The past quarter has been a struggle for me. One of the first things I had to give up was reading at night and, consequently writing about what I read. When I actually did pick up a book, I purposefully did not pick up anything “heavy”. Lots of revisits.
I am actually embarrassed to fess up about what I read during the last two months of the year. Rather than share them all, these are the highlights {not the garbage} of what I read during October, November, and December:
With reading Everyone Worth Knowing, I believe I am up to date with the Weisberger cannon. Having read her fiction, I know what to expect from a Weisberger book and I was able to anticipate the turns of the story.
This story lands in the timeline behind The Devil Wears Prada and I think, before Revenge Wears Prada. It was the time of nightlife in the Meatpacking District, after Samantha Jones moved in but before Whitney Port and her cohorts stormed it in episodes of the The City. Yes, I am mixing fictional and real life people here.
It was an easy, digestible read that I found myself looking forward to visiting every night before bed.
This was the second retelling of the Housewives that I read this year. As I understand, this was a project in kahoots with Bravo and Andy Cohen, so I cannot be certain of the lack of bias. ALLEGEDLY. I had to keep that in mind while reading it.
The book is split up into chapters per (United States-based) Housewife franchise. I was particularly disappointed that the DC-based (not Potomac, OG DC) cast was not devoted more than ten pages. Granted, I lived in DC at the time of taping and airing, including the gatecrasher incident of 2009. But isn’t that federal level security breach enough to guarantee a more robust chapter?
Then again, even Bravo and Andy have their limits.
An applause for Katie Sturino. As sick as it is, I could have used a Body Talk during my adolescent years when I was at my skinniest. Postpartum and not having time in the day to visit the gym or go out for a jog, I needed this book now.
I cannot begin to relay the impact of Body Talk. In a culture where there is even a “right” way to be plus sized, every woman needs to read this book. This book was a lot to digest because it was just so radical in the best way.
Can we just give our bodies a high five for a) cartwheeling b) giving birth c) running that half marathon? 🙌🏼
I’ll Drink to That is a memoir that I purchased after Googling Betty Halbreich post a Bury My Ashes at Bergdorf’s screening. I initially started reading it on the train to Los Angeles from Monterey, spring 2019.
I finally picked it up and I am so glad I did because it was a much pleasant read without the threat of motion sickness. I found myself looking forward to getting to revisit Betty’s world of the last half of the 20th century every evening.
What a life she has lead. I hope she gets a sequel.
This was a re-visit from earlier this year. Ah, I loved it so much.
I so enjoyed reading about Michael’s enterprise at the dawn of eBay in Bringing Home the Birkin. Perhaps it is because I found eBay to be a useful tool for generating income while I was in graduate school.
Michael found himself sans employment in Spain with no work visa. He too, took to eBay to minimize his closet and found that Hermés in particular yielded a tidy profit. In his book, he invites the reader along for his European adventure in flipping Birkins.
The scarcity of the Birkin is actually a myth. Now if I could only score a blue jean Kelly…
This was another revisit and at a time when I really needed a humorous comfort read…
Every woman who ever wished she could enroll in Sweet Valley High or join The Babysitters Club needs to read Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of ’80s and ’90s Teen Fiction. Easily one of my favorite books of recent memory, I took this book out over the course of three days.
The prose style reads in a way that the author, Gabrielle Moss, is talking to a good friend. The amount – and quality – of zingers she gets in, is not only impressive but also had me doubled over and laughing out loud as I read it. I mean, Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Getting on Birth Control without My Dad Finding Out? Still has me in stitches.
Should you read this? Yes, and yesterday.
by Booth Moore, Gela Nash, and Pamela Skaist
I Initially read The Glitter Plan back in the spring of 2016, before I even started this blog.
I love Pam and Gela’s irreverent spirit. Speaking of Hermés in a previous reading selection, the storied design house served the renegades a cease and desist from using the template of the Rue Faubourg. The girls actually asked Hermés to resend the legal letter on official stationary with the signature orange.
I one hundred percent recommend ready this book for anyone who feels they are lacking inspiration.
Fairy Tail Interrupted is another re-visit. I initially read this on a plane circa 2015. The irony was lost on me then but no longer. I recommend.
