With the writers strike pulling a black cloud over our collective television set, have you been feeling super-sad? Do you feel lost, without a sense of direction, now that your favorite show has run out of new episodes? Do empty pints of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia and fresh receipts from the video game store litter your home, serving as a constant reminder that you love TV, you breathe TV, and you need TV to fill your life? I certainly hope not, because that would be kind of pathetic.

What's weird is that before the invention of television, there was this thing called "books". People used their eyes, just as they use them for watching television, to "read" these books. Books are hard to come by these days, but if you visit the library, they might have one or two, hidden in the back room. Please note you may have to slip an Alexander Hamilton or wear a low-cut shirt to gain access to the book room. Anyway, books are a great way to escape reality (TV). If you manage to track a few down, why don't you pick up a book or two while the writers strike is in effect? If the idea of straying so far away from television terrifies you, here are some books that aren't too far off point, so you can join in nice and easy.

Brian K. Vaughan, creator of Runaways and writer for the Buffy comics, announced on his website that he has joined Lost as an Executive Story Editor. According to Vaughan, he is neither an executive or an editor, and the title is Hollywood speak for joining the writing staff.

As for what that means for the show... I'm leaning toward not much. Not that Brian K. Vaughan isn't a talented guy, he clearly is, but I don't have much confidence that he will really be allowed to do all he can. Lost has always had talented writers. Although, they have had some trouble hanging on to them. David Fury hopped a boat off the island and went to hang out with Jack Bauer. Javier Grillo-Marxuach later followed suit and made his way to Medium.