January 2020
Happy New Year!
I hope the holidays were relaxing and fun. Here at the Northshire Bookstores it was hectic, but in a good way. We appreciate your support!

We sometimes get review copies of books months before they get published. Rarely, a publisher will send us a book still in manuscript form to get feedback. January 21st marks the publication of a book I read as a manuscript last February and have been dying to share with you ever since. Finally, American Dirt is here! Jeanine Cummins has written a book for our times. It stands alone as a superb novel - a driving story with unforgettable characters and the richness of lives deeply felt. But it is also about one of the most visible and seminal issues of our times - immigration. Don’t worry, this is not a political or academic book. It is a deeply human story of a journey and the difficulties, joys and unimaginable circumstances encountered along the way. This book can change the national conversation about immigration.

“This book is not simply the great American novel; it’s the great novel of las Americas. It’s the great world novel! This is the international story of our times. Masterful.”
—Sandra Cisneros

“Heartfelt and hopeful, American Dirt is a novel for our times. Thrilling, epic, and unforgettable….”
Esquire

Ms. Cummins will join us in Manchester on March 6th. Please save the date . In the meantime, you can pre-order the book her e .


Happy Reading, 
Chris Morrow
Please note the location of each event Manchester Center or Saratoga Springs



Children's book author Karen Magnuson Beil will discuss her new book, What Linnaeus Saw , with fellow author Steve Sheinkin on Friday, January 10 at 6 pm.

The globetrotting naturalists of the eighteenth century were the geeks of their day: innovators and explorers who lived at the intersection of science and commerce. Foremost among them was Carl Linnaeus, a radical thinker who revolutionized biology.




Legendary writer Amy Hempel, a master of the short story and one of the most celebrated and original voices in American short fiction, comes to Northshire to present  Sing to It , an “exquisite collection” ( The Wall Street Journal ) and a “quiet masterpiece by a true American original” (NPR).

Amy Hempel is a master of the short story. A multiple award winner, Hempel is beloved and highly regarded among writers, reviewers, and readers of contemporary fiction Her ravishing, sometimes heartbreaking collection  Sing to It , her first in over a decade, is a literary event full of stories that are "riveting in precision" ( The Atlantic ) and "scintillating as the blade of a knife" ( The Wall Street Journal ).  

Join mystery authors Phil Bayly and Catherine Bruns as they read, discuss & sign their new novels. In Murder on Skis , Grizzly Mountain is a ski resort full of snow country characters, from ski racers to ski bums to overdressed billionaires. An unfortunate few may be caught in the claws of Grizzly Mountain.

In Penne Dreadful , l ocal chef Tessa Esposito is struggling to get back on her feet following her husband's fatal accident. And when the police knock on Tessa's door, things just get worse. They've discovered Dylan's death wasn't an accident after all, and they need Tessa to start filling in the blanks. Who would want her beloved husband dead, and why?





Join us for a ticketed luncheon at Bonnet and Main with cookbook author Anna Francese Gass.  Heirloom Kitchen is a glorious cookbook and a celebration of the culinary traditions of immigrant women. Bonnet and Main will prepare two dishes from the book. Tickets include your meal and a copy of Heirloom Kitchen ! Anna brings together the stories and dishes of forty strong, exceptional women, all immigrants to the United States, whose heirloom recipes have helped shape the landscape of American food.




We are delighted to partner with  MLK Saratoga  to present an evening with author Jeffrey Colvin, as he reads from, discusses & signs his novel Africaville .

Structured as a triptych, Africaville chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family—Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner—whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s.

"A ferociously talented writer makes his stunning debut with this richly woven tapestry, set in a small Nova Scotia town settled by former slaves, that depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate." - Vogue : Best Books to Read This Winter

Featured Book of the Month

"Imagine you are hosting a birthday party for your fifteen-year old niece in your home in your pleasant middle class neighborhood. Your whole family is there in the backyard. It’s a cookout. Gunmen walk into the yard and shoot everybody. They murder your whole family—your spouse, your mother, cousins. Sixteen in all. But by blind luck you survive because you are hidden in the house at the time of the ambush. You and your eight-year old son. If you linger one hour more in your house, in your hometown, you know with complete certainty you and your son will be murdered. Never mind the police. Your only chance to survive is to flee two thousand miles to the neighboring country to the north. This is the fiction that is the truth that Jeanine Cummins has created in her explosive novel. For the love of humanity, read it." — Reviewed by Stan Hynds

“If it's only a better life you seek, seek it elsewhere...This path is only for people who have no choice, no other option, only violence and misery behind you..”. It is hard to exactly put into words the profound impact that this poignant, epic telling of a migrant’s arduous journey had on me. It is a beautifully written and timely book that puts a human face on those seeking asylum. Heart-wrenching and filled with humanity. You will never look at this issue the same again, I know I won’t. EVERYONE should read this book!"
— Reviewed by Tambra Johnson Reap

"Lydia's husband is a journalist dedicated to eradicating the scourge of drugs in Mexico. When he and fifteen other family members are massacred, Lydia is forced to flee her comfortable life in Acapulco with her eight-year-old son. Their only hope is to begin a grueling trek toward the relative safety of the United States. It is, as she is told, "a path for people with no choice." The author is so skilled at drawing us into the narrative, we instinctively sense the impending danger posed by every stranger, swelter in the unrelenting assault of the desert sun, and fight succumbing to despair when one more step seems beyond the realm of human endurance . This is an unforgettable journey, as topical as today's headlines."
— Reviewed by Alden Graves


January Pre-order Highlight

An accessible, compelling introduction to today’s major policy issues from the New York Times columnist, best-selling author, and Nobel prize–winning economist Paul Krugman.

There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy. Likewise, there is no stronger foe of zombie economics, the misunderstandings that just won’t die.

In Arguing with Zombies , Krugman tackles many of these misunderstandings, taking stock of where the United States has come from and where it’s headed in a series of concise, digestible chapters. Drawn mainly from his popular  New York Times column, they cover a wide range of issues, organized thematically and framed in the context of a wider debate. Explaining the complexities of health care, housing bubbles, tax reform, Social Security, and so much more with unrivaled clarity and precision,  Arguing with Zombies is Krugman at the height of his powers.

Arguing with Zombies puts Krugman at the front of the debate in the 2020 election year and is an indispensable guide to two decades’ worth of political and economic discourse in the United States and around the globe. With quick, vivid sketches, Krugman turns his readers into intelligent consumers of the daily news and hands them the keys to unlock the concepts behind the greatest economic policy issues of our time. In doing so, he delivers an instant classic that can serve as a reference point for this and future generations.


New Fiction on our Shelves
New Non-Fiction on our Shelves
New Paperbacks on our Shelves
From our own Shires Press

Far from the madding crowd, but keenly aware of the dangerous & uncertain world we live in, Kristina Stykos’ poems from rural Vermont uncover “a joy shining through cracked prisms of love, loss and letting go”, exploring from the ground up, what it is to be human. Working as a landscape gardener, while trying to eke out a living as a musician, Stykos’ persistent voice is as singular as it is unsentimental, musing on a hardscrabble existence made transcendent by the nearly indescribable beauty of her wild and remote surroundings. 

Using language that is conversational and easy to grasp, her poems are at once elegant and dynamic, taking us directly into the heart her daily routines. Whether it’s pruning a gangly rose bush, eating lunch on a truck tailgate, or taking a chance on a muddy & forgotten dirt road, she makes it clear that there is always more to understand and contemplate about this gnarly paradox we call life.

New Releases from our Children's Department

We are featuring some of our signed books from publishers and author events online. You can also come into our bookstores to see all of our signed books.

*Limited quantities; while supplies last.
Find out what we're reading here , then join us! Please note that reading groups might not meet monthly; some are bi-monthly.
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Junction of Routes 7A & 11/30
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Friday & Saturday until 9:00 p.m.
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Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
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