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Enhanced with numerous lovely color photographs, this inviting book is a wonderful overview on sustainable gardening.
The clear instructions, attractive photos, and graphics make this an essential starting place for sewing and a foundation to continue to build on.
The alphabetical profiles of easy-to-grow plants will entice beginner gardeners to embark on a delicious journey to feed themselves physically and spiritually.
Experienced vegetable gardeners, as well as those considering growing a garden for the first time, will relish this informative, charming book, enhanced by the many lovely color photographs of gardens and plants. It simply brims with creative ideas for planning and growing a thriving vegetable garden.
The real value of this book lies in the author’s core philosophy of being mindful about every aspect of raising chickens. This isn’t so much a how-to guide to dip into when needed as it is a practical ode to trusting your instincts and loving your chickens. Mixed in with the good advice are several anecdotes from the author’s parents’ days in Guatemala, as well as several Guatemalan family recipes featuring eggs (of course).
PREMIUM
Home Therapy: Interior Design for Increasing Happiness, Boosting Confidence, and Creating Calm
This is a perfect book for readers looking to combine self-help and self-care with interior design and organization.
PREMIUM
Prefabulous for Everyone
A wonderfully curated design book for fans of Koones or readers looking to downsize.
Readers can learn much from Wentz’s book, even if these homes and renovations are beyond their budget. A complete list of sources for furnishings, wall coverings, and textiles is included.
PREMIUM
Yarn Spinning with a Modern Twist: How To Create Your Own Gorgeous Yarns Using a Drop Spindle
This book may be intimidating for readers who have no experience with or easy access to raw wool. It is geared much more to those who are already spinning wool and seeking more specialized advice.
A highly engaging and informative book with vivid pictures that celebrates an era of unforgettable and influential style. This must-add to public libraries will likely delight both fans of interior design and art history buffs, but it’s also accessible to the casual but curious reader.
This is a thorough entry into the world of paper crafting, with beautiful photos to accompany each project and enough pieces for readers of every skill level to enjoy.
While not every family can afford a vacation home, these designs will inspire homeowners to opt for Gilbreath’s unique blend of simplicity and elegance.
A no-frills book that both newbies and experts will find useful when planning or replenishing their gardens.
This book presents an easy entry point for readers interested in exploring mindfulness and the cottagecore lifestyle.
The text provides insight into the collaborative process between McGraw and her clients. The photos are gorgeous, and the layout is clean and simple; the photo captions explain why various elements, colors, textures, layouts, and shapes were chosen to enhance each space.
This step-by-step guide is a good introduction for beginners who need specific directions for planning and planting a vegetable garden. Gardeners looking for expanded details on growing individual vegetables may wish to consult a work such as Edward C. Smith’s The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible.
Novices and advanced gardeners alike will find valuable tips and strategies in this resource. Recommended as a companion to strong gardening collections.
This is a short but comprehensive and enjoyable companion piece for cross-stitch fans looking to add a little humor to their next project.
Strambio’s appreciation for the art of macramé and her encouragement for readers to give knotting a try and let mistakes be part of the unique quality of a hand-crafted piece make this book a celebration of creativity from start to finish.
As recycling and sustainability keep growing in importance, this is a creative way to avoid ditching clothing that readers aren’t ready to give up.
This well-structured primer will appeal to artists looking for a new medium, as well as beginning to intermediate–level pyrographers interested in adding new skills and techniques.
While the crocheted instructions are adequate, and there are useful sections on blocking and finishing, the book contains several technical errors and omissions with the embroidered topstitching instructions. Only recommended for libraries where there is demand for the author’s books.
PREMIUM
Satisfying Stitches: Learn Simple Embroidery Techniques and Embrace the Joys of Stitching by Hand
Highly recommended, especially for libraries looking to expand their beginner-embroidery offerings.
For gardeners who would like a more natural look rather than curb appeal, this is an essential resource.
While this book focuses specifically on the UK, readers from around the world are sure to find useful ideas to help them create sustainable and unique gardens using recycling methods.
PREMIUM
Taming the Potted Beast: The Strange and Sensational History of the Not-So-Humble Houseplant
Part microhistory, part tips and tricks, this book is ideal for beginners and experts alike. A great read for all those who love their flora.
This entertaining listen will appeal to patrons hungry to learn more about science, environment, ecology, animal husbandry, and how one person can make a real difference.
Committed environmentalists interested in upping their game and being better citizens of planet Earth will find this guide useful. Highly recommended for all libraries.
This book moves beyond the home to include everyday activities and lifestyle. It’s likely to be in high demand due to Kondo’s popularity.
PREMIUM
Drawing for Illustration
A robust bibliography and index are included. The result is an appropriate update for art collections, particularly for universities and large public libraries with teens and adults interested in this craft.
Recommended for readers interested in homesteading, organic living, and sustainable and eco-friendly poultry farming.
PREMIUM
The Beginner’s Guide to Hand Building: Functional and Sculptural Projects for the Home Potter
Geared toward the absolute novice, this book will appeal to those interested in working with clay but are not looking for glazing or firing instructions.
A thorough guide to the art of sashiko that will inspire hand-embroidery enthusiasts, as well as hand- and machine-quilters looking for geometric designs.
An asset for all library collections that include art tutorials for beginners testing the waters of a new hobby.
A great introduction to amigurumi crochet and crafting three-dimensional creatures. Recommended for most public libraries.
Casey’s thorough and well-designed guide provides an extensive overview of color theory and the ways color can be used in art. Although there’s some beginner-friendly content, it’s best suited to artists with some experience with oil paints.
For those interested in living off their land and starting a homesteading lifestyle, this book does a great job providing practical tips, recipes, and inspiration to get started on a sustainable path.
The patterns and instructions are lovely. The gimmicky, surface-level nods to Japanese culture are not.
Buy where there is reader demand for intermediate-level knitting projects, with the caveat that this is for experienced right-handed U.S. knitters; left-handed and non-U.S. knitters will need to know how to do their own conversions and where to look for stitch abbreviations.
This guide is for those who love to bullet journal or craft. It’s also recommended for those needing to pick up a new meditative hobby.
Fans of the elegance and distinctive design styles featured in Michael Henry Adams’s Style and Grace: African Americans at Home will likely love this book as well. This is also a great book for those interested in increasing their cultural awareness and learning more about United States history, racial inequality, and interior design.
This beautiful book is chock-full of information about many uncommon plants and seems geared to the collector or at least the intermediate houseplant grower because of the rarity, strict growing conditions, or expense of many of her choices. Tovah Martin’s The Unexpected Houseplant is another solid choice for those who want to grow unusual houseplants; beginners could start with Barbara Pleasant’s The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual or Darryl Cheng’s The New Plant Parent.
This is a jam-packed volume filled with clear instructions and ample color photographs to help crafters master shibori tie-dyeing and incorporate it into their projects. Best suited for those who enjoy crafting, sewing, or designing clothes.
The authors make sewing both inspirational and inviting for beginning sewists, in a book that reflects the modern ethos of environmental sustainability and the ethos of thrift from earlier eras. An optional purchase for libraries with a strong crafts section.
Purchase only where other titles by Chanin have been popular. For patrons who want to sew their own Chanin originals, purchase the author’s 2008 Alabama Stitch Book instead.
A beautifully illustrated and detailed look at the history of chair design in America. Owing to the unique topic, it will best serve academics, students, and aficionados of style and design.
A well-written book that will continue to expand embroidery collections and encourage creativity along the way.
Crocheters of all levels will likely find this to be a useful reference guide. Recommended for most public libraries.
Beginners can use this book to learn and practice new stitches, while advanced stitchers may find inspiration for their own pattern designs. Recommended for most public libraries.
Green-Hite’s book is full of simple yet extraordinary patterns that would be a fun addition to any library collection.
McClain’s title is an easily digestible, interior design book that would be an asset to any library shelf.
The very niche nature of the work narrows the checkouts it may receive, but purchase where coffee-table decor books are popular.
PREMIUM
Extraordinary Interiors
A delightful peek at the extraordinary interiors of the extraordinarily wealthy.
The subject matter may be interesting to those looking to experiment with a new medium or discover a new way to view the world around them.
This is a solid study on man’s best friend that can be enjoyed by the casual reader or the historian alike, with an exceptional balance of entertainment and educational value.
The short chapters, full-color photographs, and bulleted lists make this a valuable resource for new and veteran dog owners.
PREMIUM
Japanese Interiors
Readers who enjoyed the works of Marie Kondo or jumped on Netflix’s Home Edit craze will be enticed, but this book may be too niche for some public library collections.
PREMIUM
House Beautiful: Live Colorfully
An oversized book featuring expansive photography, this may find more of an audience with collectors than with libraries.
This is an excellent book for newer knitters, but it’s also for those who are more familiar with designing and modifying existing patterns who would like to add a versatile stitch dictionary to their collection.
While these projects are unique to each location, thus making duplication of ideas not realistic for readers, it does provide good insight into creating within a natural environment and ideas for the advanced home landscaper.
While not for absolute beginners, most gardeners, whether or not they are no-dig adherents, will glean useful information from this guide. Buy where vegetable gardening books are in demand.
PREMIUM
Dog Tales: Timeless and Compelling Stories About Man’s and Woman’s Best Friend and Companion
There are a few tales that are quite charming and sensitive regarding the relationship between dogs and humans, and it would have been better to have more of those.
This beautifully illustrated guide serves as a thorough introduction to ikebana. Crafters who enjoy working with natural materials will likely be inspired by Zaima’s artistry.
This book is filled with interesting and useful tips that will produce results. There are also handy checklists, questionnaires, and how-tos sprinkled throughout.
PREMIUM
Close Knit: 15 Patterns and 45 Techniques from Beginner to Advanced from Europe’s Coolest Knitter
Recommended for larger collections as an alternative to traditional knitting books.
Don’t expect the intricacy and history of Elsebeth Lavold, but it will be the rare sweater lover who doesn’t find something on these pages that they’ll yearn to make.
A great guide to cartooning that would be an excellent addition to a collection and also useful for creative library programs.
A great botanical reference that’s also entertaining enough for general audiences to dip into or read cover to cover. Appropriate for academic and large public libraries.
This book is engaging, informative, timely, and inspirational, all in one. Highly recommended for all types of libraries.
Those new to foraging will not find sufficient guidance to pick with confidence. Instead, readers will wish they could take a walk with the deeply knowledgeable Rose and learn from her in the field.
A valuable survey of Melich’s best island projects, which also captures his stories, passion, and singular eye for beauty.
While the book is a visual delight, the accompanying text misses the mark. Recommended for inclusive collections or for breed fanciers.
Deeply engaging photos of birds and plants and actionable suggestions make this a winner. It is the kind of book readers treasure once found, so put it on display and be ready for more requests for books on bird gardening. Collection development librarians should note that Storey has similar books on feeding bees and monarch butterflies.
Librarians will want to add this guide to their library collection. It will likely attract loyal and new Watson fans.
This feast for the eyes is a great choice for libraries where aspirational home and garden books are popular.
Recommended for those interested in managerial success, the restaurant industry, or inspirational memoirs.
This book is useful to anyone planning a renovation project to cull tips and ideas but with the caveat that its primary focus is on the design aesthetics. It does not contain information on a home’s functionality or infrastructure. An optional purchase for public libraries or where HGTV-related publications are in demand.
Both newbie gardeners and those with years of experience digging in the dirt will find plenty of inspiration in this smartly crafted book that delivers both gardening style and substance.
PREMIUM
We Are the ARK: Returning Our Gardens to Their True Nature Through Acts of Restorative Kindness
This may not be the handbook that many gardeners crave, but it is inspirational for all.
PREMIUM
Blooms & Dreams
The core audience for this book might be limited to fans of Gillingham’s who want to know more about her new life. Other readers (newbie gardeners, for example) could wind up wishing that her book’s advice were more down-to-earth and applicable, and less Instagram-aspirational.
This useful work will appeal to a wide range of indoor gardeners, who are looking to revive or elevate their indoor collection. Instructions are clear and easy to follow. There are fresh ideas for readers to explore and expand upon, irrespective of the size of their space.
Amateur plant enthusiasts are the intended audience, but this title could certainly be useful to more experienced houseplant owners. This book will be of particular interest to public libraries.
While the alphabetical order uses botanical names, the index includes the common names and refers to the proper page number. A great purchase for public libraries with lots of gardening patrons, and also for libraries at universities that teach horticulture.
This book validates any pet owner’s grief and provides an insightful look into many cultures and grief practices pertaining to humans and their furry (or scaly) friends from around the world.
It’s more about resilience in the face of adversity than about animal rescues, but listeners can gain insight and inspiration from a woman who has made it her mission to save abused and neglected animals.
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