August 2025
My newsletter is for everyone, no matter where you live, but this month I’m focusing on book news with a local slant. Two newsletters in particular keep me in the know about what’s going on in my hometown and, more broadly, the region. A third comes from a local expert on children’s books.
First is New England Literary News, written by Nina McLaughlin. (Click on the link to subscribe on Substack.) Nina used to write a column for The Boston Globe, but now she is on her own, and with that comes a more personal style and tantalizing bits I wouldn’t otherwise know about. In just the last few issues, Nina has covered a new bookstore in Kennebunk, Maine, the poet laureate of Salem, Massachusetts, a new book of poetry by Askold Melnyczuk (I know Askold but did not know he writes poetry), union negotiations between the booksellers and owners of Harvard Book Store, a youth literary organization in Portland, Maine, a literary festival in Marblehead and an anonymous gift to the Boston Public Library. That, plus new releases and local booksellers’ current favorites. The newsletter is short but packed with information that plunges me into the literary swirl. And Nina does it in her own, delicious prose that maybe you already know from various publications including her four books: Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung, Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice.
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When I’m in the mood to attend a book event, or just to read about the Boston book scene, I go to Jessica Kent’s Literary Boston. (This link will take you to the website where you can subscribe.) Jessica compiles a monthly calendar of events in the greater Boston area. She covers bookstores, writing centers, libraries, poetry slams, literary festivals and more, and tells you who is presenting where, every day of the month. She also includes articles and blog posts about local literary history and the panoramic experience of writing and publishing in today’s world, as well as up-to-the-minute news about literary goings-on and the latest releases from local authors. For those of us in the Boston area, it’s an unparalleled compendium. When she’s not working on Literary Boston or writing her own novel, Jessica helps authors plan their literary marketing. Kent Literary Marketing.
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One other local newsletter, geared to books for young readers, is Rusty Browder’s 100 Days 100 Books. (Here’s the link to subscribe.) She guides us to books that illustrate the principles of a democratic, pluralistic society in a way that is not preachy or overly serious. There is, for instance, a book about Minerva Hoyt who worked to have the Joshua Tree National Park established. Also Barack Obama’s Of Thee I Sing, styled as a letter to his daughters about personal qualities he values such as creativity, bravery and kindness, with biographical synopses of historical Americans who embodied those traits. From Rusty I also learned about the young James Baldwin falling in love with words in the public library, and the woman who typeset the Declaration of Independence for its first publication. Rusty knows what she writes about. She founded the Children’s Bookshop in Brookline Village, and remains a passionate reader and advocate for books.
I hope you will get as much pleasure as I do from these newsletters.
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Before I sign off, I want to mention that I recently went to Peaks Island, a short ferry ride from Portland, Maine, to talk about They Called Us Girls. The invitation to join the island’s lecture series came from friends who live there — Chris Harper-Fahey, a terrific artist, and Fred Fahey, a writer whose most recent book, The Scoundrel’s Son, picks up where Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper leaves off. The audience was a community of people who share island life and are tremendously welcoming to a mainlander. It was a fun evening, even though I look serious in this picture. The warm wood setting was the historic clubhouse of the Trefethen-Evergreen Improvement Association, now on the National Registry of Historic Places.
