Phoenix only opened its doors a couple of years ago, and already we've hosted a string of authors and artists to be proud of!

July 24th - Gigi & Joni (Summer Concert Series)

 "Gigi and Joni" sing and play Joni's original songs and traditional songs for children and families.  Their music is playful and poetic, concerning themes of friendship, community, and the environment.

July 21st -  Green Mountain Swing (Summer Concert Series)

Green Mountain Swing is a 17-piece big band based in central Vermont.  They play tunes made famous in the swing era of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and many others--hits of the thirties, forties, and fifties.  They also draw from more recent decades.    Bring your picnic basket and blanket or beach chairs and have a blast.  This took place in the old Paper Factory space near Phoenix Books.

Wednesday, July 14th at 7:00 pm at the Gazebo
Jacob & Rachel (Summer Concert Series)

Jacob Oblak is a local musician/song-writer and owner of Oblak Ministries which specializes in wedding, church, and choral music arrangements. He also fronts and plays keys for his band in Addison, VT. His wife, Rachel Oblak, who will be performing with him, is a bookseller at Phoenix Books and Café. She plays electric/acoustic violin for the band in addition to writing and singing from time to time. While their repertoire consists of a variety of styles, they presented a program of light, inspirational music for the Essex Community featuring a few of their own compositions as well as a mix of light pop and Contemporary Christian hits.

This concert was held on the gazebo here at the Essex Shoppes & Cinema.

July 10th - Howard Norman

Howard Norman, widely regarded as one of this country's finest novelists, visited Phoenix to read from his newest novel, What is Left the Daughter. Read an excerpt here!

What is Left the Daughter is an IndieNext pick!  Carla Jimenez of Inkwood Books in Tampa, FL says, "In a letter to his daughter on her 21st birthday, Wyatt Hillyer tells his intense life story, along with that of his parents, in elegant prose belying astonishing events. After his parents' almost simultaneous suicides as the result of a love triangle, the teenaged Wyatt falls hard for his lovely cousin Tilda, while she only has eyes for the mysterious German student Hans. In a tiny Nova Scotia village during WWII, suspicion and violence play out along with the passions of this intimate circle of rich, distinct characters you will not forget."

Howard Norman is a three-time winner of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a winner of the Lannan Award for fiction. His 1987 novel, The Northern Lights, was nominated for a National Book Award, as was his 1994 novel The Bird Artist. He is also author of the novels The Museum Guard, The Haunting of L, and Devotion. His books have been translated into twelve languages. Norman teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Vermont with his wife and daughter.

Wednesday, July 7th - Open-Mic Players (Summer Concert Series)

An eclectic concert of talented musicians, poets, and players from the best of the Open Mic Nights at Phoenix Books.  Hosted by Rachel Hamilton.  This concert was held at the gazebo at the Essex Shoppes and Cinema.

Saturday, June 12th - Meet & Greet the Candidate: Philip Baruth

Attendees enjoyed light refreshments while discussing local and national issues with this Democratic state senatorial candidate.

For the better part of the last twenty years, Philip Baruth has been an outspoken political commentator, analyst, and activist. His Vermont Public Radio commentaries have won just about every major award available, from Vermont Associated Press awards to an Edward R. Murrow prize in 2009. Over the years, he has written about the state’s most pressing problems in the Burlington Free Press, Vermont Life, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, and on his own award-winning news-and-opinion website, The Vermont Daily Briefing. One of the first in Vermont to document the Obama phenomenon in 2006, Philip helped to form Vermonters for Obama later that year, a group that would eventually become the spine of the Obama organization statewide.

Currently midway through his second term as a Burlington School Commissioner, Philip sits on the Board’s Finance Committee. A published novelist himself, Philip teaches Vermont literature and creative writing at the University of Vermont, where he has served on the Faculty Senate and is currently Associate Chair of the English Department.

June 9th - Howard Frank Mosher's "Transforming History into Fiction"

A crowd of Mosher fans joined us at the cinema for "Transforming History into Fiction: The Story of a Born Liar," a slideshow, reading, and talk by Howard Frank Mosher.  This show chronicles how Howard wrote Walking to Gatlinburg, from the surpassingly strange, never-before-told family stories that inspired the novel – including that of his notorious Great, Great, Grandpa Gleason, who met his end while attempting to murder his family – to the several research trips he took to retrace Morgan Kinneson’s epic walk south from the mountains of northern Vermont to the remote coves and hollows of the Great Smokies.

This event was a benefit for the Essex Free Library!

Walking to Gatlinburg, Howard's latest novel, is a story of survival, wilderness adventure, mystery, and love during the Civil War.

Howard Frank Mosher is the author of ten novels and a travel memoir. Born in the Catskill Mountains in 1942, Mosher has lived in Vermont’s fabled Northeast Kingdom since 1964. He has won many awards for his fiction, including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, the American Civil Liberties Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the New England Book Award. Three of his novels, Disappearances, A Stranger in the Kingdom and Where the Rivers Flow North, have been made into acclaimed feature movies by the Vermont independent filmmaker Jay Craven. Mosher and his wife of forty-four years, Phillis, have a grown son and daughter.

June 5th - Philip Ackerman-Leist

Philip Ackerman-Leist spoke about his new book, Up Tunket Road: The Education of a Modern Homesteader.

Ever since Thoreau’s Walden, the image of the American homesteader has been of someone getting away from civilization, of forging an independent life in the country. Yet if this were ever true, what is the nature and reality of homesteading in the media-saturated, hyper-connected 21st century?

Up Tunket Road is the inspiring true story of a young

couple who embraced the joys of simple living while also acknowledging its frustrations and complexities. Ackerman-Leist writes with humor about the inevitable foibles of setting up life off the grid—from hauling frozen laundry uphill to getting locked in the henhouse by their ox. But he also weaves an instructive narrative that contemplates the future of simple living. His is not a how-to guide, but something much richer and more important—a tale of discovery that will resonate with readers who yearn for a better, more meaningful life, whether they live in the city, country, or somewhere in between.

Philip Ackerman-Leist and his wife, Erin, farmed in the South Tirol region of the Alps and North Carolina before beginning their twelve-year homesteading venture in Pawlet, Vermont. Ackerman-Leist is a professor at Green Mountain College, where he established the college farm and sustainable agriculture curriculum and is Director of the Green Mountain College Farm & Food Project.

May 27th - Deborah Lee Luskin

Vermonter Deborah Lee Luskin read from her highly-praised first novel, Into The Wilderness.

"Will I ever adjust to this place?" VPR commentator Deborah Lee Luskin offers engaging answers to that question in Into the Wilderness. In 1964, Rose Mayer buries her second husband and wonders what she's going to do with the rest of her life. Reluctantly, she visits her son at his summer place in Vermont, where there are neither sidewalks, Democrats, nor other Jews. There is, however, the Marlboro Music Festival. It's there that she meets Percy Mendell, a born and bred Vermonter who has never married, never voted for a Democrat, and never left the state. Luskin tells their story with humor, wit, and compassion.

Filmmaker Jay Craven calls Into The Wilderness, an “absorbing, affectionate, and often funny slice of early 1960’s Vermont life.” Novelist Philiph Baruth says, “Rose Mayer is an honest to God miracle.” And Frank Bryan, co-author of Real Vermonters Don’t Milk Goats says, “Luskin knows Vermont. But more importantly she knows love. And she puts them together with honesty, fairness and courage.”

Deborah Lee Luskin has been writing about Vermont life, past and present, since relocating from New York City in 1984. Luskin holds a PhD in English Literature from Columbia University and has taught literature and writing to diverse learners, from Ivy League undergraduates to prison inmates. She is a Visiting Scholar for the Vermont Humanities Council, a freelance journalist, a skilled technical writer, and a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio. Into The Wilderness is her first published novel. Find out more at www.deborahleeluskin.com.

May 26th - Mark Pendergrast

Mark Pendergrast discussed his latest book, Inside the Outbreaks.

Since its founding in 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service has waged war on every imaginable ailment. When an epidemic hits, the EIS will be there to crack the case, however mysterious or deadly, saving countless lives in the process. Over the years they have successfully battled polio, cholera, and smallpox, to name a few, and in recent years have turned to the epidemics killing us now--smoking, obesity, and gun violence among them. The successful EIS model has spread internationally: former EIS officers on the staff of the Centers for Disease Control have helped to establish nearly thirty similar programs around the world. EIS veterans have gone on to become leaders in the world of public health in organizations such as the World Health Organization. Inside the Outbreaks takes readers on a riveting journey through the history of this remarkable organization, following Epidemic Intelligence Service officers on their globetrotting quest to eliminate the most lethal and widespread threats to the world's health.

Mark Pendergrast was born in 1948 and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a B.A. in English literature from Harvard, taught high school and elementary school, then went back to Simmons College for a masters in library science and worked as an academic librarian—all the while writing freelance articles for newspapers and magazines. In 1991, he began writing books full time. He lives in Colchester, Vermont.
May 20th - Josh Wilker

Cardboard Gods is the memoir of Josh Wilker, a brilliant writer who has marked the stages of his life through the baseball cards he collected as a child. It also captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game. Along the way, as we get to know Josh, his family, and his friends, we also get Josh's classic observations about the central artifacts from his life: the baseball cards themselves. Josh writes about an imagined correspondence

with his favorite player, Carl Yastrzemski; he uses the magical bubble-blowing powers of journeyman Kurt Bevacqua to shed light on the weakening of the powerful childhood bond with his older brother; he considers the doomed utopian back-to-the-land dreams of his hippie parents against the backdrop of inimitable 1970s baseball figures such as "Designated Pinch Runner" Herb Washington and Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. Cardboard Gods is more than just the story of a man who can't let go of his past, it's proof that -- to paraphrase Jim Bouton -- as children we grow up holding baseball cards but in the end we realize that it's really the other way around.

Josh Wilker writes about his childhood baseball cards at cardboardgods.net.  Since his first posting in 2006, his site has been featured in the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and ESPN.com.  He is a winner of the Howard Frank Mosher Prize for Short Fiction and has an MFA from Vermont College.  He lives in Chicago.

May 19th - Stephen Kiernan

Patriotism has become a loaded word: one that is wielded against people with

whom we might disagree, or whose cultural origins don't match our own. But our founding fathers--Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and others--saw patriotism as a dynamic force: an act of service, in an evolving nation that defined its purpose by offering all people a better way of life.  In Authentic Patriotism, author and award-winning journalist Stephen P. Kiernan explores the original ideals that have been lost in our current climate, where war and economic turmoil have eroded our sense of civic obligation. Kiernan describes "a nation adrift," out of touch with its origins - and then introduces a range of inspiring people who have revived our national purpose by taking action

Stephen Kiernan is a writer and journalist for the Burlington Free Press.  His numerous awards include the Gerald Loeb Award for Financial Journalism, the Associated Press Managing Editors' Freedom of Information Award, and the George Polk Award. He lives in Charlotte, Vermont.

May 15th - Nancy Means Wright

In Midnight Fires, 18th century Mitchelstown Castle hums with intrigue. An impoverished but rebellious English governess (future author of A Vindication

of the Rights of Woman) seeks justice after a young Irish rebel and a roguish aristocrat die in cold blood.  "Captivating," Publishers Weekly  says of the book, "As Mary snoops around in search of the culprit, she is bound not to lose herself to the mystery, her job, or the charms of any man. Wright…deftly illuminates 18^th-century class tensions."

A.C. Hutchison of the Vermont Sunday Magazine adds, "It's reasonable, if regrettable, to believe that few 21st-century American women have ever heard of Mary Wollstonecraft, but had there been media in 18th-century Britain and Ireland comparable to today's Internet, surely this early crusader for women's rights would have been an international celebrity... Nancy Means Wright, a prolific, disciplined and well-informed Vermont author living in the town of Cornwall, has seized upon the true story of Wollstonecraft to create the heroine of a finely honed mystery set in Ireland at a time, roughly corresponding with the American Revolution, when the Irish suffered under the often-cruel thumb of insensitive, tradition-bound British aristocrats."

Nancy Means Wright has published 14 books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, including 5 adult mystery novels (St. Martin's Press), a novella (Worldwide Library), a YA novel (E.P. Dutton), an historical novel, Midnight Fires (forthcoming in '10 from Perseverance Press); and two mysteries for young people: The Pea Soup Poisonings won the '06 Agatha Award for Best Children's/YA Novel, and the Great Circus Train Robbery was an '08 Agatha Award finalist. Her poems & short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, including American Literary Review, Seventeen, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Level Best Books et al.; and in numerous anthologies. A longtime teacher, actress-director, and Bread Loaf Scholar for her first novel, Wright lives with her spouse and two Maine Coon cats on a dirt road in the environs of Middlebury, Vermont.

May 15th - Paul Blacketor
Paul Blacketor read from his new book, Everyday Useful Quotes.  From national and ethnic proverbs to Bible verses to our favorite nursery rhymes and songs, this anthology of thought-provoking, encouraging, and stimulating phrases and verses will keep your mind afresh and alive.  Dr. Paul. G. Blacketor has a career spanning over fifty years as a minister, college professor, and a member of the US Army Medical Service.

July 15th, July 1st, June 17th, June 3rd, May 13th, April 29th - Phoenix Writing Group
This group is intended to support efforts by writers in all genres and all levels of expertise, from beginner to published. For the first evening, participants were invited to bring a sample of their original work for reading and discussion as well as a favorite piece to read and share with the group. Nothing was required, though, and the event was free and open to the public.

"The goal," says Phoenix owner Michael DeSanto, "is to bring together a regular support group of several writers, meeting once or twice a month at Phoenix. I would also be interested in sponsoring writers of note to come in and present to the group or even lead an occasional workshop."  Ideas about how to proceed will be welcomed from all the participants, and it will be group-directed once it becomes established.  "I am excited to begin the journey down this road for Phoenix Books as a community resource," adds DeSanto.Terry Cleveland will act as facilitator.  She says of both the stories she reads and the ones she writes, "I need to be entertained, but also engaged.  The story has to be moving and challenging.  As I write, I try to remember the value of simplicity in thought and word."

April 23rd - Christina Asquith

Christina Asquith (pictured at left with a family in Basra, Iraq) went to Baghdad on assignment in 2003 and spent two years reporting from the front lines.  By fall 2004, as the insurgency strengthened, all journalists living in Baghdad were under death threat.  Two of Asquith’s Iraqi girlfriends agreed to hide her in their Baghdad house for safety. Living with an Iraqi family gave her an up-close look at how the war had affected their lives:  they had little electricity or water, lived in constant fear of mortar attack or suicide bomb, and while women had walked the streets freely under Saddam, they could no longer leave home unaccompanied by a man

and were forced to veil or risk being groped or killed.  From this experience, Asquith decided to follow their lives and write Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq.

Before the war, Iraqi women were professors, lawyers and engineers and they enjoyed more privileges than most of their Arab sisters. How and why has the U.S.’s involvement rolled women’s status back to the Dark Ages?  Sisters in War is the story of the four women–two Iraqi sisters, one U.S. soldier and a U.S. aid worker–whose narratives explain the choices and challenges women face in the new Iraq.

Christina Asquith was born in New York City and was educated at Boston University and the London School of Economics. A journalist for more than a decade, she has written for The New York Times, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Guardian, and she was a staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives with her husband and their daughter in Burlington, Vermont.

Thursday, April 22nd - Artists Get Wet Again!  Lake Champlain in Paints and Words

Lake art, literature and natural history was be served up with light refreshments at Phoenix Books and Café. The event was co-sponsored by the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC), the Essex Art League, and Phoenix Books and Café in celebration of Earth Day. Over 20 area artists exhibited their diverse visions of Lake Champlain. LCC author and staff scientist Mike Winslow gave a reading from Lake Champlain: A Natural History and provided tips for citizen actions to protect water quality.  The program also included a reading by Daniel Lusk - who In 2009 received an innovative research grant from the University of Vermont to work on a cycle of poems about Lake Champlain.

All artwork will be for sale. The featured artists are members of the Essex Art League, whose goal is to support the appreciation and creation of regional artwork. Members meet monthly to share ideas and information, create and implement programs, and participate in show venues.

The Lake Champlain Committee is a non-profit environmental organization that has been working for a healthy, accessible lake since its founding in 1963. Their lake natural history book is part of LCC’s ongoing efforts to educate people about the lake and involve them in its care.    

Saturday, April 17th - Ron Koss

Ron Koss visited Phoenix to speak about and sign copies of The Earth's Best Story: A

Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution.

Ron and his twin brother Arnie founded Earth’s Best Baby Food in 1985. In addition to baby food, Ron is a natural foods product innovator. During his long-term employ with the aio Food Group, Ron has secured patents for his work on complete meal supplement ice cream and has also introduced specialized complete meal supplements for people in health recovery situations. Presently, he is working on nutritional products for a global relief aid project. Ron enjoys working as a consultant for socially responsible enterprises and has a special interest in group dynamics, organizational development, and conflict resolution. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont, with his family.

The Earth’s Best Story tells how Ron and Arnie Koss succeeded in creating the first nationally distributed organic foods company to sit next to its mainstream competition on supermarket shelves—a step that revolutionized and empowered the organic-foods movement as a whole—and benefited hundreds of farmers as well as the millions of babies whose very first foods have been organically grown, thanks to Earth’s Best.

People of every imaginable background and station in life want to make a difference with their lives. But how do you effectively do that? How does an idea successfully journey across the wastelands separating fantasy and reality? The Koss brothers take the reader on this journey. Theirs is a tale of idealism, naiveté, and possibility that reflects the quest to find a place in this world by somehow changing it for the better.

Tuesday, April 13th - Burlington College Writes

Alice Eckles hosted a night of readings with Burlington College writers including Marc Awodey,Anna Blackmer, Nora Mitchell, Aaron Mitton, and Mark Pekar!

Alice Eckles is the author of numerous artist books of prose, poetry, and image, as well as A Phrase Book for Spiritual Emergencies.  She has published essays in The Seattle Review and The Queen City Review.  "Alice Eckles has a gloriously idiosyncratic voice and a serious, hard-won vision of life; she writes amazing sentences," says David Shields.

Marc Awodey is a member of the faculty of Burlington College, the Community College of Vermont, and Johnson State College.  He is also an Art Critic at Seven Days, and the Vermont Regional Editor for Art New England.  He has published two books of poetry.

Anna Blackmer is the Chair of the Humanities Department at Burlington College. She is a poet, teacher, and freelance writer. Anna has been active in Burlington arts community for 30 years, and has been involved in local readings, small press publications, arts reviewing, and programming literary and film events.

Nora Mitchell directed the M.F.A. in Writing Program and taught at Goddard College before joining the faculty at Burlington College in 2003.  Nora has published two books of poetry, and her poems have been published in journals such as Green Mountains Review, Hunger Mountain, and Ploughshares and anthologized in Onion River: Six Vermont Poets and Contemporary Poetry of New England.

Aaron Mitton is a Burlington College Writing and Literature graduate who has written one book of poetry, Epitaph, which he published through his own imprint, the Star Chamber Press. He has been working on a graphic novel, Auermacher, which has gained critical acclaim by none other than Alison Bechdel, and he was recently a finalist in the Norman Mailer College Award for Nonfiction for his autobiographical essay "Holding the Light." Now looking toward a graduate degree, he spends his free time at home with his wife and five-year-old son, or else sitting in a cafe, turning a poem or two, or chipping away at his now forty-page novel.

Agent Martian (a.k.a. Mark Pekar) has written many books and plays; Notes From Spaceship is his first widely published work. Martian divides his time between Honey Space, (an underground gallery in Chelsea, NYC) and northern Vermont. He's also a band leader, part time college instructor, and, in the tradition of Timothy Leary, Agent Martian holds an M.A. in psychology.

Saturday, April 10th - Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants:  Metaphors for Uncertain Times

Mindfulness-based psychologist and author, Dr. Arnie Kozak, lead an introduction to mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. Arnie read from his award-winning book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness, and taught mindfulness - the art and skill of living in the present. This 2-hour workshop was an opportunity to learn these valuable tools for living now, proven to help people cope with stress, anxiety, and uncertainty.

Recognized as an innovator in the field of mindfulness-based psychology, Dr. Arnie Kozak is northern New England’s leading expert in the field. Dr. Kozak’s ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business.  Learn more at his website or in this article from Vermont Digger.

Thursday, April 8th - David Carkeet

David Carkeet visited Phoenix to read from and sign copies of his new novel From Away, a comic mystery set in Vermont.  Read a revew of this book from the Times-Argus.  Also, check out Margot Harrison's glowing review of From Away in Seven Days!

"Anyone who doesn't laugh out loud at David Carkeet's writing needs to have their pulse checked. He's a very clever fellow, and this is a deftly funny book."  --Carl Hiaasen

David Carkeet was born and raised in the Gold Rush town of Sonora, California.  He attended college at U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Davis, followed by graduate school at the University of Wisconsin and Indiana University.  David is the author of six novels, two novels for young adults, and a memoir.  His short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Poets & Writers, The Village Voice, and many other publications.  For many years, David taught linguistics and writing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.  He also directed the MFA program there and edited its literary journal, Natural Bridge.  He lives in Middlesex, Vermont.

Saturday, April 3rd - Ben Hewitt

Ben Hewitt discussed how, over the last three years, Hardwick, Vermont has managed to jump-start its economy and redefine its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America.  Afterwards, Hewitt was available to sign copies of his new book, The Town that Food Saved:  How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food.

Even as the recent financial downturn threatens to cripple small businesses and privately owned farms, a stunning number of food-based businesses have grown in the region - Vermont Soy, Jasper Hill Farm, Pete's Greens, Patchwork Farm & Bakery, Apple Cheek Farm, Claire's Restaurant and Bar, and Bonnieview Farm, to name only a few. The mostly young entrepreneurs have created a network of community support; they meet regularly to share advice, equipment, and business plans,

and to loan each other capital. Hardwick is fast becoming a model for other communities to replicate its success. The captivating story of a small town coming back to life, The Town That Food Saved is narrative nonfiction at its best: full of "beguiling profiles" of colorful characters and grounded in an idea that will revolutionize the way we eat (Booklist).

Ben Hewitt writes about sports and the outdoors for a wide variety of publications, including Bicycling, Men's Journal, Mountain Bike, Outside, and Skiing.  He lives in Vermont.  You can read his Gourmet magazine article about Hardwick here.

APRIL is

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets. The concept is to widen the attention of individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern. The Academy hopes to increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated.

Thursday, March 25th - Michael Hastings

At age twenty-five, Michael Hastings arrived in Baghdad to cover the war in Iraq for Newsweek. He had at his disposal a little Hemingway romanticism and all the apparatus of a twenty-first-century reporter -- cell phones, high-speed Internet access, digital video cameras, fixers, drivers, guards, translators. In startling detail, he describes the chaos, the violence, the never-ending threats of bomb and mortar attacks, the front lines that can be a half mile from the Green Zone, that can be anywhere. This is a new kind of war: private security companies follow their own rules or lack thereof; soldiers in combat get instant messages from their girlfriends and families; members of the Louisiana National Guard watch Katrina's decimation of their city on a TV in the barracks.

Back in New York, Hastings had fallen in love with Andi Parhamovich, a young idealist who worked for Air America. A year into their courtship, Andi followed Michael to Iraq, taking a job with the National Democratic Institute. Their war-zone romance is another window into life in Baghdad. They call each other pet names; they make plans for the future; they fight, usually because each is fearful for the other's safety; and they try to figure out how to get together, when it means putting bodyguards and drivers in jeopardy.Then Andi goes on a dangerous mission for her new employer -- a meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters that ends in catastrophe.

Saturday, March 13th - Terence Hawkins

Terence Hawkins read from his new novel, The Rage of Achilles.

The ancient clash of armies outside the walls of Troy is a cornerstone of Western literature. In The Rage of Achilles, Terence Hawkins tells the story of Achilles, a monstrous hero, by turns vain and selfish, cruel and noble; of Paris, weak and consumed by lust for his stolen bride; of Agamemnon, driven nearly to insanity by the voices of the gods; and of Trojans and Achaeans, warriors and peasants, caught up in the conflict, their families torn apart by a decade-long war.

Terence Hawkins was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Yale. His work has appeared in Poor Mojo's Almanac(k), Keyhole, Pindeldyboz, Ape Culture, Eclectica, Megaera, the Binnacle, and the New Haven Register. It has also appeared on Connecticut Public Radio. He is a trial lawyer in Connecticut.

Saturday, March 6th - Howard Frank Mosher

Vermont's own Howard Frank Mosher stopped by to sign books at Phoenix!  We still have plenty of copies of Mosher's latest novel, Walking to Gatlinburg, a story of survival, wilderness adventure, mystery, and love during the Civil War.

Howard Frank Mosher is the author of ten novels and a travel memoir. Born

in the Catskill Mountains in 1942, Mosher has lived in Vermont’s fabled Northeast Kingdom since 1964. He has won many awards for his fiction, including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, the American Civil Liberties Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the New England Book Award. Three of his novels, Disappearances, A Stranger in the Kingdom and Where the Rivers Flow North, have been made into acclaimed feature movies by the Vermont independent filmmaker Jay Craven. Mosher and his wife of forty-four years, Phillis, have a grown son and daughter.

Friday, February 19th - Wendy Clinch

Wendy Clinch read from and autographed the first book in her new Ski Diva Mystery series, Double Black.

In Double Black, Boston’s twenty-something Stacey Curtis ditches her cheating fiance and heads for a Vermont ski town. She’s looking for the life she’s always dreamed about, but she stumbles instead into financial intrigue, bitter family warfare, and murder. Populated with quirky characters, loaded with New England atmosphere, and starring a young woman with nerve, spunk, and a sense of humor about it all, Double Black is an exciting run down some treacherous mountain trails. "Clinch...clearly knows and loves the terrain, conjuring the kind of bewitching winter wonderland and endearing New England characters that will leave readers antsy for a return visit," says Publishers Weekly.

Born and raised in Ocean County, NJ, Wendy Clinch is the founder of TheSkiDiva.com, a popular website for women skiers. She writes about women's skiing and related topics at her blog. She's a former advertising copywriter, having spent more than 25 years in the field, most recently as a partner in her own agency in suburban Philadelphia. A graduate of Syracuse University, Wendy now lives in Vermont (and is pictured above) with her husband, Jon Clinch, author of Finn: A Novel and the forthcoming Kings of the Earth.

May 12th, April 14th, March 10th, February 10th, January 13th
Knit Night (and Crocheters, too!)

Phoenix Books Knit Nights (and Crocheters, too!) continue to take place on the second Wednesday of each month.  All skill levels welcome.  See you there!

June 2nd, May 5th, April 7th, March 3rd, February 3rd, January 6th
Open Mic Night

Phoenix Books and Café has hosted over a dozen Open Mic Nights in our Coffeehouse Series.  Open mic nights are held on the first Wednesday of every month at Phoenix.  Interested in performing at a future open mic? Space is limited, so call 872-7111 and ask for Michael DeSanto to sign up.

2009

December 17th - Inge Schaefer

Inge Schaefer entertained us with tales of Colchester's past, before signing copies of her new book, Chronicles of Colchester.

Since its charter in 1763, Colchester has been known for its remarkable early settlers, among them Ira Allen, founder of the state of Vermont, and for its picturesque setting on the shores of Lake Champlain. Author Inge Schaefer, well known locally as the founder of the Colchester Chronicle, combines interviews, historical documents and personal research in this series of articles on Colchester's past. Schaefer traces the stories of the town's oldest families, like the Munsons and the Porters, from summer evenings dancing at Bayside Pavilion to the keeping of the Colchester Reef Lighthouse. With a fresh perspective on twice-told tales of school days at Colchester Point, summers at the Brown Ledge Camp and the heyday of Fort Ethan Allen, where the celebrated Buffalo Soldiers briefly resided, Chronicles of Colchester captures the hearty spirit of this Lake Champlain community.

Dec. 12th - Cooking Close to Home with Diane Imrie

Diane Imrie provided a delicious demonstration and scrumptious samples from her book, Cooking Close to Home.

Cooking Close to Home has recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and desserts organized by the seasons. The recipes use ingredients that are available in Vermont and throughout the Northeast, as well as ingredients that you have preserved for the winter season. In addition to the delicious recipes in this book you will find useful “Harvest Hints” throughout, which include a variety of tips from what the ingredients are, where and how to purchase them, what to look for when choosing foods at the farmer’s market and how best to store produce for the winter season. 

Diane Imrie is a Registered Dietitian and graduate of McGill University in Montreal. She also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Vermont. She has been speaking nationally on the topic of sustainable food for the past several years. Imrie and her coauthor Richard Jarmusz have been involved in local food for many years, and have implemented a nationally-recognized local and sustainable food program at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Richard is a back yard gardener and Diane is known for her community garden work.

...and - Thea Lewis

Thea Lewis read from her new book, Haunted Burlington: Spirits from Vermont's Queen City.

We all know Burlington as a perpetual hub of activity, with shoppers strolling up and down Church Street and college students scattered about the lawns of UVM. Now, stop and listen to the stories of Queen City Ghostwalk guide Thea Lewis, and discover the ghostly shapes and spirits that appear among the throngs of the city's living. Meet the mischievous poltergeist who haunts Converse Hall and the ghost of the Flynn Theater. Take a peek at peculiar happenings at the Firehouse Center or the old Howard Opera House. Lewis delivers plenty of chills with a strong dose of history and a pinch of humor.

Thea Lewis is the creator of Queen City Ghostwalk, and has treated locals and visitors to an exciting look at Burlington’s fascinating haunted history since 2002.

...and offsite - Home Fur the Holidays

The 1st Annual Holiday Gift Festival for Dogs & Cats benefiting the Humane Society of Chittenden County.

This one of a kind holiday gift fair was held at Play Dog Play at 668 Pine Street in Burlington, and featured many local Vermont pet products like books, treats, bedding, clothing, toys, and much more.

December 7th - Louise Penny

Louise Penny read from and autograph her newest Inspector Gamache mystery, The Brutal Telling.

The Brutal Telling is a New York Times bestseller and an IndieBound IndieNext Pick - and has earned glowing reviews from Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and other publications:  "With an intricate, almost mythic plot, superb characters and rich, dark humor Penny...continues to deepen and modernize the traditional "village mystery," says People Magazine!  "Penny...is a world-class storyteller," lauds The Kirkus Review.  "This superb novel will appeal to readers who enjoy sophisticated literary mysteries," adds Library Journal.

Louise Penny is an award-winning journalist who worked for many years for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Her bestselling first mystery, Still Life, was the winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards; and her second, A Fatal Grace, won the 2007 Agatha Award for Best Novel. She lives in a small village south of Montréal where she writes, skis, and volunteers.

Saturday, December 5th - Liz Welch

Phoenix played host to a dramatic reading from the The Kids are All Right, featuring coauthor Liz Welch.  Told in the alternating voices of Welch and her three siblings, who were orphaned at ages 19, 16, 14, and 8, The Kids are All Right follows a poignant, harrowing, and often humorous tale of unbreakable bonds.  Following the performance, Welch discussed and autographed copies of this unique autobiography.

The Welches' story opens up like a family dinner conversation: one starts a story, another butts in with a correction, another picks up on a detail that sparks a different memory, and so on. Despite their wrenching loss and subsequent separation, they retained the resilience and humor that both their mother and father endowed them with—growing up as lost souls, taking disastrous turns along the way, but eventually coming out right side up.  People Magazine calls it, "A blisteringly funny, heart-scorching tale of remarkable kids shattered by tragedy and finally brought back together by love."

Liz Welch is an award-winning journalist and a contributing writer at Glamour, Real Simple, and Inc. magazines. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah magazine, Vogue, the New York Times, and many other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Saturday, December 5th -
Tracey Campbell Pearson

Celebrated children's author/illustrator Tracey Campbell Pearson visited Phoenix, to read and to autograph her books.

Tracey Campbell Pearson is the beloved author and illustrator of many children’s books, including The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Booklist Editors’ Choice Top of the List–Youth Picture Book winner and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She lives in Jericho Center, Vermont.

Autographed books by Tracey will make a great gift for all the kids and kids-at-heart on your list!  (Pictured at right is Tracey's Christmas classic, Where Does Joe Go?)

Thursday, November 19th - Guided Meditation and Group Channeling with Nasrin Safai

Nasrin will returned to Phoenix Books for a guided meditation and channeling session.

Internationally known as a channel of the Ascended Masters and Angelic Beings of Light, Nasrin Safai is the author of six books. She attended Chelsea School of Art in London, received a Bachelors Degree from the University of Decorative Arts in Tehran, a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning from Nottingham University in England and did her Doctoral Studies in the role of women in the development of the third world. She has taught at Harvard University and universities and institutes of higher education around the world. Presently she holds the post of Professor of Esoteric Spirituality at Universal Seminary. Nasrin is the founder of the Foundation for the Attainment of God-Unity (FAGU), an educational and holistic healing organization which provides classes, workshops, books and support materials for spiritual practice open to all.

Tuesday, November 17th at 6:30 pm
Green Mountain Spinnery

The folks from the Green Mountain Spinnery will visit Phoenix to share their new book, 99 Yarns and Counting, as well as samples of their natural fiber yarn. Bring your knitting needles!

The Green Mountain Spinnery, a worker/owner cooperative, was founded with a distinctly Vermont mission: to produce the highest quality all-natural yarns, to help sustain regional sheep farming, and to develop environmentally sound ways to process natural fibers. Since then the Spinnery has grown and thrived, designing and producing all-natural yarns in alpaca, mohair, wool, and organic cotton that are known and loved by knitters and weavers across the country. Unlike most commercial mills, the yarns they produce with vintage equipment are untouched by bleach or chemicals. New members, new ideas, new product lines, and more continue to spin out from this talented, knowledgeable, devoted collective.

In 99 Yarns and Counting, the follow-up to their immensely popular Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, they provide knitters with 36 patterns for stunning sweaters, comfy socks, wonderful hats, and more. 99 Yarns and Counting offers inspiration-for knitters who appreciate natural fibers and beautiful styles as well as for anyone who values sustainability and creativity. And for fiber enthusiasts, crafters, and readers who want to learn the yarns behind the yarns, 99 Yarns provides engaging stories about and lush full-color photographs of the Spinnery's venerable old mill. Detailed pattern charts and schematics round out this must-have volume.

Sunday, November 15th - Sharon Lamb

Sharon Lamb discussed her books Packaging Boyhood:  Saving Our Sons from Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes and Packaging Girlhood:  Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes.

Player. Jock. Slacker. Competitor. Superhero. Goofball.
Sexy. Diva. Boy-crazy. Shopper.
The images of boyhood and girlhood that are being packaged and sold to your child are stereotypical, demeaning, limiting, and alarming. From cartoons to video games, boys are bombarded with stereotypes about what it means to be a boy, including messages about violence, risktaking, and perfecting an image of just not caring. Girls are besieged by images in the media that encourage accessorizing over academics; sex appeal over sports; fashion over friendship. Packaging Boyhood and Packaging Girlhood expose these stereotypes and the very limited choices presented of who our children are and what they can be. The authors give you guidance on how to talk with your sons and daughters about these negative images and provide you with tools and information on how to help them make more positive choices about the way they are in the world.

Sharon Lamb, Ed.D. has taught at Saint Michael's College and continues her therapy practice in Shelburne.  She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Mental Health at UMass Boston and commutes back to Vermont!

Sundays, November 15th, 22nd, and 29th - NaNoWriMo Writing Parties

This month Phoenix Books and Cafe hosted a group of writers who took part in National Novel Writing Month. It's a hands-on writing adventure where people around the world bash out a 50,000-word novel in thirty days!

 Visit www.nanowrimo.org to learn more about this wild and wonderful project. Those who had writer's block didn't once they attended these writing parties!

Krista Humphrey, a professional and published writer, coordinated this activity for us at Phoenix Books.

Friday, November 13th at 7:00 pm
Steve Delaney

Steve Delaney will visit Phoenix to read from and autograph his new work of fiction, Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter.  In this book, Delaney masterfully weaves a tale of love and mischief in Vermont

Delaney's distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and Vermont and now calls Milton his home.

 

Thursday, November 12th at 7:00 pm
Archer Mayor

Mystery fans had a treat in store when Archer Mayor, author of the highly acclaimed, Vermont-based mystery series featuring detective Joe Gunther, returned to Phoenix Books to read from and autograph his new novel, The Price of Malice.

Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series has been described by the Chicago Tribune as "the best police procedurals being written in America." Mayor is also the 2004 winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction—the first time a writer of crime literature has been so honored. In addition, Mayor is a death investigator for Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner, and a Deputy Sheriff for Windham County, VT.

"Archer Mayor is as solid as Barre granite when it comes to producing a strong story with compelling characters," says Phoenix owner Michael DeSanto.

Saturday, November 7th - Ron Krupp

Ron Krupp read from his new book, Lifting the Yoke: Local Solutions to America's Farm and Food Crisis. 

"It is time to revitalize America's local food networks. Ron Krupp navigates the issues and provides exemplary stories of people doing just that. The grim tale of our global food system may leave you feeling powerless, but you are sure to find inspiration in this book, thick with examples of grassroots efforts focused on putting people, integrity, and real food back into America's food consciousness," says Meghan Sheridan of Vermont Fresh Network 

Ron Krupp is a garden and farm commentator on VPR, as well as the author of The Woodchuck's Guide to Gardening.

Thursday, October 29th - Rusty DeWees

Vermont's own Rusty DeWees has read from his book, Scrawlins, played the guitar, and was generally his rowdy entertaining self before he signed his book/calendar/DVDs.

Whether you've seen him on film, caught his live stage act, heard him on the radio, or read his weekly newspaper column, there's more to Rusty DeWees than any one medium can reveal. There's more for you, and the uninitiated, to know, and luckily it's now all in one place, your hands! Scrawlins has a little bit of everything for everyone. As many uses as Vermonters find for duct tape, there are facets to Rusty DeWees (and in Scrawlins he reveals one duct-tape creation that's downright blushworthy). Rusty writes in a casual style, like someone you're comfortable standing next to against the wall at a barn dance. But he has a keen eye, a sharp mind, and a big heart matched with a curiosity that makes readers look at family, strangers, and the world around us with a fresh-sometimes humbled, sometimes twinkling-eye. He can be witty and wacky and thoughtful and insightful all at once. He'll have you ponderin, fumin, weepin, and laughin-at times out loud! Scrawlins is entertaining. Whether you're from Vermont, only been there, or been meaning to get there, Rusty DeWees will take you there-with an ear for accent and an eye for the absurd. From the small town of Richford to nearby-as-the-crow- flies Brattleboro to the front porch of Harlan Bishopsiz sausage store, Scrawlins will take you further than you can imagine.

Rusty DeWees grew up in Stowe, Vermont. He has worked as a paper boy, gas jockey, landscaper, logger, concrete worker, school bus driver, basketball coach, and musician. He spent four years racing stock cars and, for a half-dozen years, he was assistant to the late William J. Doyle of the Doyle New York auction house. He works in radio and TV, and has appeared in more than twenty-five motion pictures. He created and self-produces a one-man comedy show, The Logger, which tours New England and has spawned DVDs, CDs, and calendars. Rusty DeWees lives in Elmore, Vermont.

Wednesday, October 28th - Guided Meditation and Group Channeling with Nasrin Safai

Nasrin will returned to Phoenix Books for a guided meditation and channeling session.

Internationally known as a channel of the Ascended Masters and Angelic Beings of Light, Nasrin Safai is the author of six books. She attended Chelsea School of Art in London, received a Bachelors Degree from the University of Decorative Arts in Tehran, a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning from Nottingham University in England and did her Doctoral Studies in the role of women in the development of the third world. She has taught at Harvard University and universities and institutes of higher education around the world. Presently she holds the post of Professor of Esoteric Spirituality at Universal Seminary. Nasrin is the founder of the Foundation for the Attainment of God-Unity (FAGU), an educational and holistic healing organization which provides classes, workshops, books and support materials for spiritual practice open to all.

Saturday, October 24th - Don Bredes

Don Bredes  read from and autographed his newest book, The Errand Boy.  Onetime Boston homicide detective Hector Bellevance is married now and settled on the family farm with his pregnant wife, Wilma, and their strong-willed eleven-year-old daughter, Myra, happily spending his days raising vegetables for the farmers' market and serving, when needed, as the town's constable. But Hector's fair-weather days suddenly darken when a reckless driver leaves Wilma in a coma, and later, after the unrepentant driver turns up brutally murdered, Hector finds himself a natural suspect in the homicide. When the victim's father offers to pay Wilma's medical bills if Hector will find his son's killer, Hector takes the case-more out of compassion than a desire to clear his own name. Yet the murder quickly proves more vexing and the motives more twisted than even a town constable could have foreseen...

Don Bredes was born in New York City and attended Syracuse University, the University of California at Irvine, and Stanford University, where he was a Wallace Stegner Fellow. He is the author of three previous novels, and his writing has appeared in the Paris Review, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. He lives with his wife and daughter in Wheelock, Vermont.

Wednesday, October 21st - Dan Close

Poet Dan Close read from his new book, What the Abenaki Say About Dogs.

Close’s poetry gives a beautiful voice to an indigenous people whose culture came too close to being silenced.  ~Jodi Picoult, novelist, titles include Second Glance, My Sister’s Keeper, Plain Truth

Dan Close moved to the hills of Underhill, Vermont in 1982. He has also lived in Brooklyn; Long Island; Manhattan; St. Croix, Virgin Islands; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Bekoji, Ethiopia. His interests include, among other things, breathtaking mountains and lakes, traditional cultures, contemporary world politics, and the origins and futures of the universe. His new memoir, A Year On The Bus, is scheduled for publication in November, 2009.

Sunday, October 18th - Julie Kay Clark

Singer-songwriter Julie Kay Clark, all the way from Nashville, TN, visited Phoenix Books for this continuation of our Coffeehouse Series.

"If I had to describe myself," says Julie, "I would say I am somewhere between a tame Janis Joplin and a female Bob Dylan...not too glamorous...more of a tomboy at heart. I consider my music to be an upbeat folksy rock with a touch of country and blues...what they call Americana. I must confess to being a bit of a comedian and a bit of a philosopher but I am 100% the voice of a woman! I have always adored stories, so my songs were written as if a good friend and I were lounging around sharing the struggles and joys of our lives...always aware of the quest to be true to ourselves and follow our dreams...striving to make a difference in the end. I hope you will enjoy my songs as much as I enjoyed writing them."

To find out more, visit www.juliekayclark.com.

Saturday, October 17th - Pierrette Nicole Gagnon Berglund

Pierrette Nicole Gagnon Berglund read from her new inspirational memoir Cries of Despair! and discussed this book and her life.

In Cries of Despair!, Berglund relates personal stories of encounters with angelic and even demonic beings.  It is the author's desire to pass on the learning from these life-changing moments to her readers. This book of encouragement, courage, and faith aims to give the sad, the lonely, the depressed, the addict and the destitute hope for the darkest of moments.  Cries of Despair! is a must-read for anyone discouraged by their present situation.

Pierrette Nicole Gagnon Berglund was born in Princeville, Quebec, Canada. She is the first of six children born to Francoise Comtois and Osas Gagnon. The Gagnon family immigrated from Tourouvre, France in 1635 to Quebec, Canada. Berglund is a former Human Resources Director for a Canadian International Company. She has been married to her husband, Paul, for 32 years. While he is a seasoned minister at large, she is an accomplished Christian soloist and together they participate in TV and Christian counseling ministries. She is blessed with a beautiful daughter named Chantal and two handsome sons, John and Ashley. She and her husband currently reside in Florida seven months of the year and in the New England/Quebec area the remaining five months. Berglund is a first-time author.

Thursday, October 15th - Marc Estrin

Marc Estrin read from and autographed his newest book, The Good Doctor Guillotin: An Anatomy of Five.  This novel follows five characters to a common destination - the scaffold at the first guillotining of the French Revolution.

Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist, and activist living in Burlington, Vermont. He is the author of several other novels, including Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa, The Education of Arnold Hitler, Golem Song, and The Lamentations of Julius Marantz.  He visited Phoenix last year to read from The Annotated Nose (which will be out in paperback in time for this fall's event).

October 10th - Joseph Citro and Stephen Bissette

Joseph Citro and Stephen Bissette presented their newest collaboration, The Vermont Monster Guide.

Afraid of the dark? You will be after you read this illustrated guide to the fantastic swimming, crawling, flying, and slithering denizens of Vermont’s dark side. Though not widely acknowledged, the Green Mountain state is home to more winged wonders, wet weirdoes, and crypto creatures than any other state in the country. You probably know about Champ, the elusive monster of Lake Champlain. But what about Northfield’s Pigman? And Richford’s The Awful? Wherever you are in Vermont—in town or country, river or lake, land or sky—you’re never far from the unknown. Or the unexpected. 

Joseph A. Citro, respected monster hunter, brings to light over sixty Vermonsters, many captured in exquisite, ghoulish detail by the pen, brush, and ink of artist Stephen R. Bissette. Designed as both a cautionary tale and handy field manual for those who dare, The Vermont Monster Guide will be of interest to natives and tourists, to young and old…though it may not be suitable for readers with fragile constitutions.

The authors’ previous collaboration, The Vermont Ghost Guide, is a popular favorite and the perfect companion to this volume. WARNING: The authors, publisher, and bookseller are not responsible for any unfortunate encounters that may result from the reading of this book!

Tuesday, October 6th - Vincent E. Feeney

Vincent E. Feeney read from his new book, Finnigans, Slaters, and Stonepeggers:  A History of the Irish in Vermont.  This is the first book on the coming of the Irish to Vermont: from the Scots-Irish of Londonderry in the 1770s, through the famine Irish marble workers of West Rutland and slate workers of Castleton and Poultney, to politicians like mayors Burke of Burlington and Corry of Montpelier in the early 20th century. A short epilogue recounts the success of Irish American Vermonters in our own day, including Senator Patrick Leahy.

Based on extensive research with primary documents, the author describes, era by era, why the Irish left Ireland, how they traveled, what attracted them to Vermont, and how they made new lives for themselves and their descendants throughout the Green Mountain State.

Vincent E. Feeney received a BA from San Jose State University, MA from the University of Vermont, and PhD from the University of Washington, all in History. He was Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Vermont 1977-2006. Since 2003 he has been a Lecturer for the Vermont Humanities Council. Feeney is also the author of Vermont: An Illustrated History with John Duffy and The Great Falls on Onion River: A History of Winooski, Vermont. He is a member of the Vermont Historical Society, Center for Research on Vermont, Chittenden County Historical Society (President 1999-2003), and the Winooski Historical Society. He lives with his wife in Marshfield, Vermont.

September 26th & 27th - Burlington Book Festival

In this offsite event, Phoenix was the official Festival bookseller!  Hopefully, you were able to make it over to the Lake and College Performing Arts Center to pick up personally inscribed copies of titles you'll treasure from 2009's Book Festival participants.  If not, check in with us at the store - we still have some autographed copies available!

August 29th through September 7th - CV Fair

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture in partnership with Phoenix Books once again hosted the Taste of Vermont Pavilion at the Ware Building. Fairgoers celebrated food and the working landscape that are so important here in Vermont, through interactive sections such as Kitchen Corner, Education Barnyard, Phoenix Books’ Bookstore, Vermont Spirits Villa, Best of Vermont Taster’s Choice Competition and the Main St. Market.

Sunday, July 19th - Howard Dean

Howard Dean discussed and signed copies of his new book, Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer.

Americans have pondered how to reform healthcare since the days of Harry Truman. But for most Americans, little has changed—except that healthcare costs have soared, health insurance companies have grown bigger and more oppressive to both doctors and patients, and today even those Americans who pay dearly for health insurance frequently find that their policies don't adequately cover them when they need their coverage most.

Something has got to give. In his bold new book, Howard Dean—the physician and former Vermont governor widely credited for reviving the Democratic Party after the 2004 elections—tells Americans what needs to be done to successfully reform healthcare. Millions of Americans lack health insurance; millions more pay for coverage that doesn't protect them from serious illness; and the status quo leaves Americans at the mercy of corporate interests. This persuasive argument from a passionate political strategist shows Americans how to take back the healthcare reins.

Wednesday, July 15th - Thomas Middleton

Essex's own Thomas Middleton read from his memoir Saber's Edge:  A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq.

The National Guardsman, the citizen soldier called upon to fight for this nation in a time of war, is one of the least understood — and perhaps one of the most compelling — figures of the Iraq War. Saber’s Edge is the story of a middle-aged Vermont firefighter called upon to be a soldier in the worst place on earth — Ramadi, Iraq. In a few short weeks Thomas A. Middleton went from being a suburban dad to a combat medic traveling between platoons, filling in for other medics and engaging in some of the fiercest and most crucial fighting of the war. This is the war as experienced from the ground level: days of tedium interspersed with the adrenalin of combat; moments of lighthearted laughter broken by the sorrow of loss. Sgt. Middleton’s story chronicles the inner conflict created by his long-time professional role as a healer and his newfound life as a warrior in the urban battlefields of Iraq.

Thomas Middleton is an Assistant Fire Marshall and Public Information Officer with the Burlington Fire Department and was a long-time volunteer firefighter and EMT. He served as a combat medic in Iraq as part of Task Force Saber from 2004 to 2005 and as a member of the Vermont National Guard.

Thursday, July 9 - Launch Party with Mary Carty!

Mary Carty presented her new book, PMAT:  The Perfect Marriage Aptitude Test.

While the perfect white dress is a key ingredient to a successful wedding, a healthy marriage depends on so much more. Using 100 multiple-choice questions that gauge each partner's responses to everyday dilemmas, relationship expert Mary Carty provides advice on how to successfully navigate tricky situations. PMAT: The Perfect Marriage Aptitude Test is a self-guided counseling course designed to get loved ones past the small stuff and to an enriching married life.

Mary Carty believes that even small changes can improve and/or possibly save a troubled relationship, or enhance one that is already perfectly good. With an educational background in psychology and counseling, she frequently writes on marriage, parenting, health, communication, and self-esteem. She lives with her husband of twenty-four years in Vermont and Florida.

Saturday, May 23rd - Harry Bliss

Mr. Bliss read from his book Luke on the Loose, and then asked kids to come up and draw a squiggle, line, or doodle and he created on-the-spot works of art for the kids to take home. Adults and kids alike were absolutely taken with Mr. Bliss.

A little boy goes on a hilarious solo flight through New York City in this breakthrough comic book by bestselling cartoonist Harry Bliss. Luke looks on at the pigeons in Central Park, while Dad is lost in “boring Daddy talk,” and before you know it—Luke is on the Loose! This soaring story is sure to delight any young reader who has ever felt cooped up.

Harry's bestselling children’s books include Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm and Which Would You Rather Be? by Caldecott Medal-winner William Steig, as well as Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Newbery Medal-winner Kate DiCamillo. Harry grew up in upstate New York in a family of artists and illustrators. He currently resides in Northern Vermont with his son and their puppy Penny, who has yet to catch her first squirrel.

Saturday, May 2nd - Betty Ann Lockhart

Betty Ann Lockhart read from her newest book, Maple Sugarin' in Vermont: A Sweet History.

An image of purity, freshness, and flavor, maple syrup in Vermont is more than a tradition— it’s a way of life. The sugar maples of Vermont provide sugarmakers with a sweet resource that has been protected for generations, and used to make some of the highest quality maple syrup in the world, fondly known as “Vermont Gold.” Maple Sugarin’ in Vermont: A Sweet History explores the Vermont maple industry from the 1600s to the mid-twentieth century, enriching the text with maple-inspired songs, recipes and legends. Join author Betty Ann Lockhart as she takes a look back at a legacy.

Betty Ann Lockhart is a founding member of the Vermont Maple History Committee of the Vermont Maple Industry Council and a member of the Center for Research on Vermont at The University of Vermont, the Vermont Maple Foundation, and the Vermont Sugarmakers Association; she is also on the Board of Trustees for the Vermont Maple Festival. Betty Ann has produced several videos on maple sugar, and wrote both Vermont Maple Quality Control Manual with Packing and Pricing Guide for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and Celebrating Centuries of A Proud Tradition: Pure Vermont Maple – A Treatise of Facts, Folklore and Recipes from Vermont’s Community of Sugarmakers for the Vermont Bicentennial. 

Saturday, April 25 - Arnie Kozak, Ph.D.

Essex's own Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., read fromhis new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants:  108 Metaphors for Mindfulness.

This engaging book is filled with humor and profound teaching. Illuminating subtle concepts with easy-to-grasp examples, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants presents 108 metaphors for mindfulness, meditation practice, the nature of self, change, deep acceptance, and other related concepts. Dr. Kozak has cultivated these mentally catchy teaching tools over twenty-five years of meditating, practicing yoga, and working as a clinical psychologist.

Arnie Kozak, Ph.D. is the founder of Exquisite Mind, a consulting service for individuals (in the form of mindfulness-based psychotherapy), as well as for the community, health care professionals, and corporations. Exquisite Mind teaches mindfulness, the art and skill of living in the present, as a vehicle for managing stress and enhancing quality of life. 

Check out the Essex Reporter's article on Dr. Kozak!

Saturday, April 18th - Ginger Gellman

Ginger Gellman presented her new book, Historic Photos of Vermont, whichtells the story of our state in nearly 200 striking black-and-white photographs, all printed in an attractive and handsomely bound format.

Ginger Gellman holds a Master’s degree in history from the University of Vermont and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She has worked as a freelance archivist for the Jericho Historical Society and has served as a summer guide for Vermont’s preeminent Underground Railroad site, the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburg. Currently, Gellman is researching the history of Burlington’s early development from 1790 to 1810. Gellman works at the Burnham Memorial Library in Colchester, Vermont, and sings with Social Band, an a cappella chorus specializing in Old World and American shape note music. She lives in Jericho with her cat Angus.

Wednesday, April 15th - Guided Meditation and Group Channeling with Nasrin Safai

Internationally known as a channel of the Ascended Masters and Angelic Beings of Light, Nasrin Safai is the author of six books. She attended Chelsea School of Art in London, received a Bachelors Degree from the University of Decorative Arts in Tehran, a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning from Nottingham University in England and did her Doctoral Studies in the role of women in the development of the third world. She has taught at Harvard University and universities and institutes of higher education around the world. Presently she holds the post of Professor of Esoteric Spirituality at Universal Seminary. Nasrin is the founder of the Foundation for the Attainment of God-Unity (FAGU), an educational and holistic healing organization which provides classes, workshops, books and support materials for spiritual practice open to all.

Saturday, April 11th - Tracey Campbell Pearson

Tracey Campbell Pearson presented her latest book, My Brother Bert.

Tracey Campbell Pearson is the beloved author and illustrator of many children’s books, including The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, a Booklist Editors’ Choice Top of the List–Youth Picture Book winner and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She lives in Jericho Center, Vermont.

My Brother Bert, the tale of a girl who finds a zoo-worthy collection of animals tucked into every nook and cranny of her brother's room, is “[f]ull of action, merriment, and wit..the pictures will occupy readers with always one more thing to see . . . . Dizzying and delightful,” says Booklist.

Thursday, April 2nd - Artists Get Wet:  Lake Champlain in Paints & Words

Attendees enjoyed a spring evening of lake art, poetry, and natural history served up with light refreshments. Over 20 area artists from the Essex Art League will exhibited their diverse visions of Lake Champlain. The program also included a discussion and book reading by author and scientist Mike Winslow, as well as a reading by poet Daniel Lusk.

Mike drew from the Lake Champlain Committee’s new book “Lake Champlain: A Natural History” and address the forces, phenomena, flora and fauna that help make the lake such an endearing fixture in our regional consciousness. Written in a light, engaging style by LCC staff scientist Mike Winslow with black and white photographs and detailed pen and ink illustrations by Libby Davidson, Lake Champlain: A Natural History will help people discover and understand the lake’s rich and diverse resources.  “This book goes a long ways toward educating anyone who loves the sight of Lake Champlain,” notes author and environmentalist Bill McKibben. “Mike Winslow and Libby Davidson, with clear and lucid prose and accurate, charming illustration, answer dozens of questions that have occurred to me over the years, and better yet they answer questions it hadn’t even struck me to ask. This is less like a field guide, and more like having a wise naturalist along with you on a trip.”

Daniel Lusk is the author of several books of poetry and one novel, and is an English lecturer at UVM. With financial backing from the Vermont Community Foundation and research assistance from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, he is currently working on a collection of poems tentatively titled Lake Studies: Meditations on Lake Champlain.

The goal of the Essex Art League is to support the appreciation and creation of art among artists and in the Chittenden county area. Members meet monthly to share ideas and information, create and implement programs, and participate in show venues. Recent programs and events include their Lang Farms Holiday Show, Spring Fine Art Gala, and the Student Art Incentive Scholarship Program.

March 25th - Newt Night

We invited budding scientists, concerned citizens, and naturalists-at-heart to learn about Vermont's Amphibian Monitoring Program - and boy did they turn out!  A packed house was treated to live specimens, a slide show, demonstrations, and loads of fun & knowledge.

Newt Night was hosted by the North Branch Nature Center of Montpelier, as part of Citizen Science, a partnership between scientists and the broader community. Citizen Science allows the every-day person to participate in fun and exciting research projects, and to experience the natural world in a new way. It allows the scientist to enlist a small, or in some cases, a large army of volunteers to help collect data that wouldn't be possible without the help of the community. North Branch Nature Center engages in a number of Citizen Science projects, on a local, regional, and national scale.

December 9th, November 11th, October 27th &14th, September 22nd & 9th, August 25th & 12th, July 21st & 8th, June 23rd & 10th, May 26th & 13th, April 21st & 8th, March 11th, February 11th, January 14th
Knit Nights (and Crocheters, too!)

Phoenix Books Knit Nights (and Crocheters, too!) continue to take place on the second Wednesday of each month.  All skill levels welcome.  See you there!

December 2nd, November 4th, October 7th, September 2nd, August 5th, July 1st, June 3rd, May 6th, April 1st, March 4th, February 4th, January 7th
Open Mic Nights

Phoenix Books and Café has hosted over a dozen Open Mic Nights in our Coffeehouse Series.  Open mic nights are held on the first Wednesday of every month at Phoenix.  Interested in performing at a future open mic? Space is limited, so call 872-7111 and ask for Michael DeSanto to sign up.

Click here to view 2008 events!