Winter HoliDay Gift Giving Recommendations: Part I

I know, I know. It isn’t even Halloween yet. Lean book times are coming though, my friends, and if there’s a special, physical volume you want to offer up to the readers in your life (or yourself), you may want to get your rocket skates on because until the supply chain tangles get sorted, publishers are doing smaller print runs and backorder periods are lasting longer. IOUs in envelopes just aren’t quite as dramatic wrapped books and while some stories are fine in e-book form, I find cookbooks and art collections to be far more exciting when they have a little heft to them.

So, without further ado, my first two selections:

Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier: How Midcentury Modernism Shaped Our View of the Future by Dan Chavkin and Brian McGuire (Weldon Owen)

I love mid-century modern design. Which is, if I’m honest, a little bit weird considering the rest of my aesthetic, which definitely tends toward relaxed/anime/witchy/metallic/goth. Yeah, I don’t know what to call it either, it’s fine, we don’t need labels here. But point me at the vintage Pyrex or Corningware with the tiny farmers or the sharp-edged starbursts or the giant neon fruit and I will worship it and also probably buy it. Danish minimalist chairs? Give. Rounded typewriters in sassy colors? Want.

Okay, the string art and terrifyingly point metal art maybe not so much but come on now. Did anyone actually like that or did they just want to pull down their big, Mod sunglasses, say “Art, darling,” and go to a fabulous party?

What does this have to do with Star Trek? In Designing the Final Fronteir, Chavkin and McGuire take readers on a journey through the show’s production to show them not only how the design aesthetic of the period influenced the look of the show but exactly which products and designers were either used on set or directly referenced by pieces as iconic as the Enterprise’s Captain’s Chair, the sculpture in Spock’s quarters, and the various computers on the ship. They even found an instance in which a set dresser, in an effort to make store-bought glasswork look more dramatic and exotic (or possibly just as a gag), turned the stopper of an Empoli vase upside down (yes it did make the final cut, the still is in the book, pg. 123). Also, one of the alien species was practical joke barf. Yes, I laughed. Because it’s funny.

One of the most interesting things Designing the Final Frontier explores is the conflict between what illustrator Dough Drexler calls the “technology unchained” of mid-century design and the fact that it dates the show so thoroughly as having been made in 1966. When it was created, Star Trek was its own future. People were going into space. They were trying to go to the moon and had plans to go to Mars. They were sure they were the ones who were going to pave the way for that five year mission. And if they had achieved their goals, then the ships they did it on? They would have had that mid-century aesthetic even if it wasn’t in quite as showy or comfortable a way as the Enterprise. And maybe the ships that evolved from those would have too. And if we ever get to go that far, who’s to say a really great pendant lamp won’t be the thing that brings us together with our own first contacts?

All of Weldon Owen’s books are gorgeous, but this one is particularly pretty, playing with mid-century color schemes, bright without being overbearing, glossy without being blinding, and with the right amount of sketches vs. full color photos vs. text. Chavkin and McGuire know exactly when to drop a great tidbit (see stoppers and fake commit above) and learned as much about design history as I did about the ways it interacted with Star Trek.

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Cookbook and Entertaining Guide (Insight Editions)

My 8 year old nephew was quite flabbergasted to discover that not only could one make one’s own marshmallows but that they could be molded into the shape of Zero, his favorite character from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Needless to say, The Official Cookbook born from said movie is his new sacred text. I’m sure the fact he got to eat the sprinkles used as landscaping straight… sweetened the experience (I’m here all week) though I’m not sure how my sister felt about it. What are aunts for if not to sugar up the children and send them home? Yes, do I have kids. Yes, I did let them sugar up too, I’m not a complete Oogie Boogie.

In the way back, I had the opportunity to review Entertaining with Disney, which I really loved because of the variety of food options it offered on each theme, the various decorations and crafts, and the fact that it allowed the party planner to decide how deep they wanted to go and how much time they want to commit to their event. Insight also made sure that the more difficult an element was, the more in depth the instructions were and the more pictures accompanied the task, as well as including templates for crafts.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Official is even better.

Now, I am a little biased because The Nightmare Before Christmas is not only one of my favorite Disney movies ever, it’s one of my favorite movies period. I’m a spooky witch at heart and Nightmare is a spooky little movie with a heart so we get along really well. It’s also spooky without being creepy in a way that means I could share it with the kids without scarring them for life (we learned from a Princess Mononoke misstep).

The recipes in the book carry through on the spoopy aesthetic with “Christmas Town Gingerbread Snowflakes with Spiders,” “Sally Cauldron Pot Pies,” “Mummy Boy Dogs,” and Witch’s Cauldron Brew.” And the crafts fit perfectly: “Glow-in-the-Dark Pumpkin Heads,” “Vampire Protection Parasols,” and “Gross Confetti Balloons.” Since The Night Before Christmas Official” focuses on one film, it has plans for various types of parties using the theme: Halloween, Christmas, and a birthday party I think I might throw for myself next year.

I really adore this book and I’m thrilled I got to add it t my collection. I’m pretty sure my nephew is too.

Alright, y’all. I can keep going my own way, but if there’s a specific type of recommendation you’d like to see, hit me up @SWSondheimer on Twitter, @FrankenCroneInk on IG, or through the contact form up yonder. Happy browsing and happier buying.