The tastiest coffee-table books of 2009

Every November it's kid-in-the-candy-store time for this newspaper's book editor; I get to sift through hundreds of submissions for the best books to give during the holidays. Here are some top candidates — they all combine gorgeous art, stunning design and informative text. Give one to a loved one, or treat yourself.

Arts and culture

"The Glory of Angels" by Edward Lucie-Smith (Collins Design, $35). A marketing expert recently told me that angels are the new vampires — not in this galaxy, I hope. This beautiful book takes the high road, examining the symbolism and iconography of angels through the work of artists from Fra Angelico and William Blake (who was pretty sure he saw angels) to Keith Haring and Marc Chagall.

"Symbols, Art, and Language from the Land of the Dragon: The Cultural History of 100 Chinese Characters" by Ni Yibin (Duncan Baird Publishers, $50). Bound in red satin, this is an elegant, copiously illustrated guide to the source and development of 100 Chinese characters, starting with "Heaven" and ending with "Prestige."

Science and nature

"Puget Sound Through an Artist's Eye" by Tony Angell (University of Washington Press, $35). A renowned local artist and sculptor's tribute to Puget Sound through four decades of sculpture and visual art. Reviewed in The Seattle Times on Nov. 20.

"Earth on Fire: How Volcanoes Shape Our Planet" by Bernhard Edmaier (Phaedon, $59.95). This stunning volume celebrates volcanoes in all their devilish glory with aerial photos by Edmaier, a photographer/geologist who created the book "Patterns of the Earth." Includes many photos of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," including Mount St. Helens, the post-eruption Toutle River Valley and Crater Lake and the John Day fossil beds in Monument, Ore.

"Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World" by Lance Grande and Allison Augustyn (University of Chicago Press, $45). Published to coincide with an expanded Grainger Hall of Gems in Chicago's Field Museum, "Gems and Gemstones" displays beautiful gemstones (cut and uncut) and explains the geography and science behind their creation. Photos of creations such as the Aztec "Sun-god Opal," in which a human face is cut into a spectacular 35-carat white opal, show just how long gems have retained their hold on the human imagination.

"The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe" by Theodore Gray, photographs by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann (Black Dog & Leventhal, $29.95). A guide in words and photographs to the 118 elements in the periodic table, this book by the author of Popular Science magazine's "Gray Matter" column is an easy-reading, spectacularly illustrated introduction to the building blocks of matter, not to mention life.

"Science: The Definitive Visual Guide," edited by Adam Hart-Davis (DK Publishing, $50). The story/history of science, "from ancient Greek geometry to quantum physics," features DK's cutting-edge combination of text, graphics and illustration (consider buying this, enjoying it and then donating it to a public school's library). For a very funny/goofy promo for this book, check out this YouTube short video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zat0A_2AXtg.

"Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth and Beauty" by Catherine Herbert Howell, foreword by Peter H. Raven (National Geographic, $35). This volume chronicles how the search for new plants shaped human history and culture, and will hit the sweet spot for a person who loves plants, history and gorgeous botanical illustration.

"Polar Obsession" by Paul Nicklen (National Geographic, $50). Beautiful and surreal photographs of the polar regions by a photographer who grew up in a small Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic. Nicklen, an accomplished underwater diver and photographer, has captured some unbelievable images, such as an eyeball-to-eyeball underwater confrontation with an elephant seal pup.

"Evolution: The Story of Life" by Douglas Palmer, illustrated by Peter Barrett (University of California Press, $39.95). It's the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and this book marks the occasion with panoramas of 3.5 billion years of life on Earth by artist Barrett. The story plays out over 100 double-page reconstructions of life at moments in geologic time, based on 100 famous fossil locations.

Maps and history

"Oxford Atlas of the World, Sixteenth Edition" (Oxford University Press, $80). This is the only world atlas that's updated annually, according to the publisher — not just a book of maps, it includes the latest in satellite imagery, census information, and biodiversity and political trends. If you like your maps in a more artistic version, go for local author Katherine Harmon's

"The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography" (Princeton University Press, $45). Reviewed Nov. 30.

"The Book of Codes: Understanding the World of Hidden Messages," edited by Paul Lunde (University of California Press, $29.95). From deciphering animal tracks, to codes used by medieval necromancers to communicate with the dead, to the usual secret-society suspects — it's all here, with lots of fascinating spy lore in between.

"New York 400: A Visual History of America's Greatest City, with Images from the Museum of the City of New York" by John Thorn (Running Press, $40). This elegant tome celebrates New York's 400th birthday with wit, erudition and a lot of amazing art (500 images), from early-day prints of Nieuw Amsterdam to Jacob Riis' shocking 19th-century photos of Lower East Side squalor to photos of 9/11. Many distinguished historians and writers contribute essays.

Literature

"The Paris Review Interviews: Volumes I-IV," introduction by Philip Gourevitch (Picador, $65, $50 through the Paris Review Web site: www.theparisreview.com). If you have an aspiring writer in the family, or even an accomplished one, give them this boxed set that collects six decades' worth of in-depth interviews of writers, from Dorothy Parker to Richard Price. My only quibble is that the box that holds these paperback volumes is already cracking; treat it gently. Volumes can be purchased separately for $16 each.

Mary Ann Gwinn: 206-464-2357 or mgwinn@seattletimes.com. Mary Ann Gwinn appears on Classical KING-FM's Arts Channel at www.king.org/pages/4216533.php