Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

Interview with Keith Goddard at Books Matter

LT members who’ve been around for a year or so may remember our partnership with Books Matter, an organization dedicated to providing books to needy schools in Ghana. I caught up with Keith Goddard—founder of Books Matter—this week, who was kind enough to update me on their latest projects!

Interested in donating to Books Matter? Drop me a line at loranne@librarything.com to donate books, or visit their website for monetary donations.

Can you tell us a bit about how Books Matter got started?

Basically, three things happened. First, my wife was sending some items to Ghana (that’s where she’s from) and she suggested we send some books and other things that my kids no longer used. The second thing is that she had always told me that many school in Ghana have no books. That really shocked and amazed me. The third thing is that I am a teacher in the Toronto public school system and I noticed that a lot of books are lying around in schools and not being used. So, I gathered up about 800 books and that was the start.

What is the process involved in getting a shipment of books sent? How many books can you send to Ghana at once?

We don’t have a lot of room at our house, which is where we store the books. Once we get to about 2,000 books our sunroom becomes unusable, so we are encourged to clear them out. Then we have to scan them, pack them, and raise enough money to send them. There’s no limit on how many we can send at a time, but due to the storage issue, we think around 2,000 is a good number.

In its first year, Books Matter sent 6,000 books to Ghana. That’s great! Did you anticipate that you’d have this much success?

I didn’t really know what to expect. Sometimes I think 6,000 is great and other days I feel that it’s nothing. I wish we could help meore people, but that being said, I know that the people we have helped are appreciative.

How many schools/libraries have received books from Books Matter now, and where are they? (Click map to enlarge)

So far, five institutions have received books from us: Bright Future School, in Keta; a library in Keta; a college in Ho; an elementary/junior high near Ho; and, an orphanage near Kumasi.

You recently ran an Indiegogo campaign, and set out to get another 2,000 books sent. Have those reached their destination(s)? Will you be running another Indiegogo campaign any time soon?

We ran an Indiegogo campaign just before the New Year, and with that money we shipped 1,700 books to five schools, two of which have separate buildings for the junior high and elementary schools, but on the same land. So, those books were cataloged into separate libraries. So, it’s five schools, but seven libraries. I hope that makes sense. Those books should arrive in late April. Since then we’ve received more books and would like to send about 1,500 in April. We’ve packed about 1,000 and scanned about 700. We scan the books we send to most of our recipients, but not all. Probably over 80%.

What are some of your and/or the students’ favorite books that Books Matter has sent?

We’ve sent some great books so far, but I hope we can get more book donations, from publishers, once we are an official charity. One thing that is difficult to do, but that I want to do, is get more feedback from the students about the books and their reading
habits, and how those habits are (hopefully) changing. I’d probably have to check some of the catalogs on LT to remember what we’ve sent! Good thing I cataloged them. We’ve sent a lot of great science and non-fiction picture books, fact books, and there are very few books like that in most Ghana schools. I think those will have a big impact on a lot of younger kids, even if they are reluctant readers, because the topics are so diverse and often relevant. We also sent a first edition And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street… lots of Dr. Seuss. It would be wonderful if any LT members thought there were certain must-have books for youngsters, that they wanted to donate, and maybe write a litte note in the front; they would just have to ship it to us in Toronto.(1)

What’s your personal library like? What sorts of books can be found on your shelves?

My personal library is really nothing to talk about… a fair number of biographies/memoirs about people in developing countries overcoming extreme adversity. Lots of non-fiction.

What have you read and enjoyed lately?

I like having about five books on the go at once, partly because I have trouble sticking with things sometimes! Also, because I enjoy such a wide variety and that’s the big reason I think kids should have a lot of books at their disposal to check out and become interested by. Having an e-reader is great, but that’s different than browsing through shelves of books, and touching them and flipping through them. That’s how kids catch the reading spark. That, and being read to. I just finished 12 Years a Slave and am now reading a modern day slavery account, called Slave by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis. I’m also reading a book on how to use YouTube for marketing.

What’s next for Books Matter? Do you have the next milestone, upcoming projects/shipments, etc. in mind?

We’ve always got shipments in mind. We’d like to hear from some of the schools where we’ve donated and make subsequent donations based on their likes and needs. I would love to go back to Ghana sometime in the future and oberve the kids, talk to them about reading, read with them, and talk to the teachers about reading/teaching strategies. It would be great to give more support than just putting the books in front of people. That’s not always enough, especially if they haven’t already developed the reading bug. That’s why sending the picture books and easy readers for the very young children is so important.

I’d like to thank Keith for taking the time to chat with me! Books Matter is doing excellent work, and it’s a joy to work with them!

—interview by Loranne Nasir


1. As mentioned above, if you have books you’d like to send to Books Matter, be sure to send Loranne an email (loranne@librarything.com).

Labels: books for ghana, gifts, member projects

Friday, April 26th, 2013

Books for Ghana: LibraryThing teams up with Books Matter!

Between November and April, LibraryThing members raised nearly $2,600 for needy readers by adding events to LibraryThing Local!

When we announced this initiative we asked for your help in coming up with the best way to use this money to put books directly into the hands of readers who would benefit the most from them. We wanted to find a project where our contributions can really make an immediate, tangible difference, and one with which LibraryThing and its members can build an active and ongoing relationship.

We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve found just such a project!

Books to Ghana

In February we donated donated $600 of the funds raised to Keith Goddard’s Books4Ghana campaign on IndieGogo, enough to put that effort over the top. Keith, who’s been a public school teacher in Toronto for the past fifteen years and has family connections in Ghana, began collecting books last summer for the Bright Future School in Keta, Ghana, a K-9 school with 600 students and thirty faculty members.

The first batch of 200 math textbooks and 500 children’s books were sent in August 2012, and arrived in October. Another 3,100 books Keith collected from schools around Toronto (and stored in his house!) were shipped this February after the successful IndieGoGo campaign, and arrived just a couple weeks ago. They will be delivered to the school later this month. You can browse the catalog of these books at http://www.librarything.com/profile/booksmatter. As the project expands and books arrive at additional libraries, we’ll be separating these out into separate LT catalogs for each library, so that they can be optimized to fit the specific needs of each school (and so that they can be updated as needed, of course).

Keith has now launched a new website for the Books Matter project at http://www.booksmatter.org, and is in the process of registering as an official charity. He’s currently rounding up the next batch of books to ship over to Ghana, and identifying the schools there that will benefit most from books we send.

Phase One: How to help now

Right now the major need is funding for shipping already-donated books to Ghana: payment for a shipping container, sea transport to Accra, Ghana, and then transportation from Accra to the schools in the Volta region). It costs approximately $1 per book to pay for shipping (as Keith says, “$10 sends 10 books, $50 sends 50 books: the math is simple, but the effect is profound”).

We’re going to be giving more of the money members raised by adding events to LT Local for this, and we invite you, should you feel so inclined, to head over to Books Matter and donate directly to the cause as well. If you donate, make sure to mention you’re a LibraryThing member!

Phase Two: Collection Development

This is about more than money. Books Matter is cataloging everything they send to Ghana.

Having everything cataloged allows us to do more than send random books. We can get involved in collection development—sending the right books to the right schools to fill gaps or to focus on areas of interest. We can do this site-wide or in groups. So, for example, wouldn’t it be cool if the “Green Dragon” and “Science!” groups could collaborate to make sure they’ve got a good collection in their area? And teachers and children at the schools can also participate, telling us what they need and how we can help!

That’s our idea. We’ll support it with some money and with features. But members will have to drive it. Let’s see what we can all do for readers in another country.

Come talk about phase two here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/153515

Why we’re doing this.

We’ve wanted to do something like this for a long time. We feel it’s important to give back when we can, and we want to give our members an easy way to contribute to a worthy project that puts books in the hands of readers who need them. By working with Keith and Books Matter, we’re in on the ground floor of a new, exciting project with lots of growth potential, and will be able to work with him to make sure that our contributions get where they need to go.

We’re really delighted about this, and we hope you all will be too!

Labels: events, fun, gifts, librarything local

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Edit and reorder sources in Add Books

Good news: We’ve improved the sources system within Add Books a lot.

Bad news: We had to transition to an entirely new sources system. Most members kept their sources, but some members and some sources couldn’t go into the new system easily. If you lost sources, you may need to choose them again. Fortunately, the new system’s a lot better at that.

You can find the new options on Add Books:
searchwhere

Everything now happens in a light box. The “Your Sources” tab allows you to reorder and delete sources.
yoursources

You can browse and choose sources, divided into “Featured” and “All Sources” on the other two tabs.
featured

As you’ll notice, a fair number of our sources are currently down. We’re working to get as many up again as possible, and add new ones. If you’d like to help and know something about Z39.50 connections, you’ll find we give our current connection details when you click the yellow warning marker.

You’ll also see other, very significant new stuff. But that’s a matter for another blog post!

Three cheers to our developer Ammar for the add-books changes!

Labels: cataloging, new features

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Books received in Ghana!

We are very happy to report that nearly 3,000 books for the Bright Future School in Keta, Ghana have been successfully delivered and were happily received by the students there earlier this month!

Keith Goddard at Books Matter posted a short video on Facebook of the students saying “thank you,” so check that out if you can (it’s almost guaranteed to make you smile!). Keith reports that the school was actually on break when the books arrived, so there will be more pictures of the students with the books soon.

Earlier this month, another hundred books were presented to the library of the University of Health and Allied Sciences: Ghana TV was even on hand for the arrival of the books!

All of the books sent to Ghana this spring are cataloged on LibraryThing in the Books Matter account, and members have been helping out by adding tags to the library.

Keith is planning on sending the next batch of already-donated books to an orphanage in Kumasi, located in northern Ghana. The orphanage houses some two hundred residents ranging in age from six months to 20 years. The books will be cataloged and tagged on LibraryThing prior to shipment.

If you can help out by making a donation to help ship the books, it would be greatly appreciated! A gift of $1 basically funds the shipment of one book to Ghana, so every little bit helps! Head over to the Books Matter site and you can make a donation today. LibraryThing will be giving a $800 donation as well, from the funds raised by members adding events to LibraryThing Local over the winter.

For more on our Books to Ghana project and our partner Books Matter, see our announcement blog post. To help out with tagging the books or to discuss the project generally, chime in on the Talk thread.

Labels: books for ghana, gifts

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Apple highlights Local Books

Apple’s iTunes store has LibraryThing’s Local Books app. (see blog post, direct link) given us a rare honor—a spot among their featured apps.(1)

The exposure has shot us up in the books category, such that we are now—unbelievably—running third in the free section.(2) No matter how long it lasts—and we have no idea of that—it’s great news. The more people grab it, the more become invested in its success. We’re already seeing a pick up in entries to LibraryThing Local. And it puts pressure on us to improve Local and the app too.

Most of all, we hope the success of Local Books can inspire physical bookstores and libraries to embrace the digital world more fully—to put their basic information, events and holdings data out there for us and others to use. Their customers and patrons are eager for it. Only by embracing what the digital world can do for the physical can they compete against the continual advance of ecommerce and ebooks.

So, thanks to Apple for highlighting us, to Chris and John for making the app.(3), and thanks to all the members who entered the data to make it possible.


1. To see it, go to iTunes and click “App Store.” We’re in the third row of apps., next to “Puppy Park” and “Roadside America.” We only appear if the screen is wide enough to hold six icons. We go away if you’re only showing five or fewer apps.
2. The only downside has been that wider exposure has put the app in the hands of people who were, I think, expecting something different. Our ratings have shot down. Fortunately, they’re very much on par with other top apps. It seems iTunes reviewers are a finicky bunch!
3. They will be getting every dime the free app makes us!

PS: If you have an Android phone, check out our Layar app.

Labels: iphone, itunes, local book search, local books

Friday, June 29th, 2007

Find LibraryThing an employee, get $1,000 worth of books.

We need to find two excellent employees, a PHP hacker and a systems/database guy or gal, so we’re offering $1,000 worth of books to each of the people who find them. Think of it. $1,000 in books. What would you buy? Everything.

Rules! You get a $1,000 gift certificate to Abebooks, Amazon, Booksense or the independent bookseller of your choice. You can split it between them. You don’t need to buy books with it (but why do that?).

To qualify, you need to connect us to someone. Either you introduce them to us—and they follow up with a resume and etc.—or they mention your name in their email (“So-and-so told me about LibraryThing”). You can recommend yourself, but if you found out about it on someone’s blog, we hope you’ll do the right thing and make them the beneficiary.

Small print: Our decision is final, incontestable, irreversible and completely dictatorial. It only applies when an employee is hired full-time, not part-time, contract or for a trial period. If we don’t hire someone for the job, we don’t pay. The contact must happen in the next month. If we’ve already been in touch with the candidate, it doesn’t count. Void where prohibited. You pay taxes, and the insidious hidden tax of shelving. Tim Spalding and his family (all his family, Oakes) are not eligible, but if Abby wants to work Simmons or Altay his startup connections, fine. Abebooks employees are not eligible for this (but the internal offer still stands).

Needless to say, we’ll throw in a free lifetime membership, so you can catalog your loot. And you’ll get the satisfaction you helped LibraryThing become everything it could be.


Here are the job announcements:

UPDATE: We’ll take a look at people not in New England, especially for the DBA position.

Two jobs—dream jobs for the right people. We may hire one person or two, depending on what we get. (We’re happy to look at resumes with a mix of talents, or other talents.) Both jobs are located in the New England area, with some potential for telecommuting.

Syadmin/DBA

LibraryThing, the web’s largest and most innovative site for book lovers, is looking for a smart and experienced systems and database administrator. We value brains and talent above everything, but demonstrated experience with complex, high-traffic LAMP websites is essential to this position.

  • MySQL. Query optimization, replication, tuning, maintenance, recovery.
  • Systems administration. Linux administration, security, maintenance and recovery. Installation of new hardware.
  • Programming. You don’t need to start out a PHP guru, but you’ll have to support this part of the site.
  • Personal qualities. Speed, intelligence, reliability, high availability, good communication skills and sang-froid.

Hacker/Developer

We’re also looking for a crackerjack PHP/MySQL developer. To qualify you must be passionate, creative, flexible–and fast.

  • PHP. We write terse, losely modular non-OO code.
  • HTML, CSS, Javascript.
  • MySQL. Knowledge of query optimization, replication and MySQL internals a plus.
  • Design or UI talents a plus.
  • Knowledge of social networking, math, statistics, collaborative filtering, bibliographic data or library systems a plus.
  • You must learn quickly and communicate effectively. Skills and attitude matter; experience per se does not.

How We Work

LibraryThing has a somewhat unusual development culture. It is not for everyone.

  • We develop quickly, knocking out features in hours or days, not weeks. We value results, not process.
  • We develop incrementally and opportunistically, assuming that member feedback will sometimes overturn our plans in mid-course, and that some projects will fail.
  • Everyone who works for LibraryThing interacts directly with members.
  • We value initiative and intellectual engagement. You must be able to work alone or in a small team.
  • We are only accepting applications from people within driving distance of Portland, ME or Cambridge, MA. We are currently headquartered in Portland, ME–the second floor of a gorgeous three-family along the Eastern Prom.–but may relocate to the Boston/Cambridge, MA area.
  • LibraryThing is more than a job for us. We work long, hard and usually sober, but not necessarily during “regular” hours. We love what we do. We want someone who will feel the same way.

About LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a social cataloging and social networking site for book lovers. Started in August 2005 as a hobby project, LibraryThing has grown to a handful of employees and some 215,000 members in a dozen countries. Members have cataloged 15 million books and applied almost 20 million tags. We are well known in the library world, and rapidly winning over booksellers, authors and publishers.

Contact Tim Spalding (tim@librarything.com) for more information, or to send a resume.

Labels: jobs

Sunday, June 17th, 2007

Fifteen million books!

Going down, like the Titanic.

LibraryThing has hit fifteen million books.

Number 15,000,000 was a 1963 edition of The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton, added by dukedom_enough at 8:57am on June 15. For his luck, Dukedom earns a free gift membership.

Now begins the countdown to a major milestone: becoming the second largest “library” in the US, and with or soon after that, the second largest in the world, gulp.

LibraryThing is not of course a “real” library. You can’t take the books out, they do a lot more with them, and we have a lot more duplicates. We have only about 2.5 million distinct “titles.” But the comparison gives a sense of relative scale to the enterprise.*

Anyway, the tally is now as follows**:

  1. Library of Congress — 30,011,748
  2. Harvard University — 15,555,533
  3. Boston Public Library — 15,458,022
  4. LibraryThing — 15,081,543
  5. Yale University — 12,025,695

With luck, we’ll settle in behind the Library of Congress in 10-15 days. At 30 million, they’re going to take a while to beat.

When will we hit second in the world? Unfortunately, I can’t find a good list of world libraries by volumes. Everyone concedes that the Library of Congress is the largest library. The rest is foggy. Wikipedia has the British Library at 150 million items, and 22 million volumes. The Bibliothèque nationale and the Berlin State Library are at ten million volumes. (The German National Library is said to have 22 million items, but items aren’t volumes.) The stubby entry for the National Library of China speaks of it as:

“… the largest library of Asia and with a collection of over 22 million volumes (including individually counted periodicals, without these around 10 million), it is the fifth largest in the world.”

Which raises the question, does the ALA Factsheet also count periodical volumes separately?

Tim is dead. (Credit)

Surpassing the BPL in any way feels blasphemous; I love the place so much that comparing LibraryThing to the BPL—well, the lions should eat me for thinking it. But Harvard will be sweet. I lived most of my life in Cambridge, MA, but the bastards rejected me twice—undergrad and grad! So, in that spirit, and with Yalies protecting my back, let’s beat that little pile of books over at Widener.


*There are all sorts of problems with these numbers. In fact, libraries don’t really know how many books they have. LibraryThing has a small percentage of items that aren’t books, and a larger number that are “wished for” other otherwise ephemeral. At the same time, many of LibraryThing’s “books” are composed of multiple volumes. So, we’re in the neighborhood of 15 million anyway.

LibraryThing demonstrates something we always knew—that regular people have a lot of books—probably many times what all the world’s libraries hold. I’ve never seen the relative numbers discussed. It never mattered before, but now that regular people can put their catalogs online and engage in tasks, like tagging and work disambiguation, that bear on age-old issues of library science, it’s not entirely pointless to compare the two.

I want to underscore that, in making the comparison, we mean no disrespect to libraries. I think I’ve got some proof that LibraryThing has always been on libraries’ side. Our first hire, Abby, was a librarian. We have always favored library data, where our many recent competitors only care about Amazon’s data. We link to libraries extensively, something no competitor does. And we are grateful that our work has been of interest to the library world—Abby and I have become minor fixtures on the library speaking circuit.***

**Source: ALA Factsheet: The Nation’s Largest Libraries.

***My Library of Congress talk will be online soon, as will my recent keynote at the Innovative Users Group meeting in Sligo, Ireland.

Labels: 1

Thursday, February 1st, 2024

February 2024 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the February 2024 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 180 books this month, and a grand total of 3,427 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Monday, February 26th at 6PM EST.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

The Road Before UsThe Swan HarpThe Girl Who Planted TreesFlight of the Wild SwanThe Hebrew TeacherOpposite IdenticalsThe Poppy FieldThe Seafarer's SecretRebel SkiesThe Heavy Bag: One Girl’s Journey Through GriefAlt SagasViewfinderHow to Help a Hare and Protect a Polar Bear: 50 Simple Things YOU Can Do for Our Planet!So You Wanna Run a Country?The Song of Sourwood MountainUnforgivenThe Encyclopedia of Rootical Folklore: Plant Tales from Africa and the DiasporaCultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and OrganizationsSugar SandsBlood TornEmily PostsSwimming into TroubleThe Roads We FollowNight Falls on Predicament AvenueThese Tangled ThreadsJoyce Carol Oates: Letters to a BiographerLincoln's Angel: The Rebecca Pomroy StoryKids' Big Questions about Heaven, the Bible, and Other Really Important Stuff: 101 Things You Want to KnowThe Taekwonderoos: Rescue at Rattling RidgeA Dry Heat: Collected StoriesMoulded By MadnessThe East WindHoliday ShiftersIt Was Her New York: True Stories & SnapshotsGrief Is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating LossUrgent Calls from Distant Places: An Emergency Doctor's Notes about Life and Death on the Frontiers of East AfricaThe Family that Finds UsOnce a Homecoming QueenSeventy-Seven and Counting: The Somewhat Gay Life of BrianFrom Ice to SandStars Beyond RealmsThe Secret of the Sweet Treats KingdomThe First MurderBlack Confetti: My Bipolar MarriageNancy Bess Had a DressRe: Apotheosis - GenesisMattie, Milo, and Me: A MemoirFootball Refereeing in Scotland: A History of its Organisation and Development 1873-2023Affirmation AlchemyBookbound and Other StoriesFord Mustang Restoration: 1964-1/2-1973The Bloodstained KeyButterflies in the StormChildren of TomorrowThe Last PantheonDrive Or Be DrivenIn Excess of DarkKosaThe Demon of Devil's CavernFather ForgivenessMad Mothers: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis, Abuse, and RecoveryA Garden Called HomeProfessor Goose Debunks the Three Little PigsThe Destiny Book: Rediscovering the Mother of SpiritualityStonechat: PoemsLost SoulsLearning to SwimIndia's Road to Transformation: Why Leadership MattersGRE Reading Comprehension: Detailed Solutions to 325 Questions [Seventh Edition]The Aziola's Cry: A Novel of the ShelleysThe Prisoner of AcreiPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max: The Complete Photography GuideWhat Happens in MontanaMeditations for the Superhuman MageWitch's Creed: Jesus ProjectTrue Crime Trivia 2: Test Your Knowledge of Serial Killers, Cults, Cold Cases, Mysteries, Organized Crimes & More with 300 Chilling & Fascinating Quiz QuestionsDragon ClassThrough the Veneer of TimeWhat is the Bible?: Understand Its History, Find Personal Meaning, and Connect With Its AuthorAstral Alignment: ApocalypseJohnny Lycan & The Last WitchfinderA Black and Solemn SilenceYour Soufflé Must DieOff SeasonThe J.E.D.I. Leader's Playbook: The Insider's Guide to Eradicating Injustices, Eliminating Inequities, Expanding Diversity, and Enhancing InclusionMy Best Friend, MartyA Curse of Scales & FeathersKatie & Danny in Fairyland with GrandmaSecond ShotL' Air du Temps (1985)The Woodland StrangerThe Woodland StrangerReclaiming Your Roots: A Self-Healer's Guide to Ancestral Healing Through Transformational Spiritual PracticesStill AliveThe Pig Patrol: Adventure in SpaceThirty-Eight Days of RainBreaking Bad Patterns: 60 Ways to Free Yourself from a Life Stuck on RepeatThe EdgeDrawn to MurderBeneath the Gods' TreePrice of VengeanceSwing Strong: Golfing Fitness for SeniorsA Vengeful RealmHow We Became Intergalactic SuperheroesThe Courage to Leave: A Memoir of Escaping and Moving Forward From Spiritual AbuseThe Kelsey Outrage: The Crime of the CenturyTraveling in Wonder: A Travel Photographer's Tales of WanderlustHow Did Christianity Begin?: Hallucinations? Fabrications? Myths? Resurrection?: A Look at the EvidenceYou Are HereReflections: Echoes & WhispersThe UnravellingChildren of the CrossMental Exercises for Dogs: Unlocking Behavior SolutionsLet Them TrembleThe Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode Two: Treasonous TycoonGrandma's Gone With GodThe Assays of AtaAll Of Us AloneJoey's Road TripThe Christmas HedgehogDecode Connect Dominate: The Unstoppable Guide to Read People Like a Book, Overcame Shyness, Crack the Code of How To Talk To Anyone, Use Psychology and Body Language to Decipher People’s IntentionsThe Further Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron MunchausenHorse Girl: A Journey HomeTarnished PilgrimFinal Video GameTalk With the Moon: Silence Between StarsNavudaan: Revolution of ChangeJourney of SoulsLocked in SilenceBranding Your Practice: A Comprehensive Guide to Building a Strong Brand in Health & WellnessRearranged: An Opera Singer's Facial Cancer and Life TransposedBottles in the Basement: Surviving an Alcoholic: A MemoirAlignment: An Unlikely Road to BethlehemThe Gambler's GameLife in the Childfree LaneNo Matter How FarThe Worlds Behind Her EyelidsThe Worlds Behind Her EyelidsShelby’s Season of SurpriseThe Reluctant UndertakerPlease DO NOT GO to BogotáFreedom: The Case For Open BordersTwisted FateMushroom CloudAylunFinding Designated Ground ZeroArmageddonPersonal Finance for Teens Simplified: 7 Easy-to-Learn Strategies for Conquering Debt, Understanding the Value of Money, and Achieving Financial IndependenceMy Trip to the Hair SalonTransitThe Bloodstained KeyLies and LoveThe SurfacingA Simple Tale of Ink and BindingsA Simple Tale of Ink and BindingsPerilous ShoresFeraldThree Volleys to LoveTexture of Silence: An Illustrated Collection of Prose PoetryIn Helping HandsForest Living: In Central FloridaBeyond the Family Tree: Advanced Tools & Techniques for the Genealogical ExplorerAncestry Standards for Data Integrity: Getting History Right the First TimeSoftware Tools for Genealogy: Digital Tools for Tracing Family HistoryThe Balance Point: Charting America's Fiscal RenaissanceMale Chauvinism: Tripping on Male DominancePrayer in Time of WarWhite WhaleThe Badge And The GunThe Book of Arcane SecretsTime Is HeartlessCruel ProvocationsThe Sapien EmpireBlaze Union and the Puddin' Head SchoolsMaya and Waggers: I Have to Scoop What?Murder Under Redwood MoonA Perfectly Good Fantasy: A MemoirA Perfectly Good Fantasy: A MemoirAlien View: Where Science and Technology Meet Human BehaviorForest Living: In Central Florida

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Beaches and Trails Publishing Beaufort Books
Bellevue Literary Press Bethany House BHC Press
Cardinal Rule Press CarTech Books Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
Circling Rivers DarkLit Press Egret Lake Books
Exploding Head Fiction Gnome Road Publishing Grand Canyon Press
Great Plains Press Greenleaf Book Group Hawkwood Books
Heritage Books History Through Fiction Identity Publications
Legacy Books Press New Vessel Press NewCon Press
Nosy Crow US Perch & Pen Books PublishNation
Revell Rootstock Publishing Scorched Earth Press
Simon & Schuster TouchPoint Press Tundra Books
Type Eighteen Books University of Texas Press Vibrant Publishers

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Thursday, November 9th, 2023

An Interview with Liam Graham

LibraryThing is pleased to sit down this month with economist, philosopher and physicist Liam Graham, an active member on our site—find him at thalassa_thalassa—since 2012. After earning a BA in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge and an MA in Social and Political Thought at the University of Warwick, he completed a PhD in Economics at Birkbeck College, London, going on to spend most of the next fifteen years teaching in the economics department of University College London. Leaving academia in 2018, he has returned to his first love, attempting to answer a question that has been with him since his teenage years: do we need more than physics to understand the world? His research in this area has resulted in the publication of his debut book, Molecular Storms: The Physics of Stars, Cells and the Origin of Life, released this month by Springer International.

OK, let’s start at the beginning. No, not the Big Bang, the beginning of your book! What exactly is a molecular storm, and how can an understanding of how it works aid us in considering larger questions about the nature of time, and our place in the universe?

This story starts right down at the bottom, where the small molecules that make up gases and liquids are in constant motion. To larger objects, this motion is a ferocious bombardment made up of trillions of impacts per second. Scaled up to human dimensions, it would be like a 40,000km/h wind blowing from constantly changing directions. This is the molecular storm. It drives pretty much everything that happens at a molecular level: chemical reactions; flows from hot to cold; winds blowing from high pressure to low pressure; the vortex in your bathtub; what goes on in living cells and hence what goes on inside you.

To understand the wider implications, let’s take a system where the storm isn’t important. To do so, we need to step out of our everyday experience, which is a sign in itself of how dominant the storm is. So tune your ear to the music of the spheres and picture planets orbiting a star. Now, if someone played you a video of the solar system, you wouldn’t be able to tell whether it was running forwards or backwards. In either direction, you would see the planets calmly pursuing their elliptical orbits. In other words, you wouldn’t be able to tell whether the film showed past moving toward future or future to past. In this idealised world, there is no arrow of time.

Then turn to a system driven by the storm, such as a gas expanding as a tap is opened or our old friend Humpty Dumpty. If you saw a video of these, you could immediately tell whether it was running backwards or forwards. Gases do not spontaneously contract and pour themselves into a tap. The molecules that make up the ground do not conspire in their movements to make Humpty Dumpty leap up and put himself together again. The arrow of time is a result of the molecular storm.

The study of the molecular storm is called thermodynamics. Everyone I spoke to, whether specialists or non-specialists, said this term is so intimidating that I should keep it off the cover of the book. I took the advice, but one of my aims is to show that in fact thermodynamics is by far the most useful part of physics.

There is some discussion on how many laws of thermodynamics there are, but the poet Allen Ginsberg summarised three of them as “you can’t win, you always lose, you can’t leave the game” (though he apparently lifted this from earlier sources). The second law says that disorder always increases: “you always lose”. It was described by one eminent physicist as the supreme law of nature and it can seem like the organising principle of the universe. But the second law itself is a result of the molecular storm.

Let’s turn to humanity’s place in nature. If you throw a pair of dice for long enough, you’ll see every possible outcome. In the same way, the endless bombardment of the storm constantly shakes systems up and so drives them to explore the possibilities open to them. For reasons that are poorly understood, this seems to mean that systems settle into states which dissipate energy at faster and faster rates. Stars dissipate energy faster than the dust clouds from which they formed. Planets dissipate energy faster than stars. Life is the most recent of these states. A back of the envelope calculation shows that per kilogram a human dissipates 7000 times as much energy as the sun. The one-kilogram laptop I am using to write this dissipates 30 times more energy than a kilogram of me.

This suggests a radically materialist meaning of life. While we talk of evolution and survival of the fittest, progress and technological development, free will or consciousness, these are all just metaphors. The underlying process is simply a random search – driven by the storm – for systems which dissipate energy at faster rates. We are its latest product. If you find this bleak, read Sartre and you’ll see that instead it is liberating.

In the introduction to your book you discuss randomness on the molecular level, and the way in which molecular movement seeks patterns and creates what is, to the human eye, order. Is this contradictory? How can randomness create order?

To start off, we’ve got to be careful with the terminology. Our intuitive ideas of order are, like our intuitive ideas about everything, poor approximations to the physics. The formal concept is entropy, but I can’t go into that in depth here. Instead, I’ll carry on using “order” and “disorder”, but in scare quotes.

The second law tells us you can create “order” in one system as long as you create more “disorder” elsewhere. It’s not so much “you always lose” but “the universe always loses; you can win at its expense”. How does this happen, how does randomness create “order”? The key point is that the storm drives systems to explore the possibilities open to them. Sometimes the system will stumble over an “ordered” structure which is stable. Let’s look at some examples.

Soon after the Big Bang, the universe was a roughly uniform cloud of radiation and particles. This looks to a human eye like a state of maximum “disorder”. Yet now the universe is full of “order” everywhere from galaxies to stars to solar systems to planets to the myriad of structures on planetary surfaces (including you). The change from initial to current state is driven by the molecular storm, along with much interesting physics along the way. However, the move from “disorder’ to “order” is only apparent. Gravity – which our intuition is definitely not built to understand – means that clumped matter is actually more “disordered” than diffuse matter. The “disorder” of the universe as a whole has constantly increased since its beginning.

As another example, let’s think about how evolution might kick off. Take a bunch of chemicals being constantly driven by the storm to explore different reactions. If one of these reactions gives a molecule that can reproduce itself, it will come to dominate the mix as it outcompetes other reactions. Then another storm-driven random change might lead to a molecule that reproduces faster, more reliably or using a wider range of components and this will outcompete the original one. More random changes will lead to further improvements. The rest, as they say, is history. Random changes driven by the storm lead ultimately to life.

Finally, remember the story of Sisyphus doomed to forever push a boulder up a hill (I’ve borrowed this analogy from Life’s Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos by Peter M. Hoffmann, also on LibraryThing as yapete). If we reduced him to a small enough scale, the molecular storm would push his nano-boulder sometimes up and sometimes down the hill. All Sisyphus then has to do is to wait until there is a random push upwards and slip a wedge under the boulder to stop it rolling back. Then he waits until another impact pushes the boulder upwards and again moves the wedge. If he continues doing this, the boulder will roll up the hill powered by the storm. All Sisyphus has to do is select the impacts that push the boulder upwards – most of the physical effort is taken out of his punishment. Directional, “ordered” motion is driven by random impacts. It turns out that some of the most important processes in living cells rely on an analogous method of selecting fluctuations from the storm.

All of these examples create “order” at the expense of “disorder” elsewhere: as a star forms, it increases disorder in the surrounding cloud of dust; as chemical evolution starts, disorder is increased in the environment and Sisyphus increases disorder via the information processing necessary to work out when to move the ratchet. These processes – and everything driven by the storm – hasten the universe towards its final state of maximum “disorder”.

In your career as an economist, your focus has been on macroeconomics, and the mathematical study of complex systems. What insights has your economic work provided in the scientific field, and vice versa?

The main thing I learnt is how fundamentally different the two fields are. A basic requirement for science is the possibility of repeated experiments. We can let an apple drop from a tree again and again. To understand its motion, we can vary its weight, the wind speed or the density of the air. We can even make an “apple” of antimatter and see whether it falls up or down.

Macroeconomics is very different. There is effectively no possibility of experiments. I’d have loved to be able to phone up a friend at the Bank of England and ask them to hike interest rates to 20% to create an almighty recession and help calibrate my model. Thankfully, I couldn’t. But even if I could, it wouldn’t tell me much since the structure of the economy and the policy framework are constantly changing. The same change in policy might have a very different effect 20 years ago or 20 years hence. This means that natural experiments are not much use either: the high inflation of the 1970s has little directly to tell us about the high inflation of today. Macroeconomists are faced with a sequence of one-offs rather than the repeated experiments which are a precondition for scientific
knowledge.

What’s worse is that macroeconomic data is extremely limited. There’s not even a century of good quality data and it is often only measured once every quarter, giving at most 400 data points. By contrast, in 2018 the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva generated over a thousand trillion data points. It’s hard to do good science with small datasets.

But that’s not all. Atoms just go about doing their atomic thing governed by laws unchanging across time or space. But the economy is made up of the decisions of people. And people change the way they make decision depending on what’s happening in the economy. So the one-off nature of the economy penetrates to the heart of the decisions which constitutes it. This is a fascinating area which I started to work on before deciding it was far too difficult.

Your book attempts to answer some deep and longstanding philosophical questions, questions that humanity has grappled with for ages, using physics. Are there philosophical questions science can’t answer, and if so, what are they?

Scientific explanations are only descriptions of the world. If you take a child’s approach of responding “Why?” to every answer, at some point a scientist will have to say, “I don’t know” or “If it wasn’t this way, there’d be no possibility of creatures with the capacity to ask why”. From then on, metaphysics takes over.

Philosophy gets left with the unanswerable questions. For the last few hundred years, science has been reducing the scope of such questions, but some will always remain. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why this set of elementary particles? Why four forces? Why these values for the fundamental constants? Physics particularly struggles with these questions because there is no possibility of repeated experiments. As far as we are concerned, the universe is a one-off and will remain so. Even if our universe is one of many, we are unlikely ever to be able to observe the others. Of course, it may be that the answers to some of these questions will drop out of the maths of some future theory. But then you would still be left with the fascinating question of why maths describes the physical world.

As a long-time LibraryThing member—profile page: thalassa_thalassa—tell us a little bit about how you use the site, and what you particularly enjoy about it.

Rarely a day goes by when I don’t visit the site several times. I use it to organise my library and my research with an ever-growing set of tags. When I finish a book I record the date straight away and usually write a few sentences with my impressions (if I didn’t, I’d forget what I read last week). Deciding what to read next is a constant challenge and I have a long wishlist and another tangle of tags to help. For the past decade or so, I’ve bought mostly ebooks and I use LibraryThing to keep track of them. I dream of (and one day might write) an extension which would allow me to click on a title in LibraryThing and open the ebook from the cloud.

I love glancing through other people’s libraries. From time to time, I message users to ask them for recommendations and this has led to some fascinating exchanges. And I do like all the data, though I’ve stopped looking at the author-by-gender chart as it is going to take me decades to make the balance more reasonable.

Intellectually, the most intense year of my life was my MSc in Philosophy. Imagine spending a year working through the Western philosophical tradition from Plato to the 20th century, reading a couple of texts a week, in discussion with a passionate and engaged teacher. This teacher was the philosopher Gillian Rose. I created her Legacy Library on LibraryThing as an act of remembrance and my book is dedicated to her.

Tell us about your library. What’s on your own shelves?

It’s a bit of a mix, really, reflecting the ebbs and flows of my interests over the years. Reading literary fiction is necessary for my sanity and I’m not averse to the odd scifi novel from time to time, though I get unreasonably annoyed when an author plays fast and loose with the science. The thing that never ceases to delight me is the way novels come along and do something entirely, erm, novel. This doesn’t happen often but when it does I treasure it. From the last couple of decades I’d list The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq; A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux, Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman; Phone by Will Self; Orfeo by Richard Powers and Cher Connard by Virginie Despentes.

What have you been reading lately, and what would you recommend to other readers?

Over the past few months, I’ve been reading mainly physics while preparing the proposal for my second book. In between, novels I’ve particularly enjoyed are An Impossible Love by Christine Angot; My Husband by Maud Ventura and The Course of Love by Alain de Boton. I’m also re-reading Zola’s 20 volume Rougon-Macquart series, in order this time. There’s nothing quite like the gritty realism of his depictions of 19th century life; Dickens is prissy by comparison. And the plots are often so gripping that I find myself skipping descriptive passages to get back to the action. My favourites so far are L’Assommoir and The Bright Side of Life. It was all going well but now, with 6 still to go, I’m a bit bogged down. It may take the right kick from the molecular storm to get me going again.

Labels: author interview, interview

Wednesday, November 1st, 2023

November 2023 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the November 2023 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 207 books this month, and a grand total of 4,309 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Monday, November 27th at 6PM EST.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Poland and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

The Irish MatchmakerThe Seafarer's SecretTime Travel for Fun and ProphetWe're Going Home: A True Story of Life and DeathThe Spirituality of Dreaming: Unlocking the Wisdom of Our Sleeping SelvesSouth of Sepharad: The 1492 Jewish Expulsion from SpainGreen Mountain AcademyMr. Jimmy from Around the WaySpit and PolishI'm Going to Be a PrincessFatal WitnessSunrise and the Real WorldJust up the Road: A Year Discovering People, Places, and What Comes Next in the Pine Tree StateOf Starlight and MidnightBilly and the Giant AdventureThe Denim Diaries: A MemoirDracula Beyond Stoker Issue 3: The Bloofer LadyPut It on Record: A Memoir-ArchiveGreensideMy Big Fantastic FamilyTributaries: Essays from Woods and WatersThe Plantastic CookbookTrue Crime Trivia 2: Test Your Knowledge of Serial Killers, Cults, Cold Cases, Mysteries, Organized Crimes & More with 300 Chilling & Fascinating Quiz QuestionsA Change in Destiny: Dark ChoicesSuper Natural Family International Cookbook: A Healthy and Playful Global Recipe CollectionDonut Feel Bad About Being SadLittle Things, Complex MattersHouse of Fat Man: Rules in the Golden TriangleEverything Starts from Prayer: Mother Teresa's Meditations on Spiritual Life for People of All FaithsEmbers in the London SkyThe Road To Second ChanceThe Judas Tree - Book 1Champions of the FoxJosie, Johnnie and Rosie and the Ocean Rescue!Sound Switch WonderThe Splish-Splash Puddle Dance!Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better about the WorldThe Hampton House MysteryMurtaghThe Ultimate True Crime Trivia Book: A Compilation of Fascinating Facts & Disturbing Details About Infamous Serial Killers, Mysteries, Cold Cases & Everything In BetweenThe Music: New and Selected Poems, 1973-2023Tender HeadedAn Artist Among the Wind Horses of MongoliaMusic Head: A Memoir of PurposeSnapshots of a Life: EssaysPainting the Grand Homes of California's Central ValleyThe Gift Sensitivity: The Extraordinary Power of Emotional Engagement in Life and WorkSpark and TetherHeavy OceansDrag Racing's Rebels: How the AHRA Changed Quarter-Mile CompetitionThe Spartan ChroniclesOur Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’t WorkESPionage: Regime ChangeThe Infinite Loop / El Lazo InfinitoPrincess Rouran and the Dragon Chariot of 10,000 SagesChocolate & Wine Cookbook & Party Guide: Your Complete Guide To Chocolate Delights, Decorations, and DestinationsThe Greatest ThingA Change of ReignBlood of GodsThe Foxhole Victory TourUp from Dust: Martha's StoryA Season of HarvestCold ThreatSecrets, Lies and Seagull Cries: Wath Mill AllotmentsLost SoulsTrue or False Mazes: HalloweenTrue or False Mazes: Two Exits - Only One Exit Is RealLeaving Bacon Behind: A How-to Guide to Jewish ConversionCrushThe Christmas DilemmaiPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max: The Complete Photography GuideHollowPolyphemusThe Gardens of ByzantiumThe Wrong Way HomeTrue Crime Trivia 2: Test Your Knowledge of Serial Killers, Cults, Cold Cases, Mysteries, Organized Crimes & More with 300 Chilling & Fascinating Quiz QuestionsThe Butterfly That Learnt to FlyBeautiful Little FuriesThe King's FeatherNo More Happy Endings: Eight Short StoriesThe Pied Pipers Be BraveKevin Wilks and the Mirror of SoulsSolarpunk CreaturesSchool Improvement Planning Made Easy: An AI Guide for School Leaders and Subject LeadersThe Trade Detective Investigating How to Make Money Online and Live WealthyStrange and Twisted ThingsHow to DanceHollywood HustleBad Girls Break BridgesPractice Tests for the Digital SAT (2024)Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Questions (2024)Digital SAT Math Practice Questions (2024)It Hurts Every TimeIn Search of the Lambs and Other StoriesAtom Bomb BabyRise and Shine Little Man: Memories of a Seaside ChildhoodBoxes of Time: StoriesThe Trade Detective Investigating How to Day Trade For A LivingPaper & FeathersSelf-Help Simplified!: Insights on Maximizing the Benefits of Self-Help BooksNights RainbowThe Philistine SolutionA Prisoner's LoveThe Chinitz Zion Haggadah: How to Teach the Love of Israel at Your Seder: A Traditional Haggadah with Modern InterpretationThe Condor's RiddleCrude DeceptionEverything Slows Down: My Hidden Life with Depression: How I Survived, What I LearnedUncertain LuckHave It AllCurtains on A Christmas CarolClassic Short Stories by Trailblazing WomenPacific StateHow to Find A Job: 30 Day PlanMindfireThe Wall Pilates Workout Book For Women: 28 Day Challenge Exercises For Weight Loss, Better Posture, Flexibility, Strength, and BalanceThe Morgan Film: A JFK Assassination StoryGrasslandsThe Scream: Poems from the Outside and from Within, 2013-2023Dragon ClassWalking the White Horses: Wiltshire's White Horse Trail on FootDouble Dead MagicProvidencePlanetary Civilization: Why capitalism will never be sustainableShattered RemnantsChallenge AccceptedThe Eternal ExperimentsThe Lazarus KeyFoxholesThe Sea Something...Whispers of the PastThe Journeyer and the Pilgrimage for the Origin of MagicAlice Ravenwood and the Tomb of Saint GeorgeThe Painter's LegacyA Mirror for The Blind: Reflections of a Digital SeoulThe Long NightThat DayMicro Authority: How to Accelerate Your Distinction in a Croweded Market in the Era of SpeedSun & ShadowSeed of VexSpiked: Here's to RevengeSun of the Father: A Story of Awakening to the Light WithinBeware the GrumbleForever HumanInside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short StoriesDark LatitudeThe Harder They FallFifteen Minutes: Bamboozled in BuffaloHow To Recognize a Soulmate: Your Guide to Soul Level AlignmentHunter to Hunted: Surviving Hitler's Wolf Packs: Diaries of a Merchant Navy Radio Officer, 1939-45Song of SpheresShelby and the First RideShelby's Horse-Filled SummerFigures Crossing the Field Towards the GroupStick Taps: An Ode to Hockey's Heartbeats and HeroesTwo Players, One Family: How Gaming Unites UsThe Balance Point: Charting America's Fiscal RenaissancePiglet to Bacon: Unmasking Male ChauvinismToxic Feminism: Understanding the Root CausesToxic Misandry: A Deep Dive into DiscriminationTimeless Treasures: A Voyage Through European BeadscapesFrom Dad Bods to Ab Gods: The Hilarious Truth About Male Beautification in the Age of InstagramChristmas CupidTwilight Twists: Boomers' Belly Laughs & BeyondThe Green Beer Diaries: St. Patrick, Leprechauns, and a Whole Lot of HopsThe Toadacious Tales of the MeadowRoots and Branches: Your Starter Guide to Becoming a Family History DetectiveLondon LabyrinthsFrom Man Caves to Man-Buns: Your Unofficial Guide to Understanding the SpeciesClucked: A Quirky Nautical Tale of Adventure, Misadventure, and Justice ServedDublin City MorgueTrust the TerrierA Clove NecklaceHow to Write a Book: Taking the Plunge into Non-Fiction and Conquering Your New Writer Fears and DoubtsBlackie’s Surprise VisitWild Bolts ElectricEnchanted by the Enigmatic DukePersonal Finance for Teens Simplified: 7 Easy-to-Learn Strategies for Conquering Debt, Understanding the Value of Money, and Achieving Financial IndependenceSuccess Planning for High Schooler: Guiding Towards Bright FutureEmo Reality: The Biography of Teenage Borderline Personality DisorderThe Fae ConspiracyThe Fae ConflictAnalyzing the PrescottsIn the Shadow of the LuminariesThe GamblerThe Liar100 Walls to Be Broken: How to Break the Limits of Your Mind and Your HeartFlourishing Love: A Secular Guide to Lasting Intimate RelationshipsCosmic Egg IncMarlenhBlood for Pearls: The First American GenocideI Have To Let You GoThe Frightful Tales of Louis & LovelyO'shaughnessy Investigations, Inc: The Cases Nobody WantedRivers and CreaksThe Ebon KnightStardust Over the SekrEnglish Grammar: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Learners of English with AnswersToo Little, Too Late?Our Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’t WorkChildren of HeavenThe Self-Love Proclamation: Self-Love Affirmations That Nurture Confidence and Self-WorthChasing the Sun: A Complete Guide to Spiritual AwakeningTossed in Time: Steering by the Christian Seasons (Expanded Edition)Secrets Gnaw at the FleshTwelve Past MidnightSorceress for HirePerestroika: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Alcove Press Aquarius Press
Beaufort Books Best Day Books For Young Readers Bethany House
Beyond Class Books BHC Press Brain Lag
Broadleaf Books CarTech Books City Owl Press
Consortium Book Sales and Distribution Crooked Lane Books DarkLit Press
DBS Press Gefen Publishing House Gilded Orange Books
Hawkwood Books History Through Fiction Islandport Press
Kakkle Publications Lerner Publishing Group Lighted Lake Press
Mirror World Publishing Nosy Crow US Perch & Pen Books
Personville Press Petra Books PublishNation
Real Nice Books Revell Revenant Creative Studio
Rootstock Publishing Secant Publishing Somewhat Grumpy Press
True Crime Seven Tundra Books Useful Publishing
Vibrant Publishers Wise Media Group World Weaver Press
ZMT Books

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Thursday, October 12th, 2023

An Interview with Rebecca Renner

LibraryThing is pleased to sit down this month with author and journalist Rebecca Renner, a National Geographic contributor whose work has also appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Outside Magazine, Tin House, The Paris Review, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. A former high school English teacher, she earned an MFA in fiction writing from Stetson University, but will make her book debut next month with Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades, a nonfiction look at the world of Florida alligator poaching to be published by Flatiron Books.

Set in the Florida Everglades, Gator Country follows the exploits of a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the world of alligator poachers. How did you discover this story and what drew you to it? Did you meet Jeff Babauta first, or did you come across him in the course of researching the broader topic?

The first time I heard the story of Operation Alligator Thief, it came to me as a rumor from one of my high school students. He and I had already been talking about poaching, storytelling, and thornier questions like, “Who owns nature? Is it right for anyone to make that claim?” When this student told me about Operation Alligator Thief, the rumors had blown some facts of the case out of proportion while entirely underplaying others. He described the undercover officer as a shapeshifter who had created a fake alligator farm to catch poachers, like a trap out of a movie. In other words, it all sounded too bizarre to be true. Yet, as Floridians, my student and I knew better: here, the truth is often stranger than fiction.

Wanting to know what really happened, we asked around about the story, but neither of us could find a trace of the officer behind it all. He had disappeared before the sting began, and no one without inside information could find him. In my journalism career, I’ve found that challenges, rather than discouraging me, compel me to try harder, to look deeper. So no matter how many challenges I faced with this story, I could never quite let it go. A few years later, after I had quit teaching to write full-time, a former intelligence operative helped me track Jeff down, and I talked to him on the phone several times before he opened up enough to really tell me his story. It’s almost funny to look back on the days when Jeff didn’t trust me yet, because now he’ll text me out of the blue like it’s no big deal—because it isn’t! That’s fresh in my mind, because he texted me right before I sat down to do this interview.

What makes the Everglades such a special place, and what role does this ecosystem play in your story? If you were writing a tourism brochure for the region, what would you say to emphasize its appeal?

There’s a category of natural landscape that elicits such an automatic reaction of awe that it feels like there’s something more primordial at work than merely a reaction to our own smallness in comparison to their magnitude. Think the Grand Canyon or the magnificent redwoods of the Pacific Northwest. A subcategory of these awe-inspiring landscapes are the ones that don’t really translate to the internet, that pictures seldom do justice, the ones you have to see to believe. The Everglades is one of these places to the point where you can tell when someone has been to the Everglades and taken time to sit and witness them. People who haven’t think that the Everglades are just a swamp or just an infinite landscape of grass and not much else. But people who have experienced the Everglades speak of them with reverence. They are one of nature’s cathedrals, home to myriad ecosystems as varied as the freshwater sloughs and marl prairies you might picture when you think of the Everglades, to hardwood hammocks and cypress domes bristling with orchids and head-high ferns like something out of Jurassic Park. And that’s just the beginning.

The ecosystems in which the story plays out serve as more than backdrops. Among many things, they reminded me of what we have to lose when we choose consumerism over the wellbeing of the planet and of ourselves. In my own part of the narrative, my experience in the landscape of the Everglades led me to an epiphany about the ecosystems I grew up in a little north of there in Central Florida. Similarly, the landscape acted as motivation for Jeff. Many people act like saving nature is a lost cause, and I think part of that is because they don’t spend enough time in nature to realize it’s still there. So there are several scenes in the book when Jeff is standing in awe of the natural world around him, and that helps him remember why he’s doing the difficult things he has to do to complete his mission: If we lose nature, we don’t just lose a habitat. We don’t just lose a playground. We lose a part of ourselves.

In this same vein, I got really lucky with the guy, John Pirhalla, who is the main narrator of the audiobook for Gator Country. While I was still writing the book, I was pulling to do the narration myself. In the past, narrators haven’t done my long-form journalism justice. They have missed not only the appropriate cadence of my words, but I have also felt like the heart in my descriptions has disappeared. I was adamant about not letting that happen with Gator Country, and I didn’t have high hopes for a narrator until I listened to John’s audition. I was mesmerized. I listened to several minutes of that recording, on the edge of my seat, as if I didn’t know exactly what was about to happen. He had the cadence of my words right. He pronounced even the weirdest place names correctly. But most of all, it was the sense of awe that came through in his voice that gripped me and didn’t let me go. I was not surprised, when I finally talked to John on the phone, to hear that he had paddled the Everglades Wilderness Waterway, that he and his wife are avid birders. The Everglades had caught hold of his heart, just like they had for me, just like they had for Jeff. The Everglades has a kind of magnetism: once you fall in love with the glades, it’s part of you forever. You will be drawn back to the place and to the other people who have fallen in love, too.

Alligators (and other crocodilians!) often have a strange fascination for us—part fear, part attraction. Why are they an important species, and are there things people get wrong about them? What is the most interesting thing you learned about them, in the course of your research?

Most people already know or at least aren’t surprised by the fact that alligators are apex predators. But most animals play multiple roles in their ecosystems. Alligators are no exception. They are also ecosystem engineers, meaning that the ways they modify the ecosystem for their own use also benefit other creatures. The holes they dig can become dens or nests for smaller animals. Even by digging and sliding in the mud, alligators can distribute nutrients to surrounding plants, benefitting stationary flora and helping whole ecosystems to thrive. By the same measure, they’re a keystone species. Their nesting activity helps create peat, a carbon sink, among other things. They may even be a sentinel species, animals who indicate the wellbeing of a habitat (and its safety for humans), as their populations are so sensitive to the effects of temperature and sea-level rise. I’m constantly learning new things about alligators, and I wrote a book about them, so it’s safe to say that most people don’t realize how important they are to their ecosystems.

But the most important thing most people seem to get wrong about alligators is how intelligent they are and the depth and breadth of emotion they seem to express. While researching this book, I have seen alligators forge bonds with humans that go so far beyond what you would expect. To me, alligators are fascinating in part because they are so mysterious. For many of us, our cultures have conditioned us to see alligators as terrifying beasts, mythic monsters made mundane by modernity. (Bonus points for accidental alliteration!) But they’re neither. They’re cousins to birds, and perhaps just as intelligent. The largest alligators alive today could be 60 to 70 years old, meaning that they have survived since their species was considered endangered. There is still so much we don’t know about them. Yet the more we learn, the more we understand about their ecosystems and our world as a whole.

That’s a big difference from the animal that’s a subject of zany memes. However, I’ve also learned that we can’t discount the impact of those memes. And I’m not just saying that because the guy who runs the Gators Daily twitter account helped me research part of this book. Recent studies have shown that memes about “unappealing” species positively impact the awareness of and engagement with conservation efforts concerning those species. So I guess the takeaway here is, if you love something, make it a meme? Or in my case, a book that is sometimes funny. That’s one last thing I learned while writing this book: Alligators sure do make humans act silly.

Although the natural world is a key element of your book, the human interaction with that world is also an essential part of the story. One reviewer noted that your book offers an exploration of the ”blurry lines” between poachers and conservationists. What are some of your takeaways, when it comes to the human story of alligator poaching? Were there things you learned which surprised you, or which you found particularly interesting or moving?

I went into this book with a view of poachers that I quickly found did not align with reality. When I pictured poachers, I thought of big game hunters gunning down endangered rhinos. But it turns out that’s not what the typical poacher looks like, and hurting nature is seldom their motivation. While big-game poaching and larger organized smuggling rings do exist and are a big problem, most poachers are either the bottom rungs of larger operations or not part of an organization at all, and they’re breaking the law on accident (more common than I thought, for sure) or to make ends meet using the skills they know best. They know more about nature than most people, and they might even engage in wilderness upkeep activities that they might not even realize fall under the umbrella of conservation. This is true of one of the “mysteries” I investigated down in the Everglades, so I won’t spoil it for you by getting specific. Let’s just say even I was shocked when I came to this particular realization.

When it comes to the human story of alligator conservation, I realized that when outsiders talk about poaching, the poachers often become scapegoats for problems that have affected them rather than ones they’ve created. Habitat loss at the hands of construction—of housing developments, of commercial areas, and even of roadways—has had far more impact on alligator populations than poaching ever could. Some people get mad when I say this, thinking I’m defending crime. The reality is that I’m a stickler for the truth. The raw numbers, the statistics here, are what made me come to this conclusion. In fact, the statistics challenged the beliefs I held when I started researching this story. I’m not even a hunter. I’m just a perennial questioner of authority.

This realization has made me question my perspective and the previous conclusions I’ve read about conservation that I’ve assumed to be true. Now, whenever I see someone blaming hunting as the reason for the downturn of a species, I question it. Sometimes hunting is indeed to blame, but it’s seldom the whole story. Even in the case of the American bison, which many of us have been taught were slaughtered by colonialist powers (which is true), the downturn of the species also happened in part because of bovine diseases that jumped from cattle introduced to the plains by American ranchers. Knowing the whole story doesn’t excuse our impact on nature, and in the cases of the bison and the alligator, the cultures that depend upon those animals. Instead, I believe that when we reveal these nuances, we can gain a new understanding of who controlled the original narrative, why they blamed who they blamed, and what they had to gain from that. It might be different for every animal, but I see some similarities. In the case of the American alligator, deflecting blame for their downturn onto illegal hunting meant that other activities that put pressure on the species, namely construction, could continue unchecked. People who paved, drove through, and lived in the alligator’s habitat would have someone else to blame while being able to ignore their own impact on nature, and the even greater influence wielded by powers such as corporations who benefitted from nature’s destruction.

You are a prolific journalist, publishing numerous shorter pieces in National Geographic and many other publications. Gator Country is your first book-length work to be released. Were there challenges, or things you particularly enjoyed about writing a longer work, compared to some of your shorter pieces?

This is silly, but one of the best (and worst!) things about shorter-form journalism is the more-or-less instant feedback you get on it, first from your editor then from your readers. I’ve had several stories go viral, and that has been scary and exciting, but I think it also conditioned me to want instant praise (or criticism) for my work. The more I think about this, the more I feel like that desire for instant feedback may not be for praise but for human interaction.

Writing, no matter the genre, is a solitary endeavor. As a very young writer, I wrote novels and posted chapters on the internet for friends to read. My best friends in high school, who I thank in my acknowledgements, were avid readers of my work long before it was any good. Writing has always been my main form of self expression and the way I interacted with the world. So, in writing something longer, I had to find a way to keep going without the instant feedback that comes with shorter publication cycles. Luckily, my editor and my agent stepped into these roles so I wouldn’t feel like I was writing into the void. I’m truly indebted to them for that, especially because I wrote this book during the pandemic when all of us were feeling isolated. Needless to say, I’m trying to be more social now, but I’m having the opposite problem. I’ve gotten too used to being alone.

Tell us about your library. What’s on your own shelves?

My shelves are extremely varied. I started off my writing life as a fiction writer. I wrote my first book, a fantasy novel, when I was 15; and no, it’s never going to see the light of day. I always wanted to be a novelist, and I’d written five (I think?) in my teens and 20s I won’t even show to my agent. That doesn’t include a fantasy novel that I’ve written and scrapped several times. I started writing it when I was 19, and now that I’m finally a good enough writer to do it justice, it has almost a decade and a half of world building and just as many years of devouring fantasy novels. These have been as varied as classics like the works of C.S. Lewis and Ursula K. Le Guin, to sci-fi’s golden age heroes like Ray Bradbury, Douglas Adams, and Philip K. Dick, to modern superstars like Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Naomi Novik, and Leigh Bardugo. I could go on and on and on.

Another big part of my library is, of course, nonfiction. When I was a teenager, I thought nonfiction was boring. Then I discovered narrative nonfiction. The very first narrative nonfiction book that I read—the one that made me realize that nonfiction could be just as engrossing and exciting as fiction—was The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum. As I got older, I read a lot of narrative nonfiction as research for fiction. Before I knew it, I was devouring just as much nonfiction as I was fantasy. There’s a special place in my heart reserved for narrative nonfiction books about nature. It wasn’t until after college that I read one of my absolute favorites, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. My dad had just died, and I was stuck in my home town and working a dead-end job, down and out in paradise, as I like to say. I remember reading how Outside Magazine had sent him to write the story that would become that book, and I thought, That’s the life I want to live. That’s what I want to do. Six years later, Outside Magazine sent me to the Everglades, and about a year after that, I sold Gator Country. Between those two bookends, I read so much narrative nonfiction. Two of my favorite authors whose work I read in that time are David Grann and Susan Orlean, so I was blown away that my publisher (without me saying so!) chose to compare my book to their work. I guess when you’re a writer, you are what you read.

I also like to read literary fiction, thrillers, classics, and… okay, pretty much everything. But for a while, right after college, I made myself a course of study that I would call the Art of Suspense. I read Time’s best 100 thriller and mystery books of all time and I tried to figure out the best things each of those books did and how I could use those techniques in my own writing. Some of my favorites from that were Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

What have you been reading lately, and what would you recommend to other readers?

I’m one of those weird people who reads 50 books at once. Here’s a random smattering of stuff I’m either currently reading or that I’ve just finished.

I’m considering writing a book about dolphins, so I’m digging into that topic, and I’ve run into a problem: Susan Casey already wrote the perfect dolphin book, Voices in the Ocean. Honestly, this is the best kind of problem to have, because now I get to enjoy that book.

I’m also trying to figure out comps for my fantasy book, so my agent and I are doing kind of a buddy read of Babel by R.F. Kuang. While the plot isn’t much like my book, it does share a certain vibe, and the writing is spectacular. I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I definitely recommend it.

A book that I want to read that I think would pair well with Gator Country is Crossings by Ben Goldfarb. I don’t explicitly talk about road construction’s impact on wildlife in Gator Country, but that’s just fine, because Ben has it covered from every possible angle.

Okay, one last one. I’m late to this one, too, but SPQR by Mary Beard. Apparently, I’m not the only one who constantly thinks about the Roman Empire. But the thing I come back to again and again—which SPQR hasn’t mentioned yet—are the insulae, which were essentially ancient apartment buildings. They don’t sound great. They were especially prone to fire and collapse, and I wonder more frequently than I think is normal what it was like to live in one. So I’m looking forward to reading Beard’s new book, Emperor of Rome, even though it probably won’t talk about insulae.

Labels: author interview, interview

Monday, October 2nd, 2023

October 2023 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the October 2023 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 191 books this month, and a grand total of 3,535 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Wednesday, October 25th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France, Ireland, Germany, Japan and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

Second-Chance Horses: True Stories of the Horses We Rescue and the Horses Who Rescue UsDino Doo Dah: Dino Rhymes for Modern TimesThe Seamstress of AcadieThe Three Little MittensAlis the AviatorPluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a LidThe Tragically Hip ABCThe Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes on TrialArthi's BommaThe Last ImmortalThe First InvasionUnderstanding Basic Electricity: A Non-Technical Introduction for EveryoneSky of Ashes, Land of DreamsThe Godhead ComplexDouble TakeThe Divine Proverb of StreuselA Dugout to PeaceSound Switch WonderWe Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost StoryThe Seaside CorpseFreddie the FlyerHow to Decorate a Christmas TreeThe Only Way to Make BreadA Winter by the SeaCalling on the MatchmakerGreyhowlerEast Jerusalem NoirWest Jerusalem NoirWeave Me a Crooked BasketLittle Red ShadowThe Haunting of BlackwaterWhen They BeckonInfernoFerren and the AngelMy Life As a Prayer: A Multifaith MemoirWild Grace: PoemsAmerica's Best Ideas: My National Parks JournalPilgrims of the Upper WorldThe PalisadesLottery of SecretsThe Adventures of Tommy BonesFatal EncounterA Loss Mum's Journal...BalaclavaThe First Christmas NightFirst Words of ChristmasA Blacksmithing Primer: A Course in Basic and Intermediate BlacksmithingDown the Treacle WellCloud RunnerSelected Verse of Émile Nelligan: Québec’s Great Lyric PoetBoxes of Time: StoriesCamaro Concept Cars: Developing Chevrolet's Pony CarThe Chinitz Zion Haggadah: How to Teach the Love of Israel at Your Seder(IN)SIGHTS: Thirty Years of Peacemaking in the Olso ProcessTales from a Teaching Life: Vignettes in VerseNative Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and AllCrow Dark DawnDaylight ComesVéronique's MoonPersonal Finance Essentials You Always Wanted to Know-2023Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know (Third Edition)Writing Impressive College Essays (2023)With God We BurnDE-173Destiny of Daring: Never ForgetAnne DaresCatfish RollingPine Island VisitorsThe Portal KeeperScaredy Squirrel Gets FestiveSeekers of the FoxThe Little Books of the Little BrontësSupply Jane and Fifo Fix the FlowThe World at His FeetElephant of Sadness, Butterfly of JoyMardi Gras in New OrleansThe Old Gods EndureThe Presidents Did What, Again?EmberHow to Spot a FakeMad DashMad DashBad Luck in LoveDreaming Myself into Old Age: One Woman's Search for MeaningThe Stark Beauty of Last ThingsThe Paladin Chronicles IThe Taste Bud Diet: Harness the Power of Taste to Lose Weight Safely and Keep It Off PermanentlyThe Nowhere RoomOur Global Lingua Franca: An Educator’s Guide to Spreading English Where EFL Doesn’t WorkThe Strongest HeartSword of AudanteiThrough the Summerlands: A Celtic and Catholic Spiritual JourneySmuggler's GuiltThe Prism SocietyJourneys of the Lost: The Saga of CaneEat So What! The Science of Fat-Soluble VitaminsMarlenhBe as Happy as Your Dog: 16 Dog-Tested Ways to Be Happier Using Pawsitive PsychologyLauren in the LimelightAll Body Bags and No KnickersThe Gift of Sensitivity: Extraordinary Power of Emotional Engagement in Life and WorkBeach of the DeadFoxholesAnimals: An Adult Coloring Book with Lions, Dogs, Horses, Elephants, Owls, Cats, and Many More!Who to BelieveMan-KillerKing of the Mountains: The Remarkable Story of Giuseppe Musolino, Italy's Most Famous OutlawThe Prism SocietyThe Committee Will Kill You NowA Bright SummerThe Taste Bud Diet: Harness the Power of Taste to Lose Weight Safely and Keep It Off PermanentlyThe Naga Outcast's Unwanted MateHonorFlourishing Love: A Secular Guide to Lasting Intimate RelationshipsRaven RockFrom Worrier to Warrior: Tools and Techniques for Overcoming Overthinking and Living ConfidentlyClarity of SightChallenge AcceptedThe Rainbow of Life: Soothing, Comforting, Clever and Funny End-of-Life Inspirations for Family, Friends and CaregiversThe Rainbow of Life: Soothing, Comforting, Clever and Funny End-of-Life Inspirations for Family, Friends & CaregiversArtistic Yogi: Journey of a ChangemakerThe Fateful CurseChatGPT Cheat Sheet2024… Your Year of More: Plan Your Goals and Invest Your EffortsA Forest AdventureMagic by Any Other NameThe Billionaires' ClubTetherlessGaspard, dix ans, voyageur du temps.StarlightSacred WitcheryThe PlanetwalkerShelby and the First RideBlood in the Water: An Account of Workplace BullyingNon-Fiction for Newbies: How to Write a Factual Book and Actually Kind of Enjoy ItDid I Really Mean to Buy a Horse? What to Do When Your Horse Is Acting Like a Monster, and When (and How) to Call for HelpThe Last HorsemanMac: The Wind Beneath My WingsThe Last Flame RiderFive Lords of DuskDeathless RepublicDeath Maze Deluxe EditionHelipads in HeavenHow to Find a Job: 30 Day PlanAccidental Immortal: Lost in Another WorldVeil of DoubtA Heart Made of Tissue PaperInto the MarrowLittle Things, Complex MattersLost Present: A Christmas Short StoryThe Lost Souls of GuayaquilStrange And Twisted ThingsIn the Shadow of the LuminariesThe Red CitadelTo Hunt a Holy ManIridesceStrength Training for Seniors: Rewrite Your Fitness Journey Using Simple and Effective Exercises That Help You Improve Balance, Build Confidence and Boost EnergyThe Volunteer's SuspicionChronically in Christ: A Devotional for Those with Chronic IllnessThe Thief and the HistorianPhil, The KillerDancing MountainWords with My Father: A Bipolar Journey Through Turbulent TimesAngel Girl AwakeningThe Strategist Code: The Timeless System of the Titans of Strategy: How the Heroes of History Exploited the Code to Conquer & Command the World: Napoleon's 16-Factor Framework for Strategic MasteryThe Path of OneCatsitter's CurseHalf a Cup of Sand and SkyClose Encounters in King Edmund's CourtThe Monster Within: A True Story of Bloodthirst, Brutality and Barbaric EvilO'Shaughnessy Investigations, Inc: The Cases Nobody WantedFamiliars and FoesTaking the Alpha KingLoopholeThe Eye of KseraVegan Snack Cookbook: Quick and Easy; Tasty, Fun, and YummyI, AIAt What Cost?Pick An Airport...! Entertaining and Insightful Stories of a World-Weary PhysiotherapistFive WishesHalf a Cup of Sand and SkyAssault on the Spider Necromancer's Lair Deluxe EditionRise of the YBelonging SeasonMy Miles And MeThe Big Book of Sudoku Puzzles: Absolute Beginner to EasyCandy Cane Cookie CrushAugust: The Spicy TaleThe Burning QuestionSummary and Journal: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert OppenheimerTesting the Prisoner

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Akashic Media Enterprises Artisan Ideas
Bethany House BHC Press CarTech Books
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC City Owl Press Consortium Book Sales and Distribution
Doo Dah Publishing Entrada Publishing eSpec Books
Gefen Publishing House Gilded Orange Books Hawkwood Books
IFWG Publishing International Lerner Publishing Group Marina Publishing Group
Personville Press Petra Books Pioneer Publishing
PublishNation Quiet Thunder Publishing Revell
Rippple Books Slippery Fish Press Soul*Sparks
Susan Schadt Press Tundra Books Tuxtails Publishing, LLC
Type Eighteen Books Underland Press University of Nevada Press
University of New Orleans Press Useful Publishing Vibrant Publishers
WorthyKids Yali Books

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

An Interview with Joanne Elliott

LibraryThing is pleased to sit down this month with Joanne Elliott, an American-born author who has spent most of her adult life in Belfast, Hong Kong and on Inishbofin, a small island off the west coast of Ireland. The founder of the Kellett School, now the British International School in Hong Kong, she is the author of two books on childhood diabetes, as well as numerous short stories published in British, Irish and South African magazines, has written radio programs for RTE (Irish National Radio), and for seven years ran a local newspaper on Inishbofin. She has also taught at all levels, from preschool to university. Now, at the age of eighty-eight, her novel Love in the Shadow of Mao—the second she has written, but the first to see print—has been published by the London-based Austin Macauley Publishers.

You have said elsewhere that the idea for the story in Love in the Shadow of Mao came to you in 1978, while you and your husband were returning to Hong Kong after a tour of mainland China. Forty-six years later, your book is finally published. Did you work on it throughout this entire period, did you leave and return to it—what does the writing process look like, over the timespan of a few decades? What were the challenges of working on your story for this long, and did it have benefits as well?

The story was in my mind for many years after we left Hong Kong but I did not start writing it as my life was busy, crammed with other writing projects like the island newspaper, The Inishbofin Inquirer, which I started and edited for seven years. I am not an organized writer, have little discipline and tend to throw myself in projects, work frantically at them and then lay them aside for others.

You have described your book as a story of living in two worlds, something which would apply to many of your characters. You yourself might also be said to live in more than one world, marrying across national lines, and settling (multiple times) far from your childhood home. Would you say there was anything autobiographical in your story? What does it mean to live in two worlds, for you and for your characters?

As you say, I also lived in two worlds. Even though I left New York behind almost seventy years ago, when I need to know which way is East or West I imagine myself standing on the corner of 57th Street and 5th Avenue. Then I know where I am.

Some of my characters and incidents are fleeting impressions over many years. When I lived in Arizona in the 50s I once saw a television interview with Hope Cooke, a girl who married a king from a little Himalayan country. The expression on her face struck me and the first note I made for the novel was the line “Julia was hiding.” Actually it was “Rachel was hiding.” I later changed her name because the Chinese have trouble pronouncing the letter “r.” The description of Jen Chiman came from a young oriental man I saw in a church I was visiting in Scotland when I was in Hawthornden Castle in a writer’s retreat working on the China book. Until I saw him, I had little idea how Jen looked. As soon as I saw him in a pew across from me I knew that he was Jen. My daughter who developed diabetes at age eight was, of course, a large biographical element for the character Catherine Lee. At the corner of our street in New York was a Chinese laundry. I never knew the people who owned it but certainly the background was Catherine’s. A man I once danced with at Columbia University’s International House was the image of Ben, recalled some 50 years later. (Warning. Don’t mix with writers. They use everything.)

As you say, I and also my characters lived in two worlds. Perhaps it gives us insight or tolerance and broadens our perspective. It also prevents us from fitting in completely. We are always on the outside looking in.

Your book is set during China’s Cultural Revolution, a time of great upheaval and terrible hardship for many. How much research was needed for the historical and cultural background of your story? What were some of the most fascinating things you learned, and what were the most tragic?

My only real glimpse of the Cultural Revolution was a tour of China taken in 1978. We waited 2 years for permission and saw mostly what we were permitted to see. Occasionally, we caught a glimpse of the truth, a dirty blood spattered jacket on a doctor when visiting the medical building of a commune. A sign saying “We Will Liberate Hong Kong” quickly whisked out of sight. The restaurant Catherine is taken to by Sung in the book is one where we had a feast on the last night of the tour. Since then I have spoken to many people who have toured China. They are all amazed at my stories. Things have changed so spectacularly.

Most of my knowledge of the period is from books, histories, biographies, novels. I have read several hundred of them, starting from Pearl Buck which I devoured as a teenager. I have always been fascinated by the Orient. I spent three years in Japan in the 70s as well as three years in Hong Kong. When I was a child I insisted on eating with chop sticks and cooked minute rice for myself.

The most tragic thing, when researching the Cultural Revolution, was to see how ideals of fairness and decency are impotent against the realities of power and human greed.

Your book is also a story of love. What does your story say about love, especially in difficult times? Does love conquer all?

The love that survives in my book is, of course, the love of Julia for the child, Ping. All other loves, no matter how strong, are dominated by circumstance. Jen was generous in his love because he had been given so much by Lily. I think we are all able to love if we have been in receipt of it.

You’re eighty-eight years young, and have published your first novel. What’s next? Are you working on a second novel, and will it also be a work of historical fiction?

I have been working on an autobiography which is at the moment an amalgam of all the stories I have written over the years. I found, to my amazement that I could follow my life in my own fiction. I wonder what that says about me!

Tell us about your library. What’s on your own shelves?

My library is the heart of me. I remember as soon as I learned to read my favorite game was playing “library,” arranging my mother’s books, making little cards for each one and giving them numbers. I often recall the day we moved to a different neighborhood and my mother leaving the unpacking and the care of my baby brother to her sister so that she and I could find the local library. When I was about twelve my uncle died and left me his collection of classics from the Greeks and Romans through to Emerson and Thoreau. My father built two large bookshelves to house them and they have followed me around the world. I wouldn’t be myself without them. Since then I have added hundreds of novels, plays and poetry. In my study I have housed history, philosophy and religion, the stairs are lined with shelves of fiction, A to Z starting at the top. In the living room are floor to ceiling biography, autobiography, music and art. The China collection takes up a good deal of the space.

What have you been reading lately, and what would you recommend to other readers?

At he moment, I am reading a fascinating novel by Amy Tan called Saving Fish from Drowning. Yesterday I bought a paperback of Any Human Heart by William Boyd. I had already read this on kindle but I wanted it on my shelves because I will enjoy it again when I can turn the pages. I’m afraid I am out of sync with all this technology and I fear very much for our civilization if reading continues to go out of style.

Labels: author interview, interview

Tuesday, August 1st, 2023

August 2023 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the August 2023 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 166 books this month, and a grand total of 3,250 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Friday, August 25th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

But Still They SingJunk Science and the American Criminal Justice SystemBreak up with What Broke You: How God Redeems and Rewrites Your StoryA Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women WritersThe Last ElectionLittle Pumpkin, Where's Your Light?Hammer of the DogsThe Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We HealWe Survived the End of the World: Lessons from Native America on Apocalypse and HopeSugar BirdsSnakes in the ClassGoddess: 50 Goddesses, Spirits, Saints, and Other Female Figures Who Have Shaped BeliefThe Wind in the WillowsLove You Snow MuchLovesick BlossomsThe Big Bang and Other Farts: A Blast Through the PastWhose Poo?How Cats Say I Love YouAmerican Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the ChurchWhat We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They CarryNeed Blind AmbitionA Reason to RunTraitor CometWelcome to MonstervilleThe Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women's Suffrage, and JujitsuRubiconsGrowing God's Way: 365 Daily Devos for GirlsGrowing God's Way: 365 Daily Devos for BoysVulgarian RhapsodyThe Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp CollectionThe Stone ChildDon't Want to Be Your MonsterUnleashed: Poems and DrawingsGrease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of DieselpunkThe Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from HereSolomon's PondThe Lost Boys of Barlowe TheaterMarshaling Her HeartJulia Monroe Begins AgainThe Devil's MountainThe African RosciusWar of SuccessionRoland Leong Ash Like VengeanceThe CageGibbous MoonCalifornia DreamingThe Bridge on Beer RiverFerren and the AngelLivingskyThe Lives Between UsThis Pact Is Not OursA Peek Under the Hood: Heroin, Hope, and Operation Tune-UpOf White AshesTorat Ahava - Loving Torah (Boxed Set)Putting God First: Jewish Humanism after HeideggerThe Celtic DeceptionNorth PacificThe Aliens Will Come To Georgia First: StoriesAmazing Mom: A Practical Guide for Moms with Babies 0 - 12 MonthsThe Pursuit of Joy: A Greek Philosophers’ Guide to Finding HappinessThe Anxiety Solution: 61 Practical Tools for Managing Stress and WorriesRewriting Your Story: Harnessing the Power of Positive AffirmationsI'm 39 Now: My Anxiety and Autism JourneyAnastasia To The RescueThe HutenghastThe Story of Virna BabineauxThe Time GeneLilithGhostlightPine Island HomeSharon, Lois and Bram's Peanut Butter and JellyAlmond, Quartz, and FinchBlack Joy Unbound: An AnthologyA Tale of Five BalloonsIn a CaveDreamageddon & Other StoriesDay of the TentacleRe: Apotheosis - AftermathAll In! The Atlantic Standup Paddle Crossing — 83 Days Alone At SeaTrue Crime Storytime Volume 7: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories to Keep You Up All NightIn the Beginnings: Discovering the Two Worldviews Hidden Within Genesis 1-11Shadows and SageCrimson MelodiesRain Falling on EmbersTime Management Essentials You Always Wanted to KnowBusiness Law Essentials You Always Wanted to KnowThe Lioness and the Rat QueenThe Ones They TookStrange AttractorsUmbilicalIn the Lair of LegendsReturn to AlkademahThe Stroke Recovery Activity WorkbookLess ThanRide into RomanceBrighton AcademyFlames of EaderSketching RebellionThe Undulating ShadowsOne of Us Is GoneDid I Really Mean to Buy a Horse: What to Do When Your Horse Is Acting Like a Monster, and When (and How) to Call for HelpThe First UnicornThe Mire WitchThe Vanquisher of Kings IJackson Haines: The Skating KingExtinguishing ShadowsThe Last Man: A Novel of the 1927 Santa Claus Bank RobberyThe Dangers of Being Brave & TrueStraight up Tarot: Dating EditionStraight up Tarot: Single Parent EditionIf That Was Lunch, We've Had ItMindfirePeople Person: How to Talk to Anyone, Improve Social Awkwardness, and Communicate with Ease and ConfidenceThe Pen Thief and the Division of DestinyPapercuts: The Art of Self-DelusionThe Lord of Mist and MeadThe IcehouseArgren BlueI Am Changing Careers: Questions to Guide A Job SeekerThe Core of RageGodhunterOCELLICON: Future VisionsThe ABC's of Alzheimer's/Dementia CaregivingSpots in Your Love FeastsBeyond the Gloaming PassRahiEugene J. McGillicuddy's Alien Detective AgencyPoetry From the Porch & Other Writings: Pathway Through a PandemicDown a Bad RoadQuantum ReactionStone SoupFinancial Literacy for Young Adults Simplified: Discover How to Manage, Save, and Invest Money to Build a Secure & Independent FutureA Simple Tale of Water and WeepingBlood and WonderSee You LaterDeath's ReckoningHouse AretoliOlawuMaddie's GhostHer Dangerous Journey HomeBelle and Chloe: Reflections in the MirrorTo the StarsGameschooling on a Budget: Learning Through Games Without Spending a FortuneThe Last Movie StarThe Goodbye KidsTea Time With TollyThe Vitruvian MaskSevered RootsKing: An 8-Session Study of MarkDiscover the Power of Your Iphone 14: A Comprehensive Guide for Users of All Levels-Simplifying Technology for a Better Experience with Large Print and IllustrationsThe Keeper's ApprenticeNon-Fiction for Newbies: How to Write a Factual Book and Actually Kind of Enjoy ItHow to Feel Better... Realistically (UK Edition)Belle's RuinLife Scenarios and What To Do About Them (UK Edition)Bond and SongA Donnybrook AffairHope Verdad Presents: Short Stories for ThinersPaper ForestsThe Legend of Rachel PetersenCry Big Bad WolfK.I.S.S. Parenting: Beginners Guide for New Parents - What Really Matters with a New BabyBiting Thorns Off RosesThe Immortals ChronicleOut in the Dark: a queer road to mental health

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Alcove Press Beaufort Books
Bethany House BLF Press Boss Fight Books
Brazos Press Broadleaf Books Bronzewood Books
CarTech Books Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC City Owl Press
eSpec Books Gefen Publishing House Gnome Road Publishing
Hawkwood Books IFWG Publishing International Imbrifex Books
Legacy Books Press Lerner Publishing Group Mamaya
Mint Editions New Wind Publishing NewCon Press
Nosy Crow US Platypus Media PublishNation
Revell Rootstock Publishing Three Rooms Press
Tiny Fox Press Tiny Ghost Press True Crime Seven
Tundra Books Tyndale House Publishers University of Nevada Press
University of North Georgia Press Unsolicited Press Vesuvian Books
Vibrant Publishers Wise Media Group WorthyKids

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

TinyCat’s June Library of the Month: The Nancy & Joe McDonald Rainbow Library

TinyCat’s Library of the Month is the Nancy & Joe McDonald Rainbow Library based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The library’s namesake, Nancy, is past National President of PFLAG and current President of PFLAG Tulsa. I had the pleasure of learning more about the library from Library Director Michelle Simmons, who was kind enough to answer my questions this month:

Who are you, and what is your mission—your “raison d’être”?

The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa, OK

The Nancy & Joe McDonald Rainbow Library was started by Nancy McDonald to provide a place for her daughter to be able to find LGBT resources after she “came out.” Since Nancy began her equal rights work, the library has grown from a place that houses a smattering of books to a collection of almost 4,000 volumes. In the past year, and especially the past few months, the library has gone from being a more passive resource on the second floor of the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, to an active voice in creating and preserving access to 2SLGBTQIAA+ materials to the greater community.

Can you tell us more about how your library supports the community?

I love getting to bring books to different groups of people that would otherwise not know of the library’s existence. Or, if they did know, didn’t have easy access to it physically. I’ve connected with a local—and one of the few remaining—GSAs (Genders & Sexualities Alliances), and I bring an assortment of books for them to check out every couple of weeks. Another amazing event was the Banned Book service at All Souls Unitarian Church last year. A record number of people attended that service, and the library was set up right outside the entry doors. So every single person who attended that service had the opportunity to learn about the library.

That’s great exposure! Speaking of your library, what are some of your favorite items in your collection?

I love some of the older gems, for example: And God Bless Uncle Harry and His Roommate Jack Who We Are Not Supposed to Talk About and Lesbian Etiquette. As far as books that impacted me personally, Stone Butch Blues ranks at the top. 

What’s a particular challenge your library experiences?

We are needing to remove all the labels on the books and relabel them. There have been a few cataloging systems put into place over the years, and we are wanting to standardize and modernize it, as well as make it look uniform and professional. Peeling labels off of 3,000 books takes a lot of time, and since we are 100% volunteer-run (including myself), it is taking a very long time. However, once we are done, it will be so much easier to label books for different locations as we open them up and keep track of what we have. 

What’s your favorite thing about TinyCat?

100% the online capability for us. Before, people would have to come into the Center and go upstairs to find things in the library. Now they can search from their own devices. What would help us out a lot is the ability to modify genres and add our own. We are relying on tags and collections to sort books by age range, interest, and segment of the community; and honestly, it’s a little overwhelming.

That’s great feedback, thanks. You can already edit your own Genres on LibraryThing itself, and I’m hoping that we can soon bring individual Genres through TinyCat as well. If you want to add brand new Genres, please let us know what you’re looking for on Talk!

Want to learn more about the Nancy & Joe McDonald Rainbow Library?

Visit their website at http://okeq.org/ and explore their full TinyCat collection here.


To read up on TinyCat’s previous Libraries of the Month, visit the TinyCat Post archive here.

Want to be considered for TinyCat’s Library of the Month? Send us a Tweet @TinyCat_lib or email Kristi at kristi@librarything.com.

Labels: libraries, Library of the Month, TinyCat

Thursday, April 13th, 2023

TinyCat’s April Library of the Month: The Traveling Library CCTX

This month I had the pleasure of interviewing a traveling nonprofit library in Texas working to get more books in the hands of readers who need them. And they just celebrated their 2nd birthday! Congratulations to The Traveling Library CCTX (Corpus Christi, TX). Here’s what their Founder and Executive Director Abigail Trevino had to say about the library:

Who are you, and what is your mission—your “raison d’être”?

The Traveling Library CCTX is exactly how it sounds! We’re a traveling library! A library on wheels! A bookmobile! These are all things that we have been called and have loved. It doesn’t matter how people describe us because the mission has always been the same. Our mission is to provide access to knowledge, encourage the exercise of rights, provide inclusion in society, and freedom for all. The Traveling Library provides knowledge to those in need by providing literature and other resources that are needed. The mission of The Traveling Library was inspired by my grandfather and uncle, who were both big supporters of education and reading.

What an inspiring story of origin! Can you tell us more about how your library supports the community?

The Traveling Library CCTX supports the community by providing literature to areas that might not have access to it. We accomplish this by bringing the traveling library that is fully stocked with books!

We also partner with other local organizations that can help us distribute other resources that are needed. For example, we partnered with a local organization that provides period hygiene products to people that need them at no cost. We bring these products with us when we are serving vulnerable populations such as the unhoused community. Another community partner is the Corpus Christi Hooks, our local double AA affiliate baseball team. Various staff from the CC Hooks will join us when we do story time at local schools. Sammy the Seagull is a fan favorite among the kids! 

How fun! Speaking of story time, what are some of your favorite items in your collection?

The Traveling Library CCTX is an intellectual freedom library meaning we carry and have all sorts of books. Because of this, I would say that some of my favorite books in our collection are our banned books, specifically Fahrenheit 451. I love the message the book conveys, and of course it doesn’t hurt that I love Ray Bradbury. The entire Judy Moody series is always one of my favorites: I loved those books as a kid! 

What’s a particular challenge your library experiences?

Like any other nonprofit organization we struggle with finding the monetary donations that it takes to run this mobile library. A particular challenge that we are currently facing is not enough space! We currently operate out of a small cargo trailer and have too many books to fit inside. We’re currently trying to raise funds for the purchase of a much larger trailer that can hold a lot more books and serve more areas in our city! 

What’s your favorite thing about TinyCat?

I love that TinyCat is easy to operate and the staff is very personable. Every time I have needed help, a staff member responds quickly and offers as much help as they can!

We’re so glad to help!

Want to learn more about The Traveling Library CCTX? 

Visit their website at https://www.thetravelinglibrarycctx.com/, follow them on Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest, and explore their full TinyCat collection here.


To read up on TinyCat’s previous Libraries of the Month, visit the TinyCat Post archive here.

Want to be considered for TinyCat’s Library of the Month? Send us a Tweet @TinyCat_lib or email Kristi at kristi@librarything.com.

Labels: libraries, Library of the Month, TinyCat

Monday, April 3rd, 2023

April 2023 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the April 2023 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 173 books this month, and a grand total of 3,192 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Tuesday, April 25th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Mexico. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

Someone Is Always WatchingThe All-AmericanFuneral Songs for Dying GirlsWith Every MemoryThis Is Where It EndsFrank and BertThe Nightingale AffairEdible Wild Plants, Volume 2: Wild Foods from Foraging to FeastingI'll Be ThereWednesdays at OneThis Is NOT a Unicorn!The Care and Keeping of GrandmasHow to Count to ONE (And Don't Even Think About Bigger Numbers!)There's a Monster in the Kitchen!NightbloomThe Song That Called Them HomeHer Only WishLike the Appearance of HorsesWhen Worry WhispersMoonlight MemoriesTestimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a GenerationMole and TellEverything PossibleThe Last Lion of KarkovThe Light of Eternal SpringMine for KeepsThe AdultGranny Came Here on the Empire WindrushLydia's Journey: An Armenian Refugee's StoryCry, Baby: Why Our Tears MatterBuffalo GirlOKPsycheCode CrisisMe ThreeWhy Can't I...: A Story Book About KindnessFour in HandThe Wasp QueenYour Body Is a Revolution: Healing Our Relationships with Our Bodies, Each Other, and the EarthNomenclatures of InvisibilityThe Carolina VariantGood Grief, the GroundThe Inner Ear of Don Zientara: A Half Century of Recording in One of America's Most Innovative Studios, Through the Voices of MusiciansSTEWdio: The Naphic Grovel ARTrilogy of Chuck DCall of the NightingaleDown a Bad RoadThe Angels' KeepLearning on the Fly and Laughing Till I Cry: A Journal of Mothering My Daughter from Ages One to SevenMattison Mouse CountsBreaking Midnight: A True StoryBallad of the KingSave Me a Seat!: A Life with MoviesIn This MomentThe Heart's ChoiceBut I Already Said GoodbyeLittle Mutilations: Three Body Horror NovellasThe Alice CurseCurseHandwriting Practice Workbook, Ages 4-10: With Positive AffirmationsOur WolvesSocial VampireRace, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic HistoryIllusions of Camelot: A MemoirWild Monogamy: Cultivating Erotic Intimacy to Keep Passion and Desire AliveFormat Your First eBook: Without Special Tools, Skills or Software.The Melancholy Strumpet MasterLies That BindDeepGarden of Earthly DelightsA Beginners Guide To Organizing Your Life: Relax and Unwind with an Organized House, Life, and MindMurder at the MillDouble-Decker DreamsB/RDSEver the Night RoadMrs Wynter InvestigatesTo the Moon Investing: Visually Mapping Your Winning Stock Market PortfolioA Parent's Guide to Raising an ADHD ChildThe Banned Books Compendium: 32 Classic Forbidden BooksThe Hollow BoysL. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume 39EternityThe Celtic Veneration of Water From the Late Bronze Age to the Medieval Period, and the Search for the Lost Celts of BritainThe 400-Hour Workweek: Time Management Secrets from 8-Figure Business OwnersThe World in Your Hands: A Guide to Every Nation: Learn About History, Language, Nature, and More in this Fascinating World TourEsprit de CorpseRaising Little Learners: Tips and Strategies for Boosting DevelopmentFalling For the MarkHey! It's Me! It's Lilly EverleaThe Full Gospel in Zion: A History of Pentecostalism in UtahWindtakerAnangokaaThe Book of Gaheris: An Arthurian TaleThe ArtifactBody CountHeidelberg of The Norfolk 17Kafka in TangierDiego the Smelly DogThe Starved GodThe Isolated SéanceRun Girl RunSocial VampireShe Left No NoteWho Will Wear The Crown?Intermittent Fasting for Women 40, 50 and OlderOver 50 Exercises That Support Cross Training: A Revolutionary Guide to Prevent InjuryFloppy: Tales of a Genetic Freak of Nature at the End of the WorldQuestioning Rebound: People and Environmental Change in the Protohistoric and Early Historic AmericasA Practical Application of Dark Psychology: Identify Gaslighting, Learn Body Language, and Uncover Mind Control Techniques to Defend Yourself Against a NarcissistBiblical Bedtime Stories For Kids: New Testament Amazing Moments; Pointing Your Children To God, Ages 4 – 8The Angels' KeepSparks FlyingBack To Yoga: A Whole-Body Routine You Can Do Anywhere in 30 Minutes or Less to Increase Energy, Focus, Relieve Stress, Lower Anxiety and Improve Flexibility, Balance, and StrengthMake The Onions Cry: An Airing of GrievancesParade of StreetlightsCity of RubyShadowsideA Lunatic's LaughMontpelier TomorrowOur Lying KinCryptocurrency QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Digital Currencies, Bitcoin, and the Future of Decentralized FinanceWorld DiscoveryGuidelines of Cross Training for Women: Why Women Can and Should Lift Like a Man to Look Like a GoddessRoland Finds a Magic StoneNight is for HuntingFor Whom the Fury RollsYou Make Your Path By Walking: A Transformational Field Guide Through Trauma and LossThe Reclaimed KingdomAfterworld: The Haunted Realm Beyond Our StarsBiblical Questions and Answers for Smart Kids: Quizzes Focused on the Book of Exodus to Help Your Children Grow and Learn about God—Who He Is, His Love, and His Relationship with Humanity, Ages 7-12Biblical Questions and Answers for Smart Kids: Quizzes Focused on the Book of Exodus to Help Your Children Grow and Learn about God—Who He Is, His Love, and His Relationship with Humanity, Ages 7-12The Breastfeeding Family's Guide to Nonprescription Drugs and Everyday ProductsGRE Reading Comprehension: Detailed Solutions to 325 Questions (Sixth Edition)Organizational Development Essentials You Always Wanted To KnowDigital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Questions (2023)Wise Little One: Learning to Love and Listen to My Inner ChildTales of the Forgotten FoundersHeart 2046BonelessCherishBreaking Midnight: A True StoryWilliam Newman's AdventuresThe Blue Prints of Deuteronomy: 20 Days Devotional Bible Study GuideOne Night with the DukeBobishThe Well-Mannered Horse: Developing an Ideal Equine BuddyWorthy in LoveIronbound PathStableHorse Care for Kids: A Fun Guide for Young Equestrians Introducing Different Breeds, Simple Daily Care, and Beginning Rider TechniquesLivingskyBallad of the KingThe Elephant in the RoomA Skeleton in Bone CreekGolden HeartsLyrics for the Loved OnesHow to End Your Pandemic Relationship Without Even TryingHeart: A 12-Session Study of LukeBlood Will TellPAWsitive Vibes — DogsRon RickThe SherangivanThe Journal of M.A.NDead WestBiblical Bedtime Stories For Kids: New Testament Amazing Moments; Pointing Your Children To God, Ages 4 – 8Healing KissThe Last GenerationHow to Share What You've MadeEverything She SaidThe RebirthJourney to HolbrinCurseThe Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture: A Journey of Selfless DiscoveryBreak Out Of Burnout: Real Life Solutions For Beating Burnout To Live The Stress-Free Life You Always ImaginedThe Edge of Life: Love and Survival During the Apocalypse

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

21st Century Author Akashic Books Alcove Press
Algonquin Books Beaufort Books Bellevue Literary Press
Bethany House BHC Press BOA Editions, Ltd.
Book Publicity Services Books Fluent Brazos Press
Brighter Side Publishing Broadleaf Books Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
City Owl Press ClydeBank Media Crystal Lake Publishing
eSpec Books Galaxy Press Gibbs Smith Publishing
Grand Canyon Press Greenleaf Book Group Hidden Shelf Publishing House
Little Fox Books Mirror World Publishing NewCon Press
Nosy Crow US Platypus Media PublishNation
Purple Diamond Press Read Furiously Revell
Rootstock Publishing Science, Naturally! Small Beer Press
Somewhat Grumpy Press Storybound Publishing Tapioca Stories
Tundra Books The University of Utah Press Vibrant Publishers
WorthyKids Zibby Books

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Wednesday, February 1st, 2023

February 2023 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the February 2023 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 156 books this month, and a grand total of 2,970 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Friday, February 24th at 6PM EST.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the US, Australia, Greece, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, the UK, Sweden, Germany and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

He Said He Would Be LateKünstlers in ParadiseIron WidowWindswept WaySTFU: The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy WorldCounter AttackThe Last Saxon KingBlind TrustThere's a Monster in the Kitchen!Wandering SoulsDisplay: Appearance, Posture and Behaviour in the Animal KingdomThe Vanishing at Castle MoreauHector Fox and the Map of MysteryBenjamin Banneker and Us: Eleven Generations of an American FamilyDream Big, My Precious OneThe Pearl: A Book of Facetiae and Voluptuous ReadingThe Big StingIndigo IsleRemember MeThe Metropolitan AffairNo No, Baby!The Syndicate SpyThe Lost GalumpusThe Ocean GirlWhen I Was Your AgeThe Rail SplitterTry Not to Hold It Against MeFields of BountyA Brighter DawnSomething: One Small Thing Can Make a DifferenceWill Litigate for CupcakesHauntWhy Sinéad O'Connor MattersTrue Crime Solved: 27 Solved Cold Cases That Bring Closure To Disturbing CrimesHow to High Tea with a Hyena (and Not Get Eaten)The Master's CourtThe Mis-Education of the NegroFor the Love of BrigidWhat Remains of UsThe Island SistersHole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of AdoptionDawn: A Proton's Tale of All That Came to BePebbles and the Biggest NumberWrong Side of the CourtYou Are Us: How to Build Bridges in a Polarized WorldBlack EmpireAll Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid CrisisRooted and WingedBlood from a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back from the DeadHow I Followed In The Devil's Footsteps: Part OneNever Really GoneAnother ElizabethBehaving As US: The Art of CooperationDawn: A Complete Account of the Most Important Day in Human History, Nisan 18, AD30Indigo and IdaThe Merry DredgersA Hint of Hitchcock: Stories Inspired by the Master of SuspenseIt's Me, Jaxon! Can You See Me?Seasons Unceasing: A Worldsmyths AnthologyBlood BornWhy Tammy Wynette MattersExistential Smut 1: Youthful IndiscretionsVoices Behind the CurtainRaising ElleMurder In GeminiLondon SecretsYesterday's PlansThe Vesper BellThe Name of the ShadowThe DiseasedSquid SeasonThe Serpent and the FireflyGuide to Norse PaganismRight Time Wrong PlaceAn Introduction to Complexity Pedagogy: Using Critical Theory, Critical Pedagogy and Complexity in Performance and LiteratureDark and Lonely WaterI Think I'm Falling ApartThe Fear of WinterFerryl Shayde - Book 8 - Apprentices, Adepts, and AscensionA Hundred VeilsYou Are Us: How to Build Bridges in a Polarized WorldThe Kevin Powell Reader: Essential Writings and ConversationsPhoenix PrecinctTemperedMaking the Low Notes: A Life in MusicEast of EvilThe One PercentHut-Yo Cull: The Hunt BeginsUnboundHow To Enhance Your Productivity Through Time Management: Time Management Hacks For Great AchieversA Series of Unfortunate ProposalsCulinary Travels: Memories Made at the TableNudi Gill: Poison Powerhouse of the SeaLove Will Turn You AroundScience, Matter and the Baseball ParkBlood on Her NameThralls of a Tyrant GodQuantum RegressionThe Historian Project: A Time Travel CatastropheThe Ripper: The First Next Life PrequelChess Games IV: Early and UncollectedWorld of SilverThe Love That Binds UsIsrael 201: Your Next Level Guide to the Magic and Mystery and Chaos of Life in the Holy LandSlavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847-1862Open Canon: Scriptures of the Latter Day Saint TraditionA Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and ProfitMommy, There's a Dinosaur in the Cornfield!Summary of Summary of GRE Master Wordlist: 1535 Words for Verbal Mastery (Seventh Edition)GMAT Analytical Writing: Solutions to the Real Argument Topics (Sixth Edition)Practice Tests for the Digital SATPush Pin Art Projects: Worksheets Promoting Fine Motor Skills: ReligiousShadow BeastsDawning of Darkness: The Fall of Gods and KingsIn the Serpent's WakeBlood from a Stone: A Memoir of How Wine Brought Me Back from the DeadThe Third EmissaryThe Ocean GirlA Chinese OdysseyThe Practitioner of Boca MuerteThe Master's CourtSlipA Strange BunchTwo Hearts on the BackspinBreath and StarshineGive My Regards to Nowhere: A Director's TaleThe Nine Lives of Felix the TomcatThe Molecule ThiefRepublic Under Siege: Threat from WithinTattletales From School: A Novel of Bullying in the 60sOn the Evolution from the Primitive Egoic Mind by Means of Pure Consciousness: Through Living Exclusively in the Present MomentOutfoxedJusticeHondoVaporBobishRock Icon ReadyWhy Does My Horse Act Like This: Understanding Equine Behavior in your New HorseAngie and MeThere's a New Vampire in TownSasha & JakeEverything you always wanted to know about the Spanish* (*but were afraid to ask)'Curse' DrakkoTime Traveling to 1983: Celebrating a Special YearTime Traveling to 1963: Celebrating a Special YearRebels in PisaOctave of StarsHauntBooks for BenjaminBiblical Food for Kids: 91 Daily Nutritious Wholesome Meal for Raising Healthy and Spirit-Filled Children to Giants, Ages 7-12Biblical Food for Kids: 91 Daily Nutritious Wholesome Meal for Raising Healthy and Spirit-Filled Children to Giants, Ages 7-1221st Century Balance: Unconventional Wisdom to Enlighten Yourself and Inspire OthersGrok Your Life: Minutes to MyselfMarketing Study Cases for People Who Want to Improve Their English Language Skills. Volume III

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

5 Prince Publishing Akashic Books Arabelle Publishing
Beaufort Books Bellevue Literary Press Bethany House
BHC Press Black Beacon Books Book Summary Publishing
Brick Mantel Books Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC Crystal Lake Publishing
Entrada Publishing eSpec Books Gefen Publishing House
Gnome Road Publishing Grand Canyon Press Greenleaf Book Group
Henry Holt and Company Imbrifex Books Islandport Press
IVP Academic Lerner Publishing Group Meerkat Press
Mint Editions Open Books Press PublishNation
The Quarto Group Real Nice Books Revell
Ripe Mango Take Two Press Tapioca Stories
True Crime Seven Tundra Books Tyndale House Publishers
University of Texas Press The University of Utah Press Vibrant Publishers
Wise Media Group Worldsmyths Publishing WorthyKids

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Thursday, September 1st, 2022

September 2022 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the September 2022 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 188 books this month, and a grand total of 3,826 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Monday, September 26th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Portugal, Finland and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

WinterlandThe Rose and the ThistleMy Self, Your SelfNight LunchWin Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public SpeakingVintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday AnthologyToo Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf: A Counting StoryKumo: The Bashful CloudA Long Way from HomeMoonrise Over New JessupGreen Mountain AcademyHow to Teach Your Cat a Trick: In Five Easy StepsThe Nutcracker TreasuryThe Catbird SeatHer Heart's Desire48 StatesVéronique's JourneyGranite KingdomAugustaUphill: A MemoirStone WomanThe Spirit PhoneAdulting 101: How Not to Move Back Home with Your Parents: 135 Life Skills - Money Matters, Cooking, Job Interviewing, Car Basics, Dating, and Everything Else You Should Know Before You're 25Girl/FriendThe Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in AmericaTrue Crime Storytime Volume 5: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories to Keep You Up All NightThe Cannibal's Guide to FastingMastery & Mystery in the BibleLeigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons Pierce ManorThe Perfect Mrs. ClausButch Operation Overlord: A Tommy Collins AdventureThe Baby's Christmas BlessingThe Premonition at Withers FarmWhere the Blue Sky BeginsFairy ScienceGhostlightHow to Install Corvette Interior Kits: Includes C1, C2, C3Yes, That Happened!: A Collection of Wildly Insane-But-True Stories in Pop Culture, Science, and History That Seniors Will RememberThe Secret Benefits of InvisibilityFixed MoonThe Tooth Fairy Lost Her WayMurder at an ExhibitionJourney to the HeartlandEnd ManMy Mother's Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous RegionChildren of the FoxNFT Your Art: Maximize Your Profit By Converting Traditional Art Into NFTsScratchedUnder the Starry SkiesA Model of DevotionSugarball: A Novel of Negro League BaseballDead in the AlleyBlack Country Music: Listening for RevolutionsBurn MarksTrouble with Tattle-TailsThe SuperOptimist Guide to Unconventional Living: Alternative Strategies for Navigating the PresentTwelve: A Retelling of The Twelve Dancing PrincessesAdulting 101: How Not to Move Back Home with Your Parents: 135 Life Skills - Money Matters, Cooking, Job Interviewing, Car Basics, Dating, and Everything Else You Should Know Before You're 25The Lost and Found of Green TreeSummary of Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals through Menopause and BeyondThe Power Yoga Handbook: Discover Yourself, One Breath at a TimeThe Play of LightFalling for the CowgirlWoman on the WallThe Welsh Dragon: A Novel of Henry TudorA Trade In TearsOver 80: Reflections on AgingChicken RunMaybe We'll Make It: A MemoirThe Year of the MonsterThe ExtraRoad To Nirvana: The Sikh WayThe Star in the East: A Winter Tale of Ancient MysteryThe Sun Never SetThe Crimson FathersThe Veiled Threat of MagicDoGoodRBeware the Ides of JusticeThe Harpy’s LullabySuffer!: A Hollywood NovelTricked in OctoberExtreme VettingTumbo in the ShadowsThe Signs We MissedWho Shall DieFound FootageunAfraid: A Faith-Based Workbook to Conquer FearMastery & Mystery in the BibleAny Better Than This: A Summer of Love StoryEphemeral WingsALTCombat to College: Applying the Military Mentality As a Student VeteranChicken Runbecause God loves the waspHarlequin MatlinaLittle Man, Big Mouth, 30 Years: Newspaper and Magazine Columns by an Average Dad in Cargo ShortsMonsieur Lapin Goes To LondonA Colorful BeginningImprintWalks Through Memories of OblivionHarvey's Hutch: A MemoirWinter PaleYou Will Know VengeanceOut of the CageRising From Down UnderHot for Teacher: Shakespeare Made Us Fall in LoveWizard's MasqueradeThe No. 1 Golden Health Secret You Simply Must Know and How To Look 10 Years YoungerThe Way BackNot So Different After All: Welcome to the World of SheepThe Land of Fake BelieveThe SunrisersFarawayerMidnight CravingSong of VirgoDiscordThe Stars in Their EyesCaged FurySouthwest HeatBlood and ThunderInto FaerLandAnthesisSummary of Silva Mind Control Method: The Revolutionary Program by the Founder of the World's Most Famous Mind Control CourseNFT Your Art: Maximize Profit By Converting Traditional Art Into NFTsLost PackagesCost Accounting and Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know: 5th EditionDiversity in the Workplace Essentials You Always Wanted to Know6 Practice Tests for the GREWinning Strategies for ACT Essay Writing: With 15 Sample PromptsAny JoeFlowers for AlcyonJazz HouseThe Baby’s Christmas BlessingEbola Saves the Planet! and Other Wholesome TalesThe Song and the Swallow: Authenticity and LoveWhile the Music LastsThe Many Perfect Midnights of Meredith HillThe Patterns of Existence II: The Subsequent FateThe Muse of FreedomDusk Upon ElysiumThe Hegemony NetworkLiving Rent Free In My Head: Essays On Pop CultureSubmitting to HimBreak Through Burnout: Triumph Over Stress And Anxiety, And Win Back Your Life!The Seed of CorruptionEnd ManA Path Back to Life: The Art of Micro-RehabA Doctor's Journey Back to HealthA Doctor's Journey Back to HealthRetirement Planning at 40 and Beyond: Simple Guide to Take Control of Your Future, Your Finances, Your Investments and Your Time in Retirement to the Next Level in 30 DaysVelázquez 33The ScionessesConstitution CheckThe Herbal Code: Native American Herbalist Bible 8 in 1: Comprehensive Guide To Heal Naturally & Regain Vitality with Plant Remedies. Growing Medicine for Families (Beginner's Herbology Apothecary)Shallow DeathAfter the Walk: The Amazing Places the Mind GoesWink: Transforming Public Speaking with Clown PresenceOther Lost SoulsBlind Man's Beauty: The True Story of a Boy Born Blind & The Little Girl Who Grew Him UpLife Sucks!!: A Story of Love, Betrayal and HopeMoonsleep and Other StoriesDark RouxSplendide MendaxClear as IceABC's of Herbal Medicine: Natural Remedies for Common Ailments: All You Need to Know about Herbs for Natural Ways of Healing YourselfMy Way 2: La forza della libertàThe Dark Prince of LazeraBeans of AnafiUnshakeable Love: A Couples Guide to Winning Over Betrayal and InfidelitySteadfast PursuitSocial Skills for Kids 3 to 10: How to Help Your Child Develop Nine Social Skills Needed To Be Happy, Confident, and Successful as a Child and Grown-UpThe Harpy’s LullabyThe Gateways of AlkademahTake a Chance on MeThe Fire in a Woman's Belly IIEmpath and Psychic AbilitiesEvery Awful Thing: Flash Fiction and PoemsRakhi: A Promise to ProtectSuperhero Math - Money, Fractions, & Telling the Time: Grades 2-4 with Answer Key: Count MoneySuperhero Math - Addition and Subtraction: Grades K-2 with Answer KeyBusiness Fables Adapted from Aesop for Humans Who Work for a LivingHow to Talk to a Man and Feel Heard: 9 Mistakes Women Need to Avoid: Improve Couples Communication Skills, Reduce Conflict, Repair Your Marriage, and Create a Healthy RelationshipHow to Talk to a Man and Feel Heard: 9 Mistakes Women Need to Avoid: Improve Couples Communication Skills, Reduce Conflict, Repair Your Marriage, and Create a Healthy RelationshipAnger Management for Better Parenting: A Guilt Free Guide to Not Wrecking Your Kids and Peacefully Navigate Tantrums and MeltdownsLucid RevengeFathomless PursuitEchoes of Enmity

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

5 Prince Publishing Algonquin Books Bethany House
BHC Press Black Rose Writing CarTech Books
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC City Owl Press david.elrad@gmail.com
Essential Reads FTL Publications Gilded Orange Books
Golden Brick Road Publishing House Greenleaf Book Group Grousable Books
Henry Holt and Company Las Hermanas Publishing History Through Fiction
Lerner Publishing Group NeoParadoxa New Wind Publishing
Niv Publishing Ooligan Press PublishNation
Puffin Books Canada Pulp Literature Press Revell
Rootstock Publishing Sea Vision Publishing The Story Plant
Trebuchet Books Triune Publications True Crime Seven
Tundra Books Tuxtails Publishing, LLC University of North Georgia Press
University of Texas Press Unsolicited Press Vibrant Publishers
West Margin Press Wise Media Group

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Monday, August 1st, 2022

August 2022 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the August 2022 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 229 books this month, and a grand total of 4,739 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Thursday, August 25th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, India, Ireland and Germany. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

Funeral GirlRandomWeird and Horrific StoriesSundownHow to Make Friends with a GhostRomantic and Horrific StoriesEscape to Witch CitySir Simon: Super ScarerFantastic and Horrific StoriesThe Dollhouse: A Ghost StoryFuneral Train: A Dust Bowl MysteryA Suitable Companion for the End of Your LifeHonor's RefugeWomen in EngineeringWomen in BotanyThis Is the SunScientific and Horrific StoriesMysterious and Horrific StoriesMother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of ParenthoodThe Further Adventures of Miss PetitfourWomen in MedicineThe Maze CutterIf You Cry Like a FountainThe End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and SocietyMystery of the Lost LynxChildren of SugarcaneThe Weary BluesThe HomecomingThe Greatest Polar Expedition of All Time: The Arctic Mission to the Epicenter of Climate ChangeA Trillion Trees: Restoring Our Forests by Trusting in NatureWatersongBecoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our FutureThe Great BearA Death in DurangoTheir Ghoulish Reputation: A Folk Horror AnthologyDream States: Smart Cities and the Pursuit of Utopian UrbanismLittle Tim and the Magic ApplesCaesar's LordDouble O Stephen and the Ghostly RealmThe Stone ChildThe Doctor From Hell: The True Story of Harold Shipman One of Britain’s Most Prolific Serial Killer With an Estimated 218 VictimsAdulting 101: How Not to Move Back Home with Your Parents: 135 Life Skills - Money Matters, Cooking, Job Interviewing, Car Basics, Dating, and Everything Else You Should Know Before You're 25Crybaby: Infertility, Illness, and Other Things That Were Not the End of the WorldShout Out for the Fitzgerald-TroutsShadow ClocksFrom the LighthouseBlack No MoreThe Rogue and the PeasantThe Spirit PhoneMuddy People: A Muslim Coming of AgeCrimes Against Nature: Capitalism and Global HeatingEste es el SolAfrica for Africans; Or, The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus GarveyReady, Set, OhDaddy Will Fix ItIRL: Finding Our Real Selves in a Digital WorldThe Portals of Sparkling FallsInhuman ActsYour Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay InspiredStripThe CollectorThe OrchardCanciónExtreme VettingA Pale Box on the Distant ShoreLocation Isn't AnythingHead Like a HoleThe Queen of Summer's TwilightThe SuperOptimist Guide to Unconventional Living: Alternative Strategies for Navigating the PresentGlorious FiendsLeadership for the New Female ManagerThe Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro LifeThe Big Festival of Lights: Stories and Plays for HanukkahThe Ghosts of Lewis ManorClear the Space... Feel the Rush: Declutter Body, Mind, and Stuff, and the Real You Shines ThroughBurning America: In the Best Interest of the Children?The Baby’s Christmas BlessingBone Saw SerenadeBarnum's AngelWild & FreeBeyond Amazon: A Metaphysical Journey Through Time and Space: How Curtis Trueheart Came to Live in the Village of Duachi, by the Golden SeaRagsThe Demi-Wolf and the HunterBad PressCity of RuinThe Harpy’s LullabyCalypso, Corpses, and CookingA Gem of TruthStriding Rough Ice: Coaching College Hockey and Growing Up in the GameThe Remembering TreePregnancy Guide for Men: How to Be the Best Partner and Father from Conception to Birth and Beyond: Plus 10 Life Hacks for New DadsProphet's DebtRookDestiny's RogueWorthy of LegendTo Win a PrinceThe Veiled Threat of MagicAdulting 101: How Not to Move Back Home with Your Parents: 135 Life Skills - Money Matters, Cooking, Job Interviewing, Car Basics, Dating, and Everything Else You Should Know Before You're 25Stronger Than LongingSo Damn SketchyTwo Guns Across Texas: Historical Tales of the Texas RangersThe Judas Conspiracy: A JFK ThrillerForget Me NotThe Day I DiedThe Ugly StepsisterBurnCleopatra’s Eternal Journal: Three Short Stories Starring Three Overbearing GhostsDeath and the MaidenThe Sins of the FathersIn the Wild LightThe Sun Never SetThe Crimson FathersThe Junkyard DickThe Secrets that Kill UsMaking Mental Might: How to Look Ten Times Smarter Than You AreTap Talk, Tidbits, and Tips for Dilettante Tappers: The World's Only Completely Nonessential Guide to Tap DancingThe Brilliant MirageProving a VillainThe Last Dollar PrincessHow to Grow and Use Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms: A Mushroom Field Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Images for Mushroom Identification, Cultivation, Usage and RecipesSummary of Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of MiseducationNoises from the Other SidePaper ForestsA Flower Girl?Night's Reign(R)EvolutionAnthesisHot SetSummary of Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of SubmissionSloth StoryYour Super Gut Feeling Restored: How to Restore Your Life Energy and Overall Health from The Inside OutSharon, Lois and Bram's One Elephant Went Out to PlayWilla the WispEyes of the WolfThe Baby's Christmas BlessingBetter TogetherVox Astra: When Clouds DieAwakenGateways to the ParanormalThe Guide to Being a Dictator's MistressMushrooms of the Pacific Northwest Foraging Guide: A 5-Step Mushroom Field Guide for Identification, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Pacific Northwest MushroomsThe Gateways of AlkademahThe Many Perfect Midnights of Meredith HillAverage JoeThe Ballad of Rochester JailTales of the Women of Norse LegendLucid BodiesHawaii Aloha: Stories and SongsStop Binge Eating for Good: Your Journey to Recovery and BeyondCalled to the DeepHow to Date a FuryBeyond Abuse: An Empowered Journey of Soul, Science & Self-HelpSuffer!Empath and Psychic AbilitiesFlipping Houses Quickstart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Finding and Financing the Right Properties, Strategically Adding Value, and Flipping for a ProfitDeborah's GiftThe Welsh Dragon: A Novel of Henry TudorThe 3-Part Beginner's Guide to Manage PCOS Symptoms: A Modern Guide to Improve Your Hormone Balance and Repair Your Metabolism. Complete With Anti-Inflammatory PCOS Recipes.The Song of Everywhen: Books 1-3GabrielleMy Girly UnicornThe Hand We Are DealtThe Sky Never Came DownNadia's ShoesThe Midwife of DreamsGuía del Embarazo para Hombres: Cómo Ser el Mejor Compañero y Padre, Desde la Concepción hasta el Nacimiento y Más Allá. Incluye 10 Consejos Para Padres RecientesThe Land of Fake BelieveDestiny of Determination: Faith and FamilyMoments In MishmashAfter PlutoniumJilting JoryHomeland Insecurity: The Birth of an Era of Unrest in AmericaAwaiting ArrivalThe City WifeThe Rain City HustlePieces of Past: Hurts...You Are Your Healer: The Ultimate Guide to Heal Your Past, Transform Your Life & Awaken to Your True SelfThe Odd Dad Guide: Wise-Ass Rules for New AdultsCharacters of HuffinfieldWest of the SoundFinding My MojoSea Change in CrimsonKLEENYou Have Everything You Need to Get What You Want: You Have the Power to Change Everything!The Ninth StarIn Search of Beira's HammerSmall Stories: A Perfectly Absurd NovelAgapi & Other Kinds of LoveThe Harpy’s LullabyMirrorheartFather's DayThey Whisper in My BloodSummary of Why I StandThe April Fools!GRE Quantitative Reasoning Supreme: Study Guide with Practice QuestionsFinancial Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know (5th Edition)Whispers of a Soul: Poems, Prose and ThoughtsStreet People Portfolio: Invisible New York Made VisualThe Last WarThe BroochDistant Flickers: Stories of Identity & LossPregnancy Guide for Men: How to Be the Best Partner and Father from Conception to Birth and Beyond: Plus 10 Life Hacks for New DadsThe Trophy CaseSecrets, Lies and Rhubarb PiesPregnancy Guide for Men: How to Be the Best Partner and Father from Conception to Birth and Beyond: Plus 10 Life Hacks for New DadsGuía del Embarazo para Hombres:Cómo Ser el Mejor Compañero y Padre, Desde la Concepción hasta el Nacimiento y Más Allá. Incluye 10 Consejos Para Padres RecientesIs THAT a Hat?Alive Again Study Guide: Find Healing in ForgivenessSouthern Highlands: Obi of MarsFighting Her TouchPacific Northwest Edible Plant Foraging & Mushroom Field Guide: A Complete Pacific Northwest Foraging Guide with 50+ Wild Plants & Mushrooms, 18+ Recipes & 150+ Instructional Colored ImagesAdira: Journey to FreedomBeyond Amazon: A Metaphysical Journey Through Time and Space: How Curtis Trueheart Came to Live in the Village of Duachi, by the Golden SeaOn the Emancipation of HatredThe Seed of CorruptionTouchpointsThe Shoebox SecretFinding the One: A Practical Guide to Manifesting Your Soul MateFarawayerAny JoeAtrocious ImmoralitiesWoodstock to St. Joseph'sThey Whisper in My BloodTrapped in IranNecropolisPreventing Her Shutdown: Losing My Wife to Alzheimer'sThe Lost and Found of Green TreeNFT Your Art: Maximize Profit By Converting Traditional Art Into NFTsSuperhero Math - Multiplication: For Grades 3-5 with Answer Key

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Akashic Media Enterprises Bellevue Literary Press
Bethany House BHC Press Black Rose Writing
Broadleaf Books Brown Paper Press Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
City Owl Press ClydeBank Media Coach House Books
Crooked Lane Books Czidor Lore, LLC Dark Lake Publishing LLP
eSpec Books Essential Reads Fontreal
Greenleaf Book Group Greystone Books Greywood Bay
Henry Holt and Company Las Hermanas Publishing Hot Tree Publishing
Icon Books Identity Publications Islandport Press
Lerner Publishing Group Link Press NeoParadoxa
New Wind Publishing NewCon Press Ooligan Press
Paul Stream Press Pioneer Publishing PublishNation
Quiet Thunder Publishing Revell Rootstock Publishing
Science, Naturally! Scribe Publications TFIG
Thinking Ink Press True Crime Seven Tundra Books
Underland Press Unsolicited Press Vibrant Publishers
Well-Tailored Books West Margin Press Wise Media Group

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Tuesday, July 5th, 2022

July 2022 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the July 2022 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 145 books this month, and a grand total of 3,157 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Monday, July 25th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Malta, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

The Mad, Mad Murders of Marigold WaySpeak to the WindsWord of HonorBody of EvidenceYou Know Exactly: The Third Collection of All Over CoffeeThe Lost MelodyBook of Extraordinary TragediesClimaturity: A Journey Into the Muddy Climate MiddleThe City Beneath the Hidden StarsAnything but PlainThe Secrets of EmberwildYou Can Shine So Bright!Dead Man’s WoodDEBT: Sink or Swim: Survival of The FastestThe Weirdest Read While You Poo On The Loo: A Collection of Bizarre True Stories About Pop Culture, Science, History, And More To Satisfy Your Curious BrainDragonSinTime Traveling to 1982: Reliving a Very Special YearAre All Lives Equal? Why Cost Benefit Analysis Values Rich Lives More and How Philosophy Can Fix itRenewalThe Portals of Sparkling FallsWhat the Bread Says: Baking with Love, History, and PapanMy Mother's Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous RegionAll that GlittersThe Forgotten Artist: The Story of Evylena Nunn MillerLove and the Dream Come TrueBy Way of the MoonlightThe Unlocked PathSouth Central NoirBloody PagesOliviaTime ProblemsA Handful of PearlsThe RavensAlien's TemptationAndromeda's GuardianMisery Loves CompanyFire Magic & Ice CreamMiranda WritesLies Lead to DeathTruelove TrailWrinkles in SpacetimeA Matter of TimeBond BittenCoyote CallingRevenge Is Better Than MurderPregnancy Guide for Men: How to Be the Best Partner and Father from Conception To Birth and Beyond—Plus 10 Life Hacks for New DadsThe Enlightenment Project: How I Went from Depressed to Blessed and You Can TooNature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for LeadershipProject Management QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Precise Planning, Strategic Resource Management, and Delivering World Class ResultsUngodly, Unamerican, and Unhinged: The New Radicalized Democratic PartyCast Your Cares: 30-DAY ChallengeSex, Bugs & UFOsBusiness Plan Essentials You Always Wanted to KnowMicroeconomics Essentials You Always Wanted to KnowAlzheimer's Canyon: One Couple's Reflections on Living with DementiaDylan Dover: Into the VortexBreathing Lake SuperiorHow to Draw 100+ Animals: The Birds and the Bees and the Monkeys and the SeasLearn to Write My First Writing Workbook: Pencil Control, Tracing Lines, Curves, Shapes, Letters, Numbers, Words and MoreLet No One SleepStars Are EverywhereThe Natural Laws of ViolenceARTPurloined PoinsettiaBest of British Science Fiction 2021Forever Is Shorter Than It Used to BeBlood AtonementThe Pain Killer: Finding Meaning After MurderEven in the GraveFangscreenHouse BoyThe Long Road to Loving MitchellThe Playful Mind: How to Restore the Happiness We Experienced as ChildrenMumbles of A Soul: Poems, Prose and ThoughtsDagger QuestHut-Yo Cull: The Hunt BeginsMysterious AislesKei & Brie's Amazing Escapade on ABC IslandTasmanian GothicLucid BodiesOut of the Shadows: A Mafia Christian RomanceLeviticusThe Geek Girl Squad: NadiaBecoming a Reiki Master: The Ultimate Guide for Advanced Degree Students and Igniting Your Inner Fire When Training for Reiki Levels I, II, and IIIThe Mer-Girls and the Saved SevenWoodstock to St. Joseph'sHeirs of EriadPieces of Past: Hurts...The Blood CrystalThe Grifter's RazorDanny's Boys: A NovelSmall Stories: A Perfectly Absurd NovelBantar: The Savage Stone Age SurvivorWeeping SoulSummary and Analysis of Plays Well With OthersOne of Our Spaceships is MissingGirls Who Green the World: Thirty-Four Rebel Women Out to Save Our PlanetMy Girly UnicornWest of the SoundThe Stray SpiritThe Villains Who Snapped My Spine: A MemoirSummary and Analysis of The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned AmericaSummary and Analysis of Why I StandSummary and Analysis of The Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood SugarSilhouette LostBowwow BedtimeThe Wright Engineers: Inventing the AirplaneGugulu, The Little Bear DaresLeadership For The New Female ManagerLittle Does She KnowThe Murder of the MudlarksAmateur Assassin: A WolfLady Mystery NovellaGod’s Labyrinth of Good and Evil: Encountering the SelfBlood Red DesertSnake FoodOne Little CoinBag Lady: How I Started a Business for a Greener World and Changed the Way America ShopsThe Pennymores and the Curse of the Invisible QuillSuper Mentors: The Ordinary Person's Guide to Asking Extraordinary People for HelpThe Man from AfghanistanSuper Mentors: The Ordinary Person's Guide to Asking Extraordinary People for HelpMidnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's DaughterMidnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's DaughterDemon Hunter AcademyThe 3-Part Beginner's Guide to Manage PCOS Symptoms: A Modern Guide to Improve Your Hormone Balance and Repair Your Metabolism: Complete With Anti-Inflammatory PCOS RecipesFall of the DragonsTrapped in Iran: Israelis in the Iranian RevolutionTuko's CaveMensch und Kosmos: Die ,Theory of Everything’ vom lebendigen UniversumStorm and Solace: A Beauty and the Beast RetellingBurning America: In the Best Interest of the Children?Die BergtruppenPerchance to DreamSevered Branchbreaking open: a healing journey back homeA Doctor's Journey Back to HealthA Doctor's Journey Back to HealthPreventing Her Shutdown: Losing My Wife to Alzheimer'sNewbie Werewolf: The First 8 Adventures of Sara FloresThe Ultimate Guide To Daycare: A Parent's RoadmapStreet People: Invisible New York Made VisibleThe Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet: Poems & Flash FictionStarting AgainThreads of Awakening: An American Woman's Journey into Tibet's Sacred Textile ArtThe Hand We Are Dealt

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Beaufort Books Bellevue Literary Press
Bethany House BHC Press Black Rose Writing
Book Publicity Services BookViewCafe Brick Mantel Books
Butterfly Light Press, LLC Cardinal Rule Press City Owl Press
ClydeBank Media First Steps Publishing Fontreal
Funlighter Hub History Through Fiction Hot Tree Publishing
Islandport Press Kakkle Publications Mike November Media LLC
Mirror World Publishing NeoParadoxa NewCon Press
PublishNation Revell Rootstock Publishing
Sea Vision Publishing TFIG Vibrant Publishers
West Margin Press Wise Media Group WorthyKids

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Monday, June 6th, 2022

June 2022 Early Reviewers Batch Is Live!

Win free books from the June 2022 batch of Early Reviewer titles! We’ve got 180 books this month, and a grand total of 3,538 copies to give out. Which books are you hoping to snag this month? Come tell us on Talk.

If you haven’t already, sign up for Early Reviewers. If you’ve already signed up, please check your mailing/email address and make sure they’re correct.

» Request books here!

The deadline to request a copy is Monday, June 27th at 6PM EDT.

Eligibility: Publishers do things country-by-country. This month we have publishers who can send books to the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, France and more. Make sure to check the message on each book to see if it can be sent to your country.

The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary AmericaDangerous BeautyI Can Be Your FriendA Quilt for Christmas: A Christmas NovellaThe ReservoirSmells Like Tween SpiritBeyond the Desert SandsBeneath the Bending SkiesPaths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided WarsInfinite Dimensions: StoriesInventions of the HeartCreatures of PassageI Have Two Mommies. I Have Two Daddies.Aquarian DawnVoices in the Dead HouseThe Deadly ShallowsThe Beauty of Black Mermaids Coloring BookMoon in Full: A Modern Day Coming-Of-Age StoryWhere You Linger & Other StoriesHonor BoundScarecrow Has a GunA Universe That Dreams: Waking To Universal RealityHe's No AngelRevelationRenewalThe City Beneath the Hidden StarsSins of the TribeDark DrinkSee You Next TuesdayThe Faithful DogA Winter of ChainsSimplify Your Health: A Doctor's Practical Guide to a Healthier LifeSherlock Mendelson and the Missing AfikomenAnd Then There’s MargaretLebanon RedJustice for LorettaThe Nectar of NightmaresNight RaceA Feeling of HomeDiscover How to Thrive Amid Grief: Understanding, Coping, Forgiving, Connecting, and Finding Support During Times of Profound LossHanna's DilemmaNow Lila KnowsNein, Nein, Nein!: One Man's Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the HolocaustThe Beginner’s Spanish Language Learning Workbook for Adults: A Level 1 Guide with Exercises to Learn Essential Words, Phrases, and Basic SentencesDream Pop Origami: A Permutational Memoir About Hapa IdentityUncertain Fruit: A Memoir of Infertility, Loss, and LoveHollowPool ManRedefining Miracles: How To See Divine Perfection in the Eye of a Storm and Transform Cancer Into BlessingsLife in the MaxSpears & ShadowsWicked CrownResist MeFlippingGilded ButterflyBitter EndThe Coming Golden Age of the 21st CenturyStandaloneThe Face of the WatersTime for a PartyMessiah!: The Bar Kokhba Revolt. 132ADThe Natural Laws of ViolenceThe Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children's ChildrenThe ResentmentMai Tais for the LostThe Legend of the VikingHe Spoke: A Memoir of GraceEternal GraffitiOur Mothers of Invention: 16 Women Inventors & Discoverers Who Made Our Modern Lives BetterKnow Your Man: Playful Relationship Advice for Understanding Your Man (Pig)The Aquarius NationHappy StateBronco Racing: Ford's Legendary 4x4 in off-Road CompetitionHow to Install Air Ride Suspension SystemsFit for a QueenTrue Crime Storytime Volume 4: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories to Keep You Up All NightThe Way of the Wild Goose: Three Pilgrimages Following Geese, Stars, and Hunches on the Camino de SantiagoTravelersPura VidaThe Formulation of Zack SenderUncover Your Light: Empowering Stories of Hope and Resilience, Volume OneUncover Your Light: Empowering Stories of Hope and Resilience, Volume TwoGrowing Upward: A Guide to Discovering Your Greatness (and Owning Your Life)SAT Math Practice QuestionsThe Tender TempestThe Joy of MurderThe BoxHybrid: Misfits, Monsters and Other PhenomenaNight, Rain, and NeonLove in BudapestA Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask, and We Wish Someone Would Ask UsA New WorldThe Last Five Minutes of a StormThe Twilight VowThe Price of PeaceMaking Mental Might: How to Look Ten Times Smarter Than You AreTap Talk, Tidbits, and Tips for Dilettante Tappers: The World's Only Completely Nonessential Guide to Tap DancingDemon Hunter AcademyBlood and WonderThe Swords of Blood and GoldTil There Was YouHonor for the DeadMadeline's ParkStorm and Solace: A Beauty and the Beast RetellingThe Peculiar Case of the Missing MondrianWired for Success: Practical Philosophies to Master Entrepreneurship & Live Life on Your TermsThe Wolf, The Walnut and The WoodsmanTen Years A Bard: Poetry from the Current Middle AgesGugulu, The Little Bear DaresEverything you always wanted to know about the French* (*but were afraid to ask)The SurvivorsThe War for Reality: Books 1-3 of the BetterWorld Cyberpunk TrilogyRodeHeart of the RoseSnake FoodHenry Bingle's Transformation: A Fable for All AgesIs THAT a Hat?The Internet Moguls of the World: How the Planet's Best Found Their Passion and Never Looked BackAmethystConjure LakeTouchpointsWhat on Earth?: Considering the Social Implications of Jesus' Sermon on the MountBreakdownThreads of Awakening: An American Woman's Journey into Tibet's Sacred Textile ArtThe Man From AfghanistanMumbles of a Soul: Poems, Prose, and ThoughtsJaded HeartsLittle Does She KnowMicrobiology Coloring Book with Facts & MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)Sweet Home ChicagoEric Stanton: Bondage Enthusiasts Bound in Leather [*Expanded Edition*]Dead Wrong: An Ecological ThrillerA Contrite Heart(R)EvolutionA Spell of TroubleEscaping the Other Side of Midnight: The Race to Avert Irreversible Climate ChangeMensch und Kosmos : Die ,Theory of Everything' Vom Lebendigen UniversumTuko's CaveLove Letters to the Earth Vol 1: Welcoming One Home to Their NatureLittle Notes of Anguish and Other PoemsThe Richmond PapersThe Playful Mind: How to Restore the Happiness We Experienced as ChildrenCaptive of the StarsI Love You Just the Way You AreGoing to BeautifulWalking the HallsMidnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's DaughterThe Villains Who Snapped My Spine: A MemoirBlood and WonderCold HungerSmart Woman's Guide The Money Belief Formula: Mindset + Behavior = Financial Success: Transform Your Habits and Win with WealthThirsty: Reflections on Thirst as a Means of GraceDad Is My Best FriendDeep Water: Murder, Scandal, and Intrigue in Small Town New EnglandThe Tombstone Express: Adventures in Police Motorcycle EscortsThe Tombstone Express: Adventures in Police Motorcycle EscortsTime Travelling to 1982: Reliving a Very Special YearDragonSinJurassic PartsBrandy, You're a Fine GirlThe Joy of MurderI Know What You Need to Succeed: How to Harness the 4 Seasons of Success to Upgrade Your Career and Your LifeThe Heretic's DaughterThe Stench of Fear: A WolfLady Paranormal Adventure NovellaThe Secrets of MarsUncle Jed's SecretGod's Labyrinth of Good and Evil: Encountering the SelfUntil The Cold Is GentleLaela and the MoonlineMidnight Calling: A Memoir of a Drug Smuggler's DaughterThe Entwining ProtocolsThe ValleyFreedom Doesn't GrieveAct Before You OverThink: Make Decisions Easier and Liberate Your MindThe Magical Land of HeartsSunshine and Shadow: Exodus, or The Second TransitThe CouplingPerchance to DreamFire Is the Test of GoldSmart Woman's Guide. The Money Belief Formula: Mindset + Behavior = Financial Success. Transform Your Habits and Win With Wealth

Thanks to all the publishers participating this month!

Akashic Books Arabelle Publishing The Arisson Project
Bellevue Literary Press Bethany House BHC Press
Black Rose Writing BookViewCafe Brazos Press
Broadleaf Books CarTech Books Chosen Books
City Owl Press Consortium Book Sales and Distribution Cresting Wave Publishing
Crystal Peake Publisher Delphinium Books Golden Brick Road Publishing House
Greenleaf Book Group Ha’ikū Press Henry Holt and Company
Hot Tree Publishing Hybrid Sequence Media Identity Publications
Imbrifex Books Islandport Press Mike November Media LLC
NewCon Press Nice Matters Publishing NovelQuest Publications
PublishNation Revell Rootstock Publishing
Sans. PRESS SPANZ2A The Story Plant
Three Rooms Press TouchPoint Press True Crime Seven
Underland Press Unsolicited Press Useful Publishing
Vibrant Publishers WorthyKids

Labels: early reviewers, LTER

Friday, October 22nd, 2021

An Interview with Novelist Priyanka Champaneri

LibraryThing is very pleased to sit down this month with author Priyanka Champaneri, whose debut novel, The City of Good Death, won the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing in 2018 and is shortlisted for the Center for Fiction’s 2021 First Novel Prize. Set in the Indian city of Banaras, it follows the story of a man who works at one of the city’s death hostels, where the dying come for a “good death”⁠—one that will release them from the cycle of reincarnation.

Your book is set in a locale you have never visited, and addresses a very specific set of cultural and religious practices. How did the idea for this story come to you?

I’d grown up in a Hindu household and had a distant understanding of Banaras and its importance within the religion, but my interest wasn’t really piqued until after college, when a friend sent me a link to a Reuters article titled “Check In and Die in Two Weeks, or Get Out.” That article was my introduction to the city’s death hostels, and I was immediately intrigued. In hindsight, I now realize the attraction was likely hooking into the different parts of my identity. The part that had grown up surrounded by Hindu philosophy understood the practical need for a death hostel, but the part that was born, raised, and educated in the United States could also view the hostels from a Western perspective, one that might see such places as utterly unique or even alien.

There were so many layers right there that instantly caught at my interest, but I didn’t do anything about it immediately. At that point, I hadn’t yet entered graduate school, and I wasn’t really writing much of anything in a focused way. But the idea of setting a story in a death hostel stayed with me once I began my MFA program at George Mason University, always humming in the back of my mind as something I might one day use. I began to read about Banaras to satisfy my curiosity about the city, and the initial reading sent me down a wonderful rabbit hole of research. I started looking for more visual resources as well, books of photography, films and documentaries, YouTube videos uploaded by travelers walking through the city’s narrow alleys. I wasn’t doing any of this in an intentional way, and writing a book still seemed like an impossible thing. Beyond my limited confidence in my abilities as a writer—both then and now—I was also hesitant because, as you mention, I had never visited this city. I was intensely wary of writing about a place that I had no firsthand experience with, particularly one as important and iconic as Banaras.

But while I was contending with my anxieties and fears, all the research I was doing just piled up in my brain, and I started seeing scenes, hearing characters, feeling something grow within my imagination. I had thought quite a bit about the things I felt I didn’t know, but I hadn’t realized the richness of what I did know—the visuals I’d stored away from my travels to India, the stories I’d grown up hearing my father tell me about his childhood in a Gujarati village, the extensive home library of Indian fairytales and Hindu philosophy that I had access to when I was growing up. All of that came together and informed the book that would become The City of Good Death.

You describe yourself as a “slow writer,” taking over a decade to craft and publish your first book. What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking your time, and what has the publishing process been like for you?

It’s really hard to say there are any advantages to being slow—I certainly wish I was faster. One contributing factor to my slow pace is I work a full-time day job, and my writing time is limited to weekends and evenings. But the biggest reason I take so long is because I can only write organically—I’ve tried to write using outlines, but I just get bored and my motivation quickly dries up. Working blind, with no real notion of where the story is going, keeps the work interesting for me, because I find things out page by page much as a reader hopefully discovers things. But it’s also painfully slow, because what the reader doesn’t see are all the wrong turns and dead ends I’ve found myself in, where I had to work myself back out and start over.

I spend a lot of time thinking rather than writing, especially when I get to a crux point in the plot where a character has to react, or something major happens—for days, weeks, even months I will turn over possibilities in my head. My goal is to stay true to what the character would do while also avoiding all outcomes a reader might expect. There’s a Pixar infographic I once saw where the writers talked about their storymaking process. They say that first they think of what might happen in a situation, and then they discard the idea; they go for the second solution and discard that idea—on and on for about five iterations, until finally the one they land on is the least obvious and the most surprising.

I really took that advice to heart, because creating surprise in plot is so rare and hard to do. I would mentally cycle through scenarios—”What if this happens? Or what if this happens?”—basically storyboarding the scene in my imagination, and when I got to an idea I thought might work, I sat down and wrote it. Even then, it very often didn’t work. It was a constant trial-and-error process of trying to get to the most authentic action for the character, and the most surprising resolution for the plot.

The publishing process has been both eye-opening and humbling for me. I tried to get this book published the traditional way—e.g. finding an agent, submitting the book to editors at any of the major U.S. publishers, and going from there. While it worked out with the agent portion—Leigh Feldman has been a fantastic ally and collaborator during the entire process—it didn’t work out with the publishers. We submitted the book for about two years, covering all the major, minor, and independent presses in the United States, as well as some in the United Kingdom and in India, and while we received really lovely responses, no one was willing to acquire the book.

After revising and submitting and still receiving no interest, Leigh and I had a conversation about me shelving the book and moving on with my writing life to work on something new. A few months later, I submitted the book to the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. Winning the prize was the only thing that saved the book from a life of being confined to the hard drive of my computer.

Nothing about the book changed between the version submitted to publishers and the version submitted to the contest. What changed was the willingness to give an unknown writer and an unknown story—one told with a lens that is unfamiliar to many in the Western world—a chance at a wider audience. And for that I am profoundly grateful and very aware of how fortunate I am, and how everything that has subsequently come my way—every event, every encounter with a reader, every interview (like this one!)—is a gift. Because it could have gone very differently.

Did writing this book change or influence your own views on the subject of death? What is a “good death” for Priyanka Champaneri?

The entire process of writing and revising this book took about 10 years, so it’s difficult to pinpoint whether the person I am today, and the views I have now, are a place that I was guided towards because of the book, or because it was the inevitable result of time passing and my getting older. I actually think the book just sharpened things for me. Whenever I’m feeling out of balance emotionally, I often don’t know why—but I can usually write my way to understanding the reason. Similarly, I think writing this book forced me to pull out what I’d thought about over the years—the principles I’d tried to live my life by, the conclusions I’d come to, the questions that still occupied me—and really examine them for what they were. And that process was one that probably did more to solidify my perspective, rather than shape.

I’m too superstitious to go into detail about what a good death means for me—but I will say that I believe a good death hinges on whether a person feels they led a good life. And that means different things to different people. Much of my spiritual philosophy centers around duty and a balancing of scales, so I try to live ensuring that I fulfill all my obligations to the people and things I share my life with.

What was the most interesting thing you learned while researching the book?

I love this question—no one has asked me this! I have two things that really struck me in my reading that have stayed with me. One is associated with the reason Banaras is said to have this effect of ending the cycle of reincarnation for those who die there—it’s said that time simply does not exist in the city. And without time, you accrue neither good nor bad karma—your scales are always balanced, no matter your actions.

This was something I really ran with when writing The City of Good Death, which gives no obvious clue as to when the story is taking place. I didn’t want to be tied to any specific historical event, and I also wanted to create something that seemed like it could have happened 200 years ago or be happening now, because that echoes my experiences of traveling in India. You could be getting a lecture from a child on the street about coding, then turn the corner and stumble on a weaver working his loom in the same way his ancestors would have done generations before.

The other interesting find is a story I came across in my research. Banaras is said to be the city of Shiva—the Hindu trinity’s God of Destruction. And when a person dies in Banaras, it’s said that Shiva is the one to whisper the words the soul will need for safe passage out of the cycle of reincarnation and on to liberation. I could immediately see that image in my head, and I was desperate to write my own version. I didn’t always know where the book was headed as I was writing it, but I did know I wanted a character to have an experience with that moment, so it was something to keep me motivated as I worked on the book.

Tell us about your library. What’s on your own shelves?

You can trace the years of my reading life through my bookshelves. Phase 1 is filled with fairy tales—especially the entire Rainbow Fairy Book series edited by Andrew Lang—as well as all of Roald Dahl, Dick King-Smith, the Anne of Green Gables series, and the entire Amar Chitra Katha oeuvre of comic book adaptations of The Mahabharata and other Hindu epics and mythology.

The next phase comprises all the big, capacious novels that I love to get lost in—A Suitable Boy, A House for Mr. Biswas, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Midnight’s Children, Our Mutual Friend, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and the entire Harry Potter series.

And in my current phase, I’m just indiscriminately reading everything, so there are art books, photography books, fairy tale retellings, essays, poetry, slim introspective novellas alongside colorful and fast-paced graphic novels. I no longer care about genre or form or even subject matter. My only goal as a reader is to experience a perspective that is new to me, and always, always, be engulfed by story.

What have you been reading lately, and what would you recommend to other readers?

Umma’s Table by Yeon-Sik Hong (translated by Janet Hong) is probably the best graphic novel I’ve read all year. It’s the story of a Korean man’s struggle to find balance between nurturing the world he’s created with his wife, young son, career, and new home with the obligation he has to his elderly parents and all the complexities of his relationship with them.

I’ve also read several Japanese YA/middle-grade books in translation that have just bowled me over—there is such a depth and frankness to them that I haven’t seen before in the genre from Western writers. My favorites so far are Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki and Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba.

And one more—I recently read Cicada by Shaun Tan, a picture book that just made my head explode, it was so incredibly good!

Labels: author interview, interview

Tuesday, December 15th, 2020

TinyCat’s December Library of the Month: The Anomaly Archives Library

To read more about TinyCat’s Library of the Month feature, visit the TinyCat Post archive here.

December’s Library of the Month is a fascinating organization focusing on the most curious phenomena this world has to offer: congratulations to The Anomaly Archives Library! The Founder of the Anomaly Archives, SMiles Lewis, was kind enough to take my questions this month:

Who are you, and what is your mission—your “raison d’être”?

Our legal name is the Scientific Anomaly Institute, but we generally refer to our organization as the Anomaly Archives and that’s how we promote ourselves. I founded the organization with the State of Texas in 2003 and we became an established nonprofit in 2006.

Our raison d’etre is the, “Preservation and dissemination of scientific research into anomalous phenomena; Research and analysis of accumulated collections; Education of the public regarding scientific investigations into these phenomena.” Put another way the purposes of the organization are:

  • Managing and developing an archive and library for documents and literature with regards to a multi-disciplinary approach to anomalous phenomena
  • Supporting, promoting and pursuing research to obtain increased knowledge about anomalous phenomena
  • Pursuing and stimulating a critical, scientific discussion of anomalous phenomena, and providing a forum for information, support, and sharing among researchers
  • Functioning as the archives and library for like-minded organizations, and other groups in the community that have similar interests.

Some of the types of subject matter our special collections cover include: UFOs and Ufology, Consciousness (“What is it?”, meditation, dreams, lucid dreaming, and more), Parapsychology (ESP, PSI, Remote Viewing, etc.) and the Paranormal (Ghosts, Hauntings, etc.), Fortean (after Charles Fort: chronicler of the unexplained) Phenomena, Cryptozoology (Bigfoot and undiscovered hominids, lake monsters, sea serpents, and other undiscovered/out of place or sightings of presumed extinct animals), ParaPolitical Science (after Professor Peter Dale Scott’s, Mae Brussell’s and John Judge’s approach to “ParaPolitics” aka Conspiracy Theory), Human Potential, Jungian Theory, Frontier Physics and much more!

Tell us some interesting things about how you support your community.

Far too often, the personal libraries and research materials of researchers—including correspondence among researchers and witnesses—of these mysterious phenomena end up lost or thrown into landfills by family who don’t recognize the importance of such legacy materials. Or such collections end up being sold online via eBay or passed along to other researchers who may not share the material with others nor properly protect and preserve the materials. That’s where we, and the small network of similar anomalous archives (see our “Other Archives” online directory), come in.

We are constantly looking for such abandoned or forgotten collections while also actively working with still living researchers to help make sure their legacy, in the form of the materials making up their personal collections and life’s work, is preserved for future generations. We serve as a research resource for other investigators looking into the many and various anomalous subjects covered by the collections within our archives. We also host regular public events featuring researchers and experiencers of these strange phenomena. Our current Streamathon event series is our most ambitious such event to date!

What are some of your favorite items in your collection?

There is so much, it’s very hard to identify specific items but…our oldest materials include historical texts from the 1600s that are part of our biggest donated collection: that of rare book collector and seller Bob Girard. Robert Charles Girard was the entrepreneur behind North America’s largest reseller of UFO related books, called ARCTURUS BOOKS INC. He published a long-running CataZine in which he’d write reviews of everything he sold. Bob has been called the “Proust of the UFO phenomenon” (John Chambers, Paranormal journalist, 2004).

Bob Girard’s collection has books on everything from Alchemy and Atlantis to all aspects of the Unexplained but also contains some of the most rare early Flying Saucer-era UFO books. We also have a nearly complete collection of his CataZine.

Other gems of our collection include an amazing collection of 1990s alternative media zine scene publications as well as rare audio and video recordings, materials from a local Past-life Regression Hypnotherapy clinician, the unpublished manuscript, daily diary, personal letters and more of a local Alien Abductee and Trance Medium who was featured in a 1990s anthology of similar cases, and much more!

What’s a particular challenge your library experiences?

Funding and staffing: we’ve grown considerably over the past 3 years, acquiring more collections and getting more volunteers active in our ongoing activities. However, we still have no paid staff and this severely limits the amount of hours we are open to the public. Then with the current COVID situation, we’ve had to completely shut down and this has been the single greatest threat to our ongoing existence.

What is your favorite thing about TinyCat, and what’s something you’d love to see implemented/developed?

My favorite thing about TinyCat is its ease of use and inexpensiveness. I have many ideas I’d love to see implemented but mainly I’d like to see a desktop cataloging extension that synced with the online version in ways that allowed easier updating of both a local catalog and the online catalog.


Want to learn more about The Anomaly Archives? Follow them on social media (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook), visit their website at https://www.anomalyarchives.org/, and check out their TinyCat collection here.

To read up on TinyCat’s previous Libraries of the Month, visit the TinyCat Post archive here.

Calling all TinyCat libraries: become TinyCat’s next Library of the Month—just send us a Tweet @TinyCat_lib or email Kristi at kristi@librarything.com.

Labels: libraries, Library of the Month, TinyCat

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020

Author Interview: Anne Helen Petersen on Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

headshot of Anne Helen Petersen

In the past several months, we have been interviewing people in the book world with interesting perspectives on current events. This month KJ talked with Anne Helen Petersen, author of the new book Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. Ms. Petersen is a former academic & professor, now culture writer with two previous non-fiction books and a long tenure writing cultural and political analysis at Buzzfeed. She currently writes “Culture Study,” a newsletter through Substack.

What brought you to the subject of specifically Millennial burnout? Do you think the stressors of COVID-19 have exacerbated or intensified feelings of burnout in this or any generation?

It’s pretty straightforward: I’m a millennial, and I’d been burnt out for years — but didn’t understand what I was experiencing as burnout, because I’d always thought that burning out meant hitting a wall and, like, collapsing. I prided myself on being able to just keep doing the work, no matter my exhaustion and stress. When I finally figured out what was going on, it was only because I was able to expand the definition to describe a feeling that I think so many in our generation feels — the result of great instability/precarity and the feeling of needing to work all the time to counteract it.

COVID has only exacerbated and amplified existing burnout. Everyone I know who was exhausted before the pandemic now feels like they’re barely holding it together — especially parents. I think that before COVID, many had become pretty adept at ignoring some of the larger structural brokenness in society and trying to patch some of the holes in the social safety net. Now there’s no more pretense: something’s very broken, and we have to get pissed off enough to fix it.

In a recent newsletter on your Substack, you examined how the vocational awe affects the essential workers it venerates, specifically in the context of librarians. Earlier this year, we talked with Callan Bignoli, a librarian-activist for front-line workers amidst the stuttered re-opening of libraries. Can you speak to how vocational awe, librarians, and burnout meet?

The short answer to this question is that vocational awe creates an aura of do-goodness around a job that does two pretty crappy things. First, it makes it so that the vocation as a whole becomes reticent to self-critique: it’s so essential, so good, so venerated in society, that there’s not much room to figure out what’s maybe not so good (and causing burnout!) within it. Fobazi Ettarh’s seminal piece does an excellent job of pointing to how vocational awe amongst librarians has allowed the profession to just stick with the status quo of maintaining implicit whiteness (and white standards of behavior, of learning, of speech, whatever) within library-related and librarian-related spaces.

But then it also allows people outside of the profession to dismiss very real demands, on the part of librarians, for things like adequate funding, health care, and support for dealing with the myriad jobs that each librarian is now tasked with performing. If you ask for more, it’s somehow viewed as indicative of a lack of passion, or a lack of appropriate awe for the job. This mindset is preposterous and yet truly ubiquitous.

Much of your work—in print and at your former time at Buzzfeed—has dealt with gender. Did you find a similar focus when researching and writing your newest book?

I think a large percentage (but certainly not all!) of my readership are women, and speaking VERY broadly, women are more willing to elaborate on some of their feelings about various issues. They’re also super angry about persistent inequalities in domestic labor, and I think that really comes through in the millennial parenting chapter. But in general: I’m a feminist, my work is feminist, and I think it’s absolutely necessary to keep drawing attention to the insidious ways that patriarchy makes life (for men and women) more miserable than it needs to be.

How is your personal library organized?

It is a very complex and very sophisticated mix of general subject area and aesthetic. All of my Penguin Classics live together, for example, and all of my academic texts from my PhD. But then, I’ll admit, there are areas that are all relatively new fiction with blue and green dust jackets. It pleases me!

What are some books you’ve read lately that you would recommend?

A few books that have pulled me out of my Covid-related difficulties with reading: Miriam Toews’ Irma Voth, Diane Cook’s The New WildernessBrit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, Niall William’s This is Happiness.

Anne Helen Petersen can be found on Substack, Twitter, and of course her author page here on LibraryThing.

Browse all of our interviews here

 

 

Labels: author interview, interview, Uncategorized