9.17.2010

"A Sense of Place": Second Annual Wallace Stegner Weekend at Highland Lodge



[EVENT CANCELLED]

The Galaxy Bookshop is pleased to be a part of the Highland Lodge's Second Annual Wallace Stegner Weekend, coming up September 24-26.

[EVENT CANCELLED]

Please Note: Registration deadline for this event is SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19. The Highland Lodge needs a minimum of 20 registrants for "all meals and events" in order to cover the costs of hosting this special weekend event. Currently, registration has not reached that number, but we hope to receive enough of a response over the next few days that we will be able to carry on with the event as planned.

Please call Anne Hanson at 802-533-2647 to register!
With speakers, discussions and events, the Highland Lodge in Greensboro, Vermont will host its second annual literary weekend inspired by the life and writings of former Greensboro resident, Wallace Stegner, from Friday, September 24 through Sunday, September 26. Distinguished guest speakers include Natalie Kinsey Warnock, author  of multiple children’s and young adult books including the Vermont Humanities Council 2006 “Vermont Reads” selection  As Long As There Are Mountains; Leland Kinsey, Northeast Kingdom poet  whose poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s  The Writer’s Almanac; Charlie Morrissey, author, editor,  oral history expert and former director of the Vermont Historical Society; and Jay Craven, acclaimed filmmaker, film professor, screen writer and founder of Catamount Arts and co-founder of Kingdom County Productions. Though the durable power of his writing won Stegner the Pulitzer Prize in 1972, his genius in crafting compelling characters and stories of place won him a dedicated audience. “Sense of Place” is a theme that links this great American Artist with the artists invited to present at the Highland Lodge weekend. All are rooted in and inspired by the place of the Northeast Kingdom.

For information on the weekend visit www.highlandlodge.com, or contact Anne at the Highland Lodge at 802-533-2647.

Full Schedule

Speaker Bios

9.03.2010

Farewell, Summer Visitors

Now that school is back in session in Vermont and kids in many other states will be going back next week, it's really the end of the summer season here at the bookstore. This is not to say that we're throwing in the towel on summer--there's still a lot of nice weather ahead, plus the calendar says we've got until September 23 to revel in the last few weeks of the season!

Still, it's the end of one of the busiest times of the year for us. Each year, it's a treat to welcome back the summer "regulars." Some of them are here all summer, and we see them several times before they head south again. Others are here for a shorter time but make sure to stop at the bookstore at least once while they're in town. It's fun to catch up with all of them, exchange book recommendations, and send them off with a good vacation read.

[caption id="attachment_933" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="This photo was taken and sent by a lovely gentleman from Canada who stops at the bookstore each summer when he and his family go to New Brunswick for vacation. Just one of our many wonderful summer visitors!"][/caption]


Of course, we also love welcoming new visitors, and this year we've had quite a few--some were checking us out for the first time after seeing the profile of the bookstore on WCAX, others were visiting Hardwick to find out more about this little town they'd been reading about in magazine articles and in Ben Hewitt's book on our local agricultural economy. Still others were simply traveling through and happy to find a bookstore to browse. It was a lot of fun to talk to these travelers about our community and the positive steps that people are taking to give Hardwick a brighter future.

Now, when I reach the end of a season, I'm always curious to find out what our bestsellers have been. You get a general idea, selling books day after day, but there can still be some surprises. For example, this summer, my personal pick Little Bee actually came out ahead of Steig Larsen's "Girl Who..." books! Here's The Galaxy Bookshop's Top Ten Summer Bestseller List:

1. The Town That Food Saved: No surprise here--the book about Hardwick is the number one bestseller here in Hardwick!

2. Eaarth: Bill McKibben's visit to the bookstore, along with his many supporters in the area, helped push his latest book to the top of the list.

3. Mockingjay (Book 3 of The Hunger Games): The eagerly anticipated conclusion to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy needed only a week to become one of the summer's hottest books.

4. Little Bee: As mentioned above, this was my favorite book of the summer, and I'm excited to see it here on the list!

5. If the Church Were Christian: This provocative title was read and discussed by a book group at the Greensboro United Church.

6. The Girl Who Played with Fire: Fans of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were excited to dive into the sequel, out in paperback.

7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: There are still a lot of readers discovering Steig Larsen's books for the first time; I expect this will be on bestseller lists for a while, yet.

8. From Dawn Till Dusk: One of our all-time favorite Vermont picture books, from Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. The story of a year on a Vermont farm, accompanied by Mary Azarian's beautiful illustrations, is a perfect gift to take home to grandkids, nieces, and nephews as a souvenir of a trip to the Northeast Kingdom.

9. Imperfect Endings: Another book supported by an author visit, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter's memoir of her mother's decision to die and of her own struggle for acceptance is an intimate and honest look at the end of life choices we all, eventually, must face.

10. Cutting for Stone: A bestseller in hardcover, Abraham Verghese's epic novel of two brothers, spanning decades and continents, received an extra boost in paperback.