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2013 Holiday Books Show

Two New Hampshire independent booksellers give us their picks for the best reads of 2013. Here's a list of their favorites for the season, as well as a list of the books mentioned during the show.

GUESTS:

  • Michael Herrmann - Owner of Gibson's Bookstore in Concord
  • Dan Chartrand - Owner of Water Street Bookstore in Exeter

Best of the Season Book List from Michael & Dan:

(scroll down for list of programs mentioned during the show)

Fiction

  • The Last First Day- Carrie Brown
  • The Gravity of Birds- Tracy Guzeman
  • We Are Water- Wally Lamb
  • Someone- Alice McDermott
  • The Night Guest- Fiona McFarlane
  • More Than This- Patrick Ness
  • How The Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache - Louise Penny
  • Night Film- Marisha Pessl
  • Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
  • The Goldfinch- Donna Tartt
  • Ocean at the End of the Lane- Neil Gaiman
  • Tenth of December- George Saunders
  • Dr. Sleep- Stephen King
  • Dear Life- Alice Munro
  • The Luminaries- Eleanor Catton
  • Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic- Emily Croy Barker

Non-Fiction

  • Lawrence In Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly And The Making Of The Modern Middle East- Scott Anderson
  • Report From The Interior- Paul Auster
  • Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and The Reinvention of American Taste- Luke Barr
  • Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure- Artemis Cooper
  • The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend- Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
  • Five Days At Memorial: Life And Death In A Storm-Ravaged Hospital- Sheri Fink
  • The Unwinding: An Inner History Of The New America- George Packer
  • Amsterdam: A History Of The World's Most Liberal City- Russell Shorto
  • I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban- Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
  • 100 year anniversary of WWI:
    • The Sleepwalkers- Christopher Clark
    • War that Ended Peace- Margaret Macmillan
    • Catastrophe 1914- Max Hastings
  • Guns at Last Light- Rick Atkinson
  • Bunker Hill- Nat Philbrick
  • Bully Pulpit- Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • One Summer: America 1927- Bill Bryson
  • Stitches- Anne Lamott
  • This is the Story of a Happy Marriage- Ann Patchett
  • Orr: My Story- Bobby Orr
  • The Kid: Immortal Life of Ted Williams-Ben Bradlee Jr.
  • Spillover- David Quammen
  • Story of the Human Body- Daniel Lieberman
  • Complete Art of the Vatican- Workman
  • Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World
  • A.O.C. Cookbook- Suzanne Goin
  • Lean In - Sheryl  Sandburg
  • Quiet- Susan Cain
  • Hyperbole and a Half- Allie Brosh
  • Let Me off at the Top!- “Ron Burgundy”

Children's and Teen Favorites

  • How To Train A Train- Jason Carter Eaton and John Rocco
  • The Day the Crayons Quit- Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
  • Star Wars Jedi Academy- Jeffrey Brown
  • Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures- Kate DiCamillo and K. G. Campbell
  • Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library- Chris Grabenstein
  • The Eye Of Minds- James Dashner
  • Unbreakable: The Legion Book 1- Kami Garcia
  • The Burning Sky- Sherry Thomas
  • Mr. Wuffles! - David Wiesner
  • Journey- Aaron Becker
  • Hostage Three- Nick Lake
  • The Eye of Minds- James Dashner
  • new series by Alexander McCall Smith
  • Counting by 7s – Holly Goldberg Sloan

Local Authors

  • Evil Intentions: A Jack Beale Mystery- K. D. Mason
  • Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire- Gary Patton
  • Snow Fence Road- Phyllis Edgerly Ring
  • Strange Terrain and Be That Empty- Alice Fogel (new NH poet laureate)
  • Dwelling in Possibility- Howard Mansfield
  • Mud Season- Ellen Stimson

Mentioned during the show:

New Fiction by big authors

  • Dirty Love - Andre Dubus III
  • Doctor Sleep - Steven King
  • The Goldfinch  - Donna Tartt
  • The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
  • MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood
  • Valley of Amazement - Amy Tan
  • The Luminaries- Eleanor Catton
  • Dear Life – Alice Munro
  • Tenth of December - George Saunders

-----------------------------

  • Night Guest - Fiona McFarlance
  • Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic- Emily Croy Barker
  • Guide for the Perplexed - Dara Horn
  • Night Film - Marisha Pessl
  • Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
  • Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
  • More than This – Patrick Ness
  • The Boy on the Wooden Box – Leon Leyson

History

  • The Guns at Last Light – Rick Atkinson
  • War that Ended Peace- Margaret Macmillan
  • Catastrophe 1914- Max Hastings
  • The Sleepwalkers- Christopher Clark
  • Guns of August – Barbara Tuchman
  • Lawrence In Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly And The Making Of The Modern Middle East- Scott Anderson
  • The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend- Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
  • Bully Pulpit- Doris Kearns Goodwin
  • Bunker Hill - Nathaniel Philbrick

Local

  • Town histories
  • Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire- Gary Patton
  • Women, Animals, and Vegetables - Maxine Kumin
  • String Too Short to be Saved - Donald Hall
  • NH author Rebecca Rule
  • Dwelling in Possibility- Howard Mansfield

-------------------

  • A Higher Call - Adam Makos
  • How to Architect - Doug Patt
  • The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream - Thomas Dyja
  • Frozen in Time - Zubkov
  • The Abominable - Dan Simmons

Music

  • Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker  - Stanley Crouch
  • A Life of Duke Ellington - Terry Teachout
  • Beatles Vs Stones - John McMillian
  • The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics - Alan Aldridge
  • Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life - Graham Nash
  • A Brother's Story - Leon Hendrix and Adam Mitchell
  • Johnny Cash: The Life - Robert Hilburn

----------------

  • South of Broad – Pat Conroy
    • Death of Santini
  • Names and Places in the White Mountains
  • Hiking History of the White Mountain - Mike Dickerman

Book Club

  • Me Before You – Jojo Moyes
  • The Light Between Oceans- M.L. Stedman
  • The Art Forger: A Novel Paperback  - B. A. Shapiro

---------------

  • The King of Sports by Gregg Easterbrook
  • NFL critiques
  • The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams: Ben Bradlee Jr.
  • America's Climate Century: What Climate Change Means for America in the 21st Century and What Americans Can Do about It - Senator Rob Hogg
  • Spillover – David Quammen
  • The Unwinding by George Packer
  • The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease- Daniel Lieberman
  • The Song of the Quarkbeast- Jasper Fforde
    • Thursday Next series
  • Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin - Jill Lepore

Personal Christmas Lists

  • Michael’s: Ulysses with rare Matisse illustrations
  • Dan’s: Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure- Artemis Cooper
Laura is well known in New Hampshire for her in-depth coverage of important issues and is widely regarded for her interviews with presidential hopefuls. Laura is a graduate of Keene High School in New Hampshire. Prior to hosting The Exchange, Laura worked in public radio in Washington, D.C. as a local reporter and announcer for WAMU and as a newscaster for NPR. Before her radio career, she was a researcher for USA Today's "Money" section, and a research assistant at the Institute for International Economics. Laura occasionally guest hosts national programs such as The Diane Rehm Show and Here and Now. In 2007 Laura was named New Hampshire Broadcaster of the Year by the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters.
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