Yesterday Susan Orlean cataloged some of her all-time favorite books on Twitter using the hashtag #booksthatchangedmyworld, and it took off into a trending topic that still has major momentum. “At a moment when the publishing world is having profound self-esteem problems, when writers are worrying whether they need to learn programming code in order to keep pace with wherever it is that book publishing is going, it is marvelous to be reminded that it is still all about stories, and about feeling that something you read changed the way you look at life,” Orlean told The Book Bench. Click through for her full list of must-reads, and if you plan to get in on the action, be sure to tweet your selections @flavorpill.

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If Jeff Goldblum didn’t cut it as an actor, he planned to pursue his other talent: jazz piano. You know Tom Wolfe as a best-selling author, but he was once a star baseball player who tried out as a pitcher for the New York Giants (before they left for San Francisco). While he’s more famous for his HOPE posters for the Obama campaign, Shepard Fairey also DJs. And before she was an Oscar award-winning screenwriter, Diablo Cody was a stripper. She even wrote a book about the experience. Read More »

At least bad sex is rewarded somewhere: Novelist Rachel Johnson has won the prestigious annual honor of the Bad Sex in Fiction award for her novel Shire Hell. Joining previous A-list writers like Tom Wolfe, Sebastian Faulks and last year’s honoree Norman Mailer, Johnson shows she’s got what it takes to de-sanctify the deed. The judges particularly hated on her metaphors, “especially animal metaphors” with specific mentions of cats and moths. John Updike also received a lifetime achievement award after being shortlisted four times in a row. We’ll leave you with an excerpt: “She said nothing then, her lovely mouth otherwise engaged, until he came, all over her face. She had gagged, and moved him outside her lips, rubbing his spurting glans across her cheeks and chin.” Definitely prize-worthy. [Guardian]

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Van Sant on the bus for Kool-Aid Test: Indie filmmaker GUS VAN SANT has signed on to direct THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST, based on TOM WOLFE’s trippy book about the drug-addled rise of the hippie movement. FOX SEARCHLIGHT will produce the film, and DUSTIN LANCE BLACK will write the screenplay.

Black and Van Sant worked together on the much-hyped MILK, a biopic about California’s first openly gay elected official that stars SEAN PENN. It opens November 26th. [Reuters]

Adiga in agent controversy after winning Booker: After winning the MAN BOOKER PRIZE earlier this month, ARAVIND ADIGA severed ties with his literary agent, WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY, for no apparent reason this week. Sınce Tuesday, however, the author of THE WHITE TIGER now has British agent DAVID GODWIN fighting for him, who represented other Indian greats like ARUNDHATI ROY and KIRAN DESAI. [Calcutta Telegraph]

Updike has no mercy for Morrison: JOHN UPDIKE published a scathing review of TONI MORRISON’s new novel, A MERCY, in this week’s NEW YORKER. Known for critical sound and fury (hating on William Faulkner, for example), Updike’s opinions themselves are now getting criticized by the press.  [Gawker]

Kindle joins Oprah’s book club: OPRAH endorsed the AMAZON KINDLE last week on her Web site, which means the gadget is bound to see a spike in sales. Good news for the authors whose books are available through the device. Oprah’s own Kindle includes books by DAVID WROBLEWSKI, SUZANNE SOMERS and WENDY CHANT. [Information Week]

McEwan debuts London opera: IAN MCEWAN’S opera FOR YOU premiered yesterday in London. The Booker Prize-winning novelist focused the opera on themes of sex, obsession and adultery, saying that they suited the medium. He collaborated with composer MICHAEL BERKELEY, a long-time friend. [BBC]

- Iza Wojciechowska