Armando’s: “A Frame for Life”, by Ilse Crawford

“A design where the human being is at the center of everything.” This is one of the mottos of Ilse Crawford work, a designer with an amazing path that has been inspiring me for 25 years. I like everything she does, from the lines created for major international brands to the more intimate and private homes projects. On my last trip to Stockholm I took a peek on one of her latest projects, the hotel Ett Hem. Who enters feels at home because the atmosphere is really homely and designed for people. I love that feeling.

This book is a sum of the work she has been developing until now and an important work to go peeping for inspiration from time to time.

Inês’: “Breakfast, Recipes to wake up for”, by George Weld and Evan Hanczor

Food is my favourite human need. So, it is easy to understand why I chose this book. It is true that if food, in general, is what moves me in this big wide world, that this book could feature lunch recipes or dinner recipes or even munchies or snacks recipes. But no. I explain it: my second favourite human need is sleep. Therefore, only a good, juicy, tasty breakfast can make me jump out of bed in the morning. As you can see, this book title – and, obviously, the post title – just resumes my life. The good photography and selection of recipes are enough reasons to support my choice – mostly when among them are pancakes, johnny cakes a three different ways to cook bacon: basic, advanced and candied. However, the book begins with a set of 22 pages dedicated to eggs. Yes, that is right. It explains, step by step how to do a poached egg or a pickled egg and even explores the subject to the bone like a three paragraph text about scrambled eggs that starts like this: “a well-made scrambled egg is a miracle of transformation.

Paula’s: “True Thai: Real Flavors for Everyday Life”, by Hong Thaimee

“To love, the best ingredient”. This quote, in the first few pages of this book, could be enough to make me want to bring it home. But I have many more reasons. There are two things that I’m addicted to: food and travel. And if there is a region of the world where these two words appear to merge in a magic way, it is Southeast Asia. “The True Thai” is a trip to Hong Thaimee’s family kitchen, by the eyes of this asian chef who became a rising star in New York. Homemade and honest recipes, made not only with love but also with the perfect balance that the thai cuisine demands. From the famous pad thai to the hot tom yum soup with shrimp and coconut, this book is the kind of journey I love to do without leaving the kitchen. Perfect for the autumn days that are coming.

Vasco’s: “It All Dies Anyway: L.A., Jabberjaw, and the End of an Era”, by Bryan Ray Turcotte, Michelle Carr and Gary P. Dent

“The untold history of the seminal cultural venue Jabberjaw—the underground star of Los Angeles’s historic indie scene of the 1990s. Billing itself as a “coffeehouse art gallery” when it opened in 1989, Jabberjaw quickly became not only the cornerstone of the Los Angeles post-punk scene but also a hub of the underground music scene nationwide. Bridging the gap between punk and indie, Jabberjaw was a bastion of counterculture that hosted shows for bands from the obscure (Hole, Unsane) to the legendary (Nirvana, Pearl Jam) in an environment that reflected a generation.”

The collection, either of testimonies from people who attended the Jabberjaw, photographs or posters and other graphic materials used to disseminate events, outcomes in a culturally valuable document for the history of music, making known the beginning and the end of an iconic space, almost forgotten to the public. An excellent book for those who were contemporary of these movements or for those, like me, that were unaware of this important chapter of the history of music.