Upcoming Events
2024 marks Left Bank Books 20th year! In celebration, we have a terrific line-up author talks and signings. If you'd like to get advance notice of those events, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter.
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Wednesday, November 20 at 6pm
FREE EVENT
Stephen Hornsby at Left Bank Books
Stephen Hornsby, Professor of Geography and Canadian Studies and former director of the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine, has just published Cod Coasts: Cultural Landscapes of the Cod Fishery from Cape Cod to Labrador, a book that draws on Stephen’s decades of research on the cod fishery and cultural landscapes of the maritime northeast.
Stunningly illustrated with a mix of newly commissioned and historic photographs, illustrations, and maps, Stephen has aimed Cod Coasts at the general reader interested in the cultural heritage of New England and the Canadian Atlantic Provinces. His book highlights a range of historic sites, including Marblehead, Gloucester, and Castine in New England, and Louisbourg, Lunenburg, Bonavista, and Battle Harbor in Atlantic Canada.
Stephen defines cultural landscape as “the human-created landscape of names, settlements, buildings, and architecture. . . .Taken together, the historic sites and landscapes discussed in Cod Coasts are an extraordinary survival, representing the earliest sustained European presence on the coasts of continental North America.”
Recently at LBB
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Elizabeth Strout and Lily King
Almost 300 people filled The First Church in Belfast to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Elizabeth Strout discuss her latest book Tell Me Everything, in which she brings together three of her greatest characters: Bob Burgess, Lucy Barton, and Olive Kitteridge.
Fans learned that Olive came to Liz “fully formed” while she was unloading the dishwasher, and that she never starts a book at the beginning—instead, she writes, in longhand, “scene by scene with no idea where I’m going. If a scene has a heartbeat, it stays. If not, it ends up on the floor.”
In speaking about how much she loves Bob Burgess, the character we first met in The Burgess Boys (2013), Liz read the opening paragraph from Tell Me Everything:
“This is the story of Bob Burgess, a tall, heavyset man who lives in the town of Crosby, Maine. . . [who] has a big heart, but he does not know that about himself; like many of us, he does not know himself as well as he assumes to, and he would never believe he had anything worthy in his life to document. But he does; we all do.”
After a standing ovation, more than one-hundred people stood in line for Liz’s signature and to have their pictures taken with her. It was a stellar night, filled with laughter, admiration, and all things literary.
Recently at LBB
Monday, September 30, 2024
Martin Walker
An almost-full house was enthralled as Martin shared stories about the Perigord region in France where he and his wife, Julia, live and where he has set his wildly popular Bruno mystery series.
“The Perigord,” Martin said, “never fails to inspire me.” He spoke at length about thow the world-famous Lascaux caves, discovered in 1940, are especially moving for him. “The caves show us that the Perigord is home to ancient archaeological vestiges that extend back nearly 350,000 years.” Martin also spoke about how the caves show us their original inhabitants were “so sophisticated” and “share so many connections with us.”
Of course, he couldn’t talk about his beloved Perigord without telling us tempting stories about the delicious foods the region is known for. He loves crafting the food scenes but gives full credit for those to Julia, an award-winning internationally known food writer.
From caves to caviar, Bruno’s love life to Martin’s love of history, gardening and cooking, and above all, friends and laughter, the evening was an overwhelming delight.
Signed copies of A Grave in the Woods, the latest Bruno mystery, are available at the bookshop. (And we’re happy to ship!)
Recently at LBB
Friday, Sept. 27, 2024
Ieva Jusionyte
Ieva, who taught us how to pronounce her Lithuanian name (“i ee vah), captivated her audience with stories about the dangers, challenges, and logistical problems she faced while researching and writing her book Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border.
Through her volunteer work at a migrant aid clinic in Nogales, Mexico almost ten years ago, Ieva became interested in the “iron river” southbound flow of guns that are bought in the U.S. and smuggled into Mexico where they land in the hands of drug cartels. She told us there are approximately 10,000 gun shops spread across the southern borders of Texas and Arizona, and exactly two gun shops in all of Mexico. “These guns, sold here in the United States,” Ieva said, “are the material tools of criminal violence that so many people are fleeing from. We wouldn’t be seeing so many migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S. southern border if it weren’t for the weapons that are going south.”
A fascinating and eye-opening evening!
Recently at LBB
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Shannon Bowring
A warm and enthusiastic crowd gathered to celebrate Where the Forest Meets the River, the just-released sequel to Shannon’s debut novel The Road to Dalton. Shannon explained she was inspired to write her three-book series—”The third one is finished and under contract”—when the character of Nate came to her out of the blue almost ten years ago. From there, she began writing a series of linked short stories about people who live in a small town in Aroostook County, Maine.
Where the Forest Meets the River has just been named one of Oprah’s “Best 28 Books of Fall,” placing Shannon in the company of Louise Erdrich, Rachel Kushner, Sally Rooney, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, among other acclaimed writers. Oprah magazine writes: “How each person moves on—or doesn’t—makes for a slow, winsome, intimate story that makes you think of Richard Russo or early Elizabeth Strout.”
We love both of Shannon’s books—they’re two of our favorites to hand sell to passionate readers. And we can’t wait to welcome Shannon back next year to celebrate the third novel in her rapidly growing-in-popularity series about the people of Dalton, Maine.
Recently at LBB
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Tom Ricks & Tess Gerritsen
The “Tom and Tess” show entertained, informed, and delighted an enthusiastic audience for an hour as the two New York Times bestselling authors discussed murder and mystery on the Maine coast. Along the way, they shared insights into their writing processes (“Which comes first? The idea or the character?”) and the critical importance of “emotional believability” in fiction.
Tom is the internationally bestselling author of eight nonfiction books that focus primarily on the U.S. military (Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq) and history (he’s the military history columnist for The New York Times Book Review). This event was to celebrate the recent release of his first mystery novel, Everyone Knows But You: A Tale of Murder on the Maine Coast.
Joining Tom in conversation was Tess Gerritsen, also a New York Times bestselling writer whose books have been translated into more than forty languages and sold more than forty million copies. Last year, she published The Spy Coast, the first in a new espionage series set in midcoast Maine.
Both writers have sequels in the works—The Summer Guests by Tess will be released in March, 2025; Tom has now completed the next three books in his new series that features an FBI agent working in northern Maine.
Recently at LBB
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Ronald C. White
A large crowd greeted New York Times bestselling historian and biographer Ron White to learn how he came to write the acclaimed biography, On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Ron, who has also written biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, explained how he wanted to write a “cradle-to-grave” biography of Chamberlain instead of “simply” focusing on the general’s accomplishments at Gettysburg.
On Great Fields has been widely hailed as the definitive biography of Chamberlain, Maine’s own history-altering Civil War hero. But as Ron explained, Chamberlain was also a stuttering young boy who came to be fluent in nine languages and a trained minister who found his way to the battlefield. From his youth in rural Maine to his tenacious, empathetic military leadership, presidency of Bowdoin College, and governorship of Maine, Ron eloquently traced the narrative arc of Chamberlain’s life.
Chamberlain is familiar to millions from Michael Shaara’s now-classic novel of the Civil War, The Killer Angels, and Ken Burns’s timeless miniseries “The Civil War,” but in this book, Ron captures the complex and inspiring man behind the hero. Following his talk, Ron took questions that further illuminated the work of a biographer and the incredibly rich life of Joshua Chamberlain.
Recently at LBB
Thursday, August 8, 2024
Ann Hood
What grand and glorious fun to spend an hour with Ann, a multi-talented writer, gifted speaker, funny, and smart-about-all-things literary woman. Ann’s warmth and genuine interest in her audience gave everyone in attendance a memorable evening.
Ann is a prolific writer whose work crosses multiple genres. She’s written sixteen novels, four memoirs, multiple novels for children and young adults, and has edited some ten anthologies. This event was to celebrate the recent release of her newest novel The Stolen Child, which artfully braids elements of historical fiction and mystery with travel and romance.
The novel takes place in several different places, including Paris, small-town France, Rome, Tuscany, and Naples. Ann captivated the audience when she read from her book about the origin of the Museum of Tears, the life’s work of a lonely Italian craftsman.
Tears—both happy and sad—were on hand throughout the evening as Ann talked about her high school guidance counselor (“No one can make a living as a writer”) and the sudden death, in 2002, of her five-year-old daughter. Throughout, a love of writing, telling stories, and sharing good and not-so-good times permeated this very special evening.
Recently at LBB
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Bill Roorbach
When an author starts his talk by handing cute stuffed monkeys to several members of the audience and then tossing teeny tiny rainbow-colored plastic monkeys to the crowd, you know you’re in for a fun event. When that author is Bill Roorbach, the fun quickly ratchets up to a hilarious level. But then, we were gathered at the bookshop to celebrate the release of Bill’s latest novel, Beep, which is told in first-person monkey, so fun was inevitable.
In Beep, Bill’s signature lyricism and sweeping lighthearted prose shines. The novel “stars” a Costa Rican monkey named Beep who, at “three rainy seasons” old, meets an eleven-year-old girl named Inga. Oh, the adventures Beep and Inga share. Readers are in for a rollicking, hilarious, thought-provoking, and sobering ride—Beep and Inga capture the hearts of everyone who is lucky enough to read this memorable novel.
Kate Christensen writes of Beep: “Wildly beautiful, funny, moving, entrancing, and hopeful. . . .A triumph of storytelling.” We couldn’t agree more. We love Beep, the novel, and Beep the monkey. And we love Bill, too! Come back anytime, oh wise one
Recently at LBB
Friday, July 26, 2024
Courtney Sullivan & Ann Packer
A standing room only audience packed our bookshop to hear two internationally acclaimed writers J. Courtney Sullivan and Ann Packer. The event celebrated the release of Courtney’s latest novel, The Cliffs, a beautifully written story about family, secrets, ghosts, and homecoming, which is set in Maine.
Ann’s thoughtful and insightful questions about Courtney’s writing process in general and her work on The Cliffs in particular, led Courtney to share several wonderfully funny and enlightening stories. We learned about her experience researching mediums at Camp Etna here in Maine; her inspiration for writing The Cliffs; and how her former work as a researcher for The New York Times helps provide depth and accuracy to her novels.
Reese’s Book Club chose The Cliffs for its July pick, and the novel was named by The New York Times as a “Best Book of the Month.”
Courtney’s earlier work, which has been translated into seventeen languages, includes the novels Commencement, Maine, Engagements, Saints for All Occasions, and Friends and Strangers, which was a Read with Jenna pick and included on countless national “Best Book” lists.
Recently at LBB
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Sam Sifton & A.O. (Tony) Scott
Sam and Tony, two long-time colleagues at The New York Times, held a conversation that informed, entertained, and captivated the 150 audience members lucky enough to be in attendance. By evening’s end, fans were asking the two critics to “please return” for an encore.
Their wide-ranging conversation covered topics as diverse as the role of critics in the media, writing on deadline, how they came to write for the Times, differences between cooking professionally and cooking for family and friends, their shared love affair with the state of Maine, and a hilarious discourse on zucchinis and “quotidian carrots.”
Sam is the assistant managing editor of The New York Times, responsible for culture and lifestyle coverage, and the founding editor of New York Times Cooking. For two years he was the paper’s restaurant critic and shared some behind-the-scenes stories about that experience. Sam has also written three cookbooks: See You on Sunday: A Cookbook for Family and Friends, The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes, and Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well.
Tony was the long-time (2000-2023) film critic for The New York Times before joining the Book review where he now writes essays that explore the intersection of culture, history, technology, and myth. In 2010 Tony was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. He is the author of Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth.
Recently at LBB
Friday, July 12, 2024
Chris Van Dusen
Smiles, laughter, and enchanting conversations reigned at the bookshop for two hours while the wildly popular children’s author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen welcomed his young fans—this was an event for the pre-K to eight-year-olds! Chris’s books are perennial best-sellers at our shop and include the “If I Built” series, the “Mr. Magee” series, and the stand-alone classics Circus Ship and Little Truck Big Island, among others.
Chris cites Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey as his heroes and says he loved the rhythm of Dr. Seuss’ words and was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. When asked why he illustrates his books in the style of the 1950s and 60s, with bold and bright colors and shapes, he says that’s “the stuff I grew up with and I love the way things looked then.”
And maybe a little-known fact about Chris? He’s the designer-illustrator of the iconic Maine lobster license plate!
Recently at LBB
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Laura McNeal & Lily King
Two long-time friends, who also happen to be world-class authors, joined us to celebrate the release of Laura’s stunning new novel, The Swan’s Nest, her fictionalized account of the literary love of poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.
Guided by Lily’s probing and insightful questions, Laura shared interesting stories about the seven years she researched the lives of the Brownings, including her travels from the British Museum to Florence to Wellesley College and beyond. Her story about being able to hold a childhood glove that belonged to Browning and a pair of Barrett’s slippers was especially moving.
In response to a question from the audience, she explained the story behind her book’s title, which comes from Elizabeth’s poem “The Romance of the Swan’s Nest.” In doing so, she further illuminated the extremely deep love affair between Barrett and Browning.
We have signed copies of the gorgeously written, luscious novel available at the bookshop.
Recently at LBB
Tuesday July 9, 2024
Anna Monardo
The lucky audience members who came to Anna’s talk about her new memoir, After Italy, were treated to an intimate and moving evening. After Italy is a page-turner in which Anna has written about her southern Italian family.
Anna read several excerpts from her memoir, including sections on her grandparents’ and parents’ arranged marriages, life in a small Italian village in the 1930s and ‘40s, her family’s immigration experiences as they made their way to Pittsburgh, and Anna’s own life as a first-generation American, all of which captivated the audience.
Anna’s love affair with the state of Maine, and a highly personal “small world” story she shared—a story that took place here in a small coastal village—brought many in the audience to tears.
We have a few signed copies of After Italy still available at the shop.
Recently at LBB
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Paul Doiron
A fabulous time was had by all who stopped by the shop for a “Meet and Greet” with Paul Doiron on Tuesday, June 25, which was also the launch day for his latest novel, Pitch Dark. Roughly seventy-five people chatted with Paul over the course of two hours, many of whom shared how eagerly they await each annual installment in the mystery series featuring Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch. Pitch Dark is the fifteenth book in the series that is set in Maine.
We have signed copies of Pitch Dark, as well as a limited number of signed copies of Paul’s earlier books. Let us know if we can set any aside for you. We’re also happy to mail them to you!
Recently at LBB
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Morgan Talty with Gregory Brown
Approximately eighty people enjoyed a far-reaching conversation between Morgan and Greg on Thursday evening, June 13, at the historic First Church of Belfast. They touched on topics as diverse as fatherhood, father-son relationships, story inspiration, the excruciating process of writing “one bad draft after another,” and finding the right title for a book.
The event was held to celebrate the recent release of Morgan’s debut novel Fire Exit, following the publication of his first collection of short stories, Night of the Living Rez. Tommy Orange calls Fire Exit “utterly consuming” and possessing “Talty’s subtle charm and crystalline prose.” It is a masterful and unforgettable story of family, legacy, bloodlines, culture, and inheritance.
We have signed copies of both of Morgan’s books at the bookshop.
Recently at LBB
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Margot Anne Kelley
On June 6, an enthusiastic audience of gardeners, seed-savers, historians, and writers gathered—despite a hellacious thunderstorm, complete with lightning—to hear Margot Anne Kelley talk about her latest book, A Gardener At the End of the World. In this beautifully written book, seeds and viruses serve as the narrative arcs for a wide-ranging series of reflections about what we can preserve of history, culture, biodiversity, language, and what we can’t. Questions from the audience prompted Margot to discuss how she conducted research for her book, why some varieties of fruits and vegetables are in danger of becoming extinct, and the effects climate change is having, and will continue to have, on gardening at all levels.
Recently at LBB
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Monica Wood
From her opening remark—”Please excuse the way I look. I’m having a bad hair day”—Monica enchanted and delighted a rapt and enthusiastic audience.
Monica’s talk and book signing was part of a whirlwind series of weeklong events to celebrate her long-awaited new novel, How to Read a Book (published May 7), which has received widespread glowing reviews. The New York Times wrote “This novel is a reminder that goodness, and books, can still win in this world,” and People magazine, which chose it as one of the “Best Books to Read in May,” called How to Read ”An utter gem; funny, sweet and moving.”
We couldn’t agree more and predict that How to Read a Book will be one of our shop’s best sellers this year. The story of how three disparate and lonely people form an unlikely friendship inspires laughter, tears, and love. This is a book to read more than once, and to give as a gift again and again. It’s that good.
Recently at LBB
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Heather Cox Richardson
Applause rang throughout the First Church of Belfast when internationally acclaimed historian, educator, and author Heather Cox Richardson entered the room. For the next hour and 15 minutes, she informed, educated, enlightened, and captivated the minds and hearts of the 250 lucky audience members. (The free event reached capacity enrollment three hours after it was announced.)
In addition to her wildly popular books—Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America and How the South Won the Civil War, among others—Heather writes a daily Substack newsletter, Letters from an American, that has some one-and-a-half million subscribers.
Through her self-deprecating humor, vast knowledge base, and passion for the lessons history teaches us, Heather explained why, despite the current political climate, she has hope for the future. At the end of an extensive question-and-answer period, this brilliant, warm, and funny woman was given a prolonged standing ovation. Brava, Heather. Brava!
Wall of Fame
We are deeply grateful to the hundreds of authors — of local, national and international acclaim — who have taken time to visit our bookshop, meet our faithful customers, speak about their work, and sign their books.
Thank you!
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