Reliable Recs 02

September was a big month for buying books, not so much for reading them.

Ciao! I just made it back to New York City after 18 hours in transit from Milan Fashion Week. I saw designers I never in my wildest dreams thought I would score an invite to see (Fendi! Prada! Bottega Veneta!) and I saw things I never knew to expect (Meryl Streep in character as Miranda Priestly??). Clocking in as a fashion editor doesn’t get much better than that.

The only (relatively minor!) downside, of course, is that I didn’t have much time to read. Fashion week looks very glitzy and fun on social media—and it is—but the days are long and the personal time is low. I bought a lot of new books at the start of the month with big ambitions to read them all on the planes, trains, and automobiles carrying me through fashion month. I ended up with a big DNF and one title I, somewhat controversially (?), loved. Which brings us to this month’s Reliable Recs, my guide to what I read and recommend—and the things I read so you don’t have to.

Meryl Streep (aka Miranda Priestly) and Stanley Tucci (aka Nigel) across the runway from me at Dolce & Gabbana.

First, some bookmark-able links for everyone:

• Two of my former Harper’s Bazaar colleagues gave me some major byline envy this month: Bianca Betancourt got the first big interview with Emily Henry *and* her People We Meet on Vacation adaptation leads. Then, Jenna Rosenstein had a sit-down with Ali Hazelwood on her incredibly productive year. I love to see my friends succeed (and sit down with some of my favorite authors to boot!).

• Professor and poet Stephanie Burt wrote a lovely essay for the WSJ on viewing Taylor Swift as a writer-first, everything-else-second. I’m biased because Professor Burt was also my undergrad thesis advisor/one of the most important people in shaping my literary sensibilities, but I loved this!

• To learn more about the mechanics of publishing, and why it’s so tough on authors who *aren’t* making a debut, this article in the Walrus was pretty fascinating.

• Makeup icon Bobbi Brown has a new memoir, Just Bobbi, out now. This excerpt on the moments that led her to leave her brand made me eager to order my copy!

Now, on to the actual books.