“Viper Wine” by Hermione Eyre It’s 17th-century London with a twist of the 21st century in Eyre’s postmodern tale about beauty and aging. The ladies...
Books
Shatner Beat Night
On Sunday, March 22, devotees of William Shatner gathered at Portsmouth Book and Bar to pay tribute to the actor/writer/singer/living legend at William Shatner Beat...
Spreading the spoken word
Beat Night celebrates 16 years and gets ready to go global Few poetry reading series live to celebrate their 16th birthday and even fewer make...
The journey and the destination
Above, Atticus Lish In their new novels, Atticus Lish and John Benditt explore odysseys both internal and external By Craig Robert Brown In their latest...
White spaces
Discover Portsmouth presents Shay Stewart-Bouley on being a “Black Girl in Maine” By Chloe Kanner On her blog, Shay Stewart-Bouley writes about marriage, parenting, working,...
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“Hausfrau” by Jill Alexander Essbaum “Hausfrau” is the perfect Valentine’s Day antidote: Anna is a restless American housewife living in Switzerland with her banker husband...
Pours and pages
Throwback Brewery’s new book club brings together beers, books, and people who love them Words and photo by J.L. Stevens The first rule of Throwback...
Literary legacies
New Hampshire Writers’ Project’s Literary Hall of Fame honors Granite State writers past and present By Charlie Weinmann The Granite State has its own halls...
Author’s note
Nicholson Baker discusses writing, Seacoast-based characters, and saving newspapers by Craig Robert Brown Nicholson Baker made his mark on the literary scene with his debut...
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“Get in Trouble: Stories” by Kelly Link Brace yourself for unabashed fangirling: Kelly Link is one of the most amazing writers working today, and hopefully...
Telling tales
Pat Spalding helps first-time storytellers discover their voices and refine their tales Words and photo by Craig Robert Brown Pat Spalding thinks the older woman...
Delivering the message
Photographer Lionel Delevingne captures the Clamshell Alliance and the history of anti-nuke activism in his new book by Larry Clow, photos by Lionel Delevingne Photographer...
The women behind Wonder Woman
Author Jill Lepore reveals the hidden history of the world’s most popular female superhero By Liberty Hardy In “The Secret History of Wonder Woman,” Harvard...
A perfect storm
The Salem Witch Trials engulfed Salem, Mass., and surrounding areas for a little more than a year. Twenty people, most of them women, were executed....
A tangled history
Rev. Robert Thompson remembers when the Ku Klux Klan came to Exeter in the 1990s. Thompson, an African-American minister at Phillips Church at Phillips Exeter...
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“Almost Famous Women” by Megan Mayhew Bergman Mayhew Bergman’s second fantastic collection of stories revolves around lesser-known historical women, including Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sister,...
38 in ’15
The new year promises to be an excellent one for readers of all varieties. Here are 38 titles to look for at your local library...
Fine lines
by Larry Clow For comics fans, 2014 was a very good year. In fact, there are a lot of arguments to be made for declaring...
Overlooked and awesome
With upwards of a million books published in the United States each year, the percentage mentioned in reviews is a teeny, tiny representation. With 2014...
Cut and paste community
When Sam Paolini returned to their hometown of Brentwood after dropping out of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2010, they felt inspired...
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“Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain” by Alan Light The title alone was enough to make me read the book, but...
True detective
Just a few feet from the stone wall separating Portsmouth’s South Cemetery and Route 1A are two gravestones cut in white marble. The graves are...