Catalogging Abrams Books

Is there any book catalog more beautiful than Abrams Books? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say "no". While I love Princeton Architectural Press and there are many lovely things about Chronicle and Candlewick, page by page I have to say that Abrams wins this one hands down. It's not just the covers but the excerpts and not just the excerpts but the overall design - heck even the paper is scrumptious.

I am looking at the fall 2012 catalog right now, can't you tell?

A lot of these books jumped out me, some as excellent titles to review in my column, some as personally appealing and some as titles that I know other folks will adore. First up, there's a new book on designer Alexander McQueen by photographer Anne Deniau who was the only photographer allowed backstage at his shows for thirteen years (ending with his death). Love Looks Not With the Eyes celebrates the creativity of both of them - both in what he made and how she saw it. Beautiful.

Nick Brandt's African wildlife titles On This Earth and A Shadow Falls are now combined in a doortstop edition that is oversized enough to do them justice. Essays from Jane Goodall, Alice Sebold, Peter Singer, etc. Love his work (but be prepared to pay for it). Another animal title is due from Tim Flach - More Than Human. This is one of those you just need to see to believe. It is "a highly original visual and written enquiry into our relationship with animals..." The cover alone is like few others. (Panda!!!!!)

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow by Bryan Fies is coming out in pb with a new rocket-shippy cover. I have this in HC and it's a great gn. Very funny and totally plays on so many things like THE FLYING CARS WE WERE PROMISED!!! (I'm still bitter about that.) Also, there's Economix: How and Why Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Goodwin. This looks perfect for teens (and a lot of adults). I'm also excited to see The Carter Family by Frank Young and David Lasky. Talk about an unorthodox family to get the bio treatment in a gn! And it comes with a cd! Excellent American history and in a format that will get it a lot of teen attention (I hope). (Geeky music teen attention, I'm sure.)

There's a new Vogue book - The Editor's Eye. It's all very very pretty. Tim Walker (who has been in Vogue a very memorable time or two) also has a new book out - Storyteller which "showcases his signature fantastic style". The cover alone makes it impossible to resist. (Though yes, very pricey.) (I'm still putting it in on my holiday wishlist though.) A fashion memoir that I thought had teen appeal is I Want To Be Her! by Andrea Linnett. Illustrated with the most charming sketches by Anne Johnston Albert this is Linnett's salute to all the people who have shaped her style over the years. (She's the co-founder of Lucky.)

Oh - and Todd Selby returns with Edible Selby. This go-round he's focusing on chefs with looks at gardens, homes, kitchens and restaurants. It will include the same short interviews as his last book but everyone also contributes a recipe. What I like about Selby is the interesting things he gets people to share about themselves and the places he photographs them. His work is never dull that's for sure.

I mentioned Orhan Pamuk's The Innocence of Objects a few weeks ago and the interior shots make it even more appealing. Filled with photos of his own collections, "...he writes about things that matter deeply to him: the psychology of the collector, the proper role of the museum, the photography of old Instanbul..." and on and on. What is there not to love? Christine Davenne's Cabinets of Wonder seems in the same vein but much broader - unique collections in homes and museums but also the history of such collecting. You've got to see the pictures! Plus I love cabinets of wonder - "skulls, butterflies, hunting trophies, ancient Egyptian artifacts, the alleged skeletons of mythological creatures..." You know you want to read it.



And finally, The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon, a gn with a half Japanese, half English heroine suffering from OCD and "fighting violent urges to harm other people". She wants to change her life, she wants to pursue her dreams, she wants to find love. She's 28 but this has coming-of-age written all over it; we'll see if it wanders into crossover territory. Either way - it certainly looks and sounds unique.