The Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough

09/16/2026

The heavens count a bright new star among their number. Annie Dillard, the preeminent American author, has passed away. She was a beacon to so many - a preacher of the enthusiastic, an advocate for the unnoticed, and a practitioner of life lived in search of purpose divine and personal. Her influence transcends language, borders, faith, creed, and race - her words and her being have been carried on by the current of her readers towards parts unknown where she now resides, a lodestar shining brightly, waiting to show the wayward their way home.

“What I aim to do is not so much learn the names of the shreds of creation that flourish in this valley, but to keep myself open to their meanings, which is to try to impress myself at all times with the fullest possible force of their very reality. I want to have things as multiply and intricately as possible present and visible in my mind. Then I might be able to sit on the hill by the burnt books where the starlings fly over and see not only the starlings, the grass field, the quarried rock, the viney woods, Hollins Pond, and the mountains beyond, but also, and simultaneously, feathers’ barbs, springtails in the soil crystal in the rock, chloroplasts streaming, rotifers pulsing, and the shape of the air in the pines. And if I keep my eye on quantum physics, if I try to keep up with astronomy and cosmology and really believe it all, I might ultimately be able to make out the landscape of the universe. Why not?” - Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

09/14/2026

An inspirational guide to discussing and fighting climate change for millennial and GenZ voters that cuts through the usual myths and scare tactics to provide practical advice.

Will Hackman is a Millennial, and he is pi**ed. Two wars, two global economic catastrophes, and a pandemic combined with a ballooning cost-of-living crisis and crushing student loan debt can do that to a person. But there’s one thing that compounds these challenges that is unequaled in human history: the ticking time bomb of fossil fuel emissions. Millennials and Gen-Zers will be left to deal with the worst of the climate change fallout well after those responsible have passed away. And we have never been more divided.

Join us at The Toadstool Bookshop this Thursday evening for an author talk with Will Hackman (Will Hackman).

09/04/2026

Bookshop visitors 💘📚

08/31/2026

Two books Emerson highly recommends you check out 🌀

Kafkaesque
by Maïa Hruska, Translated by Sam Taylor
A lively inquiry into a literary genius, the translators who immortalized him, and what it means to cultivate a rich inner life in turbulent times

The Edges of the World
by Charles Foster
We tend to think that everything important comes from the centre: from big cities, from established orthodoxies in the sciences and the arts, from the Establishment in all its forms. We think this because the centre tells us it is so, but it’s a lie. It is only at the edges that we think, innovate and thrive.

08/29/2026

Cooler weather calls for cozy recipes on hand! Here are 4 cookbooks we recommend checking out.

🍕🍜🥦🥡🥙🍯🍴

King Arthur Baking Company’s Book of Pizza: Recipes for Every Pizza Maker

The bakers at King Arthur Baking Company researched, tested, (and tasted!) hundreds of pizzas and cooking methods to craft the most comprehensive guide yet to making exceptional pizza at home. Organized around twelve iconic styles — including New York, New Haven, Chicago Tavern, Grandma, Neapolitan, and more — the book dives deep into every element of a stellar pie, from dough and sauce to cheese, toppings, and the bake.

Bad B*tch in The Kitch: Cravable Asian Recipes to Ditch the Takeout by Cassie Yeung

Add some razzle dazzle to your home cooking with 80 recipes for your favorite Asian takeout dishes from culinary influencer Cassie Yeung

Stay for Supper: Laid-back Vegetarian Food to Share
Whether you’re feeding two, four or ten, Stay for Supper shows you how it can be effortlessly delicious.

Xanthe’s laid-back style of cooking centers around the idea that every meal should be a celebration of the food we’re eating and a chance to enjoy the people we’re eating with. Stay for Supper is a collection of vegetarian dishes from the queen of supper clubs, with recipes that can be scaled up or down or paired with other recipes, depending on how many you’re feeding.

Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka by Cynthia Shanmugalingam

More than 80 lush Sri Lankan recipes for fresh dinners, cold drinks, and sticky sweets that prove small islands can bring big flavors

08/11/2026

Our Town ❤️

Thank you, MAXT Makerspace, for once again putting on the event we all look forward to each year. And thank you, Peterborough Players, for filling the evening (& summer) with such lovely music and performance.

08/07/2026

We’re open until 7 tonight to celebrate this fabulous Night Market occasion! Step inside, browse, and cool off ✌️ then get back out there and enjoy all the fun.

08/04/2026