As with any specialized discipline, art history bears its own literature. You may have heard the term "artist monograph" or "edited volume", but in the scholarship of art history, there are also other kinds of books that provide critical viewpoints and comprehensive information, such as exhibition catalogs, and catalogues raisonnes. It can be helpful to understand the nature and scope of how these publications inform your learning & research. Also note that while most books are considered secondary sources, primary texts that you read in the methods course (such as Heinrich Wolfflin's Principles of Art History") is a primary source. Exhibition catalogs sometimes contain primary source materials within them (such as an artist interview) as well as secondary source material (critical essays and interpretation).

Monographs & Edited Volumes: Academic publications such as monographs & edited volumes that have undergone the peer-review process are authoritative and reliable sources of information. While the language might feel esoteric & scholarly, these books are written by experts and thus can help with deeper learning as you research your work of art because the writing is less descriptive (as an art history textbook might be), and more analytical/critical.

Exhibition Catalogs: Publications produced to compliment small or large-scale museum/gallery exhibitions. They contain a list of all works exhibited, and often include introductory and contextual essays written by scholars and/or curators. All reliable, authoritative books, such as these, should contain footnotes as well as detailed bibliographies (that list of other sources!), to lead to demonstrate evidence of solid research, and to give credit to other experts in the area you are reading about.