Book of the Week (11/24/2025)

When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lyn Ray (Chronicle Books, 2024)

Somewhere, a rock is waiting for you. One just the right color for your windowsill, or just the right shape for drawing a face.

Maybe it is a rock from the heart of a mountain that will remind you of how big YOU are inside, too. Maybe it is a rock washed by the sea that knows all about the backs and forths and ups and downs of things. Maybe it is a small rock, just the right size to close your hand around and know that the rock is with you and it is just right.

Through vibrant illustration and evocative text, When You Find the Right Rock carries readers along on a journey of discovery, from the mountains to the sea, that’s all about learning the beauty of being in the moment, connecting with nature, and the thrill of finding a precious keepsake to call your own.

COOL ROCKS: Whether it’s a special pebble for a pocket or a colorful collection in a box, rocks offer a special kind of companionship and a portable and lasting connection with the natural world.

MINDFULNESS FOR KIDS: Our connections with nature reduce stress and increase happiness and resilience. This book is an ode to the presentness that we find in the natural world.

NATURE BOOK FOR ALL: A love of the natural world is easy to instill in kids, and it’s so rewarding—both intellectually and emotionally. Here is a wonderful reminder that when we see ourselves in nature, we get in touch with our own depth and texture and lastingness.

Perfect for:

Parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children who love the natural world

Teachers and librarians looking for a poetic picture book on rocks and nature

Anyone who has found the secret joy of a special rock

Readers of A Stone Sat Still, A Rock Is Lively, and Ricky, the Rock That Couldn't Roll

--Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Mary Lyn Ray is a children's book author, conservationist, and historic preservationist. In 1984, she bought an old farm and farmhouse in South Danbury, New Hampshire, which would inspire many of her future books. Ray's 2011 book 'Stars' was nominated for The E.B. White Read Aloud Award. 'Go to Sleep, Little Farm' and her 2015 book 'Goodnight, Good Dog' received Charlotte Zolotow Award commendations. Ray has also received several commendations for her conservation work, including New Hampshire Conservationist of the Year in 1989.

Book of the Week (11/17/2025)

Identifying the Pathogen by Jennifer Militello (Tupelo Press, 2026)

A hybrid collection blending historical research and contemporary essays to consider the nature of oppressive marriage and gender inequity.

Composed as a lab notebook recording various surgeries, autopsies, and experiments, Identifying the Pathogen tells the story of a scientist on an obsessive quest to document an ailment that resists classification. The book considers the body in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, woven through with the story of Anna Morandi Manzolini—an eighteenth-century Italian anatomist and artist who struggled to support a husband suffering from depression—as well as several essays detailing accounts of a ruptured appendix, a splintered cello, and an ill-fated rock climbing excursion.-- Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Jennifer Militello is the Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. She is the author of the hybrid collection Identifying the Pathogen, named a finalist for the 2024 FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize, The Pact (Tupelo Press/Shearsman Books, 2021), and the memoir Knock Wood, winner of the Dzanc Nonfiction Prize (Dzanc Books, 2019), as well as four previous books of poetry. Militello has taught at Brown University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the Rhode Island School of Design, and currently teaches in the MFA program at New England College.

Book of the Week (11/10/2025)

Courtship in Purgatory: A Novel by Robert B. Perreault (Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2025)

Set in the conservative French-speaking community of Sagamore Falls, a fictional New Hampshire mill town, Courtship in Purgatory portrays parental control over middle-aged offspring in an upper-middle-class family. When protagonist Victoria discovers a disturbing entry in her deceased father’s journal, she relives a painful episode dating back a quarter-century, from which she had healed. At 33, Victoria lived a sheltered existence with her parents. Although she adored them, especially her father—she worshipped the water he walked on—she hoped to marry Lucien, whose working-class status did not measure up to her parents’ standards. Consequently, her father separated the lovers via a secret plot that threatened to smear Lucien’s image in Victoria’s eyes. Caught between the two men she loved, she wondered: Should she follow her conscience by obeying her father? Or should she follow her heart without knowing if Lucien was the morally upstanding man he appeared to be?-- Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Robert B. Perreault is a bilingual writer of mostly nonfiction books and articles about the New England Franco-American experience and/or the history of his hometown, Manchester, New Hampshire. He holds a BA in Sociology from Saint Anselm College (1972), including a year of study in Paris; an MA in French/New England Franco-American Studies from Rhode Island College (1981); and an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction/Nonfiction) from Southern New Hampshire University (2008). His writings in French, English, or both languages include seven books and more than 175 articles published in the US, French Canada or France.

Join Robert at one of the following events where he will be discussing his newest book:

Thursday, Nov. 13, 6:30 p.m., Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH

Monday, Nov. 17, 7:00 p.m., Dana Center, room 1-D, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH

Saturday, Dec. 6, 2:00 p.m., Millyard Museum, Holiday Open House, Manchester, NH

Book of the Week (11/3/2025)

All for You: A World War II Family Memoir of Love, Separation, and Loss by Dena Rueb Romero (She Writes Press, 2024)

Emil, a Jewish man in 1930s Germany, loves Deta, a Lutheran, but Nazi racial purity laws forbid their marriage. Desperate to find a place where their love can survive, they must separate to get away. Deta leaves for England, but Emil has to overcome red tape, resistance from his aging parents, and his own ambivalence before he can embark for America. With only telegrams and letters from Deta to sustain him, he does all he can to bring her and his family to America. But the clock is ticking as the war breaks out and the Nazis tighten their stranglehold.

From the heartbreaking news of November 10, 1938 (Kristallnacht) to the horrific revelations after the German surrender in 1945, Emil’s story runs the course of the war. Can he make his way in this new world? Will he be reunited with his beloved Deta? And will he ever see his family again?

Told by Emil’s daughter with the help of letters and historical documents, All for You is a true story about love overcoming despair and the impact the Holocaust continues to have on the rising generation.-- Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Dena Rueb Romero grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire, the daughter of a Lutheran mother and a Jewish father, both refugees from Nazi Germany. She graduated from Brandeis University and received an MA in English from the University of Virginia and an MSW from Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. "All for You" is her first full-length book. Dena still lives in Hanover, where she sings in a women’s chorus, volunteers at a daycare center, and works with a recently arrived refugee family.

3 on a Theme: NH Memoirs 2

One Man's Family: Growing Up in Peterborough and Other Stories by Sydney M. Williams

Claremont Boy: My New Hampshire Roots and the Gift of Memory by Joseph D. Steinfield

Counter Culture: Clams, Convents and a Circle of Global Citizens by Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger 

Book of the Week (10/27/2025)

Pedal, Balance, Steer: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World by Vivian Kirkfield (Calkins Creek, 2024)

Annie Londonderry proves women can do anything they set their minds to—even cycle around the world—in this nonfiction picture book for cycling enthusiasts, budding travelers, and anyone who dreams of reaching a difficult goal.

In the 1890s, times were tough, and opportunities for women were few and far between. When mother-of-three Annie Londonderry saw an ad promising $10,000 to a woman who could cycle around the world in a year, something no one thought possible, she decided it was time to learn to ride. She waved goodbye to her family in Boston and set off for Chicago.

Annie was exhausted when she arrived fifty-nine days later—and she realized she’d never make it across the Rockies before winter, and certainly not riding a heavy women’s bike and wearing a corset and petticoats. So Annie got herself a better bicycle and comfortable bloomers, and headed back East to try a different route. Facing robbers, sprained ankles, and disapproving stares, Annie missed her family and wanted to quit. But she journeyed on, all over the world. And, when she finally reached California and the Southwest, she kept pedaling. Her family was counting on the prize money, and people around the world, especially women, were watching.

Annie came through for all of them, arriving in Chicago fourteen days before her deadline and proving that women could do just about anything. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Vivian Kirkfield is a retired kindergarten teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Vivian encourages new writers through her critique and editing services, shares her love for reading and writing with children through school visits, and offers advice and resources for aspiring authors through her blog, Picture Books Help Kids Soar. She lives and writes in Bedford, NH.

Book of the Week (10/20/2025)

Udder Nonsense: More Tales from Frost Heaves by Ken Sheldon as "Fred Marple"(Harmon House, 2025)

Welcome back to Frost Heaves, New Hampshire, where the coffee's strong, the winters are longer, and common sense is about as rare as a reasonable property tax bill.

In this delightful new collection, Yankee humorist Fred Marple returns with more tales from New England's most charmingly unpredictable town. When the Loon Lodge decides to raise funds with a duck race, nobody counted on the ducks having their own agenda. Young Albert Cooper discovers that prize sows and romance don't mix, And when Millard Tuttle spots a certain red-suited fellow in distress, Christmas in Frost Heaves takes an unexpected turn.

From the church basement to the town square, Pastor Woodstead questions his calling while a champion bingo player meets her match in an overly chatty newcomer. Plus, catch up on all the local news through Fred's signature "News Nuggets" and police reports that prove truth really is stranger than fiction.

Fred Marple has been called the Garrison Keillor of New England and the voice of New Hampshire as Bert & I once were to Mainers. Nobody captures small-town Yankee life with more warmth and wit.

Whether you're a longtime New Englander or just wish you were, Udder Nonsense serves up the perfect blend of gentle humor, quirky characters, and the kind of storytelling that makes you feel right at home-even if home has more than its share of stubborn livestock and well-meaning folks with questionable judgment.-- Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Ken Sheldon was a pre-med art major at the University of New Hampshire. The medical schools of America were not amused, which is why he's a writer today. Ken is the creator of Frost Heaves, a comedy show set in the mythical town of the same name, winner of a "Best of New Hampshire" award. He is also a freelance writer and editor, with articles published in numerous magazines ranging from Acoustic Guitar to The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Join Ken at Gibson's Bookstore on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 6:30 pm where he will be discussing his latest book!