If you listened to our most recent podcast, you know that Michael has "persuaded" me to read my first graphic novel from start to finish. He chose Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan as my initiation into the category. My copy arrived, and I was ready to dive in ... and found my husband had absconded with it to the living room, where he was intently reading. So Michael, you'll just have to wait -- I will have my report ready for our next podcast, but I may need to retake the book by force.
And for my Mom, who doesn't know what a podcast is: Mom, remember when my cousin Sean and I would play with the tape recorder and pretend to make "radio shows"? (Stop laughing!) Well, a podcast is the same idea -- and no, you don't need an iPod, or an MP3 player. You can listen right at your computer. Just go here and click the "play" button and listen for yourself. (Oh, and I swear that the Books on the Nightstand podcast is better than my seven-year-old self playing DJ to John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Road" -- and hopefully a lot less embarrassing.)
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan, Vertigo trade paperback, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-401-20315-3
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In Episode 3 of the Books on the Nightstand Podcast:
Michael tells us about his weekend at Comic-Con, and Ann makes a shocking confession.
We discuss the bad rap given to short stories, and talk about our favorite story collections. If you think you don't like short stories, we dare you to give one of these a try!
And we preview two new books that hit the shelves on May 6th: Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian and The Mysterious Montague, by Leigh Montville.
The story about Unaccustomed Earth debuting on the New York Times Bestseller list at #1 appeared on the New York Times' Paper Cuts blog on April 10. The essay about short stories that Michael referenced is from Michael Chabon's Maps and Legends.
Full details of all of the books discussed are below. Thanks for listening!
__________________________ We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan, Vertigo trade paperback, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-4012-0315-3 Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Knopf hardcover, $25.00, ISBN 978-0-307-26573-9 Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon, McSweeney's hardcover, $24.00, ISBN 978-1-932-41689-3 The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender, Anchor Books trade paperback, $12.95, ISBN 978-0-385-49216-4 Things that Fall From the Sky by Kevin Brockmeier, Vintage trade paperback, $13.95, ISBN 978-0-375-72769-6 First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan, Vintage trade paperback, $12.95, ISBN 978-0-679-75019-2 A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You by Amy Bloom, Vintage trade paperback, $12.95, ISBN 978-0-375-70557-1 Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff, Knopf hardcover, $26.95, ISBN 978-1-4000-4459-7 Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian, Shaye Areheart Books hardcover, $25.00, ISBN 978-0-307-39495-8 The Mysterious Montague by Leigh Montville, Doubleday hardcover, $26.00, ISBN 978-0-385-52033-1
Today was Record Store Day -- a day when hundreds of independently-owned record stores across the country joined together. From their website:
On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.
Each participating record store had special events going on throughout the day, from giveaways and contests, to in-store performances. Many of the events were supported by local musicians and artists, as well as more famous, nationally-known acts. The stores acted independently to fine-tune their celebrations in their own communities, but acted as one to promote the day and the idea. They garnered coverage in The New York Times, and Record Store Day was written about in every music blog I've seen.
I'd love to see this happen with bookstores. The parallels are evident. Local bookstores play an important role in their communities, and do so much more than simply sell books. I think it's time that they were celebrated. It's time for Bookstore Day. Don't you agree?
Tomorrow I head down to NYC for New York Comic Con. This will be my first comic convention. I'm partially going as a fan, partially because my job now includes selling DC Comics to bookstores. (I love my job!)
I've been into comics and graphic novels since I was a teen, when I spent most of my money on huge stacks of comics every week. I long ago stopped buying comics weekly and started waiting for the trade paperback or hardcover compilations. So, in honor of my first "con," here's my pick for most eagerly-awaited trade paperback coming out this summer... Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10 - Whys and Wherefores. This is a series that recently completed its monthly run. The creator, Brian K. Vaughan, always intended the series to run for only 60 issues, or in this case 10 trade paperback compilations. The story follows Yorrick Brown. He and a capuchin monkey are the only ones to survive something that killed all of the other males on the planet.
In the years since the series began it has been covered on NPR, in Publisher's Weekly and in the New York Times. This is a perfect example of how comics can deal with adult themes and really tell a wonderful, complex story.
__________________________ We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: Y: The Last Man, Vol 1 - Unmannedby Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, DC/Vertigo Trade Paperback, $12.99, ISBN: 978-1-5638-9980-5 Y: The Last Man, Vol 10 - Whys and Wherefores by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, DC/Vertigo Trade Paperback, $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-4012-1813-3, on sale June 24, 2008 note: in the interest of space, I've listed the first and the final volumes of this series. There are obviously 8 volumes in between, so get reading! (all information is for the U.S. editions).
I made an email gaffe the other day. It wasn't a major mishap, thankfully, but I did expose a bcc list of email adresses to all who received the email. You may have even received it. As soon as I realized what had happened, I got that "boulder in the pit of my stomach" feeling that comes from knowing that something has gone terribly wrong.
I was on the phone with Michael at the time, and when I told him what I had done, he asked, "Have you ever heard of a book called 'Send'?". He was being funny, because he knew very well that I had not only heard of the book, but had read it. And enjoyed it. And then somehow managed to ignore the authors' very wise advice to 'think before you click." I obviously need to go back and reread it. Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home contains practical advice about email etiquette, but it's also filled with entertaining anecdotes, many from the authors' own email missteps. I am reassured that my mishap was nothing compared to some of the stories that the authors include in the book. Reading about others' blunders will certainly make me feel better. It's also a very funny book, and it's a great gift for the graduate about to enter the workplace--or for those of us who have gotten far too comfortable with communicating by email.
But just when I was cursing the power of the Internet to magnify a mistake, I discovered a blog post that made me appreciate the power of the Internet to educate about the really important things. Like this:
In honor of National Poetry Month -- do you know what these 3 songs or albums have in common?
They were all written by none other than Shel Silverstein, author of the beloved Children's poetry classic Where The Sidewalk Ends. This interview with Silverstein's nephew is a fun look at a part of Shel Silverstein's career that is, at least in the world of books, not so well known.
I'm not sure why that tickled me so much, but it did. Especially the fact that he penned the lyrics for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. I mentioned that to Michael, but he didn't know what I was talking about. I think he was rubbing in the fact that I just had a birthday, but I'm not that old. He must just be uninformed. So, for Michael, and for those of you that now have an ear-worm, I present you with a You-Tube video: The Cover of the Rolling Stone.
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. They also link to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: Send : the essential guide to email for office and home by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, Knopf hardcover, $19.95, 978-0-307-27060-3 Where the Sidewalk Endsby Shel Silverstein, Harper Collins hardcover with CD, $22.99, ISBN 978-0-060-29169-3
In Episode 2 of the Books on the Nightstand Podcast, we first discuss a recent essay in the New York Times Book Review, It's Not You, It's Your Books by Rachel Donadio. Can you find true love if your significant other has bad taste in books?
Then we spend a few minutes talking about some of our favorite authors. Michael likes William Boyd and Jonathan Lethem; Ann's favorites are Ian McEwan and Valerie Martin. Ann shows her cultural illiteracy by confusing John Lithgow with John Malkovich (it was Malkovich that starred in Mary Reilly, of course).
In the last segment, we preview two books that have just been or will soon be published in the next few weeks: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (on sale today) and Peace by Richard Bausch (on sale April 15th).
Full details of all of the books are below. Thanks for listening!
Our podcast is now available in iTunes and other podcatchers -- you can subscribe using the buttons on the side of the blog. Of course, as always, you can listen here or download it manually as well.
You can listen by using the player below. If your browser does not support javascript, you won't see the player; click the link below the player to listen, or right-click to download the episode.
We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. They also link to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: By William Boyd: Brazzaville Beach, Harper Perennial trade paperback, $13.95, ISBN 978-0-3807-8049-5 The Blue Afternoon, Vintage trade paperback, $14.95, ISBN 978-0-679-77260-6 Any Human Heart, Vintage trade paperback, $14.95, ISBN 978-1-4000-3100-9
By Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday hardcover, $22.00, ISBN 978-0-385-52240-3 Atonement, Anchor trade paperback, $14.95, ISBN 978-0-385-72179-0
By Valerie Martin: Mary Reilly, Vintage trade paperback, $13.00, ISBN 978-0-375-72599-9 Property, Vintage trade paperback, $13.00, ISBN 978-0-375-71330-9 Trespass, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $25.00, ISBN 978-0-385-51545-0
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, Ballantine Books trade paperback, $14.00, ISBN 978-0-345-49500-6 Peace by Richard Bausch, Knopf hardcover, $19.95, ISBN 978-0-307-26833-4
I heard the announcement of the Pulitzers yesterday and immediately went downstairs, found my copy of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and put it on the top of my pile. It's something I've wanted to read for a long time, but the Pulitzer is just the kick in the pants I needed. I hope to start reading it tonight.
I too loved The Road and finally broke down and read that after it won the Pulitzer.
This brings up a question: Are you more likely to read a book if it wins a prize? My answer would be yes, if it was something I was hoping to get to anyway. Share your answers with us in the comments section please!
p.s. Ann, if you the eyeball on the cover of Infected is scary, you definitely should NOT check out the book's website. The eyeball moves!!
Sorry, Michael, the eye on the cover of Infected in your previous post is just too creepy. I swear, it follows me around my office. Fortunately, tonight's Pulitzer Prize awards provided me with the material for a blog post, which will push that image off of my monitor. The fiction winner for 2008 is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. This book was included on almost all of the "best of 2007" round-ups last year, but I never got around to reading it. Now I'm convinced that I need to carve out some time and see what all the hoopla is about (cough, cough, I think I'm coming down with a bug).
However, I can't pass up this opportunity to recommend the 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I know there are still some holdouts who have not yet read it. It was my favorite book of 2006, and possibly one of my top-ten of all time. Yes, it's a post-apocalyptic novel, and yes, it's dark, but it's also hopeful. And beautiful. It's one of those books that stays with you for a long, long time, and you know that's a rare thing. So go read it. And then read Oscar Wao.
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. They also link to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Waoby Junot Diaz Riverhead hardcover, $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-594-48958-7
The Roadby Cormac McCarthy Vintage trade paperback, $14.95 ISBN: 978-0-307-38789-9
Best airplane book ever? hmmm... I'd have to think long and hard to come up with BEST EVER, but I do think a book that just came out will serve you well whether you're aisle, middle or window.
Infected, by Scott Sigler, reminded me a lot of The Ruins (Ann's pick below), with maybe just a bit more sci-fi. I'm going to call this one a "page-turner," because I truly couldn't turn these pages fast enough.
Our story follows a CDC Doctor and a Government Agent investigating seemingly normal folks going homicidal. One thing ties all of these killers together: Triangular blue growths under their skin. (Hence the supremely creepy jacket over there!)
Our third protagonist is a former football player who has long worked to supress his violent tendencies. Now he's fighting against invaders in his own body.
This book is gory and over-the-top in the very best sense... Perfect for vacation, perfect for summer... You'll never scratch an itch the same way! __________________________
We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. They also link to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post: Infectedby Scott Sigler Crown Hardcover, $24.95 ISBN: 978-0-307-40610-1
Books on the Nightstand is the blog and podcast of Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman. We are friends and colleagues who work in the publishing industry. That means that we talk about books all day long to other people who love to talk about books. But sometimes, those conversations have to end before we're ready to stop talking. Thus, this blog.
This blog is in no way affiliated with our employer, Random House, Inc.. Opinions stated here are our own, and are not necessarily those expressed or endorsed by Random House.
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However, I can't pass up this opportunity to recommend the 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Cormac McCarthy's 
