Image via Lost Art Press I was going to write a three-paragraph blog about Chris Schwarz, author of January’s book “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” saying something along the lines of…Chris has a huge part in the preservation of woodworking print, creating a platform that reaches across the spectrum, from backwoods chairs to hands and eyes, to every word written by Charles Hayward. And without Chris, I would admit this book club may never exist. But I will spare you the sentimen

All images via Lost Art Press We are kicking the off the new year with one of my new favorite books: “The Anarchist Tool Chest” by Christopher Schwarz. I don’t often compare books to movies, but a particular scene pops into my head while I’m reading this book. As a millennial, the movie “The Matrix” had a significant impact on me, especially the scene where Neo is in the Matrix downloading all his karate skills, bulking up his arsenal of weapons, and, most importantly, instan

Ending our year with this book was merely a coincidence of closure. Our twelfth book in our twelve-month series, this one hit me harder than the rest. James Krenov’s “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” Isn’t someone telling you how to build, or how to think. Rather, a conversation with the reader. I felt like I was sitting in a kitchen, drinking tea with an old mentor who was trying to instill in me a strong work ethic while holding equal resolve for your own creative self, a line Kr

“The Shaker Legacy” by Christian Becksvoort is a meticulously cataloged history of one of the most influential groups in furniture design, told through the pieces themselves. Becksvoort compiles over 140 pieces of historic furniture from the Shaker archives, which are used to tell the story of how the Shakers lived and how that correlated with their designs and careful craftsmanship. With a close relationship to the last remaining shaker community, Becksvoort has worked along