nope. no good architect books anywhere. sorry.

architecture record is nice

There are a ga-jillion architecture books. You'll have to narrow it down some.

AR is a good magazine but a bit corporate. I think Details magazine is pretty much kick ass. You'll have to import it somehow, its European.

I received invaluable information on how to find a delicate match between the tonal pattern of my bathroom curtains, toilet runner, and knit "bless this mess" picture above my sink from Architectural Digest, so that comes with my highest recommendation. Also looks great on your (dentist's) coffee table.

Yeah, "Architectural Digest" (or as I call it, "The Digest") is probably the #1 industry publication. It has been invaluable to my practice.

-andrew

In all seriousness, tho...

The best mags aren't at B&N, and most are european. Here are some of my fav mags/journals:

2G (spain)
El Croquis (spain)
Quaderns (spain)
A10 (germany)
Architectura Viva (spain)
AD (usa)
A+U (japan)

Amazon might have a few of these. They aren't cheap either (at least $40/issue) but they are worth it. Its like crack, only with plans and sections.

-andrew

AV Projectos is awesome too, if you read spanish...

Dwell Magazine is really good

its all about modern living and green design

Yeah detail is great, and they will give you the student rate even as a US student, just have to send them a photocopy of your student ID. I just did it this week, at that rate I can actually talk myself into buying a subscription.

to add to his list

Architecture Review (uk)

...and to be serious, I'm a big fan of Praxis, even though it seems like it never comes out

A+U is great! also JA or japan architects. they're a bit expensive tho

Metropolis is nice as well, and at a pretty decent price.

DETAIL magazine is really, really nice, as is The Plan which is fairly new.

also try the Architect's newspaper

http://www.archpaper.com/

YES...the architects newspaper is great...they just came out with a California edition...i got the 1st issue last month.

Eco-Structure

I bought a couple of numbers of A10 and it's pretty good, but it's not german, they come from Amsterdam - http://www.a10.eu/

I'm subscribed to 3 spanish magazines -and read The Architectural Review at the office- but regularly check out on-line articles from lots of other magazines - http://www.geocities.com/medit1976/links.htm

If you like contemporary residential, try Houses...its from Austrailia and some bookstores carry it. Of course, Australia's climate seems to lend itself to cool architecture...