Galleys and advance reading copies, or ARCs, of forthcoming books are more than just perks of working in the book business. "For booksellers, galleys are our lifeblood," said Betsy Burton, co-owner of King's English in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Without galleys, we'd be behind the curve on all books. They're invaluable for booksellers. And every bookseller I know reads galleys in vast quantities."

Since everyone is always looking for a heads-up about the next wonderful book on the horizon (or a warning shot about an upcoming dud), we decided to check in periodically with booksellers and publisher reps to find out what galley made it to the top of their heap. (Our only stipulation is reps can't promote titles they're selling.)

Betsy Burton, owner, King's English, Salt Lake City Utah

Rules for Old Men Waiting by Peter Pouncey (Random, Apr.). "I'd never heard of him, but it had some stunning blurbs on it [from Frank McCourt, Shirley Hazzard, Norman Mailer and others] and it was absolutely brilliant. It took my breath away. It's about a man on the far side of old age who just lived through the death of his wife and is winter-bound. He makes survival rules for himself to keep him moving. He begins to write a book on WWI and violence, and the book becomes a way for him to investigate and reflect on his own life. It's very understated and, in an odd way, not depressing. I couldn't put it down. It seemed so perfectly done, I was astonished that it was a first novel. It made me think a lot of my own family and really see some of the people in my life in new ways, and only the best fiction does that."

Mary Vernau, co-owner, Jay & Mary's Little Professor, Troy, Ohio

"I'm really gung-ho about Gregory Galloway's debut novel, As Simple as Snow (Putnam, Mar.). It's a uniquely written mystery set in high school. A guy befriends this troubled girl named Anna, and after she disappears, he starts getting cryptic shortwave radio messages from her. What he and the readers don't know is whether these messages to him are from her in hiding or if she's drowned and sending messages from beyond the grave. There are clues within the novel that the reader has to search out and decipher. Putnam's put together a very cool Web site [www.assimpleassnow.com], where readers can read additional clues, cryptic codes and messages about what's going on. Think Blair Witch Project's Web site for hip literary folk. I'm kind of obsessed about this book. We usually order two copies of first books, but I'm ordering 25 of As Simple as Snow."

Jason Gobble, Penguin Putnam Group sales rep

"The History of Love by Nicole Krauss [Norton, May] is a novel to remind you of the power of fiction—funny and sad and devastating and hopeful, often all at the same time. The plot is clever and the writing is pitch-perfect, but it's the characters who work their way into your heart. Alma is 14, lonely and waiting for life to start. Leo is 80, lonely and doing his best to survive. It takes a long-lost novel, also called The History of Love, to draw them together. It brings to mind at various times Everything Is Illuminated, Life of PI and even Shadow of the Wind, yet uniquely itself. This is a lovely novel—one that lingers long after the last page is turned."

Lynn Roberts, manager, Square Books, Oxford, Miss.

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson. (Harcourt, Apr.). "I have 10 pages to go and I really want to go home right now and finish it. I liked [Winterson] a lot when she first started out. I just loved The Passion and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. But then she lost me. I don't know if it was that she got too successful, but she started going in a different route. Her new novel is beautifully written. An orphaned girl is sent off to live with the keeper of a lighthouse in a teeny, formerly prosperous town called Salts, which is now experiencing hard times. The lighthouse is automated in the 1990s and she and the lighthouse keeper are sent off. This is a small novel; I call it a two-nighter. Not even that if you have a long night. But there's so much storytelling within the book with many generations worth of stories. It's totally lyrical and rhythmic and has a great sense of light and dark."

Dean James, manager, Murder by the Book, Houston, Tex.

The Water Room by Christopher Fowler (Bantam, July). "This second book in the series about two elderly British detectives who work for a special unit of the London police is a real throwback to classic detective stories. Very reminiscent of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, but with a very modern spin. It has the richness of detail and character of a P.D. James mystery. The first book, Full Dark House, came out last year and was one of my favorite books of the year. The Water Room is terrific: great characters, great writing and lots of atmosphere. Fowler is very good at constructing a mystery, unlike a lot of new mysteries that don't create the puzzles like the classic mysteries did. An old friend comes to the two detectives about the death of his elderly sister who drowned sitting in her dry basement. It's a variation on those old locked room mysteries."

Booksellers or reps who'd like to participate in future "What Galley Are You Reading" reports should e-mail KHowell@reedbusiness.com.