Turkey Books: Things to Read While You Drink Too Much, Eat Too Much, and Let Your Eyes Glaze Over in a Tryptophan Haze

When you find yourself sitting around the house (your house, your parent's house, your friend's house, the house of the weird person you met on the Goldline last week) over the long holiday weekend, you'll probably be too full of beer or wine or turkey or stuffing or pumpkin pie to do much of anything besides sit on the couch and stare at whatever's in front of you. Which is fine - if you're into football or dog shows or parades. If, like us, you'd prefer to do something else with your mind while you lay about in a turkey haze, we offer up a few just-out books that are short on words, big on picutres, and require little else than your keeping your eyes open and mustering up enough energy to turn the page now and then.

Elliott Smith by Autumn de Wilde - A gorgeous book of riveting images...as soulful and deep as Smith. The book contains tons of photos and conversations with Smith's friends, family and colleagues. It also includes images of handwritten lyrics, notes and other collected ephemera that tell the story of the talented singer we still miss so much. A live CD of unreleased solo acoustic performances is also part of the lovely presentation that is this very special book. You will both mourn the loss of Smith and celebrate the beautiful music he left us.

Catalog L.A.: Birth of an Art Capital 1955 - 1985 by Catherine Grenier - This seriously cool book tracks L.A.'s rise as a city to be reckoned with in the art world. It includes arresting images from every major art exhibition held during the 30-year period and provides context for the art explosion by tracking what was happening in flim, television, books and the wider L.A. entertainment scene. Catherine Grenier put this book together after her kick-ass retrospective, Catalog L.A., at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2006.

Red Carpet: 20 Years of Fame and Fashion by Frank Trapper - If you really don't want to think about anything in your garlic mash potato funk, flip through 500 pages of gorgeous women in sexy gowns. Trapper's images of every important Hollywood red carpet event for the past 20 years is...well...the best kind of eye candy for everyone. Guys can just oogle, women can start making their christmas wish lists. We can think of few things more...aspirational...than looking at beautiful women in slinky dresses after eating our way through the weekend.

A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren - Warren is at it again, offering up another book chock-full of the soul-bearing postcards that readers send in, post online, and leave in books all over the country. With each PostSecret book, we marvel at every single card, every message, every fear communicated, every secret revealed. This one is no different. Not only are the messages fascinating, but the funky, artsy, silly, visual, intensely personal ways in which they're shared add another layer of meaning. We're always tempted, after flipping through a Warren book, to send in our own secret. We suspect you'll be tempted too...

If the thought of leaving the comfort of your home (and the oh so close proximity to turkey leftovers) to nab one of these books is simply too much, consider this a head-start on your holiday gift giving idea list.