"I'm excited that they see what we believe that the printed word isn't dead. We've known for 44 years that people like to browse and shop bookstores.... We know how to manage stores with smart intelligent people who have to know about authors and subjects. It's harder to do that than putting a book in a shipping box. Plus, space is valuable and you have to put every square foot to work."

The frenzy over whether Amazon might open 300-400 bookstores continued yesterday. Most media reported the "news" without qualification or investigation, even though, as we reported here, the accurate number is likely a dozen or so.

Sandeep Mathrani, the General Growth Properties CEO who started the speculation with an offhand comment during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, said in a statement yesterday that his remark was "not intended to represent Amazon's plans." Neither he nor Amazon had any other comment.

Barnes & Noble stock continued to slide on Mathrani's comment, dropping yesterday an additional 9.4%, to $7.33 a share, resulting in at least a $50 million fall in B&N's market capitalization.

In a lengthy report, re/code offered details about the team at Amazon that is working on bricks-and-mortar retail, headed by company veterans Steve Kessel, Jennifer Cast and Cameron Janes, and emphasized that future retail outlets will include "stores in addition to bookstores.... It's not yet clear what those stores will sell or how they will be formatted, but the retail team's mission is to reimagine what shopping in a physical store would be like if you merged the best of physical retail with the best of Amazon."

Also according to re/code, "Amazon is currently hiring for a new Amazon Books bookstore in Southern California that has yet to be announced, according to job listings. One listing, for an Amazon Books assistant store manager in La Jolla or San Diego, says: 'You love the excitement of running a bookstore. You have a flair for leading teams and adjusting your leadership style based on the situation. You enjoy reading and keep yourself updated on the latest in the digital devices front. You are part of the store leadership team.' "

Waterstones's new Tottenham Court Road store, the company's first new store in London in a decade, was praised by publishers, writers and agents as "fresh" and "funky" at the official opening yesterday, the Bookseller reported.

The magazine continued: "The three-storey space has a 'retro' appeal playing to the nearby Soho and British Film Institute crowd, with crisp wooden floors on the ground level giving way to exposed industrial concrete in the basement, where the bar and pop up cinema are situated, seating around 60 people. It also sells vinyl and DVDs."

Among comments about the store, which opened in mid-December, Andrew Franklin, publisher at Profile Books, said: "I think the bookshop is great. It will attract a different audience, a younger audience. If anything is going to drive younger people into bookshops, to read, this kind of bookshop will. It feels fresh, and it's got a whole new range."

Waterstones is "moving in the right direction," managing director James Daunt told the Bookseller, commenting on its financial results for the fiscal year ended April 25, 2015. During the year, revenues rose 1%, to £378 million (about $552.5 million), and the net loss dropped dramatically, to £1.9 million ($2.8 million ) compared to £18.5 million ($27 million) in the previous year. Daunt added that in the current year, he hopes Waterstones will show a profit.

Among highlights of the year ended April 25 for Waterstones: a drop in sales of Kindles "to zero"; a decline in sales of academic books and calendars as more people use calendars on their phones and other electronic devices; growth in children's book and greeting card sales; and a relaunched website, where sales have grown 30% to date.

Waterstones currently has about 270 stores and wants to open more, some internationally.

The Book Depository, the U.K. company that Amazon bought in 2011, is expanding in Australia, adding more than 25,000 Australian titles to its offerings. The Bookseller reported that the company "will ship books from Australia using the third-party logistics company DAI Post in Melbourne to pack and send orders," marking the first time "the retailer has focused specifically on the Australian market."

"Previously, we've had titles from Australian authors once they become available internationally and what we're going to have now are titles from Australian authors that become available when they are available in Australia," said Chris Mckee, Book Depository's group marketing director.

Joel Becker, CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association, noted in the ABA's newsletter that among the problems with Book Depository's changes are that it has no warehouse in Australia, uses a third party to receive and ship books, and claims it's "providing a service to authors who aren't available overseas by selling their books (neglecting to point out that any Australian-owned bookseller that has online capacity can already do that!)." He added that "the good news is that some publishers are already saying they won't supply this so-called book retailer. We anticipate and expect that number will grow."

Hachette Book Group gave a progress report on its ongoing mission to reduce the company's  environmental impact:

In 2014, the last year for which data is available, Hachette's carbon footprint rose by 9% thanks in part to a 20% increase in ground product transportation--that is, the printing and shipping of more books (representing a different kind of green). Despite 2014's increase, Hachette met its goal of decreasing its carbon footprint by 50% from a baseline set three years prior. Other carbon footprint indicators fell in 2014: 20% in copy paper, 19% in mail transportation, 12% in business travel and 6% in employee commuting.

Hachette's use of Forest Stewardship Certified paper held steady at 90.5%, just above their original 90% goal. Sustainable Forestry Initiative materials usage rose to 9.2%. Between FSC and SFI, 99.7% of Hachette's paper comes from certified fiber, up 2% from 2014 and beyond their original goal. Use of recycled fiber rose 1.5% to 10.5% of overall paper use, still below Hachette's 20% goal. The company also keeps in close contact with its paper mill partners over their adherence to environmental guidelines and proper pulp sourcing.

Energy use reduction efforts yielded a 70% drop in energy consumption in Hachette's New York office in 2015. That office also used 90,000 fewer pages of printer paper than the year prior. The New York office is LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver Certified and the Boston office is LEED Gold Certified, thanks in part to energy efficient LED lighting.

"With continued focus on our green targets, we made good progress last year, particularly with recycled and certified papers, energy consumption in our offices, and reaching our goal for carbon footprint reduction," said CEO Michael Pietsch. "It's encouraging to see this steady momentum. As a division of Hachette Livre, a global company that holds social and environmental responsibility as one of its core values, we are committed to making Hachette Book Group as environmentally responsible as possible."

On Tuesday, Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, Kan., hosted an event featuring Amy Parker, whose paperback story collection Beasts & Children (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) went on sale that day, and David Joy, on tour for the paperback edition of Where All Light Tends to Go (Putnam).

About half of the audience of 40 were students of Parker, who is an associate professor at Wichita State University in the creative writing department. Noting that "students are not likely to buy books at their teachers' events," owner Sarah Bagby said Watermark decided to do "something unprecedented. " She explained: "After the reading, I expressed the belief that all the students in the audience really needed to read each author's book to get the full benefit of the talk. Then I said they could buy both books for however much they could afford or thought was fair. It worked! We did better than breaking even on the offer, the students clutched the books they purchased and had signed, and felt a stronger bond to our store."

One Moore Bookstore, a small shop in downtown Monrovia, Liberia, "represents many firsts. Though there are stores here that sell textbooks, this is the first selling books purely for reading pleasure," PRI's the World reported, adding that its "owners publish some of the only books aimed at Liberian children. The bookstore is a rare place where kids might hear a story read to them just for fun."

Wayétu Moore, a Brooklyn, N.Y., author who fled Liberia with her family when she was five, opened the bookstore last year and has been publishing books through One Moore Book since 2011. Although books donated by Western countries are available, they are "about Bobby playing baseball, or Cindy on the cul-de-sac. And pizza, and things that really aren't typical of the everyday local Liberian child," she said. "If the child understands the concept, then really all they're struggling for is learning how to read. But if they don't understand the concept, then they have to learn how to read and learn what the content is referring to."

Moore said she found sanctuary in books when she was young: "I read and wrote and read and wrote. And it helped me to heal. It helped me to find my voice." Now she "wants children in Liberia to have the chance for the same sanctuary she found," the World noted.

In a report headlined "A Busy Phoenix Entrepreneur Expresses Herself Via Needle and Thread," the Phoenix New Times featured bookseller Cindy Dach, calling her life is "a juggling act." She's co-owner of Changing Hands, which has stores in Phoenix and Tempe. "She also co-owns MADE, an arts boutique on North 5th Street downtown. Plus, she's on the board of Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation. When she was frequently traveling back to New York to be with an ailing parent, she took up artistic embroidery to have something to do with her hands. Now her small stitched canvasses find their way into exhibitions. (And can be also purchased at MADE)."

Misty Valley Books, Chester, Vt., "can't take full credit for discovering all of the 100 aspiring scribes it has showcased in the past two decades at its annual New Voices public literary program," but the bookshop "can boast of creating an event that has helped spark dozens of success stories," VTDigger reported.

Misty Valley owners Bill and Lynne Reed recently hosted their annual New Voices event, which was launched in 1995 by the store's previous owners. Over the years, the program has showcased authors at an early stage in their careers, many of whom have succeeded, including Dennis Lehane, Gregory Maguire, Colum McCann, Arthur Golden and Jennifer Egan. This year's five New Voices authors were John Bragg, Ron Childress, C.W. Huntington Jr., Ed Tarkington and Jennifer Tseng.

The 2016 edition was "bittersweet for the Reeds, who are working to sell the business and retire," VTDigger noted. Bill Reed said, "Ideally we'd like the store to continue being a strong and vibrant part of the community. We keep hearing from former New Voices that the weekend was a significant moment in their early careers and that the other authors they met here have become and remained close friends. It's an institution that deserves to continue."

Shanta Newlin has been promoted to v-p, executive director of publicity, Penguin Young Readers. She joined Penguin Young Readers in 2008 after spending nearly a decade in children's publishing at Harry N. Abrams, Henry Holt and Random House Children's Books.

Cristi Navarro has been named director, national accounts, Penguin Young Readers Sales.

Perfect Days by Raphael Montes (Penguin Press), a trailer that highlights the reactions of 10 people the publisher asked to read three pages of the novel. "You. Won't. Believe. What. Happened. Next."

Today:
Fresh Air: Bee Wilson, author of First Bite: How We Learn to Eat (Basic Books, $27.99, 9780465064984).

Tomorrow:
Dr. Oz: DeVon Franklin and Meagan Good, authors of The Wait: A Powerful Practice for Finding the Love of Your Life and the Life You Love (Howard, $24, 9781501105296).

NPR's Science Friday: Jo Marchant, author of Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body (Crown, $26, 9780385348157).

HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: E.J. Dionne Jr., author of Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781476763798).

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, February 6
6 p.m. Dr. Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., author of The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer Is Winnable--and How We Can Get There (Sarah Crichton, $28, 9780374135607). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)

7 p.m. David Shields, author of War Is Beautiful: The New York Times Pictorial Guide to the Glamour of Armed Conflict (powerHouse Books, $39.95, 9781576877593). (Re-airs Monday at 4:30 a.m.)

8:30 p.m. A panel discussion on James Billington, Librarian of Congress from 1987-2015. (Re-airs Sunday at 5 p.m.)

10 p.m. Matt K. Lewis, author of Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections (and How It Can Reclaim Its Conservative Roots) (Hachette Books, $28, 9780316383936). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. Ben Rawlence, author of City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp (Picador, $26, 9781250067630). (Re-airs Sunday at 7:15 p.m.)


Sunday, February 7
12 p.m. In Depth q&a with Eric Burns, author of The Golden Lad: The Haunting Story of Quentin and Theodore Roosevelt (Pegasus, $26.95, 9781605989518). (Re-airs Monday at 12 a.m.)

10 p.m. Stephen Prothero, author of Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections): The Battles That Define America from Jefferson's Heresies to Gay Marriage (HarperOne, $26.99, 9780061571299), at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

This year's finalists for the Cook Prize, which "honors the best science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture book published for children aged eight to ten," are Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by April Chu (Creston Books); High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs by Lisa Kahn Schnell, illustrated by Alan Marks (Charlesbridge); and Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Candlewick). Third and fourth grade children throughout the U.S. and abroad will cast the final vote, with results announced at the end of April.

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The longlist has been announced for the Branford Boase Award, which "celebrates the combined efforts of both the author and editor of each nominated children's book," the Guardian reported. The shortlist will be released May 4 and a winner named in July.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, February 9:

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri, translated by Ann Goldstein (Knopf, $26.95, 9781101875551) is the autobiography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer.

Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe by Dawn Tripp (Random House, $28, 9781400069538) paints the artist's life in first-person narration.

Arcadia: A Novel by Iain Pears (Knopf, $27.95, 9781101946824) follows a young woman transported to a pastoral fantasy world through a door in her aspiring-novelist neighbor's basement.

In Europe's Shadow: Two Cold Wars and a Thirty-Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond by Robert D. Kaplan (Random House, $28, 9780812996814) is a first-hand account of modern Romanian history.

Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again by Teresa Giudice and K.C. Baker (Gallery, $26, 9781501135101) is the memoir of a reality TV star.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown (Del Rey, $27, 9780345539847) concludes the Red Rising trilogy.

Paperbacks:
The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery, translated by Alison Anderson (Europa Editions, $17, 9781609453152).

The Revolving Door of Life (44 Scotland Street Series) by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor, $15, 9781101971918).

Movie:
How to Be Single, based on the novel by Liz Tuccillo, opens February 12. A movie tie-in (Pocket, $7.99, 9781501140648) is available.

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

Hardcover
Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart (St. Martin's Press, $19.99, 9781250049940). "Rosalie Lightning is a haunting and beautiful memoir that lays bare the love parents can have for their children. Hart's simple renditions of his life before and after the death of his young daughter are successful symbols, lucidly conveying the widest range of emotions and thoughts. It would be a disservice to say Rosalie Lightning just made me cry--it also burrowed into my heart. Hart describes the most unthinkable, painful event that can happen to a parent, and even more extraordinarily, he describes the love and the life that is still available afterwards. Rosalie was a joy to read about, and even on the darkest pages, I am glad he gave this gift of a memoir." --Lyla Wortham, Whistle-Stop Mercantile, Douglas, Wyo.

And Again: A Novel by Jessica Chiarella (Touchstone, $25.99, 9781501116100). "This intriguing novel explores the age-old body/soul relationship from a fresh angle by introducing us to four participants in a pilot program that gives terminally ill patients new, genetically perfect bodies. Will these four--a beautiful actress, a womanizing congressman, a talented artist, and a beloved mother--simply resume their lives as they were before disease or accident struck? Or will they make new starts, make different choices? Can their new bodies incorporate what they have learned in the past? A fascinating literary debut." --Ellen Sandmeyer, Sandmeyer's Bookstore, Chicago, Ill.

Paperback
The Visitors: A Novel by Simon Sylvester (Melville House, $18.95, 9781612194639). "Neil Gaiman meets Tana French in this debut thriller that takes place on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Flora is as independent, vulnerable, and anxious for adulthood yet yearning for magic in all of its guises as any teen you're likely to meet in literature. It is no surprise that she is drawn into the mystery of a man and his daughter moving into the abandoned Dog Cottage next door. The braiding of Scottish myth into this tale of suspicious disappearances adds a compelling twist to the wonderfully evocative setting and great cast of supporting characters." --Sarah Hinckley, Hudson Booksellers, Marietta, Ga.

For Ages 4 to 8
ABC Dream by Kim Krans (Random House, $16.99, 9780553539295). "This is a beautifully illustrated and intricate alphabet book that is sure to spark even the most stubborn of imaginations. The examples for each letter feature images kids will recognize as well as ones that will teach them something new. ABC Dream is whimsical and stunning." --Amy Brabanec, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass.

For Ages 9 to 12
Alistair Grim's Odd Aquaticum by Gregory Funaro (Disney-Hyperion, $16.99, 9781484700075). "Alistair Grim and company are on the run. After their last encounter with Prince Nightshade, they have come out the villains. But Alistair has a trick up his sleeve. He knows that if he can just get his hands on the legendary sword Excalibur, he might be able to defeat Prince Nightshade once and for all. The problem is finding the lost realm of Avalon. For that he needs a submarine, and what better submarine than the Odditorium? This is a wonderful addition to the Alistair Grim stories!" --Janice Hunsche, Kaleidosaurus Books, Metamora, Ind.

For Teen Readers
Up to This Pointe by Jennifer Longo (Random House, $17.99, 9780553537673). "All her life, Harper has single-mindedly pursued her goal of becoming a professional ballerina in the San Francisco Ballet, to the exclusion of much outside distraction--including a rather interesting new boy named Owen. When, through no fault of her own, Harper is denied her dream, she takes on her ancestor's legacy as an Antarctic explorer and embarks on a journey to a research station at the bottom of the world. A hypnotic and engaging journey flashing between Antarctica and San Francisco, Longo's book brings the reader intimately into Harper's heartbreak and healing in a way that will speak to readers of all ages." --Anna Eklund, University Book Store, Seattle, Wash.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

In Forty Rooms, Olga Grushin, Orange Prize finalist, a Granta Best Young American Novelist and author of The Dream Life of Sukhanov, tells the story of a woman's life, from her childhood dreams of becoming a poet to her closing fugue-like days, when those dreams entwine with her experiences and her regrets. Grushin emphasizes the choices that people make between following one's creative vision or a life of material comfort.

Her protagonist, the daughter of Russian intellectuals, grows up in Moscow, where dinner parties last late into the night with half-secret arguments about politics and literature, while she stays up late reading forbidden poetry. A romantic, she imagines the characters in her mind as mythical creatures. They enter her world in hallucinatory dream sequences, and they beckon her to a world where she, too, can be a poet, immortal and capable of seeing past the mundane surfaces of life. Her dreams propel her to apply to college in the American South, and then to the urban Northeast to make her way as a writer.

She connects with Paul Caldwell, a college friend from a wealthy family, and settles into a comfortable, upper-middle-class suburban life of motherhood, shopping and competitive decorating, interrupted only occasionally by the taunting memories of her youthful dreams. She turns a blind eye to the fissures in her life, filling the emptiness with yet another pregnancy, eventually finding deep pleasure in her children. As her choices accumulate, the first-person narrative of the earlier chapters shifts to the third person; she becomes "Mrs. Caldwell," her literary ambitions a forgotten dream. The ghosts and mythical oracles of her past visit, uninvited, reminding her of who she could have been, mingling with her present. She sometimes cannot be sure which memory of events is the real one.

Mrs. Caldwell's life is predictable and often stereotypical, though her choices are understandable even when they close the door to the possibility of the creative life she once felt destined to live. Yet, Grushin is after something beyond the conflict between artistic expression and the aspirations of well-to-do suburbanites, or even the question of whether Mrs. Caldwell has sold out. The genius of Forty Rooms is instead its suggestion that a betrayal of childhood dreams can still allow for a life filled with meaning, one that is contradictory, replete with loss, contentment, regret and its own definition of purpose. Forty Rooms is a beautiful, moving novel of dreams that reflects life as it is lived. --Jeanette Zwart, freelance writer and reviewer

Shelf Talker: This sweeping and emotionally complex novel spans a woman's life as she navigates the conflict between her artistic and domestic needs.