The Pet Lover's Selection of Coffee Table Books

July 9, 2013

Words don't do justice to our furry companions, but pictures do! In this case, comics are an excellent medium to show their silly antics, to make you hold onto your sides laughing, point out: "Hey, that's just like my cat/dog/parakeet" or cry and think of how much they truly mean to you. This little list consists of books that are collections of comics, picked to make wonderful coffee tables, either to keep for yourself or offer as gifts.

1. My Dog: The Paradox: A Lovable Discourse about Man's Best Friend

Ahh, dog, man's best friend and man's most interesting paradox. Nothing beats a dog's unrestricted enthusiasm, devotion and love. Maybe their complete and utter sillyness and illogical reactions to, well, most things - and this book illustrates all their faults and all their qualities to paint the picture of an animal whose soul matches ours.

You can actually read the whole comic here ? the book is a high quality print of the comic with a few bonuses.

Every now and then I accidentally kick him while he's underfoot and he responds by apologizing to ME.

2. Cat Versus Human

Crazy cat people, raise your hands! Whoa, didn't know there were so many of you. Can I come and visit?

If you're just a teensy bit mad about cats - or a truckload of crazy, we don't mind - this book is the perfect thing to have at hand in a living room or to offer as gift to a cat lover as it's filled with cats' antics and stories of how a slightly obsessive person will care for her feline friends.

The lovely author published witty and charming comics from her site with the same name (catversushuman.com), new comics that have never met a pixel and a few excellent classic stories with heartwarming twists that include, you got it, our lovable felines.

If dogs' souls match ours, cats' souls own ours!

What if cats climbed on Rapunzel?s hair?

3. Garfield at Large: His First Book

You can't not know Garfield, the lasagna-loving, dog-kicking orange ball of fur. If you still love the little guy after decades of Garfield comics, merchandise and movies, this absolute first book with his first ever comics from 1978-1979 will make your day!

No, we're not kidding - if you're a skeptic and don't like Garfield, still give it a shot because the strips were actually really truly funny back then (and for about another 10 years). Take it from someone who devoured the first years worth of comics but couldn't read much more after the `90s. The first were really good.

And if you love to hate him, Garfield minus Garfield will add an evil laugh to your hatred. This book erases Garfield from the strips leaving only Jon, alone, talking to himself, acting mad while wallowing in desperation. Charming!

4. Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat

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If the name doesn?t right a bell, simply watch this 2min video.

The famous French-speaking cat tormented by ennui, you only need to watch. Feel the angst, the anguish, the fatalism of his feline life as Henri speaks (in French, quel charme!) from existentialism and philosophy and declares his days utterly futile. Of course it's absolutely hilarious with pictures of a melancholic Henri and his existentialist musings written underneath, ready to delight you or any of your cat-loving angst-filled loved ones.

Is there a space between being and nothingness? Somewhere we drift without relative position or direction? - Or is that the catnip talking?

Sartre wrote: "All human actions are equivalent and all are on principle doomed to failure." This is an eerily prescient commentary on the tardiness of my breakfast.

We cannot escape ourselves.

5. The Book of Bunny Suicides

You need a morbid sense of humor to enjoy this little book that shows cute cuddly bunnies who just don't want to live anymore and try to off themselves in peculiar and imaginative ways. Think of Final Destination, except these guys actually want themselves dead.

Quite the opposite of Dumb ways to die.

They'll glue grenades to boomerangs, they'll impersonate lobsters in a tank, they'll tie themselves up to fireworks, they'll blow up the Leaning Tower of Pisa to fall on them... There's nothing they won't do. And you won't be able to resist turning another page while asking yourself "What will they try next?!". These fuzzy and creative rabbits' attempts are not recommended for kids and depressed people, but they're more than welcome in the hands of people with a twisted sense of humor and an attraction to pop culture as the references are hilarious.

Honorable mention:

The Dalai Lama's Cat

This wonderful book is not a coffee table book, it's a plain old regular book made extraordinary by the tales it tells. The stories in it are told by, you guessed it, Dalai Lama's cat, who blends Buddhist teachings with humor and is sure to capture your heart and give you something to think about.

It's also not a religious book by any stretch:

"The purpose of Buddhism is not to convert people. It is to give them tools so they can create greater happiness. So they can be happier Catholics, happier atheists, happier Buddhists."

It's just the story of a cat who was rescued by the Dalai Lama's staff, who now lives close to him (even calling herself His Holiness's Cat) and who tells her thoughts and experiences - as the Dalai Lama "enlightens" a visitor about their problem, our feline narrator finds her own solution and applies it to her cat life.

Do you know other great coffee table books or regular books with animals that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear about them!

Your and forever cuddling cats,

Corina