Tracy Trudeau has been working at Powell's City of Books long enough to know
where all the bodies are buried, but not so long that she's lost her
girlish figure. Though Tracy has tried her hand at nearly every job in the
store, she currently spends most of her time in the Orange Room, making sure
our Crafts and Cooking sections are in order. When she's not cooking or crafting,
though, she can usually be found, mouse in hand, cursing her new iMac –
"faster, faster, you 'tangerine' nightmare!"
Books
for Your Creative Process (clip art and more)
Shambhala
Agile Rabbit Editions
 As
a weaver and general crafts artist, I love this entire line of books. Six
of the volumes in the series provide fresh and unusual black and white images:
Graphic
Frames, Decorated
Initials, Floral
Patterns, Images
of the Human Body, Sports
Pictures and Transport
Pictures. But the textile designs – Batik
Patterns and Chinese
Patterns – are in glorious color. Each comes with a CD-Rom (for both
Mac and Windows) for hours of computer image editing fun. And they are fairly
cheap, too: twenty bucks, new.
Surfaces:
Visual Research for Artists, Architects, and Designers by Judy
A. Juracek
 This
incredible collection of architectural surface images is such a useful source
of ideas it is well worth the expense. It also includes a CD-Rom (for both
Mac and Windows) so that you can view and manipulate the images on your computer.
Anything one might find attached to the side of a building is here: tile,
wood, metal, glass, marble, etc. Images of columns, windows, inlay work, and
facade details are all beautifully presented in excellent color photographs.
For my own textile designs, I have found this book to be a great source of
inspiration. While not technically clipart, (the rights to the images belong
to the author), these images are intended to be used by artists in developing
concepts and in communicating information to others.
Books
to Cook With (some of my most requested recipes)
Mediterranean
Light: Delicious Recipes from the World's Healthiest Cuisine by Martha
Rose Shulman
The best hummus recipe ever. There is a secret ingredient (!) that no one
ever expects. Follow the recipe to a T, except double (or triple, I usually
do) the garlic and toss in a hand full of whole sesame seeds. My first grill
of the season is usually the Garlic and Chicken Kebabs. No need to increase
the garlic for this one; it calls for 24 cloves. MMMmmmm.
The
El Paso Chile Company Margarita Cookbook by W.
Park Kerr
 Frozen
watermelon Margaritas. Last summer I scooped out and froze many bags of watermelon
so that my friends and I could enjoy this chilled treat all winter. Good thing
summer is back on its way; I'm out of watermelon and ready to stock up again.
Aside from the dozens of tequila cocktail recipes and tips, this book also
includes a number of recipes for tequila inspired snacks – Tequila Chipotle
Shrimp, Grilled Margarita Chicken Morsels with Salsa-Sour Cream Dip, and so
forth – but frankly I haven't got past the drinks yet.
Books
of History that "Read" like Fiction
Bloodland:
A Family Story of Oil, Greed, and Murder on the Osage Reservation by Dennis
McAuliffe
Like many people at Powell's, I love to self educate. We are lucky to be surrounded
by worthy tomes to help us learn about our world. However I have a nasty tendancy
to fall asleep over my book if it's a teensy bit dry. Out like a light. So
I'm happy to find well written and easily accessable books of nonfiction such
as Bloodland. This is the dual story of the Osage tribe and of the
author's family history. Due to good negotiating with the U.S. and good luck
(oil under the reservation ground), the Osage tribe was at one time the wealthiest
population in the world. This wealth attracted non-tribal members who married
the young Osage women. And soon many of these young women were dying mysteriously
in what became know as the Osage Reign of Terror. This is also the haunting
story of the author's Osage grandmother, who died soon after marrying her
white husband. A real life whodunit as well as a lesson in U.S. and Indian
relations.
Hen
Frigates: Passion and Peril, Nineteenth Century Women at Sea by Joan
Druett
 In
the male dominated world of the 19th century, "Hen Frigates" were ships on
which the captain's wife would sail. Often each ship became its own world,
with rules and practices at odds with the "civilized" world. I was
surprised to find that the captain's wife often had more liberty on board
than on shore – it was also not at all unusual for her to take on the captaincy
in emergency situations. And, in more than one instance, she did not reliquish
her captaincy when the emergency was over. Based on letters and journals,
this book conveys a story that is vital and dramatic, with fire, rats, pirates,
and romantic moonlit nights.
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