Stumped over what to give Aunt Meg for Christmas? Still trying to decipher the enigmatic tastes of nephew Paul? Here are some last-minute gift-book suggestions, one of which may suit your loved one's coffee table (or bathroom bookshelf).
They range from opulent photo-extravaganzas to quirky stocking stuffers -- and from the soberly informative to the patently ridiculous. 
"Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons by Roz Chast, 1978-2006" with an introduction by David Remnick (Bloomsbury, $45). Close to 30 years' worth of the New Yorker cartoonist's work is collected in this weighty volume, which contemplates everything from "The Tragedy of Prosperity" to the instant messaging of Romeo and Juliet.
A must for anyone addicted to Chast's gallery of nerd-savants. 
"The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker," edited by Robert Mankoff, foreword by David Remnick, introduction by Adam Gopnik (Black Dog Leventhal, $35). This updated paperback/DVD-ROM of all the cartoons The New Yorker published between Feb.
21, 1925, and Feb. 23, 2006, bumps up the total to 70,363 from the mere 68,647 of the 2004 hardcover. And if you're wondering about the ones that didn't make it into the magazine, there's always "The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker," edited by Matthew Diffee (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $22.
95). "The Best American Comics 2006," edited by Harvey Pekar, guest editor, and Anne Elizabeth Moore, series editor (Houghton Mifflin, $22). Pekar ("American Splendor") delivers a decidedly alternative take on what was best in comicdom and graphic novels in 2006.
Contributors include Jaime Hernandez, Ben Katchor, Chris Ware, David Lasky and Lynda Barry. "Free Press: Underground and Alternative Publications, 1965-1975" by Jean-Francois Bizot, foreword by Barry Miles (Universe, $45). A cornucopia of extravagant cartoonery and graphic design, featuring work by Hunter S.
Thompson, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman and many others, taken from The Los Angeles Free Press, The Berkeley Barb and Actuel, a French underground magazine that editor Bizot founded in 1970. 
"Fish: 77 Great Fish of North America" by Flick Ford and Dean Travis Clarke (Greenwich Workshop Press, $50).
Artist Ford and sport-fisherman Clarke collaborate on a luxurious field guide that matches finely detailed color paintings of fish with reminiscences of piscine encounters (accompanied by tips on how to catch what you're after). Introduction by Peter Kaminsky. "Birds: A Visual Guide" by Joanna Burger (Firefly, $29.
95). A Rutgers University professor of biology offers an overview -- profusely illustrated with color photographs and illustrations -- of bird species from around the globe. Burger covers everything from nesting behavior to avian grooming and hygiene.
"Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," edited by Stephen Brown, foreword by Jimmy Carter (The Mountaineers, $39.95). More birds!
Photographers Subhankar Banerjee, Hugh Rose, Michio Hoshino, Arthur Morris and Seattle-based Steven Kazlowski bring back indelible images of life on the wing in northern Alaska. Biologists and conservationists David Allen Sibley, Kenn Kaufman, Debbie Miller and others contribute essays. A CD of Arctic birdsongs, produced by Redmond animal-sound recordist Martyn Stewart, is included.
"Butterflies of the World" by Gilles Martin and Myriam Baran (Abrams, $35). A writer-photographer team puts together a globe-hopping portfolio of moths and butterflies in close-up, some of them boasting eye-popping colors, others more camouflage-savvy. "100 Caterpillars: Portraits from the Tropical Forests of Costa Rica" by Jeffrey C.
Miller, Daniel H. Janzen and Winifred Hallwachs (Harvard University Press, $39.95).
Before you can have a butterfly, it helps to have a caterpillar. Here's a beautifully photographed album of 100 of them, set against matte-black backgrounds, in colors that range from neon green to stained-glass red and yellow. 
"River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia" by William D.
Layman (Wenatchee Valley Museum Cultural Center/University of Washington Press, $24.95). A portrait of the mighty river, in maps, illustrations, archival photographs and vintage writings, including work by local writers Gloria Bird, Tim McNulty, David Wagoner, Susan Zwinger and many others.
"Big Sky: Wild West Panorama" by Tim Fitzharris (Firefly, $45). Photographer Fitzharris goes beyond cinemascope in these wide-angle vistas of Western deserts, canyon lands, mountains and seashores. The colors and compositions are sublime.
"Human Anatomy (From the Renaissance to the Digital Age)" by Benjamin Rifkin and Michael J. Ackerman (Abrams, $29.95).
Striking images, indeed -- these drawings (mostly) of skeletons, fetuses and internal organs (in cross section) were created for scientific purposes, but they have an intensity to them that amounts to a humbling, awe-inspiring beauty. "Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive" by Joel Meyerowitz (Phaidon, $75). Photographer Meyerowitz, best-known for his floating, airy Cape Cod photographs (collected in "Cape Light"), focuses his lens on the cleanup and recovery at Ground Zero, following the attacks of 9/11.
Monumental ruin and tenacious human endeavor are at the center of this haunting and impeccably produced photo-chronicle. "Postcards from Mars" by Jim Bell (Dutton, $50). Astonishing vistas of the Red Planet, which really is red .
.. except where it's ochre, gray or almost turquoise.
Bell is the lead scientist for the Pancam color imaging system on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover missions. "The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs to Know," selected and introduced by Michael Ravitch and Diane Ravitch (Oxford University Press, $30). A shortcut to being Lit Savvy.
This greatest-hits package is a mix of excerpts from longer works and complete short pieces (poems, essays, speeches) that distills the essence of English literature. 
"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die," edited by Peter Boxall, preface by Peter Ackroyd (Universe, $34.95).
For a more wide-ranging reading guide, starting with Aesop's Fables (fourth century B.C.) and ending with Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" (2005), try this book of suggestions from more than 100 critics.
There are some offbeat titles alongside the usual suspects (it's good to see Dan Sleigh's stunning novel of colonial South Africa, "Islands," getting a mention), and some odd omissions (where are Penelope Fitzgerald and Paul Theroux?). Bonus: some terrific artwork, including archival dustjackets and little-seen author photos.
"The Yale Book of Quotations," edited by Fred R. Shapiro (Yale University Press, $50). Even if you already have "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations," it can't hurt to have Yale's as backup.
Organized alphabetically by author, it's cleanly designed and easy to use. Foreword by Joseph Epstein. 
"The New York Times Practical Guide to Practically Everything," edited by Amy D.
Bernstein and Peter W. Bernstein (St. Martin's, $29.
95). Talk about useful books: This compilation of tips covers everything from caring for houseplants to getting a job to battling depression. A genuine one-size-fits-all gift item.
"Infrastructure: The Book of Everything for the Industrial Landscape" by Brian Hayes (Norton, $35). Once you've learned how to do everything (see above), it probably can't hurt to know how everything works. This generously illustrated large-format paperback reveals the secrets of waterworks, power plants, communication facilities, transit, shipping, waste and recycling, and plenty more.
"The Top 10 of Everything 2007" by Russell Ash (Sterling, $19.95). For the list-obsessed and the rank-obsessed, here are such oddities as the top 10 names for sets of twins, the top 10 champagne-importing countries, the top-10 longest-reigning monarchs, plus the usual stats on catastrophes (both man-made and natural), sports, and top grossers in film, music, books and other media.
"Faux Pas?: A No-Nonsense Guide to Words and Phrases from Other Languages" by Philip Gooden (Walker, $16.95).
There are tons of word-nerd books out there, but this one is the only one I've seen that comes with a "pretentiousness index" to tell you whether you're putting on airs with your vocabulary choice. Examples include "per capita" (no problem), "menage" (get over yourself!) and "guru" ("it's not the word so much as what the word represents which is pretentious").
Touche! 
"They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books," edited by David Rose (Scribner, $16). Starting with its title ad -- taken out by a self-described "run-of-the-mill beardy physicist (M, 46)" -- this pocket-size tome is a veritable Pandora's box of personal revelation, containing everything from a "reformed dognapper" to a woman who declares, "If I were a type of shrub I'd be euonymus.
" "Habitus Disgustica: The Encyclopedia of Annoying, Rude, and Unpleasant Behavior" by Ian Whitelaw, illustrations by Matt Pagett (Plume, $12). With New Year's resolutions coming up soon, gift-givers might want to inflict this volume on any loved ones whose offenses include "Cellphones (talking loudly)," "Cellphones (ringtones)," "Spitting and Spraying" and much, much more.
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