AlphaBets: The best books for design lovers

In this week’s #AlphaBets, we’re looking at editor recommendations for the season’s best design books for giving, receiving, or simply sprucing up your coffee table. Check out a few of our favorite literary design recommendations from the expert gifters at the Wall Street Journal, Design Milk, Architectural Digest and Veranda!

The Wall Street Journal details five “zestfully instructive” books design fans will love, from Absolutely Beautiful Things: Decorating Inspiration for a Bright and Colourful Life by the exuberant Anna Spiro, to self-professed hoarder of beautiful things Eddie Ross’ Modern Mix: Curating Personal Style with Chic & Accessible Finds this guide calls out a cool option for every type and level of design aficionado.

We love this list of super diverse picks from go-to site Design Milk, which includes (among many others) Tom Kundig: Works, a tome that shows off 19 of the Seattle-based architect’s new projects; The Kinfolk Home, Interiors For Slow Living by Nathan Turner, and one tome on our wish list, Katie Treggiden’s Makers of East London.

Architectural Digest whisks us away on a tour of worldly designs, featuringMichele Bönan: The Gentleman of Style, Michael S. Smith’sThe Curated House, and the recent re-release of the classic Mark Hampton on Decorating, with tributes from daughter Alexa Hampton and AD editor in chief Margaret Russell is not to be missed.

Veranda also offers a bevy of gorgeous new design booksthat are perfect for hosts and hostesses, home and garden aficionados and more. We’ve got The Detailed Interior: Decorating Up Close with Cullman & Kravis, Stephen Sills’ Decoration and Suzanne Kasler’s second monograph,Timeless Style, on our wish lists too.