A coffee table book is rarely read from cover to cover. It is picked up while the kettle boils, leafed through on a Sunday morning, handed to a guest who has arrived early. That is the point.

The best ones work on two levels. Closed, they are objects in their own right, with beautiful covers, good paper and a weight that feels right on a table. Open, they offer a few minutes somewhere else: a whitewashed house by the sea, a quiet room full of old wood and stone, a kitchen full of vegetables.

They also say something about the people who live with them. The books we leave out are a small portrait of what we care about, whether that is design, food, travel or the clothes we wear.

For this list we looked for books that connect with the way we want to live. Homes that feel calm. Materials that age well. Food that is a pleasure to cook and eat. Fashion made with care. Some are well-known favourites and some are newer, and all of them are books we would happily leave out for anyone to find.

Here are ten worth a place on your table.

1. Rose Uniacke at Home, by Rose Uniacke. Inside the London home of the interior designer.

2. Axel Vervoordt: Wabi Inspirations, by Axel Vervoordt. Quiet rooms shaped by the Japanese idea of beauty in imperfection.

3. Soft Minimal, by Norm Architects. Warm minimalism, with natural materials and soft light.

4. Live Beautiful, by Athena Calderone. The homes of designers and creatives, with the thinking behind each one.

5. The Kinfolk Home, by Nathan Williams. Slow living, seen through 35 homes around the world.

6. A to Z Interiors, by Simon Upton. A collection from one of the best-known interiors photographers.

7. The New Mediterranean, by Gestalten. Homes under the southern sun: lime-washed walls, natural materials and rooms built around light and the outdoors.

8. Contemporary Wabi-Sabi Style, by Artpower. More than 30 homes, hotels and restaurants from around the world, built around the beauty of the imperfect and the handmade.

9. Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. A vegetable-led cookbook that is as good to look at as to cook from. It shows eating well as pleasure, not restriction.

10. Fashion Made Fair, by Magdalena Schaffrin and Ellen Köhrer. A richly illustrated look at designers and brands who make clothes beautifully and responsibly.