A question for those familiar with Tony Bourdain

So, I've read what I believe to be all of Bourdain's nonfiction aside from A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines. I've just picked up GAiEC, and I could swear I've read that before too. Is it merely a renamed/remixed version of A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal? A re-compilation of essays found in various other books of Bourdain's? Am I just having deja vu? Help!

In other reading news

I'm not going to be doing nanoreamo this year, what with school starting, but I do have a nice to-read pile I feel like sharing with you all.

I'm currently reading Marie Brennan's In Ashes Lie, sequel to her Midnight Never Come. It's denser and more historical-fictiony than the first book, but oddly enough, I find myself liking it more for just those reasons.

Up next, once I'm done with that one:

Five Hundred Years After, by Steven Brust (I actually got some 150 pages into that one already, but I'd timed things poorly and started it too late to give myself enough time to finish before it was due back at the library. Hint: three days did not cut it, especially with Blogathon in the middle.)

Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters (On nevacaruso's recommendation)

Manga:
Currently on volume 9 of Death Note, volume 7 of Saiyuki, volume 7 of Rurouni Kenshin, volume 13 of XxxHolic and volume 19 of Tsubasa. Devouring all of the above. I've also read all that's out of Wild Adapter (the Saiyuki mangaka's other work) and am craving more, though I don't think there is more, even in Japan.

In other news, I've managed to read and re-read Tamora Pierce's entire oeuvre this year. It's funny, when I was younger, I significantly preferred her Tortall books to her Circle ones. Now, the preference has done a one-eighty. I find the Tortall books entertaining but too black-and-white for my tastes, as opposed to the Circle books, which are more shaded, nuanced and therefore interesting. It may well be an age-aim thing. I will note that the Beka books (Pierce's newest in Tortall) are an exception to this rule, being both more detailed, gritty and shades-of-grey than previous books set in this world. So it may just be a case of Pierce growing and developing as a writer, the more she practices her craft, and that can only be a good thing.

The Trickster duology stood a good chance of breaking the mold as well, but it had some unfortunate race issues coming to the fore in the second book. Sure, these natives have been fighting for their freedom for centuries, but what they really need is the help of this white chick. Bah. This was less noticeable in the first book since Aly was at enough of a disadvantage, being a slave herself, that it didn't feel like a Great White Savior narrative. Knowing what I know of Pierce, I can say with certainty that the less-than-stellar overtones were unconscious on her part, but an unconscious fuckup is still a fuckup and it kept me from enjoying the books as much as I'd hoped.