Books on the Nightstand discussion
What do you want us to talk/write about?
This is not a podcast topic but I was wondering if Ann and Michael have "reading time" built into your workday by Random House or is that something you're expected to do in your "free" time? If they allow you reading time, how much and how many books are you supposed to read?
Ann wrote: "Blair wrote: "This may be a silly question and everyone else may already know the answer, but I was listening to a podcast the other day and the presenter made a distinction between literary fictio..."Thanks for the clarification, and no, it wasn't you! I'm taking this as a reminder that podcasts are like the internet - just because it's published doesn't mean it's true:) I've really been enjoying the BOTNS podcast - you guys are great!
Janet wrote: "This is not a podcast topic but I was wondering if Ann and Michael have "reading time" built into your workday by Random House or is that something you're expected to do in your "free" time?"That is a great question! I've wondered about that, too!
Hi everyone,Not sure if this is the place to put it, or whether someone else already has, but I have a question that has been probing my muddled mind lately.
As I work my way through my planned 60 books for 2012, I often wonder whether the books I am reading actually classifies as a book. For example, I have counted The Walking Dead, Volume 2: Miles Behind Us as one of my 60. The question is, should I? Does a graphic novel count? Do young adult books which have less than 200 pages count? Does page count matter?
I would be interested to hear what others class as a book and what isn't.
Thanks!
Mod
Not sure if this is the place to put it, or whether someone else already has, but I have a question that has been probing my muddled mind lately.
As I work my way through my planned ..."
They are books, Nadine. No question.
Nadine wrote: "Hi everyone,
Not sure if this is the place to put it, or whether someone else already has, but I have a question that has been probing my muddled mind lately.
As I work my way through my planned 60 books for 2012, I often wonder whether the books I am reading actually classifies as a book. For example, I have counted The Walking Dead, Volume 2: Miles Behind Us as one of my 60. The question is, should I? Does a graphic novel count? Do young adult books which have less than 200 pages count? Does page count matter?
I would be interested to hear what others class as a book and what isn't.
Thanks! "
They are all books! Now what constitutes a novel vs a novella vs a short story, that's something else; but it's all good. I think the only time I wouldn't count a book is, if it is abridged (audiobook), condensed (Readers Digest) or just a single shot short story without an ISBN. Also, I don't count books as read if I didn't finish them!
Not sure if this is the place to put it, or whether someone else already has, but I have a question that has been probing my muddled mind lately.
As I work my way through my planned 60 books for 2012, I often wonder whether the books I am reading actually classifies as a book. For example, I have counted The Walking Dead, Volume 2: Miles Behind Us as one of my 60. The question is, should I? Does a graphic novel count? Do young adult books which have less than 200 pages count? Does page count matter?
I would be interested to hear what others class as a book and what isn't.
Thanks! "
They are all books! Now what constitutes a novel vs a novella vs a short story, that's something else; but it's all good. I think the only time I wouldn't count a book is, if it is abridged (audiobook), condensed (Readers Digest) or just a single shot short story without an ISBN. Also, I don't count books as read if I didn't finish them!
Nadine wrote: "Hi everyone,Not sure if this is the place to put it, or whether someone else already has, but I have a question that has been probing my muddled mind lately.
As I work my way through my planned ..."
I think they all count. I tend to read quite a few graphic novels and they count toward my total books for the year but I usually have a side goal of a certain amount of "regular" books. This year I am trying to read 100 books but I want 60 of those to be novels or non-fiction books.
Mod
This seems as appropriate a place to comment about something that I've noticed lately.
I've already commented on some thread about the fact that my avatar is a bookcase of faux Reader's Digest Condensed books and the story behind that. I have always paid attention to the books on shelves behind the "talking heads" being interviewed on the news programs. Lately there seems to be a trend...I think I found a market for those RDC books my library keeps telling the public we don't want, but still get donated.
Hi guys! I saw this story today about 11 contemporary books that should be taught in the classroom -- it includes several (like Kavalier and Clay) that you have talked about. I thought it might be fun to have an episode about this -- and maybe what others could be new "Classroom Classics" that aren't the standard Melville, Dickens, and Hardy. Here's the link Enjoy!
This link was just sent to my by someone who thought it was an interesting business. I find it disturbing. Would be great to open the discussion up and see what everyone else has to say.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/bus...
What about heroes we love to hate? When the bad guy becomes the main caracter?Or heroes the we would normally hate, but that the author makes us love?
I'm thinking of Scarlett O'Hara, that is such a opportunist, unreliable, superficial double crosser that we affectionate so much at the end of the book.
Ashley wrote: "How many attempts will you give a book before you say never mind? There are a few books I have tried at least 3 or 4 times to read but because life gets in the way I'm never able to get far enough ..."Agreed - along the same lines, what are books you try to read periodically, but you just cannot make it through? I pick up The Red and The Black every so often, assuming I just haven't been sophisticated enough to understand it in prior years. Still haven't made it past Chapter Two. It's like it's my bete noir.
I noticed that the new Lee Child book just came out and I haven't ever read him. I feel like Ann mentioned him in a podcast once or twice but couldn't find anything on the blog. Does anyone have any recommendations? With the Jack Reacher series, is it best to start at the beginning?
I just started with The Affair in audio and I'm not feeling it so I would like that recommendation too.
Linda wrote: "Christine wrote: "I adore your podcast and have read many of your recommendations. But I'd like an episode about well reviewed books that you just didn't like at all (and wondered what all the hoop..."Fabulous idea!
Janet wrote: "I just started with The Affair in audio and I'm not feeling it so I would like that recommendation too."Funny, I loved The Affair in audio! I thoroughly enjoyed it and have gone on to read several more Child/Reacher novels. Isn't it great how our perceptions, genres of interest, etc., are so wildly diverse? I think that's one of the reasons why BOTNS is so popular.
Megan wrote: "I noticed that the new Lee Child book just came out and I haven't ever read him. I feel like Ann mentioned him in a podcast once or twice but couldn't find anything on the blog. Does anyone have ..."Hi! I'm fairly new to this group, and I've only been listening to Michael and Ann for a couple of months, but I'm hooked! I had to reply to your question, because I found Lee Child a while ago, and I love the Jack Reacher books! Each book is a standalone. You don't really have to read from the beginning. I found one of the "middle" books first and loved it so much, I've been slowly reading the series from the beginning. I'm up to #8 now, and I have to say, the first book was my favorite, but they have all been action-packed and wonderful entertainment. Not much socially redeeming here, but lots of cheer-for-the-good-guy fun!
Bobbi wrote: "Janet wrote: "I just started with The Affair in audio and I'm not feeling it so I would like that recommendation too."Funny, I loved The Affair in audio! I thoroughly enjoyed it and have gone on ..."
Bobbi,
Was The Affair your first Jack Reacher?
Janet wrote: "Bobbi wrote: "Janet wrote: "I just started with The Affair in audio and I'm not feeling it so I would like that recommendation too."Funny, I loved The Affair in audio! I thoroughly enjoyed it and..."
Yes, it was - and I liked it so much that I'm now trying to catch up by reading all the other Reacher books - a daunting task, what with all the other books on my TBR list!
Ann wrote: "Anything you're dying to hear about?We're planning our "editorial calendar" for the rest of the year, and wanted to solicit your ideas.
We have some big plans, and hopefully the time to implemen..."
I have a friend who just finished writing "Dakota Blues" to fill what appears to be a void in the literary world: Mid-life fiction. Being middle-aged and proud myself, I enjoyed having an "age appropriate" book! I recommended "The Unlikely Pilgrimmage of Harold Frye" to her and promised I'd ask if that's a topic for a podcast! I'd really appreciate a list for middle-agers like me!
Hey Ann and Michael - There are many folks out there who are disabled in some way, like myself. Love listening to podcasts when I can't really read. Don't want to hear about books on people with disabilities but all this new technology is leaving some readers who don't have access or $ behind. Thank goodness I'm a little savvy and a devoted library patron but otherwise.....many have given up. I just helped a lady with a computer hook up to your podcasts and the New Yorker archives free podcasts. She had tears in her eyes, "what a treasure," she said. (She's fit but fell and broke her reading hand and a leg.) There has to be more out there! I know the Guttenberg Project! Help us please, maybe just a short piece, think about it - K? PS - I still buy books when I can! Usually at author signings or Indies, got to support the industry. Love you guys!
@SEY,what a great idea. thanks for the tip on the guttenberg project.
I love the previous idea my dad is leagally blind and the Cincinnatti Assosiation for the Blind helped him a lot when he first lost his vision providing him with a computer that reads to him. He has periphial vision left in one eye so he is not copleatley blind.
I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority.
Tonya wrote: "I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority."Can't speak for everyone, but I do not tend to enjoy the writing in YA novels, so I definitely lean towards adult novels. Not sure which thread it was under, but there was some discussion on the topic here at one point...
Tonya wrote: "I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority."I like young adult novels, too. And I think more and more adults are reading young adult books.
I like YA but I got kind of burned out on the dystopian ones. It gets depressing after awhile. Just finished Why We Broke Up and thought it was really good.
Tonya wrote: "I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority."Tonya, I wouldn't say that I enjoy YA novels MORE, but I definitely enjoy them as well as adult books. Sometimes I like the easier reading and I can usually finish them much quicker. I also enjoy the themes in these books. They seem to confront good and evil in a different more direct way. I like to mix it up and switch between YA and adult books but definitely consider myself a YA fan!
Amy wrote: "Tonya wrote: "I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority."Can't speak for everyone, but I do not tend to enjoy the wri..."
thanks
Tonya wrote: "I find myself enjoying young Adults novels more often then adult geared books I would love to know if I am the minority."thanks to everyone who replied
Along the same lines as Tonya's comment, I'd love some insight as to how publishers determine whether to market a book as YA or adult. Sometimes the decision is different in different countries. Two examples that come to mind are I AM THE MESSENGER (US=YA; elsewhere=adult) and ELEANOR AND PARK (US=YA; elsewhere=adult).
I haven't been following this thread thoroughly, so excuse me if I'm being repetitive ... has anyone noticed the plethora of "daughter" books ....Hangman's Daughter, Calligrapher's Daughter, Baker's Daughter, Memorykeeper's Daughter(old title), The Witch's Daughter. Maybe I'm just on a run of these titles, but it seems like these keep coming up as book group choices. Only "son" book that has come up recently is Orphan Master's Son. Maybe just a coincidence.
Cindy wrote: "I haven't been following this thread thoroughly, so excuse me if I'm being repetitive ... has anyone noticed the plethora of "daughter" books ....Hangman's Daughter, Calligrapher's Daughter, Baker'..."I had a similar phenomena happen last year with books with Eden in the title. I read 6 of them last year. LOL.
I'm listening to this week's podcast, and here's the question I would have asked: Ann and Michael, we know you love reading books, but have you ever considered writing a book? And if so, what would it be about? I imagine Michael would probably write a graphic novel, and Ann might do a bookish Seth Grahame-Smith version of Ian McEwan, "Saturday... at the Bookstore."
"Cindy wrote: "I haven't been following this thread thoroughly, so excuse me if I'm being repetitive ... has anyone noticed the plethora of "daughter" books"Amy wrote: "I had a similar phenomena happen last year with books with Eden in the title."
Not relating to titles but to themes, a couple years ago there seemed to be a lot of "amnesia" book around too: Before I Go To Sleep, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, What Alice Forgot, Forgotten, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
I wonder if there are other titles/themes that seem to bunch up together within one year?
Hi guys,Can't believe I didn't ask you about this on Thursday night, but I'd love to hear your take on the recent merger. Good for the industry because Random House/Penguin gain more pricing power over ebooks in their ongoing battle with Amazon? Bad for the industry because of the threat to imprints and variety? Will we see more mergers? I'm sure there are issues and angles I am not even aware about. I'l love to hear what you think.
Wondering about the Random House/Penguin merger as well.
Mod
But also because we really, really, love our jobs and I wouldn't want to have something I say come out the wrong way and lead to any misinterpretation.
Mod
Reading slump...I am there...I think for me it has to do with the elections...I got in the habit of watching too much television..ugh, must stop now!
Mod
Kent Haruf for instance, I loved his books and his writing and I haven't seen anything new from him for a long, long time.
I'm sure there are others.
Like the idea of chatting about reading slumps and how to move through them .... I sometimes fall into those too ...
Yes, please tell us how to get out of the reading slump! I'm in one now and struggling find something that really hooks me again.
Mod
Kent Haruf for instance, I loved his books and his writing and I haven't seen anything new from him for a long, long time.
I'm sure there are others."
I'm reading the new Kent Haruf now! It will be out in the spring. It's very good.
I'm with Jennifer, I'm in a reading slump that I just can't shake. I tend to have these after a great run of terrific books. Maybe subconsciously I will be comparing, I don't know. Although I'm finding myself going through a stack of magazines I've been meaning to tackle for quite some time! :-)
I'm with Chris--I find a reading slump (or the need for a break after a particularly wonderful book) a good time to catch up on all those newspapers I saved to read "later".
Mod
There seem to be even more of my GR & BOTNS friends in a reading slump than I thought and we're not even stuffed with turkey yet! :)
Books on the Nightstand
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Blair, was it Books on the Nightstand? Because if it was me, then I mis-spoke. In the publishing industry, "literary fiction" is usually used in contrast to "commercial fiction" or "popular fiction." That's not to say that something can't be both -- but literary fiction tends to be taken more seriously by critics, and the focus is on the writing itself, word choice, imagery, etc. "Commercial fiction" is shorthand for a novel where the strength is in the plot or character development. But as I said, things can be both.
"Contemporary fiction" typically means either fiction set in the current time period (roughly - can be up to 20 years in the past, probably), or, in some contexts, fiction that has been written in recent years (as opposed to fiction written 100 years ago, for example).
Hope that's helpful. Again, it's all shorthand, and nothing is absolute, but it's a way to classify and categorize when needed.