Monday, June 22, 2009

Steve's Summer Recommendations for Reading

Each summer most of us have visitors or family who, with regularity, will express their wonderment at all things Maine or pepper you with questions about Maine. I find myself especially in the summer referring to and reading books about Maine. I need short things to sample and pick at during the summer. The tiles below are some of my favorites and all share the character of having brief sections but don’t equate brevity with lack of substance.

I’d also argue that each of these books ought to be in your home but if not, did I mention that you ought to visit your public library?


On Wilderness: Voices from Maine. Edited by: Phyllis Austin, Dean Bennett and Robert Kimber.

Nice compilation of photos, poems, short essays dealing with Maine’s incredible natural world. It is a paperback and nice size to put in your backpack.


The Wildest Country: A Guide to Thoreau’s Maine. J. Parker Huber.

Huber recreates Thoreau’s journeys as described in the Maine Woods. In Huber’s words: “This book is an invitation. It invites you to gain an appreciation of yourself, Maine and Thoreau.”

Contemporary Maine Fiction. Edited by Wesley McNair.

Fourteen short stories by outstanding Maine related authors including Richard Ford, Carolyn Chute, Monica Wood, Stephen King and Richard Russo (just to name a few).


Maine Reader: DownEast Experience – 1614 to present. Edited by Charles and Samuella Shain.

This is a fabulous compilation about our state and should be sampled regularly. Included are a variety of writers from over Maine’s history who have either lived here or visited. Chapters include discovery and exploration, small town life, Maine Woods Maine and the Civil War, Maine artists, etc. You get the idea.

Maine Speaks. An anthology of Maine Literature. The Maine Literature Project.

Along with the Maine Reader just put this on your coffee table and let people sample all summer. Great Maine authors abound in this title covering topics such as nature, work, origins, identity and communities.

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