The place bears play in American culture is given a scholarly growl in Daniel Horowitz’s "Bear With Me", which dissects the nation’s affection for, fear of, and ill-advised anthropomorphization of bears of all varieties. This is a... Read More

Focused on woman-centered cigar box labels that gave smokers an opportunity to contemplate “greater, long-lasting values,” "Cigar Box Lithographs Volume VII" is an appealing collector’s guide. With a central theme of notable women,... Read More

Benoît Gallot’s book explores France’s famed Père-Lachaise Cemetery, the final resting place for centuries of Parisians and the site of numerous celebrity graves, including those of Frédéric Chopin, Colette, Oscar Wilde, and Jim... Read More

Celebrating the seductive lines of classic designs, Dominic Bradbury’s coffee table book "Mid-Century Modern Designers" is sure to please aesthetes and home decorators alike. Their palettes “colorful and joyful” and their designs... Read More

Nathalie Cooke’s culinary history text "Tastes and Traditions" explores menus as strategic documents—much more than simple bills of fare. Menus, it says, do not always present their wares in a straightforward way; some go off the... Read More

"20 Amici, 40 Ricette" is American entrepreneur John Bersani’s inviting culinary guide to Italy’s Chianti region. On his first visit to Tuscany, Bersani was seduced by its landscape, art, people, and food. He later bought a home in... Read More

Cecily Gilligan’s sweeping encyclopedia "Cures of Ireland" archives centuries of Irish folk medicine, herbalism, and healing charms. Drawing on firsthand interviews and archival research, this expansive book details hundreds of Irish... Read More

Natalie Lawrence’s work of cultural inquiry, "Enchanted Creatures", analyzes fabled and mythical beasts across human history, folklore, and literature, asking why monsters persist in human imaginations. Organized into sections on... Read More