Next month sees the release of Hadid, an overview of the work of Zaha Hadid, one of the most celebrated and inventive architects of the age. Taking on relatively small scale projects such as the Strirling Prize winning Evelyn Grace Academy School in Brixton and The Bergisel Ski Jump; alongside London’s 2012 Aquatic Centre and Guangzhou Opera House, Hadid is currently working on the first project in her native Iraq. Images, essays, sketches and floor plans, the book is a detailed survey of an incredible career. Published by Taschen.  Available from Amazon.

Jean Claude Gautrand takes a look at Paris in his latest book, Paris: Portrait of a City. Showcasing photography from past and present, it includes the works of Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Kertesz, Ronis and Lartigue. Perfect for the francophile in your life. Published by Taschen. Available from Amazon.

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We’re not usually fans of things with exclamation points but Cars Now! looks good enough for us to make an exception. With features on just about every brand making cars today, it’s the sort of guilty pleasure book you put next to your unread Tolstoy biography. Published by Taschen. Available December 24 from Amazon.
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Marilyn season comes round again, at least once a year we’re reminded why the ultimate blond bombshell remains one of the few true movie stars, perhaps legend is more appropriate. We never tire of these Miss Monroe coffee table books and while we’ll reserve judgement on ‘My week with Marilyn’ until we see it, this collectors volume book, Norman Mailer, Bert Stern: Marilyn Monroe, looks to be a surefire hit.

Intimate photographs by the great Bert Stern taken over 3 days at the Bel-Air for Vogue. 6 weeks after they were shot, Marilyn was dead. The accompanying text by the equally legendary Norman Mailer makes this a bit of a must-buy coffee table book. This edition of 125 numbered copies comes with a pigment print signed by Stern. From Taschen. Available from Amazon.

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Our interesting in colourful clothing has seeped into our love of design, which is why we’re highlighting this book, Inside Havana, on Cuban interiors. Showcasing everything from regular homes, modernist homes and Havana’s oldest cigar factory, the book quite the visual feast. They’ve even got the bars Ernest Hemingway stayed at, the hotel he lived in and the estate he wrote ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. Published by Taschen.

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Taschen have just released 4 Cities, the entire collection of their travel guides. Compiling12 books and focusing on, you guessed it, 4 cities, which are London, New York, Paris and Berlin. We’re pretty close to at least 3 of those 4 cities, with editors in London, New York and our HQ in Berlin (we refuse to call them towers). Some tips might be a little obvious, but it’s always nice to have a list of things to visit when in a new city. Especially when you inevitably end up not seeing half of them. Coming November 22. Available from Amazon.

See some spreads after the leap.

Taschen continue to tease us. You wanna know why? Because they make books we want but need to justify buying. We’ll put this down as research if anyone asks. Pedro Almodóvar, one of our favourite filmmakers – an auteur if you wanna get fancy about it – is due to release this book, The Pedro Almodovar Archives, which looks over his entire work. There’s unpublished images, access to his archives, film introductions from famous Spanish authors and even a behind the scenes look from his latest film, “The Skin I Live In.” The book delivers in December. Available from Amazon.

Take a look at some spreads after the leap.

The latest addition of The Great American Pin-Up book from Taschen is just around the corner. Coming this October 2011 from Tashen. Available from Amazon. The 280 page book is a special look into origins and development of the the genre’s most important artists. Filled with more than 500 illustrations, The Great American Pin-Up is a comprehensive a study as it gets. The new addition arrives in October 2011. A great price from Taschen at $19.99 retail. Available from Amazon.

Select looks inside The Great American Pin-up book after the click.

We love photo books and love them even more when they revolve around the beautiful female form. Photographer, Ed Fox, continues to explore the curves of women in his second photography collection for Taschen. His first collection, Glamour from the Ground Up studied what he calls “a woman’s second body,” her feet (”the one I can visually enjoy without her being offended or even aware”). The new collection, Ed Fox, Vol. 2 works on delivering a study of every curve – from head to toe.

Ed Fox, Vol. 2 also comes with a 60-minute DVD that helps bring his photography into motion. Coming October 2011.

Photography: Ed Fox

More looks inside Ed Fox, Vol. 2, including the cover, after the click.

Mining 10,000 rolls of film, Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football collects the finest work by American sports photographer Neil Leifer. Best known for capturing a towering Ali over the fallen Sonny Liston, Leifer’s football photographs are among his finest… and are those closest to his heart. These images are complimented by some of the finest football columns written during the two decades covered by Leifer. More than just contextual, the writings add a wealth of description to weave a rich tapestry indicative of the period during which football emerged as a true American pastime. From Taschen.

Available from Amazon.