks attached, which meant I got to try the new Cinnamon Dolce Latte, but that’s beside the point).

I’ve been racing through books lately, perhaps because I know I only have a few months left of free reading time before I have to get back into research mode.  Here’s what I have been reading, and what I will be reading very shortly:

Pocket Guide to How to Read a Church by Richard Taylor (£8.44 from Amazon.co.uk).  I like knowing what each symbol, image and style means when I visit a historical church or abbey.  In the UK and Italy there are hundreds of ecclesiastical buildings you can wander through, so this will help me to understand each individual feature better as I amble through the Welsh countryside and all over the Amalfi Coast in Italy.

Beatrix Potter: The Extraordinary Life of a Victorian Genius by Linda Lear (£6.29 from Amazon.co.uk).  Beatrix Potter was one of my favourite authors when I was younger (who could fail to like Jemima Puddleduck?), but now that I appreciate her more adult accomplishments, such as the great conservation work she did in the Lakes District, I want to get a better idea of how she came to be such a strong and important figure in a period when women really weren’t allowed to branch out on their own.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (fourth in the Crosstitch / Outlander series; £5.99 from Amazon.co.uk).  I have to admit, when I read the first book in Diana Gabaldon’s series about time-traveller Claire Beauchamp, I didn’t think I’d bother with the rest of the series.  It’s an absolutely enthralling story, but the first book seemed to draw to a satisfying close and I didn’t want to ruin the idea I had in my head of Claire and her Scottish Highlander husband Jamie.  I gave in, as you can probably guess, and I’m now up to book four.  Although certainly not as good as the first, the rest in the series are proving to be a bit of a guilty pleasure at least.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (£11.98 from Amazon.co.uk).  I love Geraldine Brooks, she’s a fantastic writer and she always researches her story lines thoroughly.  ‘Year of Wonders’ was brilliant, so I knew I was going to like her new release.  ‘People of the Book’ is about a specialist book curator who is asked to investigate the origins and history of an incredibly valuable Jewish text, the Sarajevo Haggadah.  It combines many of my loves - fascinating history, the discussion of religion, and an undeniable passion for books as an art form.  I highly recommend it.

Me, Myself and Prague by Rachel Weiss ($24.95 AUD from Dymocks).  Rob and I went to Prague over Christmas and we fell in love with the place.  He was fascinated by the beer halls, the cuisine and their hundreds of different brews, whilst I was obsessed with the red roofed architecture, the shops and the Christmas markets.  When I saw that Rachel Weiss, a fellow Aussie, had written a book about the year she spent in Prague, I snapped it up.  She mentions a lot of things about the Czech Republic that I had noticed too (that native Czechs tended to be quite abrupt; that tourists stuck to the main areas and didn’t explore; and that the Communist era had impacted the development of the country), and a great deal more that I didn’t know.  A well written travel read.

This is Not a Drill: Just Another Glorious Day in the Oilfield by Paul Carter (£5.99 from Amazon.co.uk).  If you haven’t already read Paul Carter’s first book, ‘Don’t Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs (She Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a Whore House)’, do yourself a favour and grab a copy.  It’s not only incredibly funny, but is a real eye-opener about life on the rigs.  Carter seems to frequently find himself in weird situations - armed hold-ups, chasing runaway monkeys with dynamite and participating in midget throwing competitions, amongst other things - so I’m hoping his follow up book will be just as fun.

This is a post of jumble, consider that your one and only warning.

With less than a week to go before Rob and I leave for the UK (I’m coming back in June, but people are acting like I’m about to board the Titanic) I’ve been trying to tie-up as many loose ends as I can. With accounting, superannuation, banking, doctor’s appointments, booking train tickets, buying a new laptop, mentally packing my suitcase, going through piles of paperwork, buying travel insurance, and then trying (in vain) to organize Rob, I’m a bit blurred around the edges. I feel like my life is being controlled by someone holding a TV remote with an itchy trigger finger, because I seem to be jumping all over the place without actually getting anything done.

So I’ve done what I always do in times like these. I’ve turned to River Island, TopShop, Sportsgirl, Witchery & co. online. Retail therapy really does work, even if you just pretend to buy the things you want (I’d have to be one of the most practiced Pretend-Shoppers in the universe).

New Look jacket, Witchery cuff, Nine West heels, ‘The J Curve’ by Ian Bremmer from Borders, ‘Elizabeth - The Golden Age’ from Sanity, Diva earrings, Sportsgirl jacket.

As my boyfriend (and my wallet) will so willingly tell you, I am a bit of a fashion addict. Some items tempt my addiction more than others - you only have to read one of my old posts, ‘A Love Affair with Shoes’, to guess which. Oddly enough, whilst I do keep an eye on the runways and the latest designer trends, I have to admit that I’m far more interested in the affordable, wearable fashion you can find at your local mall or shopping centre. I’d much rather read a book about the history of fashion or about a particular label than I would Australian Harper’s Bazaar or Vogue. But that’s just me.

Here are my four must-read fashion novels, recommended by me to friends and customers over the years.

1. Fashion Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous.

You may recall that Edwards-Jones has written a number of ‘Babylon’ books, including ‘Hotel Babylon’ (which was then made into a TV series) and ‘Air Babylon’. ‘Fashion Babylon’ follows the pattern set by her earlier novels - it follows a fictional designer through the process of designing and showing two collections. Along the way Edwards-Jones uses her fictional characters to reveal real life gossip about designers like Marc Jacobs, Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent and about the other peripheral characters that float through the fashion world - Kate Moss, Stella McCartney and even Paris Hilton get a mention. Fashion Babylon is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but has enough ‘real life’ gossip to keep any fashion-minded reader interested.

2. Handbags and Gladrags by Maggie Alderson.

This is probably my favourite of the four as it’s written with a sense of humour by an incredibly talented author who has a background in the industry. Completely fictional but with a smattering of gossip and fashion facts, Handbags and Gladrags follows the story of a fashion journalist for a fictional magazine. The novel follows the character to Paris, London and New York for the seasonal shows, whilst detailing the devastating affair of the main character’s husband with a magazine rival. A bit trashy, but a good holiday read nonetheless.

3. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.

Admittedly the movie was better than the book, in part because of Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep and in part because of the fast-moving screenplay. The book is good, although if you’re anything like me you’ll become quickly frustrated with the main character allowing herself to be used in a manner which only those with very poor self-confidence would ever allow. The book is great for revealing the inner workings of a fashion magazine, and is fascinating if you read the characterization of the editor as being a thinly veiled pastiche of Anna Wintour, real-life editor-in-chief of American Vogue. If you’re short on time, see the movie.

4. The Fug Awards by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.

I have been reading Go Fug Yourself for years and still find myself laughing out loud at some of Heather and Jessica’s descriptions. Although they’re described as being fearless fashion journalists who will rip into anyone who wears anything ‘fug’, I actually think these girls are all heart (and I’m sure any long-term reader of their site would agree). Their newly released book discusses a number of the repeat-offenders to grace the pages of their site, as well as many of the common fashion errors the girls come across - such as their much documented hatred of leggings ala Lindsay Lohan. Anyone with a good sense of humour would enjoy The Fug Awards, even if they weren’t educated in the lore of fashion.

Honourable mentions: Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (a fun read, but with an annoying main character) and Fashion by Christopher Breward (not a fiction novel but the Oxford History of Art text on fashion which I find is a great reference to have lying around).