Welcome to the August issue of theLounge.com.au.

Is shopping a pastime for you? An opportunity to meet up with friends or a purely obsessive state of mind to spend? In their new book Why Women Shop, authors Stella Minahan and Michael Beverland share their research on the motivations as to why women shop. An insightful read filled with funny anecdotes for those of us who are "shoppers".

Virgin Money’s Celebrity Spending Survey provides a slightly different angle on why women shop. It appears that 69% of women feel they are expected to match the ideal figures, immaculate grooming and designer wardrobes of today’s celebrities and are spending on average, $1,000 per year on designer clothes, hairstyles and beauty treatments popularised by celebrity idols such as Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker.

And if you are wondering just how others are funding their shopping trips, you might want to pick up some tips from our story on fame, fortune and success by Thirty. Young Australians share their secrets of success in a new book by Claire Halliday (who by the way, used to write for theLounge), The World At Their Feet.

There is a great interview with Emma Lung and her new film Peaches, book reviews on the personal journeys of three strong young people with the UN, café cooking at home and the singles handbook to "Hooking Up".

We hope you enjoy this issue. Any comments or feedback you wish to provide, please email jardin@thelounge.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you.

Until next time,