Because of Independence Day, we are skipping tomorrow's issue and will see you again on Monday, July 7. Enjoy the holiday!

"Like libraries, indie bookstores are beacons of a decent, flourishing society. I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by books, not just in school but at home. Every indie bookstore I've visited has its own personality and, most important, knowledgeable, book-loving owners and staff. People who own indie bookstores aren't in it for the money, they're in it because they know how amazing, and amazingly essential, books are for humans to thrive, individually, and in society. More indies = better world."

"As a kid, I loved nothing more than my mum running errands on a Saturday, because she would drop me off at the local bookshop while she did so. It was a glorious moment, to enter that bookshop: the door jangled, the smell of the books hit, the bookseller called a greeting from behind shelves, and I went off to find them for recommendations for my next adventure. And then, for two to three hours, I was gone, deeply absorbed in some new series (I had an intense The Famous Five phase, a hardcore Tintin phase, a Redwall era).

"I was always late being picked up afterwards. Mum had to toot the horn to bring me back to earth. I never understood--and still don't understand--quite what happens to time, when plunged in a book's pages. (Are they books or are they spells?)"

Strand owner Nancy Bass Wyden at the Lincoln Center store.

The Strand Book Store has officially opened its new location on New York City's Upper West Side. 

It is the second Strand location on the Upper West Side and resides at 2020 Broadway, near Lincoln Center, in a space that previously housed the last remaining Shakespeare & Co. store. The space spans 2,500 square feet and includes a cafe that hasn't reopened yet; the Strand is waiting on permits from the city. The store stocks books for all ages--the Strand's traditional mix of new, used, and rare books--along with a variety of gifts and merchandise, including Studio Strand items.

When the Strand announced the news in May, owner Nancy Bass Wyden said the Strand will continue to employ the current Shakespeare & Co. staff and baristas.

ILovetheUpperWestside offered a tour of the new store.

Matt Lee has sold the Bookworm of Edwards in Edwards, Colo., to longtime bookseller and manager Christopher Green, effective July 1. An entrepreneur and local resident, Lee purchased the nearly 28-year-old bookstore from Nicole Magistro in 2020.

Christopher Green (l.) and Matt Lee

The Bookworm was originally launched by Kathy Westover and Neda Jansen, who took it from its origins as a mobile book van to its first storefront. Subsequent owners Kristi Allio and Nicole Magistro moved the store to its current location and opened the cafe. Magistro became sole owner in 2013 before selling to Lee in 2020. 

During his tenure as owner, Lee improved employee compensation and benefits ahead of state and industry standards, the bookstore noted. He also steered the store's expansion in 2023, adding 1,000 square feet to the storefront.

"I am very grateful for my time as the owner and steward of this amazing place," he said. "Your support allows a truly amazing team of talented people to grow and thrive in a place they cherish. I am glad to be passing the baton to someone who is so passionate and knowledgeable about bookselling, and who could not be more dedicated to the store's mission and longevity."

Green has been with the Bookworm since 2011, starting as a part-time bookseller and becoming store manager in 2012. During his career, he has been involved at many levels of the bookselling industry, including serving on the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association board for two terms and as the president for two years (2020 and 2021). 

"In the Bookworm, I have found friends, community, a life, and livelihood," he reflected. "I found a passion for the work of serving our community. I found an industry that forms one of the most important keystones of a free society.... The Bookworm is a vibrant small business that depends on our community to continue to thrive. But, it also serves that vital role of changing a collection of people in proximity to each other into a community. Maybe I'm being grandiose. I'm definitely biased. I 'drank the Kool-Aid' a long time ago."

Noting that this fall the Bookworm will celebrate its 28th anniversary, Green added: "I will celebrate my 14th year with the store shortly after that. I take a little joy in knowing both of these happen in the year I take ownership and that moving forward I can say that I've been a part of The Bookworm for more than half its existence."

Lee observed: "Change is constant. This bookstore has thrived when faced with challenges, like economic ups and downs, a pandemic, and increasingly competitive online retail. Despite those challenges, we've grown and become more invested in our community every step of the way. I'm so glad that our year-round locals from Edwards and Eagle County and visiting community members from all over the world appreciate the value of supporting local independent businesses. We wouldn't be able to do it without you."

Page, Print & Pint, a new and used bookstore in Keokuk, Iowa, will open this Saturday, July 5, the Daily Gate reported. 

Owners Willow Carrington and Katarina Page have found a space at 401 Main St., Suite 1, and will carry titles for all ages with an emphasis on fantasy and romance. The store's nonbook offerings include tote bags, stickers, mugs, candles, and more. One of the bookstore's rooms also features a large, fantasy-inspired mural.

Both Page and Carrington are full-time healthcare workers and began selling blind dates with a book about a year ago. Their appearances at various vendor events met with good feedback, and they began saving up to open a bricks-and-mortar store. In April, Carrington learned that a space was available, and they decided to take the plunge. 

The owners are keeping their jobs in healthcare and initially the bookstore will be open only on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.

The grand opening festivities will feature visits from nine local authors as well as a raffle. Every 10th sale will also receive a free blind date with a book.

Former lawyer Kirstin Gulling is "making good on a dream she had as a law student in the early 1990s" by purchasing the Bookies bookstore in Denver, Colo., from Nicole Sullivan, who will stay on through the end of 2025 to assist with the transition, BusinessDen reported. Gulling took over operations effective July 1. 

Kirstin Gulling, new owner of Denver's The Bookies.

"The hard work of turning the business around is mostly behind us," noted Sullivan, who also owned BookBar in the city's Berkeley neighborhood before closing it in 2023. 

Sullivan had assumed ownership of the Bookies in 2021--after the death of founder Sue Lubeck--and moved it from Glendale to the current 7,000-square-foot location at 2085 S. Holly St. last year to gain more visibility and provide room for growth. Sullivan had been looking for a buyer since March. 

"I've so enjoyed putting my skills and knowledge to use to set this beloved, iconic Denver bookstore up for success for years to come. I believe Kirstin is the right person to take it from here. Her enthusiasm, passion, and expertise will carry the Bookies into its next 50 years," said Sullivan. "The next step is to grow sales and get customers in the door and back in the door. I think Kirstin's going to be really good at that. New energy, fresh pair of eyes, and also hands-on."

Gulling's vision for the Bookies is rooted in warmth, inclusivity, and a passionate commitment to literacy and education. "This isn't just a business to me. It's a promise that the Bookies will flourish for another 50 years and beyond while staying true to the things that make it so special," she said, adding: "It's exciting in all the ways, especially because I have something to build on. There's a talented community of people who already work and visit here." 

Gulling also observed that the Bookies' mission fits with her own: "You have this long legacy of the bookstore being for educators and young children, and, under Nicole's leadership, into more of a community space. It's my community. I live down the street, literally over a mile away, and I would love to help it expand on what Nicole has already done here.... My vision is to keep the Bookies a warm, welcoming place."

She added: "This place has been around for a little over 50 years, and my main goal is to have it go for another 50 years. I'm open to trying everything to make this place stick around."

This past weekend marked the 20th anniversary of our first issue of Shelf Awareness Pro, which went out to a short friends & family list of subscribers. In those days, founders John Mutter and Jenn Risko did most of the work and rarely caught their breaths. We've grown a bit since then.

Over the years, we've added new products, including Shelf Awareness for Readers, Maximum Shelf, Dedicated issues, GLOW (Galley Love of the Week), the Pre-Order E-Blast, and our Job Board--all in an effort to help make it easier for booksellers do their jobs and to spread the word about books and authors. We've also added more than a dozen staff members and a range of freelance reviewers and other contributors. This year, new products have included the Kids/YA Pre-Order E-Blast and Extra! issues, and as we begin to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we have plans for more and redesigned products and initiatives in 2025 and 2026.

For helping us reach this milestone, we offer heartfelt thanks to our friends throughout this exceptional industry: readers, booksellers, wholesalers, distributors, publishers, authors, agents, and book lovers of all kinds. This is a special community that in this difficult time we treasure all the more. Together we will persevere, and we can't wait to celebrate our 25th and 30th anniversaries with you.

Today we want to express special gratitude to the Shelf Awareness staff, who work hard, smart, diligently, and with elan:

CEO Neil Standberg is thoughtful, incisive, and is a wizard at all things tech (key at Shelf Awareness!), HR, organization, conducting meetings, and more.

Publisher Matt Baldacci is responsible for sales and the strategic direction of the company and is always brimming with creative ideas, new approaches, and new products that can help the industry spread the word about books and sell more books.

CFO Richard Jobes has been with Shelf Awareness from the very beginning, when he first did what he continues to do so well: run the numbers, then give wise, invaluable counsel that transcends the numbers.

Partnership marketing manager Kristianne Huntsberger works cheerfully and helpfully with more than 300 bookstore partners on the Readers and Pre-Order E-Blast programs and is the face of Shelf Awareness at trade shows across the country.

Contributing editor Robert Gray reports about movies and TV, book-related social media posts, obituaries, and much more, but we thank him especially for his nearly 20 years of writing one of the best weekly columns on bookselling.

Managing editor Robin Lenz has the often thankless task of managing a fast-moving, constantly changing editorial landscape and making sure that Shelf Awareness departs into the world on time and accurately.

Associate editor Alex Mutter is an excellent reporter and features writer who handles the most sensitive topics with flair, clarity, and accuracy, and covers myriad conferences and shows in the U.S. and abroad.

Senior editor Dave Wheeler is Shelf Awareness's tastemaker for adult book reviews and author interviews, highlighting the best, most interesting, promising books and authors.

Children's and YA editor Siân Gaetano heads our children's/YA coverage, particularly reviews and author interviews, with passion, tenacity, thoroughness, and dedication.

Associate editor Elaine Cho ably helps choose, edit, and traffic adult book reviews and author interviews, managing the several dozen reviewers on our roster and mediating the editing process for each with great care, patience, and humor.

Production assistant Casey Stryer makes sure that all of the partner mailings function correctly and look good, has a meticulous attention to detail, and is one of the best troubleshooters, knowing everything about procedures and how things work here at the Shelf.

Publishing assistant Madison Gaines juggles and places thousands of ads in Shelf Awareness and works with publishers to make their ads look as good as possible. She's often ready with a joke or riddle, and as a former bookseller at Third Place in Seattle, she has a good instinct for bookseller interests.

Sales assistant Jess Mayfield, who joined Shelf Awareness in September after working at Village Books and Elliott Bay Book Company, has already had a direct impact on increasing sales by establishing great working relationships with our advertisers.

Marilyn Dahl, our former longtime reviews editor, has an amazing ability to pick out great works, from poetry and literature to books about football, and she now focuses on Max Shelves and GLOWs.

Art director Alex Baker is Shelf Awareness's graphic design guru, who in every context provides a look that conveys our essence.

John Barich, an ordained minister known at the Shelf as "Padre," is an ebullient figure who does yeoman's work sorting and keeping track of the many galleys we receive every day.

Tobias Mutter is one of Shelf Awareness's long-term contributors, who started doing back-office work while in high school. Adept at everything from compiling Media Heat to writing an insightful review to inputting stories, we're delighted to say that he is officially joining the staff today.

And again, we thank you, our devoted readers!

Send comments, congratulations, condolences, etc., here.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that parents of children in public schools who object to LGBTQ+ picture books may opt out of lessons or instruction involving those books. The case was brought by three sets of parents against the Montgomery County (Md.) Board of Education, objecting on religious grounds to books that are LGBTQ+ inclusive and had been approved as supplemental curriculum for the schools' language arts program. The ruling was roundly denounced by members of the book world.

The American Booksellers Association issued this response: "American Booksellers for Free Expression is deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. Taylor, singling out LGBTQIA2S+ books for special scrutiny to provide parents with 'opt-outs' of their inclusive messaging. The plaintiffs in the case allege that the First Amendment rights of certain parents were violated because the 'normative' messages in the books--that LGBTQIA2S+ identities, marriages, and communities exist and should be respected--violated the religious upbringing of the students. In its defense, Montgomery County Public Schools argued that such opt-outs would be burdensome, counter to its policies of inclusion, and would adversely affect LGBTQIA2S+ students in the district. We agree.

"An 'opt-out' does not just impact the students whose parents choose to exercise it. As Justice Sotomayor notes in her dissent, 'many school districts, and particularly the most resource strapped, cannot afford to engage in costly litigation over opt-out rights... Schools may instead censor their curricula, stripping material that risks generating religious objections. The Court's ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset of parents the right to veto curricular choices long left to locally elected school boards.' This decision subjects LGBTQIA2S+-inclusive books to a special scrutiny based on their ideas, stigmatizing LGBTQIA2S+ children and families while letting the religious views of some parents dictate curriculum for all students.

"Today's ruling impacts educators, parents, and students, but it does not determine what booksellers can do. Indie bookstores can continue to offer third spaces where tolerance and pluralism are uplifted if they so choose. But that does not erase the stigma that will attach to inclusive books as a result of this ruling, and it does not undo the shame some children will experience when their peers have to leave the room because of characters in whom they see themselves reflected. We stand with teachers, parents, students, and educators as they navigate the uncertain waters in the wake of this ruling."

In addition, ABFE listed the books objected to in the suit "to help any who feel a desire to support the authors in some way in their store":

Pride Puppy! by Robin Stevenson, illus. by Julie McLaughlin (Orca)
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen, illus. by Lucia Soto (little bee books)
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Carolyn Choi, LaToya Council, and Chelsea Johnson, illus. by Ashley Seil Smith (Dottir Press)
My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal, illus. by Art Twink (Kokila)
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illus. by Stevie Lewis (little bee books)
Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illus. by Charlene Chua (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson, illus. by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Crown Books for Young Readers)
Jacob's Room to Choose by Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman, illus. by Chris Case (Magination Press)
What Are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke, illus. by Anne Passchier (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Penguin Random House, which filed an amicus curiae brief in the case with the Educational Book and Media Association and the Authors Guild, called the ruling "a devastating setback for public education and the right to read. As Justice Sotomayor powerfully wrote in dissent, the decision 'guts our free exercise precedent and strikes at the core premise of public schools.' Allowing individuals to opt-out of reading certain materials erases marginalized voices and forces teachers to manage restrictions that lead to silent censorship. Reading a book does not require agreement--only openness to engaging with different experiences. Penguin Random House stands with the teachers, librarians, and students now facing even greater barriers to building classrooms that reflect the world around them."

Elly Brinkley, staff attorney for U.S. free expression programs at PEN America, said: "This ruling is a deeply disappointing blow to the right to read under the First Amendment. It is a fundamental betrayal of public schools' duty to prepare students to live in a diverse and pluralistic society. By allowing parents to pull their children out of classrooms when they object to particular content, the justices are laying the foundation for a new frontier in the assault on books of all kinds in schools. In practice, opt outs for religious objections will chill what is taught in schools and usher in a more narrow orthodoxy as fear of offending any ideology or sensibility takes hold. Opt outs required under the broad ruling of the court are unworkable and will potentially lead schools to sweep out all kinds of books to avoid the challenge altogether. LGBTQ+-themed books have already been the main casualties among the 16,000 books banned since 2021. This will exacerbate that devastating trend.

"The Court's conservative majority failed to even consider the fundamental free speech principles also at issue here, instead handing down a ruling that could have a broad chilling effect and open the door to censorship and discrimination. This risks significant harm for millions of children who may no longer see themselves or their families reflected in stories read in classrooms, while others will be denied the chance to build understanding and empathy for those different from themselves. The decision will allow any parents to object to any subject, with the potential to sow chaos in schools, and impact students, parents, educators, authors, and publishers. With rising polarization, xenophobia, and the targeting of vulnerable populations, we need schools that open students' minds, not betray education by closing them off from the real world."

"It's really important to us to make sure everybody feels at home here," said Hans-Sebastian Palacios, co-owner of the Little Bookshop in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y.. 

In May, Palacios; his fiance, Ashley Jones; and his mother-in-law-to-be, Mary Jones; opened the Little Bookshop, a 750-square-foot bookstore and cafe at 239 Bushwick Ave. The space can seat about 40 people and features an open floor plan, with most of the books shelved along the walls and a pull-out stage located in the corner farthest from the bar. 

The Little Bookshop carries general-interest titles for all ages, and though the inventory is still growing, readers can find literary fiction, fantasy, and romance, as well as narrative nonfiction, self-help, and a few cookbooks. There is a poetry section called the "Edgar Allan Poetry Corner," along with a "big Pride selection" and a small amount of Spanish-language titles. "We have maybe 30% of what we will have," Palacios said. Asked about sidelines, Palacios pointed out that Mary Jones is an artist and has made book bags, shirts, and jewelry for the store. 

Noting that he is half-Mexican and Ashley and Mary Jones are Black, Palacios said it is "very important to us to have minority and local authors," and inclusivity is a major focus of all that they're doing. They are "doing as much as we can" with community events and are taking pains to stock books and hold events that "reflect the culture" in the area. They are also trying to make sure that "the people who have been in the neighborhood for years see it not as an intrusion, but as something positive."

Their event plans, along with author readings and signings, include small art fairs, live music, and creative networking events, such as happy hours for artists, writers, and other creatives. They're also "still figuring out" ways they can bring local organizers and activists to the space. Ashley Jones works with after-school programs and is planning to do storytime sessions as well as book fairs for both children and adults. 

The Little Bookshop owners (from l.) Mary Jones, Ashley Jones and Hans-Sebastian Palacios

The cafe side of the business, meanwhile, offers full coffee service and a limited food menu, with soups and sandwiches. The Little Bookshop will be getting a liquor license soon, and the team will start serving beer, wine, and cocktails. They plan to create book and drink pairings and do events that combine readings with tastings.

Prior to opening the Little Bookshop, Palacios did not have any experience in bookselling but did have experience managing and operating a cafe. Ashley and Mary Jones had "always wanted to open a bookstore," and Palacios and Ashley Jones had experience organizing art events together. All three are working artists and have always "wanted to build a community."

When the right space opened up, they felt they had to do it, even with Palacios and Jones's wedding coming up in August. The trio rented a retail space and "started full tilt into it," Palacios recalled. They were able to open in about a month and a half.

So far, he continued, the community response has been "astounding." The Little Bookshop is around the corner from Palacios's previous cafe, and some customers have followed him to the new space. In just a few weeks, the store already has "a decent amount of regulars," and there was a lot of support when the owners put out a petition related to its liquor license. "It got a lot of people excited about us," Palacios said. --Alex Mutter

Outside of a Dog Books & Games in Vermillion, S.Dak., will close this summer or be sold due to an anti-transgender law set to take effect July 1, SiouxlandProud reported.

Owners Mike and Jennifer Phelan, who opened Outside of a Dog four years ago, said they plan to leave South Dakota for the sake of their children, one of whom is transgender. They would prefer to find a buyer for the bookstore but will sell the remaining inventory and close the bookstore if they cannot. In a goodbye message posted to Facebook, they said they plan to keep the store open at least through the end of July. 

The law, which was signed by South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden in March, prohibits transgender people from using changing rooms and restrooms that do not align with their gender assigned at birth. Per the Associated Press, it also "allows people who encounter transgender people in these facilities to seek declaratory and injunctive relief against the school or state if officials did not take reasonable steps to prevent the transgender person from using that facility."

Mike Phelan noted that previously, Vermillion had been the "only community in South Dakota that had a transgender affirming bathroom policy," but the new law has put an end to that.

Jennifer Phelan told SiouxlandProud that the family would not be able to live with the fear and uncertainty the law would cause, and they plan to move to a state "where there are laws in place where we know local policies can then flourish from that."

"It's closing businesses," Mike Phelan added. "It's driving people out. It's telling people that their lives aren't valuable... there's not a crime wave of transgender people in this state. There's people trying to live their lives."

BookWoman, a feminist bookstore in Austin, Tex., was vandalized earlier this month, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

On June 15, assistant manager Sarah Schoonhoven arrived at the bookstore to find that someone had thrown a piece of concrete through the store's front window overnight. A Pride flag was hanging in the window and the piece of concrete knocked over a rack of greeting cards inside the store. There were no signs that anyone had entered the store or stolen anything, and the vandalism occurred the night after a No Kings protest was held in downtown Austin.

"As an openly feminist and queer space, we are no strangers to pushback and attempts at silencing the voices of women, LGBTQA+ people and POC. This isn't new, and it isn't going to stop us from living out our values," store owner Susan Post, Schoonhoven, and the BookWoman team wrote on Facebook.

"We don't think it's a coincidence that a piece of concrete was thrown directly at our rainbow Pride flag, underneath the feminine symbol. We don't think it's a coincidence that this happened the night after Austin's No Kings rally, and recently following our stop on the Austin Against Apartheid bike ride.

"We will always continue to be a bookstore and community space that promotes feminism, LGBTQA+ rights, antiracism, anticapitalism, anti-apartheid, and the rights and freedoms of immigrants. In short, we will continue to be BookWoman."

Schoonhoven told the Austin American-Statesman that the store has "gotten a tremendous amount of response," with community members offering to donate and help repaint the window. "People have been really, really kind."

Copperfield's Books, which operates several locations in northern California, will be downsizing its Petaluma store and eliminating the used books department by the end of September, the Press Democrat reported. Copperfield's said the changes also include cutting about 60% of the new books section. 

A statement to the bookstore's union from "Copperfield's Books Petaluma Management" referred to the change as an "agonizing decision.... Despite years of effort to make the Copperfield's Books Petaluma used department, sustainable, the store has continued to experience diminished sales and annual losses, and those losses are accelerated, especially in the used department."

Copperfield's COO R.M. Horrell said the decision was made by the board of directors, and the company "is working with the union to ensure a smooth transition for employees and customers," the Press Democrat noted.

The bookstore will lose approximately 6,000 square feet of space by trimming its footprint to approximately 4,100 square feet. Horrell cited high operating costs and the price of rent for the decision, adding: "We've gone through a myriad challenges and changes. And I think being flexible to pivot in order to keep stores operating is just an important part to stay in operation over the years."

Robert Glover, the shop steward, said the union represents 18 staff members in the store, which is the only Copperfield's location with union representation, the Press Democrat noted, adding that the notice sent to the union said the changes will "require a reduction in our workforce" but it is unclear how many employees could be affected.

"The hope is to maintain as much of the store as possible, the hope is as much connection to the community as possible, the hope is to maintain as much as the staff as possible, the hope is to maintain as much of the spirit of the store as is possible," Horrell said. "And in that way, we are going to be able to maintain our presence in the community for as long as possible. And failing to pivot puts all of that at risk."

In an embarrassing mistake, yesterday's item about Shelf Awareness's 20th anniversary omitted one of our newer staff members, publishing assistant Madison Gaines. Madison is hardworking and dedicated, juggling and placing thousands of ads in Shelf Awareness, and works with publishers to make their ads look as good as possible. Madison is often ready with a joke or riddle and enlivens the Seattle office. As a former bookseller at Third Place in Seattle, she has a good instinct for bookseller interests.

Yours Truly Bookshop, a romance-focused bookstore, opened Friday in Roseburg, Ore., the News-Review reported.

Located at 544 SE Main St., Yours Truly sells a wide variety of romance titles along with nonbook items like candles, mugs, and stickers. Looking ahead, owner Miranda Hinshaw plans to start hosting book clubs and author events.

Hinshaw, who moved back to Oregon after living in Reno, Nev., has relied on her family and the support of other local businesses to open the bookstore. She's been very encouraged by the response to Yours Truly.

"It's been great, honestly, so far," Hinshaw told the News-Review. "My neighbors in particular have been helpful and the community has been very welcoming. I was really nervous at first, but having that has taken my nerves away. Everyone has been super nice and it's a lot of good vibes, good feelings being down here for sure."

The American Library Association has named Daniel J. Montgomery to be its next executive director, effective November 10. He will replace interim executive director Leslie Burger.

Daniel J. Montgomery

Montgomery was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers in 2010 and has been unanimously reelected every three years since then. He is also IFT's COO, responsible for managing and executing policy and programs on behalf of 400 local affiliates and members. He has a master's degree in education from the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree from University of Michigan.

ALA president Cindy Hohl said that Montgomery's "strong background in public service and public education is a great fit for our goals. We had three excellent finalists, and I want to thank all of them. Dan is exactly the leader we need in these times."

Montgomery said, "As someone who believes strongly in public education, I am eager to bring my passion for service and leadership to the American Library Association. Education and libraries are a part of the same fabric, and they are foundational to a healthy democracy. And they need defending now more than ever."

Bonfire Bookstore & Yarnery hosted its grand opening earlier this month at 108 N. Main St. in Woodstock, Va. The store, which sells new and used books as well as yarn, jigsaw puzzles, board games, and gifts, notes on its website: "Our mission is to cultivate a love of reading, learning, and creative play among residents of and visitors to Shenandoah County. We aim to be a third place where everyone in the community feels welcome to spend time, make new friends, and relax."

After the opening, owner Kara Balcerzak posted on Instagram: "I was absolutely blown away by the crowds who came out to support my bookstore tonight! Thank you, everyone!!!! My heart is so full, and my body is so exhausted."

A few weeks before the ribbon-cutting festivities, Balcerzak had shared the story of her path to becoming a bookstore owner with the Northern Virginia Daily, which reported that "her intention is to ignite a spark--a burning ember for reading or a glowing inspiration for just plain social conversation--similar to how people gather at a bonfire, a community meeting spot where people have fun."

Bonfire Bookstore's design includes social spaces for organized or impromptu board games, puzzles, children's play, along with reading areas and casual corners where people can gather. An avid knitter and crocheter, Balcerzak is offering impromptu lessons as well as supplies of various yarns and materials. 

After graduating from the University of Virginia, Balcerzak was in the Peace Corps before returning to the U.S. and joining AmeriCorps. "I spent years working in anti-poverty and sustaining communities. And all that time, I was thinking, 'I want to have a bookstore,' " she recalled, adding that her mother and grandmother were librarians. "This is my version of the family legacy. This feels like it is my destiny." 

Recluse Books, an all-ages bookstore with new and used titles, has opened in Fort Worth, Tex., CultureMap Fort Worth reported.

Co-owners Josie Smith-Webster and James Webster, who met while working at a bookstore in New York City, carry a wide-ranging and eclectic inventory, with small presses and translated literature represented. They plan to grow the selection based on customer and community interest. 

The store is roughly 1,000 sq. ft. and resides at 465 S. Main St. #110, in Fort Worth's Near Southside neighborhood. Alongside books, customers can find zines, greeting cards, and other merchandise. Recluse's event plans include open-mic nights and themed book clubs.

"Josie and I are both big believers in the idea of a bookstore as a 'space'--somewhere that puts a human touch back, in an age where so much is automated, a space for people to come and interact with other people," James Webster told CultureMap. "We realized that Fort Worth did not have as many of those as we wanted and decided to go out and do it ourselves."

Roughly a week after the owners of Outside of a Dog Books & Games, Vermillion, S.Dak., announced that the store would close or be sold due to a new anti-trans state law, a trans couple has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help them buy the bookstore, KELO reported.

Elias and Nova Donstad are looking to raise $25,000 and have so far raised just over $8,400. The money will go toward making a competitive offer for the store and will be combined with loans and the Donstads' own money. 

Mike and Jennifer Phelan, owners of Outside of a Dog, have chosen to leave South Dakota for the sake of their children, one of whom is transgender. Nova Donstad told KELO that "we really respect what they're doing for their family because their job as parents of a trans child is to keep their child safe. They're doing that. We believe that our job as trans adults is to work to make South Dakota safe for the next generation of trans."

Elias Donstad, who is pursuing a doctorate in English, said, "I want to be able to keep the love of literature and the love of books alive in Vermillion, especially outside of the University."

The Sparkle Bookstore is set to open in mid-July at 642 Main St. in Sparkill, N.Y. The Rockland County Business Journal reported that Donna Miele, along with her son Armand Miele-Herndon, have leased a 750-square-foot building for one year. Plans call for a small café with prepared foods to be added to the business.

Donna Miele's path to opening a bookstore is a familiar one. "From the time my mother and aunt taught me to read, I've loved books," she said. "Both my parents were working; I was alone a lot. Reading was a way to keep myself busy."

Her father, Armand Miele, was a real estate developer, political figure, and publisher of the Rockland County Times from 1998 until his death in 2013. At college, Donna Miele studied American Civilization and later law, but said, "I was always a writer," adding that her father, who became a publisher when she was 30 years old, "used to ask for my help because he didn't have a lot of practice." 

Although she initially worked as a lawyer, then part-time at the newspaper, and later ran a co-working space in the building the company owns, she is now ready to pursue her lifelong passion. 

"I've been speaking about this, saving up, for a long time," she said. "But when I learned about the space in Sparkill, I had to take it. It's a perfect space, perfect location, wonderful neighbors, and so we got started sooner than planned."

Located near the post office and featuring a large parking lot, the space is furnished with "the shelving, tables, and displays from free discards from the recently shuttered Shakespeare & Company in Manhattan," the Business Journal noted. Miele learned of the impending closure on Bookseller Discord, a social media platform. 

Miele said she believes there is a recent trend toward "anti-billionaire sentiment," motivating consumers to uplift indies: "Local bookstores are a giving back to the community, and the community respond in kind. People want to feel like their dollars are going toward the betterment of the community."

Bluestockings Cooperative in New York City has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help it recover from financial difficulties, Gothamist reported.

The worker-owned cooperative is hoping to raise $150,000 and has so far raised just over $53,000. Money raised will go toward paying off roughly $100,000 in debt to publishers and distributors as well as rebuilding the bookstore's inventory, which has become reliant on donated titles.

The financial difficulties are the result of a protracted dispute over the bookstore's harm reduction and support services, particularly those benefiting people who are unhoused. Those services, as well as Bluestockings' policy allowing anyone to use the bathroom and to stay as long as they liked, led to unhoused people congregating at the bookstore, which in turn led to mounting tension with nearby residents.

In October 2023, the bookstore received a 15-day "notice to cure" from its landlord, claiming that the bookstore was violating its lease. Since then, the bookstore has staved off eviction but has faced legal costs along with the cost of additional staff and security, which the store hired to allay residents' concerns.

Jay Gandhi, one of the bookstore's worker-owners, told Gothamist that Bluestockings once "had a book-buying budget of $35,000 a month," but hasn't been able to buy new books since late September 2024.

Worker-owner Stella Becerril added, "foot traffic is slow, but it's rebuilding. Rumors were circulating that we were closing, but we're here."

The Gainesville, Fla., Alachua County Regional Airport now features a book vending machine highlighting Florida authors, courtesy of the Lynx bookstore. The Gainesville Sun reported that the machine was "unveiled by the Lynx bookstore co-founders Lauren Groff and Clay Kallman, a married couple who view the vending machine as a passion project. The hope is that the vending machine will provide book readers and frequent flyers another way to enjoy their flight experience."

The bookstore shared an Instagram video chronicling the arrival at its new destination and noting that the vending machine "features Florida authors including Zora Neale Hurston, Carl Hiaasen, and Karen Russell. Huge thanks to @oldfloridavibes [Hunter Turner] for the amazing art on the machine!"

Speaking at the June 26 airport authority meeting, Kallman thanked the board for its support, the Sun noted. He also said that bestselling author Groff had planned for the vending machine as long, if not longer, than the bookstore: "She flies in and out of this airport four or five times a month and has felt the need for some way of providing Florida literature to the half a million visitors that you'll have here, coming and going." 

Artist Turner commented: "I'm honored to welcome visitors and locals to Gainesville with artwork inspired by the incredible work the folks at the Lynx are doing to preserve and protect the written word for all." 

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward recalled the moment when he and a dozen other mayors were walking around downtown and entered the Lynx bookstore. "He then asked a rhetorical question to the airport authority: In what other U.S. cities can people stumble upon iconic writers in a nearby business?" the Sun noted.

"We just happened to walk into Jack Davis, the Pulitzer-Prize winner who lives in the Duck Pond neighborhood, and happened to talk with Lauren, a National Book Award finalist," Ward said. "That doesn't happen in most cities! The opportunity to highlight the success of that small business who is fostering that kind of thing on South Main Street and here in the airport where you can't miss it, where it helps feeds people's intellect and travel experience, it's a big step forward."

Page Society Bookshop has been making appearances around southwest Oklahoma since its spring debut, the Lawton Constitution reported.

Based in Duncan, Okla., the mobile bookstore carries general-interest titles for children and adults alongside nonbook items like bookmarks, greeting cards, and notebooks. 

Owner Kara Sanders made a few initial pop-up appearances in March prior to an official opening in April. So far the Page Society Bookshop has visited Duncan, Marlow, and Comanche; her next scheduled appearance is a stop at the Cotton Blossom Winery in Marlow on June 28.

Sanders told the Lawton Constitution that one of the main reasons for opening a bookmobile instead of a bricks-and-mortar store was that both her children compete in cross-country running, and this allows Page Society Bookshop to travel with them. She said, "My kids, they're a big part of my life, so I schedule around that, and that's why I chose to do it this way and not open a physical store so that I have the flexibility to do that."

Bad B's Books, a romance-focused mobile bookstore, debuted earlier this month in Wilmington, N.C., StarNewsOnline reported. 

Owner Lisa Filipe sells a variety of romance titles from both independent and traditionally published authors along with an assortment of book-related merchandise like stickers, tote bags, and bookmarks. 

Filipe helps authors create virtual book tours and has created two romance review blogs. She told StarNews that "some of my favorites are on here. I sell a lot that I have seen, like bestsellers, and I sent out a form to indie authors who would want to be on my truck too."

She has wanted to open a bookstore of her own for a long time and finally found the right opportunity. Filipe noted that she had considered purchasing an existing bookstore that was up for sale, but decided instead on having a mobile bookstore.

"I can do that in Wilmington because there is nothing like it around," she explained. "I could travel and go to places where there are no bookshops."

The mobile bookstore's first appearance was at Biggers Market on June 12. Upcoming appearances include stops at a summer solstice party, a farmers market, a flower festival, and a "dirty bingo" night.

Meg LaBorde Kuehn

Meg LaBorde Kuehn, publisher and CEO of Kirkus Reviews, is leaving the company, effective July 11.

Judy Hottensen, who stepped down as v-p and associate publisher of Grove/Atlantic on January 1 after more than 30 years at the company, will serve as interim CEO at Kirkus and assume all of the duties performed by Kuehn.

Kuehn joined Kirkus as v-p of business development in 2011 and was named COO in 2012, CEO in 2015, and publisher in 2023. Kirkus credited her "for leading the company's turnaround and unprecedented growth after it was acquired from Nielsen in 2010." Among other accomplishments, she increased revenue 400% in 14 years; led two website redesigns and a print magazine redesign; and developed and implemented the Kirkus Prize.

Kirkus co-chairman Herb Simon said, "After years of visionary leadership and unwavering dedication, our beloved CEO is stepping down, leaving behind a legacy that will inspire us for years to come."

Kuehn said, "It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to lead this extraordinary company through change and growth. I'm most grateful for the opportunity to have worked with and encountered so many exceptional people through Kirkus. Their talent, integrity and dedication to books and the power of reading have been a constant source of inspiration and have made this journey profoundly meaningful." After July 11, she may be reached at Meg.Kuehn@gmail.com.

Scrawl, Scribble & Smirch Bookshop will open in downtown Gustine, Calif., later this summer, WestsideConnect reported. 

Located at 536 5th St., Scrawl, Scribble & Smirch will sell a mix of new and used titles for all ages. Owner and author Marie Hall will also carry a selection of Spanish- and Portuguese-language books, and her event plans include storytime sessions and writing workshops. Alongside books, stationery, vinyl records, stickers, mugs, and gifts will be available. 

"I just want to create a space where people feel welcome and inspired," Hall told WestsideConnect. "It's a place to browse, connect, and maybe fall in love with a good story."

Hall is planning for a late July opening and will operate at a limited capacity. From there, she will expand hours, programming, and inventory based on community feedback.

John Robbins, "an heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire who rejected the family business to advocate plant-based nutrition, environmentalism and animal rights," died June 11, the New York Times reported. He was 77. Robbins was best known for his bestselling book, Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth (1987), which "drew a link between the heavy consumption of animal-based products and the increased risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease and obesity; examined the environmental damage caused by factory farming; and raised ethical concerns about the treatment of animals in confined conditions."

Robbins wrote that the book's message was "that the healthiest, tastiest, and most nourishing way to eat is also the most economical, the most compassionate and least polluting." In 1988, Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy compared Diet for a New America and its impact on the way we think about food with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962). 

Robbins's other books include May All Be Fed: Diet For a New World (1992), The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World (2001), Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples (2006), The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less (2010), No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution (2012), and Voices of the Food Revolution: You Can Heal Your Body and Your World with Food! (2013)

He worked in his family's ice cream business during his younger years, but, "as a devotee of Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman, he later mutinied against materialism," telling the Times in 1992 that, in his family, "roughing it meant room service was late." In 1967, Baskin-Robbins was sold to the United Fruit Company. While his father remained with the company until he retired in 1978, Robbins did not.

After graduating in 1969 from the University of California, Berkeley, Robbins and his wife, Deo, moved to British Columbia, where they built a one-room log cabin. He received a master's degree in humanistic psychology in 1976 from Antioch College through its affiliation with Cold Mountain Institute in British Columbia. In 1984, when his son, Ocean Robbins, was 11, the family moved to the Santa Cruz area in California. John Robbins began reading books about the treatment of animals at factory farms, as well as the links between food, health and the environment. His studies inspired him to write Diet for a New America. 

John and Ocean Robbins established the Food Revolution Network, an online education and advocacy organization dedicated to healthy, ethical and sustainable food, in 2001.  

The Dark, Unbound, a speculative fiction-focused bookstore, will open in Falls Church, Va., later this summer, Northern Virginia magazine reported. 

Located at 112 W. Broad St., the bookstore will carry predominantly used titles in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, and metaphysical genres, with an emphasis on diverse and underrepresented authors. 

Alongside books, co-owners Annette Gumm and Margaret Nguyen will carry tarot cards and crystals. Their event plans include author readings, book clubs, and possibly tarot readings. The shop will feature comfortable seating as well as coffee and tea, and they told Northern Virginia they care deeply about both physical accessibility and price accessibility.

"One of our focus areas is making sure that we're providing accessibility to people, to the authors that they can't find, that they aren't hearing about on BookTok but are really fabulous authors," Nguyen remarked.

The owners are aiming for a July or August opening.

Barnes & Noble will open a new bookstore at 9840 Brook Rd., Glen Allen, Va., on Wednesday, July 2. A relocation of the former Creeks at Virginia Centre bookstore that closed on June 23, 2024, the new space is next door to the previous storefront. Opening festivities will feature author Maggie Stiefvater cutting the ribbon and signing copies of her books. 

"We are very pleased to return to the Creeks at Virginia Centre, nearly a year to the day since vacating our former location," B&N said. "For decades Barnes & Noble has been a staple in this community, and our Glen Allen booksellers look forward to welcoming customers into their beautiful new bookstore."

Also on July 2, B&N will launch a new store in York Town Center at 2935 Concord Rd., York, Pa., on Wednesday, July 2. Author Lucy Score is cutting the ribbon and signing copies of her books. The bookstore will feature an updated B&N Café.

"We are very pleased to be opening a beautiful, brand-new Barnes & Noble in York Town Center," B&N said. 

Moonstruck Market bookstore will celebrate its grand opening at 329 N. Babcock St. in Melbourne, Fla., on July 26 and 27. Spectrum News 13 reported that author Connor Bryan, and her wife, August Bryan, are co-owners of the new and used bookstore, but "for them, it's more than a business--it's a vision years in the making."

Noting that they want the bookstore to be a welcoming environment for everyone, but particularly for members of the LGBTQ+ community, Connor Bryan said: "Two years ago, I woke up one day and I went, 'I could open a bookstore. I think I could do this.' And I told my wife, August, and I said, 'I think this is something we need to do, because Melbourne, it has a lack of third spaces and community spaces and safe spaces.' "

After an initial attempt to open in 2023 didn't come through due to funding and real estate challenges, they finally secured a location in May and have been working with volunteers to build furniture, paint walls, and other preparations.

The bookstore will feature a wide variety of genres--from queer fiction and romance, to thrillers and children's books--along with a dedicated book club room. Local gifts, art, and pop-up events in collaboration with other small businesses will also be on offer.

August Bryan, who is handling much of the organization and design, said the project "has been a whirlwind for sure. I mean, we really decided to start getting the ball moving in January of this year. Now, we've gotten an immense amount of support. We have gotten a building. We have made a lot of progress on the building. It's been incredible. We have a whole team."

Grace Stiles Williams, the store's events coordinator, said every aspect of the store has been shaped by local input: "We put four different colors up on the wall and had people vote on it. And this was the one everyone liked the most. We also put the voting on social media for the folks who couldn't come to the Vision Night."

Lori Benton has been named senior v-p, children's publishing at Abrams, where she will oversee all aspects of Abrams' children's publishing, including strategic planning, content development, digital publishing initiatives, and cross-functional collaboration across the company's various channels. She will be responsible for expanding the division's market presence while maintaining Abrams' reputation for high-quality, beautifully illustrated children's books.

Lori Benton (photo: Rachel Coun)

She was most recently v-p, publisher, at Scholastic, where she oversaw Orchard Books, Scholastic Press Picture Books, Cartwheel, Scholastic Audio, and Weston Woods. Before joining to Scholastic in 2011, she held executive roles at Harcourt, including v-p, publisher of the children's books division, and at William Morrow.

She has also served as chairman of the Research Committee of the Audio Publishers Association, chair and treasurer at the Children's Book Council, and chairman of the board of Every Child a Reader Literacy Foundation.

"We are thrilled to welcome Lori to the Abrams family," said Mary McAveney, Abrams president and CEO. "Her exceptional track record in driving publishing innovation, building strategic partnerships, and developing successful children's content makes her the ideal leader to guide our children's division into its next chapter of growth."

Benton said, "With its rich history of publishing groundbreaking and visually stunning books--from iconic series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid to award-winning picture books and acclaimed graphic novels--Abrams has been a creative force in children's publishing. I'm honored to help carry that legacy forward and excited to work with the incredibly talented team to bring new talents, unforgettable storytelling, and inspiring characters to young readers everywhere."

Booksellers can apply for a Winter Institute 2026 scholarship but need to do so by July 24. The next Winter Institute will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa., next February 23-26.

---

The ABA and Libro.fm have programs and promotional material to counter Amazon Prime "Day," which runs July 8-11. The efforts aim "to show readers that their choices matter" and "highlight the impact of supporting local businesses over Amazon and inspire readers to choose indie." Libro.fm will highlight the difference between it and Amazon's Audible as well as offer members three audiobook credits for the price of one when they start a membership with the code "SWITCH." Also thousands of audiobooks will be on sale.

---

Booksellers are encouraged to complete the ABACUS survey by July 8. The free financial benchmarking survey allows booksellers to see how their stores compare to others in terms of profitability, productivity, financial management, and more.

This past week, Shelf Awareness sent our monthly pre-order e-blast to more than 890,000 of the country's best book readers. The e-blast went to 890,910 customers of 268 participating independent bookstores.

The mailing features 11 upcoming titles selected by Shelf Awareness editors and a sponsored title. Customers can buy these books via "pre-order" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on each sending store's website. A key feature is that bookstore partners can easily change title selections to best reflect the tastes of their customers and can customize the mailing with links, images and promotional copy of their own.

The pre-order e-blasts are sent the last Wednesday of each month; the next will go out on Wednesday, July 30. Stores interested in learning more can visit our program registration page or contact our partner program team via e-mail.

For a sample of the June pre-order e-blast, see this one from Birdhouse Books & Gifts, Austin, Texas.

The titles highlighted in the pre-order e-blast were:

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad (S&S/Marysue Rucci)
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager)
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor)
Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levithan with songs by Jens Lekman (Abrams)
Love's a Witch by Tricia O'Malley, Tricia (Gallery)
People Like Us by Jason Mott (Dutton)
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (Tor)
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)
Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (Grand Central)
The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams, illus. by Sas Milledge (Viking Books for Young Readers)
The Last Tiger by Julia Riew and Brad Riew (Kokila)

Jane Stanton Hitchcock, "a daughter of privilege who skewered the foibles of her tribe in a series of addictive crime novels, and who then uncovered a real-life crime when her mother was swindled by her accountant," died June 23, the New York Times reported. She was 78.

Jane Stanton Hitchcock

Hitchcock's mother was Joan Stanton, a 1940s-era radio star who played Lois Lane on the radio version of The Adventures of Superman. Her father, Arthur Stanton, who adopted her when she was 9, had made a fortune importing Volkswagen cars after World War II. The Times wrote that the Stantons "were known for their elaborate parties, where Leonard Bernstein might be found at the piano. For Jane's 21st birthday, Neil Simon composed a sketch." At 29, Jane Stanton married William Mellon Hitchcock, an heir of the wealthy industrialist and Treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, "mixing her newish money with his gilded-age wealth."

Hitchcock drew from this background for her work, beginning with a series of films and Off Broadway plays, but it was when she began mixing social satire with murder that she found her voice. "Murder concentrates the mind," she told the New York Times in 2002.

Her first novel, Trick of the Eye (1992), was praised for its "crackling dialogue that expresses character while steadily, stealthily advancing the plot" by the New York Times Book Review. Her other books include The Witches' Hammer (1994), Social Crimes (2002), and One Dangerous Lady (2005).

In an interview, Jonathan Burnham, Hitchcock's longtime book editor, said: "Nobody of her background wrote about their world the way she did--that New York high society world that has virtually disappeared. She managed to send it up in elegant satire. It slipped down very easily."

Former media executive Lynn de Rothschild observed that Hitchcock's books "slammed the hypocrisies and excesses of the world in which she was born, but in the funniest way... she never betrayed anyone. She just murdered them off."

In 2009, however, Hitchcock's fifth book, Mortal Friends, was published and some people did take offense. She was by then married to Jim Hoagland, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent, editor, and columnist for the Washington Post, and this was her first book set in D.C., where she lost a number of friends after its release.

Hitchcock also spent several years trying to "untangle the transgressions of her mother's longtime accountant, Kenneth Starr (no relation to the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton)," the Times wrote. "She had been told by her mother's gardener that Mr. Starr was siphoning off tens of millions of dollars from Mrs. Stanton, who had turned her $80 million inheritance over to him after her husband's death in 1987." The district attorney's office eventually found that Starr had been pilfering from clients such as Al Pacino, Carly Simon, and Uma Thurman.

Hitchcock's mother died in 2009, and a month later, the publication of Mortal Friends and its fallout left Hitchcock feeling battered, as did the ongoing investigation of her mother's accountant. She found solace in online poker and her final book, Bluff (2019), was set in that world and won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence, given by the North American branch of the International Association of Crime Writers.

"You know in the Bible where it says it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?" she wrote in Mortal Friends. "Well, that's why rich people invented loopholes."

Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary "who became one of television's most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas," died June 26, the Associated Press reported. He was 91. In addition to his role with President Lyndon Johnson, Moyers's career ranged from young Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps to senior news analyst for the CBS Evening News and chief correspondent for CBS Reports.

Bill Moyers (photo: Gage Skidmore)

"But it was for public television that Moyers produced some of TV's most cerebral and provocative series," the AP noted. "In hundreds of hours of PBS programs, he proved at home with subjects ranging from government corruption to modern dance, from drug addiction to media consolidation, from religion to environmental abuse."

Moyers's life and career as a broadcast journalist have been widely acclaimed since his death. He was also an author, with several books to his credit, including Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country (1971); The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis: With Excerpts from an Essay on Watergate (1988, co-authored with Henry Steele Commager); A World of Ideas: Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our Future (1989); The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets (1995); Genesis: A Living Conversation (1996); Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft (1999); Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times (2004); Moyers on Democracy (2008); and Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues (2011). 

"In an age of broadcast blowhards, the soft-spoken Mr. Moyers applied his earnest, deferential style to interviews with poets, philosophers and educators, often on the subject of values and ideas," the New York Times wrote. "His 1988 PBS series, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, drew 30 million viewers, posthumously turned Mr. Campbell--at the time a little-known mythologist--into a public broadcasting star, and popularized the Campbell dictum 'Follow your bliss.' " 

A companion book, The Power of Myth (1988), based on his interviews with Campbell and championed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--who was then an editor at Doubleday--became a bestseller, as did earlier books by Campbell.

Tributes were paid to Moyers on social media by other writers, including historian Simon Schama: "Bill Moyers, eminence of public affairs broadcasting, dies at 91.... I am so sorry to hear this; a prince of the news, straight as an arrow. I was lucky to be on his PBS programs now and again and we always had serious discussions unafraid of complexity and nuance. None like him."

New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof posted: "Bill Moyers, brilliant journalist, commentator and press secretary to President Johnson, is dead at 91. My favorite Moyers story: LBJ asked him to say grace at a White House dinner, then interrupted: 'Bill, don't mumble!' Moyers: 'I wasn't speaking to you, Mr. President.' "

Author Lawrence Wright noted: "Bill Moyers was a guiding light for me. He gave me my first blurb, on a book about growing up in Dallas during the Kennedy assassination. I was a nobody and he was a somebody with a very generous heart."

The Library of Congress paid its respects with a recollection of Moyers's appearance at the Coolidge Auditorium in the fall of 2023 to mark the preservation of more than 1,000 of his public television programs in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, noting: "His relationship with the Library went back to the summer of 1954, he told the packed auditorium, when he was a 19-year-old from a little town in Texas, in D.C. for a summer internship with U.S. Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson. On his first day, Johnson's top aide took him to the Library's Congressional Research Service as the place to do his background work for Johnson's policies and work on Capitol Hill.

" 'I came over and I was shown what they do, it's incredible,' Moyers told the crowd, 69 years later. 'All summer, I was much smarter than anyone knew I was because it was coming from the Congressional Research [Service].... I've been a fan of the research office and the process here and the Library all my life.' "

Susan Beth Pfeffer, "whose novels for young adult readers delved into sensitive subjects like suicide, sexual harassment and the sheer complexity of growing up in a modern American family, and who found late-career success with a bestselling series set in postapocalyptic Pennsylvania," died June 23, the New York Times reported. She was 77.

A prolific author, Pfeffer published more than 70 novels, beginning with Just Morgan in 1970, a year after she graduated from New York University. Her last book, The Shade of the Moon, was released in 2013. She "wrote across a wide variety of genres, including historical fiction and science fiction dystopias, but certain themes ran through all her works--above all, how families operate, or don't, in the face of challenges, whether quotidian or catastrophic," the Times wrote.

Pfeffer considered retiring from writing before Life as We Knew It (2006), about a family trying to survive after an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, achieved success. She followed it up with The Dead and the Gone (2008), along with two more books in the series: This World We Live In (2010), and The Shade of the Moon.

Her other books include Better Than All Right (1972), The Year Without Michael (1987), and The Ring of Truth (1993). In 1997, she published four books in her Portraits of Little Women series, exploring characters in Louisa May Alcott's classic novel. 

Pfeffer wrote quickly, sometimes two or more books a year, the Times noted, adding that she told interviewers "she rarely wasted time on finding the perfect word or crafting a detailed character description; like the former film student she was, her focus was pacing and dialogue.... Though she did not score a best seller until Life as We Knew It, Ms. Pfeffer developed a reliable core of readers, who followed her through her wide-ranging genre journeys."

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has promoted Kim Turrisi to the position of vice-president. "A foundational figure of SCBWI for more than two decades, Kim brings a legacy of dedication, innovation, and unwavering support for members to her new leadership role," the organization noted.

Kim Turrisi

Turrisi joined SCBWI in 2002. As director of programming and content, she led the development and growth of many SCBWI events, including the annual New York and Virtual Conferences. She also revitalized SCBWI's international presence, redesigning SCBWI's Bologna Children's Book Fair events.

"Her compassion and commitment to equity are reflected in her work with the Amber Brown Grant, connecting children's book creators with students in hundreds of schools that would not otherwise have the opportunity for such visits," SCBWI said. She also created SCBWI University, and for many years organized and administered SCBWI's manuscript and portfolio reviews, connecting members with agents, editors, and industry experts. 

"Kim has shaped the experience of SCBWI members for more than 20 years," said SCBWI executive director Sarah Baker. "Her creativity, passion, and deep care for this community have helped make SCBWI what it is today. We are so proud to see her step into the role of vice-president."

Books & Books, Coral Gables, Fla., hosted Asha Elias, author of The Namaste Club (Morrow), in conversation with Andrew Ortazo. Pictured: (from left) bookseller Cortney Casey; Andrew Otanzo; Asha Elias; events manager Cristina Nosti; store owner Mitchell Kaplan; background: Bubba the alligator.

Author/illustrator Mike Curato visited Books on the Square in Providence, R.I., for a conversation with art educator Cat Huang about his adult graphic novel, Gaysians (Algonquin). Shown here: (l.-r.) Cat Huang, Mike Curato, and bookseller Thomas Grebenchick.

Authors Martin Porter and David Goggin launched Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios (Thames & Hudson)--their chronicle of the famed studios where iconic albums like Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, and the Eagles' Hotel California were recorded--at Book Soup, West Hollywood, with many alums of Record Plant's Los Angeles studio in attendance. Pictured (l.-r.): Martin Porter, David Goggin, his wife, Keiko Kasai Goggin, singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, and her husband, Roey Hershkovitz.

"Small biz reality check for you all...," courtesy of Betty's Books, Webster Groves, Mo., which shared a video depicting "how people think owners walk in" vs. "how they actually walk in."

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein (‎‎The Dial Press) is the July pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "When Mia is diagnosed with a chronic illness, her sister Cricket faces an impossible choice: save Mia's life by donating a kidney or hold on to her lifelong dream of playing soccer. Spectacular Things is a heartfelt exploration of sisterhood and how much we are willing to sacrifice in the name of love."

Reese wrote: "Spectacular Things follows sisters Mia and Cricket as they navigate an impossible choice that will change everything. Think sisterhood, sacrifice, and the golden age of women's soccer all wrapped into one epic story."

On the second Saturday of each month this summer, Madison, a four-year-old Golden Retriever and certified therapy dog with Pet Partners, will be at Falling Rock Cafe & Bookstore in Munising, Mich. The "Reading with Madison" event offers children a chance to read to the dog and enjoy a free ice cream cone afterward.

The bookstore noted that Madison "has been visiting the GetAway Drop in Center, MediLodge and continuing the Reading Program at William G. Mather, which was established in 2013. Her handler, Keena Jones, has been active in the Munising community with her Great Danes: Bella, Zoey and now Madison volunteering with Pet Partners and HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response." Jones has been coming to the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore since 2013 with her dogs.

The Summer Reading Challenge of Green Apple Books and Friends and Neighbors, in San Francisco, Calif., kicked off last Sunday with rousing reading music from the Lowell High Drum Corps. The challenge runs through September 21; last year's edition was highlighted in a recent New York Times article about how summer reading challenges, which used to focus on kids, have expanded to include challenges for adults. The Green Apple/Friends and Neighbor challenge rewards readers for how many hours they read.

"Bookshops are the best sun block. Come in and cool off with a good book!" That was a bit of summer season wisdom on the message board at First Chapter Bookshop, Seneca, S.C.

"Here’s our current heat wave chalkboard," Wonderland Books, Bethesda, Md., noted in sharing the bookshop's latest sidewalk chalkboard message: "Ask us for help finding your summer reading." 

Barnes & Noble has chosen The Letter Carrier by Francesca Giannone (‎‎‎Crown) as its July national book club pick. Readers are being encouraged to check their local Barnes & Noble for live, in-store discussions hosted towards the end of July.

B&N described the book this way: "Get swept away by the inspiring story of Anna, the first female letter carrier in a town stuck in its traditional ways. Set against the backdrop of the small Italian village of Lizzanello in the midst of World War II, Anna is determined to make a life for herself--a life bigger than being a docile wife and mother while the world passes her by. Becoming the integral link between friends, lovers, families and foes, Anna delivers letters that can change lives--or break them. Tender and poignant, this is a big-hearted historical fiction story you won't want to miss."

"It's a beautiful June day to enjoy a refreshing, air-conditioned visit to your neighborhood bookshop in bloom," Hills & Hamlets Bookshop, Chattahoochee Hills, Ga., posted on Facebook.

"Books & air conditioning? Priceless!!" That was the message on the sidewalk chalkboard in front of Fiction: A Novel Bookshop, Wiscasset, Maine, which noted: "We’re keeping it cool in Wiscasset!!"

"We have A/C," Octopus Bookshop in Kennebunk, Maine, posted on Facebook during the heat wave earlier this week, offering up some cool book recommendations: "Come by and cool down with titles like Wally Lamb's THE RIVER IS WAITING; Ariel Lawhon's FROZEN RIVER; or get Fredrik Backman's inviting cover of swimmers on his newest book MY FRIENDS. Or, keep it hot with Kara Swisher's BURN BOOK, Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451, or Tennessee Williams' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF!"

Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y., posted a photo on Instagram yesterday "reminding you TODAY IS ELECTION DAY IN NYC!!!!! VOTING POLLS CLOSE AT 9 PM TODAY SO YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO GO VOTE."

At Hachette Book Group Sales:

Tobias Madden has joined the company as senior manager, metadata strategy, leading Hachette's metadata team. Madden has an extensive background in digital marketing, both at Ingram and Bloomsbury.

Amanda Marks has joined the company as national account manager, overseeing Amazon sales for Hachette’s distributed clients. Marks was formerly at Barnes & Noble, where she was the frontlist manager responsible for managing inventory levels in stores and DCs across fiction categories.

Stephanie Liccardi is being promoted to associate national account manager, joining the Amazon sales team and focusing on the company's children's catalog.

---

At Microcosm:

Leslie Davisson has joined the company as sales director. She has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience, including at Chronicle Books and Lonely Planet.

Sara Balabanlilar has joined Microcosm as senior sales specialist and marketing manager for WorkingLit. She has been a bookseller, event organizer, and gallerist. Prior to joining Microcosm, she was the marketing and sales director at Deep Vellum Publishing and Dalkey Archive Press.

Yazmine Hassan has been promoted to publicist at Berkley.

At Sourcebooks:

Jamie Tan has joined as senior marketing & publicity manager.

Barbie Altorfer has joined as senior project manager, calendar & general merchandising.

MJ Gryzik has joined as digital marketing product assistant.

---

In Bloomsbury's adult trade division:

Lauren Wilson is being promoted to publicist.

Maria DeKoning is being promoted to associate publicist.

In the Random House Publishing Group publicity team:

Michelle Jasmine has been promoted to director of publicity, Dial Press.

Greg Kubie has been promoted to director of publicity, paperbacks & in-market.

Carrie Neill has been promoted to director of publicity, strategic partnerships, working on titles at Random House, Dial Press, and Hogarth and the RHPG division.

Marni Folkman has been promoted to publicist, in-market.

"It is a buried in books kind of day," the Green Dragon Bookshop in Fort Dodge, Iowa, posted on Instagram.

Zaynah Ahmed has been promoted to marketing associate for Harper, Broadside Books, and Harper Influence.

Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, from Farm to Fable by Will Potter (City Lights).

Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin (Orchard Books).

Buzz! Boom! Bang!: The Book of Sounds by Benjamin Gottwald (NorthSouth Books).

Ivy & Bearlock Holmes: The Case of the Missing Flower by Kristyna Litten (Magic Cat Publishing).

Kelly Rudolph has been promoted to senior v-p, publicity and integrated marketing strategy for the Morrow Group and HarperCollins Children's Books. When the company combined the integrated marketing and marketing design teams at William Morrow and HarperCollins Children's in 2023, Rudolph took on the expanded role of v-p of publicity and integrated marketing for both groups.

Overcoming Shame-Based Social Anxiety and Shyness: A CBT Workbook to Move Past Feelings of Self-Consciousness or Defectiveness and Live with Confidence by Larry Cohen (New Harbinger).

Wild Geese Bookshop, Franklin, Ind., posted some sound heat wave advice on Instagram yesterday: "Cool off with us and browse some new books."

Today:
All Things Considered: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings (Harper, $30, 9780063246638).

Fresh Air: Tamara Yajia, author of Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star (Bloomsbury, $26.99, 9781639733910).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: James Delgado, author of The Great Museum of the Sea: A Human History of Shipwrecks (Oxford University Press, $29.99, 9780197780756).

The View repeat: Geri Halliwell-Horner, author of Rosie Frost: Ice on Fire (Philomel Books, $18.99, 9780593624005).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Christine Brennan, author of On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports (Scribner, $29.99, 9781668090190).

Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Steve Martin, author of Steve Martin Writes the Written Word: Collected Written Word Works by Steve Martin (Grand Central, $30, 9780306835735).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert repeat: Dawn Staley, author of Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, $28.99, 9781668023365).

Today:
All Things Considered: Tamara Yajia, author of Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star (Bloomsbury, $26.99, 9781639733910).

Fresh Air remembers Bill Moyers, who died last week.

Tomorrow:
Today: Brad Thor, author of Edge of Honor: A Thriller (Atria/Emily Bestler, $29.99, 9781982182274).

The View repeat: Dawn Staley, author of Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, $28.99, 9781668023365).

Today:
Here & Now: Emily Itami, author of Kakigori Summer: A Novel (Mariner, $30, 9780063432161).

Fresh Air: Jeffrey Seller, author of Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668064184).

The View repeat: Brian Kelly, author of How to Win at Travel (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668068656).

Sherri Shepherd Show repeat: Law Roach, author of How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World's Only Image Architect (Abrams Image, $28, 9781419768217).

Tomorrow:
Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Avan Jogia, author of Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob) (Gallery Books, $27.99, 9781668062272).

Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Glennon Doyle, co-author of We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life's 20 Questions (The Dial Press, $34, 9780593977644).

Today:
Fresh Air: Robin Givhan, author of Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh (Crown, $35, 9780593444122).

Tomorrow:
Today: Hilton Carter, author of The Propagation Handbook: A Guide to Propagating Houseplants (CICO Books, $30, 9781800653108).

The View: Molly Jong-Fast, author of How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir (Viking, $28, 9780593656471).

Late Night with Seth Meyers repeat: Meredith Hayden, author of The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes for Everyday Luxury and Elevated Entertaining (Ten Speed Press, $35, 9780593835951).

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.

Sunday, July 6
8 a.m. Mark Skousen, author of The Greatest American: Benjamin Franklin, History's Most Versatile Genius (Republic Book Publishers, $29.99, 9781645721000). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

9 a.m. Ron Chernow, author of Mark Twain (‎Penguin Press, $45, 9780525561729). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

2 p.m. Joan C. Williams, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250368966).

3:15 p.m. Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity (Basic Books, $32, 9781541619593).

4:25 p.m. Peniel E. Joseph, author of Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution (‎Basic Books, $34, 9781541675896), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

5:40 p.m. Michael Walsh, author of A Rage to Conquer: Twelve Battles That Changed the Course of Western History (St. Martin's Press, $32, 9781250281364).

6:45 p.m. James Patterson and Bill Clinton, authors of The First Gentleman: A Thriller (Little, Brown, $32, 9780316565103).

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has released the first trailer for its first full-length movie, The Cat in the Hat, an animated adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story, Deadline reported. Starring Bill Hader as the voice of the Cat, the film chronicles "our hero's toughest assignment yet," when the I.I.I.I. (Institute for the Institution of Imagination and Inspiration, LLC) "asks him to cheer up Gabby and Sebastian, a pair of siblings struggling with their move to a new town. Known for taking things too far, this could be this agent of chaos' last chance to prove himself... or lose his magical hat!"

Directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, the project has a voice cast that includes Xochitl Gomez, Matt Berry, Quinta Brunson, Paula Pell, Tiago Martinez, Giancarlo Esposito, America Ferrera, Bowen Yang, and Tituss Burgess. The film will be released to theaters and IMAX across North America on February 27, 2026, and internationally beginning February 25. 

Matt and Ross Duffer (Stranger Things) are developing Ron Currie's novel The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne for Netflix, with the author and his writing partner Joshua Mohr set to pen the series and executive produce, Deadline reported. Hilary Leavitt will also exec produce with the Duffers through their Upside Down Pictures.

Currie is the author of four novels and one collection of short stories. As a screenwriter, he worked most recently on the Apple TV+ series Extrapolations. Mohr has published several books. As a screenwriting team, they have previously developed projects with AMC Studios, Amblin Television, and ITV America.

MGM Television is developing a series adaptation of Park Avenue, the first adult novel by bestselling YA author Renée Ahdieh. Johanna Lee (Dune, Scandal) is writing and executive producing the project, which will be produced by Escape Artists, Deadline reported. The book was published earlier this month by Flatiron Books.

"When I first read Renée's incredible book, I was immediately hooked," said Escape Artists co-founder by Todd Black. "Then I heard Johanna's vision and was convinced this was going to be something truly special. Together with Lindsay Sloane and our partners at MGM Television, we're excited to build a series that feels bold, fresh, and timely for today's audiences."

"Working with the venerated team at Escape Artists and MGM on this project has been an absolute highlight of my career," Ahdieh said. "If someone had told me that my book about Korean American immigrants would resonate with so many people from all walks of life, I would not have believed it. I am beyond thankful for the passion and excellence this team and Johanna Lee brings to this project, and I can't wait to share it with everyone."

Leo Woodall (One Day, The White Lotus Season 2, Prime Target) will star opposite Rachel Weisz in Vladimir, a new Netflix limited series adapted from the 2022 novel by Julia May Jonas, Deadline reported that the eight-episode project was greenlit in March, with Weisz attached to star and executive opposite creator and writer Jonas.

Executive producers also include Sharon Horgan, Stacy Greenberg, and Kira Carstensen (Merman), Jason Winer and Jon Radler for Small Dog Picture Company, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. 20th Television, where Small Dog had an overall deal, is the studio.

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, June 28
2 p.m. Hilary N. Green, author of Unforgettable Sacrifice: How Black Communities Remembered the Civil War (Fordham University Press, $34.65, 9781531508524).

5 p.m. Marc Leepson, author of The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton (Stackpole Books, $32.95, 9780811772921).

6 p.m. Jonthan Horn, author of The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines (Scribner, $30.99, 9781668010075), at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

Sunday, June 29
8 a.m. Stanley McChrystal, author of On Character: Choices That Define a Life (Portfolio, $30, 9780593852958). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

2 p.m. Paul Hawken, author of Carbon: The Book of Life (‎Viking, $28, 9780525427445).

3:15 p.m. Thor Hanson, author of Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door (Basic Books, $30, 9781541601246).

4:20 p.m. Rich Benjamin, author of Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History (Pantheon, $29, 9780593317396), at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, Calif.

4:55 p.m. Martin Reeves, author of Like: The Button That Changed the World (‎Harvard Business Review Press, $32, 9798892790451).

6:10 p.m. Scott Bok, author of Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy, and Timing (Wiley, $29.95, 9781394326693).

Longlists have been selected for the "new-look" Wainwright Prizes, which honor "exceptional nature and conservation" and "spotlight writing and illustration that celebrate the natural world and inspire readers of all ages to protect it." The prizes have expanded to six categories: nature writing, conservation writing, illustrative books, children's fiction, children's nonfiction, and children's picture books. See the longlists here.

---

Edinburgh, Scotland publisher Floris Books released the shortlists for this year's Kelpies Prize for Writing and Illustration. Entrants were asked to submit a selection of writing or illustration samples suitable for a children's book. The prize for illustration returns this year after a two-year hiatus. Check out the shortlisted titles here.

The winners will be named on September 5, and each receives a prize package that includes nine months of mentoring with the Floris editorial or design team, £500 (about $680), and consideration for a publishing deal with Floris Books.

The shortlist has been selected for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, which honors "the novel of the highest literary merit which presents Australian life in any of its phases." The shortlisted authors receive A$5,000 (about US$3,245) each, and the winner, to be named July 24, receives A$60,000 (about US$38,945). This year's shortlisted titles are:

Chinese Postman by Brian Castro 
Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser (winner of the Stella Prize a month ago)
Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn 
Compassion by Julie Janson 
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu 
Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane

The judges commented: "The shortlist for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award celebrates writing that refuses to compromise. Each of these works vitalizes the form of the novel and invents new languages for the Australian experience."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, July 8:

Hotel Ukraine by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon & Schuster, $27.99, 9781982188382) is the 11th and final Arkady Renko thriller.

Vera, or Faith: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, $28, 9780593595091) follows a struggling family through the eyes of a precocious 10-year-old daughter.

The View From Lake Como: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani (Dutton, $29, 9780593183359) follows a divorced New Jersey woman returning to her roots in Italy.

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout Press, $29.99, 9781668025628) is a psychological thriller set at a luxury hotel on Lake Geneva.

All the Men I've Loved Again: A Novel by Christine Pride (Atria, $28.99, 9781668049532) is a romance about a woman faced with two suitors in college and again 20 years later.

The AI Incident by J.E. Thomas (Levine Querido, $18.99, 9781646145089) features a foster child fighting a rogue AI robot.

Love Spells Trouble by Nia Davenport (Bloomsbury, $19.99, 9781547612963) is a YA romcom in which a teen witch starts fake dating a boy from a gentrifying Coven to help save her parents' business.

Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home by Stephen Starring Grant (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668018040) is the memoir of a rural mail carrier.

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst (Riverhead, $28, 9780593854280) chronicles a couple's months together in a life raft after being shipwrecked.

On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports by Christine Brennan (Scribner, $29.99, 9781668090190) looks at an ascendant women's basketball star.

Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean (Little, Brown, $32.50, 9780316496551) explores the discipline called experimental archaeology.

Paperbacks:
Totally and Completely Fine: A Novel by Elissa Sussman (Dell, $18, 9780593725177).

Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence by Sam Kelly (Plume, $22, 9780593476048).

Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations by Leyla K. King (Eerdmans, $22.99, 9780802884992).

Climate by Whitney Hanson (Penguin Life, $19, 9780593994238).

Chanel Sutherland was named overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and will receive £5,000 (about $6,865) for "Descend," in which enslaved Africans share their life stories as the ship transporting them sinks. The literary magazine Granta has published all the regional winning stories, which will also be available in a special print collection from Paper + Ink.

Chair of judges Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko commented: "Told in the quiet voice of a seer, 'Descend' is deep and profound. It tells the story of slaves packed like sardines in the hull of a sinking ship, an allegory that affirms the unrivalled power of storytelling to set our spirits free and find hope where none exists." 

Sutherland said: "My love for storytelling began before I even fully understood what a story was--I only knew they made me feel something, and I wanted to make others feel it too. Back in Saint Vincent, I used to scrawl my earliest stories into the sand in our yard, knowing they'd be washed away by rain or footsteps. Winning feels deeply affirming--as if that little girl scribbling in the sand was always right to believe that stories mattered. 

"I took a risk with 'Descend'--its shape, its voices--because I believed every enslaved person deserves to have their story told with dignity. I can't tell all the stories, or restore the lives that were stolen, but I'm humbled that this one resonates."

The Orwell Foundation has named this year's winners of the Orwell Prizes, recognizing "work which comes closest to George Orwell's ambition 'to make political writing into an art.' " The 2025 book award winners receive £3,000 (about $4,125).

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing was awarded to Looking at Women, Looking at War, an unfinished novel by Victoria Amelina, who was killed in the Ukraine war in 2023. Kim Darroch, chair of judges for the award, said: "Victoria Amelina was a successful Ukrainian novelist, and founder of a book festival, living in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine. The Russian invasion stripped all of this away overnight. Rather than fleeing the country, she travelled it, supporting humanitarian projects, helping others evacuate, researching war crimes, and chronicling the harrowing, sometimes surreal, challenges and experiences of living in a war zone. Then, on June 27, 2023, she was in a pizzeria in Kramatorsk when it was hit by a Russian missile. Sixty-four were injured and thirteen killed. Victoria was among them.

"Her book, Looking at Women, Looking at War, put together after her death by a group of friends and colleagues, is unavoidably fragmentary--a collection of diary entries, interviews, audio files, notes and drafts. But it is all the more powerful for its episodic structure, conjuring up the reality of daily life when mere survival is an achievement. She brings to her narrative the acuity of a journalist and the artistry of a born writer. The result is an unforgettable picture of the human consequences of war."

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction went to Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan. Jim Crace, chair of judges for the prize, commented: "We have an outstanding shortlist of eight political novels for this year's Orwell Prize for Fiction. All of them are winners. But the single work that has finally emerged as our overall champion is Donal Ryan's Heart, Be at Peace. For its clarity. For its twenty-one perfectly pitched voices. For the neatness and breadth of its form. For its humanity and kindness. Here is a small deprived community in rural Ireland--after the Good Friday Peace Accord and the collapse of the Celtic Tiger--suffering and recovering from the bruises of its political and economic past. The boom years--in both senses of that word--might be over, but in Donal Ryan's exceptional Heart, Be at Peace, the echoes still reverberate and hum."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, July 1:

Edge of Honor by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bestler, $29.99, 9781982182274) is the 24th Scot Harvath thriller.

An Enemy in the Village by Martin Walker (Knopf, $28, 9780593536643) is the 18th Bruno, Chief of Police mystery.

Typewriter Beach: A Novel by Meg Waite Clayton (Harper, $30, 9780063422148) follows two women in Hollywood generations apart.

The Red Queen by Martha Grimes (Atlantic Monthly Press, $28, 9780802164940) is the 26th mystery with English police officer Richard Jury.

The Letter Carrier: A Novel by Francesca Giannone, trans. by Elettra Pauletto (Crown, $28, 9780593800898) takes place in a village in southern Italy prior to World War II.

We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate by Michael Grunwald (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781982160074) explores human agriculture through the lens of climate change.

The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda by Nathalia Holt (Atria/One Signal, $29.99, 9781668027745) tracks a 1929 expedition by Theodore Roosevelt's sons to introduce the panda to the West.

The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature by Charlie English (Random House, $34.99, 9780593447901) uncovers a CIA program to undermine Soviet censorship.

Death by Astonishment: Confronting the Mystery of the World's Strangest Drug by Andrew R. Gallimore (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250357755) looks at the history and science of DMT.

Paperbacks:
Tips to Help You Do Your Best by Mike Carlson (Tupelo Press, $19.95, 9781961209343).

How Freaking Romantic: A Novel by Emily Harding (Gallery Books, $18.99, 9781668082744).

Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran (Berkley, $19, 9780593820193).

Something Big: The True Story of the Brown's Chicken Massacre, A Decade-Long Manhunt, and the Trials That Followed by Patrick Wohl (Post Hill Press, $18.99, 9798888459003).

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
Great Black Hope: A Novel by Rob Franklin (S&S/Summit Books, $28.99, 9781668077436). "Great Black Hope is an immersive experience of the dilemmas faced by characters confronting a broken justice system and a society that still erects barriers to Black achievement. It is marvelous." --Shane Grebel, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Hardcover
The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life by Helen Whybrow (Milkweed Editions, $26, 9781571311627). "One of the great gifts of writers is so delicately, artfully, placing characters in our minds that we can fully experience them. Read this for a shepherd's life and the landscapes they inhabit. Beautiful, telling, and human." --John Evans, Camino Books, San Diego, Calif.

Paperback
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (Bindery Books, $18.95, 9781964721132). "A delightful found family romp through space! Think if Murderbot was a creature feature. I really can't get over how fantastic and charming this is!" --Athena Palmer, Shelf Life Bookstore, Richmond, Va.

Ages 4-8
There's Something Odd About the Babysitter by Elayne Crain, illus. by John Ledda (Feiwel & Friends, $18.99, 9781250345141). "An adorable and clever book. This is sure to be a story time favorite. Kids and their grownups will both get a kick out of seeing what happens when raccoons decide to go into the childcare business." --Lea Bickerton, The Tiny Bookstore, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Ages 8-12
On Guard!: A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel by Cassidy Wasserman 
(Random House Graphic, $21.99, 9780593649985). "A story about a middle schooler who discovers fencing for the first time! It helps her make friends, gain confidence, and helps with her mental health while struggling with her parents' divorce. Kids navigating big feelings will feel seen in this." --Meghan Bousquet, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Mass.

Ages 12+
Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel (Scholastic Press, $19.99, 9781546158202). "Best of All Worlds is the book that I didn't know I needed right now. I'm still not sure how I walked away from this mind-bending and dystopian thriller full of hope. You will be DYING to talk to someone about it when you're finished. Hit me up." --Andrea King, Left Bank Books, St. Louis, Mo.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Samantha Mann is the author of Putting Out: Essays on Otherness and the editor of I Feel Love: Notes on Queer Joy. She writes essays and articles exploring culture, mental health, motherhood, and LGBTQ issues. Her work has been featured in the Cut, Vogue, Elle, Today, Romper, and more. Her most recent book is Dyke Delusions (Read Furiously, June 3, 2025), a collection of essays on body politics, motherhood, and feminine sexuality, told with Mann's signature humor and pitch-perfect observations.

Handsell readers your book in about 25 words:

Did you grow up with the feeling that you were delusional only to become an adult and realize it was the culture at large that ingrained that idea into you?

On your nightstand now:

Reading the Waves by Lidia Yuknavitch. No one makes me reconsider my writing like Lidia. Her writing is so gorgeously her own. I read her essay "Woven" at least twice a year, hoping how she expertly weaves her stories together will rub off on me like osmosis. A few years ago, I took a "Writing Better Sex Scenes" seminar with Lidia and she astutely pointed out that women are taught to write how men get off (setting, rising action, climax, resolution, and conclusion), and that we should work hard to write in a way that matches our own experience. I think about this all the time!

Favorite book when you were a child:

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Two children run away from home and sneak into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While they are hiding out at night and enjoying the museum by day (and eating chocolate bars for all their meals!), they come across a mystery of an angel sculpture that might have been created by Michelangelo. The book made me want to run away from my dull suburban life and live somewhere chic!

Your top five authors:

Roxane Gay
Samantha Irby
Lidia Yuknavitch
Maggie Nelson
Melissa Febos

Book you've faked reading:

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I did skim it in a bookstore for approximately five minutes, and I feel like I understand the overall gist! While I cannot get myself to finish more than one day's worth of morning pages a year, I do try to take myself on an Artist Date when I can!

Book you're an evangelist for:

Body Work by Melissa Febos. I refer to this book as the bible. If you care about nonfiction or essays, there is nothing more life affirming or insightful than this! There are still so many misnomers about essay writing that I find infuriating (mainly, "does essay-writing work cure your mental illness and isn't it bad for you to write about all this personal stuff"?). Melissa expertly breaks apart all of it and now acts as the authoritative voice in the back of my head when I hear the old whisper of... "who cares about your life?"

Book you've bought for the cover:

I don't think I've done this!

Book you hid from your parents:

Same Sex in the City (So Your Prince Charming Is Really a Cinderella) by Lauren Blitzer and Lauren Levin. My mom actually did find this book lodged between my mattress and bed frame. When she kindly asked me if there was anything I wanted to tell her, I screamed at her for having a limited scope of reading interests.

Book that changed your life:

The Hours by Michael Cunningham. As a teenager I was depressed and gay and felt embarrassed about both things. Seeing all the interesting, complex, and also depressed women in this book helped me shift my mindset from embarrassment to misunderstood creative, which was more useful! It also clarified the fact that I wasn't a 1950s housewife like Kitty, and that I could be a Clarissa. Sure, Clarissa was morose, but she also was married to a woman in a gorgeous West Village apartment.

Favorite line from a book:

"First of all, why you would ask a man anything is beyond me." --Samantha Irby, Wow, No Thank You

"O god, she prayed, thank You for giving me the strength to run." --Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls

Five books you'll never part with:

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
All About Love by bell hooks
Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Skin Game by Caroline Kettlewell

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. The use of language in this book is so beautiful it makes me wish I was a poet. Or it at least makes me wish poets would stop writing novels--it's making the rest of mortal writers look bad!

The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul by Scott W. Berg (Pantheon) has won the $25,000 2025 Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award, which celebrates works that transform public understanding of Chicago, its history, and its people and is sponsored by the Newberry Library and the Pattis Family Foundation.

Astrida Orle Tantillo, president and librarian of the Newberry, said the book is "a compelling narrative of the Great Fire and provides new insight into how Chicago's Gilded Age story has been told. Every Chicagoan is familiar with the fire and how it transformed Chicago for decades to come. The Burning of the World shows in dramatic ways the importance of re-visiting this history."

The judges also recognized two other books, whose authors will receive $2,500:

Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois by Larry A. McClellan (Southern Illinois University Press) and The Salt Shed: The Transformation of a Chicago Landmark by Sandra Steinbrecher (Trope Publishing).

---

Natalie Sue won the C$15,000 (about US$10,965) Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor, which honors "the best Canadian book of literary humor published in the previous year," for her debut novel I Hope This Finds You Well.

The other finalists, who each received C$3,000 (about US$2,190), are Greg Kearney for An Evening With Birdy O'Day; and Patricia J. Parsons for We Came From Away.

Winners have been selected for the 2025 Firecracker Awards, sponsored by the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses and honoring the best independently published books of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry and the best literary magazines in the categories of debut and general excellence. Each book winner receives $2,000--$1,000 each for the press and author. The book winners:

Fiction: Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento (University of Pittsburgh Press). Judges wrote: "Seldom does fiction so expertly capture the complications of queerness, family, dislocation, and culture. Obligations to the Wounded is a triumphant collection of unforgettable tales whose characters are as varied in identity as they are in experienced circumstances. With wit and cunning, the protagonists navigate the ever-present systems of oppression that encircle them and their relationships. Mubanga Kalimamukwento has written a stunning work of compassionate art worthy of our attention and emotions."

Creative Nonfiction: Low: Notes on Art & Trash by Jaydra Johnson (Fonograf Editions). "Jaydra Johnson's Low is formally inventive, bringing together art criticism and memoir, words and art into a meticulously crafted essay collection. In stunningly lyrical prose, Johnson pays a finely hewn attention to that which our wasteful, capitalistic society discards and collapses the dichotomies of high and low art. Johnson writes with a tenderness towards her subjects, but not without sacrificing a direct, unflinching approach to her insights on class and waste. This book, as the interstitial pieces remind us, give us new rituals for looking, exposing the casually oppressive structures of our society and imbuing trash with a newfound sense of purpose. Fonograf Editions has produced a gorgeous book to match with gorgeously formatted pages, and collaged interstitials that underscore the meaning and message of Johnson’s playful, powerful work."

Poetry: Mirror Nation by Don Mee Choi (Wave Books). "Don Mee Choi's Mirror Nation is a virtuosic work exploring memory, loss, and grief inside the system of capitalist nation-states. Choi rearranges and expands language(s), numbers, signs, still and archival images in a project so singular that it expands the definition of poetry itself as it charts a poignant journey of meaning-making in the aftermath of empires' repeated cycles of violence. Mirror Nation offers the best of what poetry can provide--a new way of seeing. Once you have read it, it will live in you and with you for the foreseeable future. Arriving at a crossroads in the American colonial project, this collection is both testament and testimony to the corrosive forces of empire."

photo: Adalena Kavanagh

Sebastian Castillo is the author of several books, including SALMON and, most recently, Fresh, Green Life (Soft Skull, June 24, 2025), a blackly humorous tale set on a single snowy night when a young writer attends a New Year's Eve party in hopes of reconnecting with old classmates. Castillo lives in Philadelphia, Pa.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

It's like if Don Quixote was about watching too many YouTube videos.

On your nightstand now:

I have a big stack right now: Peter Weiss's The Aesthetics of Resistance: Vol. II; The Lord Chandos Letter and Other Writings by Hugo von Hofmannsthal; The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola; Gerald Murnane's Barley Patch, which I'm rereading for a book club; A Legacy by Sybille Bedford; Go Figure by Rae Armantrout; The Bridge by Hart Crane; Mr. Cogito by Zbigniew Herbert; and God's Ear by Jenny Schwartz, a play recommended to me by a friend.

Favorite book when you were a child:

I didn't read very much as a child. I mostly played video games, practiced the guitar. I had daydreams of being good at skateboarding, which never materialized. I suppose I was a late bloomer compared to some--I didn't become an obsessive reader until my early 20s, though I did read with interest occasionally before then. The first book that really affected me was Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, which I read when I was 16. It convinced me enough that life was not something to waste, though I guess 20 years later the solution to this problem has remained unclear.

Your top five authors:

I find this too impossible, so I'll stick to five writers I've read consistently and loved very much in the last few years: Thomas Bernhard, Javier Marías, Jane Bowles, Robert Glück, Muriel Spark.

Book you've faked reading:

I've never done this. Speaking of childhood, I loved faking sick as a kid. My mother either believed me or didn't have the energy to challenge me on my performances. My junior year of high school I was absent 36 times. One of the biggest regrets in life is that I didn't skip school even more than I did. But now that I'm nearly 40 I think I'm ready to go back; I would be a good student. I would do the reading. Behave.

Book you're an evangelist for:

A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr. I'm wild on that one.

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Dag Solstad editions from New Directions. And I'm glad I did, as he's become a favorite writer. Rest in peace!

Book you hid from your parents:

The only thing I hid from my mother was a pack of cigarettes.

Book that changed your life:

I read 2666 by Roberto Bolaño when it was first published in English--I was 20 thereabouts--and it certainly changed my life, as it was the book that convinced me to dedicate my life to literature as both a reader and writer.

Favorite line from a book:

I don't often remember lines from books. When I think of a book I've read, I have an image of myself reading it, and if the book was good the image is warm, and I think of my time with it fondly. If I didn't like the book or felt ambivalent toward it, I find it difficult to create this image.

Five books you'll never part with:

Despite my bibliophilia and my overzealous tendency toward book collecting, I don't feel this kind of attachment to any one book I own. Maybe one: I have a signed copy of The Literary Conference by César Aira, which he signed for me when he read in Brooklyn in 2015, which I believe might be the only time he's read in the United States.

I like to tell this story sometimes: at that reading, I sat next to a gruff-spoken, chatty, elderly Black man, who seemed to be interested in speaking with whomever he was sitting next to, though actually he did not speak with me. It dawned on me a little later: this was the jazz pianist Cecil Taylor. Why? Because Aira, many years ago, had written a short story titled "Cecil Taylor," a fictional biography of the musician. And he read it there, that night. Actually, there is a line from that story I do remember, though I've had to look it up:

"...[T]he career of the innovative musician was difficult because, as opposed to the conventional musician, who had only to please an audience, the innovator had to create a new one from scratch, like someone taking a red blood cell and shaping it with patience and love until it's nice and round, then doing the same with another, and attaching it to the first, and so on until he has made a heart, and then all the other organs and bones and muscles and skin and hair, leaving the delicate tunnel of the ear with its anvils and miniature hammers till last.... That was how he might produce the first listener for his music, the origin of his audience, and he would have to repeat the operation hundreds and thousands of times if he wanted to be recognized as a name in the history of music, with the same care every time, because if he got a single cell wrong, a fatal domino effect would bring the whole thing crashing down...."

Afterward, I witnessed Aira kiss Taylor on the hand. When I asked Aira to sign the copy of my book, I told him in Spanish how much his work had meant to me, but as I was saying this, I noticed he was checking out the attractive woman behind me and ignoring my panegyric. I found this moment then and now perfect. I will always love César.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. And when I reread it in about a decade, it will be the first time I read it, as that book's author would probably say.

Tell us a secret:

I've included the word "clown" in every book I've published and will continue with this practice indefinitely.

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

Hardcover
Notes on Infinity: A Novel by Austin Taylor (Celadon, $29.99, 9781250376107). "Zoe and Jack have found a way to genetically engineer genes related to aging. Their incredible work and parallel love story are almost too good to be true. Fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow will race through this." --Beth Mynhier, Lake Forest Book Store, Lake Forest, Ill.

A Family Matter: A Novel by Claire Lynch (Scribner, $25.99, 9781668078891). "This is a beautiful, quiet book about being unmoored. There is so much love, and much pain--laws in 1982 England classified lesbian relationships as inappropriate. A strong reminder that our past was not so long ago and we have a responsibility to speak up." --Kira Wizner, Merritt Bookstore, Millbrook, N.Y.

Paperback
Behooved by M. Stevenson (Bramble, $19.99, 9781250375087). "Come for the horse puns, stay for the very sweet enemies-to-lovers romance! This is a slow burn, low spice, but it was so charming and comforting. A read I can see myself coming back to!" --Bonnie Ingersoll, Spoke + Word Books, Milwaukie, Ore.

Ages 3-6
When You Go to Dragon School by Chelsea M. Campbell, illus. by Charlene Chua (Feiwel & Friends, $18.99, 9781250293015.) "I LOVE IT! The colors are bright and happy, the dragons come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and the children are super diverse. Do not miss this book. It's bound to be a new favorite." --Andrea Iriarte, Molly's Bookstore, Melrose, Mass.

Ages 10-14
The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez by Jasminne Paulino (Putnam, $18.99, 9780593859315). "What a gem of a story. Alex undergoes multiple setbacks as he fights for his spot in a science classroom and club. The verse is powerful and addresses important topics including friendship, bullying, family support, and self-reliance." --Sierra Hollabaugh, The Bookery Cincy, Cincinnati, Ohio

Ages 14+
That Devil, Ambition by Linsey Miller (Storytide, $19.99, 9780063388611). "That Devil, Ambition is a dark and twisted story following three characters fighting for their lives as they race to outsmart their professor, the devil. A gripping story with unpredictable characters that will leave you questioning loyalties." --Kaitlyn Mahoney, Under the Umbrella Bookstore, Salt Lake City, Utah

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

"Jamie has never known what to say to her mother. And now--when it matters most of all, when she's on a rescue mission--she knows even less."

At the start of Charlie Jane Anders's Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Jamie's mother, Serena, is struggling. Since the death of her wife, Mae, six years ago, simultaneous with Serena's career imploding, Serena has been holed up with her grief in a one-room schoolhouse in the woods. Now Jamie, wrestling with her dissertation on 18th-century literature, has decided enough is enough. In the interest of pulling Serena out of her black hole, Jamie's finally going to tell her mom her big secret: Jamie is a witch.

But her attempt to teach Serena some nice, wholesome, positivity-based magic misfires, because Serena is prickly, powerful, and pissed at the world. Learning magic proves hazardous, to her and to Jamie. There are also ill effects on Jamie's partner, Ro, an endlessly patient and lovely person whom Jamie values above all--although she's yet to tell Ro about her magic. Meanwhile, the college where Jamie studies and teaches is once more threatening to cut her already pitiful stipend, she's at a sticking point on her dissertation, and her undergraduate students can be terrifying. But she's just discovered a previously unknown document that might decide the authorship of a novel at the heart of her research. And with Serena's frighteningly intense powers, it is both scary and tempting to consider what Jamie might do.

As the younger witch attempts to teach her mother the rules of magic (which self-taught Jamie has defined for herself), both women must confront relationships past and present, with each other and with their partners. In flashback sections, Serena's early years with Mae offer heartbreakingly sweet and thought-provoking reflections on love and childrearing. Jamie's present life with Ro, a Ph.D. candidate in economics, is nerdy and deeply loving, strongly rooted in intentional reinvention of traditional roles. Serena and Jamie are a prickly and troubled mother/daughter duo, but both are earnestly trying to come together. They will face challenges to their love as well as to their personal safety, as the stakes rise in a world of bigotry and social injustice, but they will also form stronger bonds with each other and other strong women.

Anders (Never Say You Can't Survive; All the Birds in the Sky) excels at dialogue and the portrayal of relationships both loving and thorny. Her characters face profoundly serious dangers, but there are frequent notes of levity, joy, fun, and intimacy throughout. Lessons in Magic and Disaster features the magic of spells and charms but also that of human connection, and readers will be richer for the experience. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: Adult daughter and mother, both struggling and bickering, work to come together with magic spells, an impossible dissertation, and lots of love.

Sherri L. Smith (Pearl; Orleans) delivers a stellar work of middle-grade science fiction in Candace, the Universe, and Everything, about three generations of Black girls bound by a wormhole in their shared locker.

It's the first day of eighth grade, and 13-year-old Candace's locker just exploded. "Okay, not exploded. But basically exploded." As Candace opened the door "some... thing... burst out." Candace "threw her arms up and screamed. The thing screamed, too." It was a bird--a bird had flown out of her locker. Later, Candace finds a purple notebook labeled "What You Need to Know. For Girls Like Me" on the top shelf of the locker; "Tracey Auburn, Fall '88" is written in the front cover. Candace reads through the notebook and draws a picture of The Bird, signing the illustration, and placing it back on the top shelf. When Candace returns and finds that the drawing has been ripped out, she decides she will find Tracey Auburn.

Tracey, now a 53-year-old college professor, has memories of a bird flying into her locker in 1988, of losing her purple notebook, and of finding the illustration. She is understandably shocked when Candace presents her with the missing notebook 40 years later. Together, they test the locker: they write a note and leave it inside. Moments later, they open the notebook to find a new message: "Loretta Spencer... I'll be waiting." Loretta is a 93-year-old quantum physicist who has been studying the portal (and others like it) since a bird flew out of her locker in 1948. Now, Loretta needs Tracey and Candace to help her continue researching the "forty-year knot" of the locker wormhole--research that started in 1908 with Loretta's birdwatching (near-physicist) Grandmother.

Smith's novel is filled with cosmic metaphors, intergenerational connections, science, and self-discovery. She focuses the main narrative on Candace but includes chapters from both Tracey and Loretta's 13th year. Smith keeps a steady pace as she reveals the connections between the present and the past and she uses quotes from a beloved science fiction series in the world of the book to keep the reader speeding through chapters. With its contemporary When You Reach Me tone, Candace, the Universe, and Everything reminds readers that although the universe is boundless, our connections to each other are limited and thus extremely meaningful. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: In this whimsical and wondrous sci-fi narrative, a Black girl and two Black women form an unlikely friendship based around the portal in their shared locker.

Seven intriguing stories compose Taiwanese American author and screenwriter Elaine Hsieh Chou's first collection after her lauded debut novel, Disorientation. She opens with "Carrot Legs," about a precocious 13-year-old Taiwanese American visiting her grandparents in Taipei. She's arrived solo this time and her 16-year-old cousin, LaLa, is assigned "to take care of [her] while [she's] here." Sharing a bedroom together encourages sharing and secrets--even plans for violence against a meddling auntie--until a new boyfriend drives the girls apart. A potential love interest also causes a disturbing rift in "You Put a Rabbit on Me," featuring a pair of meta-doppelgängers. "I had primarily come to Paris to find the real me," American Elaine explains, arriving in France to work as an au pair. She meets her exact mirror, French Elaine, in a grocery store's yogurt aisle. An inseparable bond is inevitable--one that's at first devoted but turns punishing when a dating app match upsets their surreal pairing.

In two stories spotlighting parent/child relationships, Chou's characters, either child or parent, exhibit disturbing behaviors excused under the guise of filial or parental duty. In "Happy Endings," a DNA researcher claims his mother's frailty as his reason to eschew a family of his own, instead turning to "professional, uncomplicated relief" that grows more heinously brutal. In "The Dollhouse," a mother uses the figures in her nine-year-old daughter's toy dollhouse to reveal her troubled past as a carer to real-life "dolls," pregnant immigrant women paying exorbitant fees to birth babies with birthright citizenship. Chou sets the collection's novella closing, "Casualties of Art," in a writing residency, capturing pivotal moments of a tumultuous affair between an as-yet unpublished Korean Chinese author, David, and an adopted Korean American artist, Sophia, visiting her white writer husband. Their brief relationship provides David plenty of fodder for a story he plans to submit to a prestigious contest.

While deftly exploring diverse genres--coming-of-age, speculative, contemporary realism, auto- and meta-fiction--Chou convincingly interrogates and exposes unsettling relationships between family members, lovers, and former strangers. Beyond her multi-layered narratives (race, privilege, sexism, and identity are all contained here), she also notably, slyly inserts a sense of unreliability in her storytelling. Meanwhile, her novella offers a non-ending in five potential variations, adding numerous possibilities but never easy clarity. Yes, fiction is imagined and created, but Chou also manages to shrewdly, impressively deceive. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Novelist Elaine Hsieh Chou's intriguing first collection of stories showcases diverse genres, agitated relationships, and--oh, so very cleverly--unreliable narration.

Playwright, poet, author, and activist James Baldwin holds an unrivaled position in the history of American literature, one that biographer Nicholas Boggs thoroughly examines in Baldwin: A Love Story. As the title suggests, Boggs's work distinguishes itself from prior biographies by using Baldwin's primary romantic, platonic, artistic, and intellectual relationships as the organizing principle. Depictions of relationships with his lover, artist Lucien Happersberger, and enduring friends like Beauford Delaney breathe life into every page of the work.

Boggs uses new archival material and fresh interviews with people close to Baldwin throughout his life, resulting in an impressive and kaleidoscopic exploration of Baldwin's origins, his intellectual and artistic evolution, and the ever-expanding ripples of his influence across tumultuous artistic and political landscapes.

At more than 600 pages, Baldwin provides a deep intimacy into his life, delving into his formative years in Harlem. Boggs depicts his family's poverty, the fraught relationship with his stepfather, and the intellectual awakening encouraged by teachers and mentors who recognized his promise.

Boggs meticulously charts Baldwin's early literary efforts, the formation of his unmistakable voice and how he would "transmute his psychological and emotional wounds into writing." Baldwin's words developed enough force to cut through the noise of the fraught American racial discourse of the 1950s and '60s with unparalleled clarity and moral authority.

Boggs shows Baldwin's impact, not only as a novelist and essayist of breathtaking power but also as a crucial voice in the Civil Rights movement. In one anecdote, Baldwin meets with Robert Kennedy in a legendarily tense confrontation packed with celebrity and influential Black voices of the time, including Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne. The biography navigates Baldwin's complex interactions with political leaders and fellow activists, showcasing his unwavering commitment to justice while also revealing the personal toll of such a public life. For example, the FBI tracked the movements of him and his friends, "amassing what would balloon into a significant 1,884-page file on him that would not be closed until 1974."

Baldwin sensitively explores Baldwin's sexuality and lifelong quest for a long-term partner. Far from a footnote, his identity as a gay Black man is shown to be foundational in his understanding of otherness, of love in all its incarnations, and of societal constructs that label and diminish people.

Nicholas Boggs has undertaken a biography of immense scope and profound insight that deepens our understanding of Baldwin and his work. For longtime admirers and new discoverers alike, this is an indispensable companion to the ever-relevant legacy of James Baldwin. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.

Shelf Talker: An unrivaled homage to James Baldwin, a complex creative figure who changed American literature and thoughts about race in the 20th-century and beyond.

Sam Wachman's beautiful, heartbreaking debut novel, The Sunflower Boys, follows a pair of young brothers whose world is upended by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As they travel west, hoping to escape the chaos of war and reunite with their father, who has been working in the U.S., narrator Artem captures details of their journey in his sketchbook, creating a poignant account of what he has loved and lost.

Wachman begins his story in peacetime, when Artem's life in Chernihiv, north of Kyiv, is blessedly ordinary. He walks to school with his little brother, Yuri, and best friend, Viktor; he does his homework, draws, and swims in the River Desna; and he and Yuri talk to their tato (dad), sharing stories of their lives in different countries. Every fall, Yuri and Artem travel to a nearby village to help their grandfather, Did Pasha, harvest the sunflower seeds on his farm. Artem is mostly content, but he's starting to wonder two things: one, what it truly means to be a man, and two, if his growing feelings for Viktor will make him a fundamentally flawed man. When Russia launches its attack on Ukraine, Artem and Yuri flee their city, first heading to Did Pasha's village with their mother and grandfather, then further south and west on their own. The peaceful, almost pastoral, quality of the novel's early chapters serves to heighten the jarring contrast with the sudden upheaval destruction of war.

Wachman depicts the brothers' harrowing journey through small, stark details: blistered feet and clothes stiff with grime, Yuri's stuffed crocodile, and Artem's precious sketchbook, which he carries everywhere, even when he can't draw a thing. On their journey, the brothers encounter people both callous and kind: a family of villagers who welcome them in for the night; aid workers at refugee centers who help them find beds and showers; others whose promise of safe passages turns out to be a lie. Artem's primary focus is keeping Yuri safe, but he also worries for his friends, especially Viktor, who has also fled Chernihiv with his parents. As Artem searches for his tato and tries to care for Yuri, he continues to wrestle with his feelings for Viktor and his own identity in an increasingly chaotic and confusing world.

Tender and poignant, shot through with deep sadness and wry humor, The Sunflower Boys is a bittersweet rendering of life in modern-day Ukraine, the effect of war on ordinary lives, and a young person discovering who he is. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Sam Wachman's bittersweet, beautiful debut novel follows a pair of brothers displaced by the war in Ukraine, through the eyes and sketchbook of the older brother, an artist.

In 1980, noted British writer Penelope Fitzgerald wrote an essay entitled "Following the Plot," alluding to a trip she and her five-year-old son, Valpy, took to northern Mexico in 1952, at the invitation of two wealthy, elderly women in search of an heir to the fortune from their family's former silver mine. Taking Fitzgerald's barebones description of that strange journey as her starting point, Jessica Francis Kane (Rules for Visiting) has vividly imagined that experience in Fonseca, creating a story that's steeped in atmosphere as it explores themes of class and creativity, seasoning that mix with a touch of romance and even a bit of a ghost story.

At its heart, Fitzgerald's odd journey was something of an act of desperation. Fitzgerald produced the literary journal World Review with her husband, Desmond, a failed barrister self-medicating with alcohol against the trauma he experienced from his service in World War II. The journal's paltry revenue failed to match its lofty reputation, leaving the family nearly destitute and at risk of losing their London home.

But when she arrives in Fonseca (Fitzgerald's fictional name for the real-life town of Saltillo), home to spinster Doña Elena Delaney and her sister-in-law Doña Anita, she finds she's only one of a collection of "Pretenders" (her term) to the expected inheritance. That group gathers nightly to jostle for the favor of the eccentric women at the family residence where Penelope and Valpy live during their three-month stay, and whose chilly (and perhaps haunted) northeast corner, where Doña Anita's husband died, they've been warned to avoid.

For Penelope, who's three months pregnant with her third child when she leaves England, the pressure of a competition she finds distasteful is leavened slightly by the presence of the famed painter Edward Hopper and his wife, Jo, whose artistic rivalry provides an intriguing subplot. But her sojourn becomes even more complicated when another Delaney--Ernest from New Jersey--arrives and sparks a mutual attraction that adds an unsought, but hardly unpleasant, dimension to her already fraught emotional life.

Kane paints a revealing, multidimensional psychological portrait of Penelope Fitzgerald, one that's enriched by information she gained from e-mail exchanges with the adult Valpy and his younger sister Tina, excerpts of which appear periodically in the text. It's an unusual, but effective, technique that doesn't detract from the novel's appeal as a work of fiction. Twenty-four years before she published her first novel, the Fitzgerald who appears in Fonseca is a deeply sympathetic character: a loving mother, anguished wife, and writer in whom the fires of literary ambition are smoldering, waiting to burst into flames. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Jessica Francis Kane skillfully imagines British novelist Penelope Fitzgerald's unusual journey to Mexico in 1952.

The bells ring; the cannon rouse the echoes along the river shore; the boys sally forth with shouts and little flags, and crackers enough to frighten all the people they meet from sunrise to sunset. The orator is conning for the last time the speech in which he has vainly attempted to season with some new spice the yearly panegyric upon our country; its happiness and glory; the audience is putting on its best bib and tucker, and its blandest expression to listen.

--Margaret Fuller, "Fourth of July" (New-York Daily Tribune, July 4, 1845)

At Petunia's Place Bookstore, Fresno, Calif.

I'm not really a Fourth of July Weekend kind of guy. I mean, I'll take the extra day off, but I don't like fireworks (we have two noise-sensitive cats), parades, and--big confession--picnics. I know, there's a deeper meaning to the Independence Day festivities, but for me it's more a day of reflection than celebration. 

Now obviously I love the word independent, as do you, I'm sure. We hold that truth to be self-evident. An independent bookstore or publisher is not just a concept or a blind hope; it's a statement. Okay, a declaration. Since entering the book trade in 1992, how many times have I said or written that word? Every day? According to my quick calculations, that would add up to more than 12,000 days of independent as mantra. 

If there is one aspect of Independence Day that does pop into my brain every year, it's remembering America's great bookseller Henry Knox. As far back as 2007, I wrote about him in a July 4 column. In his book 1776, David McCullough noted that Knox was Boston-born (1750) and self-educated. He "became a bookseller, eventually opening his own London Book Store on Cornhill Street, offering 'a large and very elegant assortment' of the latest books and magazines from London." Although the store was not especially prosperous, it became "a great resort for British officers and Tory ladies," along with troublemakers like John Adams and Nathanael Greene.

Henry Knox by Charles Willson Peale, about 1784

Knox went on to become a Revolutionary War hero in the Continental Army, playing an instrumental role when he conceived and executed the daring relocation of more than 50 mortars and cannons overland from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain to Boston, an arduous journey of nearly 300 miles that became a turning point in the war. His trip took place during winter months, so it's not a perfect fit with July 4 reflections, but he also passed by not far from where I live in upstate New York, so I feel some measure of kinship with the bookseller's heroic tale. 

While looking for that first Independence Day column, I realized that over the nearly 20 years I have been doing this, I've often ignored Fourth of July as a bookish topic. A quick search of the archives revealed only a few instances when the holiday weekend popped up like a historical marker on the highway. 

In 2008, I considered a couple of word cousins for indie bookstores: dependent and interdependent. Although we lean fiercely on independent, "we are also charter members of many diverse and ever-changing communities, as exemplified by our oddly complementary recent impulses toward social networking online and shopping local on-ground.

"For a long time I thought we should give equal weight to the word 'dependent' when talking about bookshops because we rely so heavily on the kindness, cooperation and generosity of, if not strangers, then certainly of all those equally independent consumers who choose to enter independent bookstores. That's such an amazing impulse, a declaration on their part that we matter to them; that we depend upon one another."

I didn't write about the Fourth again until 2020, when the Covid epidemic prompted a column headlined, "Celebrate Your Freedom to Wear a Face Mask," in which I asked: "How does an independent bookseller celebrate Independence Day during a global pandemic? By masking up and handselling great reads at the proper social distance, damn it!"

A year later, Independence Day prompted a return to the scene of the "don't make us sick" resistance movement with "The Last Word (Probably Not) on Face Masks" and this consideration: "Face mask rules keep changing, as do Covid-19 variants. People continue to be predictably unpredictable in their behavior patterns. Indie booksellers, as usual, must adapt to ever-changing circumstances."

This Fourth of July weekend I'll continue reading two books that are focused upon independence in all its variations: the new Library of America edition of Margaret Fuller's Collected Writings, and Megan Marshall's 2013 biography Margaret Fuller: A New American Life (Mariner Books). 

In "Fourth of July," Fuller wrote: "And yet, no heart, we think, can beat to-day with one pulse of genuine, noble joy. Those who have obtained their selfish objects will not take especial pleasure in thinking of them to-day, while to unbiassed minds must come sad thoughts of national honor soiled in the eyes of other nations, of a great inheritance risked, if not forfeited.

"Much has been achieved in this country since the Declaration of Independence. America is rich and strong; she has shown great talent and energy; vast prospects of aggrandizement open before her. But the noble sentiment which she expressed in her early youth is tarnished; she has shown that righteousness is not her chief desire, and her name is no longer a watchword for the highest hopes to the rest of the world. She knows this, but takes it very easily; she feels that she is growing richer and more powerful, and that seems to suffice her."

Food for thought on this Independence Day Weekend. 

BookPeople, the association of Australian bookshops, hosted its annual conference and trade exhibition in Brisbane, June 14-16. Books+Publishing reported that there were more than 187 attendees for the program and/or the trade exhibition, including seven delegates from Aotearoa New Zealand, with 44 attendees participating in the conference for the first time. 

Noting that attendance matched last year's numbers, BookPeople called it "a very reassuring result for the team." This year's gala dinner hosted 290 guests, who watched as the 2025 books of the year award winners were announced, including Dusk by Robbie Arnott (adult fiction), The Season by Helen Garner (adult nonfiction), and The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (children's). 

Two lifetime member awards were also presented: to Jay Lansdown, owner of Constant Reader in Crows Nest, New South Wales (NSW), and a former BookPeople president; and to BookPeople's outgoing CEO Robbie Egan.

After the conference, Egan wrote in the organization's newsletter: "We're back in the wintery south from sunny Brisbane where we packed an enormous amount of content and conversation into three days of the BookPeople Conference. Thanks to all of you who attended! It's the energy of delegates which propels a conference, and you made this year in Brisbane an absolute pleasure to be a part of. Thank you to all of our sponsors, the booksellers, authors, publishers and others who contributed to the panels. I came away energized and excited about the future of the industry despite the many challenges we face."

Naturally, my favorite honors from the conference went to booksellers: Sally Tabner of Bookoccino in Avalon Beach, NSW (bookseller of the year), Sophie Wigan of Harry Hartog in Carindale, Queensland (young bookseller of the year), and Allyx Lathrope of Kinokuniya Sydney (children's bookseller of the year).

Describing Tabner as "a bookseller's bookseller, the heart and soul of Bookoccino," BookPeople said, "In just a few years, under Sally's guidance, hard work, and passion for books, Bookoccino has grown exponentially, and become a vibrant community gathering space. Bookoccino's curation elicits rave reviews from customers and publishers alike. And it is all Sally. She is a voracious reader.... Bookoccino owes its success to an extraordinary staff, to their dedication to Bookoccino, and to their commitment to books and the community. Again, credit goes to Sally. She has strikingly good judgment in hiring, and a remarkable talent for training and supervising.... Every morning, Bookoccino is abuzz, friends over flat white and chai talking about their children, grandchildren, books, ideas, the weather, politics. Students and businessmen and women work on their laptops. Sally knows them all."

The proof of Sophie Wigan's "excellence in day-to-day bookshop life, is that in just a few years Sophie has been promoted from bookseller to assistant manager and then again, just this year, to acting store manager. Sophie is exactly what you what in a bookseller," BookPeople noted. "She is passionate, enthusiastic, caring and clearly loves what she does. When Sophie is talking to customers she doesn't pretend. It's her honesty and excitement about books that is what makes customers buy them from her.... Throughout all her different roles there, Sophie has led by example. She radiates joy and is actually excited to start working each day. This joy is infectious and it can be felt by anyone who walks into that store.... The entire team are motivated by Sophie--everyone wants to be embraced by the shining light that surrounds her." 

As the English Books Department manager, Allyx Lathrope "oversees the daily running of the shop floor and is in charge of hiring new members for Kinokuniya's excellent, book-loving customer service team. Allyx is also the children's and young adult books buyer and organizes campaigns, events and school holiday activities to celebrate and promote the category and its books to our dedicated customer base," BookPeople said, adding: "Allyx has been the most passionate defender of books in-store--her ongoing commitment to ensuring that there are as many titles as possible available for young people to access even when scary, oppressive, censorship rears its head is to be lauded."

Among the New Zealand attendees at BookPeople's conference was Renee Rowland, association manager of Booksellers Aotearoa NZ, which will be hosting its own annual conference in Auckland July 18-19. 

In a blog post titled "Dispatches from Brisbane," Rowland shared some of her experiences, noting: "On Friday I left the cold wet wilds of South Canterbury for Brisbane, heading across the ditch for the Annual BookPeople Conference. The purpose of this 'live' feed is to share my experience with you, sharing highlights and hot tips, forsaking any style for benefit of speed and simple iteration of my experience. Above all, I want to show booksellers the value of a bookselling conference, encourage you to come to the BookPeople conference and to our own conference, to invest in your own professional and business development."

When it was over, she observed: "I boarded the plane home very conscious that I'd just been part of a world class experience and keen to get back to work on our own conference, to bring the same level of quality and inspiration to our delegates and to provide an incredible return on investment for our delegates."

The summing up: A post on Bookoccino's Facebook page featured wise words from co-owner and bookseller of the year Sally Tabner: "It is such an honor to be among this phenomenal community of true book lovers! I'm looking forward to the next 20 years of book selling, building community and nurturing creativity, imagination, and ideas."

The bestselling Libro.fm audiobooks at independent bookstores during June:

Fiction
1. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Penguin Random House Audio)
2. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab (Macmillan Audio)
3. Caught Up by Navessa Allen (Slowburn)
4. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (Penguin Random House Audio)
5. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Penguin Random House Audio)
6. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Simon & Schuster Audio)
7. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig (Hachette Audio)
8. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Penguin Random House Audio)
9. King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Audio)
10. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Random House Audio)

Nonfiction
1. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (Penguin Random House Audio)
2. Empire of AI by Karen Hao (Penguin Random House Audio)
3. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Macmillan Audio)
4. Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll (Macmillan Audio)
5. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Tantor Media)
6. A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House Audio)
7. Actress of a Certain Age by Jeff Hiller (Simon & Schuster Audio)
8. It Came from the Closet, edited by Joe Vallese (Blackstone)
9. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Penguin Random House Audio)
10. How to Lose Your Mother by Molly Jong-Fast (Penguin Random House Audio)

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. Echo Fort by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
2. Cash by Jessica Peterson
3. Firm Feedback in a Fragile World by Jeff Hancher
4. Trust Me Always by Meagan Brandy
5. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
6. Shoveling $H!t by Kass Lazerow
7. Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn
8. Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
9. Down to the Wire by Rich Galgano
10. Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]