Staff Picks
These are some of the titles we love here and love sharing with you! Click on the cover image to purchase online from Bookshop. If you have read anything great lately, let us know and you can submit your own review!
Karen's Picks
Autumn's Picks
Sarah's Picks
Bruce's Picks
Donna's Picks
The Blackhouse
The first book in the Lewis Trilogy, The Blackhouse introduces readers to Fin Macleod, native of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. When a
local murder bears some resemblance to a murder on the mainland, Fin is sent to investigate, and at the same time becomes embroiled in his complicated past. Peter May has a way of making the reader feel the dampness, cold, windy climate of the islands and he weaves a story that won't be easily solved or forgotten. Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times writes, “Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth.” He's that good!
Ginny Moon
Ginny Moon is about trying to make sense of a world that just doesn't add up. Ginny is an active teenager who also happens to be autistic. After years in the foster care system, she has finally found her “forever home” but her search for something she thinks is missing leads to almost losing it all. Told in her own words, with her own unique views of life, this novel gives the reader insight into the perceptions and ways of thinking of a bright, loveable and unforgettable girl who happens to have autism, and the family who learns to love her.
Still Life
If you are not yet a fan of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels, you are in for a treat! Still Life is the first of the series and a great place to start getting to know the people who live in Three Pines, a fictitious village in southern Quebec. At times laugh-out-loud funny, and at other times poignant and heart-wrenching, Inspector Gamache approaches crime with wisdom, integrity and compassion. In a recent NPR interview, Louise Penny said that she wanted to create a character who would be a man she'd want to marry. Many readers have found this in Inspector Armand Gamache. Still Life is the first of thirteen books in the series, the most recent being released in August, 2017.
Pachinko
This novel is about several generations of a Korean family in Japan. Beginning in Korea in the early 1900s, the story unfolds through the years until the ending in 1989. I became aware of how little I knew of the relations between Korea and Japan, and while reading the beautifully written story, I learned much about 20th century history as well. The book came into my hands when a book rep visiting the store recommended it and I have enthusiastically passed along the recommendation. I almost wish I hadn't already read it so I could enjoy it again for the first time.
The Patriots
The Patriots is another novel that spans multiple decades, but in another part of the world. Florence Fein leaves Brooklyn in the 1930s to follow her love, with the belief that Russia is the up-and-coming place to be for the future. Once she becomes established in Russia she becomes enmeshed in the cataclysm of Soviet Russia and cannot escape. Her son makes the opposite journey, immigrating back to the United States. The story spans three generations and is an unforgettable tale of secrets, love, betrayal, and how a family survives.
Setting Free the Kites
This novel is a coming-of-age story about two boys who live on the Maine coast in the 70s. Robert and Nathan meet on the first day of eight grade. They are of entirely different temperaments: one full of confidence and optimism, and one reserved and cautious. Their friendship is forged by the experience of two family tragedies and the story is heartbreaking, up-lifting, and memorable. Long after I read this book, the characters remain with me. It is a perfect book for summer.
Our Souls at Night
Kent Haruf's final novel is a warm and gentle story of two older neighbors in Holt, Colorado who make a decision to comfort and enjoy each other's company to combat their lonely hours. Both Addie and Louis have experienced grief, losing their spouses and living alone. When they decide, as neighbors who have known each other casually for years, to spend their nights together, they find both happiness and complication as their adult children become involved. This is a relatively short novel that makes me wish Haruf was still living to give us more.
Crossing to Safety
Wallace Stegner was a great American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a National Book award, and three O. Henry awards. This novel, his last, is about the friendship of two couples of differing backgrounds, set in Vermont and Wisconsin from the 1930's to the 1980's. Their friendship endures through many challenges and is a stirring and affecting story you will remember long after it ends. The day Wallace Stegner passed away, I remember mourning the loss; all of his novels are memorable!

Best of the Best from New England Cookbook
Originally published in 1994, this handy cookbook has resurged in popularity as people discover the wealth of treasured recipes that have been gathered from many regional cookbooks, some of which are no longer in print. True to its name, this really is a collection of the best of the best. Cookbooks come and go from my pantry shelves, but this one is a keeper and I highly recommend it.