“…The best fashion accessory is a good book…and high-heeled shoes…I like them as well…”

– Vivienne Westwood

I am a book geek. It’s factuality.

Fo’ sho’, I write them – check them out, they’re not just for teens, y’know! – but as much as I love writing, my most favourite way to spend a day is to be either curled up on a sofa, reclining in the sunshine (under a parasol – natch, have you seen my Kelly O complexion?!) under my duvet or on a long train journey – with a book.

And my favourite kind? A real juice-filled autobiography.

Y’see, to me, reading an autobiography is like the very best kind of education. It’s like getting your hands on a top secret script to life, or in my case, Glamazonia – a place where all my favourite ladies frequent, as I love nothing more than to spend hours and hours reading about glam girls from the past – Audrey-I heart you, Elizabeth-you rock – because  learning about their lives and loves is way better than any Maths lesson I ever had!

I picked up a copy of Lynne Frank’s Absolutely Now for 20p at a car-boot sale. I didn’t know who she was at the time, but she sounded like a lady I’d like to know about, so I bought it. Minxes, that book literally changed my life. Oh, and today, I bought Joan Collins’ autobiography for 1p on Amazon – these ladies are total Sassy Minxes and all their advice, wisdom, life mistakes are in those pages just waiting to be explored and learned from – love it.

Even if you’re not retro-hearted like Miss Aimz and I, there’s absolutely hundreds of people to choose from and learn from – not only do you get to be super-nosey, you get a real insight into what life is really like as a film star, doctor, gardener, make-up artist, entrepreneur etc…

A few of my favourites are:

DV by Diana Vreeland

Diana was the sassy editor-in-chief of Vogue, and her passion, charm, insouciance, and genius for style energized and inspired the fashion world for fifty years. In this glittering autobiography she takes you around the world with her, revealing her obsession with fashion, pink plastic poodles, for example, and dropping timeless sayings like, “As you know, the French like the French very much.” A fabulous, witty read for anyone who wants to rock the fash mag industry.

Absolutely Now by Lynne Franks

It’s said that Lynne is who the character Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous is based on! This book is about way more than being a PR guru for super-swank Katherine Hamlett though, Lynne describes what she discovered as she travelled the world searching for her inner truth. It’s A-freakin-MAZIN’!

Liz by David Heymann

There are A LOT of books about Elizabeth Taylor, and as a total fan-girl, I’ve read quite a few of them, but this is my fave.  It takes you through Taylor’s life, from her many marriages detailing each one faithfully, then to her later descent into addiction and how she successfully overcame it. It’s totally un-put-down-able.

So Minxes, what are your favourite autobiographies/books about people you dig? I really am a book geek and LOVE a good recommendation, so please share!