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Giving the Gift of Reading
The greatest gift is a passion for reading. Elizabeth Hardwick There’s nothing as cozy as a piece of candy and a book. Betty MacDonald, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic The buzzword in college applications...
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WWW Wednesday — New Year’s Eve
What did you just finish reading? What are you currently reading? What do you think you’ll read next? First of all, based on how my clothes are fitting, I SHOULD be reading one of the zillions of diet...
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Why I Hate Reading Challenges — And Why I’m Participating in One
I keep hearing about reading “challenges”. Readers challenge themselves to read a certain number of books or pages in a year, or they try to read certain types of books that are outside their comfort...
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Dog-Eared Pages: 10 Quotes I Love
My third grade teacher, Mrs. Pierce, once reprimanded me for turning down the page of my book. She informed me that this was called “dog-earing” and it was very, very bad, on a par with wasting food at...
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Books In and Out of Print
I can’t count how many times I’ve had to tell a disappointed customer that a book is “out of print”. “But that can’t be!” the customer will exclaim. “It’s a wonderful book. And it just came out a...
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Nonrequired Reading
Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him. Maya Angelou Yesterday I saw a sight that warmed my heart. A little boy,...
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Vacation
I’m on vacation this week, which means lots of reading and relaxing — and no reviewing. I’ll be back next week with book reviews. On my vacation, I’ve read two books I loved: The Painter, by Peter...
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The Joys of Podcasts — Put Those Headphones On!
A couple of years ago, when I came up with the crazy idea of writing a book blog, I thought I had the perfect name: Books on the Nightstand. A Google search revealed that a website by that name already...
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Why My Books Are Not Clutter
Clutter n: A large amount of things that are not arranged in a neat or orderly way : a crowded or disordered collection of things. Clutter n: A crowded or confused mass or collection; a mass of...
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August Reading
The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting At...
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The Bookstore Conversation I Dread
I don’t like novels that end happily. They depress me so much. Oscar Wilde If you’re an avid reader and you like people, selling books is not hard. It’s not as if you’re trying to sell a complicated...
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10 Fall Paperback Picks
Last month, the New York Times published an article called “The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print is Far From Dead”. The article’s main point was that the predicted “digital apocalypse” hasn’t...
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Thieves, Murderers, and Psychopaths: Why I Like True Crime
Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of...
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Nonfiction November: This Year’s Overlooked Gems
You can tell a more incredible over-the-top story if you use a nonfiction form. Chuck Palahniuk There is really no fiction or non-fiction; there is only narrative. One mode of perception has no greater...
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Book Club Spotlight — The Breakfast Club (YA for Grownups)
A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest. C.S. Lewis Last year, journalist Ruth Graham published a provocative article (“Against YA”) in...
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Books on the Table Goes to the Movies
An art whose limits depend on a moving image, mass audience, and industrial production is bound to differ from an art whose limits depend on language, a limited audience, and individual creation. In...
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How to Pick the Perfect Gift Book — And 24 Eclectic Recommendations
Books make great gifts because they’re easy to wrap. Amy Sedaris Two years ago, I wrote a post called 5 Books NOT to Give this Holiday Season. I listed the kinds of books that are most likely to be...
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The Most (and Least) Popular Books on the Table Posts of 2015
Happy New Year! I’m writing this blog to keep track of my reading and to encourage me to think more critically about what I read — but also to help bring readers and books together. I love sharing my...
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Books on the Table in New Orleans
New Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture – even the local superstitions. It’s a sensory experience on all levels and there’s...
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What to Read Next — February 2016
I do so hate finishing books. I would like to go on with them for years. Beatrix Potter Every reader knows the feeling. As you turn the final pages of a book, you start to think, But what will I read...
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