Book of the Week #30

Pliney Fiske: A Civil War Mystery by Mark Travis (Grantham, NH: Martha Jane Books, 2012)

This is New Hampshire native Mark Travis's first novel, but you may be familiar with his writing in local papers and as co-author of My Brave Boys. White Birch Books will host a reading with the author tomorrow, Tuesday, July 34, 2012 beginning at 7pm.

"Pliney Fiske is what filmmaker Ken Burns calls “a wonderful novel” that works at several levels. It is a page-turning mystery that pits an unlikely title character, a federal pension agent, against a celebrated group of battle-scarred Civil War veterans who are intent on preserving a wartime secret. It is a vivid evocation of daily life and concerns in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1867, two years after the war’s end, a place and a time at once distant and familiar. It is also, in the words of novelist Ernest Hebert, “an inquiry into the complexities of the American character,” exploring such issues as race, women’s rights, temperance, belonging, and forgiveness. ... Praise for Pliney Fiske has been generous. Hebert called it “a gripping historical novel.” Historian Dayton Duncan cited its “yeasty issues” and “vivid cast of memorable players.” Reviewer William Craig called it a “delightful debut novel” that “shows us a 150-year-old society divided, like our own, between various kinds of haves and have-nots, believers and sinners, patriots and scoundrels.” " --White Birch Books

Book of the Week #29

Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes: A Novel by Betsy Woodman (NY: Henry Holt & Co., 2012)

"Janet Laird’s life changes when she inherits her grandfather’s house in an Indian hill station. Ignoring her son’s pleas to come grow old in Scotland, she moves with her chatty parrot, Mr. Ganguly, and her loyal housekeeper, Mary, to Hamara Nagar, where the local merchants are philosophers, the police chief is a tyrant, and a bagpipe-playing Gurkha keeps the wild monkeys at bay.
Settling in, Jana (as she prefers to be called) meets her colorful local neighbors– Feroze Ali Khan of Royal Tailors, who struggles with his business and family, V.K. Ramachandran, whose Treasure Emporium is bursting at the seams with objects of unknown provenance, and Rambir, editor of the local newspaper, who burns the midnight oil at his printing press.
When word gets out that the town is in danger of being drowned by a government dam, Jana is enlisted to help put it on the map. Hoping to attract tourists with promises of good things to come, she stacks her deck of cards, readies her fine-feathered assistant—and Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes is born!" --publisher's blurb

This is the debut novel by NH resident Betsy Woodman. She will be doing readings in the next few weeks at Waterstreet Books (7/24/12) and Gibsons (8/2/12).

Book of the Week #28

Wish by Joseph Monninger (NY: Delacorte Press, 2010)

"Bee's brother, Tommy, knows everything there is to know about sharks. He also knows that his life will be cut short by cystic fibrosis. And so does Bee. That's why she wants to make his wish-foundation-sponsored trip to swim with a great white shark an unforgettable memory. But wishes don't always come true. At least, not as expected. Only when Bee takes Tommy to meet a famous shark attack survivor and hard-core surfer does Tommy have the chance to live one day to the fullest. And in the sun-kissed ocean off a California beach, Bee discovers that she has a few secret wishes of her own. . . . " --Publisher's blurb

On a hot summer day a book about swimming and surfing in the Pacific seemed like a good choice. The story is set mostly in California, but the main characters are New Hampshire kids. I really liked the descriptions of surfing which were very exciting and made me feel like I was right there. This book, by NH author Joseph Monninger,  was selected by the NH Center for the Book to be featured as one of "52 Great Reads" at the 2012 National Book Festival.

Book of the Week #27

Comme D'Or: The First Fifty Years of Holy Rosary Credit Union by Michael Behrendt (Rochester, NH: HRCU, 2011)

"Holy Rosary Credit Union was founded in 1962, on a shoestring and literally in a shoebox, operating out of the church basement on Sundays after Mass. Comme D'Or chronicles the unlikely rise of this remarkable institution, and explores the broader credit union movement and the rich Franco-American experience.
Myriad stories, both charming and outlandish, are captured: the elderly lady who discretely borrowed $20 every September to play Beano at the Rochester Fair; the owner of a junkyard who had his wrecker truck hauled away for nonpayment, only to be returned by the credit union the next day, after he kvetched to everyone in town; and the redoubtable Monsignor Simard, who insinuated a severe penalty for any daring to oppose the new building. The telling is enlivened by the author's rollicking style. He arranges for cameos with Rocky Marciano, Marilyn Monroe, women in burqas, and Marvin Gaye, and riffs on permeable pavement, arachnophobia, and an unusually aggressive eggroll, all, of course, inextricable connected to the credit union." --Publisher's blurb.

This book was reviewed on the blog Credit Union History.

Michael Behrendt, the Rochester City Planner for many years, recently became the Durham City Planner. He is also the author of Architectural Jewels of Rochester, New Hampshire: A History of the Built Environment.