Here are some handpicked titles from our New Books section. Want to include your book? Just read our Facebook Your New or Upcoming Book post. Don’t forget to include your title’s exact release date and a link.

And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky: “Sylvia Plath and an old typewriter usher an angsty reluctant virgin through the worst summer of her freaking life. Luckily she has plenty of time … and plenty of paper.” (July 2011)

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Electronics 101 by Sean Westcott & Jean Riescher Westcott: “This book teaches readers the fundamentals of electronics in an engaging, hands-on way. Appropriate for students and aspiring hobbyists alike, this book is loaded with more than a dozen projects that start simple and progressively get more involved as the reader moves through the book.” (July 2011)

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Despite the fact that Michael Hastings‘ The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan is still listed on Amazon, one report suggests that Little, Brown has dropped its book deal with the Rolling Stone reporter.

The New York Post reports: “Sources said that super agent Andrew Wylie had quietly begun offering the manuscript to other publishers this week.”

The book is to be based on Hastings’ article “The Runaway General,” an essay exposing  high-level insubordination in the military. The article helped get Gen. Stanley McChrystal — the official running the war in Afghanistan at the time — fired.

In Largehearted Boy’s amazing Book Notes feature, authors explain how certain songs inspired them. We were touched by novelist Kate Christensen‘s contribution to the series, and we created a Spotify playlist so you can listen to the songs in order while reading her essay.

Here’s more from Christensen’s essay: “Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Under its influence, ordinary songs take on dimensions and powers, like emotional superheroes. The following is a list of songs that will forever and irrevocably remind me of particular times, experiences — people I’ve loved (truly, madly, deeply) and, inevitably, lost.”

Follow this link to get a Spotify invite for the free service. Once you have an account, check out our Kate Christensen Spotify Playlist and our Haruki Murakami Spotify Playlist. We love making music mixes, so we will create more playlists for writers. If you have more ideas for a particular playlist, you can always add your suggestions in the comments section–we will update our mix. (Link via Ed Champion. Photo via Ronnie Farley)

Apple’s new in-app purchasing rules were enforced earlier this week, forcing Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Google to remove links to outside eBook stores. Apple wants to take a 30 percent commission on all sales made through iOS apps–prompting Kobo and The Financial Times to build web-based alternatives outside of Apple’s App Store.

At Mediabistro’s Publishing App Expo on December 7th and 8th, eBook Architects founder Joshua Tallent will explore app alternatives in a timely and practical presentation entitled: “eBooks vs. Apps: When Apps Are Not Necessary.”

Here’s a description from the program: “Some projects just call out for an app, but for many publishers are not sure when an app is needed and when it is not. As eBook formats become more robust, the line between apps and eBooks is shifting. This session will show you what eBooks can do, the limitations they have, and the costs and benefits of choosing an eBook over an App.”

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The Los Angeles Times has eliminated a number of freelance books columnists, including Susan Salter Reynolds, author of the weekly “Discoveries” column. Books staffers Carolyn Kellogg, Jon Thurber, David Ulin, and Nick Owchar all remain at the newspaper.

Publishers Weekly had the scoop: “Reynolds was with the Times for 23 years as both a staffer and freelancer and wrote the ‘Discoveries’ column that appeared each week in the Sunday book review. She was told that her column was cancelled and will not be replaced by another writer … Jon Thurber, editor of the book review, explained to Reynolds last Thursday that all books-related stories will now be done in-house, and that the decision to cease eliminate non-staffers was based on his freelance budget being cut.”

In addition, “Paperback Writers” columnist Richard Rayner and “Word Play” columnist Sonja Bolle were also cut. Blog editor Tony Pierce has also been laid off. The newspaper would not reveal how many freelance jobs were lost. A spokesperson told Publishers Weekly “we have not changed our commitment” to writing about books.

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In the video embedded above, YA writer John Green revealed the title for his new book (The Fault in Our Stars) and promised to sign every single one of the 150,000 books in the first print run.

Even though the manuscript is currently unfinished and the cover has yet to be finalized, the title hit #1 on the Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com bestseller list recently. Green said the publication date has been moved up from May 2012 to January 2012. The author will be video-recording himself throughout the entire signing process; the video will be available on the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel he shares with his brother, Hank Green.

Here’s more from Green’s announcement: “I am doing this because 1. I like my readers, and 2. I want to find a way to thank them for choosing to read my books in this media-saturated world, and 3. I can’t tour everywhere, and it seems weird to preference readers who live near big metropolitan areas of the US over other readers, plus 4. I think it will be kind of fun unless my hand falls off.”

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New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff has landed a book deal with Times Books to write about the making of Network, a 1976 film that won four Academy Awards and coined the handy phrase, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Above, we’ve embedded a short clip from the film–it’s a timely piece of cinematic history. Daniel Greenberg of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency negotiated the deal with Times Books editorial director, Paul Golob.

Here’s more about the book, from the release: “Itzkoff has long been fascinated by the life and career of screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (who also wrote Marty and The Hospital), and will be drawing on previously unpublished archival material and other original reporting to create a full and revelatory portrait of the movie … Itzkoff will recount the creation of Network from its first stirrings in Chayefsky’s mind to its casting and production to its critical acclaim, capturing the mid-1970s in much the same way as Sam Wasson captured the early 1960s in his 2010 bestseller Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.”

Conde Nast’s tech blog Ars Technica published a Kindle Single by author John Siracusa reviewing Apple’s new OS X Lion operating system. The $4.99 book has 27 pages and all of the content contained in it is available for free online.

According the Nieman Journalism Lab, Ars Technica editor Ken Fisher said they had sold 3,000 copies of  the eBook in 24 hours. The Kindle Single is an eBook format between 10,000 and 30,000 words – or about 30-90 pages – that comes with a lower price tag than a typical book.

Fisher explained in the interview: “I was surprised by how many people told us they read the review online and they just wanted their own copy to go back to. Or they just bought it as a tip-jar kind of thing.” (Via Publisher’s Weekly and GigaOM)

After four years, the daily deals network LivingSocial has decided to shutter its Books section.

The site encourages users to export their accounts to GoodReads. Below, we’ve included directions about how to move your LivingSocial account and save your collection. Our sibling blog AllFacebook has more about the Facebook implications of the closure.

Here’s more from LivingSocial: “First of all, thank you for your enthusiastic support over the past four years. Your continued engagement with our these applications means a lot to us here at LivingSocial, and we’re sad that we haven’t been able to dedicate the time and effort you deserve to keep this community alive and thriving. It’s not you. It’s us. You see — about two years ago — we tried a new idea, which has taken our team and company in a new direction. This community needs tools and products that are fully supported and continually improved, and unfortunately, this is something we just can’t support right now. We know your data is important to you. Before we discontinue the service, we want to give you the opportunity to save it. Login to your account to export.”

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Jennifer Lawrence, the star of The Hunger Games, may take a role in a film adaptation of The Silver Linings Playbook.

Novelist Matthew Quick debuted with The Silver Linings Playbook in 2008. David O. Russell wrote the screenplay and will direct the film.

Here’s more from The Huffington Post: “Lawrence would play Tiffany, the very attractive widowed wife of his best friend Ronnie. She begins to secretly pursue and mentor him as the two work to put their lives back together.”

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