Bookstores We Love: Innisfree Bookshop
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 Innisfree Bookshop, which has two locations: Meredith (312 Daniel Webster Highway, Mill Falls Marketplace) and Laconia (630 Main Street).
Innisfree Bookshop, a woman-owned business, occupies 5,000 square feet at the Meredith location. A general interest bookstore, Innisfree has thrived since 1984. The store carries books for children, teens and adults, and everything from fiction to nonfiction, literary classics, to beach-reads, and international bestsellers to New Hampshire-focused history books. As for non-book products, Innisfree Bookshop has a variety of games, puzzles, toys and stuffed animals. The Laconia location is smaller, but sits in the heart of town, and has an extensive collection of local history books. Both locations are open seven days each week.
Owner Casey Gerken says of Innisfree: “We have the pleasure of an amazing community of customers and fellow business owners. The year-round readers that choose to call us their indie bookstore is incredible, and we would be so lonely most of the year without them. And we also have an incredible community of visitors who keep the summer months exciting. Some of those customers have family homes around the lake and it is not uncommon to, quite literally, watch readers grow up over their summer visits through the years. We have customers who came with their grandparents and now bring their own kids! It's really fun to watch. I don't know that many stores in a seasonal area like ours feel like they are part of a community all year round.”
A recent visit on a rainy day found the Meredith location mobbed with eager readers both young and old, seeking entertainment, gifts for friends, and advice from the knowledgeable staff. Three overflowing bookshelves offered staff picks, and there were extensive displays of both White Mountain and New England books. One especially interesting offering was Hungry for Summer, billed as “a unique collection of favorite recipes from the island residents of Lake Winnipesaukee.
—Elaine Loft
Innisfree Bookshop has a full calendar of author events, including the following in August:
Julie Carrick Dalton Signing
Saturday Aug 1st, 2026, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Julie Carrick Dalton is celebrating the release of her newest novel, The Forest Becomes Her, a gorgeous, hopeful novel about three women from different generations navigating the complexities of family, the impacts of our choices, and our deep connections to the natural world beneath our feet. Dalton will talk about her work, and sign copies of all three of her books. Dalton is also a 2026 NH Book Festival author!
Ana Hebra Flaster
Thursday, August 6, 6:00-7:00 PM (Meredith Public Library)
In conjunction with Meredith Public Library, Innisfree is hosting Ana Hebra Flaster, author of Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town. In this sweeping, historical, yet intimate memoir, the author details her family’s transformation from pro-Castro revolutionaries in a scrappy Havana barrio, to refugees in a New Hampshire mill town—a timeless and timely tale of loss and reinvention.
