Books on the Nightstand, Episode 57 (21:32)
We love this time of year because so many year-end anthologies show up in bookstores. The oldest seems to be Best American Short Stories, which has been published since 1915. Ann’s favorite is Best American Non-Required Reading, edited by Dave Eggers and a cast of high school students. Proceeds from the collection support the work of Eggers’ 826 Valencia project, a student writing lab. Eggers and his student collaborators also blog their meetings that determine which pieces are included. It’s a fascinating project to watch, and is always one of the most interesting anthologies of the year.
Michael’s favorite anthology is, of course, Best American Comics. This year Ann discovered Best Food Writing 2009, which Michael put on his Christmas wishlist. Ann is hoping for Best Music Writing 2009 under her Christmas tree.Do you have any favorite year-end anthologies? Let us know in the comments.
In segment 2, we take a closer look at some of the fiction selections in our holiday gift guide. Often we think of pretty, coffee-table type books as great gifts, but novels are also eagerly received. Michael recommends Jacquelyn Mitchard’s No Time to Wave Goodbye, if your gift recipient is a woman. This is the follow-up to Mitchard’s first book, The Deep End of the Ocean, which also happened to be the first Oprah book club pick. For the man on your list, Michael recommends No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara. This is the third book in a trilogy, picking up just after the Normandy Invasion, takes us through the Battle of the Bulge, the fall of Hitler, to the end of the war in Europe. Wrap this book up with the first two books in the series, The Rising Tide and The Steel Wave, and you have a great gift for the reader of war novels or military history.
Ann also recommends a book of historical fiction, New York by Edward Rutherfurd, a sprawling saga that covers the history of New York from the early 17th century through 2009. For those people on your gift list who are not big readers or who don’t buy books for themselves during the year, two good choices are The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and Ford County by John Grisham; both can be enjoyed by either men or women. Michael’s pick for someone who doesn’t read much: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.
And finally, a note about our schedule for the next few weeks: we will be taking next week off, and then will return with our year-end episode on Wednesday, December 30th. We’ll probably have a few blog posts between now and then, but if you are a diehard podcast listener, we hope you can forgive us for not posting a new episode on 12/23. In January, all will return to normal, including the much-missed segment, “Two books we can’t wait for you to read.”
(You can listen to the podcast by using the player at the top of this post. If you’re using Internet Explorer, click twice to listen. If your browser does not support javascript, you won’t see the player; click the link below the player to listen, or right-click to download the episode. If you are receiving this post by email and cannot see the player at the bottom of the message, please visit http://www.booksonthenightstand.com to listen)
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Best American Short Stories 2009, edited by Alice Sebold, Mariner Books paperback
Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009, edited by Dave Eggers, Mariner Books paperback
Best American Comics 2009, edited by Charles Burns, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover
Best Food Writing 2009, edited by Holly Huges, Da Capo Press paperback
Best Music Writing 2009, edited by Griel Marcus, Da Capo Press paperback
No Time to Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Random
House hardcover
No Less Than Victory by Jeff Shaara, Ballantine hardcover
The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara, Ballantine paperback
The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara, Ballantine paperback
New York by Edward Rutherfurd, Doubleday hardcover
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Doubleday hardcover
Ford County by John Grisham, Doubleday hardcover
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Maryann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Dial Press paperback
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I’m a huge fan of the Best American NonRequired Reading series (and the Best American Comics series as well)- I hope lots of people pick up these great anthologies based on your recommendation!
I happen to be reading London at this very moment, so it’s interesting to hear that Edward Rutherfurd has a new title out. I’ll have to keep it in mind.
We definitely can forgive you for taking Xmas week off. Do whatever you wannakah, as a Gap commercial recently proclaimed to me. And y’all do the same.
Hi Ann and Michael, I’m a late follower of your podcasts, but couldn’t be happier that I found you guys. I’ve been listening to ALL your podcasts for the past few weeks, and am now a bit sad that I don’t have as many new ones anymore. It’s great that you make it weekly now so we don’t have to wait 2 weeks for a new episode
. I left a review on Australia itunes too, perfect 5 stars, of course! It’s kinda weird, but the first book I picked up from your many recommendations was Firmin (sorry Ann). Also Literary Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society (it’s been all over the blogosphere, but your poscast was the one that made me pick it up). And I have definitely added many more books on my tbr list. Sorry to ramble, but I have about 50+ of episodes in my head. Great work you two! I’m a total fan! 
Mee, thank you so very much! I’m thrilled that you found us and took the time to leave a note. We look forward to getting to know you!
Thanks so much for your very kinds words Mee!!! And for your dedication going through ALL of our older podcasts… We’re honored!
I hope Santa brings me The Lost Symbol
I didn’t get any books for Christmas, even though I made a wishlist for my family to view, but bought books for my mom and sister. For my sister, I got The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. For my mom, I got
The Book of Negroes (in the US its published under Someone Knows my Name) by Lawrence Hill (he’s a Canadian writer and somehow the “n” word isn’t as blasphemous up here) and due to the fact that I was hospitalized for about 36 hours over Christmas, she finished it and really liked it. I have heard nothing but good things about this book.
I also want to thank Ann for her recommendation for New York by Edward Rutherfurd, as I managed to get a copy from the library fairly quickly and even though I am about 50 pages into the book, I am really enjoying it (I have read ahead and read a later chapter; probably will forget it by the time that I get to it in about a week). I have been fascinated by the history of NYC ever since I watched the Ric Burns documentary on the city that appeared on PBS about 10 years ago (I think it aired just after the attacks on 9/11). What I would really like is a family tree to see how the Masters and the Van Dyck families are connected.
Anyways, Happy New Year and wishing you and yours the best of 2010.
Melissa, it sounds like your family is lucky to have you do the gift shopping for them! Interesting note about the Lawrence Hill title; I had no idea!
I hope your hospitalization was nothing too serious and that you made a fast recovery. I agree with your wish for a family tree for NEW YORK — I will pass your suggestion on to the publisher, and maybe they will incorporate it into the paperback edtiion or elsewhere.
Happy New Year!
Hey, thanks for this!