Book of the Week (12/30/2019)

Cub by Cynthia Copeland (Chapel Hill, NC : Algonquin Young Readers, 2020).

NH author Cynthia Copeland has written her first YA graphic novel memoir that evokes both laugh-out-loud humor and empowerment for young readers. 

"Twelve-year-old Cindy has just dipped a toe into seventh-grade drama—with its complicated friendships, bullies, and cute boys—when she earns an internship as a cub reporter at a local newspaper in the early 1970s. A (rare) young female reporter takes Cindy under her wing, and Cindy soon learns not only how to write a lede, but also how to respectfully question authority, how to assert herself in a world run by men, and—as the Watergate scandal unfolds—how brave reporting and writing can topple a corrupt world leader. Searching for her own scoops, Cindy doesn’t always get it right, on paper or in real life. But whether she’s writing features about ghost hunters, falling off her bicycle and into her first crush, or navigating shifting friendships, Cindy grows wiser and more confident through every awkward and hilarious mistake." --Author's website

Join Cynthia at the Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on January 11, 2020 at 2:00 pm.

Book of the Week (12/23/2019)

See You at the Summit: My Blind Journey from the Depth of Loss to the Heights of Achievement by Randy and Tracy Pierce (Independently published, 2018).

Randy Pierce was on top of the world, 22 years old, fresh out of college and thriving at an excellent job. His promising future seemed certain. Then, in just two short and devastating weeks, an unexpected neurological disorder plunged him into blindness. Randy, believing his future had vanished in the blink of an eye, wondered, “How can my life have meaning now?” -- Publisher's blurb
About the author: Born and raised in New Hampshire, Randy spent his early years fully sighted. His transition to total blindness is far from his greatest adventure. Randy’s passion for experience encouraged him to use adversity as a positive catalyst for growth and opportunity, resulting in such amazing adventures and honors as his earning his second-degree black belt; achieving historic hiking accomplishments in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Africa’s highest peak (Mount Kilimanjaro), and Machu Picchu in the South American Andes; winning a national marathon championship and running three consecutive Boston Marathons; competing in Tough Mudder events; and being inducted as a fan into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In 2010, Randy and his wife Tracy founded a 501(c)3 charity called 2020 Vision Quest, which funds crucial services for the visually impaired. The Pierce's proceeds from their book “See You at the Summit” will be donated to this organization.

Randy Pierce visits Gibson's Bookstore on Saturday, January 4, 2020 at 2 pm to share his uplifting account of his journey.

Book of the Week (12/16/2019)

Abandoned New Hampshire by Michael Petipas (Arcadia, 2019).

New Hampshire author Michael Petipas was featured in the Concord Monitor newspaper earlier this year, discussing his book, Abandoned New Hampshire.

In Abandoned New Hampshire, Michael Petipas captures his home state's past in the present through a collection of photographs. Through this visual journey, discover the beauty left in the wreckage and rubble of these old buildings before they disappear. All abandoned locations have a story to tell. Some are simply homes that have been abandoned for any number of reasons. Others were once giants of industry that employed the majority of the people who lived around them. Local favorites such as the Colonial Theater hold a sense of nostalgia for residents, while the history of some places is left to the imagination as they sit empty and dark through the heat of summer and cold of winter. These old bones are all that is left of an era. -- Publisher's blurb.

Book of the Week (12/9/2019)

The Water Draft by Alexandria Peary (NY: Spuyten Duyvil, 2019).

Alexandria Peary was appointed as the New Hampshire Poet Laureate in October by the Executive Council and will serve in this position until March 2024.

Her most recent book of poetry, The Water Draft, is "half surrealist romp, half anti-art, half taxonomy of our bizarro nation, these poems are wholly a love song to irreverence. I have no idea what’s coming from one line to the next, sometimes from one word to the next, and I am left in wonder at Peary’s formal daring, her singular sense of humor, and her uncanny powers of poetic observation." -- Jaswinder Bolina, poet.

In this brilliant collection of poems, Alexandria Peary reveals the many readers that we are, following labyrinthine lines through magical—sometimes scary—sculpture gardens made of words. It’s a world haunted by the weird, playful modernism of Moore and Stevens, updated with an obsessive, twenty-first-century impulse to include everything mundane and profane, from the Tasmanian Devil to deviled eggs, depicted in dazzlingly microscopic detail. It’s a world supercharged by an alchemical meta-poetics, making the physical and textual morph into each other so fluidly, it feels like we’re reading a page that’s actually water mirroring back at us. With extraordinary skill and vision, with a remarkable ear for the music of everyday tensions,    Alexandria Peary shows us what we really look like. -- Steve Healey, poet.

Alexandria recently gave a TEDx talk, “How Mindfulness Can Transform the Way You Write,” and additional information about her mindful writing theory can be found at her website: www.prolificmoment.com.

Book of the Week (12/2/2019)

America's Forgotten Colonial History by Dana Huntley (Lyons Press, 2019).

This is what we all learned in school: Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. They had a rough start, but ultimately made a go of it, made friends with the Indians, and celebrated with a big Thanksgiving dinner. Other uptight religious Puritans followed them and the whole place became New England. There were some Dutch down in New York, and sooner or later William Penn and the Quakers came to build the City of Brotherly Love in Pennsylvania, and finally it was 1776 and time to revolt against King George III and become America. That's it. That's the narrative of American colonial history known to one and all. Yet there are 150 years - six or seven generations between Plymouth Plantation and the 1770s - that are virtually unknown in our national consciousness and unaccounted for in our American narrative. Who, what, when, where and why people were motivated to make a two-month crossing on the North Atlantic to carve a life in a largely uncharted, inhospitable wilderness? How and why did they build the varied societies that they did here in the New World colonies? How and why did we become America? America's Forgotten Colonial History tells that story. -- Publisher's blurb.

NH author Dana Huntley will be signing his new book at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH on Saturday December 7, 2019 from 12 to 2 pm.

Book of the Week (11/25/2019)

Continental Divide by Alex Myers (University of New Orleans Press, 2019).

Go West, Young Man. Isn't that the advice every east coast boy has considered at least once in his life? At nineteen, almost twenty, Ron Bancroft thinks those words sound pretty good. Newly out as transgender, Ron finds himself adrift: kicked out by his family, jilted by his girlfriend, unable to afford to return to college in the fall. So he heads out to Wyoming for a new start, a chance to prove that--even though he was raised as a girl, even though everyone in Boston thinks of him as transgender--he can live as a man. A real man.
In Wyoming, he finds what he was looking for: rugged terrain, wranglers, a clean slate. He also stumbles into a world more dangerous than he imagined, one of bigotry and violence. And he falls for an intriguing young woman, who seems as interested in him as he is in her. Thus begins Ron's true adventure, a search not for the right place in America, but the right place within himself to find truth, happiness, and a sense of belonging. -- Publisher's blurb.

Join New Hampshire author Alex Myers at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 7-8:15 pm.

Book of the Week (11/18/19)

Keene Through Time by Eric Stanway & Alan Rumrill (Charlestown, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2019).

Keene is, first and foremost, a city of reinvention. Since its founding in 1736, it has prospered as an agricultural community, an industrial and transportation center, the home of a major state college, and, most recently, a hub for culture and the arts. Throughout all these changes, it has remained resilient, and many of the older buildings are still there, repurposed to new businesses. This volume traces those changes and shows how the past is still inextricably intertwined with the present. -- Back cover.

NH Authors Eric Stanway and Alan Rumrill will be presenting Keene Through Time at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 4 pm.

Book of the Week (11/11/2019)

Ball of String by Glenn K. Currie (Concord, N.H. : Snap Screen Press, 2019).

"Ball of String is Glenn Currie’s just released fourth collection of poems and color photographs.
His readable approach to his poetry and willingness to work in a variety of poetic styles has proven very popular and resulted in the sale of thousands of his books in New Hampshire.
His focus in many of his books is how our lives are connected to each other and to the world which we share. Whether they are the ties of flesh and blood or the ways we choose to live. Currie writes about his journey through life, and about the many strings that connect all of us through shared experiences, emotions, the need for humor, and the things we learn from our travels on this earth.
Ball of String contains many prize-winning poems and beautiful photographs that take us to places where we can reflect on life’s journey. We may arrive here and leave here alone, but the journey between is the precious gift that we have been given. Take some time to treasure it as you enter into the introspective fields of Currie’s poems and photographs." -- Publisher's blurb

Join Glenn on Monday, November 25th, 2019 at 6:00pm at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord where he will be discussing his newest book.

Book of the Week (11/4/2019)

From the Midway: Unfolding Stories of Redemption and Belonging by Leaf Seligman (Bauhan, 2019).

This richly researched collection of linked short stories transports readers to the midway of a carnival traveling through the Jim Crow South where we meet the carnival owners, a carousel operator, the geek, dancing girls, several performers displayed as oddities and the African American laborers charged with tending them. The final story crosses the ocean, underscoring the the power and mystery of unexpected connections. Lyrical descriptions of the physical environs and the emotional landscape of each character function like a funhouse mirror, providing just enough distance and distortion to see ourselves more clearly. The sharply striated world of a century ago aptly reflects the tensions, divisions, and perennial shared yearning for redemption and belonging that mark us as human. -- Publisher's Blurb.

New Hampshire author Leaf Seligman will be presenting at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene on Saturday, November 9th, 2019 at 11 am.

Book of the Week (10/28/2019)

That Reminds Me of a Funny Story; A Memoir, How-To, and Compendium of Yankee Humor by Rebecca Rule (Concord, N.H. : Hobblebush Books, 2019).

"In her career as a yankee storyteller, Rebecca Rule has traveled throughout New England telling stories and gathering them. One story leads to another. At town halls, historical societies, churches, and senior centers, people have shared stories that connect them to this rocky old place we call home. They’ve shared stories of family, country living, adventures and misadventures, triumphs, and “what the heck just happened?”

This book is the capstone on a twenty-five year career; the best of the best of these stories are collected here. It is also a memoir of how she came to be a storyteller, why storytelling matters, and what she has learned about the craft in the hundreds of performances she has given.

It’s a book full of characters, insight, heart, and good humor. Careful where you read it because you will be laughing out loud!" --Publisher's blurb

For ten years, Rebecca Rule hosted the "NH Authors Series" on NHPTV. She currently hosts "Our Hometown", also on NHPTV. She is also the author of a dozen books.

Book of the Week (10/21/2019)

Wading Right In: Discovering the Nature of Wetlands by Catherine Owen Koning and Sharon M. Ashworth (University of Chicago Press, 2019).

In Wading Right In, Catherine Owen Koning and Sharon M. Ashworth take us on a journey into wetlands through stories from the people who wade in the muck. Traveling alongside scientists, explorers, and kids with waders and nets, the authors uncover the inextricably entwined relationships between the water flows, natural chemistry, soils, flora, and fauna of our floodplain forests, fens, bogs, marshes, and mires. Tales of mighty efforts to protect rare orchids, restore salt marshes, and preserve sedge meadows become portals through which we visit major wetland types and discover their secrets, while also learning critical ecological lessons.
The United States still loses wetlands at a rate of 13,800 acres per year. Such loss diminishes the water quality of our rivers and lakes, depletes our capacity for flood control, reduces our ability to mitigate climate change, and further impoverishes our biodiversity. Koning and Ashworth’s stories captivate the imagination and inspire the emotional and intellectual connections we need to commit to protecting these magical and mysterious places. -- Publisher's blurb.

Catherine Owen Koning, PhD, is professor of environmental science and chair of the Division of Natural Sciences at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. She has conducted research in wetland ecology, hydrology, and plant ecology in Maine, New Hampshire, California, and Wisconsin.
Catherine will be presenting Wading Right In at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene on Saturday, October 26th, 2019 at 11 am.

Book of the Week (10/14/2019)

The Time in Between by William Judd ([New Hampshire? : Independently Published], 2019).

"This is a remarkable book by a first time author. It is a coming-of-age story with all the trials and tribulations that that entails. But it is an evocative remembrance of the sixties. Bill Judd captures the tone and feel of the time: the expressions, the tastes, the opinions, the small town parochialism of middle America, as well as the worries and joys unique to teenagers in that time and place." ~Leslie Gratcer, former Executive Director, Bell South Foundation

About the author: William Judd has lived in Concord, NH for 32 years, where he and his wife have raised five children. He is a retired high school English teacher and hospital nurse.

Join William at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 6 pm.

Book of the Week (10/7/2019)

Ex Libris Merlini: Wrath of the Scarlet Maidens by T.G. Roettiger (lulu.com, 2019).
Just in time to read during Halloween season - a mysterious and spooky tale that takes place in New Hampshire!

In the fall of 1924, occultist and New Hampshire native, Benjamin Franklin Wentworth comes into possession of an ancient text which appears to show that the tomb of the man who inspired the legend of Merlin the Magician is located somewhere in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He assembles an eclectic crew, including the mysterious Professor Hecate Ní Fidelma, a reputed witch, and sets off in search of the tomb. However, their plans go awry. Unsure whom she can trust, Hecate sets out on her own and goes into hiding. Pregnant and alone, she is in desperate need of help. But someone suspects her secret and has found where she is hiding. And they are interested in more than just an old book… -- Back cover.

Join NH author T.G. Roettiger for a presentation of his second book Ex Libris Merlini at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene on Saturday October 26th, 2019 at 4 pm.

Book of the Week (9/30/2019)

Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire by Marianne O'Connor (Portsmouth, N.H. : Peter E. Randall, 2019).

With the Fall season in full swing, and Halloween right around the corner, this book of spooky NH stories is perfect for this time of year! 

"Take only memories, leave only... screams?
The rich history of New Hampshire includes its fair share of tragedy and violence – essential ingredients behind any good haunting. For those who enjoy a good story (or fright!) to go with their nature treks, field reporter Marianne O’Connor has released a second edition of her best-selling book to guide your way through haunt and hollow. An avid hiker and reporter for outlets in Maine and New Hampshire, O’Connor has meticulously researched this hiking guide to the true-life stories behind the tales of ghosts and demons, murders and massacres, lost loves and buried treasure among New Hampshire’s storied byways. History buffs and ghost hunters alike will thrill to O’Conner’s delightful prose, which brings new perspectives and viewpoints to both familiar and lesser-known episodes."-- Publisher's blurb

Join author Marianne O'Connor at Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, October 17th, 2019 at 6 p.m.

Book of the Week (9/23/2019)

Something Bad Happened: A Kid's Guide to Coping with Events in the News by Dawn Huebner (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019).

When children learn about something big and bad - even when they hear only bits and pieces - their brains get busy trying to make sense of it. Where did it happen? Why did it happen? And especially, will it happen again?
Something Bad Happened guides children ages 6 to 12 and the adults who care about them through tough conversations about national and international tragedies. The non-specific term "bad thing" is used throughout, keeping this a flexible tool, and so children are never inadvertently exposed to events their parents have chosen not to share. Fear, sadness and uncertainty about the "bad thing" all are normalized, and immediately usable coping tools provided.
For children and parents to read together, this one-of-a-kind resource by child psychologist and best-selling author Dawn Huebner provides comfort, support and next steps for children learning about troubling world events. -- Publisher's blurb

NH Psychologist and author Dawn Huebner will be discussing her book Something Bad Happened at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH on Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm.
IMPORTANT NOTE: While this is a book for kids, this event is for ADULTS. Dr. Huebner will be speaking frankly and answering questions openly about tough topics, so it may not be appropriate for kids.

Book of the Week (9/16/2019)

Sweet Maple: Backyard Sugarmaking from Tap to Table by Michelle Visser (Guilford, Conn. : Lyons Press, 2019)

Local author Michelle Visser is a homesteader in New Hampshire’s lakes region.

"Did you know that there are nearly two dozen [types of] tappable trees across the United States? Chances are you have at least one in your very own backyard. Want to bring more healthy food and sustainability into your life? In Sweet Maple, sugarmaker Michelle Visser and her family guide you through every step of all-natural syrup production--with directions for tapping one tree or dozens. In addition to sugaring techniques, tips from sugar shacks, and fun stories of multi-generational family operations, she shares many of her own family's tried-and-true maple recipes while detailing the life-changing benefits of using maple products in place of refined sugar in the kitchen. Join Michelle on her family's sweet journey, from tap to table." --Publisher's blurb

Join Michelle at Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, October 24th, 2019 at 6 p.m. where she will present her new book.

Book of the Week (9/9/2019)

The Augmented Man by Joseph Carrabis (Castroville, TX: Black Rose Writing, 2019).

The US Military concedes that any kind of combat leaves soldiers psychologically damaged and makes reintegration to society difficult. The solution is to find individuals who are already so psychologically damaged the most horrendous combat experience will seem trivial by comparison. Better, find individuals psychologically damaged who’ve also experienced massive physical insult and trauma. Best, individuals psychologically damaged, physically traumatized, and emotionally vacant.
But where to find such individuals?
Captain James Donaldson suggests using massively abused and traumatized children as the basis, arguing “...they’ve already experienced more at home than they’ll ever experience in the field. All we need to is help their bodies catch up to where their psyches and emotions already are.”
Nine individuals are selected for Augmentation and entered into combat.
One survives.
And comes home. -- Publisher's blurb.

Join NH author Joseph Carrabis as he signs and discusses The Augmented Man at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 2 pm.

Book of the Week (9/2/2019)

Experiment #256 by Marty Kelley (Ann Arbor, Mich. : Sleeping Bear Press, 2019).

Local favorite children's author and illustrator, Marty Kelley has an exciting new book that is sure to catch the attention of anyone interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), experiments, or just plain fun with the imagination!

"Ian is wild about science experiments and for his latest (number 256) he's building a jet pack for his dog, Wilbur--the leftover parts shouldn't be anything to worry about, right? When Wilbur dons his new pack and blasts off, he leaves a swath of chaos in his wake and nobody is happy, Wilbur least of all. What's a budding inventor to do?" --Publisher's blurb

Join Marty at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH on Saturday, September 21st, 2019 at 11 a.m. where he will be presenting his newest book!

Book of the Week Blog (8/26/2019)

Knock Wood: A Memoir in Essays by Jennifer Militello (Dzanc Books, 2019).

In Knock Wood, the first nonfiction collection by award-winning poet Jennifer Militello, a knock on wood to ward off illness sets in motion a chain of events and memories that call into question the very structure of time. Anchored by a wooden ring, Militello explores her life through the lens of three intertwined elements: the story of a mentally ill aunt in an abusive marriage; a high school romance with a boy who eventually dies of a heroin overdose; and an extra-marital affair characterized by an otherworldly connection. Cause and effect reverse as significant events--an arrest for a felony committed in high school, a trip by train to meet an illicit lover, and a suicide attempt on those same New York tracks--seem to influence one another outside of time and space. As Militello delicately threads each memory to the next, she explores the themes of family damage and the precarious ties of love. -- Publisher's blurb.

NH author Jennifer Militello will be visiting Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH on Thursday, September 19th, 2019 at 7pm.

Book of the Week (8/19/2019)

Except for Love: New England Poets Inspired by Donald Hall edited by Cynthia Brackett-Vincent (New Sharon, ME : Encircle Publications, 2019).

The anthology "Except for Love" includes poetry from thirty-five New England poets inspired by literary giant Donald Hall, former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire and of the United States.

The following poets are included in this anthology: Sherry Barker Abaldo, Mary Anker, L.R. Berger, Edward Bruce Bynum, David Cappella, Jenny Doughty, Max Roland Ekstrom, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Elizabeth Brule’ Farrell, Monica Flegg, James Fowler, David Giannini, Patricia Gomes, Kathleen McKinley Harris, Scott T. Hutchison, Elizabeth Knies, Tricia Knoll, Katherine Leigh, Jim Mello, Mark Melnicove, Andrew Periale, Dawn Potter, Kyle Potvin, Jessica Purdy, Gary Rainford, Steven Ratiner, Dave Read, Russell Rowland, Clemens Carl Schoenebeck, John Surowiecki, Wally Swist, Jeri Theriault, Irene Willis, Warren Woessner, Jane Yolen.

Praise for Except for Love:

"Cynthia Brackett Vincent writes in her preface to Except for Love, a tribute to the late, acclaimed poet Donald Hall, that Hall had an undying love for so many things, among them, Jane Kenyon, baseball, and New Hampshire (with all its warts and beauty). She speaks of his amorous reverence for the past, present, and the future, or, as Longfellow wrote in his poem, “A Psalm of Life”: “Still achieving, still pursuing,/Learn to labor and to wait.” As we all know, love is infectious, and Hall’s poetry and persona have touched so many poets and readers alike. Through their poetry, the contributors to this stunning anthology show their love for the poet and the man.
Hall gives gravitas to the most arcane rituals of the everyday, and so do the poets here. L.R. Berger writes in the poem, “First Acts”: “Filling the teapot at the tap,/turning on the burner—//praise be for the first acts/requiring no imagination,/no choices of consequence.//You can be half asleep/and already a success at life,//draw encouragement/mastering the rituals of morning—.” I think Berger has raised my first pot of morning coffee to the high holy!
The poems in this collection celebrate the primal, the unaffected beauty of the world. They celebrate nature, and all the poems bloom like a flower, enriched by metaphor. The poems have so much to say and with originality. You will learn to say, “I love you like an apple,” the title of one poem here by Jenny Doughty. On these pages, a rose can be a totem for where you have been and where you are now.
The sensibility of Hall is deeply embedded in this collection, and continues the tradition of highly-crafted work for which Encircle Publications is known."
—Doug Holder/Founder, Ibbetson Street Press/Lecturer in Creative Writing, Endicott College

Join some of the poets from this anthology on Thursday, September 5th, 2019 at 6 p.m. at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH where they will be presenting their work.