Bookstores We Love: Toadstool Bookshops
In celebration of the spirit of independent bookstores, in each edition of our 2026 newsletter we’ll feature a New Hampshire bookseller. This month we are shining a spotlight on Toadstool Bookshops, with two locations, Peterborough (12 Depot Square) and Keene (12 Emerald Street).
In 2023, the Toadstool Bookshops in Keene and Peterborough acquired new owners, more than 50 years after co-founder Willard Williams launched the independent stores. The Sistare family of Peterborough and Dublin took over the store’s two Monadnock region branches (a third, in Nashua, has become Balin Books). Owner Emerson Sistare notes that Toadstool Bookshops, like other independent bookstores, reflects the community in which it was planted. “Our goal and mission is not just to provide an enchanting selection of wonderful books and music, but to reinforce the values of who we are as a community, challenge who we want to become, and remind our readers of who we have been,” he says. “There are no institutions that so actively work to embody their communities as independent bookstores do, and we hope that The Toad does our community the justice it so readily deserves."
Both Toadstool shops feature similar offerings: new and used books, a plethora of choices for children, and their own cafes. Additionally, the Keene location hosts The Untitled Writers Group, which meets the first Wednesday of the month, and writing workshops, including an upcoming event with Laura Kopchick.
Each Toadstool Bookshop has a full calendar of events, including the following in June:
Peterborough, June 24: Thomas S. Mullaney and James M. Tabor discuss their new releases: How We Disappear: A Personal History of Information, and Lighting Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age
Keene, June 20: Ernest Thompson, screenwriter of “On Golden Pond,” will present and sign his newest book, Out Clause.
If you need added incentive to visit either Toadstool location, their newest merch, Toad-Totes and coffee mugs, sport illustrations created by Caldecott winner (and NH resident) Beth Krommes.
Toadstool Bookshop Picks
A Time to Gather: How Ritual Created the World--And How It Can Save Us by Bruce Feiler.
One of our great decoders of human connection chronicles the astonishing rise of new rituals around the world, and offers a road map for restoring togetherness with gatherings you'll love.
This Could All Go Bad by Spencer Hall
One night can change everything in this hilarious and heartfelt novel perfect for young teens about to start high school... ideal for former fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler.
In this speculative novel, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows with a magnificent secret of their own to protect.
