Adam Savage
Adam Savage, of Mythbusters fame, has written a combination memoir and maker advice book. With decades of experience making props and sets for major studios like Industrial Light and Magic, then 20 seasons of the incredibly popular Mythbusters show, Savage knows what he is talking about. Always a …
Regan Cerato
The title may lead you to assume this is a collection of outrageous wigs. It is , and also so much more. The co-founder of Cowbutt Crunchies Cosplay, Cerato is a master stylist, able to create the most fantastic costumes and wigs on demand. Chapter by chapter, …
Alexander Langlands
For those of us who like working with our hands, there is nothing as satisfying as making a useful and beautiful object we can use for years. Cræft, being skilled at creating unique, hand-made items sourced from nature locally, has nearly disappeared. Once, being a craftsperson who could …
Jake Hobson
Do you have some scraggly, overgrown trees or looming bushes you’ve been meaning to trim back? Niwaki, the Japanese equivalent of topiary, is a fun alternative to the simple (often ruthless) trimming most Americans give their bushes. Cloud pruning, the simplest form, follows the contours of a bush’s …
Tomoko Nakamichi
Unless you are a professional tailor or fashion designer, there’s small chance you will actually make any of the clothing directly as is in these books. As the author says in the introduction, the point of these often wildly bizarre experiments with fabric is not to create everyday …
As with every new hobby, I needed All The Books from the library. A few of my particular favorites included:
Paper Cut by Owen Gildersleeve
This collection of works by paper artists includes short interviews on the artist’s design background, how they got started in paper art, and a few …
Kevin Kelly
Do you need to know where to get transparent concrete, Amish tools, color-changing LEDS, Japanese woodworking tools and so much more? Neither do I! But that didn’t stop me from putting so many bookmarks in this fascinating book that it ended up looking like a hedgehog. Modeled on …
Lloyd Kahn
“Joyful” is the best word I can use to describe Kahn’s new collection of tiny homes. Each under 500 square feet is a gem. Many are handbuilt and lived in by the builders. Others are from built by companies specializing in downsizing for the 21st century. The book …
Lester Walker
Like Lloyd Kahn, architect Lester Walker loves small homes. His book features an array of small homes, ranging from historic like those of Thoreau at Walden Pond and Thomas Jefferson’s “honeymoon cottage” to modernist mock-ups created by his students. There are less pictures of interiors than Kahn’s …
Fabulous Jewelry from Found Objects by Marthe LeVan and The Jeweler’s Directory of Decorative Finishes by Jinks McGrath
I ran across a copy of Fabulous Jewelry in the Kohler bookstore. In a country of excess in a season of too much, the idea of recycling everyday found objects into functional …
