At some point libraries went from using quarto to oversize for the larger books. Personally, I miss the 'q'. ;-) I read more of them than I thought! This batch is mostly about art.

Images of the World: Photography at the National Geographic. From back in the day of film cameras ... black and white photos, nature photos, travel photos ... this is just an amazing collection of pictures that I have enjoyed for decades. You'll find my favorite on page 148. (1981 edition).

Look carefully! There are pintos in the snow, buffalo in the rocks, Indians amongst the birch trees, spooky shadows, amazing reflections, and sometimes you have to look down to see what's up. It's all found in The Art of Bev Doolittle with text and poems by Elise Maclay.

The World of M.C. Escher. It's possible to get dizzy looking at Escher's art. The twists on perspective are captivating. Floor tiles that become birds, remarkabe intertwined mosaics, and hands that are drawing each other. I rather like the flying birds that become the fields below.

Using everything from rocks, to trees, leaves and snow, Andrew Goldsworthy: a Collaboration with Nature features art that will not last. It is designed to melt, blow away, or collaspe and return to the earth. It's a good thing he takes photographs of his work. :-)

If you like a marine world teeming with life in technicolor, then take a look at The Art of Lassen: a Collection of Works From Christian Riesen Lassen. Great detail, from the stars in the sky to the starlight on the waves to the minute detail on a clown fish or coral beneath the surface of the ocean creates art where there's always something new to see.

On a trip to Victoria, B.C. I 'discovered' the artist Stephen Lyman. His work was amazing ... there's one where the light comes from the aurora borealis and the embers of a campfire that is stunning. He grew up in the PNW so his work has a familiar feel to it. Sadly, when I purchased the book Into the Wilderness: an Artist's Journey (with text by Mark Mardon) the cashier informed that Stephen Lyman had died in a hiking accident just a few days earlier. (1996)

I added Visions of the North: Native Art of the Northwest Coast to my collection mostly for the information and pictures of totem poles, but there's a lot more here. From petroglyphs to jewelry, paddles and masks, it is a fascinating book (and rather small as coffee table books go).

Reading Hermit With Dog