This weekend, an 1895 poster of Sarah Bernhardt by artist Alphonse Mucha (pictured) was sold at auction for $36,000 (plus auction house fees). Aren’t posters supposed to be the art that normal people can collect? Sadly, even old ads by painters far less famous than Mucha can cost a bundle these days, but there are plenty of recent books aimed at design lovers with larger eyes than wallets. Take the fascinating Translating Hollywood, a movie poster book full of unfamiliar designs for beloved movies; cinephiles have long noted that some foreign countries (particularly Eastern European ones) are much more creative than Hollywood when it comes to cinema promotions, and this gem-filled book offers a wealth of examples. Two region-specific titles lean heavily on politics: Latin American Posters offers Castro, Che, and plenty of protests against human-rights abuses; North Korean Posters is full of happy workers, idealistic students, and slogans like “Let’s achieve heroic exploits and miracles!” More quirky and bohemian, though still occasionally political, are the pop-culture appropriations in Modern Dog: 20 Years of Poster Art, which profiles a Seattle design studio that has flourished during the recent resurgence of custom-made ads for rock concerts. Stretching out a bit, Icons of Graphic Design, showcases not only landmark posters but the typefaces, book covers and even paper-money designs that were most influential in the last century. While you’re unlikely to find any of the paintings in Mexican Pulp Art there, that doesn’t mean these illustrations for old dimestore novels aren’t a kitschy treat — full of lurid supernatural visions and racy intrigue. Finally, graphic design superstar Chip Kidd has written a sequel to his novel The Cheese Monkeys titled The Learners — it’s the only book on this list with no pictures, but as you’d expect it boasts an awfully intriguing cover design.