This Week in Pop Culture: Dog Memoirs, Great Gatsby 3D, and Snooki's Novel

Today we take a break from Larryville and its bitter cold to examine recent aspects of pop culture that fascinate and trouble us. But first a reminder: remember that the city fathers have proclaimed that sidewalks MUST be shoveled by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow to avoid fines. After that, you are encouraged to rat out your neighbors. Personally, we love this policy, and you'll likely see us making the rounds tomorrow, turning in our enemies.

Three things are on our minds today.

1) A recent article tipped us off that the hottest trend in publishing right now may not be vampire or zombie tales but rather "dog memoirs," or "dogoirs," as the rising genre has been termed. Recent bestselling titles include Julie Klam's You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness and Larry Levin's Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love.

Richard: "I love dogoirs, but cat books can be nice as well. Remember Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World?"

Chip: "And speaking of cats, don't forget to vote for "Best Store Cat" in L.com's Best of Lawrence awards. I'm voting for the kitty at Dusty Bookshelf."

Richard: "That kitty has no chance. Obviously, the Love Garden cats will get the hipster vote."

2) News broke this week that Baz Luhrmann may direct a 3D version of The Great Gatsby.

Chip: "This is going to be amazing. Instead of 'receding before us,' the green light will totally pop right out into our faces at the end."

Richard: "I'll prefer this to Avatar."

3) Although Lisa Morrissey is still making the cut on The Bachelor, she's not getting any of that sweet Jersey Shore fame. The third season of MTV's huge hit premiered with record ratings last week. To keep in touch with pop culture, the boys have been making their way through Snooki's first novel, A Shore Thing (Chip: "Fantastic wordplay."). Our favorite sentence so far:

"Johnny Hulk tasted like fresh gorilla."