Now that iPods are so popular, many people access most of their music online via iTunes or similar applications. But the vast number of tracks available online can make this a bewildering process. The Guardian’s weekly ‘Readers Recommend’ column offers imaginative and idiosyncratic suggestions for music to download on a selected theme, allowing the reader to create new and unusual themed playlists for his or her iPod. These playlists range over all genres of popular music, with brand-new tracks recommended alongside classic songs and rare oddities. The Guardian Book of Playlists brings together the 100 best examples of the ‘Readers Recommend’ column, with Dorian Lynskey’s essay on each theme being followed by the ten chosen songs as a recommended playlist, creating an entertaining, quirky guide for music fans wondering what they should download next. The Guardian Book of Playlists draws on the archives of a popular Guardian feature to create a highly marketable book.Dorian Lynskey is a music writer for the Guardian. He was the Big Issue's music critic for three years and has freelanced for a host of magazines, currently including Q, Word, Spin, Empire and Blender. He has made a compilation tape of his favourite recent songs every month since October 1992 − only these days he makes playlists.