I read, therefore I write

I know I have been slow in blogging this month but after a whopping month for fashion (which October was) I have been catching up on my books.

 My books, of course, have mostly been fashion related reads. I did buy A Feast For Crows but I haven’t started reading it yet. I have been contemplating on whether or not to buy J.K Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy but I am suspicious of it’s merits and I don’t want it to ruin Harry Potter for me. I will overcome my fears one day soon.

I have also been unable to complete Fifty Shades Darker though I did buy the trilogy believing that I would be able to dedicate them to trashy readings of my teenage years. Mills & Boons appear classic in competition but then that just might be perspective. I really don’t know what the fuss about Grey is all about.

What I have really enjoyed reading is The Gospel According to Coco Chanel by Karen Karbo. It was an incidental buy and I was lucky enough to get the only copy available at Liberty Books at The Dolmen City Mall outlet. My friend Fareshteh picked it up but generously handed it to me after sensing my apparent despair at not finding another copy. I do have a Coco obsession, which after reading the book I realized why. Despite what we may look like, at heart we (and by we I mean my types) believe we are “skinny bitches” who don’t need to be nice to be accepted. That does sum up the Gospel, which is perforated with words of wisdom from a woman who was born in a poor house and built herself to be one of the most visionary designers of the twentieth century.

I would highly recommend the book to everyone interested in fashion. Also to everyone interested in finding success in the unlikeliest circumstances.

Now, still obsessed with books, I have asked my resourceful brother to find Grace Coddington’s recently published Memoir and Alexander McQueen: A Savage Beauty which isn’t really new but as my other obsession, is a necessity. I hope my brother manages to find it and also agrees to carry it from Hong Kong, since the McQueen book is a hefty coffee table version.

This is ‘book time’ for me, primarily since I am helping Tapu Javeri write captions for Tapulicious 2 these days. His book, with photographs from over thirty years of work, has the most interesting visuals that come with delicious stories. This book is expected to publish in the first quarter of 2013.

I am also working on Maheen Khan’s memoirs which trace Karachi back to an almost surreal era of clubs, discos and the cha cha cha nights. She does recollect A Lost Era (working title) and I am honoured to be writing it for her. This book will take longer to write and publish but I do expect it to be out next year.

I am reading, and thus I am writing. It is a happy place to be in 🙂