By Suzi Moore Mcregor and Nora Burba Trulsson, Chronicle Books, $45
Think fast: What does sustainable architecture look like? If you see only yurts and geodesic domes, do run out and buy this handsomely illustrated, highly informative and historically intriguing hardcover. Twenty-two houses, built of adobe, rammed earth, straw bale or reinvented material (in one case, chunks of discarded sidewalk, torn-up slabs from demolished buildings, recycled wood and salvaged roof tiles) are profiled. One look at the rammed-earth Provencal-style house in Napa, CA, and you will never assume an Earth-friendly structure is a spartan box again. Though all of the houses hail from the Southwest and West, their interiors supply ample inspiration for the ecologically minded elsewhere: cast-aluminum bar stools in a windowed kitched to reflect late-afternoon light, recycled bowling alley lanes for a kitchen island, or corrugated-metal cladding to make a ceiling luminous. Serious about building such a structure? A thorough bibliography and house-by-house resources are a good starting point. (via Elements of Living)

Living Homes is a great companion to any modern architecture book - growing up in Colorado, I saw a lot of "green" houses, which meant they had mud roofs or bizarre solar panelling. Today, the options aren't as limited and this book is a great exploration of integrating sustainable living into your home. (via Chris)