A coffee-table book is a large expensive book with a lot of pictures, which is designed to be looked at rather than to be read properly, and is usuallyplaced where people can see it easily.
coffee-table book in British English
noun
a book designed to be looked at rather than read
coffee-table book in American English
(ˈkɔfiˌteɪbəl)
a large, lavishly produced book with many illustrations and, often, an inferior text, esp. one regarded as being for ostentatious display, as on a coffee table