issue #78 - the 'we're still living in a pandemic' one

Hi. Hello. COVID-19 is still here and spiking so uncontrollably that Doctors Without Borders has been deployed to the United States.

I break it all down here, here, and here. Please wear a mask, keep your distance, hunker down for the holidays, and wash your hands.

And please do what you can to get your loved ones to do the same.

A couple of housekeeping things:

• I’m thrilled to be joining Elizabeth Holmes for her book launch party on Tuesday, November 17th. HRH - So Many Thoughts On Royal Style is the kind of book you’ll want to read and display proudly in your home, and I can’t wait to join E to talk about all things royals, style, and what it all means.

• The following week (on the 23rd), I’m hosting November’s Random House Book Club and discussing The Travelers with author Regina Porter. The book is just spectacular, and I hope you join us to discuss life and history.

• And if you’re going absolutely nuts right now, be sure to meditate (get 25% off your first 3 months), take your vitamins (get 10% off your first 3 months), and drink more water. And thank you for supporting the brands I work with and that make my life better.

What I read and loved

• HRH: So Many Thoughts On Royal Style by Elizabeth Holmes - if you love Holmes’ So Many Thoughts on Instagram and The Crown, you will love this extensive, detailed, and gorgeous book on the four royal women who have spoken multitudes through their clothes. Makes a great read AND an even better gift for the royal fans in your life.

• Serena Singh Flips The Script by Sonya Lalli (ARC provided by NetGalley, out February 16) - I’m back on the brain candy bandwagon, and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this one and the following one. It’s as much a love story as a woman-finding-strength-in-vulnerability story, and it was quite good. Worth the pre-order.

• The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel - a trigger warning for any reader who has survived sexual assault, but this one is quite similar to that of Serena Singh and I read it in a single night. This one’s more steamy and the chemistry between Liya and Jay crackles off the page, and I read it in a single sitting.

• In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren (ARC provided by NetGalley) - basically Groundhog’s Day but make it Christmas and more romantic and you have the perfect book to get you in the holiday spirit. It was an easy, breezy, sexy read and I’m so thrilled to be back in the reading groove again.

The Top 5

1. My experience as a poll worker (This Needs Hot Sauce)

2. Dying In A Leadership Vacuum (The New England Journal Of Medicine)

3. OK. Now that the dust is clearing on the election, there's a thing us liberals, leftists, not-centrists, whateverthefuck we call ourselves, are going to have to work on: our storytelling. (@NKJemisin)

4. "Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women." (Culture Study)

5. How Taco Bell Turned Its Back on Indian Americans (Grub Street)

The Catch Up

Monday

• Student Debt Forgiveness Sounds Good. What Might Happen If The Government Did It? (NPR)

• We need to talk about the white people who voted for Donald Trump (Vox)

• ‘It’s going to be very, very scary’: Before Biden takes office, a precarious 10 weeks for escalating Covid-19 crisis (STAT)

• Thank You Stacey Abrams(Zora)

Tuesday (curated by Dr. Supriya Rao)

• Fauci: There Could Be 300,000 to 400,000 COVID Deaths Unless Precautions Taken (Politico)

• Two Female CRISPR Scientists Make History, Winning Nobel Prize In Chemistry For Genome-Editing Discovery (STAT)

• ‘We Need To Take Away Children,’ No Matter How Young, Justice Dept. Officials Said (The New York Times)

• The Conflict Between Armenia and Azerbaijan (Vox)

Wednesday

• Democrats Don’t Deserve Latino Votes Just Because They’re the Less Racist Party (Gen)

• How Utah’s new coronavirus restrictions came to be, and why some lawmakers are fuming (The Salt Lake Tribune)

• Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is strongly effective, early data from large trial indicate (STAT)

• When nothing makes sense, I journal. I’m not the only one. (Vox)

Thursday

• The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race (STAT)

• On the road with Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine effort (Science)

• The Worst Day of the Pandemic Since May (The Atlantic)

• Let John and Gisele Fetterman Restore Your Faith in American Democracy (Glamour)

Friday

• America's coronavirus complacency (Axios)

• We Love Our New Bachelorette!!! (The Cut)

• Coronavirus won't disappear, even with a vaccine (Axios)

• EXCLUSIVE: Beyoncé Teams Up With Peloton (Essence)

Things I love this week

• My perimenopausal symptoms have been surging lately, so I restocked some of my State Of favorites - the cooling moisturizer and facial spray, the whipped body cream, and the hand and joint cream. Get 15% off with code Hitha15.

• My friend Laura created the best sweatshirt in the world - insanely cozy and honors the late, great RGB. It’s unisex sizing but does run slim, so I would take your usual size (I wear a medium and it’s perfect).

• Small Packages is my go-to gift nearly all the time, but their Women In Food box is one of my favorites to send during Thanksgiving. Since we’ll be bunkering down at my parents’ home in PA, I’m sending boxes to the aunts and cousins we usually see during this holiday to spread some cheer. Get 15% off with code HITHA.

• MM.LaFleur is having one of their rare sales, with some amazing pieces in it. This dress, this blouse, this sweater, and these heels are so good that I own them in multiple colors. If you want a suffragete-esque suit for a great price, I highly recommend picking up this jacket and these trousers.

• With COVID cases on the rise, I’m starting to get some Zoom dates with girlfriends. My mom crew and I are ordering this dried flower kit from Poppy, and will be arranging and catching up remotely (and bringing a little beauty into our homes). If you’d like to do the same, you can get 10% off with code Hitha10. Pro tip - order these shears when you put in your flowers order - they make trimming and arranging flowers a breeze.

Finally, I just want to thank you for inviting me into your inbox week after week (and if you’re a paid subscriber, every day). If it’s in your budget and you’d like to get your #5SR delivered to your inbox every morning, a paid subscription is the best way to support my work (and I literally break into a happy dance whenever I get an e-mail notification).

All my best,Hitha