The Chicago Review of Books turns one year old today. Since February 1, 2016, we’ve covered more than 300 books, published over 60 writers from Chicago to Pakistan, founded our own literary magazine, sponsored a local reading series, partnered with another literary (not-a-reading) series for live streaming, and celebrated Chicago’s writers with our annual awards.
We’ve got a lot planned for 2017 as we continue to grow and find new ways to support diverse writers, genres, settings, and ideas in literature, but we’ll keep those plans a secret for now (except to announce our new literary satire series).
Today, we’re just giving away free books with the help of three Chicago presses: Curbside Splendor, University of Chicago Press, and Haymarket Books. To win a free book bundle, all you have to do is post a creative photo of yourself with a book you’re reading or recommending on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, tag us, and use the hashtag of your choice below. And yes…you may enter all 4 giveaways! We’ll announce the winners tomorrow morning (Thursday, February 2) at 10 a.m. CT, so make sure you’ve entered the giveaway(s) you’re interested in by 9 a.m. CT.
Note: Winners must live in the contiguous (lower 48) United States.
Curbside Splendor #BodyHorror Giveaway
Body Horror (out April 11 by Anne Elizabeth Moore) was one of our “10 Books to Help You Survive the First 6 Months of Trump” earlier this year. “Examining horror films, fast fashion, labor trafficking, and more, Anne Elizabeth Moore tackles the brutality done unto women’s bodies worldwide,” says Curbside. The winner of this bundle will also receive a free copy of The Miles Between Me by Chicago author Toni Nealie, which we loved, and which was shortlisted for the 2016 Chicago Review of Books Award for Nonfiction. Use the hashtag #BodyHorror to enter when you post a creative photo of yourself with a book and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. (You may enter all 4 giveaways!)
Curbside Splendor #ArsBotanica Giveaway
Ars Botanica (out July 11 by Tim Taranto) is a truly unique and moving memoir that celebrates the natural world, written as letters to the author’s unborn son. Swamplandia! author Karen Russell called it “a gorgeous hybrid … an introduction to life on this planet, a primer for how to live, a meditation on family. It also winds up being a beautiful and highly personal field guide to the natural world.” The winner of this bundle will also receive a free copy of The Miles Between Me by Chicago author Toni Nealie, which we loved, and which was shortlisted for the 2016 Chicago Review of Books Award for Nonfiction. Use the hashtag #ArsBotanica to enter when you post a creative photo of yourself with a book and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. (You may enter all 4 giveaways!)
University of Chicago Press #OutOfTheWreck Giveaway
Out of the Wreck I Rise is a one-of-a-kind “literary companion to recovery,” filled with the wisdom of dozens of writers on addiction and recovery. Neil Steinberg is of course everyone’s favorite columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, and Sara Bader is the creator of Quotenik. Here’s our review of the book. The winner of this bundle will also receive a free copy of Big Bosses: A Working Girl’s Memoir of Jazz Age America by Althea McDowell Altemus. “In her memoir, [Althea] vividly recounts her life as a secretary for prominent (but thinly disguised) employers in Chicago, Miami, and New York during the late teens and 1920s,” says UCP. Use the hashtag #OutOfTheWreck to enter when you post a creative photo of yourself with a book and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. (You may enter all 4 giveaways!)
Haymarket Books #BreakBeat Giveaway
“A first-of-its-kind anthology of hip-hop poetica written for and by the people,” The BreakBeat Poets has been hugely influential in Chicago and beyond over the past two years. Edited by three Chicagoans (Kevin Coval, Nate Marshall, and Quraysh Ali Lansana) the anthology features 78 poets “who are creating the next and now movement(s) in American letters.” The winner of this bundle will also receive a free copy of Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter by Craig Hodges with Rory Fanning. “In this powerful, passionate, and captivating memoir, Hodges shares the stories—including encounters with Nelson Mandela, Coretta Scott King, Jim Brown, R. Kelly, Michael Jordan, and others—from his lifelong fight for equality for African Americans,” says Haymarket. Use the hashtag #BreakBeat to enter when you post a creative photo of yourself with a book and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. (You may enter all 4 giveaways!)
Congratulations and Many Happy Returns of the Day!