and, last, but certainly not least

Before any of you fans of The Passage start sending me hate mail, though I want to read The Twelve right now, I can’t. The manuscript isn’t quite ready, but I do hope to have my grubby little hands on it within the next month or two. You can start the hate mail then.

In case you’re wondering,
that’s 4,052 pages worth of reading.

Please join us Thursday, July 28th at 7:30pm Eastern Time for a live online book chat about Steve Himmer”s The Bee-Loud Glade. Many of you had the chance to meet Steve at the BOTNS retreat, or heard his retreat talk on BOTNS podcast episode #131.

We’ll discuss the book from 7:30 – 7:45, then Steve will join us for 45 minutes and we can ask him questions.

We will be using the service Talkshoe, which allows you to interact, either via computer or telephone.

Wednesday July 28th
7:30pm EST

• Go to www.talkshoe.com and search for BooksOnTheNightstand (no spaces) or click here.
• Click on the “Join Now” button. A new window will open.
• If you have a computer headset with a microphone, or any computer microphone at all, you will be able to talk.
• You can also talk via telephone: the call-in info (724-444-7444, Call ID 87944) appears at the bottom of the new window.
• You can also click the widget that should appear below — you can use the same widget to listen to our last call (Jon Clinch’s Finn – sadly, I forgot to hit record when we discussed Ellen Meeropol’s House Arrest).

The most fun way to participate is to be at your computer and on the phone (or headset) at the same time. Then you can see the chat window and hear on the voice conversation as well. However, if you prefer to just listen along, you can “Join Now” and then don’t call in. You’ll be able to listen to the audio portion of the call through your computer’s speakers. You can interact with us via the text chat window.

If you’re not near your computer, you can still call in by using the phone number and Call ID number shown above.

I hope that you have some time in your schedule to join us. We’ll have a great discussion!

Please join us Monday, May 16th at 8pm Eastern Time for a live online book chat about Jon Clinch’s Finn. Many of you had the chance to meet Jon at the BOTNS retreat, or heard his retreat talk on BOTNS podcast episode #24.

 
Jon will be calling in to join us at 8:30 — so we can discuss the book first and then pepper Jon with questions about it when he joins in!

We will be using the service Talkshoe, which allows you to interact, either via computer or telephone.

Monday May 16th
8:00pm EST

• Go to www.talkshoe.com and search for BooksOnTheNightstand (no spaces) or click here.
• Click on the “Join Now” button. A new window will open.
• If you have a computer headset with a microphone, or any computer microphone at all, you will be able to talk.
• You can also talk via telephone: the call-in info (724-444-7444, Call ID 87944) appears at the bottom of the new window.
• You can also click the widget that should appear below — you can use the same widget to listen to our last call (Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible).

The most fun way to participate is to be at your computer and on the phone (or headset) at the same time. Then you can see the chat window and hear join in on the voice conversation as well. However, if you prefer to just listen along, you can “Join Now” and then don’t call in. You’ll be able to listen to the audio portion of the call through your computer’s speakers. You can interact with us via the text chat window.

If you’re not near your computer, you can still call in by using the phone number and Call ID number shown above.

I hope that you have some time in your schedule to join us. We’ll have a great discussion!

Some of you may know that I have a weekly column at USA Network’s Character Approved Blog. The column focuses on books, writers, bloggers, and other things of interest to those who write or love good writing — which I know includes all of you. I’m one of 10 bloggers there; we each have our own category of focus. Other bloggers feature fashion, technology, music, giving, food, etc.

This week, USA Network asked us to focus on what we thought were the top 10 stories in our categories for the year. It was really hard to narrow it down, so I’d love to know what you think. What did I miss? Are there bloggers and journalists, playrights, poets and screen-writers that deserve to be featured next year? As USA Network states “The Character Approved blog celebrates the people, places and things that are making a mark by positively influencing our cultural landscape.”

So please take a peek at what I’ve named as the Top 10 of 2010: Writing,  and let me know in the comments there what your top 10 list would look like.

We are thrilled to present the 2010 Books on the Nightstand Holiday Gift Guide! Just click the Books on the Nightstand Gift Guide logo below for the free .pdf download.

The gift guide includes our personal book recommendations across many categories — including several great books that cost less than $20! Just click to download the free guide. The final page of the guide is a handy checklist you can print out for easy reference, or for a not-so-subtle hint to leave on the kitchen table!

Every once in awhile there is a book so beautiful that it requires a special blog post. A mention on the podcast just won’t do it justice. I have one of those books today; take a look inside using the widget below:

Great Migrations is the official tie-in to the film that premieres on the National Geographic Channel on November 7th. It’s the first nature film to be shot completely in Blu-Ray, and it’s stunningly gorgeous. The book is equally amazing; a sample copy arrived on my doorstep a few days ago, and I have not been able to pry it out of my nature-loving daughter’s hands. There are also 5 corresponding children’s books.

Our family will be watching the film together, and I know this book will be well-thumbed and dog-eared before we know it.