"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more worthwhile books than I'm able to review.

The Cornell Journal of Architecture 10: Spirits edited by Caroline O?Donnell | Cornell AAP Publications, distributed by Actar D | 2016 | Amazon
In the introduction to Spirits, O'Donnell and her fellow editors assert the issue "examines a range of spirits haunting architecture today." Colin Rowe, who taught at Cornell for much of his life, must be one of those spirits, for the editors find phantoms in his writings, occupying the realm between buildings and the interaction or people "reading" them. Heady stuff but a great starting point for a mélange of essays on the theme of spirits, ranging from data and the Anthropocene, to Louis Sullivan and meloncholia in cities, to haunted houses and the uncanny in Gothic romance novels. And what would a journal called Spirits be without an essay on The Shining's Overlook Hotel"
GSD Platform 9: Still Life edited by Jennifer Bonner with Michelle Benoit and Patrick Herron | Harvard GSD, distributed by Actar D | 2016 | Amazon
It goes without saying that the output of the Harvard GSD is voluminous. So when it comes time to assemble some of it into a year-end document to share with the world o...