I've always loved a good mix tape. When I was in High School my friend Brian and I would make each other mix tapes for road trips, driving around town and just hanging out. As CD technology took over I made Mix-CDs for my girlfriends and other people.

When Rob Sheffield's book, "Love is a Mix Tape" came out I had to have it. Throw in the fact that he'd be doing an in-store reading and signing at Wordsmiths in Decatur and I know I had to be there in person.

Liz and I each grabbed a copy and had him sign it, we talked for a few minutes, he was my age, nice and genuinely friendly, outgoing and surprisingly taller than me.

Thanks to my plane trip up to Minneapolis this weekend I finally had a chance to dig in and knock it out and I loved it.

Each chapter made me want to go out and dig up all the songs to make a replica to listen to as I read each chapter. The stories of college radio, the people in Charlotesville and his escapades with Renee are fantastic and so genuine. The book chronicles Rob's romance and marriage to his wife who passed away suddenly at a very young age and the way Rob delivers that news in the pages of the book hit me so suddenly that I couldn't help but understand on a microscopic level how shocking that much have been to him in real live.

The book ended brilliantly as well. A shocking twist towards the end and then suddenly I flipped the page and the book was over.

In the last few months I've been the recipient of a great Mix CD from EsKIMo and I've created a kick-ass CD mix for Liz's birthday that I've shared with a few other people too.

1. Music For Family Fun by Sound 8
2. Click Click Click Click by Bishop Allen
3. Tonight I Have to Leave It by Shout Out Louds
4. Bag Of Hammers by Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
5. About To Walk by Throw Me the Statue
6. Somewhere Else by Jim Bryson
7. Alcohol by Cansei De Ser Sexy
8. Flood Pt.1 by The Acorn
9. Heart It Races by Dr. Dog
10. In Our Talons by Bowerbirds
11. Fools by The Dodos
12. We're From Barcelona by I'm from Barcelona
13. You! Me! Dancing! by Los Campesinos!
14. Away from the Snakes by Tim Fite
15. Sideways by Let's Go Sailing
16. Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk by Lightspeed Champion
17. Catch a Collapsing Star by The Mendoza Line
18. A Thousand Songs About California by Milton Mapes
19. Chariot by Page France
20. White Daisy Passing by Rocky Votolato
21. I Never Thought I Could Feel This Way For A Boy by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
22. Primitive by Ambulance Ltd
23. Music For Majestic Scenes by Sound 8