Category Archives: books

Reviews! Press! (in the icy cold winter that has descended)

Me giving an author talk at the reading retreat, what a great group.

I write as it is the 4,765th day of cold wind and snow here in Vermont. Since November, winter has come in like a LION. Normally, I embrace it! But this one has started with a vengeance! Below zero, whipping winds, rough driving on the highway. I have been reading, reading. More on that soon, 25 books in 2025.

But first! Did you see this write up of the book tour that just finished up for THE BOARD? There were long sunny drives, unexpected guests, beloved indie bookstore hosts, fellow authors, and a dramatic injury. You can see the details here, with pictures (though I spared you a pic of the ankle). Please follow Draft and Drift on Substack for more updates and musings.

Looking for books to help you you survive a long winter? Might I suggest playing this song and perusing this list from the Burlington Free Press. (So happy to be included here).

Also, I did not remember Courtney Cox from this video. She was everywhere!

And you might have missed this review of TWO new books, including THE BOARD, by Vermonters, out in Seven Days. Here’s a quote from the review:

Vermonters are no strangers to small-town power politics, and it’s easy to root for the single mom in this scenario. While Stewart and his smug, intolerant minions verge on evil cartoons, Farber fleshes out Liv’s background to give more dimensions to her crusade. By standing up to the board, she confronts the sexism that she hopes won’t shape her daughter’s life as it did her own.

I also had the incredible good fortune to be a guest author at a Bridgeside Books reading (and for me, writing) retreat at Sterling Ridge Lodge. It was another cold snowy weekend, but the readers? They were the best! Making it super fun and cozy. And I got to meet the hilarious and inspiring Katherine Center! You can see a quick video here. I had so much fun talking with fellow readers and staying in my cozy cabin.

More soon, but in the meantime, stay warm!

New and Beginning Teachers, this is for YOU (Real Talk for New Teachers open for pre-orders)

A happy graduate, after receiving her degree! Photo credit SMC instagram.

(cross posted at my Substack, Draft and Drift)

Ah, spring. Recently, I cheered my pre-service teachers on at graduation, as they waved at loved ones, smiled, and took in the moment. I’ve listened and given advice as they interviewed, did guest teaching, and landed teaching jobs in Vermont and beyond. They are a bright and talented bunch, full of ideas, enthusiasm, and love for their students and the craft.

I wish them ALLLLL the success. ❤️

I want teaching to be a fulfilling and sustainable profession for them—one where they can thrive without sacrificing their well-being, identity, or personal lives.

This is a big ask.

Because we know the big challenges, there are too many to list here, though I have written about them widely in other places. I wrote a whole book about why teachers leave, and what we need to do to help them stay, but it needed an update, and a change of approach.

I wanted to write something that helped shorten the learning curve for new and beginning teachers. Something that helped them develop a plan right from the beginning. And that is what Penny Bishop, my co-author and fellow champion of new and beginning teachers (and Dean of the Wheelock School of Education at Boston University), tried to do with our new book, Real Talk for New Teachers: Tools for a Sustainable Career.

I’m happy to report that pre-orders (at your favorite bookstore or online retailer) are now open! I hope as students are graduating and launching into their careers, they can create a sustainable plan for teaching that supports them (and beginning teachers, too).

“Real Talk for New Teachers is a MUST for anyone entering the teaching field or in their first years of teaching! This book makes teaching feel “doable” in a holistic manner that starts with the self (living healthily) and moves toward collaborating with others and becoming a leader in the profession.”

—Dr. Stacy Simonyi, Assistant Professor of Education at Saint Michael’s College

Our country needs desperately teachers that are inspiring, engaged, brave, knowledgeable, compassionate, caring and healthy. Teachers that can move through complex emotions, develop strong communities, and work to provide equity, access, belongingness, opportunity and access for their students.

If you know any new or beginning teachers, I hope you will share Real Talk for New Teachers with them! You can pre-order at your local independent book store, or the regular online retailers.

Thanks for reading, be well!

The Board signed pre-orders open (from Bear Pond Books!)

After a long day of teaching and hosting 120 kids on campus, I opened this box of Advanced Reader Copies and THE BOARD became real. Calm is my middle name, obviously.

(cross posted on my Substack newsletter, Draft and Drift)

Okay, as you can see, I’m super chill about getting the Advanced Reader Copies of my new thriller, THE BOARD, out with Blackstone Publishing on September 9th, 2025. This is my debut fiction for adults, and it feels like a fever dream that it is even real. (Here is the moment I opened the box— I fear I screeched).

I wrote this book in the early AM hours, on my couch, while slugging coffee, before heading in to teach fifth graders during the pandemic. My nerves were shot. My eyes were red and barely open. But the world of small town school politics, board takeovers, and narcissistic leaders, took shape in my mind. And the story, well, it is eerily familiar to what many communities (and dare I say, the country) are facing right now, with book banning, funding being pulled for teaching accurate history and practicing inclusion, though taken to the extreme. THE BOARD, over many early mornings and cups of coffee, was born.

THE BOARD is now open for SIGNED pre-orders from my brave, steady, and super informed local bookstore, Bear Pond Books. For these pre-orders I will go down to Bear Pond, happily sit there, and sign them before they ship. In fact, I am super excited to do so. I LOVE this bookstore and effort to support them while also sharing this story with you. And, you’ll get the first signed copies of THE BOARD, delivered to you on the pub day of September 9th!

Here is a blurb about the book (for which I am so grateful):

“Katy Farber writes with verve about the Machiavellian politics of small towns, and the dark secrets they hide. Clever and propulsive, this taut mystery will keep you turning pages until the end.” —Thomas Christopher Greene, bestselling author of The Headmaster’s Wife

Thank you for considering, for reading, and for supporting your local indie bookstore!