The gifts you love to give and, even better, the gifts you love to receive. Here is your complete guide to the best coffee table books this year has to offer.
Walking into a house with no art or décor can feel quite dreary or bare. Art has a way of making the room your own and can be served as an inspiration to others. I recently watched the show “The Crown,” and I noticed how the Queen draws her guests in by discussing the art on her walls or individual pieces of décor that hold significance.
However, as 2020 rolls around, we are definitely not strolling through Buckingham Palace with the Queen of England staring at Renaissance paintings by the most generous artists in history. However, by having coffee table books that have art, and art in the broadest terms, you can invite your guests like the Queen of England would to a conversation about what the books have to hold, such as:
On History
History coffee table books are great for those history junkies that are ready to spark up a conversation with facts about our most significant wars, tactics, and rulers worldwide with a flip of a page. Just as Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” In learning about our history, we allow ourselves to feel deeply connected to our world and humanity.
Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives
The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Silk Roads
Great Maps: The World’s Masterpieces Explored and Explained
Remarkable Books: The World’s Most Significant and Historic Works
On Photography
Photography coffee table books serve the same purpose and tone as the art of your walls would. Who took this photo? What about this photographer is he/she remembered for? What other images are they famous for? As the host, you have become knowledgeable about so much information by just having a book with some of the most famous photographs in history. You do not need to be the Queen of England to look like you know what you’re doing; now you can impress your guests with a mere book that lies on your coffee table.
Peter Lindbergh: A Different Vision on Fashion Photography
Don McCullin: The New Definitive Edition
Misao, The Big Mama And Fukumaru The Cat Goodbye Hello
Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits: Stories and Techniques from a Photographer’s Photographer
Resident Dog: Incredible Homes and the Dogs That Live There
On Music
Nothing quite captures the soul like music. We listen to music all the time, but we never see or feel any tangible form of song and dance. Well, now you can, as a big book of rhythm has been formatted into the physical form. Musical coffee table books can teach about your favorite artists, their lives, the purpose behind the songs, and how it all looked behind closed doors. Maybe you’ll see intimate never before seen photos that will surely impress you and whoever you have sitting next to you.
The Rise of David Bowie, 1972-1973
Contact High: A Visual History of Hip Hop
On Art
Art inspired coffee table books are extremely fun and informing. Learning about the most significant works in history alongside their artists in the form of a big giant book is way less daunting than an AP art class. No teachers, no tests, just only you and the art. Interpret the craft in all ways possible and ask your friends and guests what they think. These conversations are what the human spirit thrives on and are much more fulfilling than small talk and gossip.
Artists: Their Lives and Works
The Age of French Impressionism
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
Paintings and Sculpture at The MoMa
On Traveling
Traveling coffee table books are way too exciting. Open one book up, and you are your guests will be planning your next vacation before you know it. If you can’t travel, or if you’re working from home and dreaming of a Covid-less future like the rest of us, open a coffee table book on traveling and escape into the photos. Perhaps one day, you’ll be sitting on those mountains or that island, remembering the day you were inspired to travel there because of the moment you read about why you should go.
The Bucket List: Places to Find Peace and Quiet
Destinations of a Lifetime: 225 of the World’s Most Amazing Places
Overview: A New Perspective of Earth
On Culture
Culture inspired coffee table books are great for expanding your knowledge to cultures outside of your own. If we all settled within our cultures and never attempted to venture out, the world would not be the melting pot of assimilation that it is today. There is a reason behind each and every culture, and who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to change the way you have been doing things all your life in exchange for something that makes your heart beat faster and smile larger than it would have before.
Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home with Books
Tiny House: Live Small, Dream Big
Delicious Places: New Food Culture, Restaurants, and Interior
On Fashion
Fashion house coffee table books are nothing shorter than fabulous. After taking a Fashion & Power course at NYU, I learned that fashion is sadly an undervalued and understudied piece of our world knowledge. To my surprise, many people, especially historians, chose to see the fashion world as not worth studying. Boy, are they wrong. As I researched the top coffee table books in general, the most searched on google seemed to be strictly about fashion. There is so much to be learned and inspired from when it comes to couture. Many of us want to know why we put on the clothes we decide to wear every day and who/what is the inspiration behind it.
Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style
On Architecture
If you must know, architecture coffee books are my absolute favorite. I am passionate about interior design and architecture and love to be inspired by how others built the places they dwell in and why. Learning about how homes are made, from a simple sketch that somehow leads into a modern skyscraper, is pretty cool if you ask me. If you live in an apartment, have you ever wondered why something is built a certain way or angled different, there is a reason for everything. By seeing all of the many different architectural styles, maybe you’ll be inspired to design your own home, or perhaps take a visit to some of the houses that have caught your eyes.
Nicole Hollis: Curated Interiors
Designing Hollywood Homes: Movie Houses
More Than Just a House: At Home With Collectors and Creators
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Houses
It is impressive what coffee table books can do not only for your home but also, more importantly, for your soul. You learn something new as you flip these giant glossy pages and find something profound and inspiring in every picture they hold. Coffee table books, for me, are an art form because of their remarkable ability to teach adults in a way that makes it enjoyable rather than dull. Your guest will leave satisfied deep within, because who doesn’t love filling their brain with beauty and knowledge about the world around and before them.
P.S. If you’re thinking about where you should place your special books, try browsing our coffee table guide here!
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