Michael and I both think that we have the coolest jobs in the world, we admit it. And one of our favorite parts of the job is talking with readers. This past Thursday, we were honored to be able to share some of our favorite books with more than 50 customers of Books on the Common, a very cool independent bookstore in Ridgefield, CT.

We do many of these events, but this one was special — because it was at last year’s Books on the Common event that Books on the Nightstand was born. (In truth, I didn’t connect the store name with the blog name until just now, but it is a lovely bit of serendipity). After last year’s event, Michael and I ended the evening with dinner at a local restaurant, where we talked about how much fun it was to get bookstore customers excited about the books we love. And how we wished that we could do it more often.

And that’s where I came up with the big idea. “We should do a podcast,” I said.
Michael laughed and said “yeah, right”.
But I was persistent. And by the end of the meal, he was game.

It took us about six months to work out the details, number 1 being “how do you actually do it?”, and now here we are. I supposed it’s an anniversary of sorts. We owe our thanks and gratitude to Ellen and Darwin, owners of Books on the Common, their fantastic staff, and their amazing customers who have inspired us to “take our show on the road,” in a virtual sense.

We’d love to meet you

Michael and I are doing a few other bookstore events in December, where we will talk about our favorite books to give as holiday gifts. If you are near to any of these stores, we’d love to meet you, and maybe have a coffee or something before or after. Please do come and say hello.

December 1: The Other Tiger Bookstore, Westerly, RI
December 3: Island Books, Middletown, RI
December 4: RJ Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT (Ann is doing this one alone, and it’s actually a “trunk show” format. I will be mingling with guests, but won’t actually be speaking).
December 11: Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT

(These events may not yet be listed on the store websites; please contact the store for the exact time of the events).