The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane von Furstenberg

the woman i wanted to beOne of the most influential, admired, and innovative women of our time: fashion designer, philanthropist, wife, mother, and grandmother, Diane von Furstenberg offers a book about becoming the woman she wanted to be.

Diane von Furstenberg started out with a suitcase full of jersey dresses and an idea of who she wanted to be-in her words, “the kind of woman who is independent and who doesn’t rely on a man to pay her bills.” She has since become that woman, establishing herself as a global brand and a major force in the fashion industry, all the while raising a family and maintaining “my children are my greatest creation.” In The Woman I Wanted to Be , von Furstenberg reflects on her extraordinary life-from childhood in Brussels to her days as a young, jet-set princess, to creating the dress that came to symbolize independence and power for an entire generation of women.

With remarkable honesty and wisdom, von Furstenberg mines the rich territory of what it means to be a woman. She opens up about her family and career, overcoming cancer, building a global brand, and devoting herself to empowering other women, writing, “I want every woman to know that she can be the woman she wants to be.” (description from publisher)

Flea Market Fabulous by Lara Spencer

flea market fabulousFocusing on nine different rooms (including her own recently purchased Manhattan apartment), Lara Spencer shows readers that all it takes is planning, shopping know-how, and a little imagination to create beautiful and comfortable homes that reflect their personal style.

Flea Market Fabulous takes readers through the step-by-step process of overcoming the challenges of the room, offering helpful tips and lessons along the way. She identi­fies the design dilemma; comes up with a decorat­ing plan; makes a mood board for inspiration; compiles a shopping list; scours flea markets for furniture and accessories that fit the bill; restores, repurposes, and reinvents the pieces she finds, giving them new life; and brings all the elements together in the gorgeous, finished space.

With illuminating before, during, and after photographs of her DIY projects and the room installations, Lara demystifies the decorating process and allows readers to envision endless possibilities for what they can do in their own homes. (description from publisher)

Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence by Joy Wilson

joy the baker homemadeJoy Wilson believes that everything is better with pie. And caramel. And definitely ice cream.

Her world is pretty sweet: she dabbles daily in butter and sugar as her blogging alter ego, Joy the Baker. Her new book, Joy the Baker Homemade Decadence, is packed with 125 of Joy’s favorite, supereasy, most over-the-top, totally delicious treats, such as Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies; Butterscotch Cream Pie with Thyme-Marshmallow Meringue; Mint Chocolate Chip Cake; and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

After all, every day is an opportunity for sweets. (description from publisher)

Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet

mermaids in paradiseOn the grounds of a Caribbean island resort, newlyweds Deb and Chip – our opinionated, skeptical narrator and her cheerful jock husband who’s friendly to a fault – meet a marine biologist who says she’s sighted mermaids in a coral reef. As the resort’s “parent company” swoops in to corner the market on mythological creatures, the couple joins forces with other adventurous souls, including an ex-Navy SEAL with a love of explosives and a hipster Tokyo VJ, to save said mermaids from the “Venture of Marvels,” which wants to turn their reef into a theme park.

Mermaids in Paradise is Lydia Millet’s funniest book yet, tempering the sharp satire of her early career with the empathy and subtlety of her more recent novels and short stories. This is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale, darkly comic on the surface and illuminating in its depths. (description from publisher)

100 Places You Will Never Visit: the World’s Most Secret Locations by Daniel Smith

100 placesEver wondered what it takes to get into Fort Knox? Fancied a peek inside the Coca-Cola Safety Deposit Box? Would you dare to visit Three Mile Island?

The world is full of secret places that we either don’t know about, or couldn’t visit even if we wanted to. Now you can glimpse the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan, visit the Tucson Titan Missile Site, tour the Vatican Archives, or see the Chapel of the Ark. This fascinating guide book takes a look at 100 places around the world that are either so hard to reach, so closely guarded, or so secret that they are virtually impossible to visit any other way. (description from publisher)

Pork: More than 50 Heavenly Meals That Celebrate the Glory of Pig, Delicious Pig by Cree LeFavour

porkPork celebrates the versatility and utter deliciousness of pork in more than 120 tempting recipes. Five chapters are organized by flavor profile, including American, Bistro, Latin, Chinese and Japanese, and South and Southeast Asian. Each recipe is grouped into a set, matching a main course of pork with a complementary grain, pasta, salad, or vegetable.

This cookbook encompasses a wide range of techniques for expertly cooking many popular and surprising cuts of pork, from braising, sautéing, roasting, barbecuing, and stewing to serving it encased in soft, warm pasta, buns, or tortillas. Featuring a year’s worth of meals for all occasions, Pork will have cooks of all skill levels salivating.(description from publisher)

The First World War in Colour by Peter Walther

first world war in colourThe devastating events of the First World War were captured in myriad photographs on all sides of the front. Since then, thousands of books of black-and-white photographs of the war have been published as all nations endeavour to comprehend the scale and the carnage of the “greatest catastrophe of the 20th century”. Far less familiar are the rare color images of the First World War, taken at the time by a small group of photographers pioneering recently developed autochrome technology.

To mark the centenary of the outbreak of war, this groundbreaking volume, The First World War in Colour, brings together all of these remarkable, fully hued pictures of the “war to end war”. Assembled from archives in Europe, the United States and Australia, more than 320 color photos provide unprecedented access to the most important developments of the period – from the mobilization of 1914 to the victory celebrations in Paris, London and New York in 1919. The volume represents the work of each of the major autochrome pioneers of the period, including Paul Castelnau, Fernand Cuville, Jules Gervais-Courtellemont, Léon Gimpel, Hans Hildenbrand, Frank Hurley, Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud and Charles C. Zoller. Since the autochrome process required a relatively long exposure time, almost all of the photos depict carefully composed scenes, behind the rapid front-line action. We see poignant group portraits, soldiers preparing for battle, cities ravaged by military bombardment – daily human existence and the devastating consequences on the front.

A century on, this unprecedented publication brings a startling human reality to one of the most momentous upheavals in history. (description from publisher)

Us by David Nicholls

usDouglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn’t be worse. Hoping to encourage her son’s artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.

Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls’s gifted hands, Douglas’s odyssey brings Europe–from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafés of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona–to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around? (description from publisher)

Cultivating Garden Style by Rochelle Greayer

cultivating garden styleCreate an irresistible outdoor space! Making a garden should be a deeply fulfilling experience, not an overwhelming one. And homeowners who lovingly update their interior space to reflect their personal style should be empowered to do the same with their exterior space.

In Cultivating Garden Style, Rochelle Greayer shares ways to create outdoor areas that are charming, comfortable, appealing, and reflect individuality. It features twenty-three unique garden styles accompanied by advice on how to recreate the look. Greayer offers suggestions for everything from plants and pavers, to pillows and potting soils. Simple step-by-step projects, like how to make a macramé plant hanger, help the reader personalize the space. And helpful tips and tricks, including how to pick the right tree and pick the right combination of plants and containers, offer essential lessons in gardening and design. More than 1,500 dazzling color photographs give the book a visual punch.

Whether your style is Enchanted Bohemian, Playful Pop, or somewhere in between, Cultivating Garden Style will help you identify your style, pick furniture and accessories, and make a space that feels definitively yours. (description from publisher)

Lick the Bowl Good by Monica Holland

lick the bowl goodNo meal is complete without dessert! Popular food blogger Monica Holland brings you an enticing collection of comforting homemade classics with a modern twist in Lick the Bowl Good.

Find inspiration in her fun, whimsical recipes that reinvent old favorites and create exciting new flavor combinations. Enjoy dozens of irresistible recipes from: Grandma’s chocolate layer cake. Cream cheese swirl snickerdoodle blondies. Hummingbird cupcakes with mascarpone frosting. Pumpkin pie cake. Blueberry vanilla yogurt popsicles. Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies.

Brightened with full-color photography throughout, the carefully tested recipes are not only gorgeous to the eye, they’re achievable for both the experienced baker and those just venturing out into the wonderful world of baking.

Whether you need a bake sale treat or are having a midnight cravings for milk and warm-from-the-oven cookies, Lick the Bowl Good is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. (description from publisher)