You’ve to stay at home and need some reading material to loose yourself in? You’re a beauty junkie? Read on: we compiled a list of diverting beauty books (and more!) that’ll help you forget everything else around you.
I need to take my mind of things
Dorit: ‘I’ll eat when I’m dead’ by Barbara Bourland (full review)
Chick lit at its finest: fun and sharp, with a plot twist that cements its position in lists called ‘novels about the beauty business’. What happens? Picture ‘The Devil meets Prada’ meets a murder mystery, and you’re there. For me, it’s sharper and funnier than Prada. It’ll DEFINITELY take your mind off things.
Astrid: ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens
I mean, this girl survived the ultimate isolation, kind of. She practically learned to live and grow up alone in the marshes. The story took me away from the confinement of my coach, to a great outdoor space. True, her life is rough, but her resilience inspired me to see my own life in a different light.
A 700+ pages novel to burrow into
D: ‘A Perfect Heritage’ by Penny Vincenzi (full review)
If you want to follow a family that’s kinda like the Lauder family over the time span of 50+ years through all their trials and tribulations, than this one is for you. It’s very women-centric, and deals with an ailing beauty company. If you like books like The Shell Seekers, this is for you.
A: ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ and ‘Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow’ by Yuval Noah Harari
Read them both for the all 700+ pages. It’s about the history of mankind and what we – as a species – are becoming. One of the must-read books of our time, imo. It’s a history book, but reads like novel. I read this at the time when plagues seemed to be too far-fetched – I think I will re-read this now when we’re in a different era so quickly.
Bonus for Indonesian readers: ‘Aroma Karsa’ by Dee Lestari
A story about someone with a very strong sense of smell, trained to be a perfumer. It’s intertwined with some historical fantasy fiction and a dash of mystery. Currently only available in Indonesian though.
I want to look at soothing pictures
D: ‘Face Paint’ by Lisa Eldridge (full review)
Lisa Eldridge to the rescue! (The most soothing voice on YouTube, to boot.) Face Paint is chockfull of interesting titbits if you’re interested in the history of beauty AND has the most beautiful illustrations. Let the pretty wash over you.
A: The Atlas of Beauty by Mihaela Noroc
We wrote about the photographer a long while ago. In times like these, I love to get reminded how much beauty there is in this world, in different meanings and forms. It helps me to get out of my first world mentality shell and to realize that regardless of our background, we all have our own capability to be happy.
I want to learn something
D: ‘The Perfect Scent’ by Chandler Burr (full review)
This is a classic: a journalist’s telling about one year in the perfume history. He follows the creation of two fragrances in 2004: Hèrmes’ Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely. It’s wonderfully written and well-researched. Your view on fragrances will never be the same.
A: ‘Factfulness’ by Hans Rosling
It’s more important than ever to be able to read and get informed about the world in a logical manner. It’s possibly the most important book to read in the era of false information. This gives you a tool to help question and digest the things presented to you daily by the media, by the facts you thought you knew (but quite possibly have changed in the past couple of years!).
I want to DO something
D: ‘the life-changing manga of tidying up’ by Marie Kondo
I mean… you COULD Marie Kondo your home (or your beauty stash, just for starters). Everyone can get into Kondo’s principles with the help of this charming manga.
A: The Headspace Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness by Andy Puddicombe
I felt like I needed headspace to calm down my turbulent mind. I’m not new to meditation, although I am not an expert. I don’t need much convincing that meditation is really good for me. The examples in the book helped me understanding more about the mind process in meditating. It has so many stories that we must be able to relate to one of them. On top of that, Andy Puddicombe is such a relatable person in his journey towards meditation, it made me feel okay if I sometimes feel I still don’t get it.
NOTHING to do with beauty
D: History, fantasy and romance
I’m currently re-reading some books that take my mind off things and are like a comforting hug from an old friend, and also some non-fiction to keep my mind occupied. Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan from one of the best places in the whole internet ‘Go fug yourself’ have written the ultimate romance (loosely based on Kate Middleton’s and Prince William’s history) called ‘The Royal We’. If I want to leave all reality behind, Guy Gavriel Kay’s historical fantasies merge true historical events with a fantasy twist. His latest two-parter Children of Earth and Sky/ A Brightness Long Ago take place in Italy’s Renaissance age. (Here’s the author himself reading one of his books to you from his living room.)
If you’re in the mood to learn some interesting facts, Bill Bryson’s At Home isn’t his greatest book, but you’ll be bombarded with factoids that’ll definitely help you yelling correct answers at Jeopardy. Also, it’s amusing.
A: The Overstory by Richard Powers
My favorite book of 2019. It made me feel as if I’m thrown into a magnificent forest, full of stories of how the trees came to be, how they connect, how our knowledge of them is only equal to a branch in an old oak tree.
The characters are like separate trees in the forest, each growing on its own in the beginning, not knowing that their life would connect with each other in the end, just like the roots might talk to each other underground.
2 Comments