25 Amazing Coffee Table Books to Display in Your Home

We all need a little escape to white sand, sunshine, and beautiful waves during these trying times. This June 2021 release hits the spot with its cinematic photos of tranquil seas, cerulean blue skies, foaming crests, and craggy coastlines galore.

Kaplan’s stunning drone photography will have you looking at California, Hawaii, French Polynesia, the Amalfi Coast, and many other locales like never before.

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We all deserve 10,000 perfect weekends traveling around the globe, especially once the pandemic is behind us. Knock the first 1,000 off of your list with this guide to global adventures in places like small-town jewels, remote Shangri-La, and beach getaways under the sage wing of Nat Geo travel writer Allyson Johnson, along with many other knowledgeable contributors.

Ski enthusiasts, be sure to check out the brand’s 100 Slopes of a Lifetime.

Whether you feel like you’ve been trapped indoors for far too long in search of a solid mental break or are simply gifting this coffee table book to your outdoorsy pal, this volume of outdoor photography with beautiful, reflective narration from Fox (who’s also the photographer), will leave you in awe of this tiny blue planet — and looking at nature with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of connection.

With a foreword by glitterati giant Jay McInerney, this tome is considered a “love letter to the East End.” We’re swooning for this black-and-white tribute to one of the most beautiful slivers of New York state.

With 120 photographs from Cristophe von Hohenberg — known for his best-selling book of photos of A-listers at Andy Warhol's funeral and wild nights captured at Studio 54 — you’ll come away with a whole new appreciation for life at the beach.

Attention, movie buffs: This one is for you. This coffee table book is an exquisite atlas of sorts, with illustrations showing off characters from King Kong, The Shining, Star Trek, and The Princess Bride, among others. Each cartographic portrait from DeGraff is accompanied by an equally compelling essay from Jameson on the geographic terrain of each flick.

Our two favorites in the anthology? Fargo and Jurassic Park, both of which will have you itching to give them a rewatch, pronto.

This collection “of retro, mind-bending photography” is juxtaposed by thought-provoking text that places you in the middle of the intrepid wanderings of mountaineers Twomey (a glacier geologist and photographer who died in a helicopter crash in 1997), Morrow (a photographer and filmmaker), and Schmidt (a writer and photographer), who spent spring and fall for more than a decade in the vast American desert.

Come the last page of this beauty, you’ll feel like the Kodachrome film took you on a spiritual journey to one of the most enchanted places on Earth.

As you leaf through this volume in Detroit native and portrait artist Mario Moore’s capable hands, the 2021 release feels more timely than ever.

In his role as a fellow at Princeton in 2018, the artist embarked on a journey of creating sketches, drawings, etchings, and arresting paintings of Black men and women in blue-collar jobs near campus. The rapport between artist and subject in each piece of art is sensible, and we’re already looking forward to his next artbook.

This three-pound book is but a fraction of what these giant creatures weigh, but this coffee table book certainly does a stellar job at capturing their essence.

Within, you’ll get to know North America’s largest land carnivores through intimate snapshots of black, grizzly, and polar bears. While Marriott’s photos grab your eyes, Elmeligi’s words will make a uniformly strong imprint on your mind.

An astrologer guiding you through life with friends, family, and colleagues? You’ll definitely flip through this one regularly for insights and counsel on our star-crossed lives. With intriguing illustrations throughout, get ready to gaze down to look up and into what the future holds.

This foil-lettered cover reminds any passerby to, well, do what makes them happy. But the contents are worthy of that message: a collection of advice from hundreds of female leaders, learnings from their biographies, words of lasting interest, and inspiring stories on themes like self-love, living fearlessly, and embracing change.

Some of the women featured in the book include social entrepreneur Miki Agrawal, environmental activist Lauren Singer, and founder of the nonprofit Oceanic Global, Lea d’Auriol.

Talk about a powdery page-turner. Here, Zizka shows you the majestic North American mountain range with arresting aerial photos. Sunsets, sunrises, and turquoise lakes never looked so awe-inspiring.

This coffee table book’s images feel timeless, yet more urgent than ever in these turbulent times. The healing power of nature is palpable, even from the page.

This book is a must-have for Marvel fans. It includes a foreword from celebrated comic book artist Jim Lee and contains more than 80 years of comic history in its pages: We’re talking 1,200-plus profiles of heroes and villains! It's perfect for perusing between endless Zoom calls for a jolt of creativity or for having an in-depth reading session on a rainy day.

Translate your obsession with the paranormal and ghost shows on Discovery+ into your new favorite read.

This pop culture history of ghosts weaves a sweeping narrative, from ancient times to modern-day paranormal seekers, with fun illustrations, primary sourced documents, expert insights, and eyewitness interviews throughout. Good luck being a skeptic when you’re done!

Inside this 200-plus-page book of portrait photography, you’ll learn the stories and study the faces of everyone from an 89-year-old homeless man desperate to make it through each day to a man who’s spent the past 40 years building a 10,000-square-foot nuclear fallout shelter. We predict you’ll read this one in one sitting.

With poetic words from Richard Cohn and soul-piercing illustrations from Rassouli, get ready to be swept away into a dreamy world. The stirring words and images will pierce your heartstrings and remind you of the strength of love. File this coffee table book away in your back pocket of ideas if you’re looking for a thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift, too.

Combine your love of food and design into one gorgeous package with this coffee table cookbook. Artist and architectural historian Esther Choi uses food to riff off masterworks by famous architects and artists in a playful collection that will be sure to spark conversation.

If the color story on this cover doesn't immediately make you exhale deeply, the 100-plus gardens inside it most definitely will. With a detailed exploration of the art and science of Japanese gardens, this is the perfect book for gardeners, architecture enthusiasts, and art lovers of all stripes.

Those of us who spent hours with Where's Waldo and I Spy books as kids will be delighted to discover this gorgeous adult version. Not only does it look whimsical on your table, but it's also a great tool to de-stress after a long day.

Fans of the iconic filmmaker Wes Anderson can explore the striking destinations that captured his imagination in this colorful travelogue. It spans the globe with offbeat discoveries and fresh takes on attractions to help spark your own travel aspirations.

Grab a snack before paging through this stylish and educational cookbook that features recipes and interviews with grandmothers from eight African countries. Whether you try your hand at the 75 recipes or just immerse yourself in their stories, it's a wonderful addition to any table.

Yes, it's a cookbook. But it's also beautiful enough that you might just catch yourself paging through it, admiring the gorgeous art and thoughtful interviews with food experts like Alice Waters and Tauba Auerbach.

Travel the weird, wonderful, and most obscure corners of the world right from your couch with this guide to curious and unusual destinations. If you're not booking tickets somewhere by the last page, you're made of stronger stuff than we are.

Kwame Brathwaite used his photography to spread the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” through the late 1950s and 1960s. And now, you can page through his remarkable work in one stunning monograph.

For the kicks collector in your life, this droolworthy book gathers up 15 years of street-style history, factoids, and of course, gorgeous photographs of sneakers. Honestly, even if you don't collect sneakers, this book might just inspire you to start!

For those who swoon over everything related to the royal family, get your fainting couch ready for this tour of the royal residence. Designer and artist Ashley Hicks will guide you through every glorious room with descriptions and photographs that'll make you feel like you're right there in it.