Posts Tagged ‘Books’

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Murder mystery set in the Adirondacks

murder mysteryBACK DIRT unfolds in Ski Country in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York. A murder suspect from Colorado has surfaced there. Does an archaeological dig for old bones at the Battle Ax Ski Resort find fresh blood? Television reporter JC Snow digs for the truth at the winter hot spot.

The author, Phil Bayly has been a journalist for over four decades.

He anchored the #1 rated morning news at WNYT-TV in the state capitol of New York, Albany, for fifteen years.

He was also a reporter at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colorado and WTAJ-TV in Pennsylvania.

He’s been a skier his entire life, much of that time enjoyed as a ski racer. Sometimes he was fast. Many times, he wasn’t fast enough.

Phil was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois.  He was educated at Denver University and Colorado State University. He now lives in Saratoga County, NY with his wife.

More info: https://www.murderonskis.com/


Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Adirondack Center for Writing presents: An Evening with Russell Banks

cover of russell bank's novel, forgone

Saranac Lake, NY–Nationally acclaimed author Russell Banks will read from his new novel, Foregone, and sign books on September 24, 2021 at 7:00pm to celebrate the opening of Adirondack Center for Writing’s new event space at 15 Broadway in Saranac Lake.

Copies of Foregone will be available for purchase for signing at the event. This event costs $10 to attend. Tickets are available in advance at adirondackcenterforwriting.org

“Russell Banks is, word for word, idea for idea, one of the great American novelists. Foregone is a book about not coming to a conclusion. Banks presents us with a series of mirrors, some of them broken, some of them intact, and all of them wildly reflective of our times. It is a book about the shifting shapes of memory and the chimerical nature of our lives.” – Colum McCann

» Continue Reading.


Friday, August 27, 2021

Creative Adirondacks: Writer Yvona Fast

yvona fast

I’m probably not the only person who clips and saves Yvona Fast’s superb articles about food and recipes from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.   I still have her recipe Leek fritters are a traditional Sephardic Hanukkah Dish [1] that I hope to try this winter.

But there is much more  to know about Yvona’s writing and accomplishments, and interviewing Yvona in Lake Clear, I have been captivated by her life experiences, living on three continents and speaking multiple languages.

My favorite story of Yvona is how she came to write her first published article, Happenings in Siberia, but that comes later……

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Summer reading

book stackReady to read a good book by a mountain lake? That’s a pleasant thought after a troubling year, and the time for it is creeping up on us. Maybe this summer we’ll even feel safe to mingle in bookshops, or do our reading around others in coffee shops.

Remember those days?

With high hopes, we at the Adirondack Explorer are assembling a summer reading list and some reviews, for recent books with Adirondack themes or interests.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, February 13, 2021

New Novel Features Lake Placid Ironman

Iron Sharpens IronWhen the going gets tough, Colden MacIntyre, the main character in Iron Sharpens Iron, gets tougher, taking on the Lake Placid Ironman in an effort to overcome his demons.

Iron Sharpens Iron (Heavy Lift Books, 2020) is the first novel from upstate New York author Herb Terns. Though set mainly in Lake Placid, characters roam throughout the North Country, hiking High Peaks, trail running the Tongue Mountain Range, paddling Lake George and backpacking the Northville-Lake Placid Trail. But the heart of the book is Colden’s quest to win the Ironman, and the strength of the community that helps him through.

“We tend to remember the scars we get in life,” Terns says, “but we don’t always remember all the people who help us along the way. In some ways, the story is a metaphor for the way small towns pull together to help people who need it.”

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Closing of North Country Books brings new opportunities for Adirondack authors

Local bookstore owners establish Adirondack book wholesale and distribution business

The announcement in late October that North Country Books would close at the end of January 2021 sent dismay through the ranks of authors, publishers, and retail accounts who’d come to depend on the Utica-based company to distribute books and related products with an Adirondack focus.

The company, founded in 1965, had been a bridge between small specialty publishers and authors and their markets for Adirondack-themed books, maps, and sideline products and there was no other entity to fill the gap.

Enter Sarah and Marc Galvin, owners of The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, May 9, 2020

Quarantine reads: Excerpt from ‘Mountain Shadows’

Set in 1925, Mountain Shadows (written by Lake Placid native Patti Brooks) tells the tale of a poor, young couple, Joe and Alice Devlin, who come to the Adirondacks seeking a cure for the wife’s tuberculosis. Alice is placed in a “cure cottage” in Saranac Lake. Joe, a wiz of an auto mechanic, lands a job in the Lake Placid Club’s garage. Finding that Alice’s treatment costs far more than the Club can pay him, Joe takes up with bootleggers who are running liquor from the Canadian border through the Adirondacks to the big cities farther south.

(Introduction to the excerpt:  Joe Devlin has been accosted and left for dead on his walk from NYC to Saranac Lake in order to be with his wife who is taking the TB cure.)

» Continue Reading.


Friday, May 1, 2020

Quarantine reads: More recommended Adirondack reading

Thanks to all who responded to our call for recommended Adirondack, environmental and nature-themed reading to pass the time in COVID-19 quarantine.

Here’s the original post

We also reached out to a handful of Almanack contributors to ask for their input and here’s some additional suggestions to add to the list:

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 23, 2020

Reading in Place

Good Books from Wild Places to Help Us Through Bad Times

Entodon cladorrhizans. ©Northern Forest Atlas Foundation

If you must “shelter in place”, the North Country is a good place to do so.  Those of us fortunate to live in New York’s great Adirondack Park are already accustomed to “social distancing”, and generally have ample space to get fresh air and exercise – thanks to the good work of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and regional land trusts in protecting millions of acres of wild lands and waters. We are also fortunate to have thousands of brave neighbors continuing to go to work to provide us essentials, like groceries, heating fuel, and health care.

Still, even we lucky Adirondackers – nearly as much as our fellow New Yorkers down-state wishing they could be up here – likely have more time alone now than we usually have.  Quiet time affords us chances to read. Here is a quick list of books of regional interest and/or environmental bent that I’d suggest to neighbors sheltered at home through this upsetting pandemic.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 23, 2020

Quarantine reads: Suggestions from Almanack readers

Anne LaBastille, author of the “Woodswoman” series.

Looking for new ways to pass the time indoors?

Here are some suggestions for Adirondack and/or environmental themed books offered up by Almanack readers, who responded to a post on our Facebook page.

A mix of fiction and non-fiction, old and new (in no particular order), feel free to share your favorites in the comments!

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Jay O’Hern’s New Book Tackles Lumber Cruising

Adirondack Timber Cruising by William J O'HernProlific Adirondack researcher and writer William J. O’Hern’s new book Adirondack Timber Cruising takes the reader on a journey through the development of timber cruising, logging, and forestry and our relationship to forests.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, March 9, 2020

New Book On 1970s Adirondack Feminist Collective

finding a womans placeForty-six years ago, seven women left behind the lives they knew and created a commune in the Adirondack Mountains which they called “A Woman’s Place.” According to award-winning author Lorraine Duvall, from 1974 to 1982 A Woman’s Place served as a refuge for self-discovery and changed the lives of hundreds of women. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Stillwater Fire Tower History Book Published

Stillwater Fire Tower A Centennial HistoryA new book about Stillwater Fire Tower will soon be available in local stores. Stillwater Fire Tower, A Centennial History … and Earlier (2019, Self-Published) by James Fox, recounts how it came to life as a shiny steel tower in 1919 when fire observers and forest rangers helped protect our forests from the summit. The tower closed and was partially dismantled in 1988.

Rehab of the tower began in 2009. Friends of Stillwater Fire Tower completed an authentic restoration in 2016.  The location offers views of the Adirondack High Peaks and the wind turbines on Tug Hill. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Doghiker: Great Hikes With Dogs

doghikerAlan Via’s new book Doghiker: Great Hikes With Dogs from the Adirondacks Through the Catskills (Excelsior Editions, 2020) is a comprehensive guidebook for dog owners that includes plenty of great hikes from the Adirondacks through the Catskills.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, November 29, 2019

Owl Meet-up, Book Signing in Saranac Lake

Mark Manske and owlThe Village Mercantile (formerly The Community Store) in Saranac Lake is set to host Adirondack Raptor proprietor Mark Manske for a book signing and a meet and greet with one of his owls on Saturday, December 21 from noon until 2 pm.

Mark Manske has written two mystery novels for youth centered around Marvin Stone, “Stoney,” and his buddy Bill Short as well as a mysterious owl, a modern-day treasure hunt, and a skunk. » Continue Reading.



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