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Store Hours
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Mon - Wed 9:30 - 6:00
Thursday 9:30 - 9:00
Friday 9:30 - 6:00
Sat 9:30 - 5:00
Sun Noon - 5:00
Open 24/7 online at:
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Greetings! What book are you reading now? We'd love to hear which book is keeping you up reading past your bedtime, and what you plan to pack if you're heading out of town this Memorial Day weekend - share your current reads with us face-to-face in the store, or post on our Facebook page. A reminder about some upcoming events at the Bookshop: - Thursday, May 23 - local author John Hanson Mitchell reads from, takes questions, and signs An Eden of Sorts: The Natural History of My Feral Garden
- Thursday, May 30 - Daphne Kalotay, award-winning author of Russian Winter, returns to the Bookshop with her new novel, Sight Reading
- Sunday, June 2 - an afternoon with novelists Meg Donohue (All the Summer Girls) and Nichole Bernier (The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.) Both novels are in paperback - bring your book group!
A full list of scheduled events is on the sidebar of this newsletter. Remember, if you're unable to attend an event, but would like a signed/inscribed copy of the featured book, we'll be happy to arrange that for you - just call us (978-369-2405), or send an email to books@concordBookshop.com.
And, around town, on Thursday, June 6 at 7pm at the Concord Museum, award-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick speaks about his new book, Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution. The lecture and book signing are free, with advance registration required; space is limited. For more information, visit the Concord Museum website. We have Bunker Hill in stock now, if you'd like to pick up a copy before the event.
This week's newsletter features three wonderful non-fiction books - Tom Reiss's biography of General Alex Dumas, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, now in paperback; a look at 600 years of British history, told through the stories of those who've traveled through the George Inn, a pub in London; and the best of Red Smith's sportswriting.
Take a peek in the community window to learn more about Gaining Ground and the important work their doing in our community.
We look forward to chatting with you in the Bookshop -- when you come in to take a closer look at an item mentioned here, please tell us "I saw it in the newsletter."
Comments are always welcome via email to
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Our next event: Local-area Audubon editor pens new non-fiction
Thursday, May 23 7pm
Join us this Thursday evening at 7pm, when local-area author John Hanson Mitchell, editor of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's award-winning magazine, Sanctuary, discusses and signs An Eden of Sorts: The Natural History of My Feral Garden.
An Eden of Sorts tells the story of how a parcel of land was transformed from a barren tract with few species of plants and no nesting birds into a site with thousands of different plants and animals. Contrary to expectations of conventional wisdom, Mitchell greatly increased the biodiversity of the land, and created a haven which can serve as a model for private wildlife sanctuaries.
Suzan Osborn, who painted the beautiful illustrations found in the book, will be in attendance, with many of her original works on display.
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Upcoming event: author of Russian Winter returns with new novel
Thursday, May 30 at 7pm
Join us at the Bookshop on Thursday, May 30 at 7pm when we welcome the award-winning author of Russian Winter, Daphne Kalotay, with her new novel, Sight Reading.
It has been twenty years since Remy, a conservatory student whose ambition may outstrip her talent; Nicholas, a wunderkind suddenly struggling with a masterwork he cannot fully realize; and his wife, beautiful and fragile Hazel, first came together and tipped their collective world on its axis.
Over the decades, each has buried disappointments and betrayals that now threaten to undermine their happiness. But as their entwined stories unfold, each will discover the surprising ways in which the quest to create something real and true - be it a work of art or one's own life - can lead to the most personal of revelations, including the unearthing of secrets we keep, even from ourselves.
Lyrical and evocative, Sight Reading is ultimately an exploration of what makes a family, of the importance of art in daily life, and of the role of intuition in both the creative process and the evolution of the self.
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Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography - now in paperback
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
General Alex Dumas, is a man almost unknown today, yet his story is strikingly familiar - because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used his larger-than-life feats as inspiration for such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.
But, hidden behind General Dumas's swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: he was the son of a black slave - who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas made his way to Paris, where he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution - until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat. The Black Count won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography; Tom Reiss is also the author of the international bestseller The Orientalist.
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A history of Britain told through the story of one very special pub
Shakespeare's Pub: A Barstool History of London As Seen Through the Windows of Its Oldest Pub - The George Inn
by Pete Brown
Welcome to the George Inn near London Bridge; a cosy, wood-panelled, galleried coaching house a few minutes' walk from the Thames. Grab yourself a pint, listen to the chatter of the locals and lean back, resting your head against the wall. And then consider this: who else has rested their head against that wall, over the last six hundred years?
Chaucer and his fellow pilgrims almost certainly drank in the George on their way out of London to Canterbury. It's fair to say that Shakespeare popped in from the nearby Globe for a pint, and we know that Dickens certainly did. Mail carriers changed their horses here, before heading to all four corners of Britain - while sailors drank here before visiting all four corners of the world.
The pub, as Pete Brown points out, is the 'primordial cell of British life' and in the George he has found the perfect example. All life is here, from murderers, highwaymen, and ladies of the night to gossiping peddlers and hard-working clerks. This is a very entertaining tour through six centuries of history, told through the stories of everyone that ever drank in this one pub.
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Best of Red Smith's sportswriting
American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith
edited by Daniel Okrent
Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was the most widely read sportswriter of the last century and the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. From the 1940s to the 1980s, his nationally syndicated columns for the New York Herald Tribune and later for The New York Times traversed the world of sports with literary panache and wry humor.
Now, writer and editor Daniel Okrent presents the best of Smith's inimitable columns-miniature masterpieces that remain the gold standard in sportswriting. Here are Smith's indelible profiles of sports luminaries, which show his gift for distilling a career's essence in a single column. Unforgettable accounts of historic occasions are joined by more offbeat stories that display Smith's unmistakable wit, intelligence, and breadth of feeling. Here, too, are more personal glimpses into Smith's life and work, revealed in stories about his lifelong passion for fishing and in "My Press-Box Memoirs," a 1975 reminiscence for Esquire collected here for the first time. Daniel Okrent is the author of several books, including the baseball classic 9 Innings and, most recently, Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, which served as a major source for the 2011 Ken Burns/Lynn Novick miniseries Prohibition.
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In our window
Gaining Ground: Growing Food, Growing Community
Gaining Ground grows organic produce for hunger relief with help from volunteers of all ages and abilities, who work and learn in our garden.
In short, we grow food and we give it away to people who need it. For free.
This refreshingly simple approach lets us focus on meeting the needs of our volunteers and the people we help feed. These two aspects of our work are closely intertwined - one wouldn't work without the other.
We work hard to grow high-quality produce, serve the needs of our recipients, provide an exceptional experience to each volunteer, and maximize the generous support of our donors.
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