Hump Day Giveaway: Maile Meloy, Sloane Crosley, Rosanne Cash and Doug Dorst

Welcome to Hump Day at The Quivering Pen.  It's the first day of September, the leaves are crisping, the apples are in the cider press, and the squeal of school-bus brakes just outside your window is waking you up way too early every morning.  The time has come to pack away the SPF 15 and think about pulling on that woolen full-body long underwear.  And, of course, building a new stack of Winter Reading now that the Beach Books are but a distant, fizzy memory.

To help you get started on some cozy fireside reading, I'm teaming up with Penguin Books for a special mid-week giveaway.  To celebrate the launch of Penguin's new monthly radio show The Literary Life, we're giving away your choice of one of four great must-reads:  Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy, The Surf Guru by Doug Dorst, How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley, and Composed by Rosanne Cash.

To enter, send an e-mail to thequiveringpen@gmail.com with the words "The Literary Life" in the subject line.  In the body of the e-mail, let me know which of the four books you'd like to enjoy this winter.  But hurry because this is a short-notice contest and will end at midnight Friday, Sept. 3.  One entry per person, please.

To learn more about what these four writers went through to get the words on the page, head on over to The Literary Life broadcast.  The segments are in short, bite-sized chunks and feature some insightful interviews with all four authors.  The audio's a bit dodgy at times, but I'm told the Penguin engineers are working that out as best they can (those flipper-wings make it a challenge, though!).

And while you're in the mood for contests, don't forget about this week's Friday Freebie: Frederick Reuss' novel A Geography of Secrets.  For more details on how to enter, click here.