PACKED DAY for the 3rd Annual Philly Bookstore Crawl!
Book Signing with Tre Johnson and R. Eric Thomas, 12-2 PM
Join H&H for book signing and conversation with Tre Johnson and R. Eric Thomas! H&H will be celebrating the release of Johnson’s BLACK GENIUS: Essays on An American Legacy (July 29, 2025) and the two authors will be posted up in the shop signing copies and chatting with customers during shop hours from 12-2 PM!
ARC Signing & Giveaway with Eshani Surya, 4 PM
Later that afternoon, H&H Books is thrilled to welcome Eshani Surya to the shop to sign some advance review copies of her forthcoming book RAVISHING (November 11, 2025). Stop by for a chance to win one on crawl day, and we’ll be offering signed ARCs with a confirmed pre-order of RAVISHING while supplies last. For more details, contact H&H Books at orders@theheadandthehand.com.
Hot Wax Preview with M. L. Rio, 7 PM
Capping off the day, H&H is hosting M. L. Rio at 7 PM for a sneak preview reading of her new novel HOT WAX, coming out on September 9, 2025. There will be an audience Q&A and refreshments, as well as some early swag and copies of her books GRAVEYARD SHIFT: A NOVELLA and IF WE WERE VILLIANS available for signing! Due to limited seating, RSVP will be required for attendance.
About HOT WAX:
Summer, 1989: ten-year-old Suzanne is drawn like a magnet to her father’s forbidden world of electric guitars and tricked-out cars. When her mother remarries, she jumps at the chance to tag along on the concert tour that just might be Gil and the Kills’ wild ride to glory. But fame has sharper fangs than anybody realized, and as the band blazes up the charts, internal power struggles set Gil and his group on a collision course destined for a bloody reckoning—one shrouded in mystery and lore for decades to come.
The only witness to a desperate act of violence, Suzanne spends the next twenty-nine years trying to disappear. She trades the music and mayhem of her youth for the quiet of the suburbs and the company of her mild-mannered husband Rob. But when her father’s sudden death resurrects the troubled past she tried so hard to bury, she leaves it all behind and hits the road in search of answers. Hitching her fate and Gil’s beloved car to two vagabonds who call an old Airstream trailer home, she finds everything she thought she’d lost desire, adventure, and the woman she once wanted to be. But Rob refuses to let her go. Determined to bring her back where she belongs, he chases her across the country—and drives her to a desperation all her own.
Drenched in knock-down drag-out rock and roll, Hot Wax is a raucous, breakneck ride to hell and back—where getting lost might be the only way to find yourself and save your soul.
About the Authors:
Tre Johnson was born in Trenton, NJ and now finds himself in Philadelphia, where he writes with a focus on race, culture and politics. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Vox, The New York Times, Slate, Vanity Fair, The Grio, and other outlets. He has appeared to provide media commentary on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon; CBS Morning Show; PBS News Hour, NPR’s Morning Edition, and other programs. In addition to writing, Tre is a career educator, beginning working both inside and outside in the classroom as a teacher and eventually as a leader in the sector.
R. Eric Thomas (he/him) is a national bestselling author, screenwriter, and playwright. He is also the Eric of Asking Eric, the popular nationally syndicated daily advice column found in over 100 newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He wrote on the Peabody Award-winning series Dickinson (AppleTV+) and Better Things (FX) and is currently developing his own projects for film and TV. His memoir, HERE FOR IT, OR HOW TO SAVE YOUR SOUL IN AMERICA, was featured on Today as a Read With Jenna club pick. His YA novel debut, KINGS OF B’MORE, was named a 2023 Stonewall Honor book by the American Library Association. Other books include RECLAIMING HER TIME: THE POWER OF MAXINE WATERS, AND CONGRATULATIONS, THE BEST IS OVER!, an instant USA Today bestseller. Eric is also the long-running host of The Moth StorySlams in Philadelphia, and has been heard multiple times on The Moth Radio Hour, NPR’s Fresh Air, All Things Considered, Snap Judgement and Pop Culture Happy Hour. Website: rericthomas.com
Eshani Surya is a disabled, brown writer interested in how we share love while navigating the complications, trauma, and radical self-acceptance inherent to marginalization. Her novel, RAVISHING, will be published by Roxane Gay Books/Grove Atlantic.
M. L. Rio has been an actor, a bookseller, an academic, and a music writer. An avid road-tripper and record collector, when she’s not on the hunt for her next big score, she lives in South Philadelphia with the world’s best road dog, Marlowe. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her bestselling first novel, IF WE WERE VILLAINS, has been published in 22 countries. Her first novella, GRAVEYARD SHIFT, was a USA Today and Sunday Times bestseller.