***Before we dive into our post about this weekend’s exciting two-year anniversary hidden book, we wanted to share a reminder that we are fundraising for book-hiding and book-sharing in 2024! If you can help us, we would be so grateful for your support and donations! (and if you’ve already donated, thank you so much for supporting our work!!!)***

DONATE NOW! 🙂

Now… onward to info about this weekend’s hidden book 🙂

About the book, from Tor/Macmillan:

“In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.“

About the Author, TJ Klune:

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it’s important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

(Gnome-aside: TJ also happens to be a founding board member of the Tucson Tome Gnome, so we’re super excited to share his book with you all this month!!!)

Why I selected In the Lives of Puppets for the September 2023 Giveaway:

• If you all have been following me for a while, you know this Gnome loves ALL things TJ Klune. His books are like being wrapped up a delightful and comforting blanket – perfect for fall cozy reading.
• RAMBO & NURSE RATCHED!!! Oh my gosh, these characters and their dynamic are everything. Is it wrong that I wish I could steal them away and bring them to my house? I desperately want (need?) a sentient, talking roomba in my life.
• I love that the main character in this book (Vic) is asexual. It’s great to see that kind of representation in mainstream literature – it’s often sorely lacking.
• This book has way more science-fiction/futuristic vibes and elements than you might expect after reading the description, and this gnome is here for it. This is a wonderfully fun (also disturbing?) vision for the future – incredibly well-conceived and written.
• This is found family at it’s finest! This is what TJ is known for, so we’re not surprised at how lovely this story is. When the robot uprising happens, this gives us hope that we can still build a found family ❤