Top Five Books (according to USA Today research)
1. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
2. 92 Pacific Boulevard: A Cedar Cove Novel, by Debbie Macomber
3. Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer
4. Alex Cross's Trial, by James Patterson
5. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Notables: Catching Fire is the second book in the "Hunger Games" series. Have you heard about "Hunger Games"? It's a series of books for children and young adults, and it sure ain't "The Hardy Boys." Here is Time magazine critic Lev Grossman on how far we've come—or how low we've gone—in the books being offered to younger generations. (It's nice, too, that Grossman's article doesn't just examine contemporary literature for children and young adults. It also explores the more general journey we've been on in the world of literature.)

Top Five Albums (according to Billboard)
1. I Look to You, Whitney Houston
2. Time of Our Lives, Miley Cyrus
3. Ready, Trey Songz
4. Bang! Pow! Boom!, Insane Clown Posse
5. Breakthrough, Colbie Caillat

Notables: This list continues to be kind of boring, which pretty much seals the deal for me on switching over to highlighting the top-ten TV shows in our weekly roundups.

Hasn't-done-much-at-all-since-the-eighties-and-early-nineties-because-of-a-whole-host-of-problems diva Whitney Houston returned to the world of music with a hit. Houston's story is pretty sad. A bad marriage, drug use, and who knows what else turned her world upside down. I saw her making the talk show rounds, and she's still tough to watch. You feel like giving her a big hug the whole time.

As for the other newbies: Trey Songz (that's Songz with a "z," mind you) is ready (whatever that means), and be careful that you don't confuse the brilliance of Insane Clown Posse's Bang! Pow! Boom! with the brilliance of the Black-Eyed Peas hit single "Boom, Boom, Pow." (I have obviously decided to play fast and loose with the word "brilliance.")

Top Singles (according to Billboard)
1. "I Gotta Feeling," The Black Eyed Peas
2. "Down," Jay Sean (featuring Lil' Wayne)
3. "Party in the U.S.A.," Miley Cyrus
4. "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West
5. "Use Somebody," Kings of Leon

Notables: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (I hope it's okay with Trey Songz that I borrowed his "Z.")

Top Five Web Searches (based on the Google Trends report for Thursday)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1. 9 11 quotes
2. 9/11 quotes
3. india vs newzealand
4. ind vs nz
5. sidehack

Notables: September 11. What a heavy date. And it will always be heavy—filled to overflowing with searing memories. Folks are reflective today, and they were obviously reflective last night, given the top two items. Let me offer one quick link that might be worth checking out. The folks at Newsweek are pointing out that children who watched the tragedy unfold are now on the brink of adulthood. In other words, we are beginning to see more clearly just how much this dark day in history has influenced/is influencing younger generations.

Items 3 and 4 have to do with cricket. Funny how the NFL season kicked off last night and everyone was Googling…cricket. Did you see that one coming?

Have you heard of sidehack racing? It's an odd BMX bicycle race that has suddenly jumped in popularity. One guy or gal is the main cyclist while another guy or gal is on the bike with them—standing on a special contraption or even in a sidecar—helping increase the speed with a push or manage the balance just a little more. This is what it looks like.