The Week contest - Coffee table books

Come up with the name of coffee table book that people might give as a present — but that no one would actually want to read

A London apartment littered with coffee table books
(Image credit: Andreas von Einsiedel/VIEW/Corbis)

Welcome to The Week's "What Next?" contest, an invitation to test your powers of imagination with challenges inspired by current events.

Click here for the results of the previous contest: Tech maladies

Last week's question: The holiday's best-selling gift books often end up on the coffee table, unread. We asked you to come up with the name of a big, glossy book of photos, cooking tips, or history that people might give as a present — but that no one would actually want to read.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

THE RESULTS:

THE WINNER: Anthony Wiener: The Year in Pictures

Aviva Jacobs, Culver City, CA

SECOND PLACE: Heartwarming Tales of Survival: NBA and NFL Players During the Lockouts

Sammie & Melissa Markham, Austin, TX

THIRD PLACE: Your Congress

Phil Kline, Dimondale, MI

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

The Big Book of Coffee Table Book Covers

Brian Lees, New York, NY

The Pop-Up Book of C-Span

Janine Witte, New Hope, PA

PLUTO: My Life as a Planet

John W. Engelmann, Blairsville, GA

A Komplete Kardashian Khristmas

Gene Huntley, Elkhorn, WI

The Triumph of Trump

Ronald G. Heiber, Lancaster, OH

Recipes from Occupy Wall Street

Julia Riley, San Francisco, CA

The Federal Reserve: The Year in Pictures

Sean Braswell, Chapel Hill, NC

1001 Volunteer Efforts You Must Do Before You Die

Elicia Elliott, Mercer Island, WA

Celebrity Holiday Basements

Ronald Weseloh, Custer, WI

The Parasites that Thrive In (and On) Your Bed, Body & Beyond

Cali Preston, Perry Hall, MD

Glossy Grandkids

Doris Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA

Aubergines!

M.V. Larinoff, Leesburg, FL

Paris Hilton in Her Own Words

Ivan Kershner, Salem, SC

Great Moments in Competitive Eating

Allen Little, Portland, ME

A Pictorial History of Bargain-Basement Pictorial Histories

Deborah Halter, Decatur, GA

Dear Leader: A Photographic Biography of Kim Jong II

David T. Letizia, Alexandria, VA

Beige, the Forgotten Color

Jeffrey Hutchins, Black Mountain, NC

The First Lady's Vegetables

Cindy Kalinoski, York, PA

Ace Hardware: The Madden Years, 1991-2002

Mark Kornick, Somers, MT

Dust Me!

Cindy Lott, Murrysville, PA

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.