Gibson’s Bookstore has a lot to look forward to this May. Here’s the lineup of events to add to your calendar.
Friday, May 8, 6:30 p.m.: Meg Stone presents “Don’t Fight Back!”
Meg Stone visits Gibson’s Bookstore in partnership with 603 Equality to share her book, “‘Don’t Fight Back’: And 10 Other Myths About Crime, Personal Safety, and Gender-Based Violence.”
From a nationally recognized violence-prevention expert, an accessible guide that debunks the most pervasive myths about crime and offers evidence-based strategies that make us safer
A specific image of violence and how to avoid it lives in a lot of our imaginations. And what some of us fear most is shaped not by the strongest evidence, but the most viral horror stories.
Meg Stone, an abuse and violence prevention expert, dives deep into dangerous safety myths and helps us understand what the evidence shows and what men in positions of authority just expect us to believe because they said so.
Meg debunks myths about: how attackers behave (“Don’t Fight Back. It Will Make the Attacker Angry and You’ll Get Hurt Worse”), what (or who) to fear (“Crime Is at an All-Time High and Going Up”), what you should never do (“Don’t Wear a Ponytail. An Attacker Could Grab It”); and what you should always do (“Trust Your Intuition”).
Each chapter offers practical strategies for protecting ourselves that also contribute to the activism it takes to change the conditions that cause or contribute to violence.
You don’t have to diminish yourself or restrict your life to avoid being attacked. Critical thinking, not following simplistic directives, is the real way to be “smart” about safety.
About the author: Meg Stone is the Executive Director of IMPACT Boston, an abuse prevention and empowerment self-defense organization. IMPACT collaborates with 603 Equality to bring relevant, timely safety training to New Hampshire’s LGBTQ+ and allied communities. Meg is the author of The Cost of Fear: Why Most Safety Advice is Sexist and How We Can Stop Gender-Based Violence and “Don’t Fight Back” and 10 Other Myths About Crime, Personal Safety and Gender-based Violence. Her writing has been published in Huffington Post, Newsweek, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Dame, and Ms.
Tuesday, May 12, 6:30 p.m.: Maria Noël Groves presents “Herbal Gut Health“
Maria Noël Groves, RH (AHG) visits Gibson’s to share her new book, “Herbal Gut Health.” As a clinical herbalist, Maria knows better than most that gut health is a common and increasing concern.
“Herbal Gut Health” is a comprehensive guide to the best herbs and natural practices to boost your gut microbiome, decrease your risk of chronic disease, and alleviate conditions like SIBO, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome and GERD.
Join us for an in-depth discussion about how to adopt healthier dietary habits, employ herbs to alleviate digestive issues and improve digestion to dramatically improve your quality of life.
About the author: Maria Noël Groves, RH (AHG), clinical herbalist, runs Wintergreen Botanicals, nestled in the pine forests of Chichester, New Hampshire. Her business is devoted to education and empowerment via classes, health consultations, and writing with the foundational belief that good health grows in nature. She is the author of the award-winning, best-selling Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self Care, Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies, Herbal Remedies for Sleep, Herbal Gut Health, and an additional forthcoming book. Learn more about Maria and herbs at WintergreenBotanicals.com.
Thursday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.: Miriam Horn presents “Homesick for a World Unknown, The Life of George B. Schaller“
Miriam Horn visits Gibson’s Bookstore with her new book, “Homesick for a World Unknown, The Life of George B. Schaller.”
“Homesick for a World Unknown” is the first biography of legendary field biologist George Schaller, predecessor and mentor to Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and generations since, who, at age 92, lives in Hanover.
About the author: Miriam Horn is an author, environmentalist, filmmaker and journalist. Her previous books were “Rebels in White Gloves, Coming of Age with Hillary’s Class”; the New York Times bestselling “Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming”; and “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman, Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland.” Two were made into documentary films for the Discovery Channel, with Horn acting as producer, and a Sundance premiere.
Horn spent fifteen years at the Environmental Defense Fund and six years at the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado, working on habitat conservation, landowner and community partnerships, and public education. Before joining EDF, she was a senior writer at U.S. News and World Report and freelanced for many years for The New York Times and other publications
Wednesday, May 20, 4:30-6 p.m.: Poetry Society of New Hampshire: Gregory Smith
Join the Poetry Society of New Hampshire on Wednesday, May 20, from 4:30-6 p.m. for an afternoon of poetry. Their headliner this month is poet Gregory Smith. An open mic follows their reading.
Gregory Smith (they/them) is drinking wine right now. You can typically find them sharing kandi bracelets with Metalheads or backswinging at a warehouse rave.
They have been serving on staff at New Hampshire’s longest-running poetry slam and open mic series, Slam Free Or Die, in Manchester, New Hampshire since 2018. They also were chosen as Slam Free Or Die’s Indie Slam Champion and IWPS representative (in abstentia) in 2018.
Their poetry has appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, Bullshit Lit, The Peoples Book Volume 2, Verum Literary Journal, Rockview Reader, Rectangles, and on NHPR.com. Their debut full-length collection, “Profligate Angel” is available from Game Over Books. They’re an Aries and therefore are here to spit fire and truth, no matter the cost.
Thursday, May 20, 6:30 p.m.: Scott Ferson presents “How the Democrats Lost America“
Scott Ferson visits Gibson’s Bookstore for a timely and important discussion about his new book, “How the Democrats Lost America: Making Sense of the 2024 Election and the Future of American Politics.”
When Donald Trump won the 2024 American presidential election, the nation — and world — was shocked. In this critical examination of the events leading up to and following the election, political advisor Scott Ferson goes straight to the source — the American people — to understand how this happened and where we go from here.
In November 2024, the Democrats didn’t just lose the election — they lost the voters themselves. In the years and months leading up to the election, a lot of average Joes — enough Joes to swing an election and tilt history’s trajectory — were left looking for confidence and answers in uncertain times. These were the voters who’ve never chosen a party, who work full-time or overtime just to make ends meet, and who simply want to be able to live the American dream that they were promised. A generation ago, these average Joes would have been Democrats, by tradition or community or through union organizing. Now, these voters are lost to the Democrats, and, for those in disbelief over the 2024 election, the hard lesson is the Democrats never even tried to win them over.
“How the Democrats Lost America” explains not only why Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost the 2024 election but the larger disconnect the party has with voters in general, particularly those who don’t hug both coasts or live in select big cities in between.
Through thousands of interviews over the past eight years, Scott Ferson exposes a larger problem facing our democracy: A profound disconnect with the people. By listening to people and understanding their real concerns, Democrats can find the way forward and take the steps to reconnect the people with the American promise of democracy. Democrats have a choice. These everyday voters can be lost and forgotten, or lost and found.
About the author: Scott Ferson has watched and worked in politics for forty years, from the John Anderson for President campaign while in High School, as a press secretary to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a chief strategist for the insurgent congressional campaign of Seth Moulton (D-MA) and advisor to dozens of candidates for office at the local and state level. He is the President/CEO of the strategic communications shop, the Liberty Square Group, and runs a political incubator, the Blue Lab that trains young people how to run campaigns. He is an adjunct professor of Political Science at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, May 26, 6 p.m.: Banned Book Club with ACLU NH!
Join ACLU NH for their Banned Book Club discussing “The People’s Project” by Maggie Smith and Saeed Jones. ACLU NH will also be launching the ACLU NH Protest Poetry Project anthology — a collection of poems written by our community that reflect the values at the heart of the ACLU: justice, equality, free expression, and the fight for civil liberties. There will be poetry readings, sweet treats, and information about how you can help fight book bans!
Thursday, May 28, 6:30 p.m.: Kristy Halvorsen presents “Perfect Unfolding“
Kristy Halvorsen visits Gibson’s Bookstore to present her book, “Perfect Unfolding.”
How far will you go to find the life that’s calling?
“Perfect Unfolding” is a thought-provoking travel memoir about a woman who trades her dream home and fourteen-year firefighting career for the freedom and possibility of the open road.
Living off-grid in an Airstream, migrating with the seasons without a plan, Kristy discovers the most challenging wilderness isn’t outside her windows. It’s within. From exploring Arctic shores with an Indigenous guide to hiking the desert canyons of the American West, she navigates not just unmarked roads, but the unmapped territory of living on her own terms.
“Perfect Unfolding” weaves together three transformative journeys: adventures across breathtaking landscapes where survival awakens true resilience; a mother-daughter bond that transcends distance and past hurts; and an unexpected romance that challenges everything she thought she knew about love.
This raw and refreshingly honest story of self-discovery speaks to anyone who has felt the pull of something bigger — a life beyond expectation, beyond fear, beyond the safe and predictable. You’ll ride in the passenger seat as Kristy navigates the universal tension between following society’s script and surrendering to the unknown.
About the author: Kristy Halvorsen is the author of “Perfect Unfolding: Seven Years of Life-Changing Solo Adventure, One Year That Broke Me Open,” which earned Publishers Weekly BookLife’s Editor’s Choice selection.
At 38, Kristy left her fourteen-year career as a firefighter/paramedic, sold her dream home, and hit the road in her Airstream trailer with no plan. For seven years, she’s lived off-grid, migrating with the seasons across North America. She’s traveled from Florida to Arctic Labrador to the Pacific coast and beyond while supporting herself through coaching and writing.
Kristy has been writing publicly since age fourteen, when her first piece was published in her local newspaper. For several years, she’s been a regular columnist for Blue Beret magazine.
Kristy’s writing explores courage, trust, and what she calls “coddiwompling” — traveling purposefully toward unknown destinations. “Perfect Unfolding” is her first book.
https://gibsonsbookstore.com/event/perfect-unfolding