Here are some celebratory books to get your party started. Book(s) of the day > Meals, Music, and Muses: Recipes from My African American Kitchen by Alexander Smalls published by Flatiron Books (@asmalls77, @ flatiron_books); Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin (@tonitiptonmartin, @clarksonpotter), Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original (UNC Press), Princess Pamela's Soul Food Cookbook: A Mouth-Watering Treasury of Afro-American Recipes (@rizzolibooks), The Unqualified Hostess: I do it my way so you can too! (@whoopigoldberg, @rizzolibooks), Trap Kitchen (@therealtrapkitchen).

In memoriam: John Hiltunen. It was love at first sight when we first encountered Mr. Hiltunen's work through @creativegrowth at the #LAABF2016.

John Hiltunen is a facsimile of John Hiltunen's original artist's book published by Books for All Press ( @bfa_press ),  a non-profit publisher working solely with artists with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities to publish artists' books. "John Hiltunen began making collages in 2006. Before this time, John focused on rug making, wood work, and ceramics. After participating in Paul Butler’s “Collage Party” in 2007, John’s collage work became a consistent artistic pursuit.  His clever juxtapositions, which typically combine animal and human subjects mostly derived from fashion and natural history magazines, are provocative in their humor and yet surprisingly earnest in intention. Straightforward in their absurdity, John’s collages are naturally uncanny with cats, dogs, reptiles, and other wild animals looking posh in the latest fashions. In 2012, John’s work was the focus of a major group exhibition curated by Matthew Higgs at Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco. He has also exhibited at White Columns, New York, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, the San Francisco International Airport, #goodluckgallery and had his work represented at contemporary art fairs like NADA Miami, the Independent, and Frieze New York. In 2013, he was honored as a recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation award, given to those artists whose work show promise, talent, and individual artistic strength but who have not yet received widespread recognition. John’s work is also in the private collection of Cindy Sherman." #johnhiltunen @creativegrowth