Books on the Nightstand, Episode 13 (21:29)
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Today, it’s all true, as we look at several works of nonfiction that are so good, we recommend them to people who normally read fiction.
- Which do you prefer, fiction or nonfiction? And why? And is there a specific type of nonfiction that you can’t resist? Michael and Ann discuss this, and we look forward to hearing your opinions in the comments or at the Books on the Nightstand group at Good Reads
- We’ve got a great lineup of books to tell you about.
- and then, as always, two books that we can’t wait for you to read, including Stalking Irish Madness. Below is a video highlighting a few bits from the author’s visit to Ireland.
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Please share your thoughts about this episode with us in the comments. We’d love for you to call in and leave a book recommendation, question, or comment by phone, our voicemail line is (206) 350-2932. We may play it on an upcoming podcast. Thanks!photo credit:Jay Heaviside_______________________________
We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Wherever possible, 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:
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nando Parrado, Three Rivers Press Trade Paperback,The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin, Anchor Trade Paperback,Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, Random House Trade Paperback,Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace by Greg Mortenson, Penguin trade paperback,Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg, Other Press hardcover,Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family’s Schizophrenia by Patrick Tracey, Bantam hardcover
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You had Annie Barrows do the intro! I’m thrilled that her book is doing so well, and I’m sure you’ve heard the film rights have been sold.
I would say the majority of my reading is fiction, but I also read quite a bit of nonfiction and, like Ann, a lot of that is memoirs.
I loved Three Cups of Tea, so will look for Mountains beyond Mountains ASAP.
I have a huge collection of nonfiction books about writing, but I’ve finally decided to stop reading about it; instead, I’m actually going to WRITE, and see how that goes!
The two of you are doing such a great job; I’m always excited when I see a new message from you, and get positively grumpy if I can’t read or listen immediately. (Since I’m usually at work, that presents a problem if a customer comes into the gallery at that particular moment!)
Hi Bobbi,
Yes, we were thrilled that Annie agreed to do the intro! Glad you liked it.
Good for you for actually writing! I tend to research a subject to death and never actually do what I want to do. Or maybe I just like the research.
Thanks for your very, very kind words.
Best,
Ann
You always make my day Bobbi! You say such nice things about us!
It’s also very cool that the person who bought the rights to GUERNSEY is actually a bookstore owner (Mitchell Kaplan of Books and Books in FL) along with a hollywood producer friend of his. I hope that bodes well for the adaptation!
I confess that this was my first podcast of yours that I managed to hear all the way through (without getting interupted). And I loved it. You both have such great on-air voices and an easy style… it was a wonderful 20 minutes!
I’m particularly looking forward to “Stalking Irish Madness.” I’ve been reading a lot of Nonfiction lately, after years and years of reading almost exclusively fiction, so I’m on the lookout for new titles.
p.s. Nice video find, too. How many authors play with online social media tools like this? That would make for an interesting post, at some point.
Thanks so much for your comments Ann. If you only knew how much we second guess our on-air voices, inflection, etc. sometimes!
Another great podcast! I’m generally a fiction reader, specifically fantasy. But, sometimes I will read nonfiction. Usually English history. I really like Alison Weir. She writes about Henry VIII, his wives and children. She also wrote a bio of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her style is definitly narrative nonfiction. She’s written a couple of fiction books as well.
Thanks, Chris. I, too, like Alison Weir very much. I haven’t read her fiction, but her nonfiction have the great character development that make me forget that I’m reading a work of historically-researched fact.
Great podcast, guys. I haven’t read any of your recommendations but I’m excited to. Just in the past few years have I discovered what fun and excitement lies in well-written, “novel-like” non-fiction.
Some of my favorite non-fiction titles include:
-”A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson
-”Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer
-”Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer
-”Stiff” by Mary Roach (not novel-like but still fascinating and very well-written)
I think that a well-told non-fiction story can be even more powerful than a well-told fictional story, because not only is it an amazing tale, but these things actually happened at some point in history to real people.
Thank you, Shelley! I have wanted to read Stiff for a long time but haven’t gotten to it. (I did read her newest book “Bonk”, though. That was, um, enlightening.)
Thanks for visiting!
I agree with Michael that a very important factor in whether a movie turns out to be a good adaptation or not is if it captures the original tone of the book. I don’t get to watch a lot of movies adapted from books but one good example I can think of is Atonement. The film is of course a much compact version of that beautiful, beautiful story but for me it really brought the same feelings that I cherished in the book.
I’ve been holding off from watching the film adaptation of The Road since the book was so beautifully painful that I thought I might not be able to take seeing those scenes again with my eyes. And the fact that Viggo Mortenssen is such a really great actor scares me even more. Still not sure if I’d watch it one day.
I made the mistake of posting my comment immediately without having finished the podcast, hehe. Yes, I have the same fear as Michael does with regards to the film adaptation of The Road. I’m not a father, but still I’m afraid that watching it on screen might be a little to painful. Like he said, at least with a book you can stop yourself from imagining it.
I have the book Revolutionary Road but I haven’t read it yet. I’m eager to see the film after I read the book