Hive5: Coffee Table Books That Reveal Your Soul - Stylehive

by Lisanne Silverman • Sep 18, 2007 10:03 AM PDT

Hive5s

Coffee table books are picture books for grown-ups. So does your side table paint you as an intense Where the Wild Things Are kind of grown-up, or more of an artsy-heartsy Olivia type of older person?

Here is a selection of really heavy illustrated books that may do both, or neither. Depending on your soul, of course.

Hive5: Coffee Table Books That Reveal Your Soul

#1 In VOGUE by Alberto Oliva and Norberto Angeletti

Replace that old stack of Vogues with this glossy hardcover that is sure to become your favorite history book. Browse through the beautiful photographs and essays on the designers, editors, models, photographers, and icons that made Vogue perhaps the most essential accessory of all.
Where In The Hive: bookmark/67424

#2 Hip Hotels by Herbert Ypma

Why settle for travel books when you can have the travel bible? Ypma has selected the top luxury hotels throughout the world, and there€™s not a Hilton among them. It€™s complete with 1000 gorgeous color photographs, so take some time off and escape for a few pages.
Where In The Hive: bookmark/228325

#3 The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker by Robert Mankoff

I spent hours in Barnes and Noble one day just flipping through this book, and its clearly the hardcover equivalent of a Lay€™s potato chip because one cartoon was definitely not enough. We all know you don't really read the articles in the magazine anyway!
Where In The Hive: bookmark/228327

#4 The Seven Sins of Chocolate by Laurent Schott

Part cookbook, part art, and all decadence- this book may never see my kitchen, but the aesthetic value of the photographs are sure to render it a permanent fixture on my coffee table. If I had one.
Where In The Hive: bookmark/228326

#5 The Coffee Table Coffee Table Book

Okay, so the book makes no reference to the fact that Kramer thought of it first, but it€™s still pretty funny nonetheless. The book itself is filled with pictures of- you guessed it- coffee tables, but any interior design/Seinfeld enthusiast will appreciate it.
Where In The Hive: bookmark/228330

What's on your coffee table? Tell me in comments!