Horror for Libraries Giveaway 120: The Salt Grows Heavy and Agony's Lodestone

This week I have 2 titles for 1 winner. One is a hotly anticipated novella that I gave a STAR in LJ and the other a new voice, from an emerging small press, that is getting a lot of praise. Details below, but first, here is how you enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. 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.
2. 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.
3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. 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.

Click here to see giveaway #119. Our 2 winners were Juliana from New Lennox [IL] Public Library and Brenda from Westlake Porter [OH] Public Library Now to this week's giveaway.

First a book I already told you about in the April 2023 issue of Library Journal, where I gave it a STAR. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. This book is definitely Horror, but I need to tell you, it also has one of the most beautiful endings to a book I have ever read, in any genre. I am still thinking about it.

Here is the link and text of my review.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Visceral, Reclaiming a Myth, Lush 

Draft Review: What if the Little Mermaid laid eggs and her hatched children’s hunger laid waste to her prince’s land? Khaw’s latest novella tackles this question head on with a brutally visceral but seductive opening sequence. The mermaid, done being held captive and rendered mute by her husband, meets up with the only survivor, a plague doctor, to move on. They quickly come upon a band of children gleefully hunting one of their own at the direction of their keepers, “The Saints,” three adult cult leaders who rebuild the near-death child with parts taken from themselves. Told in three sections, each satisfyingly complete as its own story, ending with a cliffhanger, this compelling tale features strong world building, innovative uses of body horror tropes, lush language, and a captivatingly direct narration, as it takes protagonists and readers on a journey to contemplate what it means to be “saved.”

Verdict: With this brilliantly constructed tale that consciously takes on a well known story and violently breaks it open to reveal a heartfelt core, Khaw cements their status as a must read author. For fans of sinister, thought provoking, horrific retellings of western classics by marginalized voices like those written by Helen Oyoyemi and Ahmed Saadawi.

I will also have an interview with Khaw in the July 2023 issue of Library Journal which features my cover story-- the Horror Genre review.

Thanks to Nightfire for the ARC to give away. The book comes out next month.

I also like to pair hotly anticipated titles with ones you may not be aware of and since Khaw's book is a novella (and slim), I am going to add another title to the package. This one is from up and coming publisher Tenebrous Press. I have been impressed with their range of titles, and I think libraries should consider adding them. I will also be meeting the owners at StokerCon, (even the one who lives in Romania is coming), and I hope to have some more formal partnerships in the future. But in the meantime, here is the post they did for me last October, to introduce themselves to libraries.

The specific ARC I am giving away is Agony's Lodestone by Laura Keating. It came out on April 14th and is getting a lot of praise from readers. Here is the publisher's summary:

A grave could be visited. Ashes could be scattered. But simply vanishing? That ripped a hole in the world the size of a life, and through that hole sighed a terrible wind repeating a single note: 

Gone. 

For years, Aggie had forgotten the real Joanne, the way her sister had laughed, fought, been. But now that the videotape made her real again—no matter how many times the recording changed, no matter how terrifying the flickering images—it was all Aggie wanted. To trade the Gone for the One. She owed Joanne that much. To say she was sorry. That it had been her fault.

It had been all their faults.

One winner will get both advance copies.  

Remember, if you enter once you are entered going forward. 

Good luck!