There is no actual Duran Duran in this playlist.

Rob Sheffield’s newest book is Talking To Girls About Duran Duran (Dutton HC 9780525951568 $25.95) and it’s a fantastic exploration of a young man’s relationship to music during the 1980’s.

Last week, over at Paper Cuts (the New York Times’ book blog), Sheffield waxes poetic over the current songs in his life in their latest installment of Living with Music. From Japanese pop covers of hits by The Tornadoes (which drives home a point a friend of mine once made about Japan being a magical land were The Ventures were just as big as The Beaatles) to David Bowie’s Young Americans, Sheffield’s list is at once eclectic and so very right on.

This is what mp3s and downloads were invented for.

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

A lot of people (including reliable sources close to MobyLives) seem to think so.

I don’t really have a strong opinion on this, but I do think it would be funny if Oprah picks, as her final book club selection, the newest book by the author who nearly killed it for her, forcing hausfrauen everywhere to suddenly find themselves reading not one, but three William Faulkner novels.

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

I doubt this will hold over fans until the HBO series begins in 2011, but it’s a start.

(via io9)

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

It’s a Book by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook HC 9781596436060 $12.99) is already out, but this trailer is utterly charming.

I can’t believe that had not seen this earlier.

(via MobyLives)

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

I have never claimed to have my finger on the pulse of genre fiction, particularly mysteries. Not that I have anything against it, I just never poke my nose in those titles when the catalogs come around.

However, as I was reading my weekly Mad Men recap on Slate (the best one on the web, if you ask me), I noticed a story on a series of thrillers set in North Korea.

How have I managed to live without hearing about the Inspector O novels by the pseudonymous James Church?

After reading this article, I must make it a point to get my hands on these books, published by St. Martin’s Press.

That is, after I finish watching this season of Mad Men.

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

Did you know that Martin Scorsese is directing it?

Did you know that it will feature performances by Christopher Lee, Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen?

Did you know that it is being filmed in 3-D?

I had no idea until I listened to the weekly film podcast from the BBC I am addicted to.

It’s not coming out until next year, but I’m already excited by the prospect of this adaptation of the very unique children’s book by Brian Selzinck.

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

If you’re like most booksellers, you celebrated Labor Day by working.

If you spent you holiday weekend selling books to folks who weren’t working, you may have missed these interesting bits of Internet flotsam.

Nobody is really sure who is going to direct a film adaptation of Hunger Games, but everyone is pretty sure that the lead will be played by Kick-Ass’ Hit Girl. She’ll definitely have to tone down the potty mouth if this film is to get a PG-13 or younger rating.

The New Yorker eviscerates Rhonda Byrne, The Secret and the mega-cottage industry it has spawned.

The new Odd Couple: he digs his iPad, she likes old-fashioned books. Can two readers devoted to different content delivery systems live in the same apartment without driving each other crazy?

Speaking of Hit-Girl, the actress who plays her (and possibly Hunger Games’ Katniss), Chloe Grace Moretz, is playing the eternally prepubescent vampire in the American remake of Let the Right One In, now titled Let Me In.

Okay, this isn’t exactly new. I had avoided looking at this for a long time, but it turns out my fears may be unwarranted. As long as they don’t tack on a Hollywood ending, it should be pretty good. Check out the trailer and see if you agree. If you haven’t seen the Swedish film of Let the Right One In…do it…now!

• Leave a comment... Comments Off

And I wish they hadn’t.

If you’re wishing to trigger premature blindness, you might want to check out HuffPo’s piece on The 11 Worst Memoir Covers Ever.

Some of them aren’t really that bad (like Ricky Martin’s…it almost looks like Andre Agassi’s), but I really with I could un-see Jamie (M*A*S*H’s Klinger) Farr’s cover (below).

• Leave a comment... Comments Off