Books on the Nightstand

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...

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!

A big announcement. The start of BOTNS Book Bingo. We recommend Everything is Teeth by Evie Wyld and Joe Sumner, and Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler. 

 

Listen to the podcast for a big announcement about Books on the Nightstand!

 

Audiobook of the week (11:15) 

The Assistants by Camille Perri, narrated by Jorjeana Marie, 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

 

The Beginning (16:22)

Memorial Day weekend is days away which means the start of Books on the Nightstand Summer Book Bingo! Go to http://tinyurl.com/BOTNSBingo2016, and hit refresh to get a brand new card.

As in the past, the “rules” are what you make them. However, we suggest you:

* Interpret the categories as you see fit

* Not use a book for more than one square

* Use the Free Square for any book that you read that won’t fit in another category

 

Some of the categories and books Ann and I discuss in this episode:

* With an alliterative title – The Wind in the Willows, Brazzaville Beach

* Hated by someone you know – A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

* About books, bookstores or publishing – Be Frank With Me

* With a flower in the title or on the cover – The Black Dahlia (which actually is fiction, not true crime as we said in the episode)

* Written by two (or more) authors – Will Grayson, Will Grayson

* Reread a book you hated in school – The Catcher in the Rye, The Last of the Mohicans, Giants in the Earth

* That you think you will dislike – Me Before You

* Mentioned on The Gilmore Girls – Here’s a list of all 339 titles mention...

Sad author news, a roundup of book news featuring girls and women, and two books we can’t wait for you to read.

 

Booklovers, especially Michael,  are mourning the passing of two authors that have touched many with their work.

Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love, died at age 70.

Darwin Cooke, writer and artist of Michael’s favorite superhero graphic novel ever, DC The New Frontier, passed away at the age of 53.

 

Audiobook of the week (04:49):

   Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, narrated by Tavia Gilbert, 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

 

Women and girls in books and bookstores (09:49):

 

This week, we wanted to talk about three unrelated stories, and Michael realized that they all had women at the center.

* Judy Blume opened an independent bookstore! She’s partnering with the fabulous Books and Books to open a location in Key West, Florida. I’m dying to visit. If you go, please let us know how it is.

* The Nebula awards for 2015 were given out this past weekend, and of the six major awards, five were given to women.

The winner of Best Novel, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, was an Audiobooks.com Audiobook of the Week in episode #337, chosen by Michael.

Other winners:

Best Novella: Nnedi Okorafor for Binti

Best Novelette: Sarah Pinsker for “Our Lady of the Open Road,” featured in the June 2015 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction

Best Short Story: Alyssa Wong for “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers,” featured in the Oct. 2015 issue of Nightmare Magazine

Winner of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy: Fran Wilde for Updraft

* After hearing a lot about a young adult graphic novel called

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.

A weekly conversational podcast about books, from two longtime veterans of the publishing industry. If you love to read, this podcast is for you. Listen in to hear what's new, what's great, and the books we just can't stop talking about.