The Akashic Books series of all original noir fiction anthologies set in cities around America, which began in 2004 with Brooklyn, has at last touched down here in Pittsburgh.  This 237 page softcover volume contains brand-new stories by Lila Shaara, Terrance Hayes, Stewart O'Nan, Nanvy Martin, Paul Lee, K.C. Constantine, Kathleen George, Rebecca Drake, Carlos Antonio Delgado, Hilary Masters, Kathryn Miller Haines, Aubrey Hirsch, Rom Lipiinski, and Reginald McKnight, each of whom pen a dark tale of crime set in a venerable Pittsburgh area neighborhood.

Read this to learn more:  http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781617750762/office-girl.aspx

We didn't see this one coming, but were happy to get it in!  Inner Ear Studios was THE recording studio of the DC punk/hardcore/alt music scene starting in the late 1970s, through the 1980s, and beyond, recording the who's who of DC area bands and, as its reputation grew,  attracting musicians from around the country.  The Inner Ear of Don Zientara celebrates the close to half a century in which Don Zientara piloted this institution. Taking the form of a hefty, 160 page, 11" x 10" hardcover, coffee-table book, it provides an oral history of the studio featuring testimonials from members of Fugazi, Scream, Fire Party, Shudder to Think, Jawbox, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dismemberment Plan, as well as musicians like Kathleen Hanna, Henry Rollins and others, along with roughly 250 photographs (including some cool polaroids) in both color and black & white.

A great gift for anyone who was part of that scene.