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Books on the Nightstand published our final episode in July 2016. This is a place for listeners to find old episodes. 

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  2. BOTNS Books Podcast #102: Presidential Pages

BOTNS Books Podcast #102: Presidential Pages

Nov 10, 2010

The retreat is filling up fast, book now! Neil Gaiman recommended books as gifts for Halloween. A roundup of new presidential biographies and memoirs. And two unique works of nonfiction that we can't wait for you to read. If you are getting this via email or RSS reader, please click through to the website where you can listen to the audio.

Going once... Attendance a the Books on the Nightstand Weekend Retreat is skyrocketing. We never thought we'd be saying this, but we might even have to cap attendance soon! So, if you have been thinking about joining us, don't wait any longer! Visit the retreat page to get lodging information. Don't forget: once you're sure you're coming, please fill out the registration form.

Books as Gifts, for all Seasons

Neil Gaiman recently started All Hallow's Read, a website and cause that encouraged folks to give scary books as Halloween gifts. We love the idea and agree with Neil that there should be more opportunities to give books to people. I know all BOTNS listeners are true book people and give books as gifts all the time, but let's spread the word that there's no better present!

Presidential Pages (5:27)

Back in episode 95, we gave you our picks for big nonfiction books coming out this Fall, but there were just too many presidential biographies to fit there. So, we saved them for this episode, and we covered the following titles:

 

Two Books We Can't Wait For You to Read (17:14)

We continue the nonfiction theme of this episode here in segment three. I recommend Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen. It's a fascinating look at man's relationship to our local star, through the lenses of science, mathematics, art, mythology, language, religion and literature. This book is overflowing with fascinating facts and anecdotes. Ann confesses a literary crush on the sixteenth-century essayist Michel de Montaigne. Sarah Bakewell's How to Live is a biography of Montaigne that examines the many ways he answered that ultimate question.