Half of the great writers in the world have walked down this carpet to give readings at the Northshire Bookstore in Vermont, one of the country’s most celebrated and influential bookstores. Almost every well-known writer in the country comes here for signings.  Northshire just opened a snazzy new store in Saratoga Springs in a dramatic expansion and I was asked to give a reading for “Second Chance Dogs” there the week the book came out, and I went, it was a nice night with a great crowd. But it bothered me, for 15 years I’ve been giving readings at Northshire’s original Manchester store and some of my readers complained that they wouldn’t get to see me this year, so I asked Northshire if I could go there also, and they graciously said yes.

Northshire’s Manchester store evokes the golden age of bookstores, in which it came of age. There are books all over the place and a staff that loves to talk about them. Northshire, like everything else to do with publishing, is changing, there is a whole floor of children’s books and clothes and sections devoted to soap, hats and Vermont-made clothing. But it still very much feels like a bookstore, it is an especially inviting place to come in the winter, there is a cafe and a lounge where people clack away on their computers and read.

These people are very loyal to me, I wish to return the favor.

I am so glad I did. I am doing a reading and signing at the Chatham, N.Y., Public Library in January, but this reading marks the official end of the main book tour for “Second Chance Dog,” we are coming up on Christmas and I need to turn my attention to my next book. A snow and ice storm was predicted for this evening in Manchester, it was just beginning when I arrived at the book store, we got there early and Red began working the crowd – this remarkable dog worked his way up and down the aisle, saying hello, warming up the crowd while Maria and I waited in the back.

We got a solid crowd – not a full house – of brave souls who ventured out in the weather to see me and talk to me, and we had the kind of book talk I really love – there were lots of good questions and we had a real conversation about animals and our feelings about them. I’ve always had readings like that at Northshire, and I value the audience they attract – Vermont is a special place, an oasis of community and connection in a fragmenting world.  The reading and talk went for more than two hours, I could have stayed another hour but my voice was going fast.

It was the perfect  note to end this very different book tour for my 25th book. It is a pleasure to talk about this book, and I am sorry to see the real world part of the book tour ending, I love talking about this book for many reasons, and people seem to love hearing about it. I’m grateful it ended this way, it felt very right.