Book of the Week (5/10/2021)

The History of Wonderwell: The House and the Family that Loved and Built It by Megan Carnarius (Boulder, CO: Rosehip Press, 2021).

Wonderwell is an historic property in Springfield NH, built in 1911 as a summer home for the Stoddard family. Since 2011, the house has become a sacred home for the practice and study of Tibetan Buddhism by the Natural Dharma Fellowship organization. Wonderwell is named for the fertile well that always produced water on the site, even during times of drought.

The couple that built Wonderwell in 1911 lived in the era of transition from horse to car, oil lamps to electricity, and mail to telephones. This book about Wonderwell highlights the family’s time with this property, with historic photos, artifacts, and stories. -- Publisher's blurb.

Learn more about the historical property at: https://naturaldharma.org/wonderwell-mountain-refuge/.

Need More Poetry?

Detail, the Poetry Gallery at LC

If you are sad to have come to the end of National Poetry Month take heart. The Library of Congress maintains an Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature where you can listen to a wide variety of poets read their work. In April 2021 50 new poetry recordings were added. The list of new additions didn't include any Granite State poets, but a search of the archive will reward you with readings by Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Richard Eberhart, Robert Frost, Charles Simic, and Jane Kenyon.

Book of the Week (5/3/2021)

The Hummingbirds' Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wings by Sy Montgomery (New York: Atria Books, 2021).

"As one of the most beautiful and intriguing birds found in nature, hummingbirds fascinate people around the world. The lightest birds in the sky, hummingbirds are capable of incredible feats, such as flying backwards, diving at speeds of sixty-one MPH, and beating their wings more than sixty times a second. Miraculous creatures, they are also incredibly vulnerable when they first emerge from their eggs. That’s where Brenda Sherburn comes in.

With tenderness and patience, she rescues abandoned hummingbirds and nurses them back to health until they can fly away and live in the wild. In The Hummingbirds' Gift, the extraordinary care that Brenda provides her peanut-sized patients is revealed and, in the process, shows us just how truly amazing hummingbirds are. With Sy Montgomery’s signature “joyful passion” (Library Journal), and including sixteen pages of gorgeous color photos, this beautifully written and inspiring little book celebrates the profound gift that hummingbirds are to our planet and is the ultimate gift for nature lovers and bird watchers everywhere."-- Publisher's blurb

Join NH author Sy Montgomery on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 7:00 pm EST, online only via Zoom, presented by Gibson's Bookstore. Registration is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/152573245685

 

Celebrating Granite State Poets

There have been a lot of great poetry books recommended by wonderful Granite State Poets on our blog this past month as we celebrated National Poetry Month.We have compiled a bibliography of all the recommended titles (suitable for printing and taking along next time you visit your favorite local bookseller). 

Thanks to all the poets who made recommendations:

• Liz Ahl
  
• Barbara Bald 
• L. R. Berger  
  
• Bill Chatfield
  
• Robert Crawford  
  
• Amber Rose Crowtree
• Elliot DelSignore 
• Patricia Frisella 
• Midge Goldberg
• Marie Harris 
  
• Don Kimball 
• Rodger Martin
  
• Jimmy Pappas  
• Alexandria Peary  
  
• John Perrault  
• Eric Pinder 
• Kyle Potvin   
• Betsy Snider  
• Veronika Sokol 
• Dan Szczesny    
• Dianalee Velie 

NH Poetry: Covid Spring

Barbara Bald recommends Covid Spring: Granite State Pandemic Poems edited by Alexandria Peary (Hobblebush Books, 2020).

Covid Spring is an anthology of poems that in a bittersweet way captures just some of the experiences lived during the early stages of the 2020 Covid 19 pandemic. With well-crafted poems, it takes the reader on a roller coaster of emotions from the fear of empty shelves to the joy of having more time to spend with a young daughter. Covid Spring may make the reader cry, laugh or sit in silence to ponder how life has changed.

Barbara Bald is a poet from Alton, NH where she lives with her cat Catcher and some personable goldfish. She loves the outdoors, Native American philosophies and helping others who want to write, hone their craft. Her poetry collections include: Drive-Through Window, Running on Empty and Other Voices Other Lives.

This post is part of our celebration of National Poetry Month 2021 for which I asked New Hampshire poets to recommend books of poetry by Granite State poets. These titles are generally available from local booksellers and may be held in public libraries as well.