Welcome to Episode 163! Both of us had some solo Biblio Adventures, but we also went on an EPIC Joint Jaunt to New Hampshire. We visited all three Toadstool Bookstores — Nashua, Peterborough, and Keene — in a day! We left Guilford (CT) at 7 a.m. and got home twelve hours later, just before 7 p.m. In total, we visited four bookshops, two libraries, one Little Free Library (that we forgot to mention in the episode!), and also had a photo op in front of Yankee Publishing in Dublin, NH (Home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac and Yankee Magazine). An awesome day!

We are so excited to talk with Shelley Puhak, author of THE DARK QUEENS: THE BLOODY RIVALRY THAT FORGED THE MEDIEVAL WORLD. This joint history of two sixth-century queens, Brunhild and Fredegund, is a well-written, accessible, and fascinating account of two women whose lives and stories are so vital, that they could not be swept under the carpet of patriarchal history (well, at least not forever!). The Dark Queens is a great read for all, even those who consider themselves, like Emily, history-scaredy-cats. The wounds of grade- and high school history reading can run deep. Narrative history like Puhak’s book entertains, educates, and reminds us that history belongs to everyone.