This sampler is such a treat. In addition to the wonderful excerpt of upcoming books, each is prefaced by an essay from the author, which is the extra cherry on top. I cam for a look at the excerpt of Afterlife by Julia Alvarez and left very intrigued by the premise of Caroline Leavitt's With or Without You.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5 stars

Who doesn’t like early access to the newest books soon to be published by Algonquin Books? This is their Spring 2020 ‘reader’ issue. It features opening essays by the authors, and small excerpts from each book listed below. I do so enjoy getting a jump on adding these books to my TBR pile. I think the ones that I’m most interested in reading first are the books by Julia Alvarez, Jill McCorkle and Caroline Leavitt. I especially enjoyed Julia Alvarez’ essay about how her focus her new book, “Afterlife” differed from her earlier works.

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
On Sale April 2020

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
On Sale March 2020

Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle
On Sale June 2020

The Falling Woman by Richard Farrell
On Sale June 2020

The Lives of Edie Pritchard by Larry Watson
On Sale July 2020

A House Is a Body by Shruti Swamy
On Sale August 2020

With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt
On Sale August 2020

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; and the publisher, Algonquin Books for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start this review by sharing how much I am in awe of the Algonquin Books publications. They confidently support #ownvoice authors and help readers in understanding foreign countries, their cultures much better.

The Algonquin Reader provides excerpts of these publications:
* Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
* The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
* Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle
* The Falling Woman by Richard Farrell
* The Lives of Edie Pritchard by Larry Watson
* A House Is A Body by Shruti Swamy
* With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt

What made this collection so special for me was that before each of these excerpts, I would find an essay by the corresponding author where s/he shared some background on the book. A bit of childhood experience or general thoughts on the course of writing the novel.

I have enjoyed reading all the essays and have received perfect inspiration for my upcoming book acquisitions. Thank you!

This book is such a cool way to endorse and showcase some up and coming novels! Algonquin Books put together this mini-anthology that features 7 authors with original essays about the inspiration behind their new books AND a sneak peek at an excerpt from the book!

This was really fun to read. I often feel like the authors of books are some sort of alternate being who channeled their words onto paper through osmosis! But this book allowed those authors to be humanized and gave me a more heartfelt understanding of the 'why' behind the author's books and writing styles. I enjoyed reading about their experiences and how they played into their writing or steered them in completely different directions than they anticipated. The essays by these authors connected me to them and then presented me with their work in a very satisfying way.

Plus, I have 7 new books to add to my TBR!

This was my first experience with Algonquin's upcoming titles sampler and I really enjoyed it! I loved that each fiction sample had a short essay from the author discussing the inspiration for the novel, as well as providing a glimpse into what they believe the novel explores thematically. Of the seven fiction samples featured here, the ones that got me most excited to continue on were Julia Alvarez's Afterlife, Jill McCorkle's Hieroglyphics, Shruti Swamy's A House is a Body: Stories, and Caroline Leavitt's With or Without You. I also appreciated the wide variety in the type of literature Algonquin publishes shown here in this reader and look forward to reading more samples in the future (in addition to the aforementioned books, obviously)!

I've been reading The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and enjoying it very much, and so I came to Netgalley to see what else Algonquin had in store for 2020. The "Algonquin Reader" is such a great thing to do, for authors and readers alike. Thank you, Algonquin.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love this opportunity to read excerpts of new works from exciting authors and the inspiration behind each of them. It is a privilege!

Useful excerpts of upcoming titles from Algonquin... includes excerpt from new Alvarez and McCorkle novels.

Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGally for access to these excerpts! I really enjoyed reading them, especially Julia Alvarez's essay in the beginning. Looking forward to reading the books when they come out :)

I anticipate new books coming out in just the same way that kids anticipate those December holidays; I can't wait.  This reader has features seven intriguing entries, including one by Julia Alavarez, author of Afterlife, in it she talks about her family's escape from the Dominican Republic. This is followed by a chance to start reading her new novel. The Mountains Sing is about the Viet Nam war.  The author brings the children and women to life in this book.  Also featured are entries by Jill McCorke, Richard Farrell, Larry Watson, Shruti Swamy and Caroline Leavitt.  Each book excerpt is preceded by something that the author has written to introduce it. There is probably at least one title here that each reader will enjoy.  Can't wait for the pub dates.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.