Best Textile & Costume
Harry Potter: Page to Screen , the follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Harry Potter: Film Wizardry , is a lavish and personal look at the entire filmmaking process that transformed J. K. Rowling’s fantasy series into a blockbuster movie franchise. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive stories from the cast and crew, hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and concept illustrations sourced from the closed film sets, and rare memorabilia.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"An amazing journey into the world of the Harry Potter films and their creation as are the books."
"It is definitely a must for every Harry Potter fan."
"This book gives you exactly what it said it would, harry potter page to screen in its entirety."
"It looks like a magickal volume and in a way it is, for it captures all of the magic of the Harry Potter movies, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all the way to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two. The first color photograph one comes across as one flips the book open is a full size portrait of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts (Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in HP films 3-8). So, the contents...the book (531 pages) is divided into three parts: Part I: The Making of Harry Potter. Introduction. Setting the Scene. HP and the Sorcerer's Stone. HP and the Chamber of Secrets. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. HP and the Goblet of Fire. HP and the Order of the Phoenix. HP and the Half-Blood Prince. HP and the Deathly Hallows. Part II: The Art of Harry Potter. Introduction. Characters: Costuming. Locations: Set Design. Creatures: Special Makeup and Digital Effects. Artifacts: Prop Making. Part III: Epilogue. The Golden Boards. Acknowledgements and Colophon. The book goes in-depth into the many aspects of the film-making process, including valuable insights from and about the directors, actors, and all the other significant people who have worked on the movies, not forgetting the author of course. These details are enhanced by the hundreds of photographs that are found throughout the book, and what makes these pictures all the more extraordinary and valuable to the discerning reader is the fact that many of them were taken on set, during the making of the films, and apart from the photographs there are also full-color paintings in glorious detail. Btw, for those who are wondering about how this compares to Harry Potter Film Wizardry, I'd say they are both complementary (I own a copy of HP Film Wizardry) to each other. For example, in HP Film Wizardry, readers will get a chance to peruse a copy of the Marauder's Map, Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a catalogue from Borgin and Burke's, stickers in the Advanced Potion-Making pamphlet, two boxes of treats (sans the treats) from Honeydukes of Hogsmeade (you can tear them out and fold them into actual treat boxes, not that I would! This is a beautiful volume of substance for any fan of the HP books and movies."
"An excellent compendium which deserves a place on every Harry Potter fan's book shelf, detailing problems and solutions in interpreting the story."
"Got this book at about 1/2 off by buying on Amazon instead of at a book store. Also, the pages are super glossy in some parts, so finding the right angle to hold the book and for such a long time makes it a bit disconcerting."
Published to coincide with an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art organized by The Costume Institute, this stunning book includes a preface by Andrew Bolton; an introduction by Susannah Frankel; an interview by Tim Blanks with Sarah Burton, creative director of the house of Alexander McQueen; illuminating quotes from the designer himself; provocative and captivating new photography by renowned photographer Sølve Sundsbø; and a lenticular cover by Gary James McQueen. "For those still wanting to view McQueen's fashion creations, the book shines on. "The catalog—with its gorgeous images places alongside provocative, incisive, and often puzzling conversational quotes from the designer himself—makes for an interesting way to get a peek at the show for those of us who won’t be lucky enough to make it to New York this summer. The most radical designs of his career are presented here, with critical analysis perfect for any arts or fashion library. "The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum's Alexander McQueen retrospective has proven so popular that the exhibit has been extended until August 7. But if that still isn't enough time for you to get down to see it, the next best thing to a New York City jaunt is the definitive monograph, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. ".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book looks beautiful in person."
"This really is a book about the art and not a biography as some have criticized it for lacking keep that in mind."
"Magical and beautiful book."
"This book is a wonderful, beautiful collection of photographs and quotes that celebrate this genius and artist."
"I bought this as a present, and the recipient was delighted."
"If you did manage to see the exhibit in person, owning this book will help you relive the experience again and again."
"The book is quite large so it makes a beautiful 'coffee table' book."
Interweaving interviews with the special effects experts, costume designers, makeup artists and the cast, Jody Revenson shows fans how the magic happens, revealing the unique filming techniques used to change particular characters’ sizes, such as a giant Hagrid and Madame Maxime, as well as special makeup processes that created the look of Harry’s Stinging Hex and Peter Pettigrew’s rat-like visage.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I did not get the Collector's Edition of Harry Potter Page to Screen so I'm glad that those bundled books are now sold separately, and I also saved some money in the process. The book's a 208-page hardcover with a cover that's designed with the same style as the other Harry Potter film companion books, such as Harry Potter: Page to Screen,Harry Potter: The Creature Vault and Harry Potter: Magical Places. From what I can see, this seems like the updated book to the character book from the collector's edition."
"The book talks a lot about the inspiration behind the wardrobes and makeup as well which I like because they took my favorite and least favorite characters out of the books and gave them life and I like to read how they made that happen."
"The descriptions of each Harry Potter character is interesting and unique."
"This was given to my grandson for Christmas and he is enjoying ever word and gives it a 10 plus."
"I bought this as a Christmas present for my daughter (she's 24, huge Harry Potter fan)."
"Great book, handsome binding & printing."
"A great book for any harry potter fan it goes great with the other books in my collection plus there are more just like this book that explore more of the harry potter world."
"I gave this to a Harry Potter addict as a Christmas gift and it was a real hit!"
Best Sewing
Hammocks are one of the most comfortable ways to enjoy the indoors, and make great companions for a long-distance thru-hike, relaxing at a park, a weekend backpacking trip, or an overnight in the woods! Derek Hansen is a lightweight backpacker, Scoutmaster, and "hammock enthusiast" who enjoyed his first hammock hang at age 14 at a Boy Scout high adventure base.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Derek breaks things down to the basics with just enough technical expertise to keep a seasoned hanger intrigued but not too much to lose the novice."
"Great intro to hammock camping, with lots of food for thought and tips to make things easier."
"Derek proves a wealth of information in an easy to read and understand format with excellent illustrations."
"I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is thinking about hanging for the first time or even someone with limited experience with Hammocks."
"I am just exploring the world of hammock camping before I make my first purchase."
"I read it on Kindle and had some issues enlarging the graphics enough but that's probably on me."
"Easy, breezy and fun describes this informative guide to the world of hammock camping."
"I bought this book after I got a new hammock and quick went out to hang it in the backyard , my tree's where to far apart so I grabbed a ratchet strap it snapped hitting me in the hand nearly breaking it."
Best Interior & Home Design
With an artful mix of color and black-and-white photography that includes portraits, interiors, gardens, and still-life shots of flowers, food, and more, The Authentics examines the lives and work of these visionaries in an inspiring tribute to confidence, originality, and the power of finding one's own voice. MELANIE ACEVEDO is a lifestyle and portrait photographer whose editorial and advertising clients have included Dove, Target, Samsung, IKEA, Starbucks, Elle , Casa Vogue , World of Interiors, Living Etc ., and Jonathan Adler.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is impressive to see and read about those few who stand out, as unique and talented individuals, in our world of the "masses"."
Best Design History & Criticism
It chronicles not only Ford's clothing and accessories designs for both houses, but also explores Ford's grand vision for the complete design of a brand, including architecture, store design, and advertising. This enormous compendium may be Ford's swan song as a designer, as he recently announced that he was quitting fashion to direct movies.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great coffee table book."
"Perfect for my coffee table."
"BEAUTIFUL, ONE OF THE BEST ACCESSORIES THAT I OWN A MUST BUY!"
"Fantastic book!"
"IT's Completely What I had Expected!!.."
Best Decorative Arts
New York Times Bestseller. “I want to rip out every page of this glorious book and hang them on my wall so that I can be surrounded by these incredible women all day long.”. —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of The Vacationers and Modern Lovers Over 100 exceptional and influential women describe how they embraced their creative spirit, overcame adversity, and sparked a global movement of entrepreneurship. “Bonney continues to inspire as she offers what she calls ‘visibility for powerful women in business.’ Whether they’re artists, chefs, tattoo artists or writers, creative women of all colors, ages, sexualities and experience share their fears, mistakes and successes.” —Los Angeles Times. “Bonney’s quietly radical, profoundly moving project brings together short interviews with a diverse group of women who share insight on their life’s work. " In the Company of Women tells the stories of more than 100 women who work for themselves—artists, writers, designers, chefs, musicians. “This inspiring book encapsulates the stories of more than 100 creative women in the areas of design, visual arts, culinary arts, literature, and show business in short Q&As about the lessons they’ve learned on their journeys to success.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wrap this up for a recent grad, creative mind, or anyone looking for a healthy dose of girl power.” —RealSimple.com “Grace’s excellent book is full of empowering business advice from a diverse group of inspirational and talented women.” —Martha Stewart “Grace Bonney has given us our favorite icons, heroes, and bandit queens in one of the oldest living forms of communication: a book. Enjoy, dear readers, for each page turn is a meditation on the power of the Divine Feminine.” —Jill Soloway, creator of Transparent “These amazing stories will surely spark something deep within us all: the courage to dream and the fortitude to make those dreams happen.” —Joanna Gaines, owner of Magnolia, host of HGTV’s Fixer Upper “A joyful book that celebrates both the diversity of beauty and the beauty of diversity: in race, age, size, sexuality, and ways of thinking.” —Hanya Yanagihara, New York Times bestselling author of A Little Life “I want to rip out every page of this glorious book and hang them on my wall so that I can be surrounded by these incredible women all day long.” —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of The Vacationers and Modern Lovers “A world of insight from an array of intriguing, trailblazing women. And the photography is gorgeous!” —Padma Lakshmi, author of Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir “I hope this book becomes an almanac that will continue to expound on the work and the lives of everyday cis, trans, and queer women and women of color who are building and becoming businesses, and that will remind other exceptional women that they are in good company.” —Angelica Ross, founder of TransTech and star of Her Story.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Purchased this as a gift and it was perfect."
"Great short chunks of interesting approaches to life and business."
"I purchased this book as a gift for my wife, who is a fan of Grace Bonney and her site Design*Sponge."
"Nice stories."
"Great price and great stories!"
"Beautiful book that makes a great gift for the driven women in your life."
"The author must have sent each maker a list of 10 or 15 questions and recorded their short answers without further probing."
Best Industrial & Product Design
Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Hooked is written for product managers, designers, marketers, start-up founders, and anyone who seeks to understand how products influence our behavior. "With concrete advice and tales from the product-development trenches, this is a thoughtful discussion of how to create something that users never knew they couldn’t live without." “The most high bandwidth, high octane, and valuable presentation I have ever seen on this subject.”. —Rory Sutherland, Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather. "Nir's work is an essential crib sheet for any startup looking to understand user psychology.”. —Dave McClure, Founder 500 Startups.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book lays down a model building engagement by having users constantly return to your app. The "variable" part is important - rewards should not always be predictable, encouraging users to repeat the cycle. This could be content (e.g. a book in your Kindle), user entered data (e.g. profile information or linked accounts), reputation (e.g. something to gain a 5 star seller review), or a learned skill (e.g. I wanted something that would get to the crux of the problem and set out a practical framework of how to apply it with examples, without being overly verbose on history and research."
"I don't currently do any product design but the concepts apply at some level to any kind of marketing and could be used (at least in part) for promoting a service business, a tangible product or even just ideas."
"While I enjoyed the book, I would also add that business owners and product managers (could be many other stakeholders) should also spend significant time focusing on their business model and determining who the paying customers are! A focus on a business model does not mean that you need paying customers on day one (the timing will depend on your business model), but you need to have a model that determines your revenue streams and how they will be achieved."
"I'm a product manager at a large tech company and this book breaks down the habit forming process in an excellent and easy to digest manner."
"Good book using real life examples and case studies to back up the lessons learned."
Best Jewelry Design
Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned breaks history into three categories—Want, Take, and Have—and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace. “Raden’s commentary on the often ugly side of human desire through the ages is consistently captivating, and her witty delivery makes the material shine.” (Publishers Weekly). “Aja Raden must be a kick at dinner parties … She’s also an appealingly informal, effortless storyteller, fascinated by the stories she tells.” (Seattle Times). “’Stoned’ has its own special vitreous luster, just as any emerald worth its salt - an illumination into what makes us irrationally human.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I picked up Aja Raden's Stoned expecting a history of jewelry and was pleasantly surprised to find an in-depth social history of how human perceptions of value, desire and innovation have shaped the modern world. She starts with the beads that bought Manhattan (and in doing so makes a compelling case that it might not have been quite the con we think of it today) and ends with the wristwatch and its role in making modern warfare, aviation, navigation and personal private time possible."
"Personally, I rarely read non fiction books for the simple fact that they aren’t usually very captivating."
"This book started off snarky but interesting and ended up being educational and funny and I enjoyed it a lot."
"I am still reading the book."
"Many of the stories Ms. Arden tells were familiar to me but to read them from from her perspective and with her research gave the stories new meaning and proved to be a delightful read."
"This book has a lot more general world history than I expected."
"Not as informative as I had hoped."
"In depth research on several popular stones."
Best Furniture Design
Here is Tory Burch’s stylish and informal Southampton estate, Lauren and Andres Santo Domingo’s glamorous duplex in Paris, Dries Van Noten’s romantic house and garden in Belgium, Alexa and Trevor Traina’s dramatic and colorful San Francisco house, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s lakeside Canadian cabin, shoe maestro Bruno Frisoni and designer Hervé Van der Straeten’s modern house in the heart of Tangier, Stella McCartney’s grand English country garden, Olya and Charles Thompson’s richly patterned Brooklyn house, and the old-world Wilshire estate of Gela Nash-Taylor and Duran Duran’s John Nash Taylor and many more. HAMISH BOWLES is the international editor at large of Vogue .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I returned my first copy because it wasn’t shrink wrapped and the dust jacket was torn in two places."
"This is not a photo book of interiors, but more of a story about each home, it's landscaping, and it's owners."
"All of the spreads are full of class, elegance, and inspiration.... A window that allows us to see how a special group of people live around the world."
"such a great coffee table book and can get lost for hours reading it."
"Gorgeous book, excellent price."
"I wish for a reincarnation into the lives of these people, God. You and I just hate that and become envious of those people in this book."
"Lovely coffee table book."