Returning after a Covid-induced hiatus are the New Hampshire Theatre Awards on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Professional, community and youth theater productions from the 2023 season will be awarded and parts of some of the shows will be performed.
“[New Hampshire Theatre Alliance] runs an adjudication process,” said Irene Cohen, the president of the organization and co-producer of the award show. “A theater company … will submit their works to be adjudicated … and [the adjudicators] complete a ballot and the ballot is scored. … Then we have an awards night for outstanding performance, very similar to the Tonys. … There was a group who spent time during the pandemic, about a year and a half, working on an entirely new ballot, so we’re excited about that.”
Adjudicated productions include Guys and Dolls by Weathervane Theatre, Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express by M&D Playhouse, Steel Magnolias by Carriage Lane Players, Disney’s Newsies at Ovation Theatre Company and Mean Girls: High School Version, also produced by Ovation Theatre Company. Awards will be given for outstanding actors and actresses in musical and play productions, outstanding supporting actors and actresses, choreography, lighting, sound design, costume design and outstanding professional, community and youth productions, among others. New this year is an award for playwriting.
“The theater community in New Hampshire is very vibrant and prolific. … Almost every weekend of the year you can find some type of community, professional or youth theater production,” Cohen said. “One thing that we’re excited about is that we’ve made a change in the awards to a non-gendered award name starting in the 2024 adjudication season and that decision came about with some feedback from our community. … it’s been very very well-received.”
According to Cohen, this change will set the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance apart from other theater organizations.
After the ballots are run, the top 10 finalists will be announced. Then, during the event, the semifinalists will be revealed, followed by the winner.
“The process and the organization … is all run by volunteers,” Cohen. “We don’t have a paid executive director, we don’t have paid staff. The adjudicators are going all over the state to adjudicate these shows and we wind up with this event at the end of all that based entirely on the volunteered time of this community. … I’m just in awe of the power and strength of this community of artists in New Hampshire.
19th New Hampshire Theatre Awards Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord When: Saturday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m. More info: get tickets at ccanh.com
Featured photo: Previous New Hampshire Theatre Awards. Courtesy photos.
In Praise of the brick and mortar Bookstore plus recommendations for new reads and book clubs to join
There’s nothing quite like the experience of shopping at your local independent bookstore, and luckily New Hampshire has several. Here’s what those in the business had to say about the local book shopping experience and current reading trends.
Balin Books
Previously the Nashua location of Toadstool Bookshop, Balin Books introduced its new name in early 2023 (Balin rhymes with “gallon,” according to the store’s Facebook page). The store is still under the ownership of one of the original founders.
“We have a new name but … nothing else has changed about our business other than the fact that there’s a different sign above the door,” said manager Michael Joachim. A general book store, Balin Books is able to tailor its stock to what the community wants.
What do people get from shopping at bookstores that they don’t get online? What is that experience like and why do you think people seek it?
Balin Books. Courtesy photo.
It’s interesting because … there was a pretty big crisis following the rise of Borders and Barnes & Noble, which dramatically changed the landscape. Bookstores adjusted and they kind of survived that and then Amazon and other online purchasing came and that was another big crisis that reduced a number of stores, and the people that were left, I think, were the real survivors, the people who figured out how to be an asset to the community and to offer something that people actually wanted rather than just a bunch of companies that opened stores willy-nilly all over the landscape and didn’t really have a way to survive. I think there’s always … a foundation
… of people who, while they might buy books online, they want the experience of wandering through the store and actually seeing what’s available in front of them as opposed to poking on a screen, flip through a book, get a look at what’s actually in it, compare to what else is available in that same category and that same subject and make a decision right away and buy it. They just want to absorb what’s out there and you’re never going to get that online, and that’s very important to a significant number of people, so if you can create that environment where browsing is a pleasurable, informative experience, and have the right selection and the right services, you will survive and do well.
How have local bookstores, and yours specifically, fared with the times and trends of online shopping with sites like Amazon and big bookstores like Barnes & Noble? How have you adapted and changed?
I think you’ve got to be involved in the community. We do a lot of work with the local schools, there are educators that come to us and we help either provide books for the class or get discounts for kids who need it in their classes. We’re connected to the Nashua Public Library pretty well … You have to have a great selection. You [have] to have an inventory that matches what your community is looking to buy, looking to browse. You also have knowledgeable people who know how to help and have some experience and can answer some of those questions. A lot of people are intimidated when they walk into a bookstore because they don’t want to look dumb. They don’t want to ask questions that may make them uncomfortable. If you walk into … a bigger chain store like that where the turnover is more substantial, if that person doesn’t know what you’re trying to find and then you make the customer feel uncomfortable, the whole thing just gets a little weird. People love that when they come in here … [if they] don’t understand what it is they’re looking for we can help them get to the answer without making them feel uncomfortable.
Have you noticed any other patterns or trends of shopping at local bookstores?
I find a lot of people come in and say that they’re really pleased that we’re here. … When I started in the business … almost every town or every couple of towns had a local bookstore where people could come and get what they needed. That’s changed dramatically. You can go 20 miles without a bookstore now. I think for the bookstores that are still here, and the bookstores that are doing well and offer a real service to the community, a lot of people really appreciate that … they want to support a local, independently owned store and that’s gratifying.
When genres seem to be attracting the most interest from readers?
Historically it’s always been children’s books, which is a big age group anywhere from baby books to young adult. That’s a big chunk of our store because a lot of people want to buy books for their children, they want them to read [and] people buy them as gifts. For adults it’s fiction, biography, history. But then we have people who want … self-help books, cookbooks, but within the fiction genre, which is a big chunk of our store, we’ve got mystery, suspense, horror, science fiction, romance — all those things are a big part of what we offer.
Is there any type of book, whether genre or author, that has become popular in the last few years that has surprised you?
There’s been a very big boom in romance, specifically a couple of authors that figured out how to use TikTok to promote themselves and particularly a woman named Colleen Hoover … [who] I believe … came out of nowhere to be the bestselling author in the country two years ago … so it’s been interesting to watch how people can work the market place to promote themselves and how it actually works. … I think an independent store can react a lot more quickly to something like that … we can just jump on it right away, get some books in pretty quickly and respond to the community.
What was the most popular book of 2023 and what books are you excited for in 2024?
There’s a book called Fourth Wing, which was a fantasy book that, again, the author [Rebecca Yarros] did something online to promote herself and it was just a huge book. The sequel Iron Flame came out right around Christmas time and that was big. And Sarah J. Maas, who writes fantasy books, has a new book coming out next month, which should also be gigantic.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
I like the last Stephen King book, Holly. … That was a good book, that’s the one that’s sticking with me at the moment.
Balin Books Where: Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St. in Nashua; 417-7981, balinbooks.com Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Upcoming author events: Jeanne Dietsch, to discuss her report New Hampshire: Battleground in the Fight to Dismantle Democracy, on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 11 a.m.
Five recent releases recommended by Balin Books The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett The Bee Sting by Paul Murray My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee Gator Country by Rebecca Renner Alfie & Me by Carl Safina
Bookery Manchester
Liz Hitchcock, along with her husband, Jeremy Hitchcock, opened Bookery, a bookstore, gift shop and cafe on Elm Street in Manchester, in 2018 with the goal of creating a venue for civic discourse, community and culture. A general bookstore, Bookery adjusts inventory to align with what the community is reading, and carries other merchandise like candles, socks, puzzles, cards and more. The store hosts events with authors, a monthly book club, weekly storytimes, live music, political talks, workshops and private events.
“We’re really just proactive at seeing what our community’s reading at this time, listening to their feedback on what they want and what they need and following that as our guiding star,” Hitchcock said.
What do people get from shopping at bookstores that they don’t get online? What is that experience like and why do you think people seek it?
I think the main reason why people go to a local bookstore is curation. Obviously I, just like anybody else, can go to Amazon and see … books and some of them have five stars and some of them have three stars, but in the end I want someone to tell me if I read this book then I might enjoy this book … There’s nothing better than someone who’s actually read the book telling you that it’s something that you may enjoy, so it’s really about the process of curation — hand selling is gigantic — and then obviously the ability for us to have authors come into our store to meet our customers is really important as well.
The Bookery. Courtesy photo.
How have local bookstores, and yours specifically, fared with the times and trends of online shopping with sites like Amazon and big bookstores like Barnes & Noble?
I think that in the end we are probably faring a little bit better than places like Barnes & Noble because we do have an entrenched community that we support and we love. I do think that Barnes & Noble is doing a better job at creating that community around them now that they’ve given more free will to the managers of the stores, but I think that we’re doing well even based on the circumstances of the economy and Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Have you noticed any other patterns or trends of shopping at local bookstores?
Not specifically that I can name. We have seen growth year over year, which has been helpful especially with the rising cost of employees and buying books and shipping, so we appreciate that greatly. I think just really the part that still surprises me is adjacent towns that are still surprised when they see that we have a bookstore of our caliber downtown on Elm Street, so even still getting the word and making sure people know that we’re there, what we offer and that we love our community.
When genres seem to be attracting the most interest from readers?
2023 was a huge year for romantasy, a new hybrid sub-genre between romance and fantasy. Sarah J. Maas is a huge staple of this genre, but this year we have a new heavy hitter in Rebecca Yarros! Her two books Fourth Wing and Iron Flame both caused such a stir in the book world this year it was hard for bookstores to keep up! Fourth Wing centers on a dragon rider academy, with an enemies-to-lovers romance to boot with plenty of spice for those interested!
What was the most popular book of 2023 and what books are you excited for in 2024?
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang was a huge book for us this year. R.F. Kuang ended 2022 with a huge book in Babel, and her new literary fiction rode that high and then some. Yellowface is about two authors, one white, one Asian, working on their manuscripts. When the writer of color suddenly dies, the white author takes it upon herself to steal the late writer’s manuscript, finish it, and pass it off as her own under a pseudonym. A great commentary and satire on whitewashing in lucrative industries. [In] 2024 — We’re really looking toward Knife by Salman Rushdie, releasing in April! It’s a memoir from the author about his recently survived assassination attempt in 2022, 30 years after a “fatwa” was ordered against him by the Supreme Leader of Iran calling for his assassination. It promises to be an eye-opening read about his first-hand account of that day and what followed. Can’t wait!
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
I recently read and loved Prophet Song by Paul Lynch! The hype for this one was crazy, considering it won the Booker Prize in the U.K. before its U.S. publication (I was so excited to read it that I ordered a copy from the U.K. before it came out over here). It tells the story of a civil resistance in Ireland after a nameless government regime cracking down on unions and anti-state sentiments. It’s a harrowing universal tale about government and government overreach, and transcends borders given the exact causes and politics associated with the book’s uprising aren’t given. You really can picture yourself in this novel. [It’s] truly transportative!
Bookery Manchester Where: 844 Elm St., Manchester; 836-6600, bookerymht.com When: Sunday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Upcoming author events:
Joe McQuaid, author of War Fronts Home Fires, on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m.
Joseph Carrabis will hold a workshop called “Write Your History, Change Your Life” on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 5 p.m.
Matthew Jones, author of Wish I Could Love You: A Collection of Failed Love Stories on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m.
Fox Hollow, author of Heartstrings, on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m.
Gibson’s Bookstore
Founded in 1898, Gibson’s Bookstore is the oldest continuously operating retailer in the Concord area and the largest independent bookstore in northern New England, according to its website. Current owner Michael Herrmann bought the business in 1994, expanded the business twice including the move to its current location in 2013 and bought Imagination Village toy store to integrate into the store, which also has a cafe. At this general bookstore with a wide variety of interests, Herrmann said, “our inventory is designed with Concord in mind.”
What do people get from shopping at bookstores that they don’t get online? What is that experience like and why do you think people seek it?
Bookstores of all kinds are great gathering places. They’re community centers, they’re places that build community, and you can’t really can’t replicate that online. There’s also one thing you can get at a physical bookstore that you can’t get online, [which] is discovery. If you go online looking for something you’ll find it but if you don’t know what you want or you might be open for new experiences then the only way really to get that is browsing in the real world.
How have local bookstores, and yours specifically, fared with the times and trends of online shopping with sites like Amazon and big bookstores like Barnes & Noble?
We’ve always had the larger bookstores to contend with probably since the ’80s, and Amazon came along at the end of the ’90s, so … we’ve been getting used to it for a lot longer than other types of operations have, so the independent bookstores that are still with us are well-equipped to compete with online stores like Amazon.
Have you noticed any other patterns or trends of shopping at local bookstores?
Well, certainly our sales are increasing every year and new independent bookstores are starting every year. The channel has been growing since Borders went out of business in 2011. That was sort of like the asteroid getting the dinosaurs and we were the mammals so our channel has been expanding ever since 2011, and Gibson’s Bookstore’s business has been going up pretty much since 2013.
When genres seem to be attracting the most interest from readers?
Fiction. We’ve seen a lot of new interest in genres like genre fiction [such as] romance and horror, mystery, science fiction. We’ve seen a lot of growth in those areas.
Is there any type of book, whether genre or author, that has become popular in the last few years that has surprised you?
Gibson’s Bookstore. Photo by Ryan Clark.
There’s always room for surprise. You don’t want it to be … formulaic at all, that’s why we take a chance on a lot of different … new authors. Where some of the big box stores have scaled back on, for instance, books for young readers like ages 9 to 12, we continue to bring in a lot of new authors in that area just because some of them are going to be important in the future and we want to build relationships and sales with them as early as possible. And there’s always surprises like this holiday season, the big surprise was how well the book by Liz Cheney did [Oath and Honor]. We didn’t have that on our 2023 bingo card but her book really struck a chord with people and … you can’t predict that in advance. You really don’t know, you sort of have to ride the tiger when the tiger gets to you.
What was the most popular book of 2023 and what books are you excited for in 2024?
Ann Patchett’s book Tom Lake was very popular. We did very well with that. In nonfiction David Grann’s book The Wager was extremely popular.
[In 2024] there’s a new novel by Chris Bohjalian coming out that he’s very excited about launching called Princess of Las Vegas, so I’m looking forward to reading that. … [Also] the new novel by Tana French that’s coming out called The Hunter and then there’s a new book by Tommy Orange, who wrote the novel There There, called Wandering Stars and … that’s coming in March [and I’m] also really looking forward to that.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
The new Tana French [The Hunter]. I just finished it.
Gibson’s Bookstore Where: 45 S. Main St. in Concord When: Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
Upcoming author events:
Lloyd Sederer, doctor and author of Caught in the Crosshairs of American Healthcare, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 6:30 p.m.
Joe McQuaid, author of War Fronts Home Fires, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6:30 p.m.
Chard deNiord, poet and author of seven books of poetry, presented by the Poetry Society of New Hampshire on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 4:30 p.m.
Leila Philip, author of Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m.
Upcoming releases recommended by Gibson’s
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (April 30); The Women by Kristin Hannah (Feb. 6); Rainbow Black by Maggie Thrush (March 19); Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Feb. 27); The Fury by Alex Michaelides (Jan. 16) —recommended by adult book buyer John LeDonne
The Angel of Indian Lake (The Indian Lake Trilogy #3) by Stephen Graham Jones (March 26); Funny Story by Emily Henry (April 23); Love You, Mean It by Jilly Gagnon (April 30); Happy Medium by Sarah Adler (April 30); Kosa by John Durgin (New Hampshire author!) (May 17); Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (June 25); American Rapture by CJ Leede (Oct. 15); Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay (June 11); The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Aug. 6) —recommended by bookseller and marketing manager Ryan Clark
MainStreet BookEnds of Warner
Despite being rejected by the bank three times, Katharine Nevins, along with her husband, opened the doors to MainStreet BookEnds of Warner in October 1998 during the Warner Fall Foliage Festival. A community bookstore with toys and games set in a Pillsbury colonial homestead, MainStreet BookEnds is a general bookstore with particular strengths in the children’s, gardening and farming genres. In the attached barn is a gallery featuring the works of local artists.
“Warner is … an area where there are a lot of writers, a lot of musicians, [and] a lot of artists, so we’ve always tried to reflect that,” Nevins said.
What do people get from shopping at bookstores that they don’t get online? What is that experience like and why do you think people seek it?
Independent bookstores are extraordinarily important … for … the culture of the area …. Every single independent bookstore is unique. If you’re traveling and you kind of want to get a sense of where you are and who the people are, you track down an independent bookstore because once you get in there you’re in with all the locals, you’re in there with the things that are happening right there in that community. … If you can break the habit of the quick click, which is a hard habit to break, … you can go into the storefront and experience a community of readers who can recommend things to you or recommend things to your children. People who are experienced in books and can really make recommendations … can make a difference. … I’m fortunate because I have a front row seat of watching that every day and I see people talking with each other and saying, ‘My child had trouble reading and this is what worked for them,’ ‘My mother just died and I really found this book to be extraordinarily helpful.’ … Things like that happen all the time, so it’s really exciting. So you walk into an independent bookstore and you’re walking into, I believe, a piece of magic because you’re seeing exactly what that area has to offer.
How have local bookstores, and yours specifically, fared with the times and trends of online shopping with sites like Amazon and big bookstores like Barnes & Noble?
MainStreet BookEnds. Courtesy photo.
In 1998 the bank turned us down three times. They said there’s no way an independent bookstore is going to survive in these times, and Amazon had just started. Amazon has a ridiculous impact on independent bookstores [and] on every single neighborhood store, so the more you extract yourself from that kind of shopping, the more you’re supporting your community and the more you’re helping your community to thrive and survive … I think more and more people are getting tired of [the online] experience. I can tell you during Covid where we had to close the store for 15 months we kept going and we did curbside … and so forth, but that was when people really kind of woke up to how if we don’t support these little businesses right now, they’re not going to make it, and people came out of the woodwork, it was absolutely fabulous the support that we got. So I think the people … want to experience … being able to go into an independent bookstore and … and just that sense of turning everything off for a half hour, which is really important, and you can’t do that in many places but in a bookstore you can get lost in here for a while and that’s a very healing thing. Strange to say but there’s a lot of healing that goes on in an environment like that [where] people are just allowed to come in and relax and wander and who knows what’s going to happen.
Have you noticed any other patterns or trends of shopping at local bookstores?
We’re really having a return of younger people coming in and just really loving the experience of wandering and talking about books and holding books. … The feelings … that you get when you pick up a book that you read … all those feelings come rushing back to you as to where you were at the time, and you can only get that with a physical book, that’s the only way you can get that.
When genres seem to be attracting the most interest from readers?
We follow the New England Independent Booksellers Association bestsellers list. … We all contribute to what sells the best in our stores and that’s the list that we go by in terms of our bestsellers. … There’s a whole lot of interest in young adult and in graphic novels for young adults. … We have a … section on regional titles in terms of New Hampshire and hiking [that’s] just about sold out … . That’s [a] huge area. People [want] to pick up books about the area and about hiking and enjoying the outdoors … and children’s books are always very, very big.
Is there any type of book, whether genre or author, that has become popular in the last few years that has surprised you?
I think that the popularity is reflected by the times, right? … Right now people are wanting more and more escape and comfort … so when a particular author becomes really popular that surprises us it’s probably because that particular author is providing a really good escape for right now. … You [also] read to learn about other worlds so I think if we’ve had some surprising authors emerge in the last couple of years it’s just been reflective of what we need as a society to cope.
What was the most popular book of 2023 and what books are you excited for in 2024?
Well, books like Demon Copperhead, Barabra Kingssolver’s book, that was huge; Iron Flame [by Rebecca Yarros and] A Court of Thorns and Roses [by Sarah J. Maas]. … [For] what’s coming up, well, I guess we just wait and see what’s going to emerge next — it’s always kind of a surprise … and I know people are excited about some new ones coming out there so I think we just wait and see.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
In terms of my favorite reads from 2023, the fiction would be the latest from Sigrid Nunez, The Vulnerables. The nonfiction is The Long Field by Pamela Petro. Children’s picture books would be Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari, and middle-grade novels would be the latest from Ann Braden, Opinions and Opossums.
MainStreet BookEnds of Warner Where: 16 E. Main St. in Warner; 456-2700, mainstreetbookends.com When: Tuesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
MainStreet Recommends
Tana French has a new book coming out, The Hunter (March 5) Sarah Maas’s newest will be huge, House of Flame and Shadow (Jan. 30) A wonderful biography just out on Willa Cather, Chasing Bright Medusas (out now) Sy Montgomery’s latest, Of Time and Turtles (out now) Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go celebrates 50 years with a new edition (out now)
More book shops
Here are some additional independent bookstores in the area.
The Lost Page Found Bookshop Where: 35 Main St. in Goffstown; 384-1390, thelostpagefoundbookshop.com Hours: See Facebook for winter hours. Posted hours on are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Morgan Hill Bookstore Where: 253 Main St., New London; 526-5850, morganhillbookstore.com When: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
RiverRun Bookstore Where: 32 Daniel St. in Portsmouth; 431-2100, riverrunbookstore.com Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Toadstool Bookshop Where: 12 Depot St. in Peterborough, 924-3543; toadbooks.com When: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Water Street Bookstore Where: 125 Water St., Exeter; 778-9731, waterstreetbooks.com When: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Book Clubs
Gibson’s Bookstore 45 S. Main St., Concord gibsonsbookstore.com/gibsons-book-club When: first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Next up: Feb. 5: The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
Bookery bookerymht.com/our-events 844 Elm St., Manchester Book club When: third Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. Next up: Jan 18: Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris Romance book club When: last Sunday of each month at 6 p.m. Next up: Jan. 28: By the Book, by Jasmine Guillory
MainStreet BookEnds 16 E. Main St., Warner Mainstreetbookends.com When: Sundays at 4 p.m. Next up: Feb. 4: How the Post Office Created America, by Winifred Gallagher
To Share Brewing 720 Union St., Manchester When: second Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. RSVP to [email protected] to attend Next up: Feb. 8: Love in the Time of Serial Killers, by Alicia Thompson
Northwoods Brewing 1334 First NH Tpke., Northwood When: Books and Brews meets on various Mondays Next up: Jan. 29: Shark Heart: A Love Story, by Emily Habeck Peterborough NH Area Silent Book Club Find them on Facebook When: The newly formed chapter was scheduled to have its first-ever meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at DiVine on Main (32 Main St., Peterborough); a second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. Next up: whatever you want “Silent Book Club is a global community of readers and introverts reading together in quiet camaraderie. … At Silent Book Club, there’s no assigned reading. Instead, we’re inviting readers to grab a glass of wine, a tasty snack, a cozy seat, and a book of their choosing to read uninterrupted for one hour, with added time for socializing and discussing your book while making new friends,” according to the Peterborough chapter’s post on silentbook.club.
Featured Photo: Gibson’s Bookstore. Photo by Ryan Clark.
The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office is commemorating Community Risk Reduction (CRR) Week from Jan. 15 to Jan. 21, aiming to raise awareness about fire safety and prevention in the community, according to a press release. During this period, residents are reminded of critical fire safety practices, especially given that cooking and heating are leading causes of home fires in New Hampshire. The state has experienced more than 100 civilian injuries due to fires between 2020 and 2023, highlighting the importance of preventive measures. Key safety tips include vigilant cooking, maintaining safe zones around heating equipment and ensuring the proper functioning of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. CRR Week offers resources for both the public and fire service professionals, emphasizing the integrated approach of education, engineering, enforcement, emergency response and economic incentives in fire risk reduction. Visit CRRWeek.org.
Lead testing
The New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) has released a bulletin mandating that health insurers cover blood lead testing for 1- and 2-year-old children without cost-sharing, in compliance with the Affordable Care Act. According to a press release, the directive comes after noticing that some insurers were not following ACA guidelines, which prohibit cost-sharing for preventive services, including lead screening. The NHID emphasizes adherence to Health Resources and Services Administration and American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations, ensuring New Hampshire’s children can access necessary lead testing without financial barriers. This move aligns with recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services guidance, extending no-cost provisions to follow-up testing as well. Insurers are advised to review their practices in light of this bulletin to uphold health care coverage standards and protect the health of young children in the state.
New director
Richard K. Sala has been appointed as the new director of the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR New Hampshire), under the New Hampshire Department of Education. According to a press release, Sala’s experience and qualifications include a Master of Business Administration and Master of Environmental Law and Policy, as well as a membership with the New Hampshire Bar Association since 2013. With a background including service in the U.S. Marines and roles in education and law, Sala will manage VR New Hampshire’s operations, focusing on aiding individuals with disabilities and engaging with business partners. His tasks will involve shaping long-term strategies for meaningful career development and meeting workforce objectives. He succeeds Lisa Hinson-Hatz, who served the department for two decades and has moved on to a similar role in a different location.
Mandatory minimums
Gov. Chris Sununu has officially endorsed Senate Bills 414 and 415, which introduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and distribution offenses resulting in death, specifically targeting large quantities of controlled substances like fentanyl. According to a press release, these bills represent the state’s intensified efforts to address the drug crisis by imposing stringent penalties on drug dealers whose actions contribute to fatalities. Gov. Sununu’s support is documented in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging the advancement of these bills to reflect the severity of the drug-related challenges facing New Hampshire.
Athletes on the run
Special Olympics New Hampshire (SONH) has launched a year-long campaign called “Running For Special Olympics,” focused on running. According to a press release, the campaign includes a fitness program to encourage SONH athletes to run independently or participate in organized races across the state, as well as a series of fundraising events related to running. Millennium Running, based in Bedford, has named SONH as its official charity for 2024, allowing Special Olympics athletes to take part in 14 Millennium Running signature events. SONH staff and volunteers will attend these races to provide information about the organization’s programs. Approximately 40,000 runners are expected to participate in the 14 signature events in 2024.
Catholic Medical Center in Manchester has become the first in New England to successfully implement AVEIR™ DR, the world’s first dual chamber leadless pacemaker system. According to a press release, this new technology by Abbott, FDA-approved in June 2023, provides a minimally invasive treatment for patients with abnormal heart rhythms requiring pacing in both the right atrium and ventricle. The system enhances patient care with a smaller device size, leadless placement and synchronized pacing between two pacemakers using i2i™ technology, which facilitates communication through the body’s blood.
Daniel Douidi has been sworn in as the new chief of the Bedford Police Department, succeeding retired Chief John Bryfonski. According to a press release, Chief Douidi, who has served with the Bedford Police for 33 years, began his career as a part-time special police officer in Manchester in 1987 and joined Bedford Police as a full-time officer in 1989. He has steadily risen through the ranks, holding positions including captain and deputy chief. Chief Douidi said he aims to improve department morale and make it an attractive place to work, focusing on hiring, training and retention, and emphasized an open-door policy and prioritizing the needs of Bedford’s citizens.
The United Way of Greater Nashua has launched the Tech Connect United Laptop Donation Program, accepting donations of working laptops, tablets or smartphones. According to a newsletter, these devices will be cleared of data, refurbished and distributed to children, job-seekers, college students and seniors in the community, with the aim of enhancing digital access for telehealth, job searches and educational purposes. Donations can be made at their Nashua office (20 Broad St.) during weekdays or by appointment. This effort is supported by Microsoft’s Tech Spark Fellowship Grant Funding.
If great musicians wanting to get in the studio with a performer is a measure of success, the Gibson Brothers are a breed apart. The bluegrass duo has been produced by Ricky Skaggs, Dave Ferguson, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and most recently Jerry Douglas, on Darkest Hour, released in early 2023.
They even recorded a soundtrack album with T-Bone Burnett, a project that was shelved with the never-made movie.
“My brother says that we’re the Forrest Gump of bluegrass,” Eric Gibson said in a recent phone interview. “I mention something like that [Burnett] to people, and they look at me like I’m lying. I’m like, ‘I don’t have any proof, the record never came out.’ … but some of those records did.”
While 2018’s Auerbach-helmed Mockingbird had a burlier tone and modern touches like a cover of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” with the Flaming Lips’ Derek Brown on slide guitar, Darkest Hour featured more of the sound that’s made the Gibsons a force in bluegrass music for over three decades.
A new wrinkle, though, was a focus on the duo’s songwriting. Before starting recording in early 2020, Douglas asked them to bring their best tunes that hadn’t made it to other records. Among them was “I Feel the Same Way as You,” which became an album standout, with Alison Krauss providing a backing vocal.
Leigh Gibson wrote the song in 2000. Eric remembers wondering, “Why the heck did we wait so long to record that? Then I thought, if we’d done it earlier, Jerry Douglas wouldn’t be playing Dobro on it, and Alison Krauss wouldn’t be singing harmony … it was meant to be later.”
The Dobro master’s presence spurred the two to reach musical heights, as on “Dust,” when Eric follows Douglas’s soaring solo with a blistering banjo run. “You cannot help but be inspired,” he said, calling it “a pinch-me moment — that’s Jerry Douglas, and we’re playing with him right now.”
A big chunk of the LP was done live in the studio.
“We had some separation; if we messed up, we’d go back and fix it, but he’s about capturing the feeling and capturing the moment,” Gibson said.
“What a Difference a Day Makes” was the first track recorded. Gibson called it “real meat and potatoes bluegrass … kind of a Jimmy Martin-feeling kind of song.”
A Northeast tour in support of the album kicks off Jan. 13 in Manchester.
The brothers will be joined by Mike Barber on bass and drummer Sam Zucchini, with Eric O’Hara on Dobro. O’Hara was their first music teacher while the two were growing up on a dairy farm in Ellenburg Depot, in upstate New York.
“He’d just graduated from college, we were 12 and 11, and he started showing us how to play the banjo and guitar,” Eric recalled. “All these years later, he’s playing music with us.”
There’s more history in the onstage configuration. Their longtime bass player is the son of Junior Barber, who played Dobro with the Gibson Brothers when they were starting out. “Jerry went on and on about him when we recorded with him,” Gibson said of the elder Barber, who died in 2017. “He was a legend in this area, and people like that would take an interest in us.”
It’s testament to their talent that two players from a town just below the Canadian border could rise to the top of a genre dominated by Nashville pickers, but Gibson recalls a collective purposefulness in their far-flung milieu. A memory of one band preparing to go on at an American Legion years ago is still fresh.
“They took it as seriously as if they were gonna go play the Opry,” he said. “That stuck with me… wherever, whatever that stage is, you make it count.”
The Gibson Brothers released their first album in the mid-’90s; years later, Eric Gibson is happy to be part of his genre, and sees bright days ahead.
“I think the roots scene is very strong,” Gibson said. “Every so often you hear, ‘oh, bluegrass is dead.’ How is it dead when you have Billy Strings playing bluegrass? Molly Tuttle has found a heck of a big audience. Hopefully, there’s a trickle-down effect for the rest of us, but I feel like that old John Hartford song. I’m still here, we’re still doing it. We must be doing something right.”
A man dies after a fall at his home and his wife becomes the prime suspect for his murder in Anatomy of a Fall.
“Fall” and “murder” are two potentially inaccurate words in that sentence. When Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), a boy with limited vision, comes home from a walk with his guide dog, all he knows is that his father, Samuel (Samuel Theis), is on the ground, bleeding and not breathing in front of the family’s home, a chalet in a small French town. Daniel calls for his mother, Sandra (Sandra Hüller), who frantically calls an ambulance.
Sandra is pretty sure Samuel fell from the attic he was renovating some three stories off the ground. As she is telling this theory to defense attorney Vincent Renzi (Swann Arlaud), clearly this story is not one the authorities are buying. Vincent suggests they pursue the idea that Samuel jumped to his death — the most believable possible alternative to the police and prosecuting attorney’s theory that Sandra pushed him. As Sandra stands trial, the story quickly becomes the anatomy of a marriage, with both sides pointing to “evidence” that feels subjective at best. The prosecutor’s expert says a blood splatter could only have been caused by Samuel being struck in the head before he fell; the defense’s expert says the splatter is clearly the result of Samuel having hit a small shed after he jumped. A recording that features Samuel and Sandra fighting about the state of their lives is either evidence of successful author Sandra’s controlling nature (they even speak English at home because Sandra, a native German, is still not super comfortable in French) and general dishonesty (she’s had affairs and blames Samuel for the accident that caused Daniel’s vision impairment) or it’s evidence of Samuel’s professional disappointment and inability to finish anything he starts. Even Daniel is dragged onto the stand, to talk about the day Samuel died and the general state of his parents’ marriage. The prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz) goes at him pretty hard despite his young age, getting him to weigh in about the likelihood that his father would try to end his life or that his mother would try to kill him.
Jack McCoy would never.
Admittedly, most of what I know about sensationalistic American trials comes from TV, largely from Law and Order, so who knows if the “Real Housewives reunion” vibe of the French criminal court pictured here has any connection to reality. Though we spend much of the movie’s runtime in court, I don’t think the legal case is the point so much as the perspectives on a relationship that even the two people in the relationship never truly get a full picture of. Samuel paints himself as a selfless martyr but also acts a bit like a sullen jerk. Sandra blames Samuel for a lot of his own misfortune but she doesn’t exactly seem like a fountain of empathy for her spouse. The movie does a good job of showing how, even in cases where people are being completely honest (and we get the sense that these two are never completely honest, not with each other or themselves), they can tell two completely different stories about what’s happening between them with both stories being basically true. Hüller gives a good performance as a woman who is sort of sliding down a muddy slope of trying to prove something as unquantifiable as her intentions while also trying not to lose her confused, devastated child. Even if there are moments when you feel like some of the movie’s nuance is being lost in language and cultural translation, the commentary on the complex nature of a marriage comes through clearly. B+
Rated R for some language, sexual references and violent images, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Justine Triet and written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall, which won Golden Globes for Best Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film, is two hours and 32 minutes long and distributed by Neon. It is available for rent or purchase.
Saltburn (R)
A poor boy at Oxford befriends the son of a wealthy family with a giant estate in Saltburn, a comedy.
Like, a trashy, pitch black comedy full of purposeful shocks and pushing the limits of an R rating but still, this bawdy, violent song bellowed through the halls of Downton Abbey definitely feels like a comedy.
Dickensianly named Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) must give off the pheromones of “poor” because the kids at Oxford seem to instantly know to shun and make fun of him, especially Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), who we later learn is himself poor but a different kind of poor. Farleigh’s mother is the sister of the very wealthy Sir James Catton (Richard E. Grant), who pays for Farleigh’s education. So Farleigh is money-adjacent — all of which we learn from golden boy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), James’ son and Farleigh’s cousin. Felix and Farleigh are studying at Oxford together — well, studying and partying. Oliver, with his sad clothes and his general slouchiness, is very much on the outside looking in at all of this but then, due to a busted bicycle tire, Oliver befriends Felix. Felix sort of takes him under his wing, and brings him along into the popular crowd. We learn that Felix has a tendency to do this sort of thing, eventually dropping the kid for a new person to serve as adoring audience. Before that happens with Oliver, though, Oliver turns to Felix to tearfully recount the news he has received about the death of his father, who, like Oliver’s mother, has long struggled with drugs. Felix feels sorry for Oliver and the poor, poor, poverty-filled impoverished background Oliver has mournfully told him all about. Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer in Saltburn, the family’s large estate in the country.
There Oliver quickly becomes enmeshed in the Catton family, which also includes Felix’s mother Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), Felix’s bundle-of-neuroses sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and Elspeth’s visiting friend Pamela (Carey Mulligan) — whose presence suggests that Elspeth also likes to collect poor poor friends. The family, who are the personification of that The Great Gatsby quote that was all over the internet in late 2020 and early 2021 about people who retreated into “their money or their vast carelessness,” seems to more or less take a shine to Oliver. Farleigh, who is also at Saltburn for the summer, and the butler Duncan (Paul Rhys) are actively hostile to Oliver. Dressing for dinner and lounging louchely by the pool and just generally cosplaying Evelyn Waugh, the group gets along mostly until Felix makes a, gasp, shocking discovery.
Well, gasp shocking if you’ve never seen a soap opera before or weren’t really paying attention to the first half of this movie.
The bits of not-great reviews I heard about Saltburn had me dragging my feet to watch it until I heard Joe Reid on his This Had Oscar Buzz podcast paint it as, like, think of it as a Cruel Intentions type movie. So maybe I went in perfectly primed to not expect much and ready to enjoy some oversexed trashiness. My suggestion would be to approach this movie that way and you won’t be disappointed — grossed out maybe but not disappointed because this movie really leans into its trashiness. Saltburn is vaguely Brideshead Revisited-ish, says me, a person who doesn’t really remember Brideshead Revisited (and the movie knows the stuff it’s playing with, based on an in-film reference to Waugh and also the song “Common People”), in its outward trappings. But its heart is pure soap opera camp and mean humor.
And to this it adds solid performances. Pike and Grant are excellent at giving us the askew version of the empty-headed rich; they are so at an angle that I feel like their presence alone gives away the game if you think the movie is handing you a straightforward English manor drama. Keoghan is also doing perfectly calibrated work — serving up a never-not-(meanly)-funny blend of sad puppy and psychopath.
Saltburn might appear to be an exquisitely plated beef Wellington but is a good time if you enjoy it for the cheese-filled hot dog it really is. B
Rated R for so, so many things, like really, this is a capital R rated R movie but specifically, according to the MPA on filmratings.com, with my notes: for strong sexual content (also, weird sexual content), graphic (but hilarious?) nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content (also puking) and drug use. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who probably had a great time with this whole thing, Saltburn is two hours and 11 minutes long and is distributed by Amazon Studios. It is streaming on Prime Video.
Society of the Snow (R)
A flight carrying 45 people, including a Uruguayan rugby team, crashes in the Andes in 1972, with a dwindling number of people surviving for months, in Society of the Snow, which is, yes, based on the same true story as the 1993 movie Alive.
The one fact about this historical event that you probably know, even if you didn’t know “Uruguay” or “rugby” or “1972,” is that eventually the survivors had to eat the bodies of their deceased friends and teammates in order to stay alive in the snowy but otherwise barren environment (so, plenty of water but nothing else). Actually, “eventually” happens pretty quickly, at least as portrayed here, where after maybe a week or so of no food (there was a small amount of snacks from the plane) many of the survivors made the calculation that this would be the only way they’d live until a rescue. Not all of the survivors, mostly rugby teammates and a few people who traveled with them hoping to get a cheap vacation in Santiago, Chile, agree with the plan to use the, ahem, available protein to keep up their strength. But eventually, on a radio they’re able to get working, they hear that the search for the missing plane has been called off due to weather. With the prospect of no immediate rescue, it seems pretty much everybody makes the choice to survive.
Survival, not cannibalism, is the focus of this movie, which doesn’t sensationalize the fact but puts it in the context of what is happening with the group and the struggle each person goes through to get over the taboo. One thing that seems to make a difference is when everybody offers their friends to “use” them if they die. And quite a few do die after the initial crash — from injuries suffered during the crash, from infections following injuries, from an avalanche. How they keep themselves and each other going in the face of these losses and relatively slim odds that they’ll make it back home is the story that keeps the movie going.
The movie does a good job of making this group of mostly men feel like real people stuck in a horrible situation. Some heroes go the extra mile, some people nearly break from the direness of what’s happening — sometimes these are the same people at different times. The movie gives a fairly engrossing and realistic portrait of young men (mostly) who have to figure out how to save themselves. B
Rated R for violent/disturbing material and brief graphic nudity, according to the MPA on filmratings. Com. Directed by J.A. Bayona with a screenplay by J.A. Bayona and Bernat Vilaplana & Jaime Marques-Olarreaga & Nicolás Casariego, Society of the Snow is two hours and 24 minutes long and streaming on Netflix.
Farmers market vendor opens shop selling meals and baked goods
While opening her own bakery wasn’t her original career plan, the universe had other ideas for Chelsea Annett, the owner of Table, a Concord bakery offering cookies, cakes, soups, chicken pot pie and more freshly made items made from locally grown ingredients.
“This business really chose me versus me choosing it,” she said. “It just felt like something [that] had to be pursued and brought to fruition.”
Annett’s journey with baking started as she learned more about the local food system and seasonal ingredients from farmers at farmers markets.
“I started developing relationships with the farmers there and being curious about the things that people were growing and making, and having conversations about how to use them in food and really just becoming curious on my own about what I could make with those things,” she said. “I think that [seasonal ingredients] are the most fresh, they have the most flavor, [and] I think that supporting our local farmers is critical to environmental protection and … the future of food.”
A natural caretaker and a self-taught baker and cook, Annett enjoyed cooking for her loved ones as a way to care for others and make them feel good. After experiencing burnout and going through major life changes, she left her 14-year career in special education to focus on bringing her passion for baking from her own table to those of others.
“It never really felt like it could fully take off as a career because I don’t have professional training, I didn’t go to culinary school, I taught myself how to do everything,” she said. “There was probably a little bit of imposter syndrome that I was dealing with thinking that I wasn’t good enough to make it into a career.”
She began in 2019 by selling products wholesale and at the Canterbury and then Concord farmers markets. For the past few years Annett would travel to a commercial kitchen in Derry to do her baking, as Concord’s homestead food licensing rules prevented her from selling food made in her own kitchen. After looking for her own space, she found her current location in Concord, which she started working out of in June and opened for retail in November, and where her client base continues to support her.
“I’m extremely grateful I have beautiful, loyal customers that have sort of been with me from the beginning,” Annett said. “They’ve been waiting and waiting for me to have a place … and they are great about telling their friends and bringing people in. I think I’m lucky that the product tends to speak for itself.”
Table Where: 55 N. Main St., Suite B, Concord Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. More info: tablenh.com
