Luxury Living: New York, the latest volume in teNeues' luxury series, affords a rare inside peek at a truly privileged world. The book features some of the Big Apple and environs' finest architecture interior design, from a glinting modern masterpiece in Manhattan to a solidly traditional structure set in the Hamptons. More than just the most expensive living spaces, however, the featured abodes all express opulence married to great taste, even on a small scale; one of the apartments included in the volume measures a mere 300-sq.-ft., while others are multimillion-dollar palaces. Dazzling photographs by Reto Guntli adorn every page.

The other day we wrote about some of Helmut Newton's work being offered at auction. Sadly, Newton died in 2004, but a few photographers are carrying on in his spirit of fashion-meets-fine art-meets-erotica. Chief among them is German lensman Stefan May, who has a brilliant, lavish new monograph coming out from teNeues on June 15 titled Women Only. The book, available for pre-order from Amazon, cements May's place as the master of the sensual nude. The collection combines duotone and color images in an imaginative assortment, and the "contrast between photographic modes helps the reader fully appreciate form and texture, as well as interplays of light and shadow." It's also damned hot.

In the rarefied world of mega yachts, the ultimate achievement is to have one designed by a certain Norwegian genius named Espen Oeino. The world's top star in naval architecture, Oeino's megabucks creations "combine the precision of fine machinery with indulgent finishes and the high-end amenities of a palace." When German luxury publisher teNeues opted to focus a volume in its amazing Luxury Toys series to the world's greatest yachts, it was quickly decided to dedicated the entire book to Oeino.

Luxury Toys: Mega Yachts showcases 20 of the Monaco-based Oeino's stellar creations accompanied by text from top yachting author Nick Jeffery, the most respected authority on luxury watercraft. Among the megayachts featured is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's 413-ft. Octopus, the 8th largest yacht in the world and the second largest superyacht that is not owned by a head of state. The nine deck ship cost $200 million to build and has an annual operating budget estimated at $20 million.

Designed for self-sufficient long range cruising, the Octopus contains a wet dock for a 59-ft. tender and an equally large remotely-operated submarine that can descend to 2500 meters, a twin helicopter hangar and two helipads, countless giant antennae and a telescopic sonar, a cinema and music studio. Another Oeino creation featured in the book is the military-looking 233-ft. SKAT, pictured above, built by Lürssen of Bremen, Germany for Charles Simonyi, a former Microsoft software engineer and pioneering space tourist. The yacht features an elevator serving all four decks, a gymnasium, matching helicopter, and motorcycles with a special lift.

Every year since 1985, German lensman Günther Raupp has photographed the world's most beautiful Ferraris for the exclusive, limited edition official Ferrari Calendar, of which only a few thousand copies are printed every year. He has now selected the best of the best for an incredible book marking the 25th anniversary: Ferarri: 25 Years of Calendar Images from teNeues. The cars in the book span the entire history of the world-famous Italian marque, from the 1950 166 MM Barchetta Touring victorious in the Mille Miglia, to the high-tech supercars of today, including the amazing 275 GTB Competizione (above), which came in 3rd at Le Mans in 1965 and is worth millions.

In his preface to the book, which he considers a sort of "family album," founder Enzo Ferrari's only living son Piero Ferrari writes that Raupp "seizes the spirit rather than simply the form of our vehicles." Enzo himself, to whom the book is dedicated, obviously agreed; the title page is a facsimile of a personal note of thanks he sent to Raupp when the first calendar was published. Raupp himself is an avid Ferrari collector; his favorite is a 1972 Dino 246 GTS, which he has owned for 28 years. He "lovingly handpicked" his greatest work over the decades for this volume showcasing scores of legendary vehicles.

The latest volume in teNeues' tantalizing Luxury series is entitled Luxury Houses: Top of the World. As we've noted before, the luxe publisher's Top of the World titles reflect the very best the globe has to offer. This book is not simply a showcase of the world's most extravagant estates, however; rather, it showcases the dwellings of those who have the luxury to build exactly what and where they want. All of the residences pictured feature "stunning settings, sumptuous materials, and sophisticated architectural detailing and interiors," and each "offers a unique perspective on what's possible if both money and taste abound." The cover, above, features the Samsara villa in Phuket, Thailand, designed around an infinity pool with incredible ocean views.

The latest ultra-luxe title from top-drawer German publisher teNeues aims to encompass the world's most exclusive, expensive and elusive objects in various categories. Luxury Toys: Top of the World is of course a lavish and lavishly-photographed coffee table book giving a deserving treatment to it subject. In it the world's "most treasured and decadent belongings" are on display, from megayachts to opulent mansions and custom-made timepieces to exotic supercars, all "truly indulgent prized-possessions that will dazzle even the most discriminating billionaire." The book is divided into the following chapters: Art, Personal Luxuries (including watches and cell phones), Modern Cars, Vintage Cars, Motor Yachts, Sailing Yachts, Ultimate Homes and Luxury Air Travel. Shown on the cover above is the $150 million, 289-ft. Maltese Falcon, the world's largest privately-owned sailing yacht.

We look at lots of photo books in this line of work, but we've rarely been as impressed by one as much as teNeues' massive new Tim Walker monograph. The fact that the Brit fashion photographer's name is not as well known as that of some lesser talents must surely be corrected by the barrage of surreal, sublime images in Tim Walker: Pictures. A former assistant of Richard Avedon's, the 38-year-old obviously learned from the master, but he could hardly be called an Avedon imitator with his flair for elaborate, dreamlike tableaux. An exhibit of Walker's work opened in London last month, but for the $125 this vibrant volume costs you can be transported much further afield. No expense was spared for the extravagant British Vogue holiday shoot pictured above; the magazine even bought the vintage Rolls-Royce in case Walker had to destroy it in order to get the photo just right, as he never uses digital manipulation in his work. See the gallery for more.

[via Men.Style]

Regular Luxist readers will already be familiar with the luxurious, oversized books put out by German publisher teNeues. Not all of their top-drawer coffee table titles are the size of actual coffee tables, however. The travel sized "Cool Hotels" series has all the appeal of the deluxe editions with the added bonus that you can actually take them with you on your journey. They've just released three new additions to the stable in time for summer: Cool Hotels Italy, Cool Hotels Spain, and Cool Hotels Spa & Wellness. At $24.95 apiece, they're considerably less expensive as well. Pictured on the cover of the Italy edition above is the incredibly chic Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista in Verona, run by the Byblos fashion empire. See the gallery for more stylish vacation spots.

Photo courtesy of teNeues; cover image courtesy Tugu Hotels & Exotic Spas

We've written before about German publisher teNeues's amazing Luxury series; you should know that their Cool series is equally impressive. The latest title in the line, Cool Restaurants: Top of the World, features over 100 incredible eateries scattered around the globe. teNeues selects only the best of the best for their "Top of the World" titles, such as Bale Sutra, the restaurant located in a majestic 300-year-old Kang Xi period temple at the exotic Hotel Tugu in Bali, pictured here on the cover. While New York City has the highest concentration of cool restaurants in any urban locale, and the U.S.A. the most for a single country, Europe has many more continent-wise. Dubai is putting itself on the culinary design map as well, with an admirable showing of four restaurants included in the book - as many as the UK. See the gallery for a tour of some standouts.

The lush oases pictured in Luxury Private Gardens, the newest title in teNeues' brilliant Luxury Books series, veer between the pleasantly inspirational and oppressively beautiful. In other words, while looking at it made us want to rush outside and start planting things, it also made us despair of ever creating anything one tenth as attractive as the private paradises portrayed between its covers. Much better, we feel, to simply sit back, mix a drink, read the damned book and let someone else do the digging, pruning, weeding and whatnot. But we digress.

Even the most lavish gardens in these pages displaying "the highest standards of horticultural excellence" are founded on simplicity, the book assures us: "Stripped down to their bare essentials, they are like a well-cut couturier's gown - nothing but an utterly simple response to the unadorned landscape or the naked human body they are designed to fit." The incredible Villa d'Este in Lake Como, Italy (where part of Casino Royale was filmed) pictured on the cover, with its elegant, elaborate parterres doesn't exactly scream simplicity to us, but we could stare at it all day. See the gallery for a luxe garden tour.