Lonely Planet's Top 10 Countries to Travel to in 2020

Lonely Planet has released their list of the top 10 countries to travel to in 2020, based on both sustainability and experience, among other factors. We won't spoil all the surprises and excitement for you, but there are a few destinations on here that you wouldn't expect! All of them, certainly, make you want to rush off to the nearest airport and buy a one-way ticket immediately.

Lonely Planet has also compiled a few more travel lists, grouped by cities, regions, and economic value.

Top 10 Cities: here

Top 10 Regions: here

Top 10 Value: here

Hervé Tullet: Inside the Creative Process

Hervé Tullet is the wondrous mind behind the worldwide-acclaimed children's book Press Here, published by Chronicle Books, among another 80-odd titles he's put out. He recently sat down with the New York Times to discuss his studio work-space and the methods he utilizes in crafting his unique art, as well as moving his entire operation (and family) from Paris to Harlem. The extended interview can be found here

Mr. Tullet is currently engaged in a project he calls "The Ideal Exhibition", a multifaceted, hands-on workshop that allows all who visit to contribute to his art. You can check out the promotional vid here

Woodstock '69 to '19: Celebrating Fifty Years with Michael Lang

The legend of Woodstock comes full circle! Curated by Michael Lang, one of the original co-founders and promoters for the immortal festival that took place from August 15-18 in 1969 (attended by nearly half a million people), Real Art Press's Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music is the quintessential guide for fans both young and old. Set to release just in time for the anniversary in July 2019, the book includes many never-before-seen photographs, artist setlists and correspondences, along with contracts and design plans for the event. From Hendrix to the Who, Santana to Jefferson Airplane, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Janis Joplin, all performances live on, thanks to Michael Lang!

Want to explore some more titles by Real Art Press? Visit their website.

Also, check out a sweet promo vid that Real Art Press put together for the book!

Books in Fashion, Ooh La La!

French creator and fashion designer, Sylvie Facon, creates stunning designer dresses made from book spines! Click here to view more of her bookish creations.

How many of these Art & Design book stores have you been to?

The Huffington Post recently posted their top ten art & design book store picks. They've selected stores from all across the globe, and you bet I'll be paying them a visit the next time I travel!

Their picks:

1. Daikanyama Tsutaya Books T-Site, Tokyo, Japan

2. Do You Read Me?!, Berlin, Germany

3. Artazart, Paris, France

4. Printed Matter, New York, NY

5. Arcana, Culver City, CA

6. Lia Wolf, Vienna, Austria

7. Artland Book Company, Taipei, Taiwan

8. Art Metropole, Toronto, CA

9. Freebook, Sao Paulo, Brazil

10. Papercup, Beirut, Lebanon

For more info, check out the full post here.

WORN: Not Your Typical Fashion Magazine

The WORN Archive: A Fashion Journal about the Art, Ideas, and History of What We Wear (Drawn & Quarterly) is 400 gorgeous pages of the Canadian magazine's best content from its first 14 issues, curated by WORN's founder and editor-in-chief Serah-Marie McMahon. Check out the video below to see why WORN is not your typical fashion magazine.

 

Behind the Humans of New York

You might remember my previous post about the book, Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton. Since the book's October release, the media has flocked toward Stanton, photographer and creator of this blog-based phenomenon and I wanted to share it again. Stanton's goal is simple: ask someone if he can photograph them and then conduct a short interview. This approach has created over 300 stunning photographs and countless stories of human confessions, fears, hopes and sorrow now featured in print.

Stanton shared his most memorable moment with an 80-year-old woman, one that left him crying (and me tearful!) in the streets of New York City, on CBC Radio Q with Jian Ghomeshi. I highly recommend listening to this interview as Stanton shares more of his inspiration for Humans of New York.

A Look Inside Ampersand Inc. Toronto

Ampersand Inc.'s last intern, Jenny, had the office to herself one afternoon with no one around her but the books. Sounds like a book lover's paradise, right? Check out the video below to see how she kept busy! 

A look inside the Ampersand Inc. Toronto office...

Maddie on Things

This beautiful image from Maddie on Things graced the cover of Chronicle's Spring catalogue. Theron Humphrey planned his road trip with the intent of taking pictures of America. When he saw Maddie's amazing balancing abilities, he quickly changed his focus to his pup.
I love this book because it it quintessentially Chronicle charming, elegant and beautiful. See the video below for more amazing images.

Pantone Colour of the Year

This year Chronicle release Pantone: The 20th Century in Color.  Pantone has announced their 2012 colour of the year... Tangerine  Tango ! Happy New Year!

Little Red Riding Hood

We just released a gorgeous illustrated version of Little Red Riding Hood on our Harper Design list. The book features the unabridged Brothers Grimm text paired with haunting illustrations by artist Daniel Egnéus. Check out this interview with the artist on he got his inspiration for his work:



A movie version of Red Riding Hood, with a werewolf twist opens March 11th. The movie stars Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfriend, and is directed by Catherine Hardwicke of Twilight movie fame.

Doris McCarthy 1910-2010

Last week we lost a true Canadian treasure when Dorothy McCarthy passed away. I had the fortune of having tea with her with some lovely booksellers and librarians at her home in Scarborough: Fool's Paradise. It was in celebration of one of her biography Doris McCarthy: My Life...and what a life it was. Although we just had a brief afternoon with her I was blown away by her tenacity and talent. The Globe had a lovely piece about her that you can read.

Anna Sui

Releasing in November, Chronicle Books will be publishing a retrospective on Fashion Icon Anna Sui. It is pretty spectacular; the book will have over 400 photographs. Sui has had an incredible influence on fashion and this book is a true celebration of her reach.

In this video, Sui talks about creating the book. Not only does it look at her work but also provides a sense of the history of fashion

over the past twenty years.

Native Trees of Canada

As soon as we heard about this book, we knew we had a winner. Native Trees of Canada was just launched on October 30th, and has already created quite a stir including this beautiful piece in the NYT. The story is quite simple: Leanne Shapton found the original 1917 edition at Monkey's Paw, a used bookstore in Toronto. She reworked the book and made it into this beautiful homage. Enjoy this celebration of Fall and Canada.

Henri Cartier-Bresson at the AIC

While in Chicago we went to the Art Institute of Chicago where we saw the exhibit Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century. We are very fortunate to represent an amazing distributor, D.A.P who represent some of the finest art publishers in the world including the MOMA who produced the book for show. Cartier-Bresson was instrumental in bringing photography to the masses and travelled all over the world honing his craft. The book and the exhibit showcase for the first time, the incredible reach he had. At the show, there was an amazing map and timeline showing how broad his travels were...very cool.

"Typography is what Language Looks Like"-Ellen Lupton

More on Type! The Vancouver Film School has produced a 90 second film clip on the basics of Typography enititled "Typography is what Language Looks Like". The film references Ellen Lupton who is the super cool author of such great books as Thinking With Type, Graphic Design: The New Basics, and my personal favourite: DIY:Design it Yourself. DIY is a great book for all those alt-crafters who love websites such as Etsy. Enjoy!

It's On The List. . .

I do love making lists. Things to do, places to visit, and of course books to read. The Infinity of Lists by Umberto Eco, translated by Alastair McEwan, is a gorgeous book that has been sitting on my bedside table for a few weeks (I haven't read it yet, but have looked at the pretty pictures). It's an exploration of society's endless fascination and obsession not only with lists, but collecting, cataloguing, repetition and replication, beautifully illustrated with examples from art and literature. Michael Dirda from The Washington Post (always on my list of favourite book critics) has an enthusiastic review here. And you'll learn something too - such as the difference between asyndeton and polysyndeton.

Remembrance Day Recommendations

One of my picks this Fall is Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel & Brett Witter. A great choice for Rememberance Day, this book recounts the fascinating yet little known contributions of a division of the Allied Forces in WWII- the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archive Section.
This group of 315 men and women from thirteen nations risked their lives in the final year of the war and beyond to track, locate and recover artwork and items of cultural significance that had been stolen by the Nazis during the war on the orders of Hitler. They also assessed damage and protected buildings of architectural or historic significance. Faced with so many stories he could tell, Edsel focuses strictly on the stories of one group of Monuments Men- the eight men assigned to cover France, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 11-month period from D-Day to VE Day. With no supplies, vehicles or radios, they had to use their wits in order to get the job done. The book is based on field journals, war reports, dispatches and orders from command, diaries and letters home as well as interviews with some of the survivors. Also included are the contributions of two French civilians, one of whom was Rose Valland, art historian, member of the French Resistance and one of the most decorated women in French history. Fiction readers might recognize her story too- the character of Rose Clément in Sara Houghteling's book Pictures at the Museum was based on Valland. A volunteer at a museum adjacent the Louvre, she spied on the Nazis throughout the occupation and her detailed notes were instrumental in the recovery and tracking of numerous works of art.

The book is very accessibly written and packed with incredible stories. Anyone interested in art or WWII history will find this of interest. The stories in here make your heart ache for all that was lost, but also profoundly grateful for the actions of these men and women, who risked (and some gave) their lives to save what they could of these important cultural artifacts for future generations to enjoy. It was just reviewed in the Toronto Star last weekend. Click here to read what they had to say.

Robert M. Edsel is also the co-producer of the related documentary film, The Rape of Europa, which was inspired by the book of the same name by Lynn H. Nicholas. He also wrote a mainly photographic companion book called Rescuing Da Vinci. Those in Ontario can watch the first part of the documentary on TVO Thursday November 12th at 10:00 pm, which is airing as part of their Masterworks series.

Also airing on TVO November 11th at 9 pm is the documentary Paris 1919, inspired by the book from Margaret MacMillan. We were lucky to see a screening of the film while up in Ottawa last week. Despite some technical difficulties, I found the film was absolutely fascinating. The visuals (archival footage from the time as well as dramatic recreations of the events) are fantastic.

I'm sure you know someone who will love this book, honestly. . .

Rosalyn and I had a good laugh about this book when it was still only a catalogue page, but I really love this book - Beautiful Sheep, by Kathryn Dun with photography by Paul Farnham. Granted, it's not for everyone, but I go on a lot of walking holidays and on them I see a lot of sheep, and now I will be able to distinguish between a Bluefaced Leicester and a Greyface Dartmoor and tell the difference between a Kerry Hill, a Hill Radnor and a Rough Fell. I also happen to believe that sheep have the most expressive faces and maybe rumours of their apparent stupidity are grossly exaggerated. Read Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann if you don't believe me. To me, sheep always seem to be laid back and smiling at you; they are the zen creatures of the animal kingdom. In Beautiful Sheep, an example of each breed is carefully groomed for their close-up and photographed against a professional backdrop. Opposite their glam photo is some useful information about their uses, the geographical location where they are found and some key features. It's heartening to know, for example that the British Bleu du Maine lambs, "have a strong desire to live". Sadly, they also have "good carcass qualities". Oh, I do love lamb so.

Take Care of Yourself - Sophie does it again...

I’ve blogged about Sophie Calle before; she’s one of my favourite contemporary artists who never fails to make me laugh – mostly because she does such a good job of laughing at herself, always seriously dissecting her life in interesting yet playful ways. Her latest project and new book is Take Care of Yourself (recently published in an English translation). When her boyfriend broke up with her by e-mail , she printed out the letter, (which you can read at the beginning of the book), and sent it to 107 different women, asking for their comments. The women form a very diverse group embodying a whole slew of different professions ranging from judges to police officers to philosophers, romance writers, criminologists and psychoanalysts. Their reactions are all in keeping with their professions and some of them are just hilarious. A proof-reader points out all of the boyfriend’s awkward sentence structures. A journalist turns the letter into a press release. A headhunter analyzes the letter writer as a potential job applicant and concludes that there are reasons to be concerned about the boyfriend's “instability”. There are screenplays, poems, songs, a children’s story, a bodice-ripping romance tale, a cartoon and even a crossword puzzle. Several hours of DVD material is also included – many actresses such as Jeanne Moreau and Miranda Richardson are filmed reading and commenting on the letter and singers such as Feist are filmed responding to it in song. Opera singers, clowns, puppets and even a parrot are all featured. The parrot is a hoot.
Take Care of Yourself is a fat, shiny, sumptuous, glorious art book and though it’s a bit pricey it’s completely worth the money. What a great xmas gift, either for yourself or anyone you know who has ever had one of those HUH??? letters from an ex. The photographs of all the women reading the letters are beautiful (some stunning interior and exterior settings) and the book design is original and a piece of art in its own right (the endpapers feature the letter in morse code, Braille, shorthand and even as a barcode). I absolutely adore Sophie Calle’s work.
Violette Editions has also recently re-issued Double Game – about Calle's interaction with the American novelist Paul Auster who based a fictional character on her in his novel Leviathan. Some of the art he attributed to this character was taken directly from Calle’s work but some was made up. Calle then proceeded to create and play with these fictional art pieces that Auster had devised for his character and Auster follows up with an invented guidebook on how Calle can make life better in New York City. Lots of intriguing and thought-provoking fun.