Books on the Nightstand discussion
What do you want us to talk/write about?
Janet wrote: "I find Diane Rehms (NPR) voice too gravelly"There's not much she can do about that. She suffers from a disease that affects her throat muscles and must have periodic shots of Botox in order to talk at all. (That's why there's so often a replacement host: Diane is recuperating from her latest treatment.) She speaks frankly and--oddly, with humor--about all this in her autobiography, Finding My Voice.
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In order for you to find the time travel podcast, Carol, you'd have to travel forward in time -- we haven't done it yet! I love the idea though. LOVE. We'll get on this soon.
Kathy wrote: "Janet wrote: "I find Diane Rehms (NPR) voice too gravelly"There's not much she can do about that. She suffers from a disease that affects her throat muscles and must have periodic shots of Botox ..."
Thanks for the info...I didn't know that. Explains a lot.
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Thanks, I'll be there!
How about a conversation about personal libraries? Specifically I wonder what books people keep and which ones they give away. If you get a book from a library or if you buy an ebook and you just love it, do you go buy it in print to keep? Do people only keep their favorites, do you keep a book that you know you won't reread, do you only display certain books on your shelves? I guess I'm just curious about people's book collections :)
How about a "Literary Mount Rushmore". I think it would be fun to do a call-in show about the four authors you'd put on your personal Literary Mount Rushmore. I'd leave off any qualifiers to make the answers the most interesting and diverse.
My personal Mount Rushmore is as follows;
Ian McEwan, David Mitchell, Jonathan Franzen and John Irving (narrowly beating out Kazuo Ishiguro).
Dennis wrote: "I think it would be fun to do a call-in show about the four authors you'd put on your personal Literary Mount Rushmore."Too cool! I'll call!
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Ann wrote: "Carol wrote: "I have listened to all the podcasts but in doing a search and trying to recollect, I can't remember if there's ever been a specific podcast about time travel. There are so many super ..."Fabulous! I am currently reading Flashforward.
I want to hear about Neal Stepehenson's "Reamde". Not sure if he's of the right "taste" for most of the audience, but he's a great read in the vein of Pynchon and William Gibson.
I would love to find lists of new paperback releases. Where are some good ones? Is there a place on Goodreads that lists them?
Hi Ann and Michael!I can't remember if you've done this before, but this week is Banned Book Week. I'm reading "In Cold Blood" in honor of it, not sure how a segment would go with this topic, but thought you two could come up with an interesting angle! Thank you for listening! :-))
Sharman wrote: "I would love to find lists of new paperback releases. Where are some good ones? Is there a place on Goodreads that lists them?"This is a good website for that
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
Hi Ann and Michael! I'm a HUGE fan of your podcast! You 2 have expanded my book collection so much! I don't think there has been one podcast that i've listened to where I haven't wanted a book you've talked about! Thank you so much! I've got a couple ideas for your show/website!Pictures of peoples nightstands
Books about man's best friend
Books about animals
Food fiction
Science Non fiction
Books about sports
What books did you read as a child?
Books set in countries you'd like to visit
Weird/strange/odd books
Favorite Literary quotes
Literary myths
Characters you identify most with
Medical fiction
Thanks guys! Keep up the good work!
Janet wrote: "Sharman wrote: "I would love to find lists of new paperback releases. Where are some good ones? Is there a place on Goodreads that lists them?"This is a good website for that
Thanks! I'll check it out.
http://ww..."
Chris wrote: "Hi Ann and Michael!I can't remember if you've done this before, but this week is Banned Book Week. I'm reading "In Cold Blood" in honor of it, not sure how a segment would go with this topic, but ..."
I just read "In Cold Blood" this summer and didn't realize it was banned. Anyone know why?
Amy wrote: "I just read "In Cold Blood" this summer and didn't realize it was banned. Anyone know why? "
This from the ALA web-site:
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
"Banned, but later reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, Ga. (2000). The controversy began in early 1999 when a parent [complained] about sex, violence, and profanity in the book that was a [part] of an Advanced Placement English Class. Source: 2004 Banned Books Resource Guide by Robert P. Doyle."
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Secti...
This from the ALA web-site:
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
"Banned, but later reinstated after community protests at the Windsor Forest High School in Savannah, Ga. (2000). The controversy began in early 1999 when a parent [complained] about sex, violence, and profanity in the book that was a [part] of an Advanced Placement English Class. Source: 2004 Banned Books Resource Guide by Robert P. Doyle."
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Secti...
Tanya wrote: "This from the ALA web-site: In Cold Blood, Truman Capote"
Thanks, Tanya, that is where I found it was banned. Amy, I'm sure reading it in 2011 I won't be shocked by the content. Although, I was shocked to read it was banned in just 1999! :-o
Thanks Tanya for the info! Chris - ya I doubt you'd be surprised in 2011. It gory, and made even more chilling because it is a true story, but glad it was reinstated because it is a terrific book!
Oddly enough I read it with some friends who are HS English teachers - and one is going to use it in her AP class this year!
I would love to hear any ideas that you may have about authors connecting with readers. What is the best way to MatchMake readers with their ideal writers?
Amy wrote: "Thanks Tanya for the info! Chris - ya I doubt you'd be surprised in 2011. It gory, and made even more chilling because it is a true story, but glad it was reinstated because it is a terrific bo..."
Just had to chime back in one last time! Amy, hopefully your friend will be able to teach the book in AP English, because in a quick search about the book (I don't normally do this until after I've read a book), but they are looking at taking this off the reading list in Los Angeles. This article is from Sunday, September 25, 2011 (!) LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow...
they are looking at taking this off the reading list in Los Angeles...."I'll have to ask her. She is in a small, pretty liberal district in Iowa that has only 1 high school (and one elementary and middle school too) so I know some things can be easier for her (she also is the drama sponsor so she gets to pick plays too). Will be interesting to find out!
i teach In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences with no complaints from parents. i teach in houston, texas, but in a conservative district. i think my students really like the angles we discuss in my class: nature vs. nurture; the truth vs. embellishing; sanity vs. insanity in trials dealing with murder and the death penalty; haves vs. have nots (if dick and perry could afford good lawyers, would they have been acquitted?).
we also discuss whether they think the two would be given the death penalty today (keep in mind in teach in texas which is notorious for putting people to death).
we also discuss capote's questionable tactics to get close to perry while he was imprisoned.
i would be sad to not teach this book. it is given to my students as summer reading for the incoming school year, so my students should have read it to me by the first day of school (this doesn't always happen).
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Elizabeth, thanks so much for your input! (Ann, I feel the same way!) I would love to discuss this book. And for what it's worth, I have less than 150 pages to go, and I'm still not sure what people are finding offensive, unless I just haven't gotten there yet. And I'm reading with a careful eye.
It might be a little late for this suggestion, but with Halloween on the horizon, how about suggestions for All Hallow's Read?
Ann wrote: "Elizabeth, can I come take your class? :)"If you are ever in Houston, I would be honored :)
Carol wrote: "Ann & Michael often mention the editing they do before publishing their podcasts for listening by all their fans. It's hard to believe that they make errors or bloopers as the finished product is s..."Their podcast has been very well done.
Melissa wrote: "A discussion on adults reading Young Adult fiction (I find the YA stuff as good, if not better than Adult fiction at times) and maybe something if the Harry Potter books influenced the rise in YA f..."I third this suggestion. I often read YA fiction for two reasons: because I like it, and because I want to know what my 14-year-old daughter is reading.
I also love books about food and memoirs of chefs, but also fiction about food. Like "A Thousand Days in Venice." Have you ever talked about those kinds of books? I vaguely remember a discussion on them.
i thought it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the new film coming out about shakespeare: http://anonymous-movie.com/. i brought it up in the teachers' lounge and it lead to a lively discussion on the merits of the speculation and the works of shakespeare. all in all, we agreed that shakespeare is shakespeare and the work stands on its own as incredible.
just a thought for a show. i think people have really strong feelings about the validity of shakespeare's works and i think you would get some interesting call in comments from readers.
Elizabeth wrote: "i thought it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the new film coming out about shakespeare: http://anonymous-movie.com/. i brought it up in the teachers' lounge and it lead to a livel..."
This movie makes me so unnecessarily angry, and I can't explain why. Aren't there some things that you just don't mess with?
Callie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "i thought it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the new film coming out about shakespeare: http://anonymous-movie.com/. i brought it up in the teachers' lounge and it..."
Speak a word. The trailer alone makes me so mad... but to Elizabeth's point, I guess it would bring out a lot of strong opinions!
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Ann wrote: "So here's where I crawl under my rock that protects me from all pop-culture that's not book-related ... I saw the movie trailer (my 9 year old made me watch it, saying that she really wanted to see..."For me, it's the "Dan Brown" effect that Toni mentioned - I find it annoying when works of fiction take great liberty with the facts and portray that liberty as the "true history." I see a trailer and I already know that people are going to smugly retell the fiction of the movie as fact to me at parties and it's going to annoy me. Shakespeare is a pet topic of mine, so I've read a lot about him and his life, reviewing the arguments, etc. I'm just not jazzed that I'm going to have to hear people use a movie as the basis of their understanding of that time. I'm fine with historical fiction that's clearly labelled as such- I just resent when they use a conspiracy theory type hype to draw people in and make them feel like they are in the know. But maybe it will encourage people to try some nonfiction on the subject?
Probably me being too Type A :)
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Toni wrote: "Callie wrote: "This movie makes me so unnecessarily angry, and I can't explain why. Aren't there some things that you just don't mess with?"
I think there's always been speculation about who exa..."
I haven't seen the trailer; but I completely understand your reference to The DaVinci Code Effect. When The DaVinci Code was first published, I was in the middle of grad work related to Medieval and Renaissance studies. My thesis was about Mariology and, as a result I was reading enormous amounts of academic texts that related to the topic and; that Dan Brown treated so disrespectfully in his fiction novel. What was so incredibly annoying was having to fend off well meaning but poorly informed opinion from people who believed in the validity of Mr. Brown's research.
I've also had an interest in Shakespearean works and questions of authorship and can see why a thriller approach to the topic would grate.
Underlying my disgruntlement is my feeling that the truth is often more fantastic than any fiction, so why go there?
I think there's always been speculation about who exa..."
I haven't seen the trailer; but I completely understand your reference to The DaVinci Code Effect. When The DaVinci Code was first published, I was in the middle of grad work related to Medieval and Renaissance studies. My thesis was about Mariology and, as a result I was reading enormous amounts of academic texts that related to the topic and; that Dan Brown treated so disrespectfully in his fiction novel. What was so incredibly annoying was having to fend off well meaning but poorly informed opinion from people who believed in the validity of Mr. Brown's research.
I've also had an interest in Shakespearean works and questions of authorship and can see why a thriller approach to the topic would grate.
Underlying my disgruntlement is my feeling that the truth is often more fantastic than any fiction, so why go there?
This is very interesting to me because I read,"The Tragedy of Arthur" by Arthur Phillips.Its a novel which reads like a memoir in which the father of the main character(which might be Phillips himself)says that he discovered a long lost Shakespearean play about King Arthur.In the story the main characters sister tries to get back at her father by coming up with a theory that a nobleman who cannot admit to writing the plays because that would be considered working hooks up with a Jewish bankers son to write his own plays and they get a young Shakespeare to front for them and eventually Shakespeare starts getting all the credit for the plays the two have written.Interesting how Phillips book comes out at the same time that this film comes out.ger
Gerald wrote: "This is very interesting to me because I read,"The Tragedy of Arthur" by Arthur Phillips..."
For those who may be interested in a fascinating non-fiction approach to the question of Shakespearean authorship, you might be interested in Alias Shakespeare (by Joseph Sobran.) He looks into all the candidates, including an actual William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon; but makes the most compelling argument for Edward deVere!
Alias Shakespeare by Joseph Sobran
For those who may be interested in a fascinating non-fiction approach to the question of Shakespearean authorship, you might be interested in Alias Shakespeare (by Joseph Sobran.) He looks into all the candidates, including an actual William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon; but makes the most compelling argument for Edward deVere!
Alias Shakespeare by Joseph Sobran
Just wanted to point out that I just read the studio has decided to "platform" this film.In other words it will not get a multi screen release but will be seen only in major cities with the hope that word of mouth will get it a bigger audience. http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/sony-... ger
Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "For those who may be interested in a fascinating non-fiction approach to the question of Shakespearean authorship, you might be interested in Alias Shakespeare (by Joseph Sobran.) He looks into all the candidates, including an actual William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon; but makes the most compelling argument for Edward deVere!"
Aah! I just read the teaser on imdb.com and; it looks like John Orloff may very well have been influenced by Joseph Soban's work! I only got to see the first ten seconds of the trailer as I'm also trying to get my house to bed, so to speak; but yeah, starting off with references to Independence Day and Godzilla is not particularly encouraging :-/
Aah! I just read the teaser on imdb.com and; it looks like John Orloff may very well have been influenced by Joseph Soban's work! I only got to see the first ten seconds of the trailer as I'm also trying to get my house to bed, so to speak; but yeah, starting off with references to Independence Day and Godzilla is not particularly encouraging :-/
that does sound like a good approach.
Hi Ann and Michael! I am slowly catching up on old podcasts and loved the one you did about kids/travel books -- gave me some fabulous ideas for when my kids are older. I was thinking about ideas to keep in your back pocket for when you need to do call-in shows (or not) -- maybe an episode about the most influential books of childhood? Like the Mt. Rushmore idea, doesn't have to be at any particular age -- no rules. It could just as easily be Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site (a must-read, several times a night, in my house) or Anne of Green Gables or Harry Potter or those awesome Cam Jansen mysteries I read when I was about seven. It could be something as now-horrifying as Sweet Valley High. Just whatever it was that made us love reading, or books whose covers we can still picture vividly and whose plots we remember, even though we can't remember as adults what we ate for breakfast (or if we did) or we we put the keys. Childhood books are still burned into our memories! Might be a fun one sometime. Thanks for all you do--I've discovered so many gems thanks to you both!
How about a program regarding books about dogs. Several have come out recently, both about how dogs perceive things Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and KnowThrough a Dog's Eyesand memoirs of pets. One of my favorites is Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs, even though it is several years old.
@ libby,i second this idea. some other great books are:
A Dog's Purpose
The Other End of the Leash
Dog Years: A Memoir (which i love for its content and excellent writing)
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Ann wrote: "Ha! Finally, we are ahead of you on something :) Woof!"Yay! I'm SO excited to hear that!
I love Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie mystery series where the dog Chet is the narrator...what a perspective! I recommend it to all my dog-loving friends.
Books on the Nightstand
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I'd like to see a show about favorite female detectives. I tend to like the quirky ones like Izzy Spellman and Clair DeWitt but I'm sure there are tons of others out there.