Whether you're at the track or sitting down with family tomorrow (or both), we hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

To kick off the holiday shopping season this year, Chin Music Press has decided to help KARES, a group that supports displaced writers, by donating $5 for each copy of Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? and Last of the Red Hot Poppas sold in our store from today through Mardi Gras.

We're very proud of both of these books not only because of the stories inside but because of their physical beauty. These are little literary objects that make the perfect gift for someone who cares about the future of the Gulf Coast and NOLA. Here's what the critics think:

“So lovely to look at, so pleasant to hold, with a bit of intrique or insight on every page.” — The Times-Picayune on Do You Know

"Jason Berry, quintessential Louisiana insider and witty chronicler of what passes for morality in the halls of power, has concocted a tantalizing mix of comic misdemeanors and serious criminal activity." — Valerie Martin on Poppas

One more reason to buy a book from our Chin Music store (besides the good feeling you get when you support small-press publishing) is that this may be the last chance to get a first edition Do You Know. We printed 6,000 and have about 200 left. So bibliophiles, head directly to our store and know that proceeds from your purchase will go to helping writers in New Orleans.

Check out more photos of the books behind the cut.

Poppas includes a beautifully illustrated sleeve that unfolds into a poster of the main characters in the book. The artwork was done by New Orleanian Leslie Staub, who composed the piece in her post-Katrina home of Durham, NC.

We reproduced several 19-Century engravings of New Orleans in Do You Know.