Coffee Table Books Make Perfect Gifts

Part 1 of post-Black Friday gift ideas

One of the few things I found amusing when I hopped online over the last few weeks was the discourse around gift guides. I think Emily Sundberg maybe started it, but I’m just guessing that because her newsletter is where most of the discussions I care about on Substack usually originate. Whatever the case, my editor's mind kicked in and I started thinking about how I didn’t want to join the chorus of posts suggesting things you should buy loved ones for the holidays, and that I’d rather wait until the most American of all holidays—Black Friday—was over to start suggesting things you could buy friends and loved ones, or possibly cop for yourself. Because the truth is that I love giving gifts, and I’ve got a whole list of things I’ll either buy for the people in my life or wish I could. Over the next few days, I’m going to post a few lists, starting with what I believe is always the best, and easiest thing to buy somebody: coffee table books.

Before I do, I’d like to point out that I’ve gotten into more than a few debates about whether or not there’s some distinction between “coffee table books” and “art books,” and the truth is that I just don’t care. You can put these on your coffee table, a shelf, or a cool stack in the corner of your living room. The point is that I think this is a nice mix of new and older books to read or just use for decoration.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Tells You They Only Wear Selvedge Or Jeans They Bought in Japan: Denim: The Fabric That Built America, 1935–1944 by Graham Marsh and Tony Nourmand.

I was expecting this to be over 200 pages of Levi’s ads, but I shouldn’t have. Graham Marsh worked on Black Ivy with Jason Jules, and I generally love everything Real Art puts out. The photos in this are incredible, as if some menswear magazine from the first-half of the 20th century had a crystal ball and realized that someday people who haven’t done a day of manual labor in their lives would fetishize the jeans and overalls their ancestors wore to the fields and factories, so they sent Walker Evans out to take shots.

Coffee Table For Your Friend Who Complains About How Much They Hate Being A Member of Soho House: The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London by Anthony Lejeune

This 1979 classic is filled with old black-and-white photos of places like The Eccentric Club and The Turf Club, and I’ve thought about going through my copy and seeing how many of the places—that certainly would have never admitted me in the first place—have been turned into fancy hotels or apartments, but it would depress me too much to find out.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Wants To Be An Influencer So They Post Pictures Of Their Vacation to Italy Months After They Went So It Looks Like They’re There Right Now: Room Service by Michael McGregor.

It’s rare you’ll catch me calling something “whimsical” or comparing it to Wes Anderson and I’m doing it as a compliment, but that’s Michael McGregor’s art. It’s whimsical because he does these fun little drawings on hotel notepads, and the Anderson thing it reminds me of is the short film he did in his The Darjeeling Limited era, Hotel Chevalier. Like Anderson, McGregor romanticizes the little details you might notice while traveling, and the things that catch his eye are usually little things the rest of us might not see the beauty in. His work brings me a lot of joy.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Isn’t Ashamed Of That Ska Phase They Went Through In High School: Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation by Daniel Rachel

First of all, that friend shouldn’t be ashamed of a damn thing. Second, I love Two-Tone and I think people should buy this book because it’s great, but also because when you put it on the top of a stack in your living room, you have an instant conversation starter. Maybe it wouldn’t technically count as a coffee table tome, but I don’t care.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Complains About How “New York Isn’t Like It Used To Be” And You Get What They Mean Even Though They’ve Only Lived Here For Four Years: The Carlyle by James Reginato

I’m not ashamed to admit I’d like to someday have a shelf filled with books about hotels. I don’t know why, but I blame Assouline for really kicking up the obsession a few years ago with this beauty. Would I want to stay in the Carlyle? I mean, I wouldn’t say no—but I also know that it ain’t fancy the way it used to be since nothing is anymore. This book reminds me of that.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Needs Book Cover Inspo: The Look of the Book Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature by Peter Mendelsund and David J. Alworth

I’ve purchased a few copies of this beauty for friends who had books coming out and they all thanked me. I felt like they needed to know what Peter Mendelsund, one of the best in the business, thought about covers. It’s also just nice to leaf through. Pure cover porn.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Got Really Into Dressing “Old Money Style” Because They Saw It On TikTok: Tina Barney by Tina Barney

They probably ran through all the Slim Aarons inspiration, so hit ‘em with the good stuff. I like to think at least one or two of the people in this book were on mood boards used by Ralph Lauren and/or Bret Easton Ellis.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Says “That’s Sexy” Whenever A Great Car Passes And You Aren’t Creeped Out Because They’re Right: The Italians: The Most Iconic Cars From Italy and Their Era by Blake Z. Rong

This one is pure dolce. The most beautiful cars ever created and the stories behind them. Also a great gift for Your Friend Who Has Lots Of Expensive Vintage Midcentury Furniture In Their Small Apartment.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend Who Puts Cookbooks On Their Coffee Table: The Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook by Alice Waters

I found a copy of this 1999 classic a few years ago, and basically anything that combines Chez Panisse with design is going to look great (go look at some of the restaurant’s famous posters if you don’t know what I mean). So when I saw one for sale at Lizzie Young Bookseller, I thought about how I really wanted to make sure I helped somebody find their way to this beauty.

Coffee Table Book For Your Friend With Excellent Taste: Nora Ephron at the Movies: A Visual Celebration of the Writer and Director Behind When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and More by Ilana Kaplan

You think I put this here because I wrote the foreword? Not moi! I put it on this list because it’s Nora Ephron and Ilana Kaplan. You can’t lose with that combo and you know at least five people that love her movies, so buy a few of these to pass around.