Louise Penny, Beth Kanell and "Reading Local"

Visiting the Rutland Free Library and found this beautiful fireplace. I'm not sure about where you live, but here in Vermont, "buying local" is a big thing. It usually refers to food (we have a lot of great farms in the state) but sometimes refers to other things such as buying from your local, small business instead of a big box store. 

Reading local is something that I'm interested in. Turns out, I'm not the only one. I'm seeing more and more libraries in the area with special displays of local authors, and small, independent book stores, too. 

Wouldn't it be fun to create a challenge and try to read more local authors? I'm still toying with ideas of how to do this...

In the meantime I learned that semi-local author, Louise Penny, has a new book coming out this year. Kay at Kay's Reading Life just posted about it . If you're a fan of Ms. Penny's then you'll definitely want to snag a copy when Kingdom of the Blind comes out. 

Another local author whose book I'm enjoying right now is Beth Kanell's. Her most recent novel is called, The Long Shadow , and is a historical YA mystery. I'd started this book, gotten bogged down with other things and just picked it up again. I'm so glad that I did! Ms. Kanell's voice is true and pure, her attention to historical detail is mind-blowing and the story is thoroughly enjoyable. 

What local books do you like? Is there a local author who you'd love to meet? Please share in the comments.