Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page; you can look over at her site to find links to other readers’ mailboxes.
I’ve had four books come into my hands this week, and none of those were via the mailbox 
Three of these were all added to my library on Wednesday of last week, which was a busy and fun bookish day for me.
I met with Stona Fitch, founder of the Concord Free Press, the publisher that is inspiring charitable donations by giving away their books. I wrote a bit about the Concord Free Press when I attended the launch event for their latest release, Gregory Maguire’s The Next Queen of Heaven. I understood what they are doing, but wanted to know more about how they came to be … and where they hope to go. I’ll share Stona’s thoughts in an upcoming post; in the meantime, he shared the 
Concord Free Press’ debut novel with me, his Give + Take. His generosity means I’ll have another give away after I’ve read and reviewed it.
I took full advantage of the fact that I had a babysitter for the afternoon and evening! From my meeting with Stona I took the T into Harvard Square and spent about an hour shopping before meeting up with Marie, aka the Boston Bibliophile.
Marie is exactly how I imagined the person behind the Boston Bibliophile to be (and if you’re not yet reading her blog, hop on over – great literary fiction reviews, graphic novels, and Jewish-interest fiction; honest commentary). We had a nice dinner of Vietnamese noodle soup. I had never eaten this type of food before, and was a little unsure of the “rare beef” described in the menu. Marie told me not to worry, by the time it sits in the hot broth for a while it’s fully cooked – she was right! The soup was tasty, warm, and filling; the perfect recipe for a cold and rainy evening.
From Le’s we walked around a bit, then went to the Harvard Bookstore for their December Winedown. Each month the store has a relaxing event where the buyers and booksellers share their favorite books with patrons. November featured cookbooks, and one of the booksellers made eclairs; I can’t speak for Marie, but you can bet I won’t be missing the next cooking demo!
The December Winedown invited us to the store as “Harvard Book Store General Manager Carole Horne, Head Buyer Megan Sullivan, Backlist Buyer Churchill Pitts, and Children’s Buyer Kari Patch highlight the best and most beautiful books of the year.” Also on tap was an assortment of cookies and wine – a tasty after dinner treat. Everyone who pre-registered received a gift bag with a list of the books that were highlighted by the store’s buyers, a Harvard Books magnet, and a book! That’s right, the store shared their books – I got an Advanced Reading Copy of Chang-Rae Lee’s The Surrendered! Coming in March from Riverhead Books, it’s a story of love and war, spanning thirty years. 
Each buyer spoke for about ten minutes about the books they wanted to draw our attention to (and when I say “our” attention, I mean the 100+ people who attended the event). They had conveniently stocked a table with the books they were highlighting, and were available for Q&A and further discussion after the event. I purchased Carmen Agra Deedy’s children’s picture book 14 Cows for America (available now from Peachtree Publishers). This is the story of people in a Kenyan village, who, heartsick over the 9/11 attacks in America, offer “sacred, healing cows [which] can never be slaughtered.” I’ve read fantastic reviews of this across the blogosphere, and will now add my praise of this heartwarming story.
Lastly, I purchased a cookbook to support Gaining Ground, a local organization that farms on the Thoreau Birthplace in Concord and donates all produce to food pantries and hunger relief programs. The cookbook is beautiful, and is organized according to New England’s seasonal produce calendar. I love these community cookbooks, they always seem to have the best tried-and-true recipes. The Gaining Ground cookbook, of gift-giving quality, is available to order.
What’s new on your bookcase this week?
The Winedown sounds like so much fun, especially since you got to attend with a blogging buddy! I’m very impressed that you only purchased two books.
It sounds like you had an amazing time at the Winedown and hanging out with Marie! She’s such a neat person and I’d love to get the chance to meet her someday. It looks like you got some really good books this week as well and I will be interested in hearing more about them and about the Concord Free Press.
Dawn,
Sounds like a great time. On the topic of mailbox mondays I also got books in the mail (although I’m not a book reviewer, so I have to pay for them). I use BookSwim – its kinda like Netflix, but for books. Have you heard of them or used them before?
-C
I would love a bowl of the soup right now! How nice that you and Marie were able to meet up. I think the Gaining Ground Table sounds wonderful.
Kathy – I had a really fun evening with Marie! Re: book buying, I’m trying to exercise restraint and buy for other people this time of year (one for him, one for me, one for her, one for me)
zibilee – Concord Free Press is a really neat concept in publishing; I was happy to learn more about them.
Collette – none of my books in this week’s Mailbox were “free” for review … two I purchased, one was a customer appreciation gift (available to anyone at the Winedown), one was part of Concord Free Press’ regular distribution. It’s a very cool concept, click on the link in my post to learn more about their “pay it forward” idea for generosity-based publishing.
Mary – I’m so glad Marie explained the soup to me, and didn’t think I was too high maintenance. In fact, I asked for the soup to be served without cilantro; I was a very white glove customer that evening
OK, to me that sounds like a dream day. How cool that you got to meet Marie! There is literally a whole nest of book bloggers up there in your area. You could have a big party! My one and only blogger that I’ve met face to face is Jennifer from Literate Housewife. But I do hope someday I can meet Heather! You’d think we could figure it out, since we live in the same city! I loved hearing about your day.
LOL
I’m glad you enjoyed Le’s– Vietnamese noodle soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. 
and I’m really glad you wanted to order the soup without cilantro because you showed it can be done! 
I had a great time with you Dawn and I hope we can do it again someday!
What a fun event! I swear, for a college town, San Luis Obispo can be a literary wasteland. We never have anything fun. Yes, I’m whining.
Love the name “Winedown”… great event and great company, too. The perfect evening!
What a great sounding evening! I am on Harvard’s email list but never even noticed this event although I did enjoy an author event there with Kristin Cashore last month. Maybe I will join you in January.
It was great to meet you! I’m glad that you enjoyed the winedown. I love the chance to meet other bloggers.
That sounds like a great event. I miss that bookstore! OK, so those are some great books and you got a book in the gift bag…that was a great trip indeed!
Sounds like you and Marie had a great time.
I love the cover for Give+Take.
I have The Surrendered on my TBR pile, along with a previous book by the same author, A Gesture Life. As a sales rep for Peachtree, 14 Cows for America has been a wonderful book to sell this fall. I’m glad you got a personal copy. It’s very moving.
sounds like a good time! and you had a babysitter for the afternoon and evening! bonus! =)
What fun! It’s awesome that you got to hang out with Marie.
That sounds like one fabulous bookish day — babysitter and everything! The Winedown is wonderful event. How can I live near a college town that (1) has no independent bookstore and (2) has no book events. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH (jealousy fit is over now).
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