Temple St. Clair’s Book List
This is just the beginning of my list of favorite books. Books, for me, are like stepping stones that go on and on. I constantly discover new books that I want to read and am drawn back to old favorites that I reread or return to for reference. Books relate to different phases of my life and different parts of me—the child, the student, the traveler, the scientist, the designer, the artist, the mother, the explorer. I have eclectic tastes in books, as in other art forms, from the classical to the contemporary and am happy to share a few that I particularly treasure.
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I have reread Anna Karenina about once per decade since the first time I read it in my twenties. It vividly colors my perception of pre-revolutionary Russia. I love the descriptions of the clothes and jewels—Anna’s hands, the social order depicted, from the peasants to the aristocracy.
So many books I love are associated with my travels. I read this book before and during an incredible trip to the Galapagos. It is a detailed account of evolution, and the lengths that scientists go to to study and gather their data. This book was essential to my understanding and appreciation of those islands.
From years of studying in Florence, I often recall stories and lines from both Boccaccio and Dante. My favorite story comes from the fifth day in the Decameron that entertains the theme of true love. It is the story of Federigo degli Alberighi and his falcon—an incredibly romantic tale of love lost and regained. The whole Decameron is a wonderful read and worth learning Italian to enjoy it completely.
Herodotus may be the greatest historian and storyteller of all time. This volume has accompanied me on many trips through Greece and the ancient sites along the Turkish coast. It brings Ancient Greece alive.
I read this while my husband and I were renovating a ramshackle building that we bought in Manhattan’s East Village. It’s a fascinating study of the concept of “home.” Some of the functionality of our home—the kitchen, for example—is based on Rybczynski’s theories: our kitchen is like a workshop with all its tools exposed instead of a gleaming sterile environment that looks like it’s never used.
I am fascinated by animals and nature and turn to both for inspiration. Despite being an acclaimed Nobel prize-winning scientist, Lorenz still communicates boyish marvel while conveying insights into animals in this charming book.
This is another classic that I keep nearby. The modernity of this 200-year-old text is astounding.
Aptly named “Scales,” the marine biologist author merges science with storytelling in this in-depth, yet poetic look at the elusive seahorse.
Someone recommended this book to me before one of my first trips to Sri Lanka to buy gemstones. This is an autobiographical account of Ondaatje’s Sri Lankan roots. From chasing cobras from his grandmother’s living room to summering in the high tea country, he gives colorful insight into the social order of this mysterious, somewhat unexplored island.
I found the story of Jobs completely inspiring, especially his defiant refusal to compromise on design and quality. His personal habits were quirky but his overall vision impeccable. So sad that he is gone.
This is one of my favorite childhood stories and one book that I will keep on the shelf long after my own children are grown. The depiction of this bull who preferred smelling flowers to fighting inspired my depiction of a gentle bull on my Taurus astrological pendant.
A pocket-size early graphic depiction of this classic tale. Its simplicity is intriguing. Each character is represented by a colored square, circle, or triangle.
I love Helprin’s stories. (It was hard to choose between this one and A Soldier of the Great War.) This is a magical story of New York City. I love the descriptions of the Hudson being frozen solid and of people disappearing into Brooklyn. Helprin’s descriptions are fantastical but still seem somehow real in this amazing city.
Announcements
Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
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Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman
Love Letter to a Garden
By Debbie Millman
Contributions by Roxane Gay
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: April 15, 2025
From the award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening—and the philosophies that work conjures. Spread throughout are simple recipes using the garden’s ingredients from Millman’s wife, best-selling author Roxane Gay.
Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
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