Gift guide | The time of beautiful books

To inspire you, here is a selection of timeless books that will give pleasure for a long time. To read and browse all year round.

In the world of…

What a great gift for fans of this favorite show hosted by France Beaudoin, a weekly event for me. Anecdotes, testimonies, photos and above all, the famous questionnaire that we submit to the guests and from which we draw inspiration to tell their lives in songs… It seems that many people asked for it. A valuable book for those who love the show, or who wish to organize “Live from the Universe” for a loved one.

Live from the universe: songs told and a book to answer, France Beaudoin and the teamLive from the universe, KO Éditions, 272 pages

Amélie’s Japan

Initially, it was a podcast produced for audible.fr: 10 episodes for a total of 4 hours 40 minutes during which the writer, born in Kobe, introduces us to “her” Japan. We are not at all in tourist reporting here, but rather in understanding a society through its myths and its spirituality. We decided to make it into a book, which allowed us to add photos and texts. For lovers of Nothomb and Japan.

Eternal Japan: journey under the flowers of a floating world, Amélie Nothomb, Laureline Amanieux, Albin Michel, 351 pages

A dream trip

This book is madness. Imagine: a literature professor and a photographer who go on a road-trip in the United States, to meet the country’s greatest writers. They had already traveled the West, here they offer us a trip to the South and the East. On their way, they meet Joyce Carol Oates, Colum McCann, Lauren Groff, Russell Banks and so on. A spectacular and ambitious book, to offer to lovers of words and the great outdoors.

America: writers in majesty, Alexandre Thiltges, Jean-Luc Bertini, Albin Michel, 320 pages

Women’s goal

In this collection, Laure Adler has made it her mission to make invisible women visible and unfortunately, she has no shortage of work. This book, co-signed with a lecturer and photography specialist, introduces us to unknown or recognized photographers, in all sectors: fashion catwalks, war zones or popular demonstrations… Worlds that we (re)discovered through their lens and their gaze as women.

Women photographers are dangerous, Laure Adler, Clara Bouveresse, Flammarion, 159 pages

Feminine Tarot

Tarot is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, particularly among young people, who should like this beautiful box set which includes an illustrated book and 78 cards. The female figures are all characters, real or imaginary, who have left their mark on history. Both informative and fun, it is the ideal gift for young people looking for a little mystery or esotericism. A beautiful work which is also a beautiful decorative object.

The tarot of witches and other powerful women, Cécile Roumiguière and Benjamin Lacombe, Albin Michel, 96 pages

Multicolored frills

Tiffany blue, Hermès orange, Harrod’s green (in Quebec, we would say Simons green!), several timeless brands in the fashion world are associated with colors, and each of them carries a meaning. The author therefore offers us a journey during which we will decode the emotions that creators wish to convey by using one color rather than another: opulence for red, timelessness for brown, youth for yellow… A shimmering and multicolored reading .

Fashion and colors, Megan Hess, The Unexpected, 224 pages

Magic mushrooms

Harvesting mushrooms is an increasingly popular activity, but it requires certain knowledge if we don’t want our little escapade to end up in the emergency room. This superbly illustrated book will delight mycophiles and neophytes of what is described as a “heterotrophic eukaryotic organism”. The mushroom is not only a delicacy in the kitchen, it also has therapeutic properties (and sometimes hallucinogenic, but that’s another story…)

Fungi: science and secrets of mushrooms, Ali Ashby and Lynne Boddy, Éditions Multimondes, 304 pages