Started Off Trying To Help Some Friends, And Got A Nice Surprise Of My Own

There is a small indy bookstore here in Knoxville, TN called Carpe Librum Books. While not very large, they are a very popular bookstore for people who would rather keep their money local than support the big chains. Nothing wrong with that, plus the place has a nice, cozy atmosphere. It feels like my library would feel if I had one. Homey.

So, I called there today with the intention of speaking to the manager about getting books for two of my friends on the shelf. I don't want to mention their names because I did not succeed. Suffice it to say that due to a lack of a returns policy (small press) I was unable to coerce the manager into stocking them.

That, of course, is not good news. It's sad news, because both books are great and written by great people. But what happened next was certainly good news.

On impulse, I asked them if they had ordered any copies of Lottery, by Patricia Wood. Not only had they not ordered any, but they hadn't a clue what I was talking about. I told them it was a Putnam release, and gave them a brief description of it. She seemed interested, so I took my ARC of Lottery to the store and let her look at it.

She read the back copy, looked over the cover, and took a few minutes reading the first few pages. Then she wrote down the ISBN number and added several copies to her Penguin/Putnam order while I stood there with a big grin on my face. Pat is an awesome person and if I could help at all, it was worth it.

I was rewarded on my way out by a small wicker basket I'd never noticed before. Inside this basket were books that, for one reason or another, the store could not sell, so they were giving them away for free.

Do you see where this is going?

Lots of ARCs were in that basket. :) For a recent ARC collector like myself, it was a treasure chest of uncorrected proofs. I dipped my greedy fingers into the pile and started pulling out books, smiling the whole time. I wanted to take them all, but instead I only grabbed three (my wife grabbed one, too): R.A. Salvatore's Road of the Patriarch, John Ringo's A Deeper Blue, and Steven Eriks' Deadhouse Gates.

All in all, definitely worth the trip. :) My only regret is that I didn't have Adrienne's book with me - I was caught reading it at work by a friend who demaded to be allowed to peruse it. She hasn't given it back yet, and I am starting to wonder if I will ever see it again.