In a seasonal tale of the publishing industry's propensity to give and receive (mainly the latter), Mary Lisa Gavenas, an ex-beauty editor of such rags as Glamour and InStyle among others, reveals all the free loot she got from publicists in a confessional diary style. Beauty editors reel in the most fish, though not always the priciest ones, and it's warming to hear a story where magazine staffers willingly chain themselves to their desks lest they miss a goodie to the wandering hands of piss-broke assistants.

Adventures in Journalism: The Princess Diaries [Mediabistro]