Well, I am just getting around to this and December is almost over. Yikes! But I’m getting to it none the less, but with only having read two books in November. These two books though, were absolutely fab! Both were non-fiction, and both a little about fashion and business, but a lot juicy details about their personal lives as well. So let’s get into it…

Book #1: Anna by Amy Odell

I bought this book a while back, and have started it and then re-started it several times. (I do that a lot. Not because I don’t like a book, but because there is too much going on in my head and I know I am not paying as close attention to the book as I should, and because I know it’s gonna be good). So I restarted this book again in the beginning of November and kept reading it in every bit of spare time I could find.

Anna Wintour fascinates me in so many ways, and this book only made me more fascinated by her. Routines, and routines that famous and successful people have, fascinates me. How they have are disciplined, and the routines they have. This book starts with Anna’s morning routine, and then as she is going in to the office the morning after Trump was elected. Her self-discipline and organization are qualities to purely covet and seek after for your own life. Another is how hard she works. She is from the era where you can rest when when you die. But while you are here, you work as hard as you can. Nothing should slow or stop you from doing your job. Not even the birth of a child will keep you down for longer than a week (as you will read in this book). Especially when there is a job to be done.

After her meeting with her crew, in the beginning of the book, the author takes the reader back to her family history, to her grandparents and parents lives, and how they grew up. Her family was from London. Her father was also an editor at London’s Evening Standard newspaper. He was a devout worker just like her. She claims to have learned her good work ethic from her father and it has shown throughout her career.

She did have brothers and sisters, and a tragedy happened to one of her siblings (I won’t spoil it…I didn’t know this fact before reading the book). So just like all other families, we all have things we go through.

So many people around the world, would love to intern for Anna Wintour, or be her assistant. One of her interns though, wrote a book after leaving working for Anna. The intern claims it wasn’t about Anna, but as we all know, it is probably very close and will go down as one of the best films ever made, The Devil Wears Prada.

Anna didn’t talk about the movie a lot but she did want to truly portray what her world looks like inside Vogue instead of Hollywood’s version. So she brought in a film team for several weeks to film a documentary they titled The September Issue. As anyone who knows fashion, knows September is the month for Fashion and the month for big fashion magazines chock full of ads with new clothing lines.

I have seen both films and love both. I do love the documentary, I believe, better because Anna is in it, and because it is more authentic. But both are very good and worth the watch.

This book was one of my favorites of the year. I only aspire to be a little like Anna Wintour. But she is a fascinating woman. You will definitely want to add this book to your reading list.

Book #2: This Is Not A Fashion Story by Danielle Bernstein

I originally discovered Danielle Bernstein on Instagram a few years ago, and started following her. She is the founder and creator of We Wore What. A fashion blog was her start into the fashion world, along with going to FIT, which is discussed in more detail in this book.

After following her on Instagram and watching her daily stories of her outfits, and daily life, I knew I had to read her book. Although it did come out a few years ago, it was still very relevant, and informative to a newby fashion girl or entrepreneur.

The book details 27 lessons she has learned throughout her life. These lessons range from men to career, to fashion. My favorite ones, were the ones regarding career. She is very disciplined and works many hours. The results of her well-known brand and over a million followers is proof of her hard work.

She basically built her fashion blog into an affordable luxury fashion brand. While many of her clothing items appeal to the 20s age group, I would wear lots of other items of hers as a 42 year old. I love her minimalistic style and cohesiveness.

A few facts that you can look forward to in the book are in her religion background being Jewish, her move to NYC, and her friend Moe and the development and creation of MOE.

While this is not solely a book about business or about fashion, it is a book about a girl who got a start at the bottom, and over the course of several years built a large and booming brand. She is still consistent to this day on Instagram, and with consistent drops to her clothing lines and newly added lines of shoes and handbags. She is truly a gem and one to learn one.

So to wrap this up, I just wanted to let you know to check out any of my past book review posts, or check out my Book Club page with links to all the books I review on my site.

Happy reading!