Book of the Week #30

A Slender Thread by Katharine Davis (NY: New American Library, 2010)

As a girl swimming in the waters of Bow Lake, where she and her family spent every summer, Margot Winkler knew her big sister, Lacey, would keep her safe. Decades later, Lacey’s home in a small New Hampshire town is often Margot’s refuge from her less settled situation with her live-in lover, Oliver, in Manhattan. But everything changes just beforeThanksgiving, when Lacey
meets Margot’s arrival for the holiday with devastating news.
Lacey’s life seemed close to perfect –a loving husband, twin daughters on the brink of womanhood, and a home filled with the beautiful creations she weaves. Now a rare disease is slowly stealing her ability to use language. As Lacey’s words slip away, Margot struggles to support Lacey and her family while remaining close to Oliver and pursuing her own dreams. Somehow she must imagine the future, even thought the past draws her powerfully. Somehow she must find the courage to help her sister discover a new voice, keenly aware of the slender threads that bind them to this life and to each other.

Katharine Davis, a seasonal resident of Maine, will be reading from this, her latest novel, at RiverRun Bookstore on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 7pm. I plan to be there to pick up my copy!

Man Booker Dozen announced

The judges for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction announced the longlist for the prize yesterday. A total of 138 books, 14 of which were called in by the judges, were considered for the ‘Man Booker Dozen' longlist of 13 books.
The 2010 shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 7 September at a press conference at Man Group's London headquarters. The winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2010 will be revealed on Tuesday 12 October at a dinner at London's Guildhall.

A new UNESCO City of Lit

Dublin (Ireland, not NH) has been designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.

In part because "Dublin is home to the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award which was won by Dublin-based writer Colm Tóibín in 2006."

Book of the Week #29

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott: A Novel by Kelly O'Connor McNees (NY: Amy Einhorn Books, 2010)

This debut novel mixes fact and fiction to imagine the summer that changed the course of Louisa May Alcott's writing career and inspired Little Women's heartbreaking love story. Little Women is one of my favorite books and the style of this novel is very reminiscent of Alcott's. I haven't finished it yet, but so far I am really enjoying this summer love story.

"In the summer of 1855, Walt Whitman's controversial Leaves of Grass has just been released, and the notion of making a living as a writer is still a far-off dream for Louisa. She is twenty-two years old, vivacious, and bursting with a desire to be free of her family and societal constraints so she can do what she loves the most--write. The Alcott family, destitute as usual, moves to a generous uncle's empty house in Walpole, New Hampshire, for the summer. Here, a striking but pensive Louisa meets Joseph Singer. Louisa is initially unimpressed by Joseph's charms. But just as she begins to open her heart, she discovers that Joseph may not be free to give his away. Their newfound love carries a steep price, and Loiusa fears she may pay with the independence she has fought so hard to protect." (from the jacket copy)

Book of the Week #28

The Great New Hampshire Puzzle Book: Over 80 Puzzles & Games About Life in the Granite State by Jane Petrlik Smolik (Wenham. MA: Midrun Press, 2007)

Information about Strawbery Banke to de-code, a map of lake Winnipesaukee to label based on the included geographic fact sheet, a covered-bridge criss-cross, stories and a quiz about some Granite State authors, and a word search for NH counties are just a few of the activities in this book. Lots of fun for a rainy day, a car trip, or anytime a quiet activity is in order.

Book of the Week #27

I Invited a Dragon to Dinner and Other Poems to Make You Laugh Out Loud illustrated by Chris L. Demarest (NY: Philomel Books, 2002)

I have to give this book credit for truth in advertising -- I did indeed laugh out loud when I read it.

This collection of poems was the result (according to the jacket copy) of a nationwide contest to find the best new writers for children. Each poem was illustrated with the fun, colorful illustrations of Chris Demarest. Mr. Demarest, who lives in Meriden, has taken a new direction with his recent work.

Saturday Book Event Sampler

Here are some of the book events you might go to on Saturday July 10, 2010.

• Water Street Bookstore will host D. B. Johnson reading from Palazzo Inverso at 11am
  
• Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough has a couple of author visits lined up: Michelle Hoover at 11am, Dr. Mary McGowan at 2pm.
  
• Tory Hill Readers Series features Leah Hager Cohen and Maxine Kumin at 7pm
  

LC Copyright Office is 140 today

Continuing yesterday's library history theme:
On July 8, 1870 President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the bill centralizing all the functions of copyright in the Library of Congress. There is an interesting post about this on the Library History Buff Blog. By the way, before you read the History Buff Blog post you should know that Ainsworth Rand Spofford, was born in Gilmanton, N.H.

Maxine Kumin at Frost Farm July 8

Pulitzer-Prize Winning Poet Maxine Kumin will be at Frost Farm when Hyla Brook Reading Series Continues July 8. (That's tomorrow!)

June 21, 2010, DERRY, NH – Internationally celebrated poet Maxine Kumin will appear at the Robert Frost Farm as part of the Hyla Brook Reading Series on Thursday, July 8, 2010, 6:30pm-8:30pm. Kumin, the former Poet Laureate of the U.S., will read from her newest poetry collection, Where I Live: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010, as well as other work. Hyla Brook Poet Margaret Bobalek King of Derry, a long-time friend of Kumin’s, will also read. Held at the Robert Frost Farm at 122 Rockingham Rd (Rt 28), the Reading Series is free and open to the public.

“This is our biggest event to date. I urge anyone with an interest in poetry to come down to the farm to hear Maxine Kumin read her work. Come early and take a stroll around the Frost Farm -- it’s beautiful this time of year,” said Robert Crawford, co-founder with Bill Gleed of the Hyla Brook Poets.

Maxine Kumin's 17th poetry collection is Where I Live: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010. She also has a new essay collection, The Roots of Things, and a children’s book about a black-and-white dog with an identity crisis, What Color Is Caesar? Her awards include the Pulitzer and Ruth Lilly Poetry Prizes, the Poets’ Prize, and the Harvard Arts and Robert Frost Medals. She and her husband live on a farm in central New Hampshire with three rescued dogs and two very old horses.

Margaret Bobalek King won the 2006 Remy C. Orffeo poet’s prize from The Northwoods Press for Song To Shiva and Honorable Mention in The National Poetry Contest, Winter 2009, for Pokeweed, sponsored by The Poetry Society of New Hampshire. She is a poet, literary critic, short story writer, and freelance journalist, whose work has appeared in such widely diverse publications as The Poet’s Touchstone, Avocet, Polo/Players’ Edition Magazine, The Dan River Anthology, Angel Face, The Northwoods Anthology, The Derry News, The Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire 2010, and Yankee. In 2003, she published a book on education, Tadpole Tales, Teaching Children Reading and Journal Writing after 16 years of classroom teaching.

An Open Mic will follow the readings and all audience members are invited to share their work.

The Hyla Brook Poets group organizes the monthly reading series as well as a monthly writing workshop, which meets on the third Saturday of the month at 10am. The next workshop takes place on Saturday, July 17, 2010, at the Frost Farm in Derry.

161 years of supporting libraries

July 7, 2010 will mark the 161st anniversary of the passage by the State of New Hampshire of the first general free public library law in the United States. The passage of this law in 1849 marked a major milestone in the development of the American public library. The New Hampshire law said in part: "Every public library ... shall be opened to the free use of every inhabitant of the town or city ... for the general diffusion of intelligence among all classes of the community ...".

This law was by no means the start of libraries in New Hampshire however. In 1833 in Peterborough the first Free Public Library in the world to be supported by taxation was established and the New Hampshire State Library dates back to 1717.

Canaan Meetinghouse Readings Begin This Week

The 2010 Canaan Meetinghouse Readings series runs for four weeks in July beginning at 7:30pm each Thursday.

July 8, 2010
ELLEN FITZPATRICK Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation
IVY POCHODA The Art of Disappearing

July 15, 2010
BRUNONIA BARRY The Map of True Places
PAT FARGNOLI Then, Something

July 22, 2010
JAY ATKINSON Paradise Road
GARY LENHART The World in A Minute

July 29, 2010
PEN/NNE "Speaking Out" Award Night
honoring SY MONTGOMERY Birdology
with STEVE ALMOND Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life

Read more about the 20th Season of the Meetinghouse Reading.

Librarian of Congress Appoints W.S. Merwin Poet Laureate

Earlier today (July 1, 2010) Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today announced the appointment of W.S. Merwin as the Library’s 17th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry for 2010-2011. Merwin will take up his duties in the fall, opening the Library’s annual literary series on Oct. 25 with a reading of his work.

"William Merwin’s poems are often profound and, at the same time, accessible to a vast audience," Billington said. "He leads us upstream from the flow of everyday things in life to half-hidden headwaters of wisdom about life itself. In his poem ‘Heartland,’ Merwin seems to suggest that a land of the heart within us might help map the heartland beyond—and that this ‘map’ might be rediscovered in something like a library, where ‘it survived beyond/ what could be known at the time/ in its archaic/ untaught language/ that brings the bees to the rosemary.’"
William Stanley Merwin succeeds Kay Ryan as Poet Laureate and joins a long line of distinguished poets who have served in the position, including Charles Simic, Donald Hall, Ted Kooser, Louise Glück, Billy Collins, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Pinsky, Robert Hass, Rita Dove and Richard Wilbur.

Book of the Week #26

The Indian History of an American Institution: Native Americans and Dartmouth by Colin G. Calloway (Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press/UPNE, 2010)

Dartmouth College was founded in 1769, in part, for the "instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes" and the college's past is entwined with that of America's indigenous peoples. In this book Dartmouth professor Colin G. Calloway documents this shared history. Dr. Calloway was recently a guest on Views from the Green where he talked about this, his latest book.

"Dartmouth's Indian history is a troubled one, as is the history of Native Americans in this country. In its failings, contradictions, and attempts (sometimes misguided) to do the right thing, it mirrors the larger story of English and American dealings with Native peoples over time and across the continent. Yet is also has its own stories that are, for better or worse, unique. It is a history about which Dartmouth itself would not agree, which is as it should be in a liberal arts college that encourages multiple perspectives and understandings, but it is a history that Native and non-Native members of the Dartmouth community --at different levels and with different experiences-- have shared, and it is a past that continues to shape Dartmouth present." [Introduction, p. xxii-xxiii]