With more than 300 pages and illustrated with sumptuous photographs, the five-pound book is a culmination of Cornforth's decades of dogged research and courting of aristocratic chatelaines who were not averse to his well-placed written compliments about their houses.

Besides, flipping pages packed with goodies means stretching out catlike and surrendering to sumptuous photographs and perky blurbs, all in the service of whetting your whistle for acquisition.

Here and there you find particular cultural inflections, as in Jaishri Abichandani's absorbing series of small, sumptuous photographs depicting young and hip Indians in India and in New York; but the pictures are as indebted to the snapshot candor of the contemporary photographer Nan Goldin as they are to anything specifically Asian.

His book is more impressionistic than thorough, with sumptuous photographs by Gediyon Kifle that will inspire you to follow Samuelsson on his travels, if not necessarily into the kitchen.

Rather than sumptuous photographs and sleek packaging, this is a Zagat-style bare-bones book packed with supremely useful information about hundreds of Italian winemakers.

Through sumptuous photographs, it offers a tour of the conservatory, starting with the forma Garden court, with its fountains and special flowers collection, and continuing through every plant environment, including the lush jungle, colorful Orchid house, and spare World Deserts.

Credited with inventing the pillbox hat (not Halston), the sheath and the A-line dress for her, Mr. Cassini includes his original sketches and sumptuous photographs of the finished products that make them seem almost edible on the page.

Gill Charlton replies I was delighted to be given The Best Art You've Never Seen by Julian Spalding: erudite short features and sumptuous photographs of 101 hidden treasures from around the world (Rough Guides, £14.99).

Through sumptuous photographs, it offers a tour of the Conservatory, starting with the formal Garden Court, with its fountains and special flower collections, and continuing through every plant environment, including the lush Jungle, colorful Orchid House, and spare World Deserts.