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EVEN IF YOU KNOW that someone on your gift list obsesses over interior design, books on the subject can miss the mark. A coffee-table tome dedicated to the wrong designer can be as unwelcome as a gluttonous holiday guest. Encyclopedic books on, say, 6th-century Chinese antiques might end up standing in for a missing dresser leg. And a survey of splendid chateaus is just cruel if you give it to a friend who recently moved into a one-bedroom. Herewith, the best books that combine beauty and brains—great photos of enviable spaces plus decorating advice from the people who created them. Bonus: For each, we suggest the perfect…