In Defense of Coffee Table Literature
It's time to bring back the days when books laid around our house
When I was younger and visited the dentist or the doctor or the hair salon, I loved looking through the inevitable pile of magazines that sat in the waiting room. Typically I just paged through them to see if I could spot any of the famous figures I liked to read about, and I certainly didn’t read them cover to cover, but I loved to page through them.
Now, of course, there are no more magazines waiting rooms, living rooms, or salons, so in moments of silence I pull out my phone and mindlessly scroll. Over the summer as I have hosted people in our home, I’ve realized I tend to pull out a few books beforehand: books I think they might enjoy. We are still searching for a coffee table, so I don’t have any books permanently residing in the center of the room, but I get out a few and put them on an end table or the kitchen table so they are within reach. I feel far more fulfilled, inspired, and alive if I pick up a book and browse it, rather than pulling out my phone. May we all be less minimalistic in this regard, and instead provide literature for our family and friends to read when they come into our home. Here are some of my recommendations:
Magazines
FORMA JOURNAL
Both Hannah and I love Forma, put out by the Circe Institute four times a year. I often have the latest journal at least sitting out, to be paged through at will. You’ll find essays, poetry, reviews, photography, and artwork. It’s also free to subscribe: just input your address and you’ll receive a copy every season.
FIRST THINGS
My doctor’s office throughout my pregnancy with Klaus is the only one I’ve found recently who still boasts physical magazines in their waiting room, and First Things is one I always pick up. Not only am I an avid online reader, but one of my closest friends has been an editor on their staff for years. This one is for you if you love to read about religion, politics, and literature.
THE EMBER JOURNAL
This journal was also on the table in my doctor’s office, and I began to look forward to paging through it every time I visited. Run by a few Roman Catholic women, The Ember Journal is centered around holistic health from a Christian perspective. It is a beautifully curated journal, and their mission is wonderful: “We know that the spiritual can be hindered by the physical, and that tending to both holistically is of the utmost importance.”
Cookbooks
A KITCHEN IN FRANCE/ OLD WORLD ITALIAN
Perhaps due to my mother or Klaus’s godmother, who both are notorious for this, I have always loved paging through cookbooks. A well made cookbook can be filled with beautiful photographs, inspiring dishes, and techniques and tricks that help you hone your skills in the kitchen. I encourage you to let your cookbooks wander out of your kitchen and onto your coffee table, to be picked up and browsed at will. My two favorite cookbooks to browse are both by Mimi Thorisson, a French woman now living in Italy. A Kitchen in France and Old World Italian contain the most decadent recipes I’ve ever made, and the photography and journalism she includes in both transport you to Medoc and Turin in a mesmerizing combination of sights, stories, and tastes.
CANNELLE ET VANILLE
Aran Goyoaga’s entirely gluten free cookbook was a must for me when I married John, who has been gluten free since childhood. Her creativity with flavor despite allergy restriction is inspirational and just delightful to read.
BREAD ALONE
My favorite cookbook is easily Bread Alone by Daniel Leader, the founder of the iconic and world famous Bread Alone bakeries in upstate New York. It introduced me to the science, history, and significance of Old World Bread, something I’ve been entranced by ever since. Through this book’s guidance, I found a local wheat farmer who grows old world wheat, and discovered that John can happily and healthily eat anything made with his flour. I’ve learned so much about the importance of high quality ingredients from this cookbook, and I recommend it most of all to anyone I know who loves bread.
Books
THE ART AND LIFE OF FUKUDA KODŌJIN
I discovered this book while waiting for a friend in the cafe beneath the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I spent a half hour reading through the poems and their corresponding paintings, and it was refreshing and delightful: Eastern cultures have different ways of viewing nature, life, and luck than we do in the West, and it gave me pause often to consider the way in which the poetry compared human life to that of nature.
LEAVES ROOTS AND FRUIT
Nicole Burke, aka “Gardenary”, recently released a beautiful guide to gardening that Hannah gave me, and it is a wonderful one to look through. The photos of lush foliage, ripe produce, and organized raised beds draw you in immediately, and even skimming one page teaches you some new trick to gardening that will improve your next attempt drastically.
NO DIG ORGANIC HOME AND GARDEN
Our friend Meagan, who is the best gardener I know, follows Charles Dowding’s No Dig method in her mammoth garden at home, and at her suggestion John and I also implemented his techniques here in our hoop house. I am only used to till gardens, as is John, and so this summer was a new, strange adventure into companion planting and soil restoration, but we both greatly enjoyed it and plan to continue implementing his methods moving forward.
STORIES OF THE SAINTS
This is a collection I’m desperate to get my hands on—beautifully illustrated and thoroughly written, this would be a great addition to your coffee table. We love to incorporate Saint Days into our life as much as we can, and reading these to Klaus on their commemorative days is one of my goals for next year.
I hope you are inspired to search your home for beautiful, thought provoking books to set out for your benefit, and for easy access in any moment of silence. If you have a favorite book to page through, let me know so I can add it to my list!
Wonderful post! I am an avid supporter of books lying around the house. On our breakfast table I alternate between recipe books (right now a classic Mennonite cookbook and Jamie Oliver), fat tomes of impressionist paintings, non-fiction books (just now: The Coddling of the American Mind, The Essential Wendell Berry Collection, Better Off by Eric Brende), and comedy (anything from Eats, Shoots, and Leaves to Jerry Seinfeld). Always love getting my hands on an excellent journal like Forma or First Things as well:)
I recently acquired “An American in Provence: Art, Life, and Photography” by Jamie Beck and it is an absolutely beautiful text. I’ve been a fan of her photography for over 10 years and this book makes me smile every time I see it sitting out in out our living room. Having a rotation of inspiring literature to peruse when I come across a free moment feels like such a luxury!