Yesterday, when I asked Molly what her blog post was going to be about, she said “all the new books coming out.” I then asked her if she was mentioning the new Oliver Messel and Gucci books, and she said “no, why don’t you guest blog about those tomorrow?” So here I am! (oh, this is Kate, BTW)

I first heard about Oliver Messel when I was in design school and looking for an interiors icon to do a project on. At that time, I couldn’t find enough on him to do the project, so this book, Oliver Messel: In the Theatre of Design, is long overdue. He was sort of the Tony Duquette of the Caribbean (as he was involved in many realms of aesthetic design) crossed with Slim Aarons (hanging out in jet-set island locales with royalty and other peeps living the good life.) The ‘tropical’ angle always tickles my fancy.

My luxury purveyor of choice, Gucci (or, to use my nickname for them, “The Gooch”), has a monograph out today, GUCCI: The Making Of, published in conjunction with the opening of the new Gucci Museum in Florence. I am booking my visit now! My love of The Gooch stems not from a label whore place, but rather the ‘70s-ness of it all. Looking back at old family photos, every adult male at a non-casual occasion has a pair of the classic loafers on–the ones with the horsebit and the ribbon behind it (pictured). Note to Gucci: please lay off the elongated toe you’re using on many of your men’s shoes. No me gusta.

As for Martyn Lawrence-Bullard: Live, Love, and Decorate, I’m holding out hope for an audio book version read by (as Amy and I call him) Marty, in his “increddddddible,” honeyed baritone. I realize that design books, which are mostly pictures, don’t have an audio version, but a girl can dream.

Next on the list is Clarence House: The Art of the Textile, a compendium about the grande dame, old guard fabric house.

While compiling this post, I realized that all of these books are published by Rizzoli (as well as one of the books from Molly’s list).) Big ups to them, they’re giving Taschen a run for their money! And evidently they just gave a book deal to one of my favorite bloggers, Hollister Hovey, I can’t wait! Rizzoli, meet Molly; Molly, Rizzoli.

This is not a paid or unpaid advertisement for Rizzoli, but they are reading my mind right now- I’m also very interested in Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent, by/about legendary stylista and ex-French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld. I’ve been feeling her brand of rock ‘n’ roll edginess for fall, but am waiting around for the weather to cooperate and allow me to wear my new leather jacket. Hopefully some of her ice-cold coolness will rub off on me if I get the book.

Note to LA readers: Hennessy + Ingalls, the outstanding art and design bookstore, is having a 20% off everything sale, this Saturday, November 5 through Saturday, November 12. No phone orders, but good at both their Santa Monica and Hollywood locations. Support your local bookstores, people, before they go out of business and you can only buy books sight-unseen, online!

Thank you, and goodnight!

-Kate