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?

Margaret Baxter (News & Record)

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.

Not only are Basketball tournaments being played around the country this weekend, there also seems to be a big movie opening! The film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games is coming to a theatre or drive-in near you. The novel is the first in a trilogy and concerns teen-agers confronting a post-apocalyptic and dystopian future United States where all is not well. The plot reminds me somewhat of The Running Man, the Stephen King novella and movie starring the Arnold and Richard Dawson, neither of whom, I’m assured, appear in this movie. Salon reported on the making of the movie here.

And it has actually garnered some good notices. Let us know how you liked it, if you braved the long lines at the Cineplex.

It seems the Beats remain big in Hollywood circles. I’ve noted the past couple of weeks the impending release of the film version of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. It seems that another film, Kill Your Darlings, is also in production and features Daniel Radcliffe as the young Allen Ginsberg. The movie is about Ginsberg, Kerouac and their friend, Lucien Carr (who is probably best known now as the father of novelist Caleb Carr) during their years in and around Columbia University. I like the casting of Radcliffe.

If your book tastes sometimes are steered towards the naughty, and you’ve exhausted Anne Rice’s earlier erotica, this might pique your interest. If you can find it.

You might find it at one of these fine independent bookstores in North America, as featured by the British GlobeandMail. Some very good bookstores here, though, sadly, our little place went unnoticed.

This week’s literary quiz from flavorwire is not easy. Can you identify these authors from their distinctive styles? I have to admit, I had trouble with this one.

James Beard was one of those writers who made food sound delicious on the page and made readers drool. I cant recommend his writings enough. So it is always interesting to see what books the James Beard Foundation comes up with as nominees for best cookbooks are.

Both SeattleTammy and I like to play and socialize in the virtual world of Second Life, especially at a little establishment we call Cafe Wellstone. The following comes from one of our good friends there, Nakaima Oh, who we thank for sharing it with us. If you feel dispirited about modern culture, watch this video; but watch it all the way through for the payoff. It is worth it.

Enjoy your weekend! What books are on your nightstand?