Galley Grab!

Some galleys up for grabs...leave a comment with the title of the book you want and I'll put it on hold for you behind the register. First come, first served!

Grub: A Novel by Elise Blackwell
I know a few folks from Grub Street have visited my blog here so I thought the title might intrigue. Here's the copy from the back:

"A long overdue retelling of New Grub Street--George Gissing's classic satire of the Victorian literary marketplace--Grub chronicles the triumphs and humiliations of a group of young novelists living in and around New York City.

Eddie Renfros, on the brink of failure after his critically acclaimed first book, wants only to publish another novel and hang on to his beautiful wife, Amanda, who has her own literary ambitions and a bit of a roving eye. Among their circle are writers of every stripe--from the Machiavellian Jackson Miller to the 'experimental writer' Henry, who lives in squalor while seeking the perfect sentence. Amid an assortment of scheming agents, editors, and hangers-on, each writer must negotiate the often competing demands of success and integrity, all while grappling with inner demons and the stabs of professional and personal jealousy. The question that nags at them is this: What is it to write a novel in the twenty-first century?

Pointedly funny and compassionate, Grub reveals what the publishing industry does to writers--and what writers do to themselves for the sake of art and to each other in the pursuit of celebrity."

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box has been a big hit here. It got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and a great review from Chuck Leddy at the Boston Globe (though not so much from Geoff Nicholson at the New York Times). 20th Century Ghosts is a collection of short stories Mr. Hill has written over the past few years. It was originally released by a niche publisher in England in 2005 but never here in the States until now (I assume that now that he's proved himself with the novel HarperCollins is hoping to ride the wave with this collection).

American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland
by Kristen Laine
Something for all those band geeks out there, this is the story of a year in the life of a high school band in the Midwest. Read more here.

Speaking of bands, I'm a total fan of parades. When I lived in Delaware I actually went to Atlantic City with friends to watch the Miss America "Show Us Your Shoes" Parade. That was a trip. So I'm very excited for Brookline Booksmith's Shortest Parade in History for the winner of the Jasper Fforde raffle. Didn't know Jasper Fforde was coming? Read about it here! We're really hoping to have a baton twirler. If you know a baton twirler, please, could you pass her (or his!) name along? We gotta have a baton twirler.