Hardcover Release Date: February 20, 2024
Size: 5.5 x 8.5”
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-57869-160-9
Paperback Release Date: September 12, 2024
Size: 4.3 x 7”
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-179-1
eBook ISBN: 978-1-57869-161-6 Click Here to Buy the eBook!
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023947952
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or with Ingram.

SYNOPSIS

“Covid-19 stole so much. But one of the things it couldn’t steal was the power of stories.”

From the author of the international bestseller The Headmaster's Wife and other novels comes a collection of essays written during the Covid-19 pandemic while the author sheltered in place in his tiny Vermont town. While in isolation, he observed a small town at its best: neighbors helping neighbors, the joys of gardening, the pleasure of a small boy riding his bike, and walks in the park with his dog Hugo. Childhood memories and stories of family life are intertwined, and what the reader gains is a sense of community, family, and belonging.

“​​I sat on my porch, and thought about how small my world had become,” writes Greene. His world, and these stories, may be small, but they show us how grand the human capacity for love; how love is greater than the ills that befall us.

In Notes from the Porch Greene's capacity for true storytelling is at its finest, and it’s a great gift to us all.

Praise

“In this folksy collection, Greene (If I Forget You), a novelist and founder of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, tells feel-good stories about events he witnessed during the Covid-19 lockdowns in Montpelier… The low stakes of the entries capture the quietude of Vermont life. It’s an ideal collection for reading by the fire on a cold night.”

—Publishers Weekly
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“The stories collected here are snapshots of the heart…a satisfying reading.”

—Booklist
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“Simply stated, Notes from the Porch is original, eloquent, inspiring…Timely and timeless.”

—Midwest Book Review
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“A wonderful collection of heartfelt stories, each one a gem that speaks of the power of storytelling to find beauty in chaotic times.”  

—Claire Benedict, co-owner of Bear Pond Books
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“Notes from the Porch is laugh-out-loud funny and tender too. It's romantic and ruthlessly optimistic. You want to feel grim about the state of the world? This book will absolutely not allow it. I know what a funny, observant writer Thomas Christopher Greene is, so when he told me he was compiling his ‘tiny true stories’ into one volume, I thought, yes, how wonderful: David Sedaris meets Chicken Soup for the Soul! But in the end this book is so much more than that. It's about small towns and intersecting lives, it's about heartache and loss, about how to bear what feels unbearable. And mostly it's about what we choose to pay attention to, the easy-to-miss moments that turn out to be magnificent, the easily-overlooked instances of humor and kindness and deep humanity.”

—Miciah Bay Gault, author of Goodnight Stranger
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"A thoroughly engaging, delightful collection of stories." 

—Linda Pilla, membership chair of New Hampshire Library Association
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“These short essays will make your heart jump with joy, make your inner child laugh, and make a tear or two escape at least once. Greene created a great work that is sometimes nostalgic, sometimes brings forth great memories, helps you remember to see the good in people, and also helps you feel a little bit better about the world.”

—Sable Quinn, Star Cat Books
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“There are 44 stories in this book, and 44 good reasons to open it.”

—Tom McKone, The Montpelier Bridge

Reviews & In the News

The Mining Journal, August 24, 2024: New at Peter White Public Library

Seven Days, July 2, 2024: Porch Song: How Vermonters Take It Outside in the Summertime

Burlington Free Press, June 21, 2024: Stay cool by the pool this summer by reading these books with Vermont connections

Seven Days, June 12, 2024: Page 32: Short Takes on Five Vermont Books 

Vermont Public, Vermont Edition, May 22, 2024: Montpelier author Thomas Christopher Greene shares 'tiny true stories' in new book

The Times Argus, May 4, 2024: Capturing a community from his porch

The Secret Bookreview, April 22, 2024: Notes from the Porch

Midwest Book Review, Reviewer’s Bookwatch, April 2024: Carl Logan's Bookshelf on Notes from the Porch

StoryComic Podcast VIDEO, March 14, 2024: Finding Hope on the Porch: A Conversation with Thomas Christopher Greene

Vermont Viewpoint, WDEV, February 23, 2024: Hour 2: Bob Ney, Seven Days, Thomas Christopher Greene - Author

The Montpelier Bridge, February 21, 2024: Book Review: Thomas Christopher Greene’s ‘Notes from the Porch’

JDC Must Read Books, February 2024: Notes From the Porch

The Eagle Times, February 13, 2024: Thomas Christopher Greene’s nonfiction debut of ‘Notes from the Porch

Booklist, February 1, 2024: Review by Kelly Fojtik

Vermont Biz, January 31, 2024: Novelist Greene to release his first work of nonfiction Feb. 20

Star Cat Books, December 7, 2023: I Pray For the Night Notes from the Porch is Released

Publishers Weekly, November 27, 2023, Review: Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better About the World

MEET THE AUTHOR