We love the work of cartoonist Chris Ware, but we maybe love his Rusty Brown character even more than the rest – as Rusty's an inveterate collector, with the sort of special drive that's plagued us all of our lives! Yet the depth of this volume really matches Ware's more famous character Jimmy Corrigan – as the long narratives here trace out the "origins" of Rusty, and follow him through years past – with a sensitivity and lingering sadness that's beautifully delineated in the kind of artwork that sets Ware apart from anyone else we can think of. The production quality is beautiful – hundreds of pages in full color, laid out sideways to replicate a book of vintage comic strips – which furthers the Ware exploration of the Rusty Brown aesthetic. Book

A groundbreaking book from Greil Marcus – one that gets past some of the overblown histories of rock music, to look at the medium in a completely different way! Marcus eschews all the big name performers and movements – and instead looks at the music through ten different songs – all of them very unusual, very specific choices – but laid out by the author with a logic that's completely compelling as the book moves on. There's few folks that we'd trust with such a project – but given what Greil's given us in the past, we were already on board before reading – and as before, his creative approach is without parallel. And in case you're wondering, some of the songs include "Transmission" by Joy Division, "Shake Some Action" by The Flamin Groovies, "Crying Waiting Hoping" by Buddy Holly, "All I Could Do Was Cry" by Etta James, "Money" by Barrett Strong, and "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by The Teddy Bears. Book is 306 pages, hardcover. Book

To those in the know, Mike Nesmith has always been way more than a Monkee – a genius at business, a sensitive songwriter, and a guy who's had a hand in so many key moments in music and culture – even if he doesn't always take credit for his work! That understated quality has always been one of Nesmith's greatest calling cards, and it comes through wonderfully in this book – less a narrative memoir than a series of well-penned snapshots from different moments in his life and experience – open and honest about challenges and frustrations, but also with a good sense of perspective too. The man's done a hell of a job of carving out a great life for himself, and that really comes through here – and the book is softcover, 306 pages, and has some black and white images. Book

More than street art or more traditional graffiti – and instead a pretty cool book of messages scrawled across the city – some the seeming output of well-crafted projects, others the random outpourings of anonymous souls in an urban environment! The book is full color, and filled with photos taken around the world – of paintings, stickers, posters, wall scrawlings, and other text – even some rooftop art as well – and despite the range of materials, there's a surprisingly unified feel to the whole thing – almost this larger voice of the subject in the city, trying to deal with its surroundings – sometimes with wit, sometimes with frustration. Book is 215 pages, softcover, and full color. Book

Writer Nelson Algren is one of our hometown heroes, and spent most of his key years right around the corner of Dusty Groove – so we're always a bit biased when it comes to his work – but you can trust us when we say that this well-done biography is almost as fantastic as some of Algren's classic books! Algren knew the streets of Chicago like the back of his hand – and his interaction with the city and its characters provided Algren with a life's worth of pain and pleasure – a richness of experience that really comes through in the biography. Nelson had a quick rise to fame with the success of The Man With The Golden Arm and a few other key books – but was also the subject of a long FBI investigation, and a number of other political pitfalls too – all documented here in great detail, along with his famous love affair with Simone DeBeauvoir. There's as much sadness and struggle to Algren's life as you'll find in one of his books – and the well-researched volume looks at a stunning array of material to give a full picture of his time and writing. 543 pages, hardcover, with some black and white images. Book

A very unique book on the Japanese crate-digging scene – one that has a strong focus on DJ Muro, the man who's given us countless great mixes and compilations over the years! The book is in Japanese, and begins with an initial interview with Muro, complete with lots of photos – but it then goes into a long section of "Diggin" chapters, with images and lists of key records by funk and soul artists, both American and Japanese. The format is different than Japanese disc guides, but still provides plenty of small images of cover art, and information on very cool records you might want to track down. Given how much greatness Muro has given us over the years, we can certainly trust his picks here – and there's enough visual information here to direct your digging, even if you can't read Japanese! (But special hint: you can always use Google translate on your phone to decode things.) Softcover book is almost 200 pages long, with a mix of black and white and color images. Book