This holiday season, consider reading and gifting books by authors close to home
Chesapeake Bound
by Thomas Guay
A new fiction novel by Annapolis’ Guay (former Executive Director of the Severn River Association) is set to release in April 2025. Initially set in London, 1763, the story focuses on gifted musician and medical apprentice Michael Shea down on his luck. Living rough after being blackballed from working as a surgeon’s assistant, Shea loses his gig playing fiddle in a tavern and is framed for the murder of a tavern patron visiting from colonial Virginia. Worse, he realizes his ladylove wasn’t interested in true love. Heartbroken and out of options, Shea and his friend, Danny, escape the turmoil by shipping out on the misnamed brig The Delight as lowly indentured servants. Traversing the long trans-Atlantic journey from London to Annapolis, the ship endures killer storms, accidents, sickness, and Barbary raiders. Along the way, Shea realizes that he has not yet escaped the murder for which he was framed—and that the real killer will do anything to keep his identity a secret.
Stardust by the Bushel
by Brent Lewis
Eastern Shore native Lewis’ latest novel explores 100 years of moviemaking on Delmarva, from Easton to Ocean City and Wilmington to Chincoteague. This is the first comprehensive history of the stars of stage and screen who called the Eastern Shore home during (or after) their lives, as well as major motion pictures produced on location here.
Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake
Bay By William H. Warner
A glorious read for anyone interested in blue crabs and the Bay, this 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel explores the intricacies of the crabs’ life cycle and the watermen who pursue them. It is a must-have book for those who call the Chesapeake home and love all things crabs.
Chesapeake
by James Michener
Published in 1978, this riveting Michener classic recalls the trials and tribulations of young Edmund Steed in the 1600s and his journey across the Atlantic to the new world. The epic tale of America, Maryland, and the Eastern Shore then follows 400 years of Quakers, pirates, planters, slaves, abolitionists, and notorious politicians.
Lightning’s Lessons Vol. 1
by Shari Puorto & Doug Woolverton
This combination music/reading package targets Pre-K to 1st graders and consists of eleven original up-tempo, blues songs accompanied by colorful illustrations in a read-along/sing-along book. The soundtrack features whimsical tunes that outline basic learning concepts. Together, this combination can assist in spelling, literacy, and memorization, as it was thoughtfully constructed to produce a positive learning environment and encourage participation.
Neuropathy Reversed: A Holistic Approach To Ending Nerve Pain
by Dr. Stephanie J. Chaney & Dr. Thomas A. Chaney
The latest offering from the Annapolis-based chiropractic doctor-duo and owners of Living Health Integrative Medicine shares effective strategies to help you reverse your nerve pain. Drs. Thomas and Stephanie Chaney have dedicated their lives to helping others improve their health and vitality. They previously authored the best-selling books Lose the Gluten, Lose your Gut. Ditch the Grain, Save your Brain. and Defeat Diabetes: 33 Effective Strategies To End Diabetes, Before It Ends You.
Because of Winter
by Nikki Brochetti
The debut novel of Annapolitan Brochetti, a former NBC news producer, just released in November. Anchored in the heart of Annapolis, the book weaves through well-known restaurants, landmarks, and neighborhoods throughout the city-both past and present. Haunted by the loss of her husband and her ethereal encounters with him, the novel’s protagonist, Lorna, finds herself immersed inside a maze of mysteries. Through a newly discovered novel based on her husband’s ancestors, modern-day Lorna finds a kindred spirit in an impassioned revolutionary-and stumbles upon a 200-year-old secret. Could unraveling the past finally bring peace to Lorna’s wounded heart? Or will it unleash unforeseen chaos?
Under the Redbud Tree
by E Dee Merriken Monnen
A compelling story of love, loss, and redemption that also explores Maryland’s Eastern Shore way of farm life and the gift of grace. The fictional novel was recently released by author E Dee Merriken Monnen of Easton and represents her fourth novel. The story uncovers hidden secrets and unwavering faith while readers step into the heart of a fictional Eastern Shore town with the character and widower Dave Johnson as he navigates the trials of running two multi-generational farms.
Pictured in Time: An Artist’s Journey Around the Chesapeake
by Neil Harpe
This visual retrospective of Harpe’s work presents a collection of over 125 stunning, never-before-published photographs of the Chesapeake Bay of the 1980s and ’90s, as well as the artwork that these iconic photos inspired. The artwork and photographs in this new book (just released in October) portray the beauty of a bygone era: graceful skipjacks and their captains, the Bay’s unique lighthouses and marshes, Baltimore’s vibrant waterfront, and fishing ports like Tilghman Island, Deal Island, Crisfield and Annapolis.
The Design of a Country Estate
by Cathy Purple Cherry
The first book from award-winning architecture and interior design firm Purple Cherry Architects shares the illustrious story of a new luxurious country estate located on the Chesapeake Bay and how the vision came to life. The main house, guest house, and seven outbuildings are dissected in detail so readers will experience what it is like to design such a comprehensive project, from the planning to the execution, and all the steps in between. The book focuses on the thought processes behind each decision, whether it is the materials employed or the siting of each building for walkability and use.
Recipes from My Garden & Who IS Santa?
by Nadja Maril
Kudos to local author and former What’s Up? Media editor-in-chief Nadja Maril, who released two new books this fall: Recipes from My Garden is her first chapbook of poetry and micro-essays, and Who IS Santa?, an all-ages book that tackles the mystery of Santa Claus and conveys the spirit of giving in a delightful story. The latter book’s proceeds raise money for International Pleuropulmonary Blastoma (PPB)/DICER 1 Registry that does research on a very rare type of children’s cancer. Both sell on Amazon.
Rivers of the Eastern Shore
by Hulbert Footner
Footner’s book, originally published in 1944, tells the captivating story of Maryland’s Eastern Shore through colorful narratives of 17 fascinating rivers. Starting from the arrival of European settlers and their encounters with Indigenous people, Footner’s story continues through the early 20th century. Each river has its own unique story, character, and beauty, lovingly detailed during his travels.
The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley
by David Waldstreicher
Admired by George Washington, ridiculed by Thomas Jefferson, published in London, and read far and wide, Phillis Wheatley led one of the most extraordinary American lives. Seized in West Africa and forced into slavery as a child, she was sold to a merchant family in Boston, where she became a noted poet at a young age. Mastering the Bible, Greek, and Latin translations, and the works of Pope and Milton, she composed elegies for local elites, celebrated political events, praised warriors, and used her verse to variously lampoon, question, and assert the injustice of her enslaved condition. In this new biography, the historian David Waldstreicher offers the fullest account to date of Wheatley’s life and works. The book was awarded the prestigious 2024 George Washington Prize by Washington College, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Herald Harbor: A Century on the Severn
by Gary Sheftick
The fascinating story of this Severn River enclave community spans generations. In the roaring ’20s, Herald Harbor was a beach resort that began as a newspaper circulation gimmick boasting a utopia for the middle class. In ’30s, the beach park was a haven for sports writers with its competitive boxing, speedboat racing, and aquaplaning. During World War II, it was a recreational get-away for troops. The ’50s brought visits by celebrities such as Pat Boone. In the ’60s, the community became contrasted by decaying bungalows and expensive waterfront property. More recently, it has been the site of a struggle between private development, habitat conservation, and a desire to establish community recreational areas. Available on Amazon.
On the Tobacco Coast
by Christopher Tilghman
Told with irony and deep insight, On the Tobacco Coast is Christopher Tilghman’s concluding installment of his Mason Family series of novels, based on the Queen Anne’s property that has been in his family since the 17th century. It’s a meditation on the themes of his novels about this ancestral monument: pride and shame in its long history, the persistence of family stories, race and privilege, the enigmas and customs of regions. It reflects on the state of America today, with its battles over its own history and efforts to reckon with the wrongs of the past while looking forward to an uncertain, more just future.
