Book of the Day > Bad Luck Hot Rocks: Conscience Letters and Photographs From the Petrified Forest. Published by Ice Plant. "The Petrified Forest National Park in Northeast Arizona protects one of the largest deposits of petrified wood in the world. Despite stern warnings, visitors remove several tons of petrified wood from the park each year, often returning these rocks by mail (sometimes years later), accompanied by a "conscience letter." These letters often include stories of misfortune attributed directly to their theft: car troubles, cats with cancer, deaths of family members, etc. Some writers hope that by returning these stolen rocks, good fortune will return to their lives, while others simply apologize or ask forgiveness. "They are beautiful," reads one letter, "but I can't enjoy them. They weigh like a ton of bricks on my conscience. Sorry…." Bad Luck, Hot Rocks documents this ongoing phenomenon, combining a series of original photographs of these otherworldly "bad luck rocks" with facsimiles of intimate, oddly entertaining letters from the park's archives."

Book of they day > Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston. Published by University of Mississippi. "The Beautiful Mysterious: The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston is an examination of the life and work of the artist widely considered to be the father of color photography. William Eggleston was born in 1939 and grew up in the Mississippi Delta town of Sumner. His innovative 1976 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York helped establish color photography as an artistic medium and has inspired photographers and artists around the world. Edited by Ann J. Abadie, the catalog contains fifty-five Eggleston photographs, thirty-six that were featured in The Beautiful Mysterious exhibition at the University of Mississippi Museum from September 2016 to February 2017. Eggleston’s longtime friend William Ferris, a celebrated folklorist, donated all the photographs to the Museum. The photographs range from 1962 into the 1980s, representing each of Eggleston’s projects during that time. Some of the photographs are inscribed with Eggleston’s rare handwritten notes about location, people, dates, and projects. Eight of Eggleston’s early dye transfers are in the collection. Many of these works had not been on public display before this exhibition, including black-and-white images that are unique-copy single prints. This is a penetrating examination of the influence of the Mississippi Delta and the American South on Eggleston’s work and of Eggleston’s influence on photography and other creative fields."

Book of the Day > Toilet Paper 17. Published by Damiani. “Toilet Paper is an artists' magazine created and produced by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, born out of a passion or obsession they both cultivate: images. The magazine contains no text; each picture springs from an idea, often simple, and through a complex orchestration of people it becomes the materialization of the artists' mental outbursts. Since the first issue in June 2010, Toilet Paper has created a world that displays ambiguous narratives and a troubling imagination.”

Book of the Day > SF Eyes. Published by Hamburger Eyes and Hat & Beard Press. "In 2001, Ray and David Potes began producing a black-and-white zine called Hamburger Eyes. Quickly gathering traction in the photo community, the photocopied booklets rapidly evolved into a monthly magazine. Quietly based in San Francisco’s Mission District, the Hamburger Eyes Photo Epicenter boasted coverage of “the continuing story of life on earth,” its maxim attracting tens of thousands of cult followers, photographers, and voyeurs from around the world. Nearly two decades later, Hamburger Eyes has produced hundreds of issues and exhibited thousands of photographs in galleries across the US, Europe, and Asia. As the magazine developed into a haven for lovers of analog and print, the city surrounding its production was rapidly changing. The bastion of art and activism watched as housing markets skyrocketed. Big tech—the new gold rush—had come to change the character of the streets themselves. While the magazine has always revealed an aesthetic narrative from page to page and photographers have previewed and exhibited their own projects within them, this book will be the first publication to hone the focus of its large catalog on one point, the city that helped to establish it. Featuring contributions from Chris Beale, Jason Roberts Dobrin, Troy Holden, Kappy, Dylan Maddux, Alex Martinez, Mark Murrmann, David and Ray Potes, Ted Pushinsky, David Root, Andrea Sonnenberg, Stefan Simikich, David Uzzardi, Tobin Yelland, and many more, Hat & Beard Press brings to you SF Eyes: The Continuing Story of Life, Loss, Tragedy, and Triumph in the City of San Francisco as Captured by the All-Seeing Lens of Hamburger Eyes Photography Magazine. This installment in the Hamburger Eyes canon chronicles San Francisco life and culture—what it is, what it was, and why it matters—from the beginning of the turn of the new century."

Book of the Day > Twenty-Five Bootleg 8-Tracks. Published by Sound Unseen.