Readers around the Upper Valley have long relied on the booksellers of the Norwich Bookstore for personal recommendations. Here are some of their latest favorites! The Norwich Bookstore’s staff is constantly reading and recommending new books, which means this list changes all the time: you can visit norwichbookstore.com for the latest picks (or visit the store for a personalized recommendation).

 

Carin recommends Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

 

 

www.norwichbookstore.com/book/9781982144401

“I've been a sucker for a good logging saga since Sometimes a Great Notion, and with Damnation Spring, I feel I've hit the jackpot! This impressive first novel is set in Northern California, home of the majestic redwoods. It’s a stirring saga, an environmental mystery, a knowledgeable depiction of a working-class community, and the story of a marriage, all in 400+ pages! So well written. And, as one reviewer put it, the descriptions of actual logging work are so precise “you can smell the sawdust.”

 

Beth recommends Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner 

 

www.norwichbookstore.com/book/9780525657743

“It always amazes me when the tiniest glimpse into a person's life starts to feel like a door opening up to show all that lies beyond. To step through shows us a life, a family, a country, a culture—different than ours but similar in the ways that matter most. One of those universalities is dealing with loss and how we handle a parent's absence. Reading this beautifully written memoir also begs the questions: walking into the land of grief, what will we take with us, what will we be carrying when we return?”

 

Emma C. recommends Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan

 

www.norwichbookstore.com/book/9780771018916

“My favorite kind of book—utterly hilarious then surprisingly moving. Mayflies is about the friendship of two Scottish men during different points in their lives. They're rough and tumble kids, passionate and thrill-seeking young men, then in their 50s confronting mortality. After I finished the book, I realized I missed the characters—it was that good."

 

Emma N. recommends Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

 

www.norwichbookstore.com/book/9780374159122

“The premise of Four Thousand Weeks is this: your time on Earth is finite and you will never get everything done. Doesn't that take the pressure off—just a bit? None of us is going to get it all done. The time we have, and the way we choose to use it, is meaningful because it’s finite. And, Burkeman argues, once we come to terms with this we’ll not only be better at prioritizing what we find meaningful, but we’ll also have a greater appreciation for the sheer fact of our existence. If you are feeling overwhelmed or stretched thin, I don’t mean to add another task to your list, but I think you'll find reading Four Thousand Weeks worth the time spent.”

 

Sam recommends The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown

 

www.norwichbookstore.com/book/9781250200846

“In this fascinating and very readable history, Nancy Marie Brown traces the story of one Viking Warrior, the mysterious occupant of a grave in Birka, Sweden, to explore new revelations about Viking history. Nineteenth and twentieth-century historians assumed that all Viking warriors were men, but new science has proven them wrong and added a new dimension to our understanding of the Viking age. Here, Brown adeptly weaves this science and archeological record with myth and legend to present a fully realized portrait of the ancient north.”