Readers, Tune in Book TV

Are you lucky enough to receive Book TV from your television provider. You know, the program that airs on C-Span 2? If you have access to this program, and you're a serious reader, you really should watch the programs that feature nonfiction authors and their books.

This morning when I was reading email, I took a few minutes to read yesterday's edition of Shelf Awareness. You can find back issues of Shelf Awareness on their website, and you can subscribe if you'd like to receive this free email newsletter about book news.

Shelf Awareness was giving the weekend schedule for Book TV. Of course, given the coming election, they have several authors lined up who have books about political parties, candidates, and campaigns covering present day and going back in history to FDR's WWII presidential campaign. That's the one I'm most interested in. It's easier to view the past with impartiality than the present.

On My Must See List

I really enjoy Book TV because authors talk about how they came to be interested in a particular subject, the research they did, the surprising things they learned, and then they go into detail about how they wrote the book. Sometimes the writing was a struggle, and sometimes it flowed effortlessly. Often, the insights are priceless.

Last week they had Timothy Gay, author of Assignment to Hell: The War Against Nazi Germany with Correspondents Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, A.J. Liebling, Homer Bigart, and Hal Boyle on the schedule. Wow. What a title! Seriously, good nonfiction is as thrilling as the most popular suspense novel.

Each weekend, Book TV has 48 hours of programming from Saturday 8am (ET) to Monday 8am (ET). Check out the Book TV Schedule. Chances are you'll find an episode that's must-see-TV for you.

Takeaway Truth

If you fancy yourself well-read, you need to check out Book TV.

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