If there’s one gift that will be kept forever, it’s most likely a book. In this 2019 holiday book gift guide, there’s something for everyone. Find glorious coffee table books, cookbook, calendars or something for the kids/ These are the absolute best books for gifts this holiday season.
Catwalk for Collectors!
Coffee Table books are a surefire hit with collectors and those who are enamored of whatever subject is the focus that particular book. Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture Catwalk with an introduction by fashion editor & critic S(Yale University Press June 2019) is one of those books.
It will knock the proverbial socks off anyone who receives it, but especially those who love fashion design, art, popular culture, models, beauty, trends, photography, and luxury. In short, just about everyone.
The large book with full-color photographs showcases the designer’s vision and collections from 1962-2002. Readers first read some history about the house of Yves Saint Laurent (fascinating!).
Then, browse through the eye-catching collections organized chronologically until the end of 2002, the year that Yves Saint Laurent retired from the company he created.
The 632-page hardcover book is 7.5 x 1.8 x 11.2 inches and weighs 5.6 lbs. Amazingly, it is just $50!
From ball gowns to classic tuxedos, what is so striking is that even when some of the designs are quirky, so many are timeless. The hair, beauty looks, and accessories so how women’s views have changed.
Even if you’re not a fashionista, the spectacular clothes, details, accessories, beauty looks, and set designs make for a cultural look at women and their clothes.
If I have to describe this as a book to love, and a great gift, in one word: Stunning! Buy the book Buy Yves Saint Laurent Catwalk.
Calendars for Lovers (Cats & Shoes):
Cats, and shoes. These are two things that if you love them, you can’t live without them.
Celebrate your love of cats, and/or shoes every day of 2020 with the deluxe Cat Page a Day 2020 Calendar (SRP. $18) and the Shoes Page a Day 2020 Calendar (SRP. $18).
Drool over the shoes of your fantasies, or feel warm and fuzzy checking out the beautiful and playful kitties all year long. The photos are always beautifully presented, actually, pretty spectacular.
Each of these welcome gifts arrives with a deluxe plastic holder (slide each big beautiful full-color page behind the next). If you wish you can also get the 365 days of cats (smaller pages in a tear-off per day version without the holder), or the 365 Days of Shoes Wall Calendar.
No matter which one you choose, these will inspire, enchant, delight and remind them (and you) of the date all 365 days of 2020.
Easy Indian Cooking:
If you are like me and love Indian cuisine but think it’s too complicated to try at home, the gift of the year will be Indian Cooking Unfolded by Raghavan Iyer.
This new book is a master class in Indian Cooking with 100 recipes using 10 ingredients or less. What I really love is that there are a lot of fold-out that show the ingredients, give a bit of a backstory on the recipe, show you how to do it, and have step by step photos.
I like the “an extra credit section” that gives you more information or different ways to approach the recipe. Most of the ingredients are the type you can find in a supermarket. For the first time ever, I felt like I really could make some of my favorite Indian dishes and they’d be great.
This is surely one of the best books for gifts for foodie friends and family.
Fashion, Culture, Camp!
Fashion and culture lovers in your life will literally drool when they see the beautiful gift book CAMP: Notes on Fashion, by Andrew Bolton published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 2019) in conjunction with their exhibit of the same name and the Yale University Press.
This very hefty 346-page hardcover book is in two parts held together with a stretchy band. Drawing from Susan Sontag’s seminal essay, this striking volume explores the meaning of camp and its expression in fashion from its origins to today.
Drawing from Susan Sontag’s seminal essay “Notes on Camp,” Book One (184 pages) on one side explores how fashion designers have (t quote the press release) “used their métier as a vehicle to engage with the camp aesthetic in compelling, humorous, and sometimes incongruous ways.”
Book Two (162 pages/179 color illustrations) features stunning new photography by Johnny Dufort highlights works by some fashion designers such as John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Franco Moschino, Miuccia Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Anna Sui, Gianni Versace, Vivienne Westwood and many more.
The most amazing thing about CAMP other than the thought-provoking content and gorgeous photos is the price: only $45 on Amazon. This impressive coffee table book is one of our picks for best books for gifts this holiday season.
For The PitMaster:
Project Smoke (the link to download or purchase) by Steven Raichen is by the author of The Barbeque Bible. But this book is a bible of smoked foods.
There are a staggering, mouthwatering 100+ recipes. Find your favorites and new faves from the tradition ribs, meats, poultry and fish, and even more unique goodies including fruits, desserts and even drinks (smoked bloody marys anyone)?
For newbies to smoking, there is plenty of excellent information on different kinds of woods to flavor, techniques, and smokers. This is a great gift idea for men or women who smoke and grill, with beautiful photos and plenty of easy to follow instructions. Paper: $22.95, Hardcover: $37.50
The ART of Women:
Most of us can remember looking through the pages of National Geographic Magazine and ogling the stunning photos that skilled photographers have captured throughout the globe,
For anyone who loves photography, women, and culture, a new (and weighty) coffee table book brings 130 years of National Geographic photos about one topic: women.
Women: The National Geographic Image Collection is a dazzling and hefty coffee table book. It features a collection of some of the most beautiful and thought-provoking photos in literally, the world.
This powerful photography collection, drawn from the celebrated National Geographic archive, reveals the lives of women from around the globe. These are accompanied by interviews and portraits of contemporary trailblazers (e.g. Oprah Winfrey, Jane Goodall, and Christiane Amanpour, Gloria Allred, Melinda Gates, and more.
The whopping 512-page 6-pound book is definitely on the list as one of the best books for gifts this holiday season.
It’s available in hardcover to cherish, forever. (buy the book on amazon).
For Downton Abbey Fans:
Downton Abbey is now a big-screen movie. What better time to gift a die-hard fan of the popular television series than with The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook, Expanded Edition: by Emily Ansara Baines (Simon & Schuster, August 2019) (buy the book for $22/49 hardcover)
Savor Lady Mary’s Crab Canapés or make a Christmas Plum Pudding. There are more than 150 Recipes from Upstairs and Downstairs. These are genuine recipes that you can make for your next tea party (or if royalty comes to call).
Inspired by food from the award-winning TV series, The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook, Expanded Edition is a glimpse of what they actually ate.
Download a copy to your kindle or get the paperback version for yourself. Enjoy the lovely photos even if you don’t make all of the recipes (or any of them).
Mrs. Patmore’s cooking might not be easy for beginners, but authentic cucumber or smoked salmon, or egg salad sandwiches are easy to make for your next tea.
Try a roasted rosemary Cornish game hen for your next “upstairs” gathering. From “downstairs,” working-class porridge makes for a hearty breakfast all will enjoy.
This makes a fab gift for any Downton Abbey fan and cookbook collector.
DIY A Crafty Garden:
The Crafty Gardener by Becca Anderson (Mango August 2019) combines the author’s love of crafting and of gardening together with DIY ideas you can make. Thr ideas are good, even if you don’t have the pleasure of having a garden of your own.
If you do, the book offers a lot of gardening tips. But what’s really great are the DIY ideas to make all sorts of oils, waters, foodstuffs, decor and more.
Be a trendsetter and make your own ginger ale, or Christmas and gift-able potpourris. make a harvest wreath. Whatever you select from this 240-page paperback book, it is such fun to try. The ideas are easy enough for beginners, interesting enough for die-hard crafters. Get this book on Amazon
For Children and Kids at Heart:
The Magic Christmas Ornament Collection By James Barbato and Victoria Barbato is for those who believe. This charming set includes a hardbound book with an ornament that’s just like the one on the cover.
Without giving away the entire story, the book tells a story about a magical ornament. It can take you to Santa’s workshop and experience the magic of Christmas.
In true Christmas spirit, a portion of all proceeds will be given to the Marine Corps’ “Toys for Tots” program.
The book alone is available for $19.95. The price of the full collection is $44.95.
While I don’t think the message that a mountain of toys in Santa’s Workshop should really be the “Spirit of Christmas” I’m sure many a child is going to be enchanted and perhaps, start a holiday tradition.
For more information, please visit magicchristmasbulb.com.
