THE BEST Books

Young geeks will love to complete the challenges in this DIY book, filled with 20 different science experiments and craft projects inspired by the Star Wars universe. Using household objects, kids from 8-12+ will build their own mouse droid, a Tatooine sand globe, tabletop gliding landspeeders, and more.

Ready to hit the road this year and explore North America? National Geographic and author Joe Yogerst’s travel guide offers up page after page of great ideas of places to see and things to do at national, state, and city parks throughout the U.S. and Canada.

This playful pair of books from Flipboku is packed with fun drawing activities. The first book, Dots, has dot-to-dot puzzles which form six professionally-illustrated cartoon animations when complete. The second book, Lines, offers up six brain-bending animated optical illusions.

Written by retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson, this book is packed with illustrated tips and solutions for taking control in dangerous situations, including self defense, escape, and evasion techniques. The tips include low-tech/no-tech methods to help you improvise when things go South. Be sure to check out the Survival Edition as well.

The perfect gift for brick fanatics, LEGO: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know features 240 pages packed with facts, figures, and other trivia about the history of LEGO, listings of bricks by category and color, LEGO easter eggs, and much more.

Legendary Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes has unexpectedly become a kickass book author for teens. Gibby’s debut novel is as brash, twisted, fearless, and darkly hilarious as he is. The chapter titles alone deserve a Newbery Medal.

DC Comics‘ illustrated reference details theories on the physiology and abilities of the publisher’s most famous super-powered characters. As if that wasn’t interesting enough, it’s presented as a sketchbook created by Batman.

Ever wonder how Starfleet crews keep in such good shape during when they’re not fighting Gorn? Robb Pearlman’s amusing workout book offers up exercises like Vulcan side planks, Tribble twists, and those dreaded Wesley crunchers. The perfect gift for Star Trek fans.

Do you love classic video games? The Video Game Console Collector’s Field Guide is a 320-page compendium that provides a visual guide to more than 900 pieces of gaming hardware, an index of information on systems, and a checklist where you can keep track of your collection. Available in digital or hardcover print versions.

Astrophysicist and author Sarah Barker teamed up with illustrator Maria Nilsson to create this great book for beginner stargazers. It offers up informative details and viewing tips for things you can glimpse when you look up with off-the-shelf binoculars or a telescope. The glow-in-the-dark book cover is a nice touch.

This visual reference book for designers includes hundreds of forms, patterns, and colors extracted from natural things like fruits, veggies, insects, fish, and more, providing a new source of creative inspiration. Sign up now for a 40% discount when pre-orders start in Feb 2020.

We love a good sippin’ bourbon as much as the next guy, but whiskey also goes great with mixers. Amy Zavatto’s colorful book is filled with 100 great drink recipes, including the perfect versions of classic cocktails, and drinks grouped by sweet, savory, spicy, sour, and other flavor profiles to suit every taste.

Navigate the wonders of the night sky via Phaidon’s book Universe: Exploring the Astronomical World. It’s an entertaining and thought-provoking journey through our fascination with space, from cave paintings to modern astrophotography. Its 300 images were curated by stars of astronomy, photography, and art.

Let Beastie Boys members Adrock and Mike D walk you through their story in “revealing and funny accounts”, from their amateur days to the release of their classic albums. Also features contributions from their friends such as Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson.

BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams celebrates the life of David Bowie through a series of illustrated comic panels. The 160 page hardcover graphic novel chronicles his rise from pop singer to Ziggy Stardust, and his numerous personas and reinventions. Written by Michael Allred, Steve Horton, and Laura Allred.

Covogoods’ Covobox 2.0 is a hidden storage box that’s made of real books on its front side. It’s perfect for hiding gadgets, cables and other small items on a shelf. The half-box slides out for easy access. You can customize your order’s size and color.

The 70s, 80s, and 90s gave us tons of classic arcade games, and along with them came lots of great pixel art. Typeface designer Toshi Omagari’s book catalogs some of the many cool pixelated fonts which were used for displaying scores on arcade machines. ReadOnlyMemory has a limited-edition hardcover version as well.

Like to build structures with LEGO? Brick expert Alice Finch’s book is packed with over 1000 ideas for creating detailed brickwork, windows, columns, staircases, and lots of other architectural details for your models.

Whether you’re obsessed with memes, or are a meme newbie, Sean Murphy and James Richards’ book is here to help, with stories about why memes exist, along with popular internet memes, their origins, and in the rare case that they actually have meaning, that too.

Adventure photographer Corey Rich travels to the edge along with his subjects to capture incredibly dramatic images of adrenaline junkies and outdoor athletes. From hanging off of a cliff to standing on the top of the mountain, this 288 page book takes us inside of the artist’s process and features 130 color photos of his works.

“Let us store irregular shapes inside shapes with flat surfaces.” Author Nathan W. Pyle’s charming and hilarious Instagram is now a book, filled with panel after panel of alien beings as they find their place and build their lives on an unfamiliar planet.

Tiki bars have had a bit of a resurgence of late, with their Polynesian-themed cocktails and kitschy tropical decor. Sven Kirsten’s 640-page, hardcover coffee table book delves into the history of America’s pop take on tiki culture, with lots of wonderful archival photos and historical artifacts dating back as far as the 1930s.

Published by Taschen, Michael Ochs’ hardcover 1,000 Record Covers showcases a thousand of the most beautiful and memorable vinyl record cover sleeves from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. Makes a great coffee table book for any music lover.

A bible for discriminating audiophiles and and industrial design junkies, Hi-Fi: The History of High-End Audio Design traces the evolution of all things audio, from the 1950s birth of specialty equipment to today’s cutting-edge design. Phaidon’s 272-page book has 300 images and the expertise of Gideon Schwartz, founder of Audioarts.