Coffee table books are obnoxious  

The only coffee table book anyone had that I liked was one with pictures of people wearing only body paint. It wasn't dirty in any way, everything was covered, but it was just neat. I wish I could remember what it was called and get it.

Otherwise, I think they're pretty pointless. The point of books is to be read, not seen.

I don't really understand what is wrong with big books. I am an artist, and I have 6-7 big art books full of cool prints of paintings etc. I really enjoy looking through them. Much better than reading some stupid local newspaper or product catalogs...!

I completely disagree. My favorite coffe table book is a large Atlas, through which we will explore the world either individually or together. Then there are books filled with paintings of a favorite genre or author - paintings I could never afford to own but love to look at and read about. If you can't appreciate visual aesthetics, then just don't buy the books. But that is what they are about - appreciating the lines, angles, and shadows in a great piece of architecture - the breathtaking colors in a fall leaf - a perfectly caught moment of a drop of water or a leaping frog. This is not junk - you just don't like it yourself. I don't know about celebrity books, never paid any attention to celebrities in any form or fashion. One of my favorite books as a child was about Monet. The first time I saw his work in a museum - and was able to recognize it - was priceless. The same goes for every time I have seen anything in real life that was first introduced in a book. It's inspiring to see those books, because they help me know where to travel next.

I don't particularlly like them because I like books that I can read. I do have a couple that would be considered coffee table books but they are more for reading then decoration. A book about strange and unusual occurances, one about World History Hollywood Style. That sort of thing. They aren't on the coffee table though but on shelves.

Jeez, what's your problem, murtwot? Some books are best in a large format. Art books, books of nature photos, etc. If you don't care for them, fine. But that doesn't make all large books junk or obnoxious. Frankly, I don't care what they're called or whether some people leave them lying around to impress visitors. Mine are in my bookcases, along with my other books, and I consider some of them just as valuable as the ones with no pictures.

I have quite a few coffee table books-ansel adams, nature, antiques, New England, Time. I bring them out and put them on the coffee table on a rotating basis.
My reason? Sometimes, if you have a guest over, and assuming you do not have the tv on, you may have to leave the room to get drinks or something to eat, or calm a fussy baby. The book allows your guest to do something instead of just sit there and wait for you. You are basically entertaining your guest even if you are not there in the room with her.

These books are also great conversation starters.

I highly recomend having several.

I like some of the books, and have two. They are small books though. One of them is pretty funny--vintage salon photos of bad haircuts. The other is full if pictures of vintage food labels--also quite humorous, but also interesting.

I only buy them on sale though. I prefer to spend my money on other books--novels or poetry.

I suppose some of the other books that we have here could be considered "coffee table books"--big with glossy pictures, but they are of things like prehistoric art, and masks, etc. I find them interesting, and they also serve a purpose since my boyfriend is an artist and refers to them every once in awhile.

Some of them can be obnoxious, but I don't label all of them that way. Kind of like magazines, maybe. I think most of those are obnoxious, but there are a few good quality ones out there if you look.

I like coffee table books. I buy them when I travel. It is fun for me to have a book to look back over of a beautiful place I have visited. One of my favorite coffee table books is one on New Orleans, LA, USA. I love it because I can flip through pages and get so enthralled in it that I start to feel like I can hear jazz music and small crawfish boiling.