Book News, In Brief

Bad news for Eliot Spitzer is good news for Amazon.com. Now that the disgraced senator has resigned, there's no one left to push for state tax on Amazon's sales.

The last book in the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be split into two films. The first film is slated for release in November 2010, with part two following in May 2011. As if these British Scooby Doo adventures didn't feel long enough already.

NPR has an interview with book jacket designer Chip Kidd. Kidd's responsible for the iconic covers of such books as Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, James Ellroy's Blood on the Moon and Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.