Looking for some fantastic books to add to your summer reading list? NRCM members can help! Featured here are books published by our members covering a range of genres, from essays to mysteries, non-fiction to poetry, and children's literature, too. If you’re an author of a book about Maine or related to environmental issues, you are welcome to send them along for consideration for next year’s Explore Maine. —Allison Childs Wells, Editor
Loving the North Woods – 25 Years of Historic Conservation in Maine, by Karin R. Tilberg (Down East Books, 2024) “This book is for anyone who loves the North Woods.” So begins Karin Tilberg’s wonderful chronicle of historic land conservation projects that played out across Maine’s North Woods between 1990 and 2015. As one of Maine’s most consequential advocates for conserving what is special about Maine’s North Woods, Karin wrote a book that only she could write because she was centrally involved in so many projects that helped protect millions of acres of Maine’s North Woods from fragmentation and development.
The book sets the stage by describing the historic and ecological significance of Maine’s “Great Vast Forest,” and then explains the “tectonic shift” in land ownership that shook the landscape in the 1990s and early 2000s as paper companies liquidated their timberlands. These large land sales provided a sudden, urgent challenge and opportunity for conservation projects at a landscape scale. Fortunately, Maine had the right people and organizations in the right places at the right time to make big projects happen.
Loving the North Woods devotes seven chapters to stories of the people who provided the vision and leadership to protect areas including the St. John River Forest, Debsconeag Wilderness, West Branch of the Penobscot, Downeast Lakes, and others. The book shines a light on the many unsung heroes who helped make these deals happen, including landowners, advocates, agency staff, attorneys, donors, land trusts, and more. This is a book from the heart and includes many of Karin’s own North Woods-inspired poems providing a transition between chapters. We owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who played a part in these historic conservation projects, and to Karin for bringing these projects to life on the pages of her ode to Maine’s North Woods.
— Pete Didisheim, NRCM Senior Director of Advocacy
Skin and Bones: And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books, 2025) Paul Doiron’s latest book is a collection of eight short stories, which tell new stories involving protagonist Mike Bowditch and Charley Stevens. I especially enjoyed the opening short story in which Charley Stevens recounts his capture of the notorious hermit of North Pond, whom readers will recognize as long a nemesis for law enforcement in the Belgrade Lakes area. Details from the true story are used to create this account with the young Charley Stevens as the hero. In another story we see Ora, Charley’s wife, at a younger age getting involved with one of his cases. Each of the stories is full of the action and the details about nature and the people who live in the remotest parts of our state that we have become accustomed to reading about in Doiron’s fiction.
– Betty Hartley, NRCM member, Brunswick
Rivers of Ink – Literary Reflections on the Penobscot, edited by Steven Long (12 Willows Press, 2023) I have been nothing short of river obsessed, and in the month of “ice-out” it was perhaps the best and worst time to read this amazing anthology of poems and shorter pieces that recognize and bring attention to the hallowed Penobscot. On my weekly trips from Rockland along the Penobscot estuary, I was rapt with attention to the state of the ice on ponds, tributaries, and rivers in the transition from winter to spring—more acutely aware than ever before as the snow melted off the red Old Town—eager to be afloat and underway or just enjoying the flows with a pair of waders and a fly rod in hand, like in Matt Bernier’s Hexagenia, enjoying the theater of the green mayfly hatch after winter’s long, cold, dark nap. Rivers of Ink was an antidote for that anticipation, welling up in me, and with every page I enjoyed thinking about the warm days of spring, summer, and fall river outings to come. But it is a collection of works to be enjoyed in any season, so long as you can go and see the river to connect with all the feelings it stirs up inside you.
Ordinarily I am a nonfiction nature narrative reader, with little patience for creative pieces that leave me wanting for facts to share with friends and colleagues, but Rivers of Ink was a delight, and the diversity of the works kept me coming back for more. Poetry, as I was to experience for, perhaps the first time, exhibits a remarkable aptitude for mimicking the cascading drops of a river system. When I fish I most enjoy the vignettes of pools of water created by small waterfalls, so I found the variety of poems to be a perfect parallel to those spilling structures, especially those by Lisa Panepinto, Lee Sands, and James Brasfield.
The start-stop staccato of other poems felt aligned with the cadence of the natural world, as my five seasons in Maine tree stands and turkey blinds have never once seen an unflinching pace like that of a homo sapiens exercising at first light. The erratic rhythms and dramatic lunges of Osprey and salmon come to life in these poems in a way that I now find my tried-and-true nonfiction to be falling short. The other pieces also captivated me with their variety from contemporary to historical and breadth from perfect campfire ghost stories, as in Emma G. Rose’s “Thus Spoke the River” or Shane Layman’s “Something in the Water,” while other pieces, such as Karin Spitfire’s “Liquidation” speak a direct and distilled truth to the chilling reality of Indigenous suppression and erasure.
These varied works were a surprising delight, and in the end even my nonfiction environmental narrative compulsion was satisfied with the likes of nearby neighbor Ret Talbot’s “Of Wolves and Sharks”. Whatever your genre is, I hope that you pick up a copy of Rivers of Ink and enjoy the diversity of language and storytelling as much as I did. It’s a great read for ticking off a few works at a time on a car trip, a camping adventure, or (for the waterproof bag-equipped) maybe even a canoe journey down the river.
—Nate Hathaway, NRCM Penobscot Bay-Frenchman Bay Regional Outreach Coordinator
The Art of the Myth: Maine Essays, by Michael D. Burke (Alameda Press, 2024) Having spent a lifetime in Maine, I found myself often chuckling about the characters, situations, and shenanigans of local people that Burke brought vividly to life by his delightful storytelling. This collection of essays spans Burke’s career writing about Maine from 1987 through and is a delightful journey through times now past by artfully blending history, myth, and legend to portray Maine and Mainers as the loveable, ornery, resourceful, and hilarious people we often are. From tales of a game warden to the famous ghost trains of the Allagash, and places and people in between, Burke’s work is a fun ride.
Of particular enjoyment is his essay describing his first foray into a Maine tradition, fiddleheading. Deciding that he wants to experience this, Burke finds himself inquiring at the world’s only fiddlehead processing plant, in Wilton. The proprietor introduces Burke to Colis Blood. Anyone who has spent spring days along a river bent over double fighting blackflies in order to collect those tender fiddleheads knows this pain well. It more or less represents not only a regional delicacy, but also a sign of spring. These essays do a delightful job of telling the stories of Maine and the people who are lucky enough to call it home. While certain tales or stories might meander longer than is completely necessary, all of them have a unique point that is integral to the whole. The Art of the Myth is a great book to take up to camp while the sun is shining, birds are chirping, and a gentle breeze keeps the blackflies at bay.
—Ben Wyman, NRCM member, Bangor
I first got to know author Elisa Boxer when she served as a member of NRCM’s board of directors, so when I saw that she became a children’s book author several years ago, I have awaited eagerly each new book. Before coming to work at NRCM nearly 30 years ago, I was a preschool and Head Start teacher, so I have read hundreds of children’s books over the years. Elisa’s newest three books, described below, are among my favorites! I encourage you to buy a copy for your child, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and if you don’t have a young child in mind, then why not purchase a copy to donate to your local library?
—Beth Comeau, NRCM Web & Communications Manager
Full Circle: Creation, Migration, and Coming Home, by Elisa Boxer (Sleeping Bear Press, 2024) When I saw this book cover, I knew immediately it was a book I’d love to share. There is nothing I like more than a beautifully written and illustrated book for children. This book shares the migratory journeys of several animals, including some of our favorites here in Maine like the Atlantic Puffin and Atlantic salmon. The words help describe the journey of each animal through their layout as waves and circles. And, as with all of Elisa’s books, they are written for children but include very scientific details and a “fact card” about each species at the end.
The Different Tree, by Elisa Boxer (Reycraft Books, 2024) On the book’s back cover, the description includes an important reminder to us all: “The Different Tree is nature’s reminder to honor individuality and move at your own pace.” The book is about a tree that doesn’t drop its leaves in the winter…it waits until the spring, and for good reason, which Elisa shares throughout the story. Vivid illustrations help the reader understand this tree’s uniqueness and the importance and value of being different. It’s a book for children…of all ages.
Pine Cone Regrown: How One Species Thrives After Fire, by Elisa Boxer (Sleeping Bear Press, 2025) In Elisa’s newest book, we learn about lodgepole pine trees, whose cones only open after being exposed to a fire. I had no idea that something would need fire in order to create new life. At the end, Elisa shares information about other living creatures and plants that also thrive after fires. While we have all seen the devastation of recent forest fires across the country, this book and its vibrant illustrations and words help open conversations about those fires with children who may have seen them on TV or known people affected by those fires.
NRCM Member Discount with Islandport Press
Thanks to a great partnership, NRCM members receive a 15% discount at the online store of Islandport Press, a leading publisher of Maine-based books. Call (207) 430-0106 or email nrcm@nrcm.org to get the discount code. Here are a few recent Islandport favorites:
Farmhouse on the Edge of Town, by Lew-Ellyn Hughes (Islandport Press, 2024) I had such a wonderful time reading these stories. Lew-Ellyn’s humor, bluntness, and thoughtfulness came through each page. Each story paints a beautiful picture of a day in the life at the Diamond Corner Bed and Breakfast season by season. The stories feel like an ode to small town Maine, and a celebration of the little daily joys and silly moments that we often don’t take the space to pause and reflect on. Those moments are the ones that define us all the most, and reading this book (especially in the midst of the Maine Legislature!) helped ground me in remembering to enjoy misadventures in the mountains with my loved ones, eat lots of rhubarb this spring, and to have conversations with strangers.
—Bronya Lechtman, NRCM Grassroots Outreach Manager
A Full Net: Fishing Stories from Maine and Beyond, by Susan Daignault (Islandport Press, 2023) I was excited to pick up this book because the author lives in Harpswell, an area I know well having grown up nearby. I assumed the book would be solely about fishing around New England and in Maine, as the title suggests, but was struck by how much is about family. The author is very close with hers, including her twin sister, and a lot of their bonding was done during her childhood when they spent summers fishing for stripers on Cape Cod. She also writes about her time in the Coast Guard, which I enjoyed learning about as I have a nephew in the Coast Guard, though he didn’t go through the Coast Guard Academy as the author did. This book is full of wonderful stories and information about fishing year-round in Maine. I don’t consider myself a “fish” person, yet these stories are for anyone, whether you fish or not. They are engaging and well told. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fishing, family, and New England. – BC
