Coffee Table Books

[literati]

I don't currently have a coffee table but if I did, I would have The Travel Book by Lonely Planet on it. It provides a glimpse of each country with brilliant pictures and interesting facts.

What do you have on your coffee table? Or what book would you want to have on it?

[am_81]

Underneath the montain of backlog magazines ( :rolleyes: ) on my coffee table, I have 100 Masterpieces in the Van Gogh Museum that my FH bought me in Amsterdam. I really want a "world travel" one, but there are so many I've seen and loved that I cant make up my mind. I love to sit in B&N and just ogle over the pictures.

[tgray99]

I have Full Moon by Michael Light.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0375406344.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Amazon.com
In Full Moon, one of the best science photography books ever published, Michael Light presents a voyage in images to the Moon and back. Light took NASA's master negatives of photos taken by Apollo astronauts and scanned them electronically. The resulting pictures are so vivid they seem more clear than real life. Light orders the photos sequentially, selecting the most arresting images from each mission, to create a truly cinematic experience. In the first section, depicting blastoff, you can almost feel the violent shaking of the rocket as it strains to escape Earth's gravity. Then you see the quiet stillness of weightlessness, the astronauts' view down at a perfectly silent Earth, boundless oceans contrasting with bright white clouds. A spacewalk adds vertigo--the astronaut looks fragile and very alone as he floats outside his capsule far above his home planet. Then comes the waiting, as the long voyage toward the Moon continues.

As you watch the cratered surface get closer and closer, you have no sense of scale until you see the miniscule silver and gold lander dropping gently to land on the Moon. Leaving the cluttered interior of the capsule in bulky, awkward suits, the astronauts bring delicate tracings of color--gold on the lander; red, white, and blue on the spacesuits' flag patches--to this black-and-white world. Five huge gatefolds in this section give you indescribable views of the intricately scarred surface of the Moon.

You return to space for the reuniting of the lander and capsule, and a repetition of the tedious journey back home. Finally, you watch a chaotic splashdown in the riot of colors that is Earth.

A nice section in the back of the book explains each photo with a detailed caption, and an essay by author Andrew Chaikin (A Man on the Moon) adds more written context to this stunning visual experience. The book is printed on very high-quality paper, with matte black frames for the photos and a gorgeous, wordless cover. Every space fan should have a copy. --Therese Littleton

I also have Miracle: A Celebration of New Life by Anne Geddes

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0740746960.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Never before have two top artists created such a multimedia work to honor the unique and steadfast bond between mother and child. Vocalist Celine Dion and photographer Anne Geddes conceived Miracle as a way to express something deep within their own hearts, and now both the experience and the outcome will delight music and visual art fans throughout the world.Miracle features more than 100 stunning new Geddes images. Each frame reflects the beauty, grace, and magic of both the photographer and her subject. Babies enfolded in blooms, mothers embracing the life flowering within: Anne's artistic eye captures it all. The exquisite images are wedded with the lyrics to all-new songs by Dion, created and performed on the book-accompanying CD in Celine's unmistakable international superstar style. It's easy to hear how her clear and melodious voice has captivated millions throughout her career. A DVD rounds out this artistic package, exploring the genesis of the Miracle project and taking its audience behind the scenes to witness the making of this memorable production. Celine's title track music video highlights the DVD.As a complement to this many-faceted experience, Sony Music will release its stand-alone Dion CD concurrent with the book's debut. AMP is delighted to play a role in bringing this important collaboration to readers and listeners, providing a crossover experience rivaled by few others. Mothers, grown children, grandmothers, friends, and gift givers everywhere will want to join this celebration of wonder.

[msnicolea]

We have two Annie Leibovitz books on ours:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0060923466.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

and

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0224072714.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Myra]

I don't like coffee tables because I'm always hitting my shin on them, but when I had one, I had Sesame Street Unpaved on it.

[msnicolea]

Myra--is that avatar supposed to be from the Office? Too funny!

[kris97]

I don't have a coffee table, but I have a table that stands behind by couch, and on its open shelf I have stacked New York: an Illustrated History (the one by Ken Burns); Vanity Fair's Hollywood, and a collection of art and poetry from the Metropolitan Museum of Art called Art and Love.

[Aimee]

I don't have any books on the coffee table, but on the shelf underneath, I have all of my Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side books stacked in an arrangement.

[MLA]

I have two coffee table books that I really love (neither of which are actually on my coffee table -- they're on other tables around the house).

Ken Burns' Jazz:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0679765395.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

and

A book about Walt Disney Concert Hall (I used to work there -- actually opened the place)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000BZEPR8.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[LaughAtlantis]

We have two Annie Leibovitz books on ours:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0060923466.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

We have that one too!!!

[Myra]

Myra--is that avatar supposed to be from the Office? Too funny!
yes, shamelessly stolen.

[twinnyme]

We have a coffeetable book about Ireland (where we went on our honeymoon) but I forget the name of it because it's currently - and chronically - buried under a couple of photo albums (which DD likes to look through) and children's puzzles! :D

[Fenway]

I want to get this book:
http://a1204.g.akamai.net/7/1204/1401/06011912011/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/10660000/10661715.jpg

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/#113371427309326993

[am_81]

Ooh, I love the Post Secret website; that would make an awesome coffeetable book.

[Fenway]

Ooh, I love the Post Secret website; that would make an awesome coffeetable book.

I just e-mailed the link to my dad with the subject line "birthday wishlist" LOL
:D

[MLA]

I've actually switched it up. Now I have the Frank Gehry book and this one on my coffee table:

http://www.simonsays.com/assets/isbn/0671024795/C_0671024795.jpg

:D

[artist]

I don't even know! I think there is a random assortment. (Under the table...there is a little shelf thing under the table and the top of the table is glass.) I thiink there are some random art books and stuff and I believe our wedding album is there too.

[Ki Ki Marcus]

I keep all the books we picked up in China on our coffee table.

[Rosebud]

We have a bunch, but this is my favorite:

http://www.a1techbooks.com/cover/5/0810938855.jpg
High Society: The Town & Country Picture Album, 1846-1996

That's the best photo I can find of the book, but it's got the most gorgeous photos inside. We also like this book a lot:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1741044510.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
The Travel Book

Oh and this one is good too. My brother is actually in one of the photos, which was an amazing surprise!
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1400042488.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Oscar Night : 75 Years of Hollywood Parties