Two Bowdoin alumni have new books that have popped up on many lists of the top books about art and design in 2013.

The Universe Next Door contains over 100 images by Abelardo Morell ’71. These photographs, from 1986 to 2013, made up Morell’s first retrospective show in 15 years, at the Art Institute of Chicago this past summer.

Houghton Mifflin Senior Editor Deanne Smeltzer Urmy ’78 came up with the idea to publish The Best American Infographics 2013 to showcase the most clever, innovative and artistic infographics of the year. She served as editor for the book.

Another Bowdoin alum, Linda Kinstler ’13, has also taken an interest in The Best American Infographics. Writing for the New Republic, Kinstler argues that infographics need to scrutinized as much as print journalism. She interviews Gareth Cook, who curated the book’s infographics. Kinstler writes, “…Cook hand-picked the year’s best infographics — the ones that make the viewer think, smile, laugh, and maybe pause with wonder or consternation.” Cook explains to Kinstler “what makes a good infographic (and why some are so bad), why we find ourselves again in the midst of an information arms race, and why Napoleon deserves some credit for the development of the medium.”