Stories in the Stars: An Atlas of Constellations - Susanna Hislop, Hannah Waldron

In “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” Walt Whitman reported that he “became tired and sick” at all the facts; worried that science would blunt his sense of wonder, he recovered only when he “Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars,” finding them as mesmerizing as ever. They mesmerize still, as Stories in the Stars (Penguin Press, $30), a beautiful synthesis of science and myth, word and image, shows us.  Written by lifelong star-gazer and actor Susanna Hislop, with images by Hannah Waldron, a versatile designer of textiles and works on paper, this is a grand tour of the universe. From the largest constellation, Hydra, to the smallest, the Southern Cross, the authors take us through each of the official eighty-eight constellations (as codified by the lnternational Astronomical Union in 1922). As diverse and surprising as the stars themselves, these entries retell ancient tales, make up new stories, present folklore from cultures around the world, and report what artists from Ovid to Picasso have made of the spectacle. Then there’s the science. Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, La Caille, Hubble—the learn’d astronomers are here, with concise profiles of their lives and the work they did to establish orders of magnitude, measure light years, and determine that the largest single star among those discussed is R136a1, part of the Tarantula Nebula in the constellation Dorado. Whimsical, wise, informative, charming—make what you will of this atlas: it’s all in how you connect the dots.

Stories in the Stars: An Atlas of Constellations By Susanna Hislop, Hannah Waldron (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Susanna Hislop, Hannah Waldron (Illustrator)
$30.00
ISBN: 9780143128137
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Penguin Books - November 3rd, 2015

The Making of Home: The 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes - Judith Flanders

Glossy design magazines generally feature interiors conspicuously lacking in the lived-in look. Where are the personal touches, the pet fur, the clutter? We know people don’t really live such pristine lives—but when we look at the paintings of Dutch Old Masters, we take those immaculate rooms at face value. In reality, as Judith Flanders, author of the revelatory The Victorian City shows, these pictures omitted much of the messy reality of daily life. The Making of Home (Thomas Dunne, $26.99) has been a long process, involving more than idealized visions of the household, and Flanders tracks down what art left out by examining 17th-century inventories of Dutch and British private property, finding the myriad  tools, bedding, smoky lighting, lack of ventilation, and sheer crowds that packed tiny living spaces. Widening her discussion to include northern Europe and the United States, Flanders traces changing uses, materials, and cultural meanings of an array of household features including windows, curtains (which both displayed and veiled their owners’ lives), stairs and their relation to the invention of the corridor, cupboards, and how they started as chests, and on to heating, cooking, furniture, floors, and more, all the while bringing this complex domestic infrastructure to rich and vivid life with narratives of the changing notions of family, gender roles, and the very meanings of “public,” ”private,” “work,” and even “dirt.”

The Making of Home: The 500-Year Story of How Our Houses Became Our Homes By Judith Flanders Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250096111
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: A Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin's Griffin - October 25th, 2016

Love Style Life - Garance Dore

In an ever-growing sea of fashion and lifestyle bloggers, Garance Doré stands out with her distinctive mix of creativity, wit, and honesty. She has written online for years about everything from the runway shows’ fashion week to encountering the American dysfunction around body image when she moved from Paris to New York. In Love Style Life (Spiegel & Grau, $30) she brings her humility, humor, and wisdom to the printed page in a gorgeous package. The book is part memoir, part advice column, and part back-stage pass to the world of designer fashion—all interspersed with Doré’s signature street-style photography and illustrations. It is a delightful mix of fashion-based whimsy and thoughtful reflection on relationships, career, and the pursuit of a fulfilling life.

Love Style Life By Garance Dore Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9780812996371
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Random House - October 27th, 2015

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