Kiss Kompendium by Gene Simmons, Out now

This 1200-plus-page collection contains 30 years of Kiss comics, many long out of print, including ones drawn by the legendary Stan Lee.

To Sound in the Know: The first Kiss comic, drawn in 1977, used ink that contained the blood of each band member.

The Cave Man By Xiaodo Xiao, Out now 

This debut novel tells the story of Ja Feng, who is arrested in Maoist China, locked away in solitary confinement and then released into the world a broken, shattered man, where he attempts to reclaim his life.

To Sound in the Know: Xiao himself served seven years in a Chinese Labor camp after accidentally tearing a poster of Mao. That’s right. Tearing a poster. On accident. Think about that one, Tea Baggers.

Journey to the End of Islam By Michael Muhammed Knight, Out now

This new memoir follows the American Muslim writer as he travels to holy sites in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia and finally Mecca in search of both puritanical and folk Islam.

To Sound in the Know: Knight, who converted to Islam at the age of 16, has written extensively on the subject in books like Osama Van Halen, Invisible Man and The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip-Hop and the Gods of New York.

Hello Sunshine By Ryan Adams, Out now

The singer/songwriter claims that this book of verse “is where I fall back in love with everything.” How sweet.

To Sound in the Know: This is Adams’ second book of poetry, after Infinity Blues. Consider him the Jewel of the indie rock set.

Sex Positive: A Frontline Memoir on the Battle for Safe Sex By Richard Berkowitz, Out now

A memoir by the hustler-turned-AIDSactivist who fought to save the AIDS-ravaged gay population by introducing the concept of safe sex in the 1980s.

To Sound in the Know: The 2008 docu mentary of the same name portrayed Berkowitz’s story on film.

Footnotes in Gaza By Joe Sacco, Out Dec. 22 This graphic novel explores the history and present of Rafeh, a town in the Gaza Strip that was the site of a 1956 massacre of 111 Palestinians by Israeli soldiers.

To Sound in the Know: Sacco’s graphic work Palestine won the American Book Award in 1996.

Summertime By J.M. Coetzee, Out Dec. 24 The new novel from the Nobel Prize winner portrays a young biographer interviewing the people in writer John Coetzee’s life to try and imagine what the man was like as a young writer. Meta-tastic.

To Sound in the Know: This isn’t Coetzee’s first foray into fictional memoir— he’s also turned the lens on himself in Boyhood and Youth.