THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Temp by Serena Mackesy

It's time for another Throwback Thursday at Uncovered, and this time, I've chosen yet another favourite from years ago; one that still resides on my bookshelf. The Temp by Serena Mackesy was published in 1999 (although I read it in around 2006!) and is a hilarious tale of twenty-something life.

We all know how it works: first you go to School, then you go to University, and then you enter Real Life. And that's the important bit. Real Life is about achievement, recognition, choices. It's about a boss who trusts you, a wardrobe that suits you, friends who support you and a relationship that fulfils you. It`s a mobile phone, an expense account, a company car and a place to park it. Happily Ever After.

Unforunately, Real Life isn't working that way for The Temp. She's managed the university bit, but the job, the dough and the happily-ever-after seem harder than anybody ever told her. Living in Stockwell while she moves through a series of jobs ranging from the horrifying mindless to the bemusingly witless to the simply extraordinary, she realises that something isn't right.

Who cares about a boss who trusts you? She'd settle for a boss who knows her name. This can't be Real Life, can it?

The Temp was originally a column, and later published as a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that it remains one of my favourites to this day, and I still dip in and out of it now and again.

Despite the era of the book, it's still pretty relatable for anyone who has worked in an office, and for any twenty-somethings caught in the space between university and Real Life.

What are YOUR all-time favourite chick-lit novels? Let us know!

THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare

Whilst going through some of my older books the other day, trying to find room for them on a new bookshelf, I came across some of the chick-lit reads I had loved years ago. I've been reading and reviewing women's fiction for quite some time, and in that time various trends have emerged and changed, making way for new stories, new heroines, and a whole host of new authors.

There are still a lot of older books I love; some I've read more than once. So I thought it'd be fun to start a new 'Throwback Thursday' here on the blog to revisit some older chick-lit novels. They don't necessarily have to be that old - just books that will remain on the list of favourites, or are significant in some way.

I'll kick things off this week with The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare. Okay, so this novel isn't a favourite as such, but it was, in fact, the first chick-lit novel I read, back in 2004. This is the book that got me interested in the genre, that made me seek out more. I've been a reader since I was able to pick up a book, and would read everything I could get my hands on (still do!), though I hadn't really discovered chick-lit until I picked up The Second Assistant. I took a liking to the Hollywood plot, enjoyed it, and then sought out similar books.

When you hit the lobby of the Hollywood's premier talent management company, The Agency, with its polished marble floor and a light so brilliant flooding through the vast windows that you reach for your Gucci sunglasses (before you remember they are last season's, and put them back swiftly), you realise that you are, arguably, in the most important place in Hollywood. And if you take a job there as second assistant, your life will never be the same again. So it is for Elizabeth, newly employed by Hollywood manager extraordinaire, Scott Wagner, and his side-kick, Lara, the woman who hates everyone and everything in Hollywood...

Elizabeth's first task is to separate the beige thumb tacks from the coloured ones on the notice board. And when Lara takes her out for her drink that night and gives her the first rule, Never to Date anyone in the Business, she thinks it'll be a doddle. Until the most gorgeous man rescues her after a fall, and she finds herself in a beautiful Malibu beach house...

Hilarious, sassy and utterly unputdownable, this is life in the Hollywood fast lane - with the top down.

The book is an insider story, along the same lines as The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada (which also takes pride of place in my collection), which seemed to be a trend around that time. This particular novel focused on an assistant at a Hollywood agency.

So - what are your all-time favourite chick-lit reads? Are there any you've re-read numerous times? I'd love to know!