Dear Publishers....

On my way home from work tonite, I stopped at the mailbox to empty it out. I have one of those little clusterboxes, so if I don't check it religiously, it has a tendency to overflow.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the key and found a package from Tatra Press peeking out at me! Chris Sulavik had contacted me through Goodreads at the beginning of the holidays to ask if I would be interested in previewing a couple of books. Of course I said "Yes"!

These are the two newest additions to my TBR pile thanks to Chris and Tantra:

The Colorman - Erika Wood
Summary: a young female painter, trying to make her mark in Manhattan's art world, encounters setbacks and betrayals that send her down a path of self discovery. At the fringes is the mysterious colorman, James Morrow.




Brighter Graphite (Two novellas)- Michael Horvath
Summary: In Graphite, a scholarly eccentric travels the rails to discover why his stock of the world's finest, most expensive pencils break with every sharpening. In Brighter, a failed painter explains how economic collapse turns a quaint artistic center into a bloody battleground between philosophically opposed factions of artists.


Being reviewers copies, they move to the top of my TBR pile. Well, hang on. That's not entirely true. They move to the bottom of the top of the TBR pile. The bottom of the reviewers copies portion of the TBR pile, that is. See, I have 4 other books that have been sent to me from other publishing companies... waiting patiently to be read as well. Not to mention the one I am currently reading.

Why don't I introduce you to them?

Here they are, in the order they were received (which is also the order in which I will read them):


CURRENTLY READING
Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem (DoubleDay pub)
A trippy little tale of Chase Insteadman, a child star living off the residuals of his time on TV, hanging with some whacky Manhattan folk, dating an astronaught who is stuck in orbit in outer space.



ON DECK
The Gates - John Connolly (Atria Books)
The gates to hell appear when Satan is summonded forth during some strange goings-ons taking place at 666 Crowley Road. Can Samuel Johnson and his dachshund defeat evil?



2ND IN LINE
Horns - Joe Hill (WM Morrow / HarperCollins pub)
Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke the next morning with a hangover, a headache, and a pair of horns growing from his temples.



3RD UP
The Resurrectionist - Jack O'Connell (Algonquin Pb)
Nothing is as it appears. Part classic noir thriller, part fabulist fable, we are plunged into the intrigue that surrounds Sweeny, his comatose son, and the fortresslike Peck Clinic.



4TH PLACE
Totally Killer - Greg Olear (Harper)
Part thriller, part satire, part period piece, we follow Taylor Schmidt as she arrives in the 1990's Big Apple, finds the perfect job, and the perfect boyfriend. But will perfection have a price?



Dear Publishers, please be patient with me :)