Should it be cooking? Boating? Fashion?
October 4, 2014 7:43 AM Subscribe
Can you recommend a beautiful coffee-table book?
I'd like to buy a gorgeous coffee-table type book for my sister's birthday. She's recently redone her kitchen and living room area, so I think she'd appreciate a heavy tome to flip through while sitting in her fancy new digs. However, I never buy this type of thing and the choices out there are proving to be overwhelming. Perhaps you have a recommendation?
She likes entertaining, eclectic fashion (always looks great, buys most of her clothes at the thrift store), cooking, gardening, reading fiction, music taste is all over the place (from 1980s hip hop to contemporary country music). She's in her early 40s, but a very hip, fun loving early 40s. Her kids are grown, she and her husband like boating and RVing and hope to retire young and RV all over North America. She and her husband do a lot of their own home improvement work.
I'd spend up to about $100, maybe more if the book was extra-super-special.
I'd like to buy a gorgeous coffee-table type book for my sister's birthday. She's recently redone her kitchen and living room area, so I think she'd appreciate a heavy tome to flip through while sitting in her fancy new digs. However, I never buy this type of thing and the choices out there are proving to be overwhelming. Perhaps you have a recommendation?
She likes entertaining, eclectic fashion (always looks great, buys most of her clothes at the thrift store), cooking, gardening, reading fiction, music taste is all over the place (from 1980s hip hop to contemporary country music). She's in her early 40s, but a very hip, fun loving early 40s. Her kids are grown, she and her husband like boating and RVing and hope to retire young and RV all over North America. She and her husband do a lot of their own home improvement work.
I'd spend up to about $100, maybe more if the book was extra-super-special.
I suggest the cookbook Fäviken by Magnus Nilsson. Its also about probably the best restaurant in the world. I bought it for a friend's birthday on looks alone, I know nothing of cookbooks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0714864706?pc_redir=1411891302&robot_redir=1
posted by Ironmouth at 7:52 AM on October 4, 2014
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0714864706?pc_redir=1411891302&robot_redir=1
posted by Ironmouth at 7:52 AM on October 4, 2014
Best answer: Wander through Wink books. Their main criteria for reviews is that the book couldn't possibly work as an ebook. They have a coffee table section.
posted by sevenless at 7:55 AM on October 4, 2014
posted by sevenless at 7:55 AM on October 4, 2014
google informs me that the same metropolitan museum of art as in maggiemaggie's comment offers something called "the big new yorker book of cats" and it has five stars. there is also "the complete book of cats in the sun" by the eponysterical hans silvester, and many other similar products on amazon.
posted by bruce at 8:26 AM on October 4, 2014
posted by bruce at 8:26 AM on October 4, 2014
Cooking: Under Pressure by Thomas Keller or Modernist Cuisine at Home. Both gorgeous. Plus: recipes!
posted by supercres at 8:43 AM on October 4, 2014
posted by supercres at 8:43 AM on October 4, 2014
Virtually anything from Phaidon would fit the bill.
A Day at elBulli is fascinating. Kevyn Aucoin's Making Faces--oldie but a goodie.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:46 AM on October 4, 2014
A Day at elBulli is fascinating. Kevyn Aucoin's Making Faces--oldie but a goodie.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:46 AM on October 4, 2014
Quite enjoying Eames Design, the catalog of the projects of the Eameses mid-century works. It's lovely in how it treats their output uniformly, whether it is a film about tops, dorm room furniture or a Worlds Fair pavillion. It's arranged on a timeline that spans the whole book, giving a real sense of their career together the the way their studio operated. Ray Eames helped put it together in the 80s, so it's also and inside view, plus a part of that last phase of book design before digital layout took over.
posted by bendybendy at 10:27 AM on October 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bendybendy at 10:27 AM on October 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
For a more out-there gift, how about Treehouses? It's published by Taschen, I have it, and it's huge and gorgeous.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 10:33 AM on October 4, 2014
posted by lollymccatburglar at 10:33 AM on October 4, 2014
Best answer: How about something related to travel in the US? They can dream and plot about their upcoming trips on the RV. These might not be the most stunning coffee table books, but maybe she'd get some nice use out of them:
The Most Scenic Drives in America
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
The National Parks: Our American Landscape
Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting
posted by barnone at 10:47 AM on October 4, 2014
The Most Scenic Drives in America
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
The National Parks: Our American Landscape
Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting
posted by barnone at 10:47 AM on October 4, 2014
I bought Phaidon's The Art Museum as a gift a couple of years ago and I was so sad to give it away I had to buy one for my own living room. It is a gorgeous, big book filled with art all the way back from cave art and up to modern times. Can't go wrong with this one.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 11:44 AM on October 4, 2014
posted by CrazyLemonade at 11:44 AM on October 4, 2014
If you can find it within your budget (or care to splurge a little), this is another Eames book I'd recommend.
posted by a halcyon day at 12:54 PM on October 4, 2014
posted by a halcyon day at 12:54 PM on October 4, 2014
Best answer: Ooooo.... The Selby is in Your Place. There's also Edible Selby and Fashionable Selby.
posted by jrobin276 at 1:26 PM on October 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by jrobin276 at 1:26 PM on October 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: All great answers, thanks. I'm going to get her the Selby, I can see her loving those images. I'm also going to get her the Most Scenic Drives in America to help plan her next trip. And....as a bonus I'm going to get my god daughter one of the children's books from Wink, The Hole. Let the ordering commence....
posted by Cuke at 4:57 PM on October 4, 2014
posted by Cuke at 4:57 PM on October 4, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
Currently my favorite is Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty from the exhibit at the Metropolitan museum of Art a few years ago, but I love Alexander McQueen so much.
posted by maggiemaggie at 7:47 AM on October 4, 2014 [1 favorite]