For the Holidays, 10 Favorite Books Worth Giving -- or Getting

Every year, the Home section is sent dozens of books about decorating and design. Too often they disappoint. Doomed-to-look-dated rooms or a text full of meaningless superlatives do not deserve a long shelf life among my treasured books.

A library on the subject of home should be part dream, part down-to-earth: It should tempt me with glamorous kitchens, cite the definitive method for removing red-wine stains, inspire me to reimagine my living room and help develop my taste in color and style. The selections below, from me and my colleagues, touch on those topics and many more.

Make no mistake: We're not claiming this is a best-ever list. Some wonderful books are not in print anymore (so if you're browsing in a used-book store and see "Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century" by Mark Hampton, grab it). Others, such as "The House in Good Taste" by Elsie de Wolfe and Dorothy Draper's "Entertaining Is Fun," are classics for sure, but these days have somewhat narrower appeal.

Our list comprises books you'd like to give your best friend or buy for your own bookshelf. There are reference books, style guides and compilations of beautiful rooms. We hope you like them, too, and turn to them as we do, over and over again.

Buy, Keep or Sell?

by Judith Miller

and Mark Hill

DK, 2006, $30

Hooray for these British antiques-and-collectibles experts for writing so useful a reference, aptly subtitled "The Insider's Guide to Identifying Trash, Treasure, or Tomorrow's Antiques."

With many of us drowning in stuff, it helps to know what is, and is not, worth holding. Ten chapters are loaded with color photos, prices and history. They cover ceramics, glass, household objects, "kitchenalia," beauty and fashion, toys, dolls, teddy bears, entertainment and sports, historical memorabilia, the written word and ephemera (such paper items as menus, calendars, valentines), technology, travel and modern design.

It's a great guide for amateur collectors or those clearing out Granny's attic. Extra points for the glossary, bibliography and lists of auction houses, Web sites and collector clubs.

If you've got one of 150 Chown mugs marking Charles and Di's 1996 royal divorce, save it. But dump the 1920s carnival glass with poor definition and weak iridescence.