Book Brew

Later this month, the Vertigo division of DC Comics will release a comic book fit for a king—Stephen King, that is. The bestselling novelist teamed with short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque on American Vampire, a new monthly comic book series that puts a vicious, historical spin on the craze for blood-sucking humanoids. Twilight fans may wish to avert their eyes from King's lead-off tale of Skinner Sweet, a bank robbing, murdering cowboy/vampire of the 1880s. Think Daniel Boone with rattlesnake fangs. "I love vampire stories, and the idea of following the dark exploits of a uniquely American vampire really lit up my imagination," said King. "I owe big thanks to Scott Snyder for letting me share his vision, and sip from his bucket of blood."

A book of vintage book advertisements? A book of vintage book advertisements! It didn't take much to sell us on New York Times book critic Dwight Garner's latest project. Read Me (Ecco) is a visual survey of book ads that appeared in newspapers and magazines across the United States in the twentieth century. "Together these random advertisements tell a story -- a kind of secret history, narrated in public -- about America's literary culture," writes Garner in the opening chapter. Settle in to browse ads for classics such as The Great Gatsby, Ulysses, and Lolita while gaining insight into interesting collisions of the literary and design worlds. One of our favorite bits of trivia: Ezra Pound disliked Knopf's distinctive Borzoi logo, lobbying for a redrawn dog that sat up straight, "solid, more or less heraldic and respectful."

Can we compare the use of design in the 2008 U.S. presidential election to that of television in the 1960 contest of Kennedy versus Nixon? Yes we can! Which is why we suggest grabbing a copy of the sure-to-be-collectible Design for Obama (Taschen), a "grassroots anthology" of some of the most inspiring and creative campaign posters submitted to and available for free download on designforobama.org. Whatever your politics, you'll enjoy—or at least learn something—perusing the approximately 200 posters selected by designforobama.org founder Aaron Perry-Zucker and filmmaker Spike Lee. An essay by designer and author Steven Heller (who we'd back in any campaign) provides historical context.

In this, the era of blind follow-the-GPS-style navigation, what is the future of maps? The colorful, creative, and downright disorienting answer can be found in The Map as Art (Princeton Architectural Press) by Katharine Harmon. The cartographic coffee table book heads into the uncharted territory of "imaginative maps," 360 representations of places created by artists and designers such as Ed Ruscha, Maya Lin, and Vik Muniz out of everything from paint and plywood to skin and souvenir tea towels. Whether you're interested in how we envision political landscapes, represent neighborhoods, or visually manipulate directional information, you can get there from here.

Information glut got you down? Step away from the glowing screens and spend a few hours with The Visual Miscellaneum (HarperCollins) by writer and designer David McCandless. Billed as "a colorful guide to the world's most consequential trivia," the new book is a collection of innovative graphs, charts, and illustrations that visualize surprising relationships and compelling data. "Ultimately, I wanted to explore a whole range of subjects as visually and beautifully as possible, with the minimum of text," says McCandless, who tackles topics ranging from the global economy to ketchup. But there's one graphical format you won't find featured prominently among the miscellany. "My pet-hate is pie charts," he notes. "Love pie. Hate pie-charts."

How do graphic designers see the world? A new book aims to answer that question by peeking into their photo albums. The Graphic Eye (Chronicle Books), compiled by designer and art director Stefan Bucher, is a collection of photos by 120 top designers from around the world, including Ed Fella, Marian Bantjes, Jakob Trollbäck, and Rodrigo Corral. The lushly printed shots reveal creative inspirations (natural wonders, beautiful strangers) and unique obsessions (signage, lots and lots of signage). Go beyond the covers by comparing the design work of the contributors with their views from beyond the lens. The Graphic Eye makes a great gift for the creative mind on your holiday shopping list.