Sometimes I wonder just how many projects we can juggle at once, but when things turn out great, it's a wonderful feeling.  Our events programming is as vibrant as ever.  Sometimes it is disappointing when you go through the work of booking so many events and then people don't show up.  That's just the way it goes.  This spring, however, we've had a string of successes that have us thrilled.  In the past few weeks we've had full houses for events with national celebrities like Gloria Steinem and Augusten Burroughs, and local celebrities like Tony Irons and Kimberly Green.

Coming up we have the release of our Poetry Anthology, Piscataqua Poems, and also the release party for Kiarna Boyd's Blessed and Cursed Alike. On the national front we have a sold out show with Terry Tempest Williams and have just announced an event with Charles Simic.

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We are so excited to bring Gloria Steinem to town to speak on April 19th!  Unfortunately, the event is sold out, but there are still a lot of ways to get involved.

 

The topic of Gender Equality could not be more timely.  It seems crazy to me that we are still struggling with these issues.  Worse, it seems like progress is a series of loops and switchbacks instead of a steady march forward.

 

We've created a webpage called www.steinemspeaks.com, and added a forum where you can chime in on these issues.  I hope to hear from you as we attept to cultivate this dialogue on the Seacoast in a meaningful way that will continue long after Ms. Steinem's visit is over.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom 

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I just finished The Twelve by Justin Cronin, the follow-up to The Passage.  I really didn't want to stay up that late, but there was no way to stop.  These are great books-- high adventure, deep character development, sprawlingly epic plots.

   This time around the vampiric monsters from The Passage, called Virals, are trying to deal with the long term consequences of being a race with no sustainable food source-- they are always ravenously hungry.  Meanwhile, what's left of the human race in North America works to throw off their oppressors and take advantage of an opportunity to destory "The Twelve".

We couldn't be happier that Justin Cronin will be here just two days after The Twelve releases.  The event is first come, first served, but if you'd like to get a signed copy you can guarantee one by calling the store now and pre-paying for a copy.

 

We're at 603-431-2100.

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Hey everyone, our Used Book Sale continues through the end of September.  Buy two used books, get the third used book free.  We have thousands of them, and more arrive every day, so you can visit the store several times to take advantage of the great savings.

 

These are quality books, most of them were sold here at RiverRun in the first place.  From where I'm standing right now at the counter I can see books by Joyce Carol Oates, Armistead Maupin, Ian Rankin, Harlen Coben, and Emily Bronte just to name a few.

 

used

Offering great used books in great condition is one of the ways that we compete with the deep discounting offered online.  Great hardcovers and trade paperbacks, barely read, for $7 to $10 dollars.

Not to mention hundreds of more roughly treated paperbacks for just $2 a piece. 

 

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Hi Everybody.

 

If you aren't on our email list, then you missed the news that our yearly Golden Ticket offer is happening now.  It's your chance to buy a $250 gift card for only $200, saving you 20% on all your book-buying needs.  But wait, there's more!  You could win a $500 gift card or a tasty meal next door at Zahtar. Call us right now to save one, because there are only 50 available.

 

Why do we do this?  Loyalty.  You have so many different options for buying books.  We hope that if you have a lot of credit to spend here, you'll forget all about those other places.

 

Because we want you.

 

And we hope that while you're in the store browsing, you'll remember all the other exciting things we bring to the community-- great events, a common shared space, a love of literature, personal recommendations.

 

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As you're probably tired of me telling you, we now publish books under the imprint of Piscataqua Press.  We've jumped with both feet into what is clearly a brave new world.  I spent Wednesday afternoon and evening at a table at the 2012 New England Authors Expo and Book Sale in Danvers, Ma.  It was a large ballroom full of rows of little white tables with eager authors, illustrators, printers and publishers.  I am now one of them, and boy is the shoe on the other foot.

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After the great weather for Market Square Day, it seems everyone got in the summer mood.  Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and everyone has switched over to ice coffee.  Opening the new store in February was tough-- it's traditionally the slowest time of the year-- but it gave us a chance to get our feet under us.

Now we've got so many things going on it's making my head swim:

The Piscataqua Press is up and running!

Great new books are arriving from the publishers every day, and great used books are being traded in by our faithful readers.

The Demon Bookseller of Fleet Street is haunting the store in the evenings, and her Paperback to the Future program is finding us new fans all across the country.

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The Field and Spoon dinners match a local organic farm with a professional seacoast chef.  We ate in a beautiful field on the grounds of Tuckaway Farm, and everything we ate came from within 20 miles-- most of it from within 500 yards.  I was lucky enough to have John Carroll at our table, the author of The Real Dirt and several other books about sustainable agriculture.  This made the dinner not only incredibly tasty but also informative.  There was live music and lots of wine included with the meal (but not made locally-- something to aspire to!)

 

Field

I ate something called Hairy Vetch!  Not sure I can even say that in polite company.  I ate turnips. and chive flowers, and chicken cooked on an open fire. I also drank pea soup from a shot glass.

 

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Well, I'm declaring Winter officially over, even though there's a chance of frost tonight.  And what a strange winter it was. The death and rebirth of the store, the strange lack of snow, the final demise of Borders and the continued rise of eBooks.  The list goes on and on.

 

But here we are finally in May.  I always count Mother's Day as the start of our busy season, which lasts from now until Christmas.  for those of you who have been coming in and checking out the new space during these quiet, quiet months, I say a hearty "Thank You!"

 

If you haven't been in, please do.  We have an event every night of next week, starting Monday with Amy Antonucci talking about Honey Bees, and ending next weekend with two great kids events to help promote the Little Harbor Book Fair. Please click on our events tab to see what your missing.

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Many of you expressed interest in joining our Classics Book Group, but couldn't read the tiny print on the website.  I've fixed it here.  We'll be reading Cannery Row for May and Ethan Frome for June.  Please join us. read more