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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 Podcast #155: You've Got to Pick a Dickens or Two!

BOTNS Podcast #155: You've Got to Pick a Dickens or Two!

Nov 16, 2011

We look at one of the first "Best Books of 2011" lists, talk about all things Dickens and tell you about two of our current favorite books: Headhunters by Jo Nesbo and Marzi by Marzena Sowa.

Let the Lists Begin

Publisher's Weekly is one of the first media outlets to name their Best Books of 2011 and it's an interesting list filled with big names (Jeffrey Eugenides, Tina Fey and Ann Patchett) and some smaller ones (Ali Smith and Maureen McHugh). Ann is thrilled that Donald Ray Pollock's The Devil All the Time made the list. In case you missed it, she raved about that book back in episode 138. There are plenty more "Best of" lists to come. Start thinking of which books are on your list; in December, we'll be asking for your favorite book of the year.

You've Got to Pick a Dickens or Two! (4:15)

2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens and it will be celebrated in many ways: BBC Films will be releasing a new film version of Great Expectations; the UK newspaper The Guardian, in association with Vintage Classics, is running a photo competition to find a contemporary image to put on the jacket of Oliver Twist: and, apparently, 2012 is the year I finally read Dickens, as Ann chose this episode's topic partly as a way of guilting me into committing. And I did: Great Expectations in 2012.

Jo Nesbo, Headhunters     Marzi, Marzena Sowa

Two Books We Can't Wait for You to Read (12:08)

Jo Nesbo's Headhunters, recently came out in a US edition, in advance of the release of the foreign film based on it. What if a corporate headhunter got to know his clients so well that he was able to steal precious works of art from their homes?
Marzena Sowa's Marzi, is a beautifully told graphic memoir of growing up in Poland just as Communism was falling. It's a wonderful blend of the everyday elements of childhood and the nation-changing events occurring around her.