Book of the Week (9/27/2021)

Traveling with the Atom: A Scientific Guide to Europe and Beyond by Glen E Rodgers (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019).

Traveling with the Atom is a historical travel guide to the development of one of the most significant and enduring ideas in the history of humankind: the atomic concept. This history covers the notable places and landmarks commemorating this achievement, visiting homesteads, graveyards, laboratories, apartments, abbeys and castles, through picturesque rural villages and working class municipalities. From Montreal to Manchester, via some of the most elegant and romantic cities in Europe, Traveling with the Atom guides the reader on a trip through the lives and minds of the great thinkers who collectively unveiled the mystery of the atom. Fully illustrated and interspersed with intriguing and insightful notes throughout, this book is an ideal companion for the wandering scientist, their students, friends and companions or quintessential fireside reading for lovers of science and travel. -- Back cover.

View a talk from the author about this book on YouTube.

Book of the Week (12/25/2017)

You Had a Job For Life: Story of a Company Town by Jamie Sayen (Lebanon, N.H. : University Press of New England, 2017)

Absentee owners. Single-minded concern for the bottom line. Friction between workers and management. Hostile takeovers at the hands of avaricious and unaccountable multinational interests. The story of America’s industrial decline is all too familiar—and yet, somehow, still hard to fathom.

Jamie Sayen spent years interviewing residents of Groveton, New Hampshire, about the century-long saga of their company town. The community’s paper mill had been its economic engine since the early twentieth century. Purchased and revived by local owners in the postwar decades, the mill merged with Diamond International in 1968. It fell victim to Anglo-French financier James Goldsmith’s hostile takeover in 1982, then suffered through a series of owners with no roots in the community until its eventual demise in 2007.

Drawing on conversations with scores of former mill workers, Sayen reconstructs the mill’s human history: the smells of pulp and wood, the injuries and deaths, the struggles of women for equal pay and fair treatment, and the devastating impact of global capitalism on a small New England town. This is a heartbreaking story of the decimation of industrial America. --Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (12/18/2017)

Hoot and Peep A Song for Snow by Lita Judge (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2017).

As I write this, New Hampshire had it's first snow storm of the season recently, much to the delight of my 3 year old son (although not so much to my delight). I have to admit that his excitement for the "first snow" was infectious, so it was perfect timing that I discovered a book on this very topic - Hoot and Peep A Song for Snow by NH author and illustrator Lita Judge. You can also find coloring pages featuring Hoot and Peep for your little ones at the author's website!

It’s Peep’s first winter, and it’s going to snow very, very soon. Peep has so many questions for her older brother Hoot: Does snow drop, polppety splop, like the rain's song? Does it scrinkle scrattle like falling leaves? But Hoot can't remember snow very well. The one thing he knows for sure is that it is worth waiting for.

But Peep doesn't have his patience, and as she flies around the gorgeous Paris skies, she tries her best to make up her own snow song. But once those first snowflakes start to fall, Peep realizes just how wise her older brother really is for waiting...and just who she wants to cuddle up to when the snow starts to really sing.

With all the wonder and the joy of a first snow day, and perfect for fans of The Quiet Book and Little Owl's Night, this tender follow-up to Hoot and Peep is certainly worth waiting for, too. -- Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (12/11/2017)

Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2017).

Granite State author Erin Bowman brings us the companion YA novel to "Vengeance Road" in the newly released "Retribution Rails".

When Reece Murphy is forcibly dragged into an infamous gang because of a mysterious gold coin in his possession, he vows to find the man who gave him the piece and turn him over to the gang in exchange for freedom. Never does he expect a lead to come from an aspiring female journalist. But when Reece’s path crosses with Charlotte Vaughn after a botched train robbery and she mentions a promising rumor about a gunslinger from Prescott, it becomes apparent that she will be his ticket to freedom—or a noose. As the two manipulate each other for their own ends, past secrets are unearthed, reviving a decade-old quest for revenge that may be impossible to settle.
In this thrilling companion to Vengeance Road, dangerous alliances are formed, old friends meet new enemies, and the West is wilder than ever. --Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (12/4/2017)

The Bobhouse: A Winnipesaukee Adventure by Andy Opel, Illustrated by Karel Hayes & John Gorey (Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2017).

Just in time for the holiday season, there is a new book from the Lake Winnipesaukee adventures series!

Every year, Lake Winnipesaukee freezes in the winter, presenting new challenges to residents and visitors. The ice gets so thick it supports snowmobiles, cars, and small fishing shacks called “bobhouses.” For a few weeks in the winter, there is an FAA approved runway in Alton Bay where airplanes land on the ice. Each year, people attempt to predict “ice out.” The official “ice out” is declared when the M/S Mount Washington can travel to every port of call. -- Publisher's blurb.

There will be a book signing with the illustrator, Karel Hayes, at The Country Bookseller in Wolfeboro, NH on Saturday, December 9, 2017 from 1 to 3 pm.

Book of the Week (11/27/2017)

Begin with Trouble by Martha Carlson-Bradley (Brookline, NH: Hobblebush, 2017).

I have always been fascinated by the quaint New-England Primer, ever since I was a little girl playing "old-fashioned school" with my reproduction edition, and so I was delighted when I saw that NH Poet Martha Carlson-Bradley's latest book of poetry was inspired by the New-England Primer of 1727.

The poems of Begin with Trouble often lift, erase, disarrange, or subvert the language of the 1727 New-England Primer — a book read by children in New England and beyond throughout the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth. Whole communities, whole generations of children were introduced both to reading and to a world view that asserted "our God is a consuming Fire." In Begin with Trouble, Carlson-Bradley captures different voices in these communities, from children struggling with class and mortality, duty and the afterlife, to an elderly Native American survivor of internment and an enslaved young man from Africa. The connotations of the book as a physical object also speak throughout Begin with Trouble — as does the twenty-first-century narrator, who discovers that archives contain timeless messages of desire, fear, regret, and an enduring need for human connection. -- Publisher's blurb.

Be sure to visit Martha's event page for upcoming readings at libraries and bookshops around New Hampshire in 2018!

Book of the Week (11/20/2017)

A Time to Dance: American Country Dancing from Hornpipes to Hot Hash by Richard Nevell (Peterborough, N.H. : Bauhan Publishing, 2017).

Richard Nevell, local photographer, visual artist, author, filmmaker, and songwriter delves into the rich history of American Country dancing in his new book, "A Time to Dance".

"A Time to Dance: American Country Dancing from Hornpipes to Hot Hash" presents a well-documented history of American country dancing. Richard Nevell records American country dances as historical artifacts, as social expressions of rural and urban communities, as manifestations of democracy, and as an evolving traditional art that changes to meet the needs of a changing American society. The breezy, relaxed style lends itself to easy reading, and is accompanied by excellent illustrations. --Toadstool Bookshop website.

Richard Nevell opens the doors to dance, inviting us in to fully experience what has stirred the mind, heart, and feet for generations. A Time to Dance explores the evolution of American country dance from Colonial times to the present, taking the reader across the USA in search of the reasons why so many millions of Americans love to share the country dance floor with friends, neighbors, even total strangers, in a celebration of community. Like dancing itself, A Time To Dance entertains, instructs, and leaves us enthused. --Publisher's blurb.

Join Richard at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, NH on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 2:00 pm for a book signing and discussion of "A Time to Dance"!

Book of the Week (11/13/2017)

A Colored Man in Exeter by Michael Cameron Ward (U.S.? : Creative Plutonium, 2017).

Local author Michael Cameron Ward's memoir tells the stories and experiences of his father, and family in Lee, New Hampshire at a racially tumultuous time in history.  

In the summer of 1957 the Ward family moved from Brooklyn, New York to Lee, New Hampshire to escape gang violence. It was an era when racial tensions were high and they were the first “colored family” in the area. Needless to say, over the years they encountered many interesting experiences and created a storied life. They also became respected members of the community, led by parents, Harold and Virginia Ward, a couple with strong convictions and compassion.

Harold, Michael Cameron Ward’s 94-year-old father, was hospitalized in the beginning of May 2015 with only weeks to live. On the 20th he made a request of his son: “Michael, I want you to write the stories of our existence. I want my great grandchildren to know where they came from.” Then, as Michael sat beside his father’s bed on the 4th floor at Exeter Hospital, his father recounted stories of his life that had never been told before. If not captured, they would be lost forever. On June 9th, 2015 Harold died, and Michael has been fulfilling his father’s request ever since. --RiverRun website

Join Michael Cameron Ward at River Run Bookstore on November 14th at 6:30 pm in Portsmouth, NH!

Book of the Week (11/6/2017)

The Contrarian Voice: And Other Poems by Ernest Hebert (Peterborough, NH: Bauhan Pub, 2017).

In this new collection of poetry, award-winning author Ernest Hebert writes of the trials, tribulations, and worsening plight of the working man, memorializing the “dirty-face people” who “put down the asphalt for the highways, stoked the foundry fires, built the rockets, and packed the computer chips. . . .”

NH Author Ernest Hebert will be visiting Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 5:30pm.


Update: There is an interview with Ernest Hebert at NHPR's The Bookshelf that aired on November 23rd, 2017.

Book of the Week (10/30/2017)

Ghost Stories From the Elm City by Kitty Mervine (N.H.? : K. Mervine, 2017).

With Halloween only a day away, it seemed fitting to post about a collection of local ghost stories by one of our talented Granite State authors. Kitty Mervine, author of both children's and adult books, offers a glimpse into the supernatural world of Keene, NH with her new book! The stories within "Ghost Stories From the Elm City" are accompanied by amazing illustrations by NH artist Noah Whippie that only add to the spookiness.

["Ghost Stories From the Elm City"] offers a peek at Keene, New Hampshire's paranormal history, featuring a ghostly cat, a zombie in search of a heart, and a skeleton driving way too fast! --Amazon.com

Book of the Week (10/23/2017)

The War has Begun by Charles E. Frye (CreateSpace, 2017).

Based on extensive historical and ancestral research, U.S. Army Veteran Charles Frye's book is the first in a series about NH native Isaac Frye, during the American Revolution. You can learn more about the series and the author's fascinating research findings in an interview with CultScoop Magazine.

If you've ever wondered what it would have been like to stand beside the men and women who fought for American independence, here's your chance. The War has Begun is the first book in the Duty in the Cause of Liberty series. The books follow Isaac Frye, a farmer from Wilton, New Hampshire, who responds to the early morning alarm of April 19, 1775, carried by Paul Revere and William Dawes. This story is true, and only the actual people who participated in the events with Isaac Frye are included as characters—no fictional characters were created to enhance or embellish the narrative. The books portray the American Revolutionary War from the perspective of the middle class, as they follow Isaac Frye, who served from the first day of the Continental Army’s existence through being in the last unit disbanded. No other man, including George Washington, served longer as an officer. The War Has Begun introduces Isaac and tells the story of how his commitment to liberty and eventually American independence shape unimagined sacrifices for himself, his family, and his town. -- Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (10/16/2017)

Erin Bakes Cake: Make + Bake + Decorate = Your Own Cake Adventure! by Erin Gardner (Emmaus, Penn. : Rodale Books, 2017).

NH Lakes Region author and self-taught pastry chef, Erin Gardner returns with another fun and creative cake recipe book sure to make your mouth water!

Erin Gardner's cake recipes share a delicious, time-saving secret: they're all the same. Why play the guessing game of sifting through dozens of recipes when all you need are just a few that contain hundreds of variations--572, to be exact! The cakequations in Erin Bakes Cake teach you how to combine her cake, buttercream, cookie, and candy recipes in endless mouth-watering ways. Erin's cake recipes aren't sorcery--they're science. They all share similar ratios of ingredients that add tenderness, strength, or flavor. You don't have to be an expert. Everyone can learn to make a great cake!
Erin Bakes Cake provides the building blocks for constructing a great cake, and then offers endless ways those blocks can be reassembled. Erin shares the baking tips she learned as a professional pastry chef and wedding cake baker, what tools to use, how to perfect the cake's finish, and other tricks of the baking trade. She then shows you how to make gorgeous and intricately decorated cakes by elevating simple, but delicious, ingredients like candy, cookies, and chocolate. Erin's created cake designs that are festive, chic, and easy to recreate at home without the use of hard-to-deal-with fondant.
And best of all, you can make every recipe your own! The Any Veggie Cake cake can be transformed into a classic carrot cake, zucchini cake, or sweet potato cake. A creamy cake filling isn't limited to buttercream with the inclusion of recipes for caramel, ganache, marshmallow, and more. A chocolate birthday cake recipe can be reimagined as red velvet or chocolate toffee. Elements of crunch, like peanut brittle, honeycomb candy, or even cookie crumbles, can be sprinkled onto your cake layers for tasty added texture. --Water Street Bookstore website

Join Erin at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 7:00 pm where she will be doing a Q&A plus a demonstration!

Book of the Week (10/9/2017)

Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill (Harper Collins, 2017).

New Hampshire's own Joe Hill will be at Gibson's Bookstore on Tuesday, October 24th, 2017 at 7 pm to present Strange Weather: Four Short Novels.

A collection of four chilling novels, ingeniously wrought gems of terror from the brilliantly imaginative, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman, Joe Hill."One of America's finest horror writers" (Time magazine), Joe Hill has been hailed among legendary talents such as Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, and Jonathan Lethem. In Strange Weather, this "compelling chronicler of human nature's continual war between good and evil," (Providence Journal-Bulletin) who "pushes genre conventions to new extremes" (New York Times Book Review) deftly expose the darkness that lies just beneath the surface of everyday life.
"Snapshot" is the disturbing story of a Silicon Valley adolescent who finds himself threatened by "The Phoenician," a tattooed thug who possesses a Polaroid Instant Camera that erases memories, snap by snap.
A young man takes to the skies to experience his first parachute jump. . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly solid cloud, a Prospero's island of roiling vapor that seems animated by a mind of its own in "Aloft."
On a seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open up in a downpour of nails--splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. "Rain" explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads out across the country and around the world.
In "Loaded," a mall security guard in a coastal Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and embark on one last day of reckoning.
Masterfully exploring classic literary themes through the prism of the supernatural, Strange Weather is a stellar collection from an artist who is "quite simply the best horror writer of our generation" (Michael Kortya). -- Publisher's blurb

Book of the Week (10/2/2017)

Bound by Ice: A True North Pole Survival Story by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace (Honesdale, Penn. : Calkins Creek, 2017).
 
Granite State authors Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace have teamed up to bring us another engaging story in "Bound by Ice", which follows the story of the USS Jeannette. Both authors have been featured on "Book of the Week" for another powerful work, "Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights".

In the years following the Civil War, "Arctic fever" gripped the American public, fueled by myths of a fertile, tropical sea at the top of the world. Several explorers attempted to find a route to the North Pole, but none succeeded. Bound by Ice follows the journey of George Washington De Long and the crew of the USS Jeannette, who departed San Francisco in the summer of 1879 hoping to find a route to the North Pole. However, in mid-September the ship became locked in ice north of Siberia and drifted for nearly two years before it was crushed by ice and sank. De Long and his men escaped the ship and began a treacherous journey in extreme polar conditions in an attempt to reach civilization. Many, including De Long, did not survive. A riveting true-life adventure, Bound by Ice includes excerpts from De Long's extensive journals, which were recovered with his body; newspapers from the time; and photos and sketches by the men on the expedition. --Publisher's blurb

Join both Sandra and Rich at the Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on Sunday, Oct. 8th, 2017 at 2 pm for a book signing of "Bound by Ice".

Book of the Week (9/25/2017)

Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind by Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017).

New Hampshire can boast that we have two of the world's top animal authors and they have teamed up to write a fascinating and insightful book of essays about our fellow creatures!

Tamed and Untamed―a collection of essays penned by two of the world's most celebrated animal writers, Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas―explores the minds, lives, and mysteries of animals as diverse as snails, house cats, hawks, sharks, dogs, lions, and even octopuses.
Drawing on stories of animals both wild and domestic, the two authors, also best friends, created this book to put humans back into the animal world. The more we learn about what other animals think and do, they explain, the more we understand ourselves as animals, too. Writes Montgomery, “The list of attributes once thought to be unique to our species―from using tools to waging war―is not only rapidly shrinking, but starting to sound less and less impressive when we compare them with other animals’ powers.”
With humor, empathy, and introspection, Montgomery and Thomas look into the lives of all kinds of creatures―from man’s best friend to the great white shark―and examine the ways we connect with our fellow species. Both authors have devoted their lives to sharing the animal kingdom’s magic with others, and their combined wisdom is an indispensable contribution to the field of animal literature. -- Publisher's blurb.

Join Sy and Elizabeth at these events celebrating their new book:
Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 at 11 am at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough
Sunday, Oct. 1st, 2017 at 2 pm at MainStreet BookEnds
Tuesday, Oct. 10th, 2017 at 7 pm at Water Street Bookstore
Saturday, Oct. 14th, 2017 at 2 pm at Gibson's Bookstore

Book of the Week (9/18/2017)

Cog Days: A Boy's Life and One Tragic Summer on Mt. Washington by Joe McQuaid (Concord, NH : Plaidswede Publishing, 2017).

Granite State's own Joe McQuaid delivers both an intriguing memoir of his teenage years, as well as an important part of New Hampshire history in "Cog Days".

Joe McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News, grew up in the newspaper business. But his teenage years were spent high up in the White Mountains, working on the world-famous Mt. Washington Cog Railway for the Teague family. In this memoir, McQuaid writes with humor and wistfulness of a wonderful era that time and circumstance have all but erased, and of Colonel Arthur S. Teague, whose recongnition as one of America's outstanding World War II heroes is long overdue.
Cog Days is also the story of one terrible summer that claimed the lives of Colonel Teague and a daughter, and ended with the worst accident in the Cog's storied and colorful 150 years of operation. --Publisher's blurb.

Join Joe at one of these events celebrating his new book:

Saturday, Sept. 23 at 10:30 am with the Sandwich Historical Society at Quimby Park at the Transportation Museum.

Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2 pm at the Conway Public Library

Saturday, Oct. 7 at 4 pm at Gibson's Bookstore

Book of the Week (9/11/2017)

Marred by Sue Coletta (Tirgearr Publishing, 2015).

Crime writer Sue Coletta's first book of the Grafton County series, set locally in New Hampshire, is a suspenseful thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat!

When a serial killer breaks into the home of bestselling author, Sage Quintano, she barely escapes with her life. Her husband, Niko, a homicide detective, insists they move to rural New Hampshire, where he accepts a position as Grafton County Sheriff. Sage buries secrets from that night, secrets she swears to take to her deathbed. Three years of anguish and painful memories pass, and a grisly murder case lands on Niko’s desk. A strange caller torments Sage. She can’t outrun the past. When Sage’s twin sister suddenly goes missing, Sage searches Niko’s case files and discovers similarities to the Boston killer. A sadistic psychopath is preying on innocent women, marring their bodies in unspeakable ways. And now, he has her sister. Cryptic clues. Hidden messages. Is the killer hinting at his identity? Or is he trying to lure Sage into a deadly trap to end his reign of terror with a matching set of corpses? -- Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (9/4/2017)

Under A Dark Eye: A Family Story by Sharon Dunn (Lubbock, TX : Texas Tech University Press, 2017).
 
Author Sharon Dunn tells the story of her difficult father, growing up on the state mental hospital grounds in Concord, NH (where her mother, psychiatrist Gladys Ward-Dunn was clinical director), and of the dysfunctional upbringing these elements created.

"Under A Dark Eye" unravels the mystery of Sharon Dunn's father, who began a one-man business in Penacook in 1952, which Sharon and her brother Mike Dunn transformed into a national business and local employer, Duncraft.  Dunn, like a detective, traces the lives of her father and mother through photographs, letters, a child’s drawings, bits of conversations, memories, dreams, and myriad online archives. The memoir touches on immigration, Wall Street and the Depression of the 1930’s, the psychological effects of war, women in medicine, entrepreneurship and family dysfunction." --Gibson's website

Sharon will be appearing on local radio WNHN FM on Wednesday, Sept. 13th at 12:30 pm to discuss her new book, as well as at Gibson's Bookstore on Wednesday, September 13th, 2017 at 5:30 p.m.

Book of the Week (8/28/2017)

Vagabond Quakers: Northern Colonies by Olga Morrill (Create Space, 2017).

NH Author and retired librarian, Olga Morrill, has published an intriguing work of historical fiction about the missionaries for the Society of Friends in Puritan New England.

Vagabond Quakers: Northern Colonies is set in the mid 1600s and reveals a period in early Colonial New England history that has been largely glossed over in our educational system. The book is firmly based on historical references that tell of the remarkable brutality the Puritan authorities in Massachusetts Bay Colony brought to bear against the Society of Friends. By landing at Dover Point on the Piscataqua River in June of 1662, Quaker missionaries Mary Tomkins and Alice Ambrose elude arrest for six months. They are safe on the eastern bank of the Piscataqua under the protection of Nicholas Shapleigh, but as soon as they return to Dover in December, they are imprisoned for their faith and brought before the magistrate Captain Richard Walderne, who pronounces a harsh sentence. Vagabond Quakers tells two stories - that of the women during their year in New England, as well as Richard Walderne's rise as a young immigrant in 1635 to his position of power on Dover Point and his clash with the Quaker missionaries in 1662. Early New Hampshire and Boston history is told in his chapters. --Author's blurb.

Olga R. Morrill will be at the Moultonborough Public Library, Moultonborough, NH on Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 7 pm and the Dover Public Library, Dover, NH on Wednesday, September 6, 6:30pm  to discuss her research, read an excerpt from the book, and sell signed copies. You can visit Olga's blog to look for future visits at libraries around the state.

Book of the Week (8/21/2017)

The Kirby Boys' Adventure: Searching for the Lost Key by Karen Beaudin (Maitland, FL : Xulon Press, 2016).

Karen Beaudin, local author of two previous books, brings a fun children's mystery titled "The Kirby Boys' Adventure: Searching for the Lost Key". The characters in the story are based on Karen's three grandsons, Wyatt, Logan, and Tucker. "The Kirby Boys' Adventure" is also beautifully illustrated by New Hampshire native, Valerie Main.

Wyatt yelled from the top of the tree. "You guys are not going to believe what I just found!" His brothers could hardly contain their excitement. Logan cupped his hands around his mouth so his voice would carry. "What is it? What did you find?" Brothers can have the best adventures and solve any clue when they work together. After a secret is uncovered in their backyard, Wyatt, Logan, and Tucker must find a key to reveal the story behind it. Mrs. Brown has lived next door since the boys were born. Does she know about the lost key? --Publisher's blurb.

Join both Karen and Valerie for a book signing on Friday, August 25, 2017 at Gibson's Bookstore at 5:30 pm where they will also talk about the new book.

Also, both Karen and Valerie will be at the Franklin Public Library on Saturday, August 26, 2017 at 10 am for another book signing.