Shelf Awareness for Thursday, July 20, 2017

This fall, Liz Whitelam will open a new, general-interest independent bookstore in downtown Reading, Mass., called Whitelam Books. The 1,600-square-foot store will have about 1,350 square feet of selling space and carry a variety of genres for both kids and adults, along with a selection of sidelines, including literary-themed products, gift cards and children's toys. Although this is Whitelam's first foray into the bookselling world, opening a store of her own is something that she's wanted to do for a long time.

"The idea has always been out there--I've always wanted to be near books," said Whitelam, who has worked in marketing and been a consultant for much of her career. She recalled reaching a point last year where she decided that at this stage in her life, it was time to dedicate herself to something she really wanted to do. "Last fall I said to my husband, I need to either finally explore opening a bookstore or go to library school."

Whitelam began researching both, but soon found her way to Paz & Associates. After embarking on their program she realized that it was something she "could actually do," she said. She added that during her time as a consultant, she had done plenty of business process work already, and generally for very large companies. Whitelam decided that it was time to do all that, and marketing, for herself.

Liz Whitelam

In addition to doing the Paz & Associates programs, Whitelam has been taking field trips to other bookstores to see how things are done and to pick booksellers' brains. She's joined the American Booksellers Association and the New England Independent Booksellers Association already, and through those organizations she's gone to events and attended webinars. She noted that the vendors she's working with have been extremely helpful, but the thing that has been "valuable beyond measure" is how readily other booksellers have shared their time and knowledge.

"I can't believe the level of support from the bookselling community and how helpful and accommodating they've been," said Whitelam. "It makes all this seem possible."

Whitelam has found a location in downtown Reading along one of the town's main streets. The area sees quite a bit of foot and vehicle traffic, and Whitelam Books will be next door to a bakery and cafe. She explained that she tried especially hard to find somewhere "food adjacent," as the thought of opening a bookstore and a cafe at the same time was too daunting. The space needs some renovation, which Whitelam hopes to be completed by October. Aside from cosmetic updates like re-doing the floors, the renovations will include building a back office area, getting rid of one of the shop's two bathrooms and removing a "giant wall full of yogurt machines" left by the previous tenant, a frozen yogurt shop.

As for inventory, Whitelam described herself as a big fan of literary fiction and plans for that to be one of Whitelam Books' biggest sections. She aims to have a very strong children's section, as there is a "huge desire for that" within Reading's community. There is also no toy store in the immediate area, and Whitelam plans to make the most of that with her children's sidelines. After posting an online survey to a Reading parent group on Facebook, Whitelam was surprised to find that within the community there is a very strong interest in biography and consequently gave it a "higher place on the priority list." Aside from children's toys, her other sideline plans include literary themed items from Litographs and Out of Print, and though she'll carry some greeting cards she doesn't plan to carry a huge amount.

"There's a good gift shop in town. I'm trying hard to not overlap too much with what they have," said Whitelam.

According to Whitelam, the Reading community is highly invested in its schools, libraries and local institutions, and there has been a "groundswell in activity" recently in support of the shop local movement. She reported that there's been a huge level of support for the bookstore within the community: local government, local business owners and the town library have all gotten behind Whitelam Books, and the online survey that she posted got hundreds of more responses than she thought it would.

For events, Whitelam plans to host not only storytime sessions, book clubs and traditional author events but also make her space available for community groups and other organizations, and she's already been talking about partnering for events with the local library. In fact, Whitelam Books will make its debut as a pop-up store during Reading's Fall Street Faire on September 10, which annually draws around 15,000 visitors.

Once renovations are done and the space is good to go, Whitelam plans to have a soft opening and wait a few weeks before throwing the big grand opening party.

"I don't know yet what that looks like," she mused. "There are a lot of great restaurants and bakeries around here, so there will probably be a fair amount of food." --Alex Mutter

In October, Amazon is opening a "small-parcel sorting center" in Crest Hill, Ill., near Chicago, that bears an unusual distinction: Scott McMaster, the town's economic development and zoning manager told Chicago Business that the city offered "no economic incentives."

Usually, Amazon, whose market capitalization is $492 billion and whose stock trades for more than $1,000 a share, receives some kind of government aid when opening warehouses.

The 438,150-square-foot building had been under construction since 2015.

Chapter 1, the English-language bookstore in Luxembourg that opened a second location only a year ago, has filed for bankruptcy, according to Delano. The second location, named the Book Loft, closed "a short time ago."

Chapter 1 was founded in 1993 and bought by Caroline Mühlfenzl in 2012. The Book Loft was located in Howald, Luxembourg, just south of Luxembourg City, in a shopping center that specialized in Irish products.

A year ago, Little Britain, which sold a variety of products, including books, closed. In 2015, Ernster, a family-owned Luxembourg bookstore chain that is 128 years old, opened its first English-language bookstore, in front of the Grand Ducal Palace.

As a part of the celebration of its centennial this year, the Women's National Book Association has awarded the WNBA Second Century Prize, which honors "an organization that supports the power of reading, past, present, and into the future," to the Little Free Library. The award carries a $5,000 grant.

The association praised the Little Free Library for helping "thousands of readers of all ages and backgrounds" and "promoting literacy and the love of reading."

Founded in Hudson, Wis., by Todd Bol to honor his mother, a schoolteacher, the Little Free Library promotes the building of free book exchanges; after eight years there are more than 50,000 libraries in more than 70 countries, where millions of books are exchanged every year.

The WNBA noted that besides "its charming small libraries placed in front yards and public spaces," the Little Free Library has developed other initiatives, including the Kids, Community, and Cops program, which helps police departments set up book exchanges in their precincts, and the Action Book Club, which encourages social engagement through shared reading.

"This means so much," said Todd Bol, creator and executive director of Little Free Library. "Little Free Library is about 90% women, so it really is a women's movement, supporting friends and family and community."

Wm. Theodore de Bary, a renowned Sinologist and Columbia University professor "credited with broadening the way colleges nationwide study Asia," died July 14, the New York Times reported. He was 97. Over the course of his long career, de Bary wrote and edited more than 30 books and received a multitude of academic awards and honors. In 2013 he published his final book, The Great Civilized Conversation: Education for a World Community, and was presented with the National Humanities Medal by President Obama.

De Bary's specific area of study was examining the ways in which Confucian thought and teaching were "interpreted over the centuries." Particularly, he argued that in 17th century China, Confucian thought was interpreted in such a way as to allow for revolutionary action--an argument in direct contradiction of Mao Zedong's view of Confucius as "the consummate reactionary." De Bary also edited a plethora of books that "presented thinkers from various Asian cultures in their own words" and would go on to become academic standards; according to a Times report from 1987, his book Sources of Confucian Tradition was the "fourth-bestselling nonfiction book in universities over the last 25 years."

De Bary was one of five children and raised by his mother after his parents divorced. He changed his name from William to Wm. in order to "distinguish himself from his father." As an undergraduate at Columbia College on full scholarship, de Bary was student body president and won a "bagful of academic honors and scholarships." Upon graduating in 1941, he turned his attention to Japanese studies. He was less than a semester into his fellowship at Harvard when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor; following recruitment by naval intelligence, he served at Pearl Harbor and then in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. He later turned down a job at the State Department to return to academia and earn a master's degree and a doctorate at Columbia. And while studying in Beijing on a Fulbright scholarship in 1949, de Bary was "among the Americans airlifted out of the city when it was surrounded by Mao's revolutionary troops."

He began teaching Asian studies courses at Columbia upon his return to the U.S. and it was not long before he became the head of the department. De Bary formally retired in 1989 but continued to teach classes as an emeritus professor up until this year. His last classes were "Nobility and Civility" and "Asian Humanities," which he taught in the spring.

On Tuesday, chef Preeti Mistry hosted a booksellers dinner at her Oakland, Calif., restaurant, Juhu Beach Club, for her forthcoming book, The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook (Running Press, October 31). Pictured (l. to r.): Brad Johnson of Diesel, Mistry, Paul Yamazaki of City Lights, Garrett Omi of Book Passage and Leigh Atkins of Kepler's.

"Bookworms in Budapest won't be disappointed with its literary offerings: Hungary's capital is home to a number of great independent bookstores. Whether you're looking for English language texts or want to expand your Hungarian repertoire, take a look at our round-up of the best," Culture Trip noted in showcasing its picks for the "best independent bookstores in Budapest." 

Plenty of bookstores have a store cat or a store dog, but the Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, N.C., was visited last Friday by Victor, a blue ribbon-winning miniature horse who entertained kids during storytime. Victor, owned by Randy Jane Crosier, also makes visits to schools and assisted living facilities.

Zoo Zen: A Yoga Story for Kids by Kristen Fischer, illustrated by Susi Schaefer (Sounds True).

Tomorrow:
Live with Kelly and Ryan: Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (Rodale, $25.99, 9781635651089).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, July 22
1 p.m. David Rothkopf, author of The Great Questions of Tomorrow (Simon & Schuster/TED, $16.99, 9781501119941), at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 9 a.m.)

4 p.m. James Stavridis, author of Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans (Penguin Press, $28, 9780735220591).

5 p.m. Peter Eisner, author of MacArthur's Spies: The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II (Viking, $28, 9780525429654). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)

7 p.m. Steven Clifford, author of The CEO Pay Machine: How It Trashes America and How to Stop It (Blue Rider Press, $23, 9780735212398), at Book Culture in New York City. (Re-airs Monday at 1:30 a.m.)

8 p.m. David King, author of The Trial of Adolf Hitler: The Beer Hall Putsch and the Rise of Nazi Germany (Norton, $27.95, 9780393241693), at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

8:50 p.m. Dr. Willie Parker, author of Life's Work: A Moral Argument for Choice (Atria/37 INK, $25, 9781501151125), at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 1:30 p.m.)

10 p.m. Sharyl Attkisson, author of The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote (Harper, $27.99, 9780062468161). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. James D. Zirin, author of Supremely Partisan: How Raw Politics Tips the Scales in the United States Supreme Court (Rowman & Littlefield, $28, 9781442266360). (Re-airs Sunday at 7 p.m.)

Sunday, July 23
1 p.m. Joan Waugh, author of The American War: A History of the Civil War Era (Flip Learning, $30, 9780991037537). (Re-airs Monday at 1 a.m.)

4 p.m. Gar Alperovitz, author of What Then Must We Do?: Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution (Chelsea Green, $17.95, 9781603585040), at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 4 a.m.)

8 p.m. Finn Murphy, author of The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road (Norton, $26.95, 9780393608717), at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

10 p.m. Steve Early, author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City (Beacon Press, $27.95, 9780807094266), at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Md.

Shortlists have been announced for the 2017 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, CBC Books reported. Winners will be unveiled this fall, with adult and YA fiction winners each receiving C$1,000 (about US$790), and the winner of the short story category receiving C$500 (about US$395). The shortlisted titles include:

Adult fiction
Necessity by Jo Walton
The Witches of New York by Ami McKay
Spells of Blood and Kin by Claire Humphrey
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson

YA fiction
Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard by Jonathan Auxier
Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley
The Inn Between by Marina Cohen
Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan
The Skids by Ian Donald Keeling

---

Molly Reid won the BOA Short Fiction Prize for her collection The Rapture Index: A Suburban Bestiary. Reid will receive a $1,000 honorarium and book publication by BOA Editions, within the American Reader Series in spring 2019.

BOA publisher Peter Conners said, "The ingredients for Molly Reid's The Rapture Index: A Suburban Bestiary: whimsy, spiked with darkness, splashed with mystery, and served in a brilliant chalice of literary cut crystal. The glass breaks, the liquid spills out, and we stand in awe of the shimmering (and dangerous) shards that slice like heartbreak, and shiver like bittersweet memory. Drink deep; this book is an intoxicant."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, July 25:

Chester B. Himes: A Biography by Lawrence P. Jackson (Norton, $35, 9780393063899) is the biography of the groundbreaking African American author.

Empire Made: My Search for an Outlaw Uncle Who Vanished in British India by Kief Hillsbery (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25, 9780547443317) explores a family mystery about an East India Company clerk who went missing in 19th-century Nepal.

Deadfall by Linda Fairstein (Dutton, $28, 9781101984048) is the 19th mystery with New York City assistant DA Alexandra Cooper.

The Lying Game: A Novel by Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout Press, $26.99, 9781501156007) is a thriller about four friends who share a deadly secret from their boarding school days.

Paradise Valley: A Novel by C.J. Box (Minotaur, $27.99, 9781250051042) tracks the hunt for a truck stop serial killer called the Lizard King.

Fierce Kingdom: A Novel by Gin Phillips (Viking, $25, 9780735224278) is a thriller about a mother and son trying to survive deadly events at a zoo.

Amanda Wakes Up by Alisyn Camerota (Viking, $26, 9780399563997) is the debut novel of a CNN anchor about a TV reporter who lands her dream job.

Mama Lion Wins the Race by Jon J. Muth (Scholastic, $17.99, 9780545852821) is a picture book that uses Italian motor racing and stuffed animals to show how competition can be fun and fair.

Far from the Tree (Young Adult Edition) by Andrew Solomon and adapted by Laurie Calkhoven (Simon & Schuster, $18.99, 9781481440905) answers for young readers the question, "What happens when the apple does fall far from the tree?"

Paperbacks:
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power by Al Gore (Rodale, $25.99, 9781635651089) follows up on Gore's original global warming warning.

The Moores Are Missing by James Patterson (Grand Central, $9.99, 9781478971634).

The Wildling Sisters by Eve Chase (Putnam, $27, 9780399174131).

Movie:
From the Land of the Moon, based on the novel by Milena Agus, opens July 28. Marion Cotillard stars as a married 1950s French woman who falls for another man while on a medical retreat in the Alps.

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
We Shall Not All Sleep by Estep Nagy (Bloomsbury, $26, 9781632868411). "I was completely immersed in this perfectly constructed novel of two families vacationing on an island in Maine during the Cold War summer of 1964. Nagy contrasts the warm, idyllic, beautifully rendered setting with the chill of manipulations and deceptions both personal and political. The family dynamics could best be summed up by the father, who explains to his young son how important it is to 'learn when to lie, to whom, and to do it well.' "--Sarah Goddin, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C.

Hardcover
Drunks: An American History by Christopher M. Finan (Beacon Press, $29.95, 9780807001790). "The long and evolving history of alcoholism and corresponding sobriety movements in America is fascinating, for both its colorful characters and its complex interface with religion and the sciences. In Finan's astute, well-researched, and entertaining narrative, this story of sober drunks offers both understanding and insight into a critically important subject whose nature has long been occluded and subsumed in stigma." --Kenny Brechner, Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers, Farmington, Me.

Paperback
The Trouble With Goats and Sheep: A Novel by Joanna Cannon (Scribner, $16, 9781501121906). "Best friends Grace and Tilly spend England's sweltering summer of 1976 sleuthing for clues to uncover the reason for their neighbor's disappearance. They go from house to house, neighbor to neighbor, investigating as only guileless little girls can do. While they're at it, they also look for god in the most unusual places. As the mystery of the neighborhood is slowly revealed, so are the many secrets behind every door on the avenue. If you loved A Man Called Ove, you will love The Trouble With Goats and Sheep. Funny, quirky and profound!" --Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Colo.

For Ages 4 to 8
Amanda Panda Quits Kindergarten by Candice Ransom, illustrated by Christine Grove (Doubleday, $17.99, 9780399554551). "The first day of kindergarten sure is tough for Amanda Panda. Nothing is going the way she expected, and quitting seems to be the only option. Luckily for Amanda Panda, Bitsy wants to be her friend. Together they learn to conquer all the challenges of kindergarten." --Kidron Mariotti, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, N.C.

For Ages 9 to 12
The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu (Katherine Tegen, $16.99, 9780062352750). "There is nothing like a best friend, and Clover knows that Danny will always be hers. Now in fifth grade, Clover is passionate about science, facts, and compiling evidence. When Danny suddenly becomes gravely ill and the doctors can't give him a diagnosis, Clover makes Danny her project for the science fair and keeps a notebook about Danny's symptoms to assist the doctors in any way she can. But a bit of magic takes over science: Danny always seems to improve or feel a little better when Clover is close to him. Clover and Danny make plans to embark on an incredible adventure with their own special wishes in mind. This wistful novel full of the love of a deep friendship will make you wish that Clover and Danny were your friends. I enjoyed their journey so much!" --Joanne Doggart, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Chatham, Mass.

For Teen Readers
Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (HarperTeen, $17.99, 9780062393548). "Three young women who will never meet but whose paths are intertwined in startling ways are linked together over space and time by their indomitable spirit and their desire for a better future. Adri is one of a chosen few to help colonize Mars in 2065 after climate change has irreversibly damaged Earth. Catherine's family farms in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl era and faces grim choices to survive. Lenore, an Englishwoman traumatized in World War I, decides to leave for America. All three young women must choose to start their lives anew and recreate themselves in ways they can barely imagine. Readers of all ages will be surprised by their connection and moved by the sincerity of their hope." --Cindy Pauldine, The River's End Bookstore, Oswego, N.Y.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Defense attorney Ed de Torres, the North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services and the Center on Actual Innocence all believed Willie J. Grimes was innocent of the rape for which he was convicted in 1988. Appeals were filed on his behalf, but despite the police investigation being careless and the witness identification suspicious, no part of his trial created cause for a reversal. The process functioned correctly, but the outcome was wrong. DNA was in its infancy in 1988, and, later, when the Center on Actual Innocence attempted to investigate Grimes's case, they were unable to locate any of the physical evidence from the original trial; officials could not explain what happened to it. For nearly a quarter of a century, everyone's hands were tied; no one was able to do anything to help Grimes.

Christine Mumma was a clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court justice Beverly Lake when she became frustrated with cases where individuals' guilt seemed questionable. Lake reminded her that the case of Herrera v. Collins found that the higher court " 'does not focus on whether the trier of fact made the correct guilt or innocence determination, but rather whether it made a rational decision to convict or acquit....' By the time a defendant reached Lake's chambers, his guilt was no longer the question." But Mumma simply couldn't accept this.

Ghost of the Innocent Man is the story of Grimes's fight to prove his innocence and Mumma's battle to improve the catastrophic situation of scant recourse when a jury's determination of guilt is wrong. Her work with people from all sides of the courtroom and along the political spectrum helped found the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (IIC). Without the IIC, Grimes and many others like him would doubtless still be in jail.

Author Benjamin Rachlin's thorough investigation of the subject provides an astonishing look at the United States justice system that will educate and incense readers. Likewise, his study of the heroic individuals working--or more often simply volunteering--tirelessly to mend an inhumane and flawed system will inspire hope. Rachlin spotlights how these people put humanity above profit, prestige and pride.

With these heroes, Rachlin's work of nonfiction reads like a legal thriller. His vivid language leads the audience down prison hallways as well as through despairing minds. Rachlin also reminds his readers that the imprisoned are still human beings through his honesty, empathy and descriptions: "Week after week, [Grimes's] memories strained an inch further--their colors bleached a shade paler, their voices calling a decibel softer--until he had worn them nearly threadbare."

Ghost of the Innocent Man proves that Appeals judge Learned Hand was tragically mistaken in 1923, when he stated, "Our dangers do not lie in too little tenderness to the accused. Our procedure has always been haunted by the ghost of the innocent man convicted. It is an unreal dream." In the United States, where no fewer than 2,000 convicted individuals have been exonerated since 1989, the story of Willie J. Grimes illustrates just how dangerous Learned Hand's erroneous belief is. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Shelf Talker: The story of a wrongly convicted man in North Carolina parallels the creation of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission in this startling examination of the U.S. justice system.