Local Bookstore Picks
Laura Cummings has been the owner of White Birch Books in North Conway for nearly two decades. The spacious, two-story indoor space features craft greeting cards and a substantial kids section. The store’s floor-to-ceiling New England section offers books by local authors, hiking guides, maps and more. Cummings' picks:
- “Dirtbag Massachusetts” by Isaac Fitzgerald (nominated for New England Book Award)
- “Night of the Living Res” by Morgan Talty (nominated for New England Book Award)
- “One Step Too Far” by Lisa Gardner (New Hampshire author)
- “You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty” by Akwaeke Emezi
Skylar Miklus is the assistant manager of Still North Books and Bar in Hanover. Still North has a more lively scene with a café, music and the chatter of students and customers. Miklus' picks:
- “A Slow Fire Burning” by Paula Hawkins (author of “The Girl on the Train”)
- “Elsewhere” by Alexis Schaitkin
- “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins
- “One Last Stop” by Casie McQuiston (author of “Red, White and Royal Blue”)
- “Our Wives Under the Sea” by Julia Armfield
- “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin
Ken Kozick started Sheafe Street Books out of his house in downtown Portsmouth 12 years ago. The cozy store’s stock is 90 percent used and occupies his former living and dining rooms. He says many customers come not only for the books, but to see his cat and bookstore co-owner, Petunia. Kozick's picks:
- “Happy Go Lucky” by David Sedaris
- “Midcoast” by Adam Wright
- “Persuasion” by Jane Austin
- “The Twilight World” by Werner Herzog
Jules Pelarski is a bookseller at Bookery Manchester. They’re a writer, themselves, with a love for science fiction novels. Besides the books, Pelarski says Bookery has the best chai lattes in town. Perlarski's picks:
- “Come Up” by Angie Thomas
- “Concrete Rose” by Angie Thomas
- “Dune” by Frank Herbert
- “IQ84” by Haruki Murakami
Listener Picks
Arthur in Hampton, NH —“The Emigrants” by William Moberg
Bill in Hampton, NH —“Disappeared” by Bonnar Spring (NH author)
Ellen in Exeter, NH — “Shantaram” by Gregory Roberts
Jackie in Glen, NH —“Unlikely Animals” by Annie Hartnett
Karen in Wolfeboro, NH —“Wish You Were Here” by Jodi Picoult (NH author)
Neal in North Conway, NH — “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek; “The One Thing” by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
Sandy in Whitefield, NH — “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles
"Girl as Birch: Poems" by Rebecca Kaiser Gibson (NH author)
"The Spiral Shell" by Sandell Morse (NH author)
Staff Picks
Alli Fam — “The Book of Form and Emptiness” by Ruth Ozeki; “The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir” by Domingo Martinez
Daniella Allee — “Crónica de una muerta anunciada” by Gabriel García Márquez; “Indentured” by Joe Nocera
Dan Barrick — “Foster” by Claire Keegan
Dan Tuohy — “The Splendid and The Vile” by Erik Larsen
Julia Furukawa — “100 Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez; “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk
Laura Bratton — “All About Love” by bell hooks; “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Mara Hoplamazian — “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer; “Confessions of the Fox” by Jordy Rosenberg
Sarah Gibson — “Lot” by Bryan Washington
Sara Plourde — “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; “Rogues” by Patrick Radden Keefe
Zoey Knox — “Beach Read” by Emily Henry
