Comments for Books on the Nightstand

Comment on BOTNS #158: When good authors go bad by Paula

Paula — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:12:00 +0000

I’m a Whovian too!
Recently read a short story by EM Foster called ‘The Machine Stops’ — sci-fi from 1909.

Comment on BOTNS Podcast #168: Stephen King and Downton Abbey by Julianna

Julianna — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:06:00 +0000

Michael, I completely agree with you on your Stephen King change of heart. I never bothered picking any of his books up because I’m not the thriller or science-y kind of reader, but I bought 11/22/63 out of curiosity and was BLOWN away by his story and his writing. I think I’m going to have to try some more, especially ones that might be set in Maine (I go to college there and he’s a local hero). So good to know that I’m not the only one who has been converted! Keep up the great work with the podcast, guys!

Comment on BOTNS #174: When fiction drives us to learn more by Krystle

Krystle — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:56:00 +0000

I heard “When the Empire was Divine” in high school. I was already a WWII buff but this book made me want to learn more about the homefront during this time and more so what was it like living on the West Coast in California (where I was born and raisied) not only for the Japanese Americans but all minorities

Comment on BOTNS #180: Revisiting Re-reading by Linda

Linda — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:38:00 +0000

When I was teaching, I would re-read “Of Mice and Men” every year that I was involved with sophomore English (by the same token I read some books for the first time because of teach, “The Chocolate War” comes to mind.) I also would reread “Romeo and Juliet” or “Hamlet” or whichever Shakespeare play was required.

Then there is my reading group which often decides to read a book that I have already read. I usually choose a different medium (audio vs pages) for the subsequent reading.

There are a few books, “To Kill a Mockingbird” that Son’s teacher didn’t get to, so on long trips we listen (how could they run out of time for the best novel ever written?)

Then there are a few, “Little Women” and “Tuesdays with Morrie” that call to me again and again. Not very many (“Pride and Prejudice”, too). It was remarkable to read “little Women in my mid-50s compared to my teens.

Sometimes I will re-read something or skim it after seeing the movie if my memory is rusty – Chris Bohjalian’s “Secrets of Eden” is on the list now.

Comment on BOTNS #180: Revisiting Re-reading by Susan

Susan — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:21:00 +0000

Re-reads: Pride and Prejudice, every couple of years, with all the other Austens interspersed in alternate years, because Jane Austen is the literary equivalent of comfort food. The last book I finished and immediately re-started was The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, because of the language is so beautiful. Other recent re-reads: Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer and Brideshead Revisited, both of which were richer reads in my 60′s than they were when I first read them.

Then there are the nonfiction re-reads, too many to list, but including the Bible (of course!), C.S. Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God.

Poetry! Poetry, poetry, poetry! Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh…….

Comment on BOTNS #176: Book Jackets Uncovered by Melissa Wiebe

Melissa Wiebe — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:22:00 +0000

Do realize that libraries have to mark up the areas in front because they need to put indications of ownership on the book and that the front area is the most logical area to put that stuff. While it would be nicer, putting the barcode on the back would just be a hassle because people would forget to check it out and putting it on the cover is just easier (a library I work at puts the barcode on the first page and its really annoying to flip open to scan the barcode, even though it looks better without the barcode on the front).

Comment on BOTNS Books Podcast #47: DystopYA by Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins | The Book Hoard

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins | The Book Hoard — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:58:02 +0000

[...] so thankful for Books on the Nightstand having the DystopYA challenge because I never would have picked these books up on my own. Not in a million [...]

Comment on BOTNS #180: Revisiting Re-reading by Anne Gibes

Anne Gibes — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:56:00 +0000

At last, a mention of Barbara Pym! I expected her name to come up in your show on underrated female authors. I reread all of her books from time to time. Pym has a way of illuminating the ridiculousness of the small things in life. She is often compared to Austen. This is English social satire at its best, liberally sprinkled with curates, anthropologists and spinsters.

Comment on BOTNS #180: Revisiting Re-reading by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:15:00 +0000

I have re-read many book I love. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,THE HARRY POTTER SERIES,TWILIGHT SERIES, HUNGER GAMES SERIES, every JANE AUSTEN novel written. I always have. I still have my childhood copy of THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND. It’s cover is in tatters because I re-read it so many times. Lately because of being pressed for time I have purchased some books I love on audiobook so I can enjoy them in the car. People watch their favorite movies over and over again, why should a book be any different.

Comment on BOTNS #180: Revisiting Re-reading by Steve Himmer

Steve Himmer — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:02:00 +0000

I tend to reread books when they’re set in a place I’m pining for (real or invented). I’ve reread pretty much everything by George Mackay Brown at least once, often more, because sometimes I’m just in the mood that Orcadian landscape. Or Henry Lawson’s collected stories in the Australian bush, or Anthony Cronin’s memoir of literary Dublin DEAD AS DOORNAILS when I want to daydream about pints with Flann O’Brien & Co. I also try to reread a book whenever I teach it, but that doesn’t quite count (and I don’t always manage it, either).