As we ease our way into the scariest month of the year, it’s time again for us to present our list of the most exciting books due to grace our shelves in the weeks to come. This month, take your pick from October’s virtual smorgasbord of books, and whether your pleasures lie in zombies, genetic anomalies, poetry, God, hell, love triangles or some combination of the above, you’ll find something to like here. Or maybe several somethings — after all, the weather’s getting chilly, and nothing compliments a cup of tea better than a great book. Click through to see our preview of the best bets for great reading this month, and let us know which books you can’t wait to read in the comments.

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Just this week, Ja Rule turned himself in to start a 2 -year jail sentence connected with a 2007 crime, which has gotten us thinking. Maybe it’s just us, but musicians seem to land themselves in a little bit more trouble than people of other professions. Maybe it’s because they’re living the high life, thinking they can get away with it all, or maybe they’re just negatively influenced by their surroundings, but we think it probably has something to do with the same personality trait that makes them want to be performers in the first place. Just a theory, though. In any event, we were inspired to dig up a few vintage mugshots of famous musicians, many of which are actually quite beautiful in and of themselves, although that could just be Sinatra’s good looks shining through. Click through for our round-up of vintage musician mugshots, and let us know what you think in the comments!

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Last night’s screening of the Cameron Crowe documentary The Union (and the post-film concert by its subject, Elton John) marked the kick-off of the tenth annual Tribeca Film Festival — a notable milestone, though it still makes Tribeca a bit of a rookie compared to, say, Cannes or Sundance or the New York Film Festival. Perhaps as a consequence of its youth, Tribeca has yet to establish the kind of definitive brand that some of those festivals have. But the grab-bag quality of its annual slate is much of its charm; star vehicles, documentaries, and micro-budgeted world cinema all share the Tribeca screens, and often the lesser-known films benefit from the spotlight of their better-known brothers. After the jump, we’ll take a look at ten of the most-buzzed titles in the 2011 line-up.

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While this compilation of shuttered record store photos is kind of depressing, it’s also a wake-up call, providing some extra inspiration to buy some wax at our local indie outlet on this Saturday’s fourth annual Record Store Day. Maybe you’re one of the people who’s going to camp outside of New York’s Other Music to nab Big Star’s special-edition Third reissue (get one for us too, mmkay?), or perhaps you’re just hoping to lock eyes with Regina Spektor during her in-store performance. RSD has done a bang-up job of assembling this list of special Record Store Day releases, but we’re live-out-loud kinda kids, so without further ado, here’s a roundup of the best in-store shows and shenanigans planned for this year. Find out what’s going on in your neck of the woods after the jump. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Ozzy Osbourne is the official ambassador of Record Store Day 2011. Free bats for everyone?

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You’ve probably seen the trailer for the new Beastie Boys short film all over the web for the last couple of days. The film features music from the band’s new album Hot Sauce Committee Part 2, a roll-call of celebrity cameos, and the, um, intriguing prospect of seeing Seth Rogen play Mike D. It’s one of a slew of most excellent-looking music-related movies that 2011 has to offer. We’ve rounded up a selection of the best films that are out now or have yet to drop. Read More »

When one of our favorite book blogs, the Millions, tipped us off to this great photo gallery of writers with their dogs, we thought about all the famous furry companions in other disciplines and realized how many of our favorite musicians have secret odes to their dogs. Okay, okay, so the whole story about “Mandy” being Barry Manilow’s dog is an urban legend, but we’re of the opinion that every hardworking musician needs a furry bellwarmer for the cold nights.  Plus, we all know that the internet is mostly for looking at cute pictures of animals, so how could we resist? Click through to see ten musicians with their best furry friends.

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If you’re like us, you’re sick to death of hearing about Charlie Sheen and his appetite for seven-gram rocks. And anyway, while Hollywood has had its fair share of drug-fueled idiocy over the years – remember Gary Busey snorting cocaine off his dog? – the world of music is still the home of the world’s greatest narcotic-powered nutjobs (as Sammy Hagar’s recent insistence that he’d been abducted by aliens reminded us). Rock ‘n’ roll and drugs have long been associated with one another, and some of the tawdriest moments of the last few decades have come when the two have combined to disastrous effect. Here, then, is a catalog of 10 of the most memorable moments of drug-related lunacy in rock. Some are hilarious, some are tragic, and none should be tried at home.

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Let’s face it: nothing instantly ups your cool quota better than a set of killer sunglasses. There’s just something so mysterious and, well, bad-ass about a great pair of sunglasses, and perhaps that’s why so many celebrities rock them 24/7 and so many set designers push them as the essential cool-kid movie props. As far as, you know, shielding your eyes from the sun? Well, that’s obviously an afterthought. They come in a million different shapes and sizes, but some sunglasses — and the celebrities and characters who popularized them — are iconic artifacts of our collective culture. Click through to see our countdown of the 10 most iconic sunglasses of all time, and don’t forget to let us know what we’ve missed.

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1. After taking home more than 50 percent of the vote, former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been named Chicago’s new mayor, and no one is more excited about it than Twitter’s @MayorEmanuel: “FIFTY FOUR MOTHERFUCKING PERCENT, BITCHES.” [via Gawker]

2. Mark your calendars: Lady Gaga announced earlier this morning that the music video for “Born This Way” will debut online on February 28 at 11 am EST. If it just so happens to look a lot like Metropolis and stars a cat, then we’re going to have to boycott out of respect for Madonna and David Fincher (who we just discovered directed the “Express Yourself” video!). [via HitFix]

3. Because co-hosting the Academy Awards apparently wasn’t enough action for one week, James Franco has a new show opening at LA’s Gagosian Gallery on Saturday night. The exhibit, titled Unfinished, includes a 12-hour long reworking of Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, renamed Endless Idaho, that features behind the scenes and deleted footage. Eight works on paper done by Van Sant will also be on display.[via Movieline]

4. In spite of rumored delays, multiple sources are now reporting that Apple will unveil the iPad 2 at an event in San Francisco next Wednesday. The updated version will be thinner with an improved display, a front-facing camera, and FaceTime video-chat support. [via The Daily Beast]

5. Ozzy Osbourne has been named this year’s Record Store Day Ambassador, a position held in 2009 by the Eagles of Death Metal front man Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes and in 2010 by Them Crooked Vultures’ Joshua Homme. The annual event will take place on April 16. [via Billboard]

Bonus link: How to properly organize a bookcase

We live in a world where we are bombarded by advertisements every day — and almost everywhere we look. We also live in a world where celebrities are revered, and their choices about products deemed important. So of course there are a million celebrities selling products — either just by appearing as a model in a print ad, or in a commercial with a slogan, or even by making public appearances. We are sometimes perplexed by the choices made — both by the brands themselves, as far as the celebs they choose to represent them, and also by the celebrities, who often seem willing to do almost anything to increase their bank accounts. Well, we won’t judge — for all we know, Kim Kardashian really does have strong feelings about Charmin over other toilet papers. Wait, what are we talking about? We will judge. Click through for a few of our favorite most absurd celebrity brand representatives.

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