Featured Books and eBooks

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by The Herald

On August 28, 2011 Vermont was struck by Tropical Storm Irene. By the time Irene crossed the state line she had lost her bluster, but not her impact. As much as nine inches of rain fell in less than twelve hours on an already saturated Green Mountain State. What resulted was a most "imperfect storm" that devastated some watersheds while leaving others relatively unaffected.

Your purchase benefits Irene local relief organizations.

by Annette Aberdale-Kendra

A patient, thorough, affirming guide to recovery from eating disorders and body image issues. Written not just for those struggling with an eating disorder, this story also provides insight and inspiration for the parents, friends, loved ones, and therapists who are supporting the recovery process of others. As this book unfolds, we make friends with five amazing young women (and their wise mentor) and witness the group unfold on their journey of eating disorder recovery.

Moving to the Earth's Beat

The Road Back from Eco-Despair

by A.J.Chopra

Eco-Despair is an overwhelming and incapacitating sense that the planet's self-inflicted problems are beyond solution. A.J. Chopra was in the business of providing creative solutions. As senior partner and co-owner of Synetics, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based consulting firm, he specialized in developing creative solutions for problems, be they technical, marketing, organizational, interpersonal, or strategic. But he couldn't solve his own problem, an acute case of eco-despair. This is his story of how he found himself on the precipice, and how he found a path to return to safety and sanity.

by Hinda Miller

A memoir about business, politics, and spirituality. Hinda Miller's career has spanned all three, and then some! Throughout all her ventures, Hinda Miller is guided and anchored by a strong connection to the practice of yoga. Now she is preparing for a new venture as a Sultana, a woman of experience and wisdom who is always practicing, always learning, and always grateful.

High on Business

by Alan Newman

Alan Newman, founder of Seventh Generation and Magic Hat Brewing Company, is in the words of the Wall St. Journal "a serial entrepreneur." In this business memoir he takes lessons from his own life and times to help guide the fledgling entrepreneur.

This memoir of a man still practicing serial entrepreneurism from his base in Burlington, Vermont, has a lot to say about the nuts and bolts of starting businesses. A foreword by Ben Cohen and an afterword by Jerry Greenfield -- that would be the Ben and Jerry, so you could consider this book an ice cream sandwich -- enrich the book.

by Stephen Morris

The long-anticipated third volume of Morris's Vermont trilogy. Darwin Hunter is now the MegaBucks Czar, a man with unassailable authority over the state lottery. After an epiphany that reveals to him the regressive nature of this institutionalized gambling, Darwin becomes a modern day Robin Hood, using his power to more fairly distribute the wealth, at least in the Brigadoon that is Vermont.

Darwin is assisted and challenged by the most colorful cast of characters since ... uh, Canterbury Tales. There's the rappin' Shappy Shapiro, originator of the Peace Pretzel; BJ Bosco, equally at ease shooting with a camera or a gun; the silently voracious Dog Sled Girl; Henry Drown, entrepreneur from Down Under; and Captain Goo-Roo, the musician whose life is defined by the power chords of rock and roll.

by Michel LeBorgne

This is the tasty story of Michel LeBorgne's journey through a culinary life, a life that started on a farm in Brittany and led eventually to the New England Culinary Institute. Michel learned the basics from master chefs in Paris. Like many other ambitious young men (Jacques Pepin comes to mind) Michel came to New York City and quickly found employment in some of the city's most fashionable restaurants. Eventually, however, Michel turned away from the grind of the restaurant life and took a job with Yale University's food service. For more than a decade he combined the flair of French cuisine with the needs of a massive institution. When the opportunity arose to take on the teaching chef duties at a start-up educational institute in Montpelier, Vermont, Michel jumped at the chance. Now chefs and restaurant owners worldwide have learned their kitchen skills at New England Culinary Institute, many under the watchful eye and guiding hand of Chef Michel LeBorgne.

Here Stands Marshall

by Dan Chiras

Marshall stands perched precariously on the edge of insanity and self-destruction. Set against a backdrop of the turmoil of Vietnam, the changing roles of the sexes, and the growing awareness of environmental destruction, Marshall Rhodes struggles to find happiness and love – for himself and others. It's a harrowing journey that beelines deeply into a troubled human mind.

The son of an abusive father, Marshall abandons his residency in pediatrics and a failing marriage to become a writer. He moves from New Haven, Connecticut to Aspen, Colorado to create fiction that will help "set the world straight." For Marshall there is no shortage of surrounding hate, greed, violence, and stupidity. "No more mollycoddling the American psyche," he pledges.

Success proves elusive. The ink that spills from his pen has the smell of blood. Editors find his work interesting, but his outlook unredeemable.

Haunted by his father's disapproval, Marshall struggles to free himself from a crippling self-image. Will Marshall find the capacity to love himself -- and others? Will he heal the wounds from his past -- or fling himself further into despair? Will he learn that in fighting a monster, he must not become one? Will he find that the loving heart is, as Charles Dickens once wrote, "the truest wisdom"?

Stripah Love

In which our hero (Artie) has achieved success, but then it's withdrawn from him summarily, arbitrarily, and unfairly. The lady of our tale, Shea, has achieved success, only to find that it exists in close proximity to the law of the jungle. Cuzzin, who never bothered, is much closer to being happy with his place in life than the others.

The process of becoming whole, for Artie, calls for him to re-establish connection with his culture through his tumbledown shack and with nature by getting a fish to chomp on his artificial feathers. Only when he gives himself entirely to this pursuit does obscene success, in the form of wealth, find him. He uses it wisely by enabling his cousin to pursue his dream. And love finds them all, just like in Shakespeare where each Jack has his Jill (and nought shall go ill).

Set within this story is confrontation of the tribal and the dominator cultures. In this instance, the tribal (the Injuns) has checkmated the dominator by adopting their own manipulative, and threatening, tactics. It's the only way a tribal culture can avoid being devoured by the dominator.

Beyond Yonder

When Darwin Hunter decides to update Over Yonder Hill (Alton Blanchard's history of the tiny Vermont hamlet of Upper Granville), the result is Beyond Yonder, a chronicle of the cultural divide between the entrenched natives and the invaders from the Land of Flat. From "Babysitters" to "Zucchinis" the contrasting world views are examined and skewered.

Beyond Yonder is part one of "Stories and Tunes," Stephen Morris's "four-part" trilogy of life in the rural North.

The King of Vermont

A chance comment on Vermont's most popular talk show, Straddlin' the Fence, lands Darwin Hunter in a three-way race to be elected State Senator. Set against a political landscape as rocky and muddy as the garden during Mud Season, Darwin combats his wily, experienced opponents with his only long suit–the truth.

The King of Vermont is part two of "Stories and Tunes," Stephen Morris's "four-part" trilogy of life in the rural North.

Tales and More Tails of Beyonder

This book is a collection of articles originally appearing in a variety of Vermont newspapers. Stephen Morris is an indefatigable chronicler of life in Beyonder, and this is his best work. His offerings on Mud Season and Vermont Holidays is particularly memorable.

Tales and More Tales of Beyonder is part three of "Stories and Tunes," Stephen Morris's "four-part" trilogy of life in the rural North.

Deus ex Machina

Plunked down in the middle of the twentieth century, reverted to his childhood body, but his memories intact, Joshua Leyden takes a run at revising his own life, and changing a future that needs some tinkering.

Author Paul Freundlich has created a journey that transcends time, reworks reality, and challenges the human spirit. What a trip!