Coffee table books...

[ByeByeLilSebastian]

Just got a lovely new coffee table and now I need some books for it, you know the type you can pick up and put down, interesting facts etc.

What are your favourites?

Do you know I love being given coffee table books and also giving them as presents but I hardly ever get round to reading them beyond I quick skim through when I get them. It makes me feel guilty and also think why on earth do I give them as presents if that's what I do? The idea is so appealing but they just become part of the furniture. My favourites are my art ones especially one dh bought for me on Valentine's Day about 25 years ago on Western Architecture. I'm looking for one about a history of photography but haven't found one yet. Album cover ones and aerial photographs seem to go down well with presents. Sorry to ramble on and I haven't been very helpful or specific.

That's ok tobee, I quite agree with your ramble. I'm the same really but I enjoy the non commitment of them, I don't feel obliged to read it all the way through once I've started.
I feel like a bit of a rebel with them

I used to want them to pose around my room, choosing the most obscure artists I could find to hope to look cool. Obviously, I've long grown out of that....

You need this one - beautiful photographs, each one of something slightly larger than the one before. If I remember correctly the first one is a gold atom, and the last is a galaxy (or another space-massive thing).

National Geographic: Photographs. One of my favourites to pick up and peruse.

I also love my Herb Ritts books - beautiful photography, capturing the 90's. Probably outdated but I like them.

Infographic books are wonderful for coffee tables, or maps. I have a couple about London that are great for dipping into.

Lonely planet does a few books along the lines of 1000 best holiday destinations before you die. I sometimes browse through these to get a few ideas for holidays, or simply dream about places I will never go to!

I rarely buy coffee-table books, but I was just looking at a Taschen catalogue, and they have some gorgeous ones.

And for fun tidbits, I used to have out a book of a timeline of feminist history.