Mixtapes

Poet and novelist Ben Lerner has won The Believer Book Award for his novel, Leaving the Atocha Station. Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the books on the shortlist.

Check it out: “In Lerner’s hilarious and sensitive novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, a young poet named Adam Gordon plays a deeply identifiable (self-doubting, pretentious, plagued-by-his-moment-in-history) fool. Lerner’s three previous books of (marvellous) poetry were no doubt the training ground for his incredible sensitivity to the nuances of thought, for his beautiful and flawless sentences, and for his power to evoke scenes in the mind. The book is short, but so dense and full of life and feeling.”

Heather Christle won The Believer Poetry Award for her collection, The Trees The Trees.

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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

The shortlist for the 2012 Orwell Prize shortlist has been revealed. Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the finalists.

Here’s more about the award: “The Prize was established in its present form by the late Professor Sir Bernard Crick in 1994, ‘to encourage writing in good English – while giving equal value to style and content, politics or public policy, whether political, economic, social or cultural – of a kind aimed at or accessible to the reading public, not to specialist or academic audiences.’”

If you want more books, follow these links to our literary mixtapes with free samples of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize winners, the Orion Book Award finalists, the Best Mystery Books of 2011

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This year’s winners of the Los Angeles Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been revealed, celebrating the best books of the year.

Below, we’ve linked to free samples of the award-winning books for your reading pleasure. The winners were revealed at ceremony on Friday.

GalleyCat covered the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books all weekend. The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman told us how to pitch a comic book to publishers and three nonfiction writers shared The Only 3 Pieces of Writing Advice You Will Ever Need to Read.

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Snubbed by the Pulitzer Prize board, novelist Karen Russell has been named one of the five finalists for the Orion Book Award.

Check it out: “Each spring near Earth Day, an important work of fiction or nonfiction is presented with the Orion Book Award in recognition of its success in addressing the human relationship with the natural world in a fresh, thought-provoking, and engaging manner … Nominations for the award are made by advisors, writers, editors, and contributing editors of Orion. Selection of the winning book and four finalists are made by a five-person selection committee, which changes annually.”

We’ve collected links to free samples of all five finalists below…

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Looking for a great mystery?

Below, we’ve created a special literary mixtape linking to free samples of books nominated for the 2012 Edgar Awards–the Mystery Writers of America’s newly revealed picks for the best books of the year.

The winners will be revealed at a banquet ceremony on April 26, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

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Tonight the Republican presidential candidates will battle in the New Hampshire primary.

This year, five of the six major contenders in New Hampshire all happen to be writers. In one candidate’s case, his father is an author–so we included a sample of his father’s book. Follow the links below to read free book samples by the candidates competing tonight.

Mitt Romney No Apology: The Case for American Greatness

Ron Paul The Revolution: A Manifesto

Rick Santorum It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good

Newt Gingrich A Nation Like No Other:Why American Exceptionalism Matters

Rick Perry Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington

Jon M. Huntsman (father of Jon Huntsman Jr.) Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times

Tonight the whole country will keep an eye on Iowa caucuses as Republican candidates battle to win their party’s presidential nomination at 99 conventions around Iowa.

This year, the five major contenders in Iowa all happen to be writers. Follow the links below to read free book samples by the candidates competing in the Iowa caucuses.

Mitt Romney No Apology: The Case for American Greatness

Ron Paul The Revolution: A Manifesto

Rick Santorum It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good

Newt Gingrich A Nation Like No Other:Why American Exceptionalism Matters

Rick Perry Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington

Michele Bachmann Core of Conviction: My Story

 

What’s your favorite overlooked book this year? Add it to our growing list…

Today this GalleyCat editor joined New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word of Mouth show to talk about the most overlooked books of 2011 alongside Michele Filgate and Jodi Paloni.

But don’t take our word for it! Below, we’ve included links free samples of the overlooked books discussed on the show. We will add free samples of your favorite overlooked books as well.

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The New York Times Book Review has released its annual list of the 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the year.

Here’s more about the list: “The annual special Children’s Book section will run in the November 13 Sunday Times Book Review and will feature the 10 books, which a panel of judges selected from among the several thousand children’s books published this year. Lists of past winners of the Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award can be found on NYTimes.com/Books, along with a slide show of this year’s winners.”

Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the winners. If you are looking for more books to sample, follow these links for free samples from the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Shortlist, the National Book Award finalist the Business Book of the Year Shortlist, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction Longlist, the Best Thrillers of the Year the 2011 Hugo Award Nominees, and the Man Asian Literary Prize Longlist.

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The National Book Award finalists were revealed today on the Think Out Loud radio show. We live blogged all the action. Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the finalists.

Here’s more about the announcement: “The twenty Finalists for the 62nd National Book Awards will be announced on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s morning radio program, Think Out Loud, in front of a live audience at the new Literary Arts Center in Portland, Oregon.”

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