Books for your zen den
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Mary Beth Janssen Pleasure Healing “In the 21st century, nirvana’s name is spa,” writes Mary Beth Janssen, a mindbody health educator for the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in California. She invites you to trade Freud for massage and Prozac for yoga—in short, to create your own home sanctuary for healing and renewal. From tips for making kiwi-infused water to exercises for expanding the five senses, her latest manual, Pleasure Healing, is packed with tools and techniques to nurture body and soul. (New Harbinger Publications, $14.95; in bookstores February 2009) |
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Paul Sahre Lesurama now In the 1960s, a woman might step into Macy’s to buy a bra and end up walking out with the papers for a spanking-new Long Island beach house. All it took was a $490 downpayment. Furnished and fully stocked—right down to the melamine dinner service—200 Leisurama houses appeared on the coast of Montauk in 1964. They’ve since morphed dramatically, reflecting the idiosyncrasies of owners and the changing times. In this coffee-table tome, New York Times design writer Paul Sahre documents their nostalgic place in American leisure history. (Princeton Architectural Press, $40) |
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Fritz Haeg Edible Estates On Independence Day 2005, an upstart architect named Fritz Haeg began pulling up water-sucking front lawns across America and planting “edible estates” instead. According to Haeg, planting fruit and vegetable crops in full view of the neighbors just makes sense in light of climate change, disintegrating communities and the flourishing local-foods movement. (And who’d miss pushing the mower on Sunday?) This revolutionary book reveals Haeg’s mission in words and photos, and includes a rallying call from Michael Pollan, whole-food warrior and author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. (Metropolis Books, $24.95) |
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