Dublin Short List Announced

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has announced the shortlist for the 2011 award.

Galore by Michael Crummey
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
Ransom by David Malouf
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates
Jasper Bones by Craig Silvey
Brooklyn by Colm Tobin
Love and Summer by William Trevor
After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice by Evie Wyld

The NH Dublin Committee will be selecting nominees for the 2012 award next month.

Book of the Week #17

Crosscurrents of Change: Concord, N.H. in the 20th Century (Concord Historical Society, 2011)

This book will be published next week by the Concord Historical Society.

Crosscurrents contains countless historical photographs that complement a readable and historically accurate text. Picking up where James O. Lyford’s History of Concord, N.H. left off at the turn of the century, we tell the stories of the people and institutions that have made Concord the city it is.

On Monday, May 2, 2011 from 5:30- 7pm Gibson's and O Steaks & Seafood will host a launch party for the book. All are welcome but space is limited, so please call the Historical Society at 228-8101 if you want to attend.

On Monday, May 9, 2011 Concord Public Library and the Concord Historical Society will host a book signing and dedication from 5:30 to 7:30pm in the library auditorium. At this event you can meet the writers and the editors and stay for the special dedication at 6:15 pm. Books will be available for sale.

Upcoming Book Events

Thursday, 4/28/2011

• Jim Arnosky, author of Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators, will be presenting a program with NH Audubon at Gibson's at 7pm

Saturday, 4/30/2011

• At 11am editors from The Old Farmer's Almanac will introduce and sign their new book The Old Farmer's Almanac Garden-fresh Cookbook at Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough
•  From noon - 3pm Catherine Patton will be at Well Read Books signing her new fantasy book - book two in the Endria series
• John T. Hitchner will be reading from Seasons & Shadows at Toadstool Bookshop, Keene beginning at 2pm
• Patrica Hughes will be signing copies of her new book More Lost Loot: Ghostly New England Treasure Tales beginning at 2pm at Barnes & Noble, Manchester
• Dale Peterson will discuss The Moral Lives of Animals at Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough at 2pm

Sunday, 5/1/2011

• Beginning at 2pm White Birch Books will host an afternoon with Alan Sparks, author of Dreaming of Wolves: Adventures in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania
• Jennifer Vaughn will sign Last Flight Out at 2pm at Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough
• Toadstool Bookshop, Keene will host Nicole Spaulding, author of Live, Laugh, and Fart Like a Five Year Old at 2pm
• Water Street Books will host a launch party for Spencer Seidel beginning at 4pm to celebrate the release of Dead of Wynter (published by PublishingWorks of Exeter, NH)

Clippings from the Blogosphere

• The 2011 Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced.
• What libraries are all about, according to Happiness by Theodore Zeldin
• Robert Darnton on Five Myths About 'The Information Age' from the Chronicle of Higher Education
• E-Books Rank as #1 Format among All Trade Categories for the Month according to the Association of American Publishers.  I'd be curious to know how many of the people who are "buying the full backlist of an author" are actually reading it. This article reminded me of the old Cathy cartoon about the thrill of getting organized ceasing the moment she ran out of things to buy. Perhaps I'm feeling overly cynical this afternoon.
• 
  Books Everyone Should Read as a tag cloud. Interesting presentation of the analysis this blogger did. New Hampshire readers are ahead of the curve as both of our state-wide Big Read titles are here.
• Help for the casual book hoarder from The New Yorker.
• American Booksellers Association has announced it's 2011 Award winners
• It was a book, now the U.S. Government Manual is online.
• Why do people collect first editions? 

LAL 2011 New Hampshire Winners

New Hampshire's 2011 LAL winners have been selected from the 47 wonderful letters that were chosen as our state semi-finalists.


Drew L. Stetson, a fifth grader at Stratham Memorial School, wrote a letter to Robert Frost about his nature poems, which was the Granite State’s first place winner in the level I competition for students in grades 4 through 6. “When sunshine glistens through the green leaves of trees and white fluffy clouds hang in the sky,” Stetson wrote, “I feel upbeat. When the sky is a sheet of gray and it is cold, bleak, and desolate, I feel down and lazy. This must happen to you too, because your poems describe this feeling quite well.”

Erin Angel Choate, a seventh grader at Lisbon Regional, wrote to David Pelzer about A Child Called It. In her letter, Ms. Choate recounted a difficult time in her life similar to the situation depicted in Pelzer’s book, and thanked Pelzer for helping her to realize she wasn’t alone. “By writing this letter, I am chancing the public realizing that I have been abused, even though most people probably already know. I don’t care. Your book has made that possible.” Ms. Choate’s letter was the Granite State’s first place winner in the level II competition for students in grades 7 and 8.

Jake Tinkham, a twelfth grader at Gilford High School, wrote his letter, which was the Granite State’s level III first place winner, to Brian Jacques. “The Redwall Series inspired me to think imaginatively and also to express my creative side to others,” wrote Mr. Tinkham, who expressed a strong desire to follow in Jacques’s footsteps. “Some day I hope to write fantasy novels capable of capturing the reader in the same way that your work once captivated me.”

Many excellent letters were entered in Letters About Literature 2011 and the judges at each competition level had tough choices to make as they read and carefully considered each letter. The New Hampshire winning letters have been sent on as entries in the National Letters About Literature Competition.

The 2011 New Hampshire Letters About Literature judges were:

• Ann Hoey, Youth Services Coordinator, NH State Library
• Author Marty Kelley
• Poet, and NH Center for the Book Advisory Board member, Betsy Snider
• Maureen Brown, an English teacher at Goffstown High School
• Andrew L. Fersch, 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Epping Middle School
• Lesley Kimball, Library Director, Wiggin Memorial Library

Book Events This Week - Part 2

There are a lot of book events going on in New Hampshire this week!

Thursday, 4/21/2011

•  Author Deborah Bruss will be the guest host of storytime at Toadstool Bookshop, Keene starting at 10am
• White Birch Books will host Catherynne Valente reading from her book Deathless beginning at 7pm
• Wendy Williams, author of Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid will be at Gibson's at 7pm

Saturday, 4/23/2011

• Toadstool Bookshop, Milford will host children's book author Maryann Cocca-Leffler at 11am and Phyl Manning, author of Arctic Circles at 2pm
• Beginning at noon Mike Howlett will be at Well Read Books discussing The Weird World of Eerie Publications: Comic Gore That Warped Millions of Young Minds!
• Matt Gallagher will be at Toadstool Bookshop, Keene at 2pm talking about Kaboom
• C. S. Lambert, author of The Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook will be sharing his expertise at Water Street Bookstore beginning at 2pm

Monday, 4/25/2011 (I know, that's next week)

• RiverRun Bookstore is hosting a ticketed event with the winner of the 2010 National Book Award for Fiction: Jaimy Gordon, author of Lord of Misrule. Tickets are expected to sell out, if they haven't already, so don't wait to call 603-431-2100 to purchase your tickets. Tickets are $20.00 and include a signed paperback copy of the book.

Book of the Week #16

Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid by Wendy Williams (Abrams Image, 2011)

"Kraken is the traditional name for gigantic sea monsters, and this book introduces one of the most charismatic, enigmatic, and curious inhabitants of the sea: the squid. The pages take the reader on a wild narrative ride through the world of squid science and adventure, along the way addressing some riddles about what intelligence is, and what monsters lie in the deep. In addition to squid, both giant and otherwise, Kraken examines other equally enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish, and explores their otherworldly abilities, such as camouflage and bioluminescence. Accessible and entertaining, Kraken is also the first substantial volume on the subject in more than a decade and a must for fans of popular science." (publisher's website)

Squid, beyond those found on menus aren't prevalent here in New Hampshire, but Wendy Williams (who lives in Mass.) will be at Gibson's on Thursday, April 21, 2011 talking about this book so I decided this would be a good book-of-the-week. It's about giant squid--how could I resist that?

Book Events This Week - Part 1

There are a lot of book events going on in New Hampshire this week!

Monday, 4/18/2011

• Virginia Eubanks will talk about Digital Dead End starting at 5:30pm at Gibson's
• Matt Gallagher will discuss Kaboom starting at 7pm at White Birch Books

Tuesday, 4/19/2011

• Water Street Books will host Elizabeth Berg discussing her new novel, Once Upon a Time There Was You beginning at 7pm
• Matt Gallagher will discuss Kaboom starting at 7pm at RiverRun Bookstore

Wednesday, 4/20/2011

• Poets Baron Wormser and Meg Kearney will be reading from their work at RiverRun Bookstore beginning at 7pm
• Gibson's will host the Poetry Society of New Hampshire with featured readers Jeff Friedman and Matt Jasper beginning at 7pm

Book of the Week #15

Last Flight Out by Jennifer Vaughn (SciArt Media, 2011)

This is Jennifer Vaughn's first novel and she explains that it "includes a little bit of everything I’ve seen during my career thus far.  A mix of politics sprinkled with a health crisis for my main character, and a touch of devious behavior to round it all out." A portion of the proceeds from sale of the book will be donated to "breast cancer organizations across New Hampshire."

The main character, Ella Sheridan, is the daughter of the Vice President and the view of life from her vantage point makes this book stand out.

"I have a small window to book my flight before my mother becomes aware of my ariline transaction. We are supposed to alert Secret Service whenever we travel on commercial plances, trains, etc. My brothr fets a pass on this because he generally flies charter to and from his games. Kelby follows the rules, but does so grudgingly because its just another step in the process and any extra work pisses her off. When I book my ticket, I'll use a fake name but I'll have to charge it to my real credit card and it will only be a matter of time before the numbers ping the watchers in Washington. I've learned that it can take up to twenty-four hours for the transaction to process so I will wait until the absolute last minute to pull the trigger. That way, I'll already be in the air when my mother gets the alert that one of her chicks has flown the coop. As soon as we land and we're allowed to turn on our electronic devices, mine will be screaming at me all the way from the White House." (p. 27)

Jennifer Vaughn will be reading from her novel at local bookstores this spring.

• Borders, West Lebanon on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 2pm (it's not on their website, but they said it was happening when I called)
• Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough on May 1, 2011 at 2pm
• Barnes & Noble, Portsmouth on June 4, 2011 at

NH AuthorFest Event Tomorrow

It is the mission of New Hampshire AuthorFest to enhance literacy by engaging and inspiring readers and writers of all ages through the exploration, creation, and promotion of books and authors.

On Saturday, April 9, 2011 they will be holding a Barnes & Noble Bookfair in Manchester from 1-5pm. Lots of local authors will be there including Michael Cormier (Sumner Island), Eileen Palazzolo (Free From Perfect), Eric Pinder (Cat in the Clouds), John-Richard Thompson (The Christmas Mink And Other December Tales from the North Woods), Jeremy Robinson (Threshold ), Renee Mallett (Manchester Ghosts), and Jessie Crockett (Live Free Or Die).

New Hampshire's LAL Semi-finalists

These students wrote letters that were selected as New Hampshire semi-finalists in the 2011 Letters About Literature competition. From among these letters a state winner will be selected at each of the 3 competition levels. The state winners will be notified by mail next week.


Abigayle Rasmussen - Stratham
Adam Letarte - Milford
Andrew Kwist - Gilford
Andrew H. Thomson - Hopkinton
Angela Toth - Nashua
Annika Barth - Lee
Arun Falk - Madbury
Bethany Clarke - Gliford
Camryn Lavoie - Stratham
Chelsea Bonollo - Hopkinton
Drew Stetson - Stratham
Elizabeth Higgins - Lisbon
Elizabeth G. Morse - Center Sandwich
Emma Gagne - Pembroke
Erin Angel Choate - Lisbon
Gabriele Nedeau - Sandwich
Gordie MacDonald - Hopkinton
Haley Jodoin - Pembroke
Jake Tinkham - Gilford
Jamison Edge - Center Sandwich
John Boynton - South Hampton
John Barron Fredricks - Rochester
Kaitlyn Nelson - Milford
Katy Gore - Londonderry
Kayla Bullwinkel - Milford
Kristin Chan - Nashua
Logan Westfall - Londonderry
Lucy Cunningham - Center Sandwich
Meghan Michel - Greenland
Micaela Griffin - Hampstead
Mitchell Genkinger - Rochester
Morgan Barlow - Milford
Morgan Jones - Stratham
Morgan Sulham - Bath
Parker Caswell - Sandwich
Rachel Ann Malcolm - Alstead
Sarah Lappin - Meriden
Sedona Clothier - Madbury
Serena Uliano - Salem
Sophie Higgerson - Norwich, VT
Storm Sideleau - Contoocook
Sydney Simo - Milford
Victoria Nafranowicz - Pembroke
Wyett MacDonald - Plainfield
Please note that in addition to the students listed here, there were 3 other students honored as semi-finalists who had not given us permission to announce their names as of today.

Book of the Week #14

The Messiest Desk by Marty Kelley (Madison, Wisc: Zino Press, 2009)

If you have a messy desk you should consider this book as a warning. Things could turn out very badly.

The kids in Mr. McPatrick's class
Had messy desks. It's true.
And it wasn't just the children's desks,
The teacher's was messy, too.
But Benjamin Putt had the messiest desk
There had been since desks were invented.
And the horrible thing that happened to him
Was something he could have prevented.

Author, illustrator, and recovering second grade teacher Marty Kelley was born in Manchester, NH and currently lives in New Boston. Even though his website says he never watches TV, he has been on NHPTV.

The Center for the Book is starting to get ready for the National Book Festival which will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. between 9th and 14th Streets on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 25 from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., rain or shine. The event is free and open to the public. The part of the festival we are involved in is the Pavillion of the States--which will be open just on Saturday--where we have a table at which we display info about New Hampshire and meet lots of kids (and grown-ups) who are at the festival. Each year we select one NH author to feature at our table and the 2011 choice is Marty Kelley.

April is National Poetry Month

Since 1996 National Poetry Month has been celebrated each April. To help you celebrate here are some poetry resoures and upcoming events:

• For the past 10 years, Knopf has sent out a free poem from one of its distinguished poets each day during the month of April in celebration of poetry month. Visit the Knopf Doubleday Poem-a-Day website to learn more about the poems and poets and to sign up for this year’s poem-a-day email. There's also a video.
• Choose a poem to carry with you on April 14th which is Poem In Your Pocket Day. If you don't know which poem to choose, consider the selection of work from NH poets that was featured as part of the NH Center for the Book's 2009 National Poetry Month Celebration.
• Scholastic Books has a variety of resources on their website to help bring poetry to the children in your life including audiofiles of Jack Prelutsky, the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate leading students through writing and publishing their own original poem.
• The Poetry Foundation has lots of info about poetry as well as a searchable collection of online poems and audiocasts of lectures and poetry readings.
• The Library of Congress's Poetry Page includes information about the poets (including several from NH) who have served as U.S. Poet Laureate as well as links to the many poetry projects and activities LC is involved in.
• Walter Butts, the current NH Poet Laureate hosts a showcase of NH poets on the NH Arts website.
• The Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program will announce the next laureate on April 18. They are holding a Poetry Hoot on April 6.
• The Frost Farm’s Hyla Brook Poets celebrate with a reading by New York City poet Stephen Paul Miller on Thursday, April 14, 2011 6:30-8:30pm at BeanTowne Coffee House & Café, 201 Rte 111 in Hampstead, NH. Also reading is Hyla Brook Poet Kyle Potvin. The Reading Series is free and open to the public.
• On April 20th beginning at 7pm  RiverRun Bookstore will host poets Baron Wormser and Meg Kearney reading from their newest books.
• On April 4th at 7pm the bookgroup at Gibson's will discuss T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. 
• The Poetry Society of NH will have their monthly meeting to celebrate and hone their craft at Gibson's on April 20th at 7pm. April's headliners are Jeff Friedman and Matt Jasper. Their readings will be followed by an open mike event, led by Don Kimball.

However you do it, April is a great time to celebrate poetry!