Book Buzz

• Oprah has taken over Amazon (not that it’s a new phenomenon). The top three bestsellers as of this morning are all Eckhart Tolle books. I confess I haven’t jumped on Oprah’s bandwagon, and I don’t plan to. If I can’t find inner and spiritual peace without the aid of an Oprah book selection, I don’t deserve it.

• The New York Times has once again let me down. This week, the Sunday Book Review section featured Stephen King’s Duma Key. Unfortunately, this book was released six weeks ago. Are they sleeping over at The Times?

• In semi-book related news, I was very disappointed this week to read that John Goodman and Joan Cusak will play Becky Bloomwood’s parents in the Confessions of a Shopaholic movie. Granted, I should reserve judgment since I haven’t seen the movie, but don’t the filmmakers realize the book takes place in London and the Bloomwoods are British?

• I came across an intriguing book that is now on my “to read” list: Thomas Kohnstamm’s Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics & Professional Hedonism. I am obsessed with travel, and Kohnstamm authored several Lonely Planet guides. Unfortunately, the book is not carried at my local library, so I may have to wait for a long time to read it. Curses.