When it comes to people, I’m Joe Extremely Nosey; the only superpower I’ve ever craved is the ability to secretly listen in on people’s conversations. But do I care what anyone has hidden in their sock drawer, or whether they’re having an affair, or anything of that sort? No; that stuff bores me. What I’m basically insane about knowing is what people read in their bed at night before they fall asleep. When I used to babysit people’s kids, or even today if I’m in someone’s house or apartment, I couldn’t/can’t stop myself from totally checking out the reading material on their bed-stand. If I’m at someone’s house for the first time, I always have to stop myself from going, “Hi, nice to meet you. Thanks for having us over”—and then totally dashing into their bedroom to see what they’re reading at night.
I’d rather know what someone reads at night before sleeping than I would almost anything else about them. It just fascinates me.
So, what the heck; let me ask: What is on your bed-stand right now? And before you go to sleep, do you (as I do) tend to read the same book or books over and over again? In other words, do you always have the same book or books on your nightstand, or does it vary? Do you read a particular type or genre of book, or have a favorite author you read, or do you read magazines … or what?
C’mon. Share with Shore. What’s on your bed-stand right now??
I can’t believe how eager I am to read what anyone answers. I should probably seek help.
Follow up post: Books on My Bedside Table
Don’t let your fear that I’m an obsessive stop you from joining my Facebook group here.
![John Shore on The Huffington Post](http://johnshore.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/huffpost.jpg?w=120 "John Shore on The Huffington Post\")
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I have a bible, a journal, and a book on how Google changed mainstream culture.
I don't read before bed. I figured that if I do.. I'll never really get to bed till I'm done. >.<
It’s not on my bedtable, but the book I’m reading right now is “American Lion” by John Meachem. It’s a biography about Andrew Jackson, and so far it’s really good.
Something pretty cool about a president who gets in a duel and is shot in the chest, and still wins the duel.
WOW! I have never enjoyed reading responses more. I've been terribly busy these last couple of days, so haven't been able to respond to each and every one of these responses in the way I've wanted to, which is in such a way that I'd end up leaving my house even less than usual, which is never. AMAZING STUFF!!!! I just … can't stand it. It almost feels PRURIENT, how much I'm interested in this stuff.
Anyway, fantastic stuff. I'm loving every one of these.
I am currently reading Bruno Forte's 'The Essence of Christianity'. I find reading laborious material before bed helps me sleep, and makes me personally feel a lot more entertaining than I probably really am…
There is a "to" missing in the third line of my previous post. Giving some indication as to why I went back to science to earn my living!
John, John, John. Aren't you forgetting that all money is God's money? He just allows us (and apparently KPBS) use it.
I spent a year and a half as the editorial assistant at my twice-a-week small town newspaper, and learned more about writing in that time than I had in my entire life to that point. I loved it.
I almost mentioned Squirrel Cop. Another time among many that I came close to peeing my pants.
I used to work (as a magazine editor) for KPBS, one of the largest public broadcasting stations in the country. They had more money than God.
When we do road trips, the first thing I do is download a bunch of This American Life and burn them to CDs. Remember Squirrel Cop?
On a broader (and further off-topic) note: Public radio is an invaluable resource and I recommend that all of you start listening and contributing. Seriously. Find a station near you in this list http://www.npr.org/stations/pdf/nprstations.pdf and listen to it for a week. Nothing else comes close.
Becky:
I am INSANE about This American Life. A number of the NPR/WPR weekend offerings are out-and-out addictions for me. Prairie Home Companion; Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; Michael Feldman's Whaddya Know?; To the Best of Our Knowledge; University of the Air; CarTalk (couldn't care less about cars; the accents remind me of home and love the humor).
Yeah, love it. All of it. Between NPR/WPR and Moody Radio, I never watch TV at all. Haven't for almost 2 years now.
Twelve issues of National Geographic I haven't read yet. Truman by David McCullough, Being Christian, Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens, Flags of our Fathers. Six issues of Consumer's Reports. One current Sports Illustrated. Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg.
Candace, are you a This American Life fan also?
Right now I have the Bible on my nightstand, and the book Twighlight. After all the hype about the movie, I thought I’d read the book first to see what it was all about. And I can say, I never thought I’d like a book about Vampires, but I love it!
Yes, that's it
I really should own some of that. An excellent excuse to visit the bookstore. (Pfffft. Like I need one!)
Candace: The Sedaris story you're referring to is called "SantaLand Diaries," and is found in Sedaris' little collection called "Holiday on Ice." It's also in his larger collection, "Barrel Fever."
I failed that challenge
Thanks, I had not read that before.
I think my favorite of his is one I heard (more than once) on This American Life, about his thoughts and experiences working as a department store elf/Santa's helper at Christmas. I about pee my pants laughing, every time. It's in the online archives of TAL, I am sure.
Candace,
Your position on David Sedaris is quite a defensible one. Here is an essay of his that is surely in violation of some copyright laws:
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/bs16/Christmas/6_…
I challenge any of you not to laugh aloud!
Love, love, LOVE David Sedaris. Possibly, in my opinion, the funniest guy who ever lived.
I just finished reading "The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008" by Paul Krugman, and I really liked it. Even if you're not a student of economics or a math whiz, it outlines several causes of the current crisis in terms that we can all understand. Now I'm on to "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and its hit and miss for me so far. I'm really into the idea of thinking about how we are all affected by randomness and sometimes deny the possibility of some crazy event happening just because we think its not "likely" but the narrative gets a little detailed for me. What I really like to read, right before bed, is essays. I have tons of books of essays and I find that they are nice, bite-sized reads that make you feel like you went through a complete story (or idea) when you read them. I've got E.B. White, John Stewart (ha!), Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, and David Sedaris, to name a few.
I did find another great quote by Tyson:
Tyson, I think, is a great public face for science education and his comments above demonstrate that. A little to bubbly for me personally, but his childlike glee with science and knowledge is a great way to engage non-scientists.
I consider the opportunity to curl up with a good book in the evening a real luxury. I am currently reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
Last book finished was Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Despite the somewhat lurid title, this book is actually a comprehensive look at the history of humankind’s knowledge of the Universe around us and an exhilarating celebration of the scientific method. It’s good to the very final, powerful, highly RELEVANT paragraphs:
“To deny or erase the rich, colorful history of scientists and other thinkers who have invoked divinity in their work would be intellectually dishonest. Surely there’s an appropriate place for intelligent design to live in the academic landscape. How about the history of religion? How about philosophy or psychology? The one place it doesn’t belong is the science classroom.
“If you’re not swayed by academic arguments, consider the financial consequences. Allow intelligent design into science textbooks, lecture halls, and laboratories, and the cost to the frontier of scientific discovery-the frontier that drives the economies of the future-would be incalculable. I don’t want students who could make the next major breakthrough in renewable energy sources or space travel to have been taught that anything they don’t understand, and that nobody yet understands, is divinely constructed and therefore beyond their intellectual capacity. The day that happens, Americans will just sit in awe of what we don’t understand, while we watch the rest of the world boldly go where no mortal has gone before.”
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