Coffee Table Books: More Than a Place to Set Your Coffee Cup

Tis the season of giving, and what better way to spread the love than through the gift of a good book?! Coffee table books, usually characterized by their size and "browsability", make great offerings especially to those on your list for whom you may have trouble finding the appropriate gift. Additionally, they make thoughtful host/hostess gifts, perfect for those of us who'd rather not spend our time churning out fruitcakes. Remember, these books should act as conversation starters with many images to encourage the reader or readers to flip through the book and pick up anywhere. This is not a start-to-finish read. You may want to push the envelope a little bit with these books. Beautiful and/or shocking images will make the receiver keep coming back for more which is ideal. After all, this book could be sitting right in their living room for quite a while.

The Way We Work by David Macaulay, 2008
    
The author of the well-known The Way Things Work (1998), Maccaulay's most recent publication tackles not the outside world of inventions but the world within us: the human body! This winner of the Caldecott uses humorous illustrations to explain complex issues. Recommended for "tweens" and up, adults and big kids alike will enjoy this book and will likely actually learn something!

Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in their Homes by Kyle Cassidy, 2007
       
I used to work at a circulation desk, and this was one of the books that came through the returns all   the time (a popular read!). During breaks, I would flip through it just to be shocked by the images of everyday Americans and their guns. Wherever that hard to please person lies on the issue of gun control, they will be fascinated by the personal stories and pictures in Armed America. However, I would recommend this book for a quirky reader who doesn't mind disturbing or controversial images laying out for all to see next to the coasters.

What the World Eats, 2008 and What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets, 2010 by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel

These classics prove to be great conversation starters time and again, providing visual displays along with statistical and narrative analysis of what families and individuals eat around the world. An absorbing display of cultures' varying food relationships, you may be inspired to make better food choices on your next trip to the grocery store. Both of these books will be enjoyed by anyone on your gift list.

Strange Maps by Frank Jacobs, 2009

For the geography lover in all of us (okay, maybe not all of us, but most of my family), Strange Maps is a great departure from the gift of a traditional atlas. This collection of maps compiled by Jacobs is a result of his successful blog (should be in everyone's bored at work favorites). The maps are divided into categories including Political Parody, Cartographic Misconceptions, and Fantastic Maps. I highly recommend this book for the navigator on your list.

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos for Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge and Justin   Taylor, 2010

For book-loving hipsters of all ages, The World Made Flesh offers a visual smorgasbord of inked body parts inspired by literary classics. Though not willing to take the plunge myself, I must admit I am fascinated by what quotes and books people find worthy of making part of their flesh. You may or may not be surprised by how many Harry Potter tats are out there. Who knows? This book may provide you the inspiration for your first or next piece of body art. Check out the blog to preview before purchasing.

Anything by Shaun Tan

I love, love, love the artist/illustrator/author Shaun Tan and encourage everyone to pick up something of his for a look. Though I am most familiar with The Red Tree (2003), Tan's dark style seems to reign throughout all of his picture books. But don't be fooled by that picture book label. The subject matter is very adult, and the images are untraditional. The Red Tree approaches the topic of depression through minimal words and overwhelming painted pictures leaving you haunted long after you've set the book down.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond, 2009

You may call this selection my guilty pleasure. Ree Drummond has a blog that I started perusing after stumbling upon her cookbook at, you'll never guess, Wall Drug, the South of the Border of South Dakota, during a cross-country road trip this summer. And now that I think of it, that tourist trap had a few books I wanted to pick up including all of the Little House on the Prairie books, The Little House Cookbook, AND more than one Laura Ingalls Wilder biography. But I digress. The book is full of great recipes, but better yet, it has step-by-step photos of these recipes and final products, just like the blog. I know Drummond can be a bit sappy with all her talk of country life, husbands, and babies, BUT deep down, you know you love it. And half the fun of cookbooks is browsing the recipes and dreaming of your perfect life where you whip one of these up every day. In my opinion, certain cookbooks make great coffee table books!

The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher, 2005
       This book was gifted right in front of my very eyes last Christmas, and let me tell you, it was a hit with not only the receiver but everyone at the Christmas celebration that day. It was passed amongst all of the guests (including, yours truly!). Based on New York City, dwellers and lovers of any major city will find this a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what it takes for a major metropolitan area to keep up and running. Detailing everything from the processing of mail to the forming of potholes, The Works takes the every day and routine and makes it interesting.

*Images compliments of BarnesandNoble.com

Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden, 2001

Having spent the past few months up to my eyes in young adult and children's fiction, I desperately needed a change of genre. Lucky for me, I was recently visiting a family member whose bookshelves are stocked with seedy underworld true tales, just what I had in mind! So I stuffed my suitcase with some of his selections and headed out, excited about changing up my reading routine. As a result of my book nabbing, the stack next to my bed now includes:

• Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neil
• Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
• The Informant: A True Story...Based on a Tattle Tale by Kurt Eichenwald
• Kiling Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden

As you can see, these books are a bit of a departure from some of my previous titles ESPECIALLY Killing Pablo.

Written by Mark Bowden, a National Book Award Finalist for his work Black Hawk Down in 1999, this story was first published as a series in the Philadelphia Inquirer before it was compiled in a book. Bowden describes the rise of the infamous Columbian cocaine "outlaw" Pablo Escobar and the great struggle to finally bring him down. Fans may be happy to know a movie based on Killing Pablo is set to release in 2011, and if it remains true to the story, it will surely be stock full of extreme violence, drug use, and other bad behavior.

Killing Pablo is a true gem of narrative nonfiction. As someone who knows virtually nothing about the Colombian drug trade, or drug trading at all for that matter, I was able to understand the details of the story. One test of narrative nonfiction is its readability for the uninformed. Without a base knowledge, this genre can be daunting. You may be afraid the story will go right over your head. Popular nonfiction, the kind you see on the new nonfiction table at big bookstores, should be readable for all (something I'll be testing with future reads like Barbarians at the Gate which is steeped in business terms and jargon, a topic I know embarrassingly little about). Bowden seems to effortlessly bring you along this fast-paced and jaw-dropping story. You will be truly amazed by the numbers, whether it be the volume of cocaine imported into the United States, the amount of money Escobar had amassed, or the lives lost in the brutality. I had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the cast of characters, seeing as there were so many players involved from the cartel, law enforcement, and the Colombian AND United States governments. However, as I read on I realized keeping track of each individual was unnecessary. Bowden seems to want the reader to become overwhelmed by the size and scale of Escobar and the efforts it took to bring him down, and he effectively does so.


This is an informative book set in an almost Wild West atmosphere where anything goes and the law doesn't seem to apply. Take a break from your typical happy ending fiction and try Killing Pablo.