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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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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While searching for reviews of a book, it is tough to sort through all the mixed Amazon reviews, publisher sites and mainstream critics. The Book Blogs Search will help you explore the work of hundreds of literary critics online–excluding results from other sites.

Check it out: “Looking for reviews of a book by real-life book bloggers? Tired of sifting through corporate sites in your regular Google search results? That’s why I created the Book Blogs custom search engine – all book bloggers, all the time! Whether you’re looking for other non-commercial reviews of a book you’ve just read, or want real readers’ opinions on a new book you’re considering, this is the place!”

If you want to include your book blog in the search engine, leave a comment at this link. Here is a sample search exploring book blogger content about Jesse Ball‘s heartbreaking fable, Curfew. (Via)