I usually tend to get a bit nauseous whenever I see copious amounts of floral fabric in a room (I call it the 'cabbage rose' syndrome), especially if there are table skirts involved. If any of you seem to share these symptoms, don't worry, you won't run into that stuff in this book. Sure, there are some interior shots that tend towards the more traditional style, and yes, there are some floral fabrics, but this book is more of an invaluable guide and resource than picture book.

What got me was how the book is so thorough; it walks you through thinking about your space in practical terms for both big renovations and small changes. There are thoughtful questions to ask yourself about your home, helpful tips, rules of clearance (kitchen & bath, which is quite helpful to have it all boiled down into the necessities), insider's advice, inspiration pages, product selections (though I wish they referenced those items), color selections, design element discussion and so much more. Trust me, it will most likely save you money by providing you the tools to plan your project well so there's less room for error. It's an excellent, excellent resource.

The volume begins by taking a hard look at the bones of the house: its site, light, and layout. Armed with those basics, you’ll know which elements you can improve, and how to work around those that can’t be changed. From there, develop an overall decorating concept based on theme, color, furnishings, wall and floor coverings, and accessories—each aspect of design receives detailed coverage. Finally, go through the house room by room to see what remarkable transformations you can achieve in every space, from the entryway to the home office, the kitchen to the foyer.-A Main Selection of the Homestyle Book Club

$24.59, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

This is such a neat book; I'd leave it open to a different letter every so often just to appreciate it fully.

This is no easy A-B-C! Marion Bataille’s 3-D exploration of the alphabet is truly a work of art. From the lenticular cover to the clever execution throughout, bold letters move from point A to Z in ways you never imagined possible. Discover this treasure & prepare to be amazed! Hardcover. Approximately 7.25”x5.75”

$19.95, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

You'll not find shelter magazine type homes here, instead you'll be treated to one of a kind homes that speak more about their owners than this season's trends. It's a house tour of quirky, layered interiors, and it'll give you permission to do more with your own home after viewing what these home owners did with theirs...not that they're all super crazy, it's just that each owner doesn't seem particularly interested in making their space look like anything other than a reflection of themselves.

In To Each His Home: Inspired Interiors as Unique as Their Owners, photographer Bilyana Dimitrova takes readers on a tour of eight extraordinary homes that unabashedly express the personalities of their free-spirited owners. Dimitrova's carefully crafted color photographs, accompanied by brief interviews with each homeowner, create vivid portraits of these one-of-a-kind American spaces.

To see more of Bilyana Dimitrova's work, visit her site here.

$45.00, Buy it here or for $29.70 here.

[posted by katie]

This book has a kind of wry humor; it's packed with all sorts of graphics and comics that show just how bad our world could get, and you find yourself chuckling along until you realize that some of the events aren't all that far-fetched, and in fact, some are actually happening. It's a little disconcerting to have disasters drawn in a friendly sort of way, yet I suppose that gives a special sense of visual punch and irony. A few of my favorite highlights: Julia Hoffman’s Let’s Get Carbon-ated questionaire, Johnny Sweetwater's Endangered Species chart, the Nozone Survival Kit by Jesse Gordan (photographs by Tony Cenicola), and the personified line charts and graphs crying over data, hiding their heads under the covers or putting their heads into a stove.

Conspiracy theories, pending Ice Ages, potential revolutions, viral epidemics, and other doomsday prophecies: wherever you look—from the cover of Time magazine to the weird weather outside your window—the message seems universal: the Earth our children inherit will certainly be nothing like the one we currently inhabit. UN reports and newspaper articles are illustrated with dry charts and graphs predicting technological, economic, and ecological transformations that are already dramatically altering the way we live. Forecast revisualizes these abstractions about everything from our environment to our waistlines, from the stock market to the Middle East through the eyes of cartoonists and graphic designers who have made comics with a conscience...

$24.95, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

Take a look at this paper documentary; it's pretty amazing:

The lives of refugees and the displaced are told through journals, stories, images, and graphic novellas: war in Chechnya, ethnic cleansing in Burma, globalization in Mexico, and AIDS in Malawi.The book features works by Joe Sacco, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Julie Morstad, Phoebe Gloeckner, Chris Abani, Karen Connelly, Kamel Khelif, and many others. A foldout case contains the four volumes, one for each country.

The I Live Here Foundation helps unheard people tell their stories to the world. We set up creative writing programs in forgotten places such as a youth prison in Africa or a refugee camp on the Burma border. We also collaborate with noted writers and artists to produce stories and images that go far beyond ‘crisis journalism.’

To visit site, go here.
To donate, go here.
$29.95, Buy it here or for $19.77, here.

[posted by katie]

For any of you that scour street fashion blogs (such as The Sartorialist, one of my favorites), you'll be please to know you join the company of some of the designers featured in this book. If you're curious who the emerging 'movers and shakers' of fashion today are, then this is worth a flip-through.

The fashion industry has always celebrated innovative design and young talented fashion designers can make a huge impact as they explore new ideas and push boundaries. This book showcases the diverse and unique work of the best 100 new creatives in fashion design from around the world. These designers are characterized by their single-minded interpretation of clothing and their ambition to present alternative solutions in dressing for their customers. The book focuses on designers still in the first decade of their career either working alone on their own label or brand or teamed up into small companies showcasing collections. As well as pinpointing the best new talent worldwide this visually stunning survey provides a comprehensive showcase of cutting-edge imagery including original design work drawings and photography. The ultimate reference guide to the world's movers and shakers in fashion today this is a book all fashionistas will want to own.

$40.00, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

Contemporary photography seems to catch the eye everywhere nowadays; I think I'll be adding this monograph to my list of books to check out.

The work of Martin Parr (b. 1952) bridges the divide between art and documentary photography. His studies of the idiosyncrasies of mass culture and consumerism around the world, his innovative imagery and his prolific output have placed him firmly at the forefront of contemporary art.

$24.95, Buy it here or $18.21 here.

[posted by katie]

Man, there's some impressive artwork captured in this book. I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of graffiti, but this book kind of changed my mind. It's pretty incredible how the artists' interpretations of popular culture are morphed into such provocative compositions, usually on a very large scale, and it's even more amazing to see crew efforts where different graffiti artists collaborate on a single piece. And, jeez, some of the artwork is just so sharp...you'll have to see it for yourself; you can visit Camerota's Graffiti Japan website for a preview.

Photographed by Remo Camerota, Graffiti Japan captures the culturally unique aspects of Japanese street art, providing the most complete look at Japan’s contemporary graffiti scene ever compiled...
Interviews with KRESS, BELX2, FATE, TENGA, EMAR, SUIKO, QP and many more reveal how these artists define their work as specifically Japanese, musing on everything from replicating the calligraphic intricacies of the Japanese language with spray paint, to foreign influences and national pride. Every single photograph in Graffiti Japan was shot in Japan, featuring anime and manga characters, kanji, sprawling legal murals and illegal hidden spots, all of which comprise this spectacular scene that could not exist in any other country.

$27.95, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

This is a complete treasure trove of patterns. I swear, even if you're not an artist or a designer, it'll have you itching to pick up a pencil and mess around, or maybe at least overcome any objection to defacing a book so that you don't have to feel guilty when you take one of the pages out to frame it. Or maybe you'll just enjoy perusing all the hand-drawn patterns and that'll be enough for you. Either way, it's a refreshing compilation of work from a lot of talented designers.

While patterns have been around forever, there's a recent movement, a tendency among designers, to allow patterns to animate their work with colorful and exuberant complexity. Over and Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns collects groundbreaking work from fifty of today's most talented designers who create patterns by hand and use them in their work in inventive and innovative ways...the examples in this book push the boundaries of the traditional concept of what a pattern is...Featuring more than 250 vibrant and exciting patterns, Over and Over explores this magic on every single page and will inspire designers everywhere.

Also, Mike Perry's site is fun to browse through if you're interested.

$35.00, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]

If you've ever browsed through Found Magazine then you'll know what to expect from this collection of Polaroids.

There are photographs, and then there are Polaroids. This hardbound beauty is stuffed with 100+ specimens and curiosities from the Polaroid age, when gratification was as instant as the digital camera but far easier to lose. It's filled with an incredible collection of photos - some of them very funny, others strangely moving and affecting.

$16.49, Buy it here.

[posted by katie]