What are you reading?

2020 has been a year and while most evenings my brain is too fried to do much beyond flick through magazines, I still find it’s a soothing and calming experience to make the time to read. A mix of featherweight reads and some riveting reads has served me well this year. Here are a couple favorites from this year. — Temi

HRH: So Many Thoughts On Royal Style - Elizabeth Holmes

I’ve had this book a week and read it twice. It’s such a perfectly timed antidote to the year we’ve all had. Elizabeth and I connected over IG many moons ago as we share a great love of royal fashion. I love her witty, smart and insightful take on Royal style and her brilliant tagline “So Many Thoughts”. As i grew up in England, the life of the Royal family was always played out alongside daily life. The Royal family don’t speak often in public so they use the wardrobe choices to give off all sorts of cues and messages to those paying attention. Fun fact that I shared on IG, My brother and I were waved at by the Queen as kids playing outside our home in the snow. She was in her carriage on what I presume was a jolly jaunt around town. And yes she was waving at us as we were the only people on our street!!

Flick through this book for the pictures, read each page for some well thought out insight while you will undoubtedly learn a lot more about the most photographed family of women in the world.

The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett

It is hard for a book to live up to the level of hype this one has received….but it really is that good! Twins Desiree and Stella grow up in a small town in Louisiana and it’s a town reserved for Black residents with light skin. Crazy right? It gets even more so, as the beautiful twins grow up, they both embrace different sides of their identity. One decides to pass for white and never looks back, the other embraces her Black identity. We are taken along their two parallel lives that weave through many years and many locations and ends with one of the best plot twists I’ve ever read.

Sex & Vanity - Kevin Kwan

Such a great fun, frolic of a light read. From the man who brought us Crazy Rich Asians, I’ve read all his books and they all manage to strike that balance of high octane glamor, a motley crew of characters, delicious debauchery, all set alongside the most spectacular of backdrops. This time, Capri. Loved it.

Hop over to Temi’s highlights on Instagram to see more of her favorite reads .