Book of the Week (4/13/2026)

Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies: A Novel by Jennifer Anne Gordon (Podium Publishing, 2026)

In the wake of losing her son, Becca also lost her marriage and her moorings. Now, work and time spent with her best friend, Lynn, are what gets her through the day. But it’s a private group of moms on social media that gets her through the long nights.

Run by Karen, the holy grail of perfect wives, Mommy Wine Time is a place where women share stories, perfectly airbrushed photos, and advice disguised as humble brags. And it’s where Becca pretends to be Lucy, with the help of a stock photo account. Lucy’s an ideal wife and mother living a dahlia-filled life in Seattle, enjoying all the things that Becca is certain she’ll never have again.

But the line between Becca’s truths and Lucy’s lies starts to blur when a series of bad deeds, daring games, and too many bottles of cheap chardonnay reveals something darker. Soon, what began as mere petty crimes escalates to kidnapping, assault, revenge, and murder. Still, the more Becca pretends, the more alive she feels . . .

This psychological thriller from the author of Pretty/Ugly takes the wine moms from Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives, puts them in an online space where it’s easier to hide their true identities, and then gives them even darker obsessions. Cheers. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning Gothic horror author and podcast host. Her debut novel, Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent, won the 2020 Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense, and her novel Pretty/Ugly won the 2022 Helicon Award for Best Horror as well as the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year (Reader’s Choice). Gordon’s essays have been featured in Miniskirt Magazine, Tangled Locks Journal, Lumina Journal, and Flash Glass. She lives in rural New Hampshire.

2026 Dublin Award Shortlist

The shortlist for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award was announced today!

The shortlisted titles are as follows:

Gliff by Ali Smith (British), published by Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK. Nominated by Katona József Könyvtár, Hungary

In Late Summer by Madalena Blažević (Bosnian), translated from the Croatian by Anđelka Raguž, published by Linden Editions. Nominated by University Library of Bern, Switzerland.

Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud (French), translated from the French by Cory Stockwell, published by Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers. Nominated by Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, France.

Perspectives by Laurent Binet (French), translated from the French by Sam Taylor, published by Harvill, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK. Nominated by Bibliothèques Municipales de Genève, Switzerland.

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (American), published by Jonathan Cape (Vintage, PRH) UK; Penguin Press (US). Nominated by Hartford Public Library, USA.

What I Know About You by Éric Chacour (Canadian), translated from the French by Pablo Strauss, published by Coach House Books; Gallic Books (Pushkin). Nominated by Bibliothèque de Québec and Toronto Public Library, Canada.

The winner will be announced on May 21, 2026 at the International Literature Festival Dublin. 

Book of the Week (4/6/2026)

Every Precious and Fragile Thing: A Novel by Barbara Davis (Lake Union Publishing, 2025)

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

After twelve years in the jewelry business, Barbara Davis left the corporate world in order to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. She was born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, but grew up and attended school in Florida. Eventually, work led her north, where she lived in Charleston for two years, and in Raleigh for fourteen, before eventually making her home in Dover, New Hampshire.

3 on a Theme: Sports

Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went From the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace

Her Fearless Run: Kathrine Switzer’s Historic Boston Marathon by Kim Chaffee

Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'Brien  

Book of the Week (3/30/2026)

Building Community: Twenty Influential Women of Hampton, New Hampshire by Karen Raynes & Mary Ann Nelligan (Independently published, 2024)

Since Europeans first landed in Hampton, New Hampshire in 1638, women have played an integral role in building their community. Chronicles of their husbands, fathers, and brothers abound, but little was known about the women who helped create this vibrant seacoast town over the centuries.

Until two local historians set out to change that.

In Building Community, Karen Raynes and Mary Ann Nelligan share the lives of twenty women who history had overlooked but whose impact was great. Veterans and accused witches. Educators and innkeepers. The enslaved and the wealthy.

These are their stories. --Publisher's blurb

Ladybug Finalists for 2026

Based on two rounds of voting by New Hampshire's library community, we have chosen The Ladybug Picture Book Award finalists for the 2026 Ladybug Picture Book Award. New Hampshire children, from preschool to fourth grade, will select the winning picture book when they vote in November 2026. The deadline for sending in votes will be Sunday, December 20, 2026 at 11:30 pm. Voting materials will be posted on the Ladybug web page in June and a voting guide will be released around Labor Day. 

The 2026 nominees for the Ladybug Picture Book Award are: 

• Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe
• Broken by X. Fang
• Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World) by Corey R. Tabor
• The Day the Books Disappeared by Joanna Ho, Caroline Kusin Pritchard and Dan Santat
• Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat
• If I Built a Town by Chris Van Dusen
• The Man Who Didn't Like Animals by Deborah Underwood and LeUyen Pham 
• Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale From a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer
• The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown 

Book of the Week (3/23/2026)

Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'Brien (Atria Books, 2026)

In the fall 1974, Larry Bird—one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball—was lost, and in danger of slipping away.

He had dropped out of Indiana University, spurning legendary Hoosiers head coach Bobby Knight. He returned home to French Lick, a tiny town in the second poorest county in Indiana, and he got a job hauling trash.

It could have ended right there for Bird, were it not for two men: Bob King, an old coach with bad knees, and Bill Hodges, a man who knew what it was like to be poor and overlooked. In the spring of 1975, during one of the darkest chapters of Bird’s life, King and Hodges convinced Bird to leave French Lick and play basketball at Indiana State University, a college that couldn’t even fill its arena, much less compete with Bobby Knight. Then, while no one was watching, King and Hodges built a team of players around Bird who were just like him: they were castoffs and leftovers, ready to work.

Four years later, in March 1979, this unheralded team would put together one of the greatest seasons in American sports history. By the time it was over, more than 50 million people would tune in to watch the Indiana State Sycamores play in the NCAA finals against Magic Johnson and Michigan State.

What happened that night would change college basketball and the NBA. Perhaps more importantly, it would change the members of this hardscrabble team, binding them together forever. In some ways, their one shining moment would never end.

Drawing on exclusive, in-depth interviews with players, coaches, and staffers, New York Times bestselling author and PEN American award–winning biographer Keith O’Brien offers a stirring account of the mighty Indiana State Sycamores. With its unforgettable ensemble cast, Heartland is more than just a sports book. It’s the story of a group of young men who achieved the greatest feat of all: immortality. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Keith has written five books, won the PEN America award for best biography, and has contributed to multiple publications over the years.

​Keith's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Rolling Stone, the Wall Street Journal, and on National Public Radio. His radio stories have aired on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition, as well as Marketplace and This American Life.

A midwesterner by birth, O'Brien grew up in Cincinnati and graduated from Northwestern University. He now lives in New Hampshire with his wife, two children, two dogs, and two cats.

Join Keith at Gibson's Bookstore on Thu., March 26, 2026 at 6:30 pm where he will present his latest book!