Business Books

I've had these three business books sitting on the shelf in my office at work for several months without getting around to reading any of them. If it were you, which one would you read?

The Shack 15 Event

I had a great time last week being interviewed by Lucie Charkin at Shack 15 about How Time Is On Your Side. The event organizers had gathered a bunch of comfy chairs around a sofa where we sat, with a view of the Bay Lights out the big Ferry Building window behind us. And though the entirety of their gorgeous space is gigantic, they dimmed the lights in most of it, just leaving our area lit up, so the forty or so attendees could sit in cozy comfort for our chat. Lucie asked great questions and it was lovely to get to discuss the book's contents in detail, in person. The fine folks from Book Passage sold copies of the book afterwards and I signed them and, I believe, a good time was had by all.

Shack 15

I'm speaking tonight at Shack 15. This is a new social venue, tucked away on the upper floor of the Ferry Building, and it is gorgeous. The windows alone would be worth the price of admission -- especially since this evening's event is free! You do have to register to attend, though, by 2pm today, right here. The event is from 6:30-8:30 and it's going to be grand. I'll be interviewed by the inimitable Lucie Charkin about time and art and How Time is On Your Side, and there will be books for sale. Hope you can join us!

Amazon Reviews Please?

I am here to ask you a favor. If you've read and enjoyed How Time Is On Your Side, please consider writing an amazon review of the book. It doesn't have to be long, and you don't have to have purchased the book on amazon to do so. But positive reviews on that particular site do a lot to help books and authors get found by new readers in our algorithmic world. The book page is right here. Thank you.



Photo credit: Rebecca White

The Book Party Report

The thing about a book party is that you're so busy reveling in its loveliness -- chatting away with seemingly endless stream of rad people who wander through the door, giggling over the beauty of being featured in a gorgeously color-coordinated merchandising statement, signing books with a sharpie, and so forth -- that you don't take any pictures. Rather you must rely on the kindness of shopkeepers and old friends, and grab their images with impunity, as you'll see I've done freely here. The party for How Time Is On Your Side at Rare Device on Friday was, as the above might suggest, a pure delight. Here are a few peeks (photo credits: Giselle Gyalzen, Deborah Willis, and Rebecca Dorman).

You're Invited to a Party!

The book launch party for How Time Is On Your Side will be this Friday, 2/7, from 6-8pm at the splendorous store Rare Device in San Francisco. Event details are here. If you're local I do hope you can come to the party! I'll be signing books and consuming refreshments and chatting away and I look forward to you joining me in those activities!

Classic Blue

I've been percolating upon Pantone's 2020 Color of the Year: Classic Blue since it was announced at the end of last year (I edit a line of Pantone publishing for Chronicle Books so their doings are never too far from my mind). This year's color is a color that I sort of think I do not like, but actually I do. Here are some things drawn from art, fashion, and interior decor that I find I like very much indeed in this shade of blue:

Above: Yves Klein

Roksanda Ilincic

The Design Files

Dan Cordner

Anastasiia Sapon

Oyku Thurston Gurpinar and Basak Onay

Vanessa Jackman

Hans Hoffman

Design Milk

Advanced Style

Kaoru Shibata

Sister Parish

Glassybaby

Still Giving Away

Not to harp on, but I'm just going to put it out there: you've got one more day to enter the How Time Is On Your Side giveaway!

S20

Today's the day! Hooray hooray! The day I get to show you all the books and stationery I edited for Chronicle Books' Spring 2020 list (known as S20 to its friends). All of these things come out this spring, and all will be available all over the place -- Amazon, IndieBound, your local indie bookstore, Barnes and Nobel, museum stores, gift shops, and nationwide chains -- and are available for preorder at many such places right now (I simply include the Chronicle Books website links below to be fair to all retailers). As always, it is such a huge honor to get to work with this amazing roster of artists and authors; not to mention my inimitable Chronicle teammates. Ready? Here we go!

Marimekko Notebook Collection
Marimekko Notecards
Marimekko 50 Postcard Box

How to Rule at Photography
How to Rule at Drawing

Transcendence
by Richard Mayhew

Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa
by Marilyn Chase

Pencils You Should Know: A History of the Ultimate Writing Utensil in 75 Anecdotes
by Caroline Weaver of CW Pencil Enterprise

Pencils You Should Know Notecards
by Caroline Weaver of CW Pencil Enterprise

Rex Ray
by Griff Williams, essays by Rebecca Solnit and Christian L. Frock

The Rainbow Atlas: A Guide to the World's 500 Most Colorful Places
by Taylor Fuller

Past seasons (man oh man the photography gets bad the further back you go!): F19, S19, F18, S18, F17, S17, F16, S16, F15, S15, F14, S14, F13, S13, F12, S12, F11. (I've actually been working on books around this joint ever since the F05 season (!) but, having neither Instagram nor this blog back then, it didn't occur to me to take pictures of them for the first six years). 

How Time Is On Your Side: Preorders + Party!

My next book, How Time Is On Your Side comes out in a little less than a month!

If you want to do one thing to help out an author: preorder their book. First-week book sales are a bit like opening-weekend ticket-sales numbers for movies. A strong performance out of the gate can really help a book soar, affecting everything from bestseller lists, to word of mouth, to how well the book surfaces in many places online in our algorithmic world. If you wanted to go ahead and preorder this book today you would be doing me a solid service. Here are links to some places where you can do so: Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes and Noble. Thank you in advance!

Also! If you're in the Bay Area, you're invited to the book launch party, at San Francisco's Rare Device on Friday, February 7th from 6-8pm. Mark your calendars!

The Chronicle Books Holiday Party Photo Booth

One of the highlights of the Chronicle Books holiday party is always and forever the photo booth. Most of these are with my utterly wonderful Art Editorial colleagues (minus one who, tragically, was home sick), plus the one strip with my favorite Bill. And yes, I had a mirrored jacket.

Creative Mornings - The Video!

The video of my Creative Mornings talk is up and you can watch it right here. Though it is of course always horrible to watch oneself on film (or even just to hear one's own recorded voice - ug), nevertheless I feel really happy with how the talk turned out, and I remain astonished and honored to have been asked to give it. These photos are by Ben Conde.