One the best parts of my job is getting to hear and read and get excited about new titles before they hit the shelves. So here’s some books that I have been waiting for, and have enjoyed when they have made it to the library (and a few others that I am still waiting to see!).

The re-issue of the fantastic graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore. I found lots of interesting and detailed background information about this classic on Wikipedia – did you know that Watchmen is the only graphic novel to date to win a Hugo Award, and that there is a movie in the works? (be patient, the movie site is a little slow to load) I’m also looking forward to the book Prince of stories : the many worlds of Neil Gaiman which explores the impact that Gaiman has had on pop culture, from anime to movies and everything in between.

Another cool book that made its way to my desk recently was Comic book tattoo : narrative art inspired by the lyrics and music of Tori Amos edited by Rantz A. Hoseley. Okay, so you may not like her music, but I found it pretty cool that so many comic artists were inspired by her lyrics to create a whole stack of weird and wonderful comics.

If you love books written and illustrated by Australian Graeme Base, then I recommend that you check out Julie Watt’s The Art of Graeme Base, which gives in-depth background to the creation of his wonderful books, like Animalia, Uno’s Garden and his newest title, Enigma : a magical mystery.

And then there’s Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, the fourth book in the Twilight series. I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen with Bella and Edward, the vampire she fell in love with. As it happens, I am still on the waiting list for a copy, so it is lucky that I have just gotten hold of a copy of Terry Pratchett’s latest book, Nation, to keep me enthralled over the long weekend.