Ettore Sottsass by Philippe Thomé, $150 from
phaidon.com
The 1980s movement Memphis is back in a big way. Ettore Sottsass is the founder of the group and face of the style—a wildly rambunctious, colorful, and geometric sensibility that was the complete opposite of stuffy high modernism that came before it. ""When I was young, all we ever heard about was functionalism, functionalism, functionalism. It’s not enough. Design should also be sensual and exciting," he once said. This book from Phaidon offers a chronological look at the influential designer's oeuvre. (Design curator Ambra Medda is a fan, as well.)