It all started, I guess, with the publication of Skinny Bitch in 2005—that sassy, saucy, and no-holds-barred diet book-cum-vegan manifesto that got into the hands of impossibly-slim celebrities like Victoria Beckham and was suddenly catapulted onto the bestseller list and into the beach bags of women everywhere.

Since then, look at some of the similarly titled books that have come to market. Seriously: the titles alone make them hard to distinguish!

1. Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself From a Lifetime of Dieting by Bethenny Frankel (2009)

2. The Skinny: On Losing Weight Without Being Hungry by Louis J. Aronne, M.D. and Alisa Bowman (2009)

3. SkinnyTinis: All the Fun for Half the Calories by Teresa Marie Howes (2009)

4. Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads: Stop Starving, Start Eating and Losing by Christine Avanti and Sharyn Kolberg (2009)

5. The Secrets of Skinny Chicks: How to Feel Great in Your Favorite Jeans When it Doesn't Come Naturally by Karen Bridson (2006)

6. The Skinny: How to Fit in Your Little Black Dress Forever by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson (2006)

7. How to Eat Like a Hot Chick: Eat What You Love, Love How You Feel by Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent (2007)

8. The Skinny: What Every Woman Knows About Dieting But Won't Tell You by Patricia Marx and Susan Sistrom (1999. Note: Obviously, this one predates the Skinny Bitch book by a number of years, but clearly the critical mass for Seriously Skinny Reading is happening now!)

While I haven't yet read each and every one, I can't offer comprehensive reviews as to which ones are most sensible and which ones might be peddling some untenable or unhealthy diet advice. Still, this wham-bam slapping of the word "skinny" and "chick" on books for women feels a bit unhealthy and somehow insultingly reductive if you ask me. More likely I guess it's just another case of me-too marketing in book publishing.

Hey, you know what would be great? A giant luncheon with all these 13 diet book authors, all (only one is a man). Oh to be a fly on the wall -- or in the bread basket, as it were.