Yep, I knew the title was going to be cheesy going into this post. Didn’t stop me. Not even a little!
There are books you keep on your coffee table because they are beautiful – glossy pages, vivid photographs, important-looking covers that look good displayed in your living room. There are books you keep there because they are funny – goofy illustrations, silly puns, bad jokes. And there are coffee table books you keep because they make you reflect. They’re meaningful, and powerful.
The World of PostSecret by Frank Warren. Publisher: William Morrow, October 2014
If you haven’t heard of PostSecret (I don’t know where you’ve been, but I’ll forgive you), you’re missing out. Send your secrets to Frank Warren’s house and he will post them anonymously on his website. Thousands upon thousands pour in. The cover of his most recent compilation The World of PostSecret shows just how many cross his path. Every Sunday he posts a few, and they can be equal parts earth-shattering, heartbreaking, hilarious, and somber. The books are beautiful, with nice paper, hefty hardcovers, and a great cross-section of humanity in their pages. At least check out postsecret.com. You owe it to yourself.
What’s Your Story? by Brandon Doman. Publisher: Harper Design, May 2015
What’s Your Story? immediately perked my ears when I passed it in a bookstore. Stories? I LOVE STORIES! I think the thought process went. Some pictures depict the process Brandon Doman went through to get complete strangers to write out some of their most vulnerable, painful, humorous stories. A little stand, with paper, writing utensils, and a way to seal away the stories set up shop in a city, and people felt compelled to spill their guts. Thousands of stories later, this book emerges. It’s two hundred tales is just a cross section of the stories the project has gathered, but it’s so lovely to flip through. The stories are in their writer’s original handwriting, some are a few sentences, some are pages long, some included doodles, sketches, writing in a circle, etc. etc. etc. I’m addicted to it.
Before I Die by Candy Chang. Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin, November 2013
Ahhh the bucket list. You have one or you hate them. But when chalkboard installations went up all over the world with the fill-in-the-blank message “Before I die I want to _____,” people filled them to the borders. Wash it off when it was full and the board would be filled again. The chalk was provided. And again, you see a huge variety of responses, both amusing and pensive. This beautiful book shows the similarities between cultures, the universal pain and fear and love that people put into their lives and wishes for the future. Love it 🙂
I think you should always choose to put things in your life that inspire you, including the furniture in your living room, so you tell me: what inspires you in your home? Do you have a favorite room or piece of furniture? An heirloom you treasure? Tell me your stories!
Ampersand Read 