Coffee Table Must-Haves in Celebration of Book Lover’s Day

National Book Lover’s Day is August 9th, and I’m planning to spend most of my time planted on the couch with a good book!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of coffee table books, and I’ve been mixing things up recently! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for gorgeous photography albums (or even those “books” that are secretly little boxes), but I’ve recently been trying to include a broader variety, and I’ve found a few new favorites along the way!

And while I’m certainly excited to share my specific must-haves, I’ve ordered this list in a way that I hope will inspire you to find a few of your own new favorites, too!

In my opinion, a coffee table’s library just isn’t complete without one of the following:

A Visual Volume

The classic coffee table book is big, bold, and highly visual. It’s easy on the eyes while you enjoy a nice cup of coffee or tea.

For something that fits the bill, I love TASCHEN books. You can find well-crafted volumes on any subject you love. For my coffee table, I’m partial to the fine art-related books, as those are (obviously) heavily visual. This makes it super easy for my guests to flip through and enjoy, even if they’re only visiting the couch for a short time.

I’ve recently been diving into Frida Kahlo. The Complete Paintings. The book is a work of art itself, and it has that satisfying “coffee-table weight” with over 600 pages!

Not an art fan? Check out their fashion and film books!

A History Buff Beauty

A great conversation starter and an intellectually stimulating addition to your space, a book rooted in history is a great coffee table topper!

Of course, you can go any way you like with this one. Go ahead and get uber specific on a topic that’s always interested you! Alternatively, you can grab a volume that lets you get a broader view on the scope of history.

Personally, I’ve been loving 1000 Events that Shaped the World from National Geographic. It’s an incredible collection of time periods that shows just how interconnected our historical events truly are. Because this book is categorized chronologically, you get a great sense of what was happening during a certain era all over the world in easy-to-read, bite-sized descriptions. (Did you know the Oregon Trail and the fax machine were invented simultaneously? Me neither!)

The Latest in Fiction

I’m a huge fan of Book of the Month for this type of thing. There’s something truly satisfying about seeing a little stack of the pretty books I’ve seen all over Instagram on my coffee table. (Looking for recommendations? Check out The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or People We Meet on Vacation. They’re my two most recent reads, and I loved them both!)

The “Try Not to Laugh” Read

I was never one for comic books growing up, but Strange Planet by Nathan Pyle has found a happy medium between the old-school style and modern-day memes to give readers a relatable – but hilarious – picture of everyday life through adorable characters living on a very “strange planet.”

While it looks like a book for younger audiences, so many of my friends and family have cracked it open only to spend the next fifteen minutes flipping through the pages and laughing.

What are some of your favorite coffee table books? I’m always on the lookout, leave them in the comments below!