Gift books
4. “Tasting Italy”
Foreword by Jack Bishop National Geographic, $40
America’s Test Kitchen and National Geographic team up for this spectacularly produced “culinary journey” through Italy, complete with 100 recipes for such temptations as Cacio e pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper) and Steamed Mussels with Spicy Tomato Sauce.
This handsome volume is really two books in one: a travel guidebook and a cookbook. Anyone who’s ever been to Italy – or enjoyed a bowl of pasta (isn’t that everyone?) – will sigh with pleasure over this delicious, multicourse “Tasting.”
What it’s about: What’s to love: 5. “Homebody”
By Joanna Gaines
Harper Design, $40
The HGTV/Magnolia star brings her low-key, Texas-inspired decorating style to the page in this “guide to creating spaces you never want to leave.”
What it’s about:
Fans can channel their inner Joanna by following her signature “Fixer Upper” design tips; or just sit back, relax, and enjoy peeking into the rooms on display, many from the Gaines family’s farmhouse in Waco.
6. “Marvelocity” What’s to love:
By Alex Ross and Chip Kidd Pantheon, $50
Painter Alex Ross elevates mere comics to almost mythic status, and “Marvelocity” collects his most eyepopping cinematic renderings of Spider-Man (and Spider-Woman), Captain America, the X-Men and a host of fantastical warriors.
What’s to love:
It’s Marvel’s world, and we just live in it. Any comics (or Marvel movie) fan will drool over this Marvel-ous superhero retrospective.
7. “Bibliophile”
By Jane Mount Chronicle, $24.95
What it’s about: What it’s about:
Author/illustrator Jane Mount has curated a clever and visually appealing love letter to books, assembling reading lists (short stories, cult classics) along with snippets (with drawings) on bookstore cats, iconic covers, authors’ writing rooms, even the popular “little free libraries” found around the country.
What’s love:
This quirky, whimsical and just plain fun “illustrated miscellany” will be a welcome addition to any bookshelf – although it’s more likely to be off the shelf, thumbed through and smiled at, as one says, “Oh, I need to read that book!”
8. “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play”
By Kobe Bryant; photographs by Andrew D. Bernstein
MCD/FSG,
$35
What about: to it’s
The retired NBA superstar explains how he got to the top of his game, through words (“From the beginning, I wanted to be the best”) and lots and lots of game-action photos.
For the sports (and especially hoops) fan, “The Mamba Mentality” is the next best thing to a courtside seat watching Bryant drive to the basket during his glory days with the L.A. Lakers.
What’s to love: 9. “Harry Potter: A History of Magic”
By the British Library Scholastic, $39.99
What about: it’s
The wonderful wizarding world of Harry
Potter comes to life in this companion volume to the
British Museum’s “History of Magic” exhibit, currently at the New-York Historical Society (through Jan. 27).
What’s to love:
Can’t make it to New York? This complete exhibit catalog contains 150+ artifacts that inspired J.K. Rowling’s imagination (a narwhal’s tusk?), along with manuscripts, letters and artwork by Potter illustrators Mary GrandPre, Jim Kay and Brian Selznick.
10. “Hindsight & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me”
By Justin Timberlake
Harper Design, $40
J.T. gives fans a peek behind the curtain to reveal his creative process in this photo-packed celebration of his mega-career, from his musical childhood in Memphis, through the Disney and
NSYNC days, to those ha-ha moments on “SNL” and today, as a
37-year-old dad at a “crossroads” in his life.
What it’s about: What’s to love:
He may forever be bringing SexyBack, but what’s sweetest about “Hindsight” is Timberlake’s tender musings about his wife (“Jess,” as he calls Jessica Biel) and son, Silas. Cry me a river!