art & culture

Taking the Food System Back… With Books

October 25, 2018 admin 0

Food Tank has rounded up 19 books about food and agriculture that explore food policy, nutrition science, healthy eating, food justice, and the challenges of farming. Readers will be able to immerse themselves in new roles as activists, brewers, chefs, farmers, politicians, and more. Included in the list, consumer advocate, nutritionist, and author of six prize-winning books Marion Nestle’s Unsavory Truth offers readers another glance into nutrition: although nutrition advice may seem inspired by the […]

Art & Culture: Generation Robot: A Century of Science Fiction, Fact, and Speculation by Terri Favro

May 30, 2018 Linda L. Richards 0

This is the year we started paying attention to the shenanigans our tech was getting up to. With dire warnings about the future of AI from the likes of Tesla founder Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking, not to mention the fact that we suddenly noticed that something as seemingly innocent as an online personality test might have repercussions on the entire free world, it just seems suddenly sensible to raise our heads, look […]

Birds of America to Auction

May 26, 2018 admin 0

On June 14th, Christie’s will offer one of the most important illustrated books of all time at auction. The Birds of America by John James Audubon has an auction estimate of $8,000,000-12,000,000. From the Christie’s web site: The two lanky purple herons [at right] appear to be deep in conversation. The adult bird, with its rich brown ruff, gestures with a raised blue leg as if to emphasise a point; the younger heron — its […]

Children’s Books: Ramadan: The Holy Month of Fasting by Ausma Zehanat Khan

April 22, 2018 admin 0

This year the holy month of fasting known as Ramadan runs from May 15th until June 14th. It occurs in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and in Islamic culture it is the most sacred month of the year. In a book aimed at eight to 13-year-olds, Ausma Zehanat Khan, a novelist who also holds a PhD in international human rights law, draws on personal experience, her own deep skill as a writer and […]

Ancient Astronomical Manuscript Will Highlight Christie’s Sale

April 21, 2018 admin 0

Collectors and admirers of old books will want to know about the discovery and imminent sale of an early al-Tusi astronomical manuscript which will go on the block at Christies in London this coming week. From the Christies blog: “In the world of ancient books and manuscripts, very often even the experts are unaware of the existence of important copies of key works. That was the case here,” explains Romain Pingannaud, specialist in Islamic Art, […]

Best Books of 2017

December 30, 2017 admin 0

  At best, writing about books is subjective. My favorite book of the year could very well be the one you liked least. And, certainly, vice-versa. So why do we do it? Because people love lists and collections and personal connections. And so here we are. And why not?   [masterslider alias=”ms-159-1-1″]

Non-Fiction: The Handover  by Elaine Dewar

December 17, 2017 Linda L. Richards 1

In 2000, Canadian businessman Avie Bennett engineered a deal to wrest “The Canadian Publisher” McClelland and Stewart, out of the protection of Canadian Heritage and into the arms of a foreign national company in the form of then Random House. Though many Canadians would have thought that would create an outcry, it did not. But journalist Elaine Dewar was paying attention. More: she was there. In her well-reviewed but largely ignored 2017 book, The Handover: […]

Holiday Gift Guide 2017

December 9, 2017 admin 1

There are a hundred thousand interests and there are millions of books, but here are a handful that might make those you love realize just how much you care. [masterslider alias=”ms-159-1″]    

Art & Culture: A Girl Walks Into a Book: What the Brontës Taught Me About Life, Love, and Women’s Work  by Miranda K. Pennington

December 5, 2017 admin 0

Passionate readers understand that a wonderful book — one that resonates strongly  — can leave a lasting impression. Can, in fact, sometimes change your life. That is the premise, and in fact that glue that binds, of A Girl Walks Into A Book (Seal) by writer and essayist Miranda K. Pennington. The author was a voracious reader at 10 when her father gave her a copy of Jane Eyre. It was not love at first […]

The Typewriter as Art

September 11, 2017 admin 0

Thinking about throwing out that old typewriter? Think again. Long a topic of careful and considered industrial design, collectors are getting wind of the fact that the seemingly obsolete typewriter is a thing of collectible beauty. From Christie’s blog: The museum community has long recognised their significance. A Roger Tallon retrospective on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris earlier this year showed how the French designer worked on jolly-looking Japy typewriters as […]