Everything I Read in December 2020

I picked up this book based solely on the cover. Yes, I know you’re never supposed to judge a book by its cover, but does anybody not do that? Please let me know if that’s you! 

Anyway, The Lions of Fifth Avenue takes place in the New York Public Library between 1913 and 1993. Beginning with Laura Lyons and her family living in the superintendent’s apartment inside of the library in 1913. (Laura’s husband was the NYPL superintendent.) Then flashing forward 80 years later to Laura’s granddaughter, Sadie Donovan, who works at the NYPL. 

In 1913, Laura was accepted into the Columbia Journalism School. This accomplishment was quite rare at the time, and it ends up introducing Laura to a whole new world of feminism, culture and a different way of thinking.

I picked up this book after hearing multiple people on instagram say how good it is. And it did not disappoint!

Bea Shumacher’s life is transformed after a semester abroad in Paris. (Honestly, how could it not be!?) She now has a lucrative career as a plus size lifestyle blogger. Then one night after one too many glasses of wine with a friend, she writes a blog post that will transform her life yet again. 

Bea begrudgingly accepts to be the first plus size woman on a Bachelorette-esque reality show. She is in a fragile state of mind to begin with after her “one true love” toys with her emotions and then ghosts her. (Relatable!) One to Watch highlights every type of man that you come into contact with in real life. And Bea dates them all for all of America to watch. 

I’ve been following Jen Atkin on instagram for years, so it was a no brainer for me to buy her book the second it came out! I actually listened to it on Audible which is how I like to consume a lot of my non-fiction books. 

Jen is a celebrity hair stylist and creator of one of my favorite brands, Ouai. (I love their shampoo & conditioner, and hair vitamins.) She always had a love for hair and gradually built her way to the top through hard work, kindness and knowing that it was all about the client, not her. She built an empire with her company Mane Addicts by teaching the latest hair tips and tricks before sharing that information for free was common. 

This book is for everyone out there who is looking to do their next great thing, but is feeling a little lost. It’s the perfect mix of lessons learned the hard way and motivation. Knowing that Jen once racked up $17,000 worth of credit card debt and eventually paid it all off, all while living in Los Angeles, is inspiring. 

Audible was having a $5/book sale a few weeks ago and this was one of the books that I chose. The reviews were pretty good and I love a “business/how to make more money” book. 

Before we get into my thoughts on this book, I highly suggest buying the physical book because Ryan gives so many great tips that you’ll want to highlight some stuff to come back to later on. 

12 Months to $1 Million takes you on Ryan’s journey to creating & selling a multi-million dollar company. He’s actually started a few multi-million dollar companies and now teaches the average person, like you and me, how to do it too. 

I have a background in sales and selling online, so a lot of this information made sense to me. If you’re not familiar with that arena, don’t worry. Ryan breaks it all down and gives the step by step process that he has used, and seen others use, to go from $0 to $1 million in one year. 

If you’ve been following me on social media, or caught the episode of my podcast where I discuss this book, then you know I was enthralled while reading this. I had actually bought this book a few years ago after hearing Lauryn from The Skinny Confidential rave about it. I don’t know why I didn’t read it before, or why I decided now was the right time, but I couldn’t put it down.

How to Murder Your Life takes you through Cat Marnell’s life as an Adderall addicted teenager at boarding school to a drug addicted young adult working for Conde Nast. The stories are so insane that there is no way that they can be true, accept that they are. 

For me, I love the fashion and the editorial world so it was interesting to read about people that I have followed on Instagram for years and how their lives intertwined with Cat’s. For example, one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram is Eva Chen. I obviously don’t know her but she is the nicest, most genuine soul and I can only imagine that we would have been best friends in another life. So to read about her interactions with the shitshow that is Cat Marnell seems like something that would happen on another planet.