Exquisite design and craftsmanship gets me hot. Anne Bony is the author of a widely acclaimed series of oversized, lavishly-illustrated books on key features of world design, culture, furniture, and interiors by decade, staring in the 1910s and recently reaching the 1990s.

The books were initially published only in her native French, but in recent years have been translated into English and published in America. I bought "Furniture and Interiors of the 1940s," and spent many happy hours looking at the pictures and reading about the designers and movements of that era.

For reasons not at all clear to me, the newest volume, that of the 1990s, costs $250, whereas you can buy any of the others at Amazon.com for $45.50. I guess I'll read about the 90s in a bookstore.