The Book Booth is a weekly feature at The Political Carnival, relating news, notes, and reflections from the world of books and publishing. SeattleDan, along with his wife, SeattleTammy, are operators of both an on-line bookstore, as well a brick and mortar in small town Washington State. Both have been in the book business since shortly after the Creation, or close to 6000 years now.

Running a retail operation has its moments. I’ve often thought we were like literary bartenders. For whatever reason, people open up in bookstores,and we hear the stories of many of our customer’s lives. Elizabeth Anderson of Charis Books and More agrees.

As a young boy, I loved comics. Superman. Batman. Green Arrow (who was really a blond Batman in a Robin Hood outfit). Wonder Woman. But I also devoured the adapted novels from Comics Illustrated. ABE Books had a nice article on the publisher with many covers that brought back memories.

Not all literary classics are published by the Big Publishers. James Joyce’s Ulysses was originally published by bookseller Sylvia Beach in a Shakespeare and Company edition. Here is a nice list of current novels that come from small presses with lovely cover art.

Literature has inspired song writers for many years. Both Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen wrote great songs about The Grapes of Wrath. Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights pretty much tells the story in a four minute song. So check out the Flavorwire list of songs inspired by famous writers.

I have to admit that I don’t watch much television. But this article from The Telegraph makes Mad Men. which has returned to the airwaves, seem very interesting with evocations of Richard Yates and John Cheever.

Alas, we note the passing of the fine poet Adrienne Rich this week.

The Hunger Games, of course, is not the first novel to use dystopian setting. George Orwell’s classic 1984 is probably the best-known, if not the best, of the genre. It has also been filmed on two occasions, once in the fifties and starring Edmund O’Brien and Michael Redgrave, and then again in the eighties with John Hurt and Richard Burton. It seems it will come to the screen once again, with Ron Howard involved in the production.

Finally, I really like this article from the Atlantic. We do need a slow-books movement. Can you spare a half-hour a day?

Enjoy your weekend! And what is on your nightstand?