Our Top Book Picks of Summer 2011

Fashion 2.0: Blogging Your Way to the Front Row; The Insider’s Guide To Turning Your Fashion Blog Into a Profitable Business and Launching a New Career, $14.39, Click here to buy at Amazon.com
by Yuli Ziv

Colleague, friend, and founder of the user-generated magazine MyItThings.com, and of the blogger network Style Coalition, Yuli Ziv certainly has the tools and connections to succinctly reveal how to make a thriving business out of the passion rite and work in the online fashion space. With the first volume of her Fashion 2.0 book series that just debuted this July, Ms. Ziv offers up helpful tips and advice to bump up your site to the next level, in addition to q&as with successful bloggers part of the to wStyle Coalition network. The guide also puts the reader to work with ‘action items’ to proactively work toward your career goals. Also of great note is the resources section at the end of the book, which is a well-edited collection of online tools to get your business and traffic moving upward, and keep it growing.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, $45 Click here to buy at The Met Store
by Andrew Bolton, with contributions by Susannah Frankel and Tim Blanks; Photography by Sølve Sundsbø

The skull/McQueen lenticular cover of the hardback book plays both homage and sets the tone for a haunting tribute to an incredibly talented designer and visionary unlike any other. To just see the book without visiting the exhibit really does not do it justice, however with less than two weeks left of the exhibit at The Met, the book  is a fine way to showcase McQueen’s constant themes of “race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, and the environment.” The book also features quotes from McQueen, as well as an interview with current Alexander McQueen Creative Director Sarah Burton.

What I Wore: Four Seasons, One Closet, Endless Recipes for Personal Style $18, Click here to buy
by Jessica Quirk

Just out this month, fellow blogger and friend Jessica Quick combines her great sense of style with her amazing illustration ability and sound practical advice on how to creating an incredibly versatile without going way over budget. As a former fashion designer and currently pens the personal style site What I Wore, her full color sketches give an instant vitality to her tips that range from how to organize your jewelry to spring weather “splurges,’ fashion “nevers” (i.e. never sport a muffin top), and one of my personal favorites, “summer work outfits” that are classified by 70, 80, and 90 degrees.

Jersey Girls: The Fierce & The Fabulous, $20,  Click here to buy at Amazon.com
by Marie Moss & Barri Leiner Grant

A fun tongue-and-cheek ode to all things Jersey, from the shore to the mail to the diner and everywhere in between, Jersey Girls makes a great gift for any New Jersey ex-pat  girl, even if she only traveled through the Holland Tunnels to make a new home outside of the Garden State. The book breaks down Jersey girl speak via a glossary featuring such words as”tawk,” “cawfee,” “mirra,” and my personal favorite, “pok-a-book,”  as well as showcasing some ultra-cool famous Jersey Girls such as Bobbi Brown, Debbie Harry, Sandra Dee, Bebe Neuwirth, and Patti Smith.