Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

History of Beauty

by Umberto Eco, Alastair McEwen

What is beauty? What is art? What is taste and fashion? Is beauty something to be observed coolly and rationally or is it something dangerously involving? So begins Umberto Eco's intriguing journey into the aesthetics of beauty, in which he explores the ever-changing concept of the beautiful from the ancient Greeks to today. While closely examining the development of the visual arts and drawing on works of... (more)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

by Eric Carle

This is the classic edition of the bestselling story written for the very young. A newly hatched caterpillar eats his way through all kinds of food.

On Beauty

by Zadie Smith

Winner of the 2006 Orange Prize for fiction and from the celebrated author of White Teeth comes another bestselling masterwork Having hit bestseller lists from the New York Times to the San Francisco Chronicle , this wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, ... (more)

Where the Sidewalk Ends

by Shel Silverstein

Enter the world of Shel Silverstein… To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Shel Silverstein's most popular book, Where the Sidewalk Ends is now available in a special edition containing the classic hardcover book and a CD of highlights from his Grammy Award-winning album. This is a wonderful gift and keepsake for Shel Silverstein fans, old and new. From the outrageously funny to the quietly affecting -- and... (more)

Loving Frank

by Nancy Horan

I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house,... (more)

Harold y el lapiz color morado

by Crockett Johnson

One evening Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight. But there wasn't any moon, and Harold needed a moon for a walk in the moonlight. Fortunately, he had brought his purple crayon. So he drew a moon. He also needed something to walk on. So he drew a path... And thus begins one of the most imaginative and enchanting adventures in all of children's books. The creative concept behind this beloved story has... (more)

The Sixteen Pleasures: A Novel

by Robert Hellenga

"I was twenty-nine years old when the Arno flooded its banks on Friday 4 November 1966. On Tuesday I decided to go to Italy, to offer my services as a humble book conservator, to save whatever could be saved, including myself." The Italians called them "Mud Angels," the young foreigners who came to Florence in 1966 to save the city's treasured art from the Arno's flooded banks. American volunteer Margot... (more)

The Art of Discworld

by Paul Kidby

In THE ART OF DISCWORLD, Terry Pratchett takes us on a guided tour of the Discworld, courtesy of his favourite Discworld artist, Paul Kidby. Following on from THE LAST HERO, THE ART OF DISCWORLD is a lavish 112-page large format, sumptuously illustrated look at all things Discworldian. Terry Pratchett provides the written descriptions while Paul Kidby illustrates the world that has made Pratchett one of the... (more)

The 20th Century Art Book

by Editors of Phaidon Press

Following in the tradition of Phaidon's "The Art Book", this is an illustrated dictionary which presents in alphabetical order the work of 500 great artists from the 20th century. Each artist is represented by a full-page colour plate of a key work and a short text about the work of the artist.

Morning Star Trilogy: Book 3

The Morning Star

In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine Is Illuminated

by Nick Bantock

The mystery that began with a single enigmatic postcard reaches its dramatic conclusion in The Morning Star. Three million readers the world over await this last chapter of the best-selling Griffin & Sabine series, a volume of gorgeous artwork and passionate correspondence that crosses oceans and transcends realms. In these sumptuous pages lies not only the fate of Matthew Sedon and Isabella de Reims, but that... (more)

Dinotopia: Book 1

Dinotopia

by James Gurney

In the year 1860, biologist and explorer Arthur Denison and his son, Will, set out on a sea voyage of discovery and adventure. When a powerful typhoon wrecks the ship in uncharted waters, Arthur and Will are the sole survivors. Washed ashore on a strange island called Dinotopia, they are amazed to find a breathtaking world where cities are built on waterfalls, people have found new ways to fly, and humans and... (more)

The Museum at Purgatory (Byzantium Book)

The Museum at Purgatory (Byzantium Book)

by Nick Bantock

From magic carpets to miniature mummies to a room simply containing "obscure objects," Curator Non overseas all that is housed in the Museum at Purgatory, and afterlife way station where artists and collectors comb over their lives, trying to discover whether they are headed for Heaven or Hell.As Non takes readers on a fascinating tour through each of the Museum's rooms -- along with its contents and their owners... (more)

The Moon and Sixpence (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

The Moon and Sixpence (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

by W. Somerset Maugham

On a trip to research French artist Paul Gauguin, Maugham sailed into Tahiti's Papeet harbor, where he imagined an exotic tale of the ultimate outsider, one who rejects his entire way of life to pursue an obsession. The result of his efforts is a story of rebellion and escape from civilization which continues to attract and captivate readers to this day. Introduction by Perry Meisel.

1000 Journals Project

by Someguy

Voyeuristic. Inspirational. Entertaining. One thousand blank journals are currently circulating throughout the world, beckoning contributors who find the journals by chance on trains, in caf s, and anonymously left on doorsteps. Artist Someguy shares more than 250 of the best entries: a collage of African countries repositioned into a new continent; the musings of a teen trapped in a drug- ravaged community; a... (more)

The Arrival

by Shaun Tan

"A shockingly imaginative graphic novel that captures the sense of adventure and wonder that surrounds a new arrival on the shores of a shining new city. Wordless, but with perfect narrative flow, Tan gives us a story filled with cityscapes worthy of Winsor McCay." -- Jeff Smith, author of Bone "A magical river of strangers and their stories!" -- Craig Thompson, author of Blankets "Magnificent." -- David... (more)

The Lost Painting : The Search for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

The Lost Painting : The Search for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

by Jonathan Harr

An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries. The artist was Caravaggio, a master of... (more)

M. C. Escher 2007 Engagement Calendar

by M. C. Escher

Renowned artist M.C. Escher is not a surrealist drawing us into his dream world, but an architect of perfectly impossible worlds who presents the structurally unthinkable as though it were a law of nature. Weird, beautiful, finely detailed illusions.

Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book

by Terry Jones, Brian Froud

This perennial bestseller never loses its charm. It really happened-a hoax perpetrated by two girls who claimed to have photographed actual "fairies"; among the people caught up in the popular hysteria were Arthur Conan Doyle (who fell for it) and Harry Houdini (who did not). This remarkable parody, written by a former member of the Monty Python troupe, takes a riotously witty, visually extraordinary, and wildly... (more)

The Venetian's Wife: A Strangely Sensual Tale of a Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis

The Venetian's Wife: A Strangely Sensual Tale of a Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis

by Nick Bantock

The newest novel by the acclaimed author/illustrator of the Griffin & Sabine trilogy is part love story, part mystery, and part ghostly tale--an altogether bewitching brew of sensualtiy and lost treasures. A young woman's obsession with a drawing of Shiva, the Hindu god, leads to a curious job offer: to find the few remaining pieces of a 15-th century adventurer's renowed collection of Indian sculptures. 90+... (more)

Strapless

by John Singer Sargent, Deborah Davis

The subject of John Singer Sargent's most famous painting was twenty-three-year-old New Orleans Creole Virginie Gautreau, who moved to Paris and quickly became the "it girl" of her day. A relative unknown at the time, Sargent won the commission to paint her; the two must have recognized in each other a like-minded hunger for fame. Unveiled at the 1884 Paris Salon, Gautreau's portrait generated the attention... (more)

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Top Books

by Umberto Eco, Alastair McEwen

by Eric Carle

by Zadie Smith

by Shel Silverstein

by Nancy Horan

by Crockett Johnson

by Robert Hellenga

by Paul Kidby

by Editors of Phaidon Press

In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine Is Illuminated

by Nick Bantock

by James Gurney

by Nick Bantock

by W. Somerset Maugham

by Someguy

by Shaun Tan

by Jonathan Harr

by M. C. Escher

by Terry Jones, Brian Froud

by Nick Bantock

by John Singer Sargent, Deborah Davis