Why are some of us drawn to dark, disturbing works of fiction? Don’t you forget about Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand and Arthur and George by Julian Barnes.   Ann discovered a wonderful time-suck of a website: What’s That Book? It’s a site where anyone can post details of a book that they remember but for which they can’t recall the […]

BOTNS #325: Why Read Dark?

Illuminating conversation about books and reading

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Fashion & Beauty

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Sadly, we have come to the true end of Books on the Nightstand.
Happily, this final episode is filled with bloopers!
 

 
Information on our special Two Dozen Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read Sweepstakes is available here. Be sure to enter now. The deadline is July 31, 2016. While entering, you can opt-in to a mailing list, where we can keep you updated on BOTNS news. We can’t guarantee what we will be sending out via this list other than that we will share our two monthly selections that will go to the winners of the sweepstakes.
 
If you’d like to join the mailing list for possible future BOTNS news, but can’t enter the sweepstakes because you live outside the US, or because you’ve reached this page after the sweepstakes has ended, you can sign up here.
 
Ways to interact with Books on the Nightstand, as well as with Ann and Michael, going forward:

* The Books on the Nightstand Goodreads Group
* Older episodes of the podcast
* Twitter: @annkingman and @mkindness
* Litsy: @mkindness


BOTNS #390: Hello… Oops!

A preview of fiction titles we’re looking forward to in the next nine months.
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Don’t Forget! Although this is the final “regular” episode of Books on the Nightstand, there will be an episode 390 – filled with hilarious bloopers!
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Information on our special Two Dozen Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read Sweepstakes is available here. Be sure to enter now! While entering, you can opt-in to a mailing list, where we can keep you updated on BOTNS news. We can’t guarantee what we will be sending out via this list other than that we will share our two monthly selections that will go to the winners of the sweepstakes. (Something many of you asked for!)
If you’d like to join the mailing list for possible future BOTNS news, but can’t enter the sweepstakes because you live outside the US, you can sign up here.
Tell me what to read this summer! Go here to vote on which of  six titles I’m embarrassed to say I still haven’t read I should read before Labor Day.
 
Audiobook of the week (05:37) 

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, narrated by Hillary Huber, is Ann’s pick for this week’s Audiobooks.com Audiobook of the Week.
Special thanks to Audiobooks.com for sponsoring this episode of Books on the Nightstand.
Audiobooks.com allows you to listen to over 100,000 audiobooks, instantly, wherever you are, and the first one is free. Download or stream any book directly to your Apple or Android device. Sign up for a free 30-day trial and free audiobook download by going to www.audiobooks.com/freebook
 
Fiction Preview (11:39)
 
      
        
There’s a ton of great fiction titles coming out in the next 9 months. Here are our picks:

* DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
* The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis
* How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
* The Dream Life of Astronauts by Patrick Ryan
* Dr. Knox by Peter Spiegelman
* The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
* The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock
* The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson
* Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers<br...

BOTNS #389: All Good Things… Part Two

A preview of non-fiction titles coming in the next eight months.
 
Information on our special Two Dozen Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read Sweepstakes is available here. Be sure to enter now!
If you’d like to join the mailing list for possible future BOTNS news, but can’t enter the sweepstakes because you live outside the US, you can sign up here. We can’t guarantee what we will be sending out via this list other than that we will share our two monthly selections that will go to the winners of the sweepstakes. (Something many of you asked for!)
 
Tell me what to read this summer! Go here to vote on which of  six titles I’m embarrassed to say I still haven’t read I should read before Labor Day.
 
Audiobook of the week (03:35) 

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, narrated by Robert Petkoff, is my pick for this week’s Audiobooks.com Audiobook of the Week.
Special thanks to Audiobooks.com for sponsoring this episode of Books on the Nightstand.
Audiobooks.com allows you to listen to over 100,000 audiobooks, instantly, wherever you are, and the first one is free. Download or stream any book directly to your Apple or Android device. Sign up for a free 30-day trial and free audiobook download by going to www.audiobooks.com/freebook
 
Non-Fiction Preview (06:52)
 
      
            
 
Lots of great non-fiction titles coming out in the next 8 months or so. Here are our picks:

* How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky
* Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso
* American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin
* We Are Not Such Things by Justine van der Luen
* Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard
* Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
* Eyes on the Street by Robert Kanigel
* Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
* Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
* Patient H.M. by Luke Dittrich
* <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28503549-the-french-chef-in-america?

BOTNS #388: All Good Things… Part One

We answer your burning questions, and then recommend The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
 
Thank you to everyone who sent us messages, tweets, comments, etc. about the ending of Books on the Nightstand. Though you all shared your disapointment, nearly all of you said you understood why were bowing out now, and thanked us for the nearly 400 episodes. 
Information on our special Two Dozen Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read Sweepstakes is available here. Be sure to enter now!
 
Audiobook of the week (14:38) 

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett, narrated by Ellen Archer and Robert Fass, is my pick for this week’s Audiobooks.com Audiobook of the Week.
Special thanks to Audiobooks.com for sponsoring this episode of Books on the Nightstand.
Audiobooks.com allows you to listen to over 100,000 audiobooks, instantly, wherever you are, and the first one is free. Download or stream any book directly to your Apple or Android device. Sign up for a free 30-day trial and free audiobook download by going to www.audiobooks.com/freebook
 
The Final Interrogation (18:35)
When we announced the end of BOTNS, we encouraged you all to write in with final Q&A; questions. I won’t recount every question and answer in these show notes (you can listen to the podcast for that!), but here are a few questions for which the answers have links:

* Jessie from Maine asked if we’ll continue to recommend books via social media (yes – twitter: @AnnKingman and @mkindness, and Michael is using Litsy more).
* Yes, Heidi, the Books on the Nightstand Goodreads group will continue to exist!
* Joanne asked about becoming a more focused reader. Ann recommends taking a creative writing class (like the one she took at Grub Street in Boston), and also reading Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer.
* Anne asked about how we create the podcast. Awhile back we wrote up our workflow for a presentation we did at BEA. You can find that info at the very end of these show notes.


 
Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (51:44)
     
I recommend The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha. It is one book in a sea of books about happiness, but it is speaking to me in a way that other books haven’t. Filled with 9 secrets informed by insights gleaned by the author as well as wisdom from past great thinkers, The Happiness Equation is showing me simple things I can do (and am doing) to be happier every day.
Ann recommends Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. It’s the story of two half-sisters (each unaware of the other) in 18th-century Ghana. One is married off to an Englishman who is a slave trade...

BOTNS #386: The Final Interrogation

Author talks from Booktopia Petoskey, including W. Bruce Cameron, Janis Cooke Newman, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
 
This week we have an amazing lineup of author talks from our final Booktopia event. These talks were recorded in September 2015 at the fabulous McLean & Eakin bookstore in Petoskey, MI.
Authors featured this week:
   
W. Bruce Cameron, author of The Dog Master
 
   
Janis Cooke Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue
 
   
Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Water Museum
 
We’ll be back next week with a new episode. Until then, happy reading!

BOTNS #325: Why Read Dark?

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