Summary: 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.
