10 NEW BOOKS FULL OF SPARKS
With the start of a new year, we naturally think about fresh starts, which are really restarts, if you think about it. We think it’s a great time to check out how some powerful, beautiful, and majorly significant ideas and creations got their start. Here are 10 very cool books to inspire you.
1) SUPERKÜL: THE BEGINNING
“superkul: the beginning,” by Alex Bozikovic , Larry Gaudet, & Marianne McKenna is the first architectural monograph, documenting and celebrating ten years of the award-winning architectural design firm, superkül. Founded in 2002, superkül is the Toronto-based practice of principals Andre D’Elia and Meg Graham. The book traces the firm’s humble beginnings and lays out the design process that the award-winning architectural firm undertakes with its clients, contractors, and suppliers, with an unprecedented look at its emblematic projects.
(Publisher: Oro Editions, 2014)
2) TRESPASSING ON EINSTEIN'S LAWN: A FATHER, A DAUGHTER, THE MEANING OF NOTHING, AND THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING
“Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn: A Father, a Daughter, the Meaning of Nothing, and the Beginning of Everything,” follows author Amanda Gefter’s story as she and her father bond while seeking answers to cosmology’s greatest question: How did it all start?
Gefter and her father hang out with some of the greatest scientific minds of our time, including Leonard Susskind, the former Bronx plumber who invented string theory; Ed Witten, the genius behind M-theory; and Stephen Hawking. The Gefters begin probing and absorbing, hoping to gain enough clues to stitch together an understanding.
A massive paradigm shift is underway in cosmology, as our understanding of the origins of the universe leaps far ahead of Einstein’s. And as Gefter begins to consider it all, she is ready for her own new beginning.
If you liked Brian Greene’s “The Hidden Reality” and Jim Holt’s ”Why Does the World Exist?,” you’ll enjoy this journey.
(Publisher: Bantam, 2014)
3. THE MAKING OF THE MIDDLE SEA: A HISTORY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE EMERGENCE OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
When we think of the start of western civilization, we think of the Mediterranean. So many roots can be traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome, even Persia and Egypt. But until now no one has holistically examined how its societies, culture and economies first came into being. You may be surprised to learn that almost all the fundamental developments originated well before 500 BC.
“The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World,” by Cyprian Broodbank, book takes an in depth look at all three coasts, African, European, and Asian, from early humans -- with the origins of farming and metallury -- to the rise of Egyptian, Levantine, Hispanic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Phoenician, Etruscan, early Greek civilizations.
With extensive beautiful illustrations, a treasure trove of archaeological references, and excellent historical writing, this book is a great place to start to understand the start of life as we know it.
(Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013)
4) THE SPACE BOOK: FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF TIME, 250 MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF SPACE & ASTRONOMY
“The Space Book: From the Beginning to the End of Time, 250 Milestones in the History of Space & Astronomy,” by astronomer and planetary scientist Jim Bell details 250 major astronomical events that have happened since the start of the universe, from the formation of galaxies to the recent discovery of water ice on Mars. With loads of beautiful photographs and illustrations, you’ll gain a visual understanding of how life began and how far it has come.
(Publisher: Sterling, 2013)
5) BIRDS IN A CAGE: GERMANY, 1941. FOUR POW BIRDWATCHERS. THE UNLIKELY BEGINNING OF BRITISH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
Sometimes beautiful things can come from dark places. “Birds in a Cage: Germany, 1941. Four POW Birdwatchers. The Unlikely Beginning of British Wildlife Conservation,” by Derek Niemann, tells the story of four British WW2 prisoners of war who began to watch birds fly in and out of their barbed wire -fenced camp. It gave them diversion, hope, and ultimately a mission.
"In the summer of 1940, lying in the sun, I saw a family of redstarts, unconcerned in the affairs of our skeletal multitude, going about their ways in cherry and chestnut trees..." And so it began with British army officer John Buxton.
He soon found kismet with fellow prisoner Peter Conder, John Barrett, and George Waterston. These four watched birds intensely while imprisoned and later went on to become the most significant British ornithologists, responsible for the birth of the British conservation movement. They founded the UK’s largest bird conservation charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The book uses diaries and letters written by the captives. Their legacy lives on.
(Publisher: Short Books LTD, 2013)
6. THREE SISTERS BACK TO THE BEGINNING: TIMELESS GREEK RECIPES MADE SIMPLE
“Three Sisters Back to the Beginning: Timeless Greek Recipes Made Simple,” by Betty Bakopoulos, Eleni Bakopoulos, & Samantha Bakopoulos, is part memoir, part cookbook, part art book. The sisters go back to the beginning of their lives and their first tastes of the beautiful food, calling on recipes that their Greek family has been making for many generations.
With gorgeous photography, a sleek layout, and spot on elegantly simply recipes, this is a book you will enjoy both in and out of the kitchen.
(Publisher: Adelfes, 2013)
7. THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING
“The Beginning of Everything,” by Robyn Schneider, is a witty, grabs-your-heart-while-still-being-funny teen novel that tells a story of Ezra Faulkner, a high school varsity tennis captain who has it all. Until he doesn’t. When his girlfriend cheats on him and his leg is shattered in a car accident, Ezra must learn to make a new start.
(Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, 2013)
8. MY FIRST PLAY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THEATRICAL BEGINNINGS
“My First Play: An Anthology of Theatrical Beginnings,” edited by Nick Hern, is a collection of 66 mini memoirs from playwrights, actors, and directors as they recall the plays that first influenced them as well as their own first writings.
Candid, funny, and poignant stories reveal the dramatic sparks that personally inspired the creation of drama we can all appreciate.
Published to celebrate twenty-five years of Nick Hern Books, the royalties from the sale of this magical collection of sixty-six miniature autobiographies will be donated to the Theatre Section of the Writers’ Guild.
(Publisher: Nick Hern Books, 2013)
9. AERO: BEGINNING TO NOW
“Aero: Beginning to Now,” by Thomas O’Brien, tells the story of Aero design studio and store, founded by Thomas O’Brien. O’Brien reminisces about his early art school days and leads us through his aesthetic evolution as he developed his own unique design philosophy.
The “warm modern” look that O’Brien created is a mix of modern and classic forms, found in a range of design foundations, from industrial, to sophisticated urban, to rural settings. Refurbished vintage became his signature.
Containing never before seen images of O’Brien’s first homes, SOHO lofts, the studio, and the Aero store, this book acts as a excellent source for any interested in the work of Thomas O’Brien.
(Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2013)
10. FORTY-ONE FALSE STARTS: ESSAYS ON ARTISTS AND WRITERS
"Forty-one False Starts: Essays on Artists and Writers,” by Janet Malcolm brings together essays published over the course of several decades (largely in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books). Malcolm, considered by many to be one of the finest journalists focused on art criticism, has always been fascinated by painters, photographers, writers, critics -- their lives and their work.
The title essay of this collection, with its forty-one “false starts,” recounts Malcolm’s own series of attempts to capture the essence of the painter David Salle, which resulted in her beautifully written portrait of this artist.
Essay subjects are diverse, including Bloomsbury, Edward Weston, Thomas Struth, Salinger, Julia Margaret Cameron, Diane Arbus, and Edith Wharton, with outliers like Gossip Girl novelist Cecily von Zeigesar.
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of 2013
“[A] master of the profile...alluring, pointed, singularly perceptive tellings.”
— The New Yorker
“Forty-One False Starts [is] a powerfully distinctive and very entertaining literary experience. . . what the reader remembers is Janet Malcolm: her cool intelligence, her psychoanalytic knack for noticing and her talent for withdrawing in order to let her subjects hang themselves with their own words. . .These short pieces [are] unmistakably the work of a master.”
— The New York Times
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2014)
Photo: Courtesy of Master Ceramics.
Read more about Beautiful Starts, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact in our posts throughout this week.
Enter this week’s BN Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Starts. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 01.12.14.
Photo: Courtesy of InterActiveMediaSW.
Also, check out our special competition: The Most Beautiful Sound in the World! We are thrilled about this effort, together with SoundCloud and The Sound Agency. Finalists are announced and voting has begun! Cast your vote and help us choose the winner!
Photo Credits:
1) Image: Courtesy of Oro Editions.
2) Image: Courtesy of Bantam.
3) Image: Courtesy of Oxford University Press.
4) Image: Courtesy of Sterling.
5) Image: Courtesy of Short Books LTD.
6) Image: Courtesy of Adelfes.
7) Image: Courtesy of Katherine Teagan Books.
8) Image: Courtesy of Nick Hern Books.
9) Image: Courtesy of Harry N. Abrams.
10) Photo: Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.