The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell'Antonia
Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights by Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace
My Sister, the Freak: A Graphic Novel by Dani Jones
Showing posts with label NH Authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NH Authors. Show all posts
10/3/26
9/28/26
Book of the Week (9/28/2026)
Middle grade historical fiction novel, Death By Molasses, follows Luca, a child survivor of the 1919 Great Boston Molasses Flood, who dares to speak out against greedy powerhouses, to avenge his sister’s death. His testimony becomes a spark that ultimately contributes to the creation of modern workplace protections, now known as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Kate Schoedinger recently retired after forty joyful years teaching in the Bedford, New Hampshire school district where she learned daily from the curiosity, humor, and persistence of her students. Kate holds an M.Ed., from Antioch of New England, an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a BA from Wittenberg University. Kate grew up in Bexley, Ohio as a dedicated Ohio State Buckeyes fan before relocating to Weare, NH on Lake Horace thanks to marrying the waterski counselor at Camp Kawanhee for Boys, the summer camp her parents directed for over thirty years. She serves as the secretary on the board of the George and Raymond Frank Foundation, which operates Camp Kawanhee and is also a founding board member of the New Hampshire Book Festival.
Join Kate at Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 6:30 pm where she will present her new book!
9/21/26
Book of the Week (9/21/2026)
Frank Kelly was a prominent Manchester photographer in the mid-20th century, owning and operating Frank Kelly Studios for over 49 years.
Together with his wife, Eleanor, he captured the essence of Manchester through portraits of its people, businesses, and iconic landmarks. This book showcases his remarkable body of work, including rare images of local businesses and notable events, such as multiple presidential visits to the Queen City. Additionally, Frank Kelly was a well-respected portrait and wedding photographer who took great pride in photographing generations of Manchester families. -- Publisher's blurb
About the authors:
Sam Kelly Theodosopoulos, grandson of Frank Kelly, is a committee member of the Manchester Historic Association. A Manchester High School Central graduate, he holds a bachelor of arts in political science from George Washington University.
The Manchester Historic Association, established in 1896, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the rich history of Manchester, New Hampshire.
9/14/26
Book of the Week (9/14/2026)
A dead man sends Emma Noble a text: FIND NADIA.Emma buried him only three weeks ago.The message sends her searching for a teenage girl. Nadia knows the location of the terrorist behind the inauguration attacks. He evaded capture-vanished two years ago. And now, he's operational again.But others are hunting the girl too. They need what's in her head. Whether she survives the interrogation isn't their concern. Somewhere in Florence, Nadia is running out of time.Fired from the FBI, Emma has no badge and no backup.And no idea there's a target on her back. -- Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Andrew Bridgeman is the internationally published author of the Emma Noble thriller series, with editions in Germany and Hungary. A former rugby player, jazz singer, and entrepreneur, he studied creative writing at Dickinson College and received a business degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Andrew lives in Ossipee, New Hampshire with his wife, Kathy. Beyond writing, his interests include hiking, music, and camping.
Join Andrew at Gibson's Bookstore on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 6:30 pm where he will be discussing his newest novel in the Emma Noble series!
9/7/26
Book of the Week (9/7/2026)
Calmly on the Waters is Jarvis Coffin’s first collected volume of essays. For more than a decade, as co-owner with his wife of New Hampshire’s oldest inn, The Hancock Inn (now, The Inn at Hancock), Coffin offered a steady sense of place in conversations with travelers from around the world, and in popular, monthly pieces sent to the inn’s guest list.
In this collection he gathers a selection of essays rooted in life beside a pond in the woods of southern New Hampshire. Quiet, attentive, and occasionally humorous, these essays invite readers to slow down and observe a world reachable “on two feet, or by canoe, or by car, with no more than a tank of gas.” Written against the backdrop of deep winters, uncertain springs, brief summers, and colorful autumns, Calmly on the Waters is organized by season, following the rhythms that shape daily life in rural New England. --Author's website
About the author:
Jarvis Coffin writes fiction and essays on rural life from southern New Hampshire. In addition to his bi-weekly column in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, his work has been published in Jimson Weed, Down in the Dirt, Swanannoa Review, ellipsis...language and art, and the Glint Literary Journal (forthcoming). He is the former co-owner with his wife of New Hampshire's oldest inn, The Hancock Inn, and, for thirty years, was a media and advertising sales executive with leading magazines, newspapers, and co-founder and CEO of internet ad sales pioneer, Burst Media.
Join Jarvis at the following locations where he will be discussing his new book:
September 11, 2026- Bob’s Chocolate Cafe in Francestown, NH, 6:30 p.m.
September 12, 2026- The Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough, NH, 11:00 a.m.
September 19th, 2026- Bound Together Books, Nashua, NH, 1:30 p.m.
9/3/26
3 on a Theme: Fire & Ice
The Fire in the Glass (The London Charismatics) by Jacquelyn Benson
Ice Lands by Carol Westberg
Iggy Who Breathes Fire by Carrie Kruck
8/31/26
Book of the Week (8/31/2026)
Every teacher can be a passionate teacher—one who engages young people in the excitement of learning and ideas—if teaching is not undermined by the ways we "do business" in schools. In this book, a professor draws on the voices and firsthand accounts of teachers in urban, rural, and suburban classrooms to provide educators everywhere with useful advice and ‘things to try'. Their successes will inspire you to grow and maintain your own passion for teaching in the face of day-to-day obstacles.
This edition of The Passionate Teacher also includes a new chapter for teachers beginning their careers.-- Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Rob Fried, Concord resident since 1976, is an author of several books on effective teaching and education reform. He was a professor of education at Northeastern University and headed the Upper Valley Educators Institute in Lebanon, NH. His books include: "The Passionate Teacher" (now revised and expanded as "Passionate Teaching in Troubled Times"; "The Passionate Learner," and "The Game of School." Fried has interviewed several local educators for his books, as well as nationally known leaders of education reform. He served on the Concord School Board and wrote columns for the Concord Monitor. He is married to Patricia Wilczynski.
Join Rob at Gibson's Bookstore on Thu., September 10, 2026 at 6:30 pm where he will discuss his book.
8/24/26
Book of the Week (8/24/2026)
1940. Britain is at war. Rector's daughter Wilhelmina Harkness longs to do her duty for her country, but when her strict mother forbids her to enlist, their bitter argument has devastating consequences.
Unable to stay in the village she loves, Wilhelmina - reinventing herself as Billie - spends everything she has on a one-way ticket up north. Hull is a distant, dangerous city, but Billie is determined to leave her painful memories behind and start afresh, whatever the cost.
The last thing Billie expects on her first evening in Hull, however, is to be caught in the city's first air raid - or to stumble across the body of a young woman, suspiciously untouched by debris.
If the air raid didn't kill the glamorous stranger, what did? Billie is determined to get justice, and her persistence earns her an invitation to the newly formed Women's Police Constabulary. But as the case unfolds, putting her at odds with both high-ranking members of the force as well as the victim's powerful family, Billie begins to wonder if she can trust her new friends and colleagues . . . or if someone amongst them is working for the enemy. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Jessica Ellicott loves fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in New Hampshire where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.
As Jessie Crockett she’s the author of the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove Mysteries, and the Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Live Free or Die. She also is the author of the books in the Change of Fortune mysteries as Jessica Estevao.
8/10/26
Book of the Week (8/10/2026)
Embark on a guided tour of 30 of the most dangerous and mysterious locations that we simply cannot stay away from.
Have you ever visited a forest or an abandoned building and gotten a bad vibe? There are places that are rife with rumors of hauntings, monsters, and sinister phenomena that can’t be explained. And there are just as many sites that are the confirmed home of disasters, murders, and man-made mistakes. Everyone’s heard about the Bermuda Triangle, but do you know these chilling sites?
Roopkund: There's a lake tucked high in the frozen Himalayan Mountains . . . and it's full of skeletons.
Mount Shasta: This mysterious mountain in California inspired the I AM cult and is said to host UFOs, bigfoots, and lizard people.
Nahanni National Park: Called the "Valley of the Headless Men", this national park in northern Canada is famous for legends of a hidden gold mine . . . and a series of decapitated miners.
Pine Barrens: Best known as the home of the Jersey Devil, this desolate pine forest has also hosted pirates, the mafia, and moonshiners.
Ciudad Blanca: This fabled pre-Columbian "Lost City of the Monkey God" in Honduras doesn't want to be found, and explorers seeking it have met violent ends. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
J.W. Ocker is a nationally bestselling, Edgar-winning author of macabre travelogues, spooky kids books, and horror novels. His books include A Season with the Witch, Twelve Nights at Rotter House, The Black Slide, and The United States of Cryptids. He is originally from Maryland but has lived in New Hampshire for almost two decades.
Join J.W. at Toadstool Bookshop in Keene, NH on Sat., August 22, 2026 at 2:00 pm where he will be presenting and signing his newest book!
8/4/26
2026 National Book Festival & Great Reads Selections!
The 2026 National Book Festival is Saturday, August 22, 2026!
Discover
Great Reads from Great Places with the Roadmap to Reading at the 2026 Library of Congress National Book Festival! The 56 Affiliate Centers for
the Book each selected one book for Young Readers and one for Adult
Readers to celebrate the people and places around our nation. Visit each
stop on the Roadmap to Reading in Hall D of the Walter E. Washington
Convention Center in Washington, D.C. from 9 a.m-8 p.m.
For a link to the author lineup of more than 80 authors at the festival, click here.
The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library has selected the book, Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully as our 2026 selection for Young Readers.
Mattie could make almost anything – toys, sleds, kites, and a foot warmer. When she was just twelve years old, Mattie designed a metal guard to prevent shuttles from shooting off textile looms and injuring workers at the mills in Manchester, New Hampshire. Later, as an adult at the Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield, Massachusetts, Mattie invented the machine that makes the square-bottom paper bags we still use today. Over the course of her life, Marvelous Mattie earned the title of "the Lady Edison." This is the incredible story of the first woman to receive a U.S. patent.
The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library has selected the book, Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving as our 2026 selection for Adult Readers.
In 1954, in the cookhouse of a logging and sawmill settlement in northern New Hampshire, an anxious twelve-year-old boy mistakes the local constable’s girlfriend for a bear. Both the twelve-year-old and his father become fugitives, forced to run from Coos County—to Boston, to southern Vermont, to Toronto—pursued by the implacable constable. Their lone protector is a fiercely libertarian logger, once a river driver, who befriends them. In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.” --Publisher’s blurb
8/3/26
Book of the Week (8/3/2026)
Farmer Fred faces a tough choice. His old scarecrow, Tom, has stood guard over the cornfield for years. But now, a relentless flock of crows threatens to devour his crops.
As the crows invade, Fred's bond with Tom is tested. It's not just about the corn; it's about tradition, loyalty, and what it means to protect.
Farmer Fred scratched his head as the crows swarmed the cornfield. Tom the scarecrow had been a loyal guardian for years. But with the corn disappearing faster than ever, Fred began to think it might be time for a change.
Will Goose, Cow, and a particularly shaggy Sheep (who desperately needs a shave) rally together to save their cherished scarecrow, Tom, from possible replacement?
However, help can often come in mysterious shapes and sizes.
Join Fred on this heartfelt journey. Will he choose practicality or sentiment? Dive into The Old Scarecrow and find out. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Tabatha Jean D’Agata is a writer who has authored several books for children. As a dedicated literacy columnist for the Parent Express Newspaper, she advocates for the importance of reading and writing in children's lives. D’Agata shares her love for writing by conducting workshops for children in schools and libraries, inspiring the next generation of storytellers. D’Agata resides in Hooksett, NH where she enjoys making memories with her family, tucking a penny in her shoe for good luck, sending wishes with dandelion fluff, and indulging in chocolate—because she believes chocolate fixes everything!
3 on a Theme: Monadnock Stories
Monadnock Originals: Colorful Characters from New Hampshire’s Quiet Corner by Alan F. Rumrill
Written in Granite: Monadnock Poems & Stories by Sebastian Lockwood
Murder on Mount Monadnock by J. S. Winter
7/27/26
Book of the Week (7/27/2026)
The thread running through this collection of poems is relationship, but many take a scientific perspective. In most ecological systems the process of photosynthesis is responsible for the creation of food from inorganic carbon dioxide and water, absorbing energy from the sun to fuel life on our planet. Respiration in living things does just the opposite, breaking down that food into its original components and releasing energy to power every life process in which we engage. The two processes function in tandem, intertwining in an elegant dance, depending on one another to keep us all alive, much like partners in a relationship. One could describe this collection as love poems about science or science poems about love. Either way, they bridge the gap between two marvelous phenomena, neither of which we will ever fully appreciate, and about which we still have so much to learn. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Christopher Clauss is a father, poet, and middle school science teacher from Chesterfield, New Hampshire. He has represented his home state six times at the National Poetry Slam as a member of the Slam Free or Die poetry slam team. Christopher's work explores the bliss and turmoil of faith, teaching, parenting, marriage, and community in rural New England, with a scientific flair. His poems have been published in New York Quarterly, Plants and Poetry Journal, Sylvia, FreezeRay, and Bureau of Complaint. You will find him in the middle of the Pacific Ocean exploring the seafloor or wading into tidepools in the North Atlantic.
Join Christopher and the Slam Free or Die Competition Team at Gibson's Bookstore on Wed., August 19, 2026 from 4:30-6:00pm for an afternoon of poetry!
7/20/26
Book of the Week (7/20/2026)
Among the pages of Henry David Thoreau’s journals and his legendary Walden, Thomas Moore, beloved bestselling author, psychotherapist, and public thinker, has found transformative ideas and approaches that promise to help us live better. As Moore writes, “We need to make the journey to our own ‘Walden Pond’ and find a cure for our cultural lostness.”
Like Moore’s own million-copy-bestselling Care of the Soul, The Cure at Walden Pond will be widely heralded among readers for its beautiful prose, accessible voice, and profound insights into the human condition.
Thoreau was disillusioned in his day by the same kind of frantic consumerism, round-the-clock work, and narrow imagination that trouble us today. Moore will help readers slow down, be more present and mindful in their relationships with their loved ones, and appreciate the beautiful world we share. For Moore, as for Thoreau, there is immense spiritual power all around us.
New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock is a “natural temple” for all New Englanders, a place of reverence and renewal, and Moore encourages us to find our own places of rejuvenation. There is neglected spirituality—and humanity—in the everyday objects that sustain us too. Moore explores his own memories of an old farmhouse, a grinding stone, and an out-of-tune piano that bring him back to his childhood and his family history.
The journey to Walden Pond is an essential American pilgrimage, and The Cure at Walden Pond embodies Thoreau’s essence, guiding us through Thoreau’s precepts so we can find more harmony in our communities and in ourselves. Immersing ourselves in the music of the natural world The Cure at Walden Pond is a resonate read that will move and inspire any one in search of a new way of being. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling Care of the Soul and twenty other books on spirituality and depth psychology that have been translated into thirty languages. He has been practicing depth psychotherapy for thirty-five years. He lectures and gives workshops in several countries on depth spirituality, soulful medicine, and psychotherapy. He has been a monk and a university professor, and is a consultant for organizations and spiritual leaders. He has often been on television and radio, including Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday. Thomas also writes fiction, arranges music and plays golf in New Hampshire, where he has lived for thirty years.
7/13/26
Book of the Week (7/13/2026)
For Raquel and Theo Collins, it appeared to be love at first sight. Raquel, a renowned interior designer, and Theo, a brash financial wizard met and married in a matter of months, only to confront a terrible tragedy. Now, unbearably aware of the distance between them, they’ve come to a remote town in New Hampshire to begin anew.
Perched on a ledge with stunning views, the Dixon’s family lodge was once a crown jewel of the mountains. Until late one August night, when both parents and their four children vanished, leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints, and a mystery that has endured for thirty years. Now, its latest occupants, the Collinses, are arriving, and the former grand lodge is once more stirring to life.
For Amanda Grady, following in her father’s footsteps as the recently appointed Shereford police chief, it’s good to see a fresh start for the derelict Dixon place. However, not everyone is happy about a new family in the old home and its hidden past may have returned with a vengeance.
When a stray dog leads to the discovery of a skeleton on the property, Raquel and Theo face a daunting choice of what to believe, who to trust, and how to survive. Because in the tiny village of Shereford the time has come. The local residents, the new neighbors, and the fledgling police chief must work together to unravel the terrifying events that happened one night thirty years ago, or…you’ll be sorry. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Lisa Gardner ia a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist. A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. She’s also had four books become TV movies (At the Midnight Hour; The Perfect Husband; The Survivors Club; Hide). Lisa lives in New Hampshire where she spends her time with an assortment of canine companions. When not writing, she loves to hike, garden, snowshoe and play cribbage.
Join Gibson's Bookstore, in conjunction with New Hampshire Public Radio and the Capitol Center for the Arts on Monday, August 10, 2026 at 7 pm as they welcome Lisa Gardner to the Bank of NH Stage for "You'll Be Sorry", as part of their author series, Authors on Main!
7/6/26
Book of the Week (7/6/2026)
After eating a glowing green egg, aspiring journalist Florence Fortescue can suddenly see that her house is overrun with ghost chickens in this delightfully bizarre and hilarious first book of a new early middle-grade series for readers aged 8 to 12!
Ten-year-old aspiring journalist Florence Fortescue did NOT want to move to the country, leaving her best friend and city life behind.
To make matters worse, Florence is shocked to discover a Minions-esque flock of ghost chickens running amok all over her new house — and her parents are oblivious! Clearly, Mom and Dad need to take their precious daughter back to the city RIGHT NOW. If only she could convince them . . .
Using her journalistic skills, Florence cooks up a sizzling exposé in her homemade newspaper: TERROR IN THE HAUNTED COOP! But when that plan fails, Florence has to enlist the help of her weird new neighbor, two bizarre dogs and maybe even the ghost chickens themselves! --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Adi Rule is the author of Nell and the Netherbeast, Why Would I Lie?, Hearts of Ice, as well as The Hidden Twin and Strange Sweet Song, which won the 2016 New Hampshire Writers' Project Literary Award for Outstanding Young Adult Book and the Vermont College of Fine Arts Houghton Mifflin/Clarion Prize. Adi is a member of the faculty of the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing program at Lasell University. She lives in New Hampshire with two and a half warring cats, a macaw, a magician, and a small but mighty flock of chickens.
7/3/26
3 on a Theme: Numbers
Six Thousand Doughnuts by Thomas Tosi
Twenty-Five to Life by R.W.W Greene
6/29/26
Book of the Week (6/29/2026)
The world is broken - corrupt men rule, greed runs rampant, and the voices of women have been silenced for too long. Enter Mavon, a demon, who's lost her taste for wicked souls, and Buluku, the ancient goddess of matriarchy, who's had enough. Together, they call upon the crones - women of wisdom, resilience, and untapped power - to rise up and take back what's theirs.
On Peaks Island, an unlikely sisterhood forms: Maxine, a no-nonsense New Yorker with a rebellious streak; Toby, a teacher whose empathy is her superpower; and Sumita, a gentle soul with quiet strength. As their magic spreads, curses unravel the powerful, and a revolution begins. But changing the world won't be easy - especially when the forces of greed fight back.
Witty, fierce, and full of heart, Lady Justice and the Sisterhood of the Crones is a spellbinding tale of justice, sisterhood, and the power of women who refuse to be ignored. For anyone who's ever wished the patriarchy would just... crumble. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Jennifer Speidel has been a special education teacher for twenty years. She's passionate about building strong connections with students and community, and founded a school thrift shop that has provided over 11,000 free items to students. She lives in New Hampshire with her partner, Dave, and their two cats. Now empty nesters, they enjoy camping with their daughters. Jennifer loves coastal walks in Maine and reading with a cat curled up on her lap.
Join Jennifer at Gibson's Bookstore on Thu., August 6, 2026 at 6:30 pm where she will be discussing her first novel!
6/22/26
Book of the Week (6/22/2026)
In one golden summer, Frances trades her working-class world for an elite Maine lakeside estate―where privilege and betrayal turn into a deadly game.
Frances believes she’s found a ticket to paradise when a wealthy couple hires her for the summer as their mother’s helper at their lakefront summer home in Maine. The vintage wooden boats, the days at the country club, a shiny new bicycle, and a tennis racquet―suddenly Frances has everything her modest childhood lacked. Best of all, she gets to spend the summer with Forrest Emerson, her father's charismatic childhood friend who escaped their neighborhood when he married into money.
But below the glittering surface of Lake Catherine, nothing is what it seems. When Forrest’s wife, Regina, pulls Frances into her private obsession, the girl finds herself witness to the intimate secrets of adult lives. As the summer heat builds, so do the tensions within Wonderland’s walls. By Labor Day, a death will shatter the seemingly perfect family, leaving Frances to question everything she thought she knew about privilege, power, and the price of belonging. --Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Joyce Maynard is the New York Times bestselling author of thirteen previous novels and five books of nonfiction, as well as the syndicated column Domestic Affairs. Her memoir, At Home in the World, has been translated into eighteen languages. Her novels To Die For and Labor Day were both adapted for film. She is a fellow of MacDowell and Yaddo artists' residencies.
When not running her hotel/retreat center, Casa Paloma, in Guatemala―where she mentors women in the telling of their stories―she makes her home in Northern California and in the state of New Hampshire.
Join Joyce at Gibson's Bookstore on Thu., July 23, 2026 at 6:30 pm and at Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough on Sat., July 25, 2026 at 11 am where she will be discussing her newest book!
6/15/26
Book of the Week (6/15/2026)
At first, twelve-year-old Dominic Bean is not happy when he and his sister are “dumped” with eccentric relatives on a New Hampshire cattle farm while their scientist parents work on a secret project in the Canadian Arctic. Coping with what he sees as parental abandonment, plus the pressure of bullies, schoolwork and wrangling Harriet (a stubborn pregnant Highlander cow with long, sharp horns) bring out the worst in Dom.
But the sleepy farm turns out to be full of surprises. A developer is trying to buy the Bean family land to build an Arctic-themed amusement park under a plastic dome. Dom’s nemesis at school, Edith, turns out to have a way with Harriet. And reading his dad’s old journal leads Dom to an ancient woolly mammoth tusk that his father once found in the farm’s bog.
Dom learns that his jam-making aunt and whiskey-distilling uncle are in fact in cahoots with his parents on a secret project in the old milking barn ― a project that, if successful, will “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth and possibly help save the planet.--Publisher's blurb
About the author:
Emilie Christie Burack's debut novel, The Runaway’s Gold, was a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People and a winner of the New England Book Festival. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in New Hampshire, where she is the co-founder of the New Hampshire Book Festival.
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