Editor’s note: Anybody who has been around Kit Hinrichs for long knows that he can’t resist beautifully designed books, especially if they are on design and typography. So, we asked him to tell us his favorite books from 2010 and why he liked them. We made him cull his favorites down to 9. Here’s what he had to say.

Here are my favorites. 1. George Lois, The Esquire Covers @MoMa. A look at some of the best magazine covers… EVER! 2. Mapping America: Exploring the Continent. A magical look at cartography from Lewis & Clark to the typographic textures of Paula Scher. 3. Alphabets: A Miscellany of Letters. An historical look at curious typographic forms from the origin of alphabets to x-rated typefaces.

4. Art Direction: Explained at Last. Steve Heller’s and Veronique Vienne’s umpteenth book on design. Explaining in detail what you do for a living to your mother. 5. Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World). Charming, beautiful, thoughtful and enigmatic, as only Maira can be. 6. Wine Labels: On Bottle Design. A gorgeous look at wine labels in context. I bought it without opening it because of its cork cover and was thrilled to find that the inside was as luscious as the cover. 7. Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles Volume 1 and 2. If you love type, they are a must in your collection, 8. The Poster: A Thousand Posters from Toulouse-Lautrec to Sagmeister. Need I say more. 9. The Geometry of Pasta. A most entertaining book, written by a graphic designer, about the link between pasta shapes, geometry and design. The pasta recipes are a bonus.

If you want to track any of these down, they are all available on Amazon.com.