+ COOKING CUTE (Perigee/Penguin Group USA, release date TBA)
You may have seen Japanese school lunches decorated like Hello Kitty or Pokemon. La Carmina "thinks outside the bento box" and brings this mad trend to an American palate. With four-color photos and anime-style illustrations by La Carmina. More...
+ TOKYO THEME RESTAURANTS (Mark Batty/Thames & Hudson, Mar 2009)
Theme restaurants are big in Japan, and no experience is complete without monster attacks, sneaky ninja waiters, or French maids that offer to clean your ears. If Tokyo is ichiban for flavors of weird, then Taipei wins "most disturbing"; where else can you pee in a Gas Chamber or eat chocolate ice cream feces? Features color photography by La Carmina. More...
+ THE COSMOS IN A CARROT (Parallax Press, Nov 2006)
Too many of us are mindless eaters, to the point that we barely notice what we shove into our mouths. It's nigh time to put down the Blackberry and eat - just eat. Carmen shows how Buddhist teachings can help us move from "scarfing on the go" to "dining in the now." More...