Books on the Nightstand

A cool idea for a literary event; keeping up with your favorite author; Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and Ben Okri's The Famished Road Short Story Salon I recently attended a Short Story Salon hosted by Vanessa, one of our BOTNS listeners in Boston. Seven of us got together and each person brought a short story to read aloud.  It was so much fun; I can't wait to do it again.  For more details, including a list of the stories that everyone read, see "My week in short stories #13. (http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/04/my-week-in-short-stories-13-short-story-salon.html)" My favorite story was Horton Hatches the Egg which, yes, is a short story. I chose to read Donald Barthelme's "The School (http://www.npr.org/programs/death/readings/stories/bart.html)." If any of you are in the Providence, RI area and want to give it a try, let me know. This evening was inspired in part by Four Stories (http://www.fourstories.org/), an occasional reading series in Boston where four authors read from their work.   Author Stalking Over on our Goodreads group (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4862-books-on-the-nightstand), Cathy asked for tips and strategies for keeping up with a favorite author. Michael and I brainstormed and came up with a few ideas: * Check publisher web pages. Many publishers will allow you to sign up for email alerts if an author has a new book, or for information about specific authors and categories. Not every publisher offers this, but do check and see if your favorite authors' publishers do. * AuthorTtwitter feeds * Author Facebook pages * Author websites - you can subscribe to RSS feeds (try Feedly (http://www.feedly.com/) in place of my dear departed Google Reader) * Google alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) for your favorite author's name * Authors' Goodreads pages * Librarything Local (http://www.librarything.com/local) to find out which authors will be doing events near your location. There is an app called Readar to get this information on your iPhone. * Sign up for your local bookstores' email newsletters for information about new books and events * Don't be afraid to reach out to authors through their Facebook page or twitter feed if you have a question about their work.   Two books we can't wait for you to read   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298431315l/66559.jpg)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344396715l/101094.jpg) We both bring your attention to some of our old favorites this week. Michael can't believe that he hasn't previously recommended Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, her first novel. It's dark and creepy, maybe even darker than Gone Girl. It's the story of Camille, a reporter who is sent back to the small town where she grew up to investigate the murder of two teenage girls. The Famished Road by Ben Okri won the Booker prize in 1991. I was reminded of this book when Chinua Achebe died last week and Emily Gatlin wrote a post for Bookriot (http://bookriot.com/2013/03/25/genre-kryptonite-african-literature/) about African literature. It's a magical realist novel based in an African myth, with stunning imagery, told from the point of view of a young boy who is a spirit child living in the real world. Next week we'll have the final two author talks from Booktopia Santa Cruz, then we'll be back with a special episode on April 23rd that we think you'll enjoy.

Fun bookish events to attend; looking back at The Tournament of Books; and our recommendations for The Rime of the Modern Mariner and Wave. First the Fun Square Books in Oxford, MS (which was just named 2013 Publishers' Weekly Bookseller of the Year!! YAAAYYY!!) is hosting Camp Square Books (http://www.squarebooks.com/product/camp-square-books-registration), May 21-24, with four authors, bus tours, meals and books! Ann and I are sorry we can't attend, but maybe you can! (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sq-bks.jpg) For only the second time, Book Expo America is opening registration to non-industry folks (http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/Power/#page=page-1). Dubbed "Power Readers," the average everyday book lover (that's you!) can attend for only $49. Publishers' booths, authors signing, free books and book-related goodies, BEA is a book-lovers dream. A reminder that Two Books I Can't Wait For You to Read, Volume 2 is now available for purchase (http://www.northshire.com/ebm/944911). It's the perfect book to get (and give) if you just can't get enough book recommendations! Then the Game (x:xx)   (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ToB-2013.jpg) The 2013 Tournament of Books (http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/) just concluded and we are simply thrilled that Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son was the winner! Ann and I both enjoyed reading the judges essays on their decisions, and the commentary by the tournament creators. So many of our favorite books were in contention and it was an entertaining process from beginning to end. In 2014, we promise to feature the Tournament of Books earlier, so you'll all be reminded to follow along. Two Books We Can't Wait For You to Read (21:29)   (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/rime-181x300.jpg)    (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wave-180x300.jpg) The Rime of the Modern Mariner is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Nick Hayes. It recasts Coleridge's poem as an ecological fable for today. The illustrations, done in shades of blue and black, are simply stunning! (This link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-hayes/the-rime-of-the-modern-ma_b_2206482.html)has some interior images) While reading Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, Ann felt like her body was in a vise. This memoir of the author's experience surviving a tsunami that killed her parents, her husband and her children, and surviving the inexplicable grief that followed. A reminder that April is National Poetry Month and Ann and I, not poetry enthusiasts (yet!), are committing to read each day's Poem of the Day, emailed out by Knopf. Follow this link (http://knopfdoubleday.com/2013/04/01/knopf-poem-a-day-2013-april-1/) to see the poems emailed out for April 1. To sign up yourself, click here (http://knopfdoubleday.com/newsletters/)and select the "Knopf Poetry" newsletter.  

Tupelo Hassman, author of Girlchild, and Simon Vance, famed audiobook narrator, recorded live at Booktopia Santa Cruz. Two Books I Can't Wait For You to Read, Volume Two is ready to order! Click here (http://www.northshire.com/ebm/944911) to place your order. Please order it via Northshire's website even if you will be at the store for Booktopia VT (simply check the box that says "I would like to pick this order up at the store"). That way we're sure to have enough. (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/two-book-vol2.jpg) For your listening pleasure this week, we have the Booktopia Santa Cruz talks given by Tupelo Hassman, author of Girlchild, and Simon Vance (http://simonvance.com/), the "Golden Voice" of audiobook narration.

This week we talk with Kevin Smokler, author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School.   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355063985l/15897036.jpg)   I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview author Kevin Smokler (http://www.kevinsmokler.com/#sthash.scTB30By.dpbs), who came up with the brilliant idea of revisiting 50 classic works of literature and finding practical reasons why those classics are relevant to us as adults. I hope you enjoy the interview, despite the terrible audio quality. Someday someone will invent a way to record a telephone call that doesn't sound like two tin cans connected by string. I mentioned i the intro to the podcast that I'd link here to Kevin's book tour, but it wasn't quite ready when the episode went live. Please check the comments below for his schedule. If you have the chance to see Kevin when he's on his book tour, please say hello from Books on the Nightstand!   Two books Kevin can't wait for us to read: The War for Late Night by Bill Carter, about the politics and culture of late night television. Kevin says that he has no interest in late night television, but he found the book thrilling. He'd recommend it for anyone who likes entertainment and how things come into being. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff. Kevin describes this book as "part autobiography, part memoir, part love letter and part stern slap on the butt," for Detroit.  

We're just back from our sales conference, so we tease you with two books coming out late summer; we discuss the VIDA count; new books The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat and Salt Sugar Fat.   Two books we can't wait to tease you with Michael and I are just back from our sales conference, where we heard about new books that will be published in the late summer and fall. Guys, there are so many great books coming out! We challenged each other to choose just one book to tease you with. I hope you don't mind... Michael talks about the new book from Marihsa Pessl, who you may know from her previous novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Pessl's new novel is called Night Film. The main character is a disgraced investigative journalist who is drawn into reinvestigating the story of a famously-reclusive film director. Night Film will be published on August 20, 2013. I haven't been able to stop talking about Alex by Pierre Lemaitre, which will be published by Quercus/Maclehose Press, an independent publisher in the UK that is launching a US office.  Alex will be one of their first titles to be published here. If you are a fan of Stieg Larsson, you are in for a real treat. And if you found Larsson to be a bit slow going at the start, you will not have that problem with Alex. When we meet Alex, she is being kidnapped, but from there the book takes a turn like no thriller I've ever read. It is out now in the UK, and will be out in September here in the US.   The VIDA Count 2012 (09:38)   VIDA, an organization for women in the literary arts, has released its third annual report (http://www.vidaweb.org/the-count-2012) on gender bias in several major publications. They looked at the number of books authored by men and women, the number of male and female book reviewers, and the number of bylines (published articles).  According to the report, in the general media there appear to be more reviews of books written by men, and there appears to be more male book reviewers. But if you listen to the discussion that Michael and I have on the podcast, it's really more complicated. We speculate about some of the reasons that may be behind this perceived bias, and while we don't come up with an answer, I think we had a great time discussing. One book that I think could be relevant to this discussion, Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, talks about how sometimes women don't put themselves forward. One of the questions I have in relation to this VIDA discussion is how many books are published by women each year? How many are submitted? Does the bias begin at that level, rather than at the reviewer level?. I thought it only fair to look at our numbers here at Books on the Nightstand. We never discuss if the books we feature are written by male and female, so if there is a bias, it is an unconscious bias. I did a non-scientific count of the final 6 months of 2012 -- I did a manual count, and I counted every book listed in our index whether it was a book we talked about or whether it was recommended by a listener call-in. Our numbers: we talked about 135 books written by men (54%), and 114 written by women (46%). I'm sure there is a substantial margin of error, but Michael and I feel pretty comfortable with them. Michael also points to the most popular books on Goodreads in 2012 (http://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by_date/2012), most of which were written by women. But, the fact that book-related social media is used primarily by women, means that those numbers are skewed too.   Two books we can't wait for you to read (26:20)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359040518l/15742642.jpg)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361919312l/15797397.jpg) I can't describe how much I love The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore. It's the story of three women in Indiana who in the 1960s were dubbed "The Supremes" by Earl, the owner of the diner where the three hang out.

This week: Listeners weigh in on their love (or not) of short stories. Back in November, we asked for your thoughts on short stories. Now that we're into the third month of Project Short Story (http://booksonthenightstand.com/project-short-story), we thought it was a good time to hear what you all had to say. (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/so-long-194x300.jpg)  (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/diving-belles-186x300.jpg)   (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/airships-195x300.jpg) Emily from Ohio, wasn't a short story fan until a member of her book club wore her down. Emily recommends So Long by Lucia Berlin, any collection by Nadine Gordimer (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55397.Nadine_Gordimer), Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, and the story Brokeback Mountain by E. Annie Proulx. Like Ann, Jana from Seattle is also obsessed with short stories. The first short story she read and loved was by Ray Bradbury (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1630.Ray_Bradbury) (but which one Jana?!), and just recently bought Kiss Kiss (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44521.Kiss_Kiss) by Roald Dahl. She also recommends the Selected Shorts (http://www.selectedshorts.org/) program, available via podcast (http://www.selectedshorts.org/podcast/). It's a show that I know Ann has listened to, and I just loaded some episodes onto my iPod. Louise from Denmark loves short stories and recommends Diving Belles by Lucy Wood and  Doctor Olaf Van Schuler's Brain by Kerstin Menger-Andreson. She's looking forward to While the Women are Sleeping by Javier Marias and some collections by Barry Hannah (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/53490.Barry_Hannah) and Eudora Welty (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7973.Eudora_Welty), which she bought during Booktopia Oxford. Mary from Indiana felt like short stories end too quickly, but after a rave recommendation from the folks at Literary Disco, she picked up the Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction and is now a fan! Megan from Boston is not personally a fan of short stories, but as a librarian and a teacher, she found them incredibly helpful for teaching and analyzing fiction with high school students. One in particular was "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. which you can read for free here (http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html). Reed called in to comment on the  ability of short stories to resonate for a long period of time, especially considering their relative brevity. He points to "The Gift of the Magi (http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html)" by O. Henry and "The Lottery (http://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf)" by Shirley Jackson as perfect examples. (Click on those two titles to read the full text of the stories.) Robin from New Jersey called in to suggest that we all come up with our own lists fitting certain categories modeled after the "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" rhyme. Check out the thread (http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1238383-something-old-something-new-short-story-lists) I've started on Goodreads to create your own rhyme and fill it with short stories! Finally, Tina called in, but didn't want her voicemail played on the air. Like me, she reads slowly and sees short stories as way to feel like she's getting a lot read. She recommends The Plot Thickens, an anthology of mystery stories, and also loves stories written by one of the masters of the form, Mark Twain (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1244.Mark_Twain).

This week: Gatherings of book lovers, choosing books for your reading groups, Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes and Karen Russell's Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Create your own Booktopia! A few weeks ago we received a voicemail from some friends who had met at Booktopia Oxford last year. They were calling from Jackson, Mississippi, home of their "Unofficial Booktopia" gathering. We were jealous, but thrilled that we helped to create new friendships, and thrilled that they had planned this get-together, complete with read-along (A Good Hard Look by Ann Napolitano, a novel about Flannery O'Connor). Thanks, ladies, for thinking of us during your weekend! We want to encourage all of you to use our Goodreads group to connect with other BOTNS readers and listeners in your area. We currently have several local threads (http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/162695?group_id=4862), including people from Boston, Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Chicago, Lower Mainland BC, Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia. If your city is not there, feel free to start a post. We recommend a first meeting in conjunction with an author event at a local bookstore, or other literary gathering.   Choosing books for your book club (06:46) A few weeks ago I spoke on a panel at The Big Book Club Getaway (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebigbookclub.org%2F&ei=R5YrUYm4CcW60QGw_YGQBQ&usg=AFQjCNE8Iv7IoNFNPczrG37QUUG-Fc9_jA&sig2=W9B6CPuZuCJUFiUn5jUUzg&bvm=bv.42768644,d.dmQ). My topic was "How to choose good books for your book club." Since I had done a lot of prep and had pages of notes, I thought I'd share some of the ideas here. 1. Know your book club. What do you *really* discuss? Is it the book itself -- the writing, structure, use of language, stye? Or do you discuss the material around the book? For instance, much of my book group's discussion about Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone was about the food and history of Ethiopia beyond the details that the author included in the novel.  2. Visit Bookstores and Libraries Check the displays, but it's better to have a conversation, if you ask the right questions. What books had mixed reviews? These can often be the best ones to discuss. What books most surprised readers? The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and Wonder by RJ Palacio are good examples of this, as are "genre-crossers" like Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Which have ambiguous endings? Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is an excellent example of a book with an ambiguous ending. Interesting settings? Cutting for Stone, Julie Orringer's The Invisible Bridge, (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7274337-the-invisible-bridge) The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11331421-the-art-of-hearing-heartbeats) by Jan-Philipp Sendker, Gardens of Water by Alan Drew are some of our favorites in this vein. Look for pairings: Paula McLain's The Paris Wife with Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises or A Moveable Feast (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4631.A_Moveable_Feast). Also try pairing Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones with Dickens' Great Expectations. An upcoming pairing to look forward to: F. Scott Fitzgerald wtih Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (coming March 26th),  and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery with Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado (due April 2nd in Canada and June 4th in the US). Look for books related to current affairs - Nick Kristoff and Cheryl Wu-Dunn's Half the Sky or Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. 3. Award winners BookRiot's "Book Discovery through Literary Awards": http://bookriot.com/2013/02/11/book-discovery-through-literary-awards-part-one/ (http://bookriot.com/2013/02/11/book-discovery-through-literary-awards-part-one/) The Alex Awards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Awards) -- adult books that are also great for teens.

We hit a million downloads recently. Thank you! This week: literary Kickstarters, Herman Koch's The Dinner and Ghostman by Roger Hobbs. Two Books I Can’t Wait For You to Read, Volume 2 – Don’t forget to submit your recommendation for two books you love, to be printed in a new volume in April. Your recommendations don’t have to be long (in fact, you are limited to 475 characters for each blurb), and can be completely conversational; they don’t need to read like a New York Times review. You have until March 3 to submit and you can do so here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ). One million downloads!   On January 31, Books on the Nightstand marked a huge milestone: we surpassed 1 million downloads!! Thank you to all who helped us to get there.   Literary Kickstarters (03:00)   (http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0098/1582/products/sherlock_thumb1_1024x1024.png?2252)This week I received an awesome t-shirt from Litographs (http://www.litographs.com/products/sherlock-t), as a reward for helping to fund the company via Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/). It reminded me that there is a whole universe of literary people and companies and organizations out there who are trying to get their projects off the ground. Currently looking for funding is Aw Yeah Comics (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1197720703/aw-yeah-comics), a line of comics for all ages put together by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani Fireside Magazine (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/firesidemag/fireside-magazine-year-two/posts) is crowdfunding its second year of publication. It's an online literary magazine that crosses genre boundaries -- their tagline is: "Many Genres. No Limits. Just Good Stories." Two authors involved that intrigue me: Chuck Wendig (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17152.Chuck_Wendig), author of Blackbirds, and Ken Liu (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2917920.Ken_Liu), who wrote that story that I chose for January Project Short Story Read-along, The Paper Menagerie (http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/01/january-short-story-read-along-the-paper-menagerie-by-ken-liu.html). Indiegogo (http://www.indiegogo.com/) is similar to Kickstarter, and over there Graywolf Press (http://www.graywolfpress.org/) is looking for funds (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/graywolf-press-new-website) to build a new website. Graywolf Press is a nonprofit press, and they publish great books including a book I've recently read and loved, On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman, which comes out in May and which I'll be talking about on a future podcast.   Two books we can't wait for you to read (14:00)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355949630l/15797938.jpg) (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344618841l/13642932.jpg) Michael loves loves loves The Dinner (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797938-the-dinner) by Herman Koch. It has been a sensation in Europe and has finally been released here. Some people are comparing it to Gone Girl, and there are some elements that compare, but it's truly uinque. The entire book takes place over the course of one dinner. It's a book that unfolds slowly, with flashbacks, so that you slowly piece together the story. Beyond that, Michael doesn't want to say anything in fear of spoiling your discovery. Michael suggests that you read the book without looking at the flap copy or reviews. Ghostman by Roger Hobbs is a thriller that is a true page-turner. Jack, our narrator, is a "ghostman" -- someone in the criminal world who helps people disappear. Jack is called upon by a former boss to clean up a casino robbery that has gone terribly wrong. New York Times Book Reviewer Michiko Kakutani describes Jack as a descendant of Lee Child (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5091.Lee_Child)'s Jack Reacher and Richard Stark (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13634.Richard_Stark)'s Parker. It's filled with details about how to be a criminal, so I feel well-prepared for my next career.

This week we bring you authors Adam Johnson and Sarah McCoy, “live” from Booktopia Santa Cruz. These were the talks they gave at the Celebration of Authors held at Bookshop Santa Cruz. (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/orphan-194x300.jpg)   (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bakers-198x300.jpg) Reminder! Don’t forget to tell us about your “Two Books I Can’t Wait For You to Read!” Click here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ) to submit your recommendations to be published in our book in April. Ann and I will be back next week with a regular episode.

  We really should have called this episode "Nine authors we can't wait for you to read." This week, we talk about the books and authors that will be part of Booktopia Vermont, in the hopes that you will want to read these books, even if you're not attending Booktopia. Our friends at Northshire Bookstore have made it easy for you to order the books and even to have them signed. Just click through to the special page (http://northshire.com/booktopia-2013). Be sure to use the coupon code listed there for 20% off these Booktopia books, plus free shipping. Make sure to note at checkout if you want the books held to be signed. We'll have the authors sign your books at Booktopia (April 12-15, 2013) and then Northshire will ship them to you. Nichole Bernier - The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. - When Kate loses her friend in a tragic accident, she finds that Elizabeth has left her journals to Kate, saying that Kate will know what to do with them. A novel of friendship, motherhood and secrets, there is a lot to talk about. Amy Brill - The Movement of Stars - 1854 Nantucket, Hannah wants nothing more than to study astronomy and discover a comet. Amy's book will be on sale April 18, but you can preorder copies to be signed at Booktopia and the book will be sent to you. Jon Clinch - The Thief of Auschwitz - Jon was a guest at our first Booktopia weekend for his books Finn and Kings of the Earth. The Thief of Auschwitz is a very different book, but equally powerful. The story of a family during the Holocaust, it's an approachable read that allows us to read about the horros of the Holocaust through a slightly softened lens. Sara J. Henry - A Cold and Lonely Place - Sara was at Booktopia 2012 for Learning to Swim, and she returns to Booktopia 2013 with her second book that features journalist Troy Chance. A man that Troy knows is found drowned under the ice on Saranac Lake during Winter Carnival. Paula McLain - The Paris Wife - A novel of Hemingway's first wife, filled with descriptions of Paris and Chicago. This has given Michael a new appreciation for Hemingway. Chris Pavone - The Expats - Kate and Dexter Moore relocate to Luxembourg for Dexter's job. Kate, formerly a CIA agent, has some trouble settling into the domestic life of an unemployed expat, until she gets mixed up in a web of deceit. Will Schwalbe - The End of Your Life Book Club - A book about books, a book about the power of books to bring people together, in the case the author and his mother Marianne as they struggle with Marianne's battle with pancreatic cancer. Elizabeth Kelly - Apologize, Apologize and the upcoming The Last Summer of the Camperdowns - The Last Summer of the Camperdowns will be out in June, but you can read Apologize, Apologize right now. Both of Elizabeth's books feature dysfunctional families and great writing. Steve Yarbrough - The End of California is Steve's most recent novel, and  The Realm of Last Chances will be out in August 2013. If you're a fan of Richard Russo or Richard Ford, I think you'll also be a fan of Yarbrough's.  

A few updates and reminders; a discussion of a planned library that will have no physical books; Ann recommends Where'd You Go Bernadette?by Maria Semple and I loved Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman Updates and Reminders Project Short Story - Ann has kept to her schedule of reading a new short story every day and she is loving it. I wish I had jumped on the bandwagon at the beginning of the year, but Ann informed me that May is National Short Story Month (http://fictionwritersreview.com/blog/the-origins-of-short-story-month-a-guest-post-by-dan-wickett), so I think I have a challenge for May! You still have a couple of days to read The Paper Menagerie (http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/01/january-short-story-read-along-the-paper-menagerie-by-ken-liu.html), the Readalong Story for January. Ann will announce the February story within the next week or so. Two Books I Can't Wait For You to Read, Volume 2 - Don't forget to submit your recommendation for two books you love, to be printed in a new volume in April. Your recommendations don't have to be long (in fact, you are limited to 475 characters for each blurb), and can be completely conversational; they don't need to read like a New York Times review. You have until March 3 to submit and you can do so here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ). Libraries Without Books (9:14) (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/library-300x199.jpg) Elizabeth from our Goodreads Group shared a link to an article (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/bookless-public-library-texas-home-bibliotech/story?id=18213091) about a county in Texas that will be opening the first physical book-less public library this fall. All books will be available electronically. Ann and I discuss whether this should still be called a library (I say no, she says yes), how the functions of libraries are changing, what's to happen to the books that aren't available for e-lending, and how will librarians display books? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Two Books We Can't Wait For You to Read (21:03) (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/bernadette-196x300.jpg)     (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wolves-220x300.jpg) At the very end of last year, Ann read Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple, an epistolary novel that she found funny, sad, and poignant all at the same time. It also was just named to The Alex Awards (http://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards#current) list of ten adult books that would appeal to teens, along with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13538873-mr-penumbra-s-24-hour-bookstore), Girlchild (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12160934-girlchild), Tell the Wolves I'm Home (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12875258-tell-the-wolves-i-m-home), and My Friend Dahmer (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12959045-my-friend-dahmer), among others. Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman, was recently released in hardcover. It's a novel about a shocking crime in a small Minnesota plains town, and the effect it has on the townspeople, especially the new pastor's young pregnant wife, and the father of the perpetrator. I found it fascinating and uniquely told.  Library photo courtesy of CCAC North Library (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccacnorthlib/4131838228/in/photostream/) via Flickr

This week we bring you audiobook narrator Grover Gardner and author Ann Packer, “live” from Booktopia Santa Cruz. These were the talks they gave at the Celebration of Authors held at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Reminder! Don't forget to tell us about your "Two Books I Can't Wait For You to Read!" Click here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ) to submit your recommendations to be published in our book in April. Ann and I will be back next week with a regular episode.

Announcing our new book project; Do you like to read books when they are newly-published, or wait until they've stood the test of time? Then Michael talks about The Dewey Decimal System while I declare my love for Daniel Woodrell's The Death of Sweet Mister. Two Books you Can't Wait for Us to Read: Hey, we're publishing a book, and we want you to be part of it! For the past two years, we've published "souvenir" books for Booktopia, asking Booktopia attendees to contribute. The books were printed on our Booktopia partner bookstores' Espresso Book Machines, and everybody loved them. This year, we're opening up the project to all Books on the Nightstand friends, and it's not tied directly into Booktopia. The concept is simple: tell us two books you can't wait for us to read (new, old, in print or out of print), with a short (few sentence) explanation about why you recommend them. Sadly, we can't pay you, but you should also know that this is not a money-making venture. We will make just a few dollars from each copy sold, and all proceeds will go back into the actual expenses of keeping Books on the Nightstand going -- web and podcast hosting costs, and possibly new microphones. More importantly, we can't wait to see what books you recommend. I refer back to my 2011 edition all the time. We'll put an index in the back in checklist form, so you can check off all of your fellow BOTNS listeners' recommendations. To participate, simply fill out this short web form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ). Please have your entry in no later than March 3rd. Click here to submit your recommendations (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YYS3QXQ)   (http://images.booksense.com/images/cp/1572/803722.jpg)   (http://images.booksense.com/images/cp/1572/875647.jpg) If you are interesting in purchasing either of the earlier volumes, they are available from the Northshire Bookstore website. (http://www.northshire.com/search/apachesolr_search/books%20on%20the%20nightstand) Should you resist the lure of the new? (4:30) This week, we discuss the value in reading newly-published books versus books that have "stood the test of time."  The books that we feature in most podcast episodes in the segment called "Two books we can't wait for you to read" are often newly- or not-yet published books. We have done that deliberately, since we know that many readers like to hear about books early on and it's an area of our expertise. But we recognize that there is value also in talking about books that aren't just recently published. There are many books that were published years ago that people are still talking about, like Neil Gaiman's American Gods (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4407.American_Gods). So we've decided that we will mix it up a bit more. We will still talk mostly about new books in our third podcast segment, but we'll also be telling you about books that we've loved that were published  months, years, or even decades ago. Please tell us your thoughts -- do publication dates matter when you choose your next book?   Two books we can't wait for you to read (13:35)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328734468l/10127040.jpg)   (http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1171659439l/112529.jpg) Michael found The Dewey Decimal System by Nathan Larson in a bookstore, and knew right away that it was perfect for him. Set in a New York City that has undergone a terrible event, our nameless main character, nicknamed Dewey Decimal, chooses to live in the New York Public library. When Dewey Decimal is hired to assassinate someone, he begins to question all that he believes. This book reminded Michael of the early works of Jonathan Lethem, such as Gun with Occasional Music (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16718.Gun_With_Occasional_Music). As for me, I'm not sure where Daniel Woodrell has been all my life. I read The Death of Sweet Mister in an evening, the last evening of 2012,

All about Project Short Story; Our reading resolutions for 2013; We recommend Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter and Tenth of December by George Saunders. Project Short Story Ann recently launched Project Short Story (http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/01/introducing-project-short-story.html), a year-long celebration of short fiction. We're announcing it on the podcast because we want everyone to know about it, but most of the PSS content going forward will be here on the blog and not on the podcast. Be sure you are signed up for mailing list (http://booksonthenightstand.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8333a0f98c97441e276db0914&id=18d0ac9ce2) so you'll get notified when new blog entries are posted. The first monthly read-along for Project Short Story is "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu, which was announced on Monday (http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/01/january-short-story-read-along-the-paper-menagerie-by-ken-liu.html). New Resolutions for a New Year (4:55) (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/jan-300x199.jpg) This year Ann and I have each made a few Reading Resolutions. I hope to read 78 books this year (13 more than I read in 2012). Plus, I've identified 13 books (http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1021858?shelf=13-in-2013) I've been meaning to read, but still haven't, most of which are titles I'm embarrassed to say I've never read. In addition to committing to reading one short story every day, Ann has put Ready Player One by Ernie Cline and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry on her "must read in 2013" list. Eric, over at our Goodreads group (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4862-books-on-the-nightstand), has suggested a reading challenge that he's calling simply ALL. Pick a favorite author and read everything they've ever written. Given our respective love of Ian McEwan and William Boyd, Ann and I surprisingly haven't read everything by them. Which author would you choose? What are your reading challenges for 2013? Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (14:53) (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/beaut-ruins-196x300.jpg)      (http://booksonthenightstand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/tenth-of-dec-203x300.jpg) (http://booksonthenightstand.com/?attachment_id=3706) At the end of last year, Ann read a lot of books, some of which would likely have ended up on her best of 2012 list, if she hadn't already picked that list for the podcast! One of those was Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, a story that connects a small Italian village in 1962, and a Hollywood studio today. I was blown away by George Saunders' newest collection of stories, Tenth of December, which is just out in hardcover. Saunders is a writer who is considered by many to be a master of short stories, and you need only read this collection, the title story in particular, to find that out for yourself.  photo by simplyla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoann/6605711959/), via flickr

Today we present two author talks from Booktopia Santa Cruz: Tayari Jones, author of SILVER SPARROW, and Lynne Cox, author of SOUTH WITH THE SUN.