Several books coming out soon that I've heard about and wanted to point out here. I don't have any of these books, nor has any publisher expressed interest in sending any of these books my way. They are just books I thought sounded cool. So I have no stake in this. If you want to buy copies of them go ahead and buy them. But don't think that I persuaded you in any way.

This is an official not recommended/not reviewed/not compensated/not WORTHY OF FTC NOTICE post. Yes, I'm grouchy today. Here we go:

Apparently PBS is planning a documentary as part of their American Masters series on Louisa May Alcott (I had no clue). The film maker also wrote a bio of the author: Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Woman. My editor at Booklist gave it a starred review and Donna's taste is pretty darn impeccable. I'm a big Alcott fan (like every other girl who ever pictured themselves as Jo) so of course this one jumped right out at me.

The new issue of Vanity Fair includes mention of Frank Jacobs' Strange Maps, based on the web site of the same name - which is very addictive.

Thomas Mallon has a new book coming out on "the lost art of letter writing": Yours Ever. Two Moons is probably one of my all time favorite books; Mallon never disappoints.

And not to get personal, but I think if you have to buy a book about writing lists in order to figure out how to write lists so you can organize your life via lists well, you've clearly jumped the organization shark somewhere along there. Moving right along....

I did read the Image comics miniseries I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (bought it from my local comic shop thank you very much) and it was one of the more unusual coming-of-age stories I've ever come across. You have a girl who claims to be a giant killer and is rather obsessed by it. A very strange little kid on other words. But then you find out about a tragic situation at home and you think oh, well, of course the giant thing is all metaphorical and doesn't that make sense and then stuff happens and you just have every single preconception blown and the ending is wonderful and you don't feel tricked or fooled but rather very deeply impressed. The trade collection is out now - very special gift idea for very special kids. (A deluxe hc edition comes out in November.)

Hope Larson has a new graphic novel due out in January about a girl in 1859 and a girl today and includes "history, romance, and magical realism". Mercury is set in Nova Scotia which makes me very happy and please - it's Hope Larson. That should be enough to get anyone excited.

And another graphic novel due out at the end of the year is Trevor Van Eeden's The Original Johnson Vol. 1 from IDW. A biography about boxer Jack Johnson - the first African American heavyweight champion of the world. Wow. Talk about a perfect match of subject and format. Can't wait.

A few months ago I wrote about how amazing Garth Ennis' Dear Billy was. The trade is available for all those who expressed interest. All of the Battlefields series is stellar though and WWII aficionados should not pass it up. (Another great one is The Night Witches.)

I'm trying to write more and slowly cutting back on reviewing. I have so much reading to do for my writing that reading what someone else thinks I should read it taking up too much time. I'm still in love with my column (of course) but might be cutting back elsewhere and really really cutting back on the unrequested stuff that fills my door. As long as folks are patient I will write about as many wonderful books as I can; I just hope you don't mind reading about men who get lost in the wild or the mountains or national parks. They fill my world lately and so they will be filling this space as well.

Plus my family photos but you knew those weren't going away, didn't you?