Book of the Week #30

Secrets of Truth and Beauty by Megan Frazer (New York: Disney/Hyperion, 2009)

In a starred review of this novel Publisher's Weekly said "In a beautifully written coming-of-age story, first-time author Frazer shows how an overweight teen gets her groove back."

This Friday, July 31st at 4pm, Megan Frazer will be talking about and signing her book at Water Street Bookstore. Ms. Frazer now lives in Maine, but she graduated from Oyster River High School where she was a student of Water Street's own Liz Whaley.

Book of the Week #29

Lucy's Summer written by Donald Hall and illustrated by Michael McCurdy (Boston: David R. Godine, 2008)

Donald Hall spent his childhood summers on the same farm where his mother Lucy and her sister Caroline had grown up. This book, illustrated with Michael Mucurdy's delightful handcolored scratchboard illustrations, shares with the reader stories about their childhood – a time when the July Fourth parade in Danbury--complete with flags, speeches, and ice cream--was the biggest celebration of the year.

Book of the Week #28

An Electrifying History: Public Service Co. of New Hampshire by Arthur M. Kenison (Manchester, NH: Oak Manor Publishing, 2004)

Arthur Kenison, a professor at St. Anselm College, has crafted a biography of the company that probably, given that most of my readers are in NH, provides the electricity powering the computer you are reading this on. A chronology and bibliography are included.

"The story of electricity consuming New Hampshire is a wonderful study of electricity and a parallel to the manner electricity was marketed throughout most of America. electricity's direct and vital connection to horse drawn
railroads, trolley cars, amusement parks, and resorts will surprise many.

An Electrifying History examines that introduction of electricity to New Hampshire; the builging or the controversial nuclear Seabrook Station; Public Service Company being forced into and then its emergence from bankruptcy; and the regulation and deregulation of electricity. At times, high drama
ensues." [from the cover]

George McGovern in NH Today

George S. McGovern recently published Abraham Lincoln: The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865 (Times Books, 2008) and will be in the Granite State today talking about this latest volume in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s American Presidents series.
Mr. McGovern will be at RiverRun in Portsmouth this morning and at Gibson's in Concord at 5:15 this afternoon.

Barbara Delinsky coming to Bayswater

Barbara Delinsky will be signing books at Bayswater Book Company on August 1 from 11:00am until 1:00pm.

Barabara Delinsky's announcement:

It's book signing time again. Saturday, August 1, is the date - Bayswater Book Company, in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, is the place. The signing coincides with the July 28 debut of the mass market paperback publication of The Secret Between Us, but Bayswater will also be selling my newest hardcover, While My Sister Sleeps, as well as others of my recent books. I'll start signing at 11:00 a.m. and continue until about 1:00 p.m.
Bayswater Books is at 23 Main Street, smack in the center of Center Harbor. If you'd like more information, feel free to call the owner, Michelle Taft, at (603) 253-8858, or email her at bayswaterbook@gmail.com. Moreover, if you can't make it on August 1, but would like to pre-order a personalized copy of While My Sister Sleeps, please call Michelle and she will take your information. She offers a 10% discount on pre-orders. I hope to see you on August 1!

Book of the Week #27

The Webster Lake Picture Book by Bill Cain (blurb.com, 2008)

This book is composed of beautiful color photos of Webster Lake in Franklin, NH. The author, who spent his childhood vacations at the lake now has his "own place on its shores." If you call the office and find that I am away, there is a good chance that I am enjoying one of these views (page 24 is a likely candidate).

Notes from my inbox

I've just gotten caught up on my email and discovered that there are some good events coming up, including two TONIGHT:

• New Hampshire author Guntis Goncarovs will be at the Fiske Free Library in Claremont on Thursday, July 9 at 6:00 PM to discuss his novel Convergence of Valor: The Men of the H.L. Hunley. Set in Charleston in 1864, Convergence of Valor is an historical adventure that follows the story of a German spy who becomes embroiled in the American Civil War when he stumbles upon an intriguing Confederate war machine. Books will be available for purchase the night of the program and will be signed by the author. For more information please call the library at 542-7017.
  
• Gibson's Bookstore in Concord will host Staycation Book Night with Chase Binder on Thursday, July 9, at 7 PM "Staying at home this year? No hikes up Kilimanjaro, no scuba diving in the Azores? Oh, well, maybe next year the economy will improve. In the meantime, join Chase Binder, travel writer for the Concord Monitor, as she discusses some of her favorite armchair travel books and travel memoirs. You can travel as far as your imagination can take you--and the trip is free! She will also be recommending the best resources for planning vacations closer to home--here in New Hampshire. The travel books recommended by Ms. Binder will be 20% off during the event."
  
• The email newsletter from WaterStreet Books included the news that Pulitzer-Prize winning author Richard Russo is coming to Exeter this August! Water Street Books will be hosting him at the Exeter Town Hall for an evening of conversation to celebrate the release of his new book, That Old Cape Magic. "Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Ticket price includes a copy of the book ($25.95), a seat in the audience, and a chance to have the book (and all your other Richard Russo titles) signed by the man himself. A portion of the ticket sales also goes to The Exeter Historical Society, which does good and important work in a town with as much historical significance as Exeter. They need our help and support for their preservation work. Don't need two copies of the book in one family? They are offering a family ticket. If you buy one ticket at the regular price, you can purchase a second ticket at $10 for admission only." The newsletter also mentioned that Dan Brown has a new book coming out in September and that they are "absolutely thrilled" to be the official source for signed copies of The Lost Symbol, due out on September 15th, 2009.
  
• To celebrate the 60th year of the National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation will present a book-a-day blog on the Fiction winners from 1950 to 2008. The blog will run from July 7th to September 21st, starting with Nelson Algren’s The Man With the Golden Arm, ending with Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country, and including works by Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Alice McDermott. Discover lesser known but equally talented National Book Award Fiction Winners such as Conrad Richter, Wright Morris, and Robb Forman Dew. Then, on September 21st, you will have a chance to select The Best of the National Book Awards Fiction and win two tickets to the 2009 National Book Awards by visiting the Foundation’s web site at www.nationalbook.org, this is the first time in its history the Awards will open to a public vote.

Book of the Week #26

State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey. (Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins, 2008)

I chose this title in honor of Independence Day. Most of the time people suggest that you read something because they thought it was wonderful, that it captured some essential truth. This book, in so far as it is about New Hampshire, does not fall into that category. There is, however, value to reading something you disagree with. If only to clarify your own thinking. (Why else would so many of us read editorials diametrically opposed to our own political views?)

The idea behind this book is to "put together something broad-minded and good-hearted; something bold, intimate and funny; something full of personal anecdote and strange characters and hidden truths. What we wanted," according to Matt Weiland's preface, "was a road trip in book form." Inspired by the ideals behind the Federal Writers Project's state guides of the 1930s the editors of this volume set out to create such a road trip with the help of "out finest novelists and reporters." (p. xiii)

To describe New Hampshire, the editors chose Will Blythe, a New York writer who grew up in North Carolina and summered in Massachusetts. His writing is good, but I think he misses the spirit of the place completely. Of course, I'm not from around here either.

The chapter on New York -- Jonathan Franzen is trying to get through a barrage of handlers so he can interview the state herself -- is wonderful and very NY. Louise Erdrich, who lived for a time in New Hampshire, contributed the chapter on North Dakota.