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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. 

I'm sorry that we don't have show notes for all of the episodes, and that the episodes do not have consistent filenames. Still, we hope you find that the content is valuable enough to overlook those annoyances.

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May 7, 2013

Michael's Short Story Month reading plan. What movies do to books, good and bad. Plus we recommend the new books from Claire Messud and David Sedaris.

May is Short Story Monthzombie

Ann's been reading a short story a day, all year. That was too much for me to commit to, so I'm just doing it for the month of May, which is Short Story Month. I've collected all of the books I'm pulling the stories from onto one shelf in Goodreads, though of course, I'll read other things that catch my eye, including the May Short Story Read-Along.

One of the books I talk about, I Don't Know the Author or the Title, But It's Red and It Has Three Zombie Stories In It by Kelly Link, is only available through Harvard Book Store, as far as I can tell. Ann recently read Flying Lessons by Kelly Link recently in her writing class at Grub Street in Boston, and now wants to read everything Kelly has ever written. Ann also recommends the New Yorker Fiction podcast  as a great way to hear stories, followed by a discussion of the work.

Follow @annkingman on Twitter for short story recommendations throughout the month. Follow my month of reading on the Books on the Nightstand Facebook page.

Books Into Movies, Movies on to Books (11:10)

The movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby (in theaters May 10) is getting people talking, especially about the movie-tie-in edition of the book, which has star Leonardo DiCaprio on the cover. Many people dislike movie-tie-in covers in general (and some stores won't even carry them), but we think that anything that gets people to read a book is worthwhile.

Other book/movie news:

  • The first trailer for Mister Pip has been released and it looks like they've really translated the feel of the book onto the screen.
  • World War Z, the movie, comes out June 21. While it looks like a heck of a lot of fun, I'm not sure it will accurately capture the tone of Max Brooks' novel. However, a new edition of the audiobook has just been released, and now features narrators like Martin Scorcese, Mark Hamill, Alfred Molina, Henry Rollins and Nathan Fillion, to name just a few. You can see the full cast list at the end of the description on the audio's Goodreads' page.

And Two Books We Can't Wait For You to Read (25:49)

 

woman     owls

Ann calls The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud "one of the best novels she's read in 2013." It's the story of Nora, an elementary school teacher who forms an intense attachment to the family of one of her students.

I recommend David Sedaris' new book Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, especially on audio. It's a wonderful collection, hilarious, yes, but also incredibly moving at times.