Agent to the Stars (John Scalzi)

I like most of Scalzi's work, and when I heard about this "practice novel" I knew I needed to read it. It is obviously amateurish compared with his later work. There's no serious character development and not much in the way of logic here. Aliens who have learned of Earth from our broadcasts want to meet and be accepted by humans because they're really nice guys, but they are really ugly and they smell bad. So, naturally, they come to a Hollywood ad agency to figure out a plan to get us to accept them. Coincidences pile up, aliens behave like humans, and the ending, while inevitable from the start, strains credulity past the breaking point. Still, it's fun. I enjoyed looking back at this first novel from an established leader in the field.