Awesome Books

Thomas Pavitte’s clever illustrations offer a unique spin on adult coloring books. Each image is hidden within a pair of concentric spirals, which only reveals itself as you fill in the lines. Use two colors to create a duotone. Choose from music icons, cities, or animals.

Maze expert Sean C. Jackson created 30 intricate mazes for fellow Star Wars fans to enjoy. Locations include the forests of Endor, Jabba’s Palace, the rocky cliffs of Ahch-To, and the corridors of the Death Star. In addition to winding your way through the mazes, each illustration contains a Where’s Waldo-style challenge.

Chronicle’s coffee table art book celebrates the past, present, and future of Polaroid instant photography. In addition to more than 200 creative images captured by contemporary artists, the book revisits the origins and evolution of the format, along with an index of Polaroid cameras which still can be found today.

Three centuries before Pantone colors, artist A. Boogert meticulously cataloged hundreds of paint pigments. The Galobart Books is offering a limited run of this fascinating piece of design history. Each book comes in a slipcase with a numbered certificate, 10 frameable prints, and a study guide. View the original book here.

You’ve seen the memes, now see the whole collection of Steven Rhodes’ parody children’s book covers. My Little Occult Book Club features the funniest of his paranormal fakes – including Caring for Your Hell Hound and Necromancy for Beginners – characterized by deviously cheerful illustrations with a 1970s vibe.

Did you know that killer whales have been known to eat deer, or that fluffy white clouds can weigh a million pounds? Author Shane Carley’s offbeat trivia book is filled with 500 strange things that sound like they were totally made up, but are factually correct.

Created for lovers of contemporary art and cocktails, Art Boozel is sure to please with more than 50 mixed drinks, each inspired by a famous artist. Drinks include the Frida Kahlo with tequila and watermelon, the Salvador Dalí with Spanish sherry and sesame, and the Yayoi Kusama, a sweet-tart mix of gin, pumpkin, lime, and ginger.

If you or someone you know is into difficult puzzles, The Master Theorem – A Book of Puzzles, Intrigue and Wit is sure to offer a challenge. It’s filled with more than 40 perplexing puzzles include ciphers, logic games, and visual puzzles, each of which requires smarts and creativity even to figure out where to start each one.

Designers and artists looking for a source of inspiration would do well to add Vault Editions‘ idea books to their library. This two-volume series features nearly 1000 engravings, etchings, and woodblock prints from the 17th through 19th centuries. It’s loaded with skulls, animals, and vintage objects and includes high-res downloads.

Between 1888 and 1913, Romeyn Beck Hough collected specimens of wood to create what would become the de facto standard for studying trees and wood. Taschen got their hands on a pristine copy of the 14 volume set, and photographed each sample for this 768 page book. A fantastic gift for any artist or woodworker.

Founded by Tim Schafer, Double Fine Productions is the game studio behind adventures like Grim Fandango, Brütal Legend, Psychonauts, and Broken Age. This 280-page art book chronicles the studio’s history through concept art, stories, and interviews. The Legend Edition of the book gets a cloth cover with gold foil details.

Award-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido (of NYC’s Katana Kitten) shares his knowledge of Japanese spirits and cocktails with 80 recipes that exemplify Japan’s contribution to the cocktail scene, both from his own bar and from Japanese mixologists. Urushido analyses the Japanese approach and demystifies ages-old techniques.

Here’s a fun alternative to traditional puzzle books. This two-volume book series is filled with challenging riddles that will exercise your grey matter. They’re enjoyable to solve on your own, but can be even more fun to figure out with friends. Grab the Kindle 3-pack and get Riddles for Smart Families too.

This book helps inquisitive minds of all ages understand all 118 elements of the periodic table and their place in the universe. It features lots of colorful charts and illustrations and explains the relationships between elements with similar attributes.

Ready to challenge your brain? Created by Google Software Engineering Manager and puzzle fanatic Willa Chen, this book is filled with 135 of the toughest puzzles money can buy. There’s a good variety too, from cryptograms to word searches to Sudoku, crosswords, and more.

Books written by the dead, the insane, and the Devil himself. Books made from knots. Books written in blood and bound in skin. Edible books, wearable books, books written in ciphers. Filled with fascinating discoveries on every page, The Madman’s Library reveals the obscure histories of the strangest books ever made.

Celebrate your love for music and print art with Taschen’s compact (6.5″ x 8.8″) but densely-packed 512-page compendium of album art. The book features classic images from more than 750 albums, along with a fact sheet listing the key artists involved in its creation.

We always wondered what kind of cocktails Bruce Wayne and his guests were sipping at all those fancy parties. Now we know, thanks to Gotham City Cocktails, a book filled with adult beverages and tasty bar bites inspired by Batman, Joker, Poison Ivy, and other characters from the popular DC Comics series.

Artist Alex Solis created this hilariously warped “children’s” book which features cute and fuzzy animals doing what they do in real life – eating other smaller, cuter and fuzzier animals. Solis also made a coloring book along the same lines.

A compendium of the most hilariously wrong and creative student answers to tests, including the content of four of author Richard Benson’s best-selling humor books, along with 100 additional so-bad-they’re-good responses to test questions.

This 450-page book is filled with bios, stats, and stories about more than 1200 characters from the Marvel universe. Whether you’re Team Avengers, Team X-Men, or Team Guardians of the Galaxy, all your faves are here, along with lesser-known characters like Squirrel Girl. We prefer hardcover, but it’s also on Kindle.

Celebrate your love for food and rock music with this 96-page cookbook filled with recipes inspired by rock music. The book features pun-worthy meals like ZZ Chop (Sharp-Dressed Lamb), Ramenstein (Du Hast Pork), and Fleetwood Mac & Cheese (You Can Cook Your Own Way), with fun illustrations from thirty great artists.

If the only knots you know how to tie are your shoelaces and a necktie, then you need this book. Authors Geoffrey Budworth and Jason Dalton provide helpful hints on picking the right knot for the job, along with detailed instructions for tying 200 practical knots used in boating, hiking, fishing, climbing, and more.

Author Devon Fredericksen presents a comprehensive guide to spending time in the great outdoors. This 304-page hardcover book is packed with useful tips, techniques, and illustrated advice for camping safely and successfully – from choosing your gear to packing, setting up, and enjoying your campsite.

Celebrate your love for all things LEGO with this extensive history of Minifigures. The 256-page hardcover book includes detailed photos of more than 2,000 of the most popular and rarest Minifigs dating back to their first appearance in 1978. The book also comes with an exclusive orange spaceman Minifigure for your collection.

We’ve featured lots of blacksmithing videos over the years, and perhaps we’ve inspired a few of you to try it for yourself. Ryan Ridgway’s book provides step-by-step instructions and photos for 40 projects you can do with basic equipment at home. You’ll also learn about the science and history of blacksmithing along the way.