Bookstore picks Richmond author’s new novel for 4th ‘One Town, One Book’ summer read

May 1, 2025  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Richmond writer Amy Klinger's second novel, 'Ducks on the Pond,' is Bridgeside Books' One Town, One Book selection for this summer. Book cover image

In what’s become a summer thing in Waterbury, Bridgeside Books has scoured lists of Vermont-connected literature to choose a new work of fiction by a Richmond writer for this summer’s “One Town, One Book,” community reading project.  

Despite a slight delay in the printing process, copies of “Ducks on the Pond,” by Amy Klinger, have arrived at the bookstore this week, according to Bridgeside bookseller Jenna Danyew.

And to get readers started, the bookstore will host Klinger to sign books and talk with local readers on Saturday, May 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

This is the fourth year that Bridgeside has organized a townwide book reading club for the summertime with the goal to “get Waterbury readers on the same page.” The store stocks up on copies of the book for purchase and the Waterbury Public Library will have multiple volumes to lend. Eventually, copies even tend to make their way to some of the town’s nine little free libraries.

The project involves “Always featuring a Vermont author with a story based in Vermont, we hope neighbors find new ways to connect on and off the page,” the announcement explains. 

Past selections have included “The Treehouse on Dog River Road” by Catherine Drake and Annie Selyer’s “The Wisdom of Winter.”

In this year’s book, “Ducks on the Pond,” the main character is a newcomer to Vermont. “This story is about putting down new roots, meeting neighbors, and all the small-town hullabaloo that comes with it,” the announcement explains. “A proposal-gone-wrong, a co-ed softball league, a town controversy that unfolds on a Front Porch Forum lookalike – all wrapped up in a bundle of humor and heart.” 

In choosing this title, Bridgeside staffers said this story is driven by its characters, who epitomize small-town life in Vermont. “From the local hardware store to the quirky innkeeper, we meet many residents. Anyone who has spent any time in the villages and backroads of Vermont will know them, and know them well,” they said. 

Author Klinger is a novelist, freelance writer, and communications professional with an Master of Fine Arts from the University of Utah. Her first novel, published in 2022, was “In Light of Recent Events: A Novel.”