With vibrant photographs and informative essays, coffee table books are a sure hit at the holidays. Whether you need a safe gift for a colleague or a dazzler for a close friend, these glossy books have the power to transport. This guide to recent releases has books for everyone from the film buff to the world traveler.

‘Times Square Spectacular: Lighting up Broadway’
(Collins), $34.95
By Darcy Tell

An editor at the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, Darcy Tell has compiled an intelligent and engaging history of Times Square. Great for any New York history buffs, the book uses first-hand materials — menus, maps, theater programs, and magazine covers — to tell the story of how a livery and slaughterhouse district became the “unofficial center of New York City.” She pays particular attention to advertising pioneer Douglas Leigh, whose penchant for illuminated advertisements in the 1930s paved the way for the neighborhood’s famous neon displays.

‘Lanvin’
(Rizzoli), $85
By Dean L. Merceron

The couture house of Lanvin has been creating elegant attire for nearly a century. Founder Jeanne Lanvin was a middle-class woman who started her career as a milliner. With inspiring images of textiles, motifs, and apparel, Dean L. Merceron’s book chronicles the evolution of the designer’s work — and places her vision in a historical and social context.

‘Cinema Now’
(Taschen), $39.99
By Andrew Bailey

Sixty filmmakers — including well-known directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and Sofia Coppola, as well as lesser-known artists from Brazil, Germany, and China — are profiled in “Cinema Now.” The book serves as a reference guide for great cinema, giving an overview of the many wondrous works and themes happening in the world of film. An accompanying DVD is a bonus, with trailers, short films, and music videos from some of the featured directors.

‘Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan’
(William Morrow), $49.95
By Peter Schifando and J. Jonathan Joseph

When the American president has a party, it’s an international news story — and it contributes to history. This book begins with a look back on the soirées and dinners hosted throughout history at the White House, and it explores how early administrations attempted to bring European elegance to Washington, while still maintaining the more informal American casual intimacy. The second half of the book includes information on White House hospitality and protocol during the Reagan years. The authors — two interior designers who worked for the Reagans in different capacities — offer a polished, behind-the-scenes look at entertaining at the White House.

‘Hammond World Atlas, Fifth Edition’
(Langenscheidt Publishing), $59.95

While online maps may have replaced the paper version for finding a restaurant or friend’s country house, there is still an undeniable sense of wonder to be gleaned from the old-fashioned atlas. Hammond’s newest atlas is a pleaser, easily indulging the curiosities of inquisitive children and jet-setting adults. The book includes detailed statistics on population, land use, climate change, and species diversity — in addition to high-quality maps that are precise and easy to read. Satellite photographs, all of which are complemented by detailed explanations, are the most awe-inspiring part of the atlas.

‘Star Wars Vault’
(Harper Entertainment), $85
By Steve Sansweet and Pete Vilmur

This book, released in celebration of the 30th anniversary of George Lucas’s first “Star Wars” film, includes memorabilia — LucasFilm Christmas cards and iron-on T-shirt transfers — tucked and enveloped into its pages. The book provides a window into Mr. Lucas’s creative process, and documents the evolution of his fan base. Also included are two CDs with radio advertisements, cast interviews, soundtracks, and excerpts from the original “Star Wars” radio drama, broadcast on National Public Radio.

‘Visionaire No. 52: Private’
(Visionaire), $375
Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Edited by Marc Jacobs

This limited edition book presents a series of familiar film and fashion faces in exquisite photographs. It’s an ideal splurge for anyone addicted to Vogue or US Weekly. Messrs. Alas and Piggott, veterans in the fashion photography business, traveled the world for two years to collect these sleek and sexy shots of stars such as Scarlett Johansson, Gisele Bündchen, and Drew Barrymore. The book comes in a Marc Jacobs-designed, gold-monogrammed Louis Vuitton case.

‘Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered’
(Taschen), $400
By Julius Shulman

A child of Russian–Jewish immigrants who moved to Los Angeles as a child, Julius Shulman created the gold standard in architectural photography. Previously, the intent of the field was simply to capture someone else’s creation; Mr. Shulman, who snapped pictures of California modernist design, made the creative process his own. This three-volume set, complete with images of his groundbreaking work and essays by a number of art journalists and academics, is an unshakable defense of the value of his oeuvre — and a magnificent catalog of a uniquely “So Cal” style.

‘PoPsie: Popular Music Through the Camera Lens of William ‘PoPsie’ Randolph’
(Hal Leonard), $29.95
By Michael Randolph

From the 1940s to the 1970s, William “PoPsie” Randolph, whose nickname comes from the Greek version of “shut-up,” photographed music greats in Broadway, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll. Each image in the book is a sincere and adoring look at legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Sinatra. The real power of the book, however, comes from the story that the images work together to tell. Collectively, PoPsie’s photographs show the evolution in American pop culture during the second half of the 20th century.

‘How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors’
(Rizzoli), $35
Edited by Dan Crowe and Philip Oltermann

Authors such as Jonathan Franzen, Nicole Krauss, Lionel Shriver, and Joyce Carol Oates discuss which item in their office — be it a picture, document, or object — best captures the relationship between living and writing. The answers vary: Mr. Franzen picks his squeaky chair, while Will Self chooses Post-it notes. The accompanying essays by the authors and photo spreads of the items themselves create a unique, and sometimes endearingly peculiar, window into their process.