This Month from Smith Street Books
October 2019
The Leaf Supply Guide to Creating Your Indoor Jungle
Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan
9781925811254
This book is a luxurious guide to creating the very densest of jungles in your living room. It’s time to finally turn that thumb green.
With this stunningly photographed greenery-guide, anyone can master the art of making a living room thrive. When done correctly, curating any decent houseplant can be just as effective as hanging a beautiful work of art. After all, our green companions are known to be beneficial for mental health, for general health (being oxygenators) as well as being a key element of any well-balanced interior fit out.
Lauren and Sophia run the wildly successful nursery and interior design store Leaf Supply, in Sydney, Australia. They wrote a beautifully designed book, by the same name, in 2018. Now, with Indoor Jungle, they explain (in laypersons’ terms) how to best transform your house into a veritable greenhouse. In this sequel-of-sorts, Lauren and Sophia cast their plant-loving net far wider than simply fabulous Australian interiors, featuring jungle-y architecture from around the world!
For each spread of beautifully verdant interiors, the duo breaks down how the foliage within is surviving (and thriving). Ablaze with jaw dropping photography, Indoor Jungle will deserve its own prominent place in your new, improved and jungle-ified living room.
Emma Warren
9781925811261
This beautifully photographed cookbook takes you to the villages, homes, beaches and hillsides of this yet-to-be discovered region of the Mediterranean.
Islas is the first comprehensive cookbook to capture and celebrate the cuisine of Spain’s Mediterranean islands Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. With influences from the Spanish mainland regions Catalania and Valencia, and from further afield including Sicily, Sardinia and the south of France, Islas invites you on a culinary journey to discover some of the Mediterranean’s most authentic cuisines that are at once familiar and unique.
With stunning food photography showcasing the coastlines and interiors of these historic islands, stories on traditional recipes and 100 simple and authentic recipes, this book is not only for lovers of Spanish food but any fan of Mediterranean cuisine.
Alongside these authentic recipes are beautiful spreads on local ingredients, cooking secrets and dishes that have rarely been shared outside this part of the Mediterranean. Each chapter celebrates a different landscape – think mountains, the coast and humble villages. This spectrum of flavour and soul is indicative of the food (and incredible lifestyle) from the Spanish islands.
TLV
Jigal Krant
9781925811230
This book proves it: nowhere on the planet do you eat better than in Tel Aviv.
This lavishly photographed cookbook focusses on the colourful streets of the foodiest city in the Middle East. Find recipes for Tel Aviv’s unsurpassed fast food like hummus, falafel, shakshuka and sabich, the popular Israeli sandwich. On these pages you’ll also see dishes common to the city’s infinite restaurants, where chefs make poetic use of the eating traditions of their immigrant population and Arab neighbours. The result of this creative freedom is a fusion kitchen without rules and taboos.
Nowhere is life celebrated more exuberantly than in Tel Aviv, the happiest and most progressive city in the Middle East. This coastal city is paradise on earth: great weather all year round, beautiful beaches, leading museums, unique architecture and a flourishing economy. The inhabitants are handsome, young, creative, and radiate an unbridled zest for life. This zest is captured in the incredible location photography throughout TLV.
This is a cookbook, narrative and photo essay in one beautiful volume. One day with this book in your possession, and you’ll be booking a ticket to TLV as soon as humanly possible.
Inside Dunder Mifflin
Amy Lewis
9781925811285
This is the ultimate companion for any fan of The Office, which is basically anyone with a pulse, a sense of humour and/or access to a Stan account.
While it’s been five long years since The Office ended, the show’s stellar writing, incredible cast, relatability and sheer lovability has meant that it continues to increase in popularity due to being accessible on streaming platforms like Netflix. The hit workplace comedy has charmed millions of viewers with its wit and warm heart.
With Inside Dunder Mifflin you can celebrate The Office like never before. Take the ‘What’s your management style?’ Quiz to find out if you’re a Michael Scott, Robert California or an Andy Bernard. Or find out who would win in a romance battle between Jim and Pam, and Phyllis and Bob? Then get everything you need to know about crushing your enemies (who may or may not also be your best friends) from Dwight Schrute, ‘Dress for Success’ with Andy Bernard, and take advice from ‘Michael Scott’s Ultimate Guide to Business’.
On a less fan fiction-y note, this brightly illustrated guide also includes season overviews, top episode dissections, cast profiles and more.
The Essential Fan Guide to the Golden Girls
Emma Lewis
9781925811223
This is the definitive guide to The Golden Girls. More than 30 years after it first aired, perhaps more than any other TV show, this show’s cult fanbase continues to grow. It ran for seven seasons (collecting a staggering 58 Emmy nominations and 11 wins along the way) and over the years, this hit comedy about four fierce and sassy roommates in Miami charmed millions of viewers with its incomparable wit. Above all, The Golden Girls celebrated the strength and depth of the friendship between its four iconic characters.
The Essential Fan Guide to The Golden Girls brings you everything you need to know about the enduring hit TV comedy. Inside you’ll find: overviews of its seven seasons; top episode guides; behind the scenes trivia; cast and writer profiles, and guides to stand-out guest-stars; and plenty of deep dives into the unforgettable aesthetic of costume and set design.
Whether you’re a new or old fan, this book will satisfy your craving for all things related to The Golden Girls.
Queer Icons from Gay to Z
Patrick Boyle
9781925811292
The LGBTQ+ community is a loving family. As such, this colourful book celebrates our most iconoclastic sisters and brothers (and gender nonbinary friends) across history.
This illustrated picture book is an alphabetic celebration of queer activists, artists, comedians, writers, philosophers, musicians, poets and Olympic gold medallists. These icons of the LGBTQ+ community have collectively championed civil rights, radically increased queer visibility and provided means of escapism through their soul-affirming artistry.
Just some of the trailblazers featured in Queer Icons from Gay to Z include Josephine Baker, Laverne Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Keith Haring, Neil Patrick Harris, Marsha P Johnson, Harvey Milk, Martina Navratilova, Cynthia Nixon, Frank Ocean, Ruby Rose, and more. Loaded with trivia and factoids about each icon – this boldly illustrated book unites pop culture icons of the current day with the activists and revolutionaries who fought (sometimes literally to the death) for the right to be who they are, and the right to love whoever they bloody well please.
This Book is Literally Just Pictures of Cute Animals That Will Make You Feel Better
9781925811186
This zoological and photographic odyssey documents the cutest, cuddliest and silliest animals of all time, to brighten up the days of us humans across the world.
As its name subtly suggests, this book features 90 pictures of excessively cute animals. That’s Literally it. While turning these puppy-peppered pages, your mood will Literally become one of delight and tenderness. And therein lies the powerful magic of pictures of cute animals. Just simply peering into those big eyes carries with it all the gravitas of a David Attenborough nature documentary, but without having to actually watch a documentary.
The resilience of the animal kingdom is endlessly inspiring. Cast your mind to this iconic image: a kitten dangling from a tree branch, while sagely encouraging us humans to just “hang in there.” And hang in there we did – in order to own this book. This is Literally exactly what our turbulent world needs right now. With its unique meow factor, this is the book that you deserve after a ruff day at work. (It should be said that, mercifully, no animal puns are included in this book.)
Beyond shadow of a doubt, this book is a landmark moment in the history of photojournalism.