Spice Girls

Girl powered nostalgia will never go out of style, so this was a super fun romp through the hey-day of Spice Girls mania to kick off the beginning of summer! Circa 1997 my best friends and I were deep into the throws of our Spice Girls obsession (arguing over who got to be Posh Spice, making up dance routines in the front yard, and scouring the magazine stands for celeb gossip), so even 20+ years later I couldn’t resist picking up this book at the thrift shop to relive old times. Being a show more product of the ‘90s, the book is a predictably messy scrapbook-style compilation that hones in on the outgoing personalities of the Spice Girls and takes readers behind the scenes to talk about the development of their first album, their early lives, and their advice to young women. Compared to the sleeker entertainment publications that we see now (guided by the distinct brand stylings of our pop entertainment “influencers”) this slim book is a bit chaotic, but I think that it perfectly channels the mad energy of the Spice Girls and of that specific point in time. Reading the book straight through was occasionally a bit of a challenge, because the page layout was a bit haphazard and there was almost too much going on, but once I got into the flow of things it ended up making me feel quite energised just like the classic Spice Girls tunes! In terms of textual content, I was actually surprised at the depth that was presented; I am sure that some of the girls’ quotes and interviews have been polished a bit, but the editorial tone was decidedly casual in comparison to the curated material we see now, and I felt that the individual personalities of each Spice Girl shone through. Overall, this was a cute piece of 1990s nostalgia that I am glad I picked up for my collection! show less

This book was super cute (as all things Spice Girls should be) - I totally love how it feels like a scrapbook of the memories of the girls - but I was slightly annoyed while reading it because some of the type is so small! Maybe my eyesight is getting worse, but I feel like the text is definitely smaller than normal, especially for a book that relies so heavily on visuals. All complaints aside, the contents of the book (both photos and information) were surely a hit during the hey-day of the show more Girl Power invasion, since they chose a good balance of personal photos (both flattering and not) for each of the girls and featured lots of information about their tours and the film (which was just coming out at the time of publication). The whole thing definitely hit me right in the nostalgia! show less