Killings brings you our fortnightly selection of posts that have amused, enlightened and generally distracted us.

Phew: rumours of Hunger Games nail polish are untrue. (Cleanse the bad feeling from your mouth with the full-length trailer of the forthcoming film.)

Lewis Lapham’s revolutionary reading list.

Diablo Cody reignites worldwide girl dreams of being Elizabeth or Jessica Wakefield: Sweet Valley High, the movie is in the works.

Feel inadequate as you browse the NYT 100 Notable books of 2011.

“I’ll say this for Jonathan Franzen. At least his novels aren’t being invaded by five-year olds, and at least they don’t take us on an Important Odyssey through the major events of 20th Century European history. Also, they don’t play around with surreal versions of current events or probable versions of near-future events.”

Creepy things you can buy on Etsy.

An interview with Alison Forner, the designer of the American version of Anna Funder’s Stasiland, and some of her great covers.