BOTNS Books Podcast #51: It's All the Rage

Books on the Nightstand, Episode 51 (22:49)

In this episode, we take a look at "literary fads" -- you know, like when every new book in the bookstore seems to be about the same thing, or uses the same type of jacket image. The current "fad" seems to be books inspired by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Not all "fads" are deliberate, however, and coincidence plays a large part.

In segment two, we bring one of these literary fads back to life by discussing it to death. (Sorry, but how else do you introduce a segment about zombies?). Yes, Zombies. As evidenced by books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, these undead creatures are taking the bookstores by storm. Michael talks about several zombie books including Star Wars Death Trooper by Joe Schrieber and three books by Max Brooks: World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, and Zombie Survival Guide Recorded Attacks, a graphic novel that looks at zombie attacks throughout history. And Michael wants to read The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, a comic series that has been collected in book form and is being turned into a TV series.

Ann has, somewhat accidentally, read and enjoyed a young adult novel called The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, which also features zombies, but this time the zombies are in a dystopic landscape.

In segment 3, Ann discusses Nightlight: A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon. Based on the Twilight series, this is a satire in the very best way, and will appeal to anyone who has read Twilight but doesn't really believe themselves to be in love with a sparkly vampire. It's funny and right on target, further enhancing Ann's reading of Twilight for her mother-daughter book club.

Michael prepares for his reading of The Art Student's War by telling us about one of author Brad Leithauser's older books.  The Art Student's War iis a novel is set in 1943 Detroit, and is about one art student's experience with World War II when she is asked to sketch wounded soldiers who have returned from the war.  Michael loved Leithauser's earlier book, A Few Corrections. That book leads off with one man's obituary, which you soon learn is riddled with errors. In each chapter, the obituary is slightly corrected, a unique way to tell the story of one man's life.

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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:


Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Megan Tingley Books trade paperback
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Quirk Books trade paperback
Star Wars Death Trooper by Joe Schrieber, Lucas Books hardcover
World War Z by Max Brooks, Three Rivers Press trade paperback
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, Three Rivers Press trade paperback
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks, Three Rivers Press
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Image Comics
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, Delacorte Press hardcover
Nightlight: A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon, Vintage trade paperback
The Art Student's War by Brad Leithauser, Knopf hardcover
A Few Corrections by Brad Leithauser, Vintage trade paperback

(all information is for the U.S. editions).