Arboreal delights

The book's introduction says there are an estimated sixty thousand species of trees in the world, so selecting fifty that are examined in detail is sort of a tall order. I think the author succeeded admirably, especially with the photo selection; these are absolutely first-class.

The world is covered in five chapters: Africa and Middle East; the Americas; Asia; Europe; Oceania. Each species gets two spreads and nicely the photos probably equal three pages of these spreads. The text, including 'Vital stats' and the 'How to identify' box gives just the right amount of background information for each tree.

These great tree photos are presented in a straightforward, elegant layout and printed on good matte art paper that makes it a pleasure to turn the pages. They are a bargain at the Amazon price.

US

Lonely Planet The Tree Atlas: Lonely Planet, Collins, Matthew: 9781837582679: Amazon.com: Books

UK

Lonely Planet The Tree Atlas: Amazon.co.uk: Lonely Planet, Collins, Matthew: 9781837582679: Books

 

Your friendly computer, past and present

Rachel Ignotofsky has written and illustrated a breezy book about computer history for teens. Nicely up to date with references to AI, big data and the power of tech companies. A feature I liked are historical pages about influential people. It's easy to accept the pc and internet but clever folk were behind all of this and I wasn't familiar with several individuals who created the technical and commercial aspects of computers.

The entire book is illustrated, there are no photos and each spread is probably fifty percent graphics and text. The ideal book for any one who has a curiosity about something we all take for granted now. 

US
The History of the Computer: People, Inventions, and Technology that Changed Our World: Ignotofsky, Rachel: 9781984857422: Amazon.com: Books

UK

The History of the Computer: People, Inventions, and Technology that Changed Our World: Amazon.co.uk: Ignotofsky, Rachel: 9781984857422: Books

Carre cachet 5/5

Two books as stunning as Carre don't come along too often. I was hooked from page one. The first book has 228 whole-page scarf photos and book two has 2178 with nine to a page.  The collection belongs to Benoit Pierre Emery, who designs for the Paris fashion industry, in particularly Hermes, and he started collecting twenty years ago and has an amazing ten thousand so far.

In both books, the scarves are basically abstract designs and very colorful so they give the wearer a touch of elegance and with many of them the fashion house names are visible: Lanvin; Cardin; Jaeger; Patou; Dior; Ricci; Givenchy; Balmain; Laroche; Feraud; Lapidus; Hermes; Rabanne et cetera. The only information about each scarf is the fashion house name, material (obviously silk) and size. 

I prefer book two because most of the spreads are scarf themes and with nine on each page they could be big or small cirles, swirls, squares within squares, zig-zags, star shapes, and kaleidoscopes. There are a few non-abstract pages, one spread has eighteen with a capital letter on each scarf, Sixties pop artist Peter Max has a page but the wonderful thing is the hundreds and hundreds of colorful abstracts. I wonder if many of these scarves are framed and used as wall decor.

I found it a treat to turn the pages of these beautiful square books. Steidl printed them with 175 screen on matt art paper and both books are in a nice slipcase. Carre is a must for anyone in the fashion industry and creative folk who appreciate color and design. 

US

Carré: A Vintage Scarf Collection: Emery, Benoit Pierre: 9783958298859: Amazon.com: Books