Style is a luxury, and luxury is simply what makes you happy.
Over the years, design expert Deborah Needleman has seen all kinds of rooms, with all kinds of furnishings. Her conclusion: It’s not hard to create a relaxed, stylish, and comfortable home. Just a few well-considered items can completely change the feel of your space, and The Perfectly Imperfect Home reveals them all.

Ranging from classics such as “A Really Good Sofa” and “Pretty Table Settings” to unusual surprises like “A Bit of Quirk” and “Cozifications,” the essential elements of style are treated in witty and wonderfully useful little essays. You’ll learn what to look for, whether you are at a flea market or a fancy boutique—or just mining what you already own.
 
Celebrated artist Virginia Johnson’s original watercolor illustrations bring the items and the inspiring rooms of world-famous tastemakers to vibrant life. Styling tips and simple how-tos show you techniques to put it all together to create, say, a beautifully made bed (the fast way and the fancy way), an inviting reading nook, or an effortlessly chic display of pictures.

According to Deborah, the point of decorating is to create the background for the best life you can have, with all its joys and imperfections.
This book will show you how.
 
deborah needleman is the editor in chief of WSJ. Magazine and creator of the Off Duty section of The Wall Street Journal. She was the founding editor in chief of domino magazine and coauthor of domino: the book of decorating.
 
virginia johnson’s illustrations have appeared in books by Kate Spade and on textiles carried in more than one hundred stores, including Barneys, Liberty of London,
and Net-A-Porter.
 
perfectlyimperfect.com
 

It's instant relief for when your 2-year-old is on the floor of the toy store, pitching a fit. Or when brother and sister discover that they can't stand each other. Or when your son can't say no to video games.

THE POCKET PARENT is, literally, a pocket-size book of tried-and-true advice, common sense, parental wisdom, and sanity. Written by two professionals who've reared six children between them and made a career out of helping others with parenting issues, this handy book will be a lifesaver for every parent of a 2-to-5-year-old. It begins with an overall view of the Pocket Parent approach to discipline. Based on unconditional love but firm limits, and aimed at keeping the child's dignity and self-esteem intact, here are strategies that include "I" statements, modeling, family meetings, and "one word" requests. Once the ground rules are set, the guide moves to an A-to-Z compendium of common problems. Just look it up-Anger, Bad Words, Biting, Chores, Doctor Visits, Fears at Night, Lying, Separation Anxiety-and find the "Sanity Savers" list of suggestions, easy-to-follow bullets, anecdotes, and more.

For the bag, glove compartment, backpack, or shelf in the kitchen, it's there for you whenever you need it.

Deborah Madison, author of the bestselling Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, has enlightened millions of Americans about the joys of vegetarian cuisine. Now, after six books for the savory palate, she's finally introducing us to her spectacular fruit desserts—more than 175 easy recipes that are as delicious as they are healthful.
 
Have you ever bitten into a ripe, fragrant strawberry? Or a luscious peach, its juice dripping down your chin? Or a pear that explodes with flavor? Sometimes fruit, all by itself, just seems like the perfect end to a meal. Now, In Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market, Deborah Madison manages to improve on perfection, turning all of your favorite seasonal fruits into a cornucopia of decadent tarts, pies, puddings, and cakes.
 
Most of us find it difficult to incorporate enough fruit into our diets but with more than 175 recipes in this book, you'll find plenty of new, healthy and totally pleasurable ideas. Dessert doesn't need to be a complicated and time-consuming task after you have prepared a whole meal. These simple and flavorful recipes are easy to master and will delight your family and guests.
 
As an expert on local produce, Madison shows us the best fruit pairings for any season and where to find them all over the country. Did you know that the season for mangoes and strawberries overlap in Southern California making them a natural pair? Or that between November and April, there are plenty of citrus varieties—like Dancy mandarins, Fairchilds, Clementines, or honey tangerines—that find their way to shelves and markets? With recipes like Wild Blueberry Tart in a Brown Sugar Crust, Strawberries in Red Wine Syrup, Winter Squash Cake with Dates, Hazelnut-Stuffed Peaches and Apricot Fold-Over Pie, and even simple and beautiful combinations of fruits with the right cheeses, you will be introduced to many varieties of fruit from the exotic to the heirloom and dessert will be your new favorite meal of the day.

• Home & Garden | Animal Care & Pets | Cats
• Nonfiction | True Accounts

As Dewey's fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, he became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

The charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa, starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next 19 years, Dewey never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Clear Your Clutter and Transform Your Life!

Clutter is trapped energy that has far-reaching effects physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The simple act of clearing clutter can transform your life by releasing negative emotions, generating energy, and allowing you to create space in your life for the things you want to achieve. In Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston, pioneer of a branch of Feng Shui known as Space Clearing, expertly guides you through the liberating task of clutter clearing. You will learn:

Why you keep clutter
How to identify and clear clutter in your home or workplace
How to clear clutter from your body, mind, and spirit
How to stay clutter-free

The first edition of Gaiaâ??s Garden, sparked the imagination of Americaâ??s home gardeners, introducing permacultureâ??s central message: Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens. This extensively revised and expanded second edition broadens the reach and depth of the permaculture approach for urban and suburban growers.Many people mistakenly think that ecological gardeningâ??which involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plantsâ??can take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, itâ??s fun and easy to create a â??backyard ecosystemâ?? by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including:

• Building and maintaining soil fertility and structure
• Catching and conserving water in the landscape
• Providing habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals
• Growing an edible â??forestâ?? that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foodsThis revised and updated edition also features a new chapter on urban permaculture, designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who have very limited growing space. Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, you can apply basic permaculture principles to make it more diverse, more natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of all, once itâ??s established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work thatâ??s needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.

Inspiring ways we can alter space to build collaboration and fuel creativity

Packed with concrete techniques for altering space in order to enhance creativity and collaboration, Make Space is the book for anyone interested in designing space to encourage innovation and communication, have been waiting for.

Highlighting the details that matter the most when designing spaces to support creative teams, this book is destined to become a perennial favorite when imagining the perfect alchemy of people, place, space and things.

• Based on the work of Stanford University's acclaimed Environments Collaborative at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka: the d.school)
• Explains how architectural space can be intentionally designed to fuel the creative process for groups and individuals
• Offers over 120 specific strategies that can be employed in endless combination to foster collaboration, creativity and innovation

  Featuring full-color images and illustrations throughout, this guidebook offers concrete ways to alter space to enhance creativity, collaboration and innovation. This book is equally appropriate for designers charged with creating new spaces, and for anyone interested in arranging existing spaces for creative outcomes.

The French interior evokes a way of life to aspire to, with its good food,unhurried pace and, above all, its past for which many people feel nostalgia.Developed over hundreds of years, the French look reflects all tastes, from the cultivated grandeur of the chateau to the simplicity of rural living, and can be adapted to every home, including the Mediterranean style villa and elegant town house. In this book, the look is divided into 'Chateau', 'Country', 'Provencial' and 'Parisian style', and applied to living room, kitchen and dining room, bedroom and bathroom, and to living space in the garden. As well as describing each overall look, focusing on colours and fabrics, Annie Sloan emphasizes the details and accents required by each one, and, aided by 25 clearly explained step-by-step projects, shows how to achieve it. Among other things, she explains how to paint and distress furniture, and describes how to cover an armoire door with embroidered voile. Whatever interior you desire, this book will guide your choices from the grand statement of the painted armoire to the finishing touch of a little posy of lavender.

 

How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility (for a cat), and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

“Timing is everything,” they say, and vegetable gardening is no exception. Knowing exactly when to start seeds indoors,
what day to transplant them into the ground, when to pinch off the blossoms, and when to pick for peak flavor is the secret to enjoying bountiful harvests all through the gardening season.
In Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, authors Ron and Jennifer Kujawski take the guesswork out of gardening with weekly to-do lists that break gardening down into easily manageable tasks. Suitable for all gardening zones, the book offers easy instructions for setting up a personalized schedule based on your last frost date.
The Kujawskis are an inspiring father– daughter team who share their own triumphs, mistakes, and misadventures over many years spent together in the vegetable patch. Readers will enjoy the friendly direction and advice these veterans offer. Easy-to-read boxes, bulleted lists, charts, and detailed how-to illustrations make each week’s activities clear and doable. Spots for record-keeping encourage readers to track their own successes and fine-tune their weekly schedules from year to year.
Inch by inch, row by row, week by week, gardeners will move confidently through the gardening season. Whether it’s planting the strawberries, pinching off the pumpkin blossoms, checking for tomato hornworm, or harvesting the carrots, they will know exactly when and how to do it for the most bountiful harvests and the most enjoyable vegetable-growing experiences ever.

The Knitter’s Life List is a richly illustrated road map to more than 1,000 must-have experiences guaranteed to get any knitter’s needles clicking faster. Veteran knitter Gwen W. Steege has canvassed the knitting community to create this inspiring compilation, which includes amazing yarns to try; classic techniques to master; ground-breaking designers to know about; most-loved patterns to knit; knitting-related museums, movies, and books to enjoy; and much more. These are the experiences and events no knitter will want to miss.

Novices and masters alike can read about qiviut from the musk ox — and then check it off their list once they’ve made something with that luxury fiber. They'll explore classic sweater designs and visit the yarn-friendliest cities. They’ll discover brave folks who delight in yarn-bombing; master intarsia; and even try spinning, weaving, dyeing, embroidery, and crochet. 

With all of this irresistible content to devour, knitters will keep coming back for more challenges to take on — and check off from The Knitter’s Life List!

Yes, humans and canines are different species, but current research provides fascinating, irrefutable evidence that what we share with our dogs is greater than how we vary. As behaviorist and zoologist Dr. Patricia McConnell tells us in this remarkable new book about emotions in dogs and in people, more and more scientists accept the premise that dogs have rich emotional lives, exhibiting a wide range of feelings including fear, anger, surprise, sadness, and love.

In For the Love of a Dog, McConnell suggests that one of the reasons we love dogs so much is that they express emotions in ways similar to humans. After all, who can communicate joy better than a puppy? But not all emotional expressions are obvious, and McConnell teaches both beginning dog owners and experienced dog lovers how to read the more subtle expressions hidden behind fuzzy faces and floppy ears.

For those of us who deeply cherish our dogs but are sometimes baffled by their behavior, For the Love of a Dog will come as a revelation–a treasure trove of useful facts, informed speculation, and intriguing accounts of man’s best friend at his worst and at his very best. Readers will discover how fear, anger, and happiness underlie the lives of both people and dogs and, most important, how understanding emotion in both species can improve the relationship between them. Thus McConnell introduces us to the possibility of a richer, more rewarding relationship with our dogs.

While we may never be absolutely certain what our dogs are feeling, with the help of this riveting book we can understand more than we ever thought possible. Those who consider their dogs part of the family will find For the Love of a Dog engaging, enlightening, and utterly engrossing.


From the Hardcover edition.

Gardeners throughout the region will be welcoming a thoroughly updated and fresh-looking 8th edition of the "bible of Western gardening." With a new, easy-to-read design, more plant photography, larger illustrations, and more than 8,000 plant listings--500 of them new--it's THE essential book for gardeners in the Western states. What plants to grow, how to nurture them, and where they do the very best--it's all here. You'll also find updated information on the Western climate zones, 30 Plant Selection Guides, plus a Practical Guide to Gardening with basic advice on plant care and essential gardening techniques. New plant lists reflect current trends, such as Mediterranean gardening and easy-care plants for beginners. For more than 70 years, Sunset has been the source for no-nonsense gardening advice, easy-to-follow diagrams, and encyclopedic knowledge of plant varieties. In this edition, we introduce an exciting new feature: gardening tips from well-known plant experts throughout the West. The Western Garden Book has never been better! Features:

8th Edition of this perennial bestseller

More than 8,000 plant listings, 500 new, keyed to climate zones

30 Plant Selection Guides to find the perfect plant for every situation

Special contributions from 40 eminent Western garden experts

Introduction by Sunset garden editor Kathleen N. Brenzel, with a photographic tour of gardens that are truly the `Best of the West' gardens