Book of the Week (10/6/2025)

A Killer Serve by Mark Okrant (Independently published, 2025)

Old guys don’t always play nice. Lawrence Peters arrives at the historic Beachmere Inn in Ogunquit, Maine, with two simple goals: win the first ever regional ping pong tournament and save his crumbling marriage. But, when a fellow competitor is found brutally murdered at the start of the event, Peters’ plans—and his future—are thrown into chaos. As suspicion spreads and secrets surface, Peters must navigate old rivalries, his rocky marriage, and a relentless investigation. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Mark Okrant is an author and professor emeritus of tourism management at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. Research has taken him to South Dakota, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Canada, and Romania. He is past president of the Travel and Tourism Research Association. He is the author of fifteen books, including murder mysteries, non-fiction books, and one tourism planning textbook.

Join Mark at Gibson's Bookstore on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 6:30 pm where he will be discussing his newest novel!

3 on a Theme: Seasons

The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly by Meredith Tate

Winter by Patricia Fargnoli

Peregrine Spring: A Master Falconer's Extraordinary Life with Birds of Prey by Nancy Cowan 

Book of the Week (9/29/2025)

King Sorrow: A Novel by Joe Hill (William Morrow, 2025)

Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll—and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot—is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library.

Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others—brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen—don’t hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world.

But there’s nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year—or become his next meal. --Publisher's blurb

About the Author:

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels (King Sorrow, The Fireman, NOS4A2, Horns, Heart-Shaped Box), fiction collections (Strange Weather, Full Throttle, 20th Century Ghosts), and a comic-book series (Locke & Key). Much of his work has been adapted for film and TV. Joe Hill lives in Exeter, NH.

Book of the Week (9/22/2025)

The Book of Fairies by Susie Spikol (Gibbs Smith, 2025)

Discover the enchanting world of fairies and how to find them in secret hiding places you would never expect.

Meet the Earth, Air, Fire, and Water fairies! From rainbows in bubbles to dandelion seeds on the wind, come meet the wee folk who enchant our everyday world. Wake with dainty Auroras who paint the sky each dawn. Let the rascally wind fairies dance up some mischief in your life and open your heart to the dear Brownies who keep your home tidy and your garden growing.

Search for secret fairy signs in snowflakes and the sparkle of a stone. Find out which animals are best friends to each fairy, which fairies have dragon blood in their veins, and how to spot these charming beings in your neighborhood. Which enchanted fairy are you most like?

Look inside and discover:

How to make friends with the fairies that live around your home

That pigs really do fly, with the help of a little pixie dust

The best jokes to share with cheeky Knockers

How to make a wish on a magical fairy feather

A wildflower that opens the gate to the fairy realm

About the author:

Susie Spikol is a beloved local author, educator, and naturalist. When not catching frogs with preschoolers, making gnome homes with second-graders, tracking bobcats with middle-schoolers, or hawk-watching with her own three children, Susie tucks away time to write. Susie is the Community Programs Director and Naturalist at The Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, NH.

NHBF Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan

Hank Phillippi Ryan is USA Today bestselling author of 16 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors for her groundbreaking journalism and true crime stories. National book critics call her “a superb and gifted storyteller.” Her current novel is One Wrong Word, a twisty story of gaslighting, manipulation, and murder.

Hank is on the board of International Thriller Writers, a sought-after teacher and keynote speaker, and host of three popular online live events: THE BACK ROOM, CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze, and FIRST CHAPTER FUN. She lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally renowned criminal defense attorney. 

Her next novel, All This Could be Yours, comes out in September from Minotaur Books. People Magazine called it “A nail-biting thriller.” 

The NHBF keynote will be a conversation between Hank and Walter Mosley. 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

NHBF Author: Miriam Chernick

Miriam Chernick is the author of The Zuzu Secret (2025), her debut novel for young readers. Previously she published A Kid's Guide to Washington, D.C., Revised and Updated. 

Miriam is a substitute teacher in her local public schools and a caregiver for her brother who was born with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare disease. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two clever cats, and Zuki—a bearded dragon—who often sits on her shoulder as she writes. 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

NHBF Author: Harry Bliss

Harry Bliss is an internationally syndicated cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine. His syndicated comic ‘Bliss’ appears in newspapers internationally.

He has written and illustrated over 25 books for children and is the founder of the Cornish CCS Fellowship for Graphic Novelists in Cornish, New Hampshire. 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025.