We recently wrote about the advance buzz for Random House’s debut novel, The Gargoyle. We just got an interesting comment on the post from Jana about how readers may respond to the graphic descriptions of sex and painful injuries in the first 75 pages.

You can judge it for yourself; Random House will be giving away copies of the ARC at ALA, booth #2534. To get a copy, you will need a coupon from Library Journal’s “Aisle by Aisle Guide” (you’ll see people handing them out at the show).

And, while we’re thinking about galleys at ALA, remind yourself to go to the Hachette booth to pick up a copy of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. You can get the ARC in exchange for a card swipe. Hachette’s booth is #2767. Dewey is one of my favorites of the Fall, but don’t just take my word for it:

I adored Dewey. There are few books that are as memorable; Dewey the Small Town Library Cat will be one of those books that will be etched in my memory for a lifetime. — Jennifer Teitelbaum, Librarian, San Diego County Library

If you’re going to MidWinter and you still haven’t gotten your tickets to the FOLUSA Gala Author Tea, tomorrow is the last day to order them online. The Tea is scheduled for Monday, January 14, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., at the Doubletree Hotel.

Of course, author programming tends to be rather thin at ALAMW, but FOLUSA can always be counted on for a strong event. This year, I am particularly excited that Meg Rosoff is one of the five authors on the program. Her debut Y.A. novel How I Live Now won the 2005 Printz Award. Talk about a book that haunts you for weeks, this is it. Her second Y.A. title, Just in Case, was one of E! Online’s “Books You Must Read” picks of 2007. Perhaps prophetically, the article noted, “Adult readers probably ignored Case because it came out as a Young Adult novel.” Rosoff’s next book will indeed be published as an adult title:

• Hardcover: $23.95
• Publisher: Viking Adult (January 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0670018449
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018444

FOLUSA recently announced that Barbara Taylor Bradford, who was originally scheduled to be on the progam, will not be able to attend, but each attendee will receive a free copy of her latest book, The Heir.

The other authors scheduled for the panel are:

• Russell Banks,
• Ann Hood,
• Sue Miller and
• Camilla Gibb.

Fans of The Book Reporter Network (which includes ReadingGroupGuides.com as well as several other useful books sites) and its founder Carol Fitzgerald (some of you probably feel you already know her from her chatty and personable blog) can catch her in person at MidWinter as she moderates a program on Reading Groups (see below).

The program also features “Harper’s own Book Club Girl, Jennifer Hart.” The Book Club Girl blog was profiled in the Sept. 21st issue of the e-newsletter for booksellers, Shelf Awareness. Launched in April,  it was created primarily to promote HarperCollins titles, but also features books from other publishers. As Hart tells Shelf Awareness, “we knew if that was all the site had it wouldn’t gain the trust of consumers.”

Below is the copy from ALA, slightly amended (a few items have changed since the program was originally published):

Books Build Friendships
Monday, January 14, 8:00-9:00 am
Pennsylvania Convention Center 201 B/C

A conversation about books, reading groups, and relationships that are formed and strengthened through the experience of reading, moderated by Carol Fitzgerald (pictured) and featuring:

Harper’s own Book Club Girl, Jennifer Hart (VP/Associate Publisher at Perennial, Ecco),

Shireen Dodson is Special Assistant to the Director, Office of Civil Rights attaché U.S. Department of State. Her second book, One Hundred Books for Girls to Grow On, offers a selection of both new and classic titles.

Victoria Lustbader is a former editor for both Harper & Row and Berkley/Putnam, who became an author herself with her first novel, Hidden, published in June of 2006 by Forge Books.

Elizabeth Noble is the author of the bestsellers The Reading Group, published in the UK in 2004 where it went straight to the number-one position in The Sunday Times’s Fiction Bestseller list, and 2005’s The Friendship Test.

Carol Fitgerald spent 17 years at Mademoiselle magazine in Promotion and Marketing, and is founder of BookReporter.com, a book review and information site.