Introducing the 2025 Book of the Night!

On September 18, 2025, at Hollywood’s iconic Chateau Marmont, we and cohosts Clare Vivier, Joe Zee, and Lawren Howell celebrated the 2025 Booktique Awards with more than 100 guests from LA’s creative community, including actors Walton Goggins and Ever Carradine, novelist Kevin Kwan, photographer Todd Selby, fashion stylist Samantha Traina, chef Annie Campbell, and talents from the worlds of design, lifestyle, and media. The winning books across 13 categories were lavishly displayed on the penthouse terrace, each styled in an intimate vignette complete with a dedicated spotlight and a custom, color-coordinated floral arrangement. Guests enjoyed cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and live piano music while exploring the books against a skyline of palm trees and a sweeping pink sunset, and all were encouraged to cast their vote for the 2025 Book of the Night.

By the time the pianist played his final jazz number, the ballot box was filled and we had heard from countless guests that it had been incredibly fun, but hard—almost impossible—to choose just one book from the dazzling array of Book of the Night candidates. In the end, it was the allure of Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden that won the most votes. Congratulations to the 2025 Book of the Night!

It was an incredibly close competition, with two runners-up just a few votes behind: Camo by Thandiwe Muriu (published by Chronicle Chroma) and LIFE. Hollywood from LIFE magazine (published by Taschen). But the star power of Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden (published by Rizzoli) was undeniable. The book beckoned from the corner of the terrace, enchanting guests with its bouquet-like cover, resplendent color photography, innovative design (featuring two different paper textures to delight your fingertips), beautifully varied range of content, and texts that are as charming as they are masterfully authoritative. This is Bunny Williams, after all, who has shaped American interior style over a decades-long career that began at the revered design firm Parish-Hadley before the launch of Bunny Williams Interior Design (now Williams Lawrence). She is also celebrated for the Bunny Williams Home Collection and recognized by Architectural Digest as an AD100 Hall of Fame honoree, as well as having published eight design books, and with legions of fans hailing her as an undisputed legend. 

Charles Miers, publisher and editorial director of Rizzoli, said of Williams’ Booktique Award win, “We are so pleased to learn of this recognition for Bunny Williams. And for Doug Turshen, the art director. Bunny had a very clear vision for celebrating her garden in book form in ways that would be educational, inspirational, and enjoyable for readers. A really stellar demonstration of bookmaking we are honored to publish and be recognized for.”

Our mission at Booktique is to help audiences discover today’s best, most inspiring visual publishing—and Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden is certainly that, and more. Congratulations to the creative teams who brought this award-winning book to life!

From the book jacket: Inviting us into her impressive grounds with charming personal anecdotes, expert advice, and creative ideas for how to bring natural elements into the home, this is a testament to Bunny Williams' love affair with the garden and woodlands surrounding her eighteenth-century manor house in Northwestern Connecticut.

A popular stop on the Garden Conservancy circuit, Williams' property boasts a parterre garden, a year-round conservatory, an extensive vegetable garden, an orchard, woodlands, an aviary with exotic fowl, and a rustic poolside Greek Revival-style folly. Each section of the garden is accompanied by a directory of featured plants—from native ferns and succulents to a wide variety of flowering specimens.

Stunning photographs—printed on two different specialty stocks—illustrate every aspect of the garden in different lights and seasons, during big parties and intimate gatherings. Throughout, the revered designer shows us how she incorporates nature in her interiors: in beautiful floral arrange-ments, unique tablescapes, and elaborate holiday vignettes—where a rescued bird's nest commands as much attention as a prized collector's item. Whether in the intentional juxtaposition of high and low or the considered placement of a garden bench to appreciate a particular view, home and garden together reflect the epitome of Bunny Williams' inimitable style.