A collection of suitable coffee table books is often a neglected piece of the modern abode. The casual read provides a good dose of worldly enculturation and inspires conversation when proudly displayed in a living area. And if you’re trying to win the heart of your guests, sophistication is key. You’re not doing yourself any favours if your coffee table is stacked with dirty cups and Target catalogues.
15 Best Coffee Table Books for Men
A hardcover book with captivating images goes a long long way. Here are some of our favourite coffee table books.
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1. The Monocle Guide to Better Living
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? The Monocle Guide to Better Living is the stepping stone to a better you with an emphasis on how to live your life better, discover your true passion in life and find your fashion sense (it’s there, you just need to look for it). Gain instant substance in 400 pages.
Author: Andrew Tuch
Publisher: gestalten
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Price: $49+
2. The Ride 2nd Gear: New Custom Motorcycles and Their Builders
Bad boys are back, baby, and if your particular brand of roguish charms lies with motorcycles, then The Ride 2nd Gear: New Custom Motorcycles and their Builders is your guide to impress. This book talks about the rebirth of the 1960s motorcycle movement where bikes expressed your individuality and made a statement. Between these pages, you find the means to create a beast.
Author: Chris Hunter
Publisher: Gestalten
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Price: $68.00
3. Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Been
You might identify Pharrell as the singer of that song you couldn’t escape this entire summer, but what Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Been reveals his incredible reach and diversity in his endeavours. Pharrell is a performer, producer and has designed for every product category. Learning more about he has successfully branched out, teaches you how to seek multiple opportunities and inspires you to act.
Author: Pharrell Williams
Publisher: Rizzoli
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 248 pages
Price: $55.00
4. Velo-2nd Gear: Bicycle Culture and Style
Riding bicycles has grown and graduated from its infancy in suburbia to an ever-evolving and vibrant culture with multiple faces all around the world. Join the big boy club with Velo-2nd Gear: Bicycle Culture and Stories – your guide to cycling around the world. The book not only introduces you to bike messenger races at night and historical biking paths but gives you the tools to pedal through your personal journey to self-discovery one hill at a time.
Author: Sven Ehmann (Editor), R. Klanten (Editor)
Published: 1st March 2016
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Price: $33.38
5. The Design Book
We live in a culture that praise beauty and human civilization strives to marry functionality with a high aesthetic. The Design Book introduces you to 500 striking products that have had a hand in changing the course of modern product design. Trust us, with this little beauty in your pocket, you have 500 new ways to impress those around you – the best currency to have.
Author: Editors of Phaidon (Editor)
Publisher: Phaidon Press; 1st edition (8 September 2020)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 544
Price: $23.07+
6. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful
Bring your swim trunks, because you’re going to the mythical beach populated with the most beautiful women in the world. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful brings you all the swimsuit issue covers, special outtakes, body painting and a detailed history of the world phenomenon that has served as the sexual awakening of young boys for half a century. Just be careful not to get a sunburn.
Author: The Editors of Sports Illustrated
Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA; 1st edition (26 November 2013)
Format: Hardcover, Spiral-bound
Pages: 304 pages (hardcover)
Price: $189.54
7. Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles
Nothing makes a man hotter than knowing their typeface. The Arial and Arial Bold jokes are clichés, boy. Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles and woo your significant other with intimate knowledge of typeface history, because it’s not about what you have to say anymore but how you’re going to spell it out. The prettier the better.
Author: Alston W. Purvis, Jan Tholenaar
Publisher: TASCHEN; Main edition (6 August 2017)
Format: Paperback, Hardcover
Pages: 720
Price: $88.25+
8. Dian Hanson’s Butt Book
The female body has been the subject of lengthy and detailed sexual exploration and can you blame humanity, it’s perfect. Take your knowledge of the female erotic anatomy with the Dian Hansons Butt Book, Big Book of Pussy, Big Book of Legs & Big Book of Breasts 3-D – its sex appeal in every shape, size and skin colour. Celebrate sexuality with high production value and colours that pop a lot of things.
Author: Dian Hanson
Publisher: TASCHEN; Main edition (6 April 2018)
Format: Paperback, Hardcover
Pages: 512
Price: $74.78
9. 1000 Tattoos
We’ve covered motorcycles and beards. Now it’s time to get you some killer ink, brother, and 1000 Tattoos is your introduction into the manliest of all forms of self-expression. Pick the designs that speak to you and learn a few things about how tattoos have become the sexiest of all accessories.
Author: Frederic Claquin
Publisher: Rizzoli International (1 November 2018)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Price: $20.35
10. The Art of Clean Up
In your path to becoming a better man, we’ve covered your personal presentation, but now it’s time to transform your bachelor pad with The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy. The book is part poking humour at uber-organized individuals and part guide to organizing your own life, which is something to invest in. After all, every woman judges a man by his crib.
Author: Ursus Wehrli
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 48
Price: $72.68
11. The Art of The Muscle Car: Collectors Edition
If motorcycles are not your thing, then you can unleash your speed demon with The Art of The Muscle Car: Collectors Edition – the book that details the history of the muscle car. You’re treated to photos so realistic you could almost jump behind the wheel and speed off and essays – well, love letters really – that describe their individual characteristics and their rise to prominence. You never know, maybe one day you’ll impress the right person with your detailed knowledge of the Buick GSX.
Author: David Newhardt (Author), Peter Harholdt (Photographer), Brock Yates (Foreword)
Publisher: MOTOR BOOKS INTERNATIONAL; Collector’s ed. edition (12 August 2013)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 240 pages
Price: $142.08
12. 100 All-Time Favourite Movies of the 20th Century
Watching Michael Bay might score you points with your bros, but countless explosions are not all that impressive if you’re trying to charm a pretty girl with taste. TASCHEN’s 100 All-Time Favorite Movies gives you the skinny on 100 iconic movies that span time and genre with a summary, behind-the-scenes stories and trivia that will impress every woman in sight.
Author: Jürgen Müller (Editor)
Publisher: TASCHEN (15th July 2015)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 832
Price: $30.75
13. Luxury Toys For Men: Ultimate Collection
While no one expects all the products in Luxury Toys For Men: Ultimate Collection to wind up on your Amazon wish list, this book tells people the following about you – 1) you have good taste, and 2) you have ambition. Sure you may not be Tony Stark (billionaire, playboy, philanthropist), but you aspire to be more and women respond well to that.
Publisher: teNeues; Multilingual – Illustrated edition (1 November 2014)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 301
14. This is Warhol
If you have even five of the books on this list, you’re ready to move on to advanced culture and This is Warhol turns the dial to 11. Sure, some people might look at you funny when you recite facts about Warhol’s childhood and early career, but you’ll be elected king of the hipster community under the right circumstances.
Author: Catherine Ingram (Author), Andrew Rae (Illustrator)
Publisher: Laurence King Publishing
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 80
Price: $21.25
15. Extraordinary Chickens
The question isn’t whether you should buy Extraordinary Chickens, but why you don’t have it already. You get all the chickens in the world in a handy book of HD photography and short descriptions. Think of it as a testament to your quirky humour as owning this book is very much like having a compilation of hilarious YouTube videos but only old school.
Author: Stephen Green-Armytage
Publisher: Abrams (8th April 2003)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Price: $32.25
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