Book of the Week (9/8/2025)

Granite Lives: A Day in New Hampshire by Jonathan Michelizza (Independently published, 2025)

Fifteen towns. Fifteen voices. One unforgettable day.

From icy lakes to quiet libraries, from the bustle of Manchester to the stillness of Alton's hills, this poignant collection captures a single day—March 27—in the lives of everyday people across New Hampshire. A cook dreams of freedom between orders. A boy finds courage in the woods. A caregiver hears echoes of her own grief in a stranger’s silence. Each of these fifteen stories reveals the quiet resilience, heartbreak, humor, and grace that thread through our daily lives.

Told with warmth and realism, Granite Lives invites readers to witness the extraordinary in the ordinary. Perfect for fans of Olive Kitteridge and Our Town, this deeply human mosaic explores what it means to live with purpose, even when no one is watching.

Whether you're from the Granite State or simply drawn to stories that honor place and people, Granite Lives is a literary journey you'll carry long after the last page.

Step into New Hampshire for a single day—and discover how much a life can hold. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Born in Connecticut and raised for 28 years in New Hampshire, Jonathan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science and works closely with autistic youth in school settings. With a strong focus on education and neurodiversity, Jon is dedicated to creating supportive, inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive. His work blends compassion, structure, and a deep understanding of individual needs, making him a committed advocate for equitable education.

NHBF Author: Lisa Rogak

Lisa Rogak is the bestselling author of numerous books, including And Nothing But the Truthiness: The Rise (and Further Rise) of Stephen Colbert, and Angry Optimist: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart. She is the editor of the New York Times bestseller Barack Obama in His Own Words.

 Rogak lives in New Hampshire.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

3 on a Theme: Concord History

Growing Up in Concord, New Hampshire: Boomer Memories from White's Park to the Capitol Theater by Kathleen D. Bailey & Sheila R. Bailey

Crosscurrents of Change: Concord, N.H. in the 20th Century published by the Concord Historical Society

The Concord Theatre and Concord's Love Affair with the Movies by Paul E. Brogan

Book of the Week (9/1/2025)

Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker (Hampton Creek Press / Simon & Schuster, 2025)

For a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die.

In the sleepy coastal town of New Castle, New Hampshire, seventeen-year-old Billy Hasler's life is about to take a terrifying turn. When his best friend David Spivey inherits a mysterious house on a nearby island, it seems like the perfect place to spend their final summer before heading off to college. No parents. No police. No responsibilities.

As they dig into the island's dark past, they awaken an ancient evil that has influenced generations. What begins as an innocent summer adventure quickly descends into a nightmare.

"Something I Keep Upstairs" is a haunting exploration of friendship, sacrifice, and the darkness lurking just beyond our understanding. It will keep you on edge until the final, chilling page. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

J.D. Barker is the New York Times and international best-selling author of numerous novels, including DRACUL and the wildly popular 4MK thriller series. He is currently collaborating with James Patterson. His books have been translated into two dozen languages, sold in more than 150 countries, and optioned for both film and television. Barker resides in coastal New Hampshire with his wife, Dayna, and their daughter, Ember.

NHBF Author: Jennifer Militello

Jennifer Militello is the Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. She is the author of the forthcoming collection Identifying the Pathogen, named a finalist for the FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize, The Pact (Tupelo Press/Shearsman Books, 2021), and the memoir Knock Wood, winner of the Dzanc Nonfiction Prize (Dzanc Books, 2019), as well as four previous collections of poetry. 

Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, American Poetry Review, The Nation, The New Republic, The Paris Review, Poetry, and Tin House. She teaches in the MFA program at New England College.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Main Street Poetry Project: Call for Poems by New Hampshire High School Students

The NH Book Festival and the Poetry Society of New Hampshire in partnership with New Hampshire Poet Laureate Jennifer Militello and the Academy of American Poets are seeking poems by high school students to be featured in Concord as part of the Main Street Poetry Project.

Deadline: September 15th, 2025

For more information, visit the Poetry Society of New Hampshire's website.

NHBF Author: Lita Judge

Author and illustrator Lita Judge has written over 35 nonfiction and fiction books, including Old Blue is My Home, Mary’s Monster, Red Sled, Flight School, and DOGS, A History of Our Best Friends. Awards for her books include the International Reading Association Award, ALA Notable, NCTE Notable Book, Kirkus Best Book, and the Jane Addams Honor. Mary’s Monster received nominations for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medal, the UK’s most prestigious children’s books awards. Her book, Flight School, was adapted into an off-Broadway musical,
playing in NYC, China, and touring across the country. She makes her home in Peterborough, New Hampshire. 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

NHBF Author: Christine Murphy

Born and raised in New Hampshire, Christine Murphy has lived, worked, and traveled in more than one hundred countries, including living for eleven months in a tent across the African continent, and a year as a resident in a Buddhist nunnery in the Himalayas. A trained Buddhologist, Murphy has a PhD in Religious Studies. Notes on Surviving the Fire is her first novel.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Book of the Week (8/25/2025)

Float by Larry Daley (Bookling Media, 2026)

Dive into the fun as first grader Rosie leaps into action to retrieve her soggy snacks from a stealing seagull! Enjoy the many colorful creatures swimming in this wild aquarium adventure. Spot Bubbles the octopus sneaking through the pages as she plans her escape, find the twenty sea turtles hidden in the artwork, and explore the back pages to learn what these animals love to eat! You might even uncover a few new facts before your next trip to your favorite aquarium.

Larry Daley creates an immersive story about anticipation, frustration, and the power of pausing when things get tough. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Larry Daley spent fifteen years as both an Art Director and Editor at DC Comics Entertainment and Warner Bros. Studios, helping to develop DC's library of characters for media development and licensed products. His work with characters like BATMAN and SUPERMAN has appeared in several feature films & television series, as well as toys, video games, licensed publishing, custom comics, theme parks, corporate branding and global promotions. Today, Larry dedicates his efforts illustrating full-time at his studio on the New Hampshire seacoast.

Book of the Week (8/18/2025)

Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All by Mel Allen (Earth Sky + Water, 2025)

From the time he published his first story in Yankee in 1977 to the day he retired as its editor in 2025, Mel Allen’s writing has captured the unique essence of New England and the people who call it home. Here for the first time, Allen has collected 45 of his favorite pieces, adding intimate new introductions and postscripts to put them in context. The feel and flavor of New England lives within the covers of this engaging collection. --Publisher's blurb

About the Author:

Mel Allen has spent nearly half a century finding fascinating people and places he wanted to write about and telling the stories of New England. He became Yankee Magazine’s fifth editor in the summer of 2006, after previous roles as writer, senior editor, and executive editor. Mel’s career at Yankee Magazine spanned more than four decades, and he has written for every department in the magazine. In his pursuit of stories, he has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, and fished with the legendary Ted Williams. In 2018, he was inducted into the Folio Magazine Hall of Fame for editorial excellence. He has taught magazine writing and creative nonfiction for the past 25 years, divided between the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and MFA program at Bay Path University. He lives and writes in New Hampshire.

Join Mel Allen at Gibson's Bookstore on Friday, September 5, 2025 at 6:30 pm where he will discuss his new book!

NHBF Author: Kari Allen

Kari Allen grew up on a lake in New Hampshire with her sister and parents spending the summers swimming and eating blackberries. She went to a small school in central New Hampshire, so small that her graduating class had only 17 students in it. 

She has always loved reading and writing and channeled that love into pursuing degrees in English and Early Childhood Education, as well as a masters in the Teaching of Writing. Kari loves watching how literacy develops in children. She loves seeing how kids connect to books and words and stories. Kari has worked with the National Writing Project in New Hampshire as a teacher consultant 

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Book of the Week (8/11/2025)

Consuming the Soul by Ellen H. Reed (Independently published, 2019)

What Killed the Children of the Parsons Corners?

"Aug 17, 1855. I am weaker today and so scared. As I rested in my room, I looked out the window and saw my brother, Hiram, standing outside watching me with his cold, dead eyes. Perhaps it was another dream, yet it seemed so real. Every time I dream of my late brother, I seem to fail further. Could my uncles have been right? Could Hiram somehow be draining me of life? What would I find if I could dig up his grave?"

These chilling words send a thrill of terror through fourteen-year-old Sophia Whelan. Discovering the diary of a girl long dead in the attic of a New Hampshire lake house, Sophia is shocked by the tragic tale of a family plagued by a series of mysterious deaths. One by one the children of the Parsons family fall ill and die shortly after their seventeenth birthday. Heart-breaking coincidence? Or is there something far more sinister at work? When Sophia’s own sister turns seventeen and abruptly falls ill, and Sophia herself is stalked by a menacing presence, Sophia knows she must discover the horrifying secret of Parsons Corners before it’s too late. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

Ellen Reed lives in New Hampshire with her husband, daughter, and pug, Winnie. She has lived in such varied places as Alaska, Texas, Norway, and Indonesia but loves living in beautiful New England. Ellen spent many years involved with community theater, both as an actress and costumer. She is an avid quilter, and enjoys traveling, genealogy, and history. 

NHBF Author: Jason Chin

Caldecott medalist Jason Chin is the author and illustrator of many acclaimed books, including Grand Canyon, Redwoods and Your Place in the Universe. He received the 2022 Caldecott Medal for Watercress, by Andrea Wang and a Caldecott Honor, Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus award for Grand Canyon. While researching his books, he’s gone swimming with sharks, explored lava fields and camped with scorpions at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Jason loves making art, learning about science and getting outside to hike, bike, ski and explore.

Jason grew up in a small town in New Hampshire that happened to be home to Caldecott medalist, Trina Schart Hyman. Hyman presented regularly at his elementary school and they met when he was a teenager. She became his mentor and guided him as he pursued a career in the arts. Jason studied art at Syracuse University and began his illustration career while living in New York City. In 2009 he published Redwoods, his first book as both author and illustrator. Since then, he has written and illustrated numerous award-winning books that combine his passion for nature, science and art. Jason now lives with his family in Vermont.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Book of the Week (8/4/2025)

The Sleeping Dogs of Lubec by Rodger Martin (Natureculture, 2025)

The Sleeping Dogs of Lubec is a collection of poetry and short prose pieces built around the sometimes subtle at other times quite public influence dogs generate as they integrate themselves into our culture. --Publisher's blurb

"Rodger's sleeping dogs don't lie. They know their canine ancestors, their legends in ancient caves, and we learn of ourselves in our relation to them. Rodger deftly moves across history, at each stop showing where we fit, an existence we neglect at peril. This volume, a kind of "collected" through his career, engages at every turn, with sensuous, heartfelt lines, perfectly executed (some prose, a few cats, and several silly pups!). Open wherever you wish and be rewarded."- B. Eugene McCarthy

About the author:

Rodger Martin is the managing editor of The Worcester Review and teaches journalism at Keene State College. This is his fourth volume of poetry. He is an artist for the New Hampshire State Arts in Education roster and a touring artist for the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA). He has been awarded an Appalachia Award for poetry and a New Hampshire State Council on the Arts award for fiction. He was born in the amish country of Pennsylvania, lived in England as a child, served as a combat engineer in Vietnam, and spent many years teaching both in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Join Rodger Martin and Linda Warren at The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 11 am as they discuss and read Rodger's poetry.

NHBF Author: L. Annette Binder

L. Annette Binder was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States as a child. Her
short stories have appeared in the Pushcart and O. Henry Prize Anthologies and been
performed on Public Radio’s Selected Shorts. 

Her story collection, Rise (Sarabande), received the Mary McCarthy Prize, and her novel, The Vanishing Sky (Bloomsbury), was a New York Times Book Review Selection for Summer. Her memoir, Child of Earth and Starry Heaven (Wandering Aengus Press), is about her mother’s struggle with dementia. It looks to mythology, poetry, science and history to try to find meaning and beauty as her mother’s cognition declines. Kirkus Reviews calls it “an illuminating and moving meditation on dementia.” 

Annette lives in Lyme, New Hampshire, with her family.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

3 on a Theme: NH Lakes

Images of America: The Boats and Ports of Lake Winnipesaukee by Bruce D. Heald

The Webster Lake Picture Book by Bill Cain

Islands of Southern Lake Winnipesaukee by Stephanie A. Erickson

NHBF Author: Abbie Kiefer

Abbie Kiefer is the author of Certain Shelter (June Road Press, 2024) and the
chapbook Brief Histories (Whittle Micro-Press, 2024). 

Her work is forthcoming or has appeared in The Atlantic, Copper Nickel, Pleiades, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and other places. 

She is a poetry editor for The Adroit Journal and lives in New Hampshire.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

NHBF Author: David Elliott

David Elliott is the award-winning author of many books for children, including the New York
Times best-selling And Here’s to You!, illustrated by Randy Cecil and Baabwaa and Wooliam,
illustrated by Melissa Sweet. 

He is also the author of On the Farm, In the Wild, In the Sea, all illustrated by Holly Meade; On the Wing, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander; In the Past, illustrated by Matthew Trueman; In the Woods, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey; At the Pond, illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford; At the Poles, illustrated by Ellen Rooney; and In the Desert, illustrated by Gordy Wright. 

David lives in Warner, New Hampshire and has served on the advisory board of the Center for the Book at the NH State Library.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025. 

Book of the Week (7/28/2025)

Heart of the Universe 21 and the Tower: Poem Prayers by Skye O. Stephenson (Carnelian Press, 2024)

Poem Prayers invoking the Heart of the Universe with a mystical voice both personal and transcendent. Inspired by Spirit and a dream with Rabindranath Tagore, these mystical poems weave through the perennial questions with a fresh and unique voice for times such as these. Brave and bold, this collection of wisdom poems crackle with sparks of the divine. --Publisher's blurb

“I composed these poem-prayers during the global pandemic.  The words came to me from Spirit, during meditations, and I changed them very little.  This book is a way to share them with you.  May they touch your heart and soul, and lighten your path in life.” -Skye Stephenson

About the author:

Skye Stephenson lives in Keene, New Hampshire. She has written a monthly column in the Monadnock Shopper for fifteen years. Recently retired from Keene State College, where she served as Director of the Global Education Office, her interests include writing, spirituality, and sacred sites. Her recent collection of poetry is, in part, inspired by two of her favorite poets: Tagore and Neruda.

Join Skye at Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on Sat., August 23, 2025 at 11 am where she will be presenting her new poetry collection.

NHFB Author: Tim Weed

Tim Weed is the author of three books of fiction. His story collection, A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing, was named to the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Shortlist, and his first novel, Will Poole’s Island, was one of Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of the Year. 

He’s a two-time winner of the Writer’s Digest Annual Fiction Awards and has been shortlisted for the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction, the Fish International Short Story Award, the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Award for a Novel-in-Progress, the New Rivers Many Voices Project, and many others. His essays and articles have appeared in Writers’ Digest, Literary Hub, The Millions, The Writer’s Chronicle, Talking Points Memo, and elsewhere. 

His new novel, The Afterlife Project, finalist for the Prism Prize in Climate Fiction, received a starred review from Library Journal and was a Middlebury Magazine editor’s pick. Tim grew up in New Hampshire and now lives in southern Vermont with his family and three disobedient cats.

This author is scheduled to appear at the NH Book Festival which will be held at the Capitol Center for the Arts & NHBF Festival Village on South Main Street in Concord, NH on October 3-4, 2025.