#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #6: Alchemy of Glass

First, a reminder that these giveaways will be running every week, on Thursdays, for the foreseeable future. And here is the best part, if you enter any week, you are eligible for ALL weeks.

The only rule is that you need to be affiliated with a public library in America or Canada. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.

Okay now how to enter. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.

Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm will be considered.

If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Why I am doing this? Well, one of the parts of my job that has gone away for the time being is my visits to libraries, library conferences, and library systems to provide general RA training. On all of those visits, I would  fill my suitcase with giveaway titles and they were mostly horror. It not only gave me a chance to give away books as prizes, but it also allowed me the opportunity to book talk horror even if that wasn't on the agenda.

Now that my services have transferred to 100% virtual, for the time being, I have an overflow of books in my house and less of chance to promote horror to the unsuspecting masses of library workers.

And thus my #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is born. This will be going on indefinitely, so the sooner you enter the better your chances.

Click here to see giveaway #5. Our winner was Iggi from Springfield-Greene County [MO] Public Library.

But now back to this week. Today I wanted to feature a mid-list title that is a very good option for libraries, but because it came out in April, it was lost in the ether. Alchemy of Glass is the second book in a series by Barbara Barnett [Apothecary's Curse was the first], but you can read this as a standalone. 

I would suggest buying both, however. The first book was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. Both titles are in that sweet spot between dark fantasy and horror that many library patrons love. Think Deborah Harkness as a readalike, and now you know you need these books on hand. These are novels your patrons will love. They are filled with memorable characters, rich atmosphere, and historical intrigue. 

Recently, I asked Barnett to share some thoughts about her book. She said:

"I  hope my work in some small way, within the realm of dark fantasy, tries to being attention to the inequality of power, whether now, in 19th Century London or  in a wrecked vision of the future."

These are fun books with some though provoking larger issues. 

Midlist titles have been invisible in the pandemic. This giveaway I am running all summer is not only about the big releases [although I have had some of those too], it is about celebrating the wide array of titles that are available and giving library workers access to them.

So enter this week and stay entered all summer. Now that the printers are working again, I am starting to get more physical ARCs with the specific purpose of sharing them with all of you. After last week's lull, it is time to get yourself signed up ASAP

Good luck!