Happy 34th book giveaway! To celebrate Pride Month, last weekend I hid 30 copies of Light from Uncommon Stars – a book featuring my favorite mashup of genres – scifi, fantasy, and contemporary. As Kirkus Reviews noted, “A runaway trans girl, a harvester of souls for hell, and a family of refugee alien doughnut makers collide in unexpected and wondrous ways… Musicians selling their souls to hell shouldn’t fit in the same story as alien doughnut makers building a stargate, but somehow all these elements combine to create something wild and beautiful. Filled with mouthwatering descriptions of food and heart-swelling meditations on music, this novel is an unexpected gift.”

The 10 books I hid downtown were sponsored by a “Downtown Tucson For Everyone” grant through Downtown Tucson Partnership’s Social Justice Committee! This program awards grants to events and programs presented in Downtown Tucson that demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion – and reach underserved communities. Thank you to the Downtown Tucson Partnership and HSL Properties for sponsoring this program and supporting the Tome Gnome. They have been supporting us since February, and this month (June) was our last month of hiding 10 books a month downtown with their sponsorship! (I mean, I’m still going to hide some books downtown anyway; fear not!). And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that future grant opportunities might come to fruition!

If you’re new here and didn’t get a chance to find a book last Sunday, some of our amazing guest gnomes will be hiding an additional 15 books of each month’s selection (on top of the 30) around Tucson after the book-hiding weekend. So keep your eyes peeled over the next week or two, as 15 more copies of Light from Uncommon Stars will be hidden around town! I do not post any hint photos of these books, as they are truly meant to be a random act of kindness for those who happen upon them. Yay for random bookish joy and delight (and a special shoutout to the guest gnomes who are helping me hide those extra copies this month!!!).

We have a special, off-cycle hiding coming soon in early July (in addition to our next monthly book-hiding at the end of July!), and I can’t wait to share it with you! So keep an eye out here, on Instagram, and on our Facebook page for updates.