What Does Your Coffee Table Say About You?

See the latest issue of Briefings at newsstands or read in our new format here.

They are one of the few decorative items that communicate their owner’s aesthetic as well as interests and values. With their thick, glossy pages, coffee table books carry both physical and symbolic heft. Do you have a stack of architecture tomes, pop culture chronologies, or pages upon pages featuring the world’s most vivid natural scenes? The topics and storytelling mediums are infinite, but the best coffee table books feature some combination of arresting photography; stories of fascinating people, places and periods; or practical, bite-size takeaways that readers can implement with little more than a glance. Make a statement in your living room with Briefings’ roundup of interesting and beautiful coffee table collectors.

200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World

In this chronicle of female empowerment, 200 women from around the world, including Jane Goodall, Dolores Huerta, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, answer the same five questions.

My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals: Portraits, Interviews, and Recipes

By Melanie Dunea

If you’re looking for food inspiration, look no further than a compilation of what the world’s most famous chefs would eat for their final meal.

​​The Secret Teachings of All Ages

By Manly P. Hall

First published in 1928, this encyclopedia of mythology, symbolism, ritual, and, most intriguing, mystery, stands the test of time.

I Can Make You Feel Good

By Tyler Mitchell

Through documentary reporting, fashion photography, and artistic expression, the book’s author presents, in his words, a visualization of “Black people as free, expressive, effortless, and sensitive.”

Some People Think I’m a Shoe!

By Stan Smith

The story of the Adidas sneaker named after the former world No. 1 tennis player Stan Smith, which after 50 years remains a global icon of cool.