By Judy A. Juracek. W. W. Norton & Company, $89.95
If you are a texture person, someone who loves the look, touch and feel of objects, then brace yourself for this 352-page book composed solely (introductory text excepted) of 1,400 color images of architectural surfaces around the world. The latest addition to Judy Juracek’s Surfaces series, the tome appears to encompass every material a surface can be made of, every other material that can be applied on top of it and every architectural style. Even though you can’t actually touch the materials that make up the pictured walls, facades, windows, doorways, roofs, ceilings and ornamentation, their sheer variety and number will satisfy even the most texture-crazed designer or architect. (via Elements of Living)