Book of the Week (5/18/2020)

You & Me: Reflections on Becoming Your Dad by Dan Szczesny (Concord, N.H.: Hobblebush Books, 2020).

NH author Dan Szczesny's newest book, "You & Me" consists of fifty brief essays ruminating on the first five years of Uma's life. Dan writes not only of the big moments, like leaving the hospital, first steps, losing teeth, but also of everything in between - strolling downtown on lazy afternoons, dressing paper dolls, and constructing caves from laundry baskets.-- Publisher's blurb

Join Dan for a virtual author event via Zoom webinar hosted by Gibson's Bookstore on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 6 pm EST to discuss his newest book!

From Gibson's Bookstore:

Please note that registration serves only to deter casual zoom-bombers, and does not guarantee a spot if the meeting reaches capacity (100). The software fills the meeting room based on time of arrival, not registration date. A registration link can be found here: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8115893855507/WN_dE_Vht-FQv6LgtOmX4yIWw

Book of the Week (5/11/2020)

Yet Today by Anthony Caplan (Henniker, NH: Hope Mountain Press, 2020).

The Fall of Polite by Sam Kench (Independently published, 2020).

Yet Today:

School's out for summer, and that's when Gillum Kaosky heads for the exits. Poised somewhere between neediness and nothingness, Kaosky sets out for summer adventures. Gillum is a Spanish teacher. He's been married for twenty years and has three children with his wife Sibyl. They have raised their family on a farm in central New Hampshire. But this summer, Gillum lands a job that will change everything. Gillum's summer job is wire-tapping the Dominican crime families responsible for bringing heroin and fentanyl into northern New England. The secret links that connect us all are made visible. Nothing remains the same, and love does not always conquer all, in this poignant story of one American family. -- Publisher's blurb

The Fall of Polite:

In a freshly lawless New England in the dead of winter…A bloodied and barefoot 17-year-old, grieving the loss of her father, trudges around a smoldering pileup on the road out of town. She’s endeavoring the 120 mile trek to her only living family member through blizzard conditions…A once kind-hearted lumberjack splits a teenager’s nose in half with the rim of a metal gas can. Since the day his family was slaughtered before his eyes, he’s been consumed with an undying fury that can only be quelled through acts of violence…A two-time college-dropout, trying to do good, howls in agony as her face is slashed with a razor-blade. The crackhead who did the deed is taking back her five-year-old child who the drop-out was trying to protect after finding him abandoned in a dumpster…Anyone wishing to live must harden and adapt to the new rules of a world post-fall of polite. This dangerous new world will make you into a survivor… or a corpse. -- Publisher's blurb

Join these two NH authors for a virtual event hosted by Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, May 14th, 2020 at 6 pm EST to discuss their new books.

From Gibson's Bookstore: We will be hosting Anthony and Sam via ZOOM videoconferencing. ZOOM is free for audience members to use and requires no logins or registrations. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with ZOOM ahead of time. A ZOOM widget (computer) or app (smartphone) and an internet connection are required to participate. There is no admittance fee to attend this virtual event. Registration link is here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_W06HasVPT2CngA0d0vc-Sg Please note that registration serves only to deter casual zoom-bombers, and does not guarantee a spot if the meeting reaches capacity (100 people). The software fills the meeting room based on time of arrival, not registration date.

Book of the Week (5/4/2020)

Toward the Light: A Thriller by Bonnar Spring (Sarasota, FL: Oceanview Publishing, 2020).

NH author Bonnar Spring has written her first novel that is perfect for readers who appreciate a strong female protagonist who faces many challenges and unsettling dangers.

"Luz Concepcion returns to Guatemala to murder Martin Benavides, the man who destroyed her family. Benavides, who rose from insurgent fighter to president, controls a major drug network. Richard Clement became Luz's resettlement officer when she was evacuated to the U.S. He now works for the CIA, which has its own reasons for eliminating Benavides. Richard's team persuades Luz to pursue a job as nanny to Benavides' grandson, Cesar, a lonely child with an absentee playboy father.

The Guatemala contact for her mission is Evan McManus, an expat painter who pursues Luz, hoping to persuade her to model for him--and more. Luz initially spurns his advances, but her first terrifying encounter with Martin Benavides propels her into his arms. Complicating matters, Luz conceals from all sides her clandestine contact with her surviving cousin, Antonio Torres, a guerrilla leader fighting the government propped up by the Benavides and their drug money."-Publisher's blurb

NH Poetry: Easter sunrise service here – six am

Photograph by Felicia Martin

Maren Tirabassi  was a local church pastor in the United Church of Christ for thirty-seven years in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

Today's poem is "Easter sunrise service here – six am"

NH Poetry: Forms of the Human

Photograph by Felicia Martin

Richard Eberhart (1904-2005)  held the position of poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1959-1961 and served as New Hampshire's poet laureate from 1979-1984.

Today's poem is "Forms of the Human"