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A present-ation of perusable pages
Your holiday gift guide(CNN) -- As the holiday season descends once again and retailers of all stripes gear up to offer their most splendid sales, publishers roll out their biggest wave of wares for the book-buying public. You've probably already heard of the biggest of the biggest: "The Beatles Anthology" and all forms of Harry Potter are flying off the shelves, and any bestseller, from King to Kingsolver, is a prime candidate to end up beribboned in gift wrap. But not every worthwhile book attracts that kind of attention. Here is an eclectic selection of some offerings that should make the bibliophile on your list happy.
"Jazz: An Illustrated History" The award-winning documentarians whose series "The Civil War" achieved legendary status have penned a rich tie-in edition to their latest televised opus. Intermingling biography, economic history (the form helped redefine and consolidate the American music industry) and social commentary, "Jazz" offers a lush collection of imagery and essays by noted musicians and music historians such as Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch. A monument to the American musical idiom. "Roadside America: The Automobile and the American Dream" 
Abrams serves up a tasty double dose of coffee-table car books this season. "Roadside America" ($48.50) by photographer Lewis ("Power Behind the Wheel") offers a sumptuously illustrated walk through the evolution of the American automobile, from the earliest horseless Packard "buggies" to the night vision-equipped Cadillac Evoq. Lewis' genuine fascination with cars is apparent, and comes through in her snapshots of details and certain cars in certain settings around the country. "Customized" ($34.95) is more of a cultural study of the art associated with hot rods -- pinstriping, fairings, body and engine designs, etc. Photos of cars, video montages, paintings, and tattoos are accompanied by essays on the impact of the automobile on American culture, by a panel of contributors, including two professors and one automotive journalist. Recommended for the car freak in every American family. 
"Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World" These painstakingly researched and drawn maps are accompanied by a CD-ROM directory listing complete data, past and present (including current research) on the world known and occupied by the ancient Greeks and Romans, from circa 1000 B.C. to A.D. 640. The maps (which were the result of a 12-year, $4.5 million research grant involving more than 70 academic experts) used everything from archival research to satellite imagery in delineating the area spanning the British Isles to India, with the names of towns, tribes, and trade routes meticulously plotted. Despite its considerable price, this atlas is a formidable research tool, a gift whose institutional value is incalculable. Recommended for academics and libraries of every stripe, as well as armchair classicists everywhere. 
"Steichen's Legacy: Photographs, 1895-1973 A long-overdue compilation of the work of one of photography's most ubiquitous names, this tome offers more than 300 examples from his 70-year career. Organized to show the progression of Steichen's outlook from Modernist painting to the nuances of portraiture and later abstraction, this handsome volume incorporates art history with a personal and moving tribute by Steichen's widow, Joanna. A serious art book for those serious about art. 
The Sleeping Beauty Novels: "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty," "Beauty's Punishment," "Beauty's Release" While the world is perhaps more comfortable with Anne Rice's tales of the bloodsucking undead, it is interesting to note that her erotic trilogy, penned under a pseudonym, continues to sell like hotcakes: More than 2 million copies have been sold in the 17-year run of the series. The trilogy, which is available in a boxed set or individually, picks up the Sleeping Beauty legend after the heroine's awakening, when she is sold into sexual slavery and undergoes a formidable education in the intermingling of pleasure and pain. It's difficult to recommend one fixed audience for this set, since the author went well out of her way to provide something for everyone, but fans of Rice's work and couples should find these a worthwhile gift. 
"Feng Shui for Entertaining" Billed as "a guide to creating harmonious and beneficial energy for any social occasion," this slim paperback is a strategic manual for holiday party planning where things need to be just so, utilizing the basic Chinese principles of feng shui. Complete with illustrations and tips on seating, color schemes, and menu and setting plans for business, family, or intimate occasions, the book is a handy addition to the collection of those who take entertaining seriously, as well as those concerned about getting enough yin with their yang ... or yang with their yin. Of particular interest is a chapter on harmonizing universal energy flow in your home on a first date (also known in the West as "relaxing," and rarely attainable). 
"Brooklyn Pops Up" No gift book roundup would be complete without a children's book, and this delightful pop-up guide to the borough (featuring original artwork by Maurice Sendak, Bruce Foster and others) is a splendid virtual tour for readers of all ages. From the Japanese Garden in Prospect Park to the famous hot dogs at Coney Island's Nathan's, "Brooklyn Pops Up" is a perfect representation of this venerable section's renaissance at century's end. RELATED STORIES: Are you dreaming of a book Christmas? RELATED SITES: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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