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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 #370: Reading While Distracted

BOTNS #370: Reading While Distracted

Feb 16, 2016

Finding time to read while distracted by life. We recommend Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon, and Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

 

Two people Ann spoke to recently, one a teenage boy, and one an older man, each seemed to show pride at not reading. She then caught part of an On Point interview with David Denby, whose new book, Lit Up, is about turning teens into readers.

 

Reading While Distracted (08:45)

Two questions submitted via our Q&A feature:

"DMluvsPrufrock" told us that, now that she's a relatively new mom, she's been trying to listen to audiobooks, but finds her mind wandering. Perhaps she hasn't found the right, riveting book yet. Maybe she could try listening to smaller pieces, including short story podcasts like Selected Shorts. It could be the activities she's been doing while listening are too distracting, or maybe she's just not a person who enjoys listening to audios!

Anna from Ohio has just started working on a master's degree in human genetics (wow!) and realizes that she'll have less time to read for fun (her usual fun reading includes fiction, historical fiction, graphic novels, and science writing). She's hoping for recommendations of shorter things to read. Other than collections of short stories, we mention and recommend:

 

Two Books We Can't Wait For You to Read (23:51)

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Ann recommends Flight of Dreams (on sale 2/23/16) by Booktopia alumna Ariel Lawhon. Her new book explores the tragedy of the Hindenburg, telling the story from the point of view of several passengers and crew. Based on fact and using real-life people as characters, the book also includes a fictional locked-room type mystery at its heart.

I recommend Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, also on sale 2/23/16. Nearly two decades ago, Matt Haig nearly took his own life. This book recounts his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts in a way that depressives will recognize—whether or not they've contemplated suicide themselves—and every one else can understand.