Andrea Ballatore

Simone Natale

"It is not by chance that the idea of the death of the book surfaces in moments of technological change. This narrative, in fact, perfectly conveys the mixture of hopes and fears that characterize our deepest reactions to technological change....

"The ones who still worry for the disappearance of print books may rest assured: Books have endured many technical revolutions, and are in the best position to survive this one."

photo: Geekwire

In a move that emphasizes the connection between its overall corporate strategies and its bricks-and-mortar bookstores, Amazon Books has a new pricing policy, offering discounted prices only to Amazon Prime members and selling books at full list price to customers who don't pay for Prime, Geekwire reported.

Prime membership costs $99 year or $10.99 a month, and includes shipping deals and access to songs, movies, TV shows and some books, among other benefits. The company has made growth of Prime membership a high priority.

Since opening its first Amazon Books store in Seattle, Wash., a year ago, Amazon had offered customers the same price on all books--the discounted price offered online. For Amazon to sell any book at list price is a striking turn for the deep discounter and emphasizes that at the new bricks-and-mortar stores, building Prime membership is more important to the company than traditional book retailing.

Books at Amazon Books continue to have no marked price; customers need to use an app to scan the book or take it to a scanner in the store.

The new policy doesn't apply to Amazon devices--Kindles, Fires, Echo and more--sold in Amazon's bookstores. The policy is in effect at Amazon's three bookstores, in Seattle, San Diego, Calif., and Tigard, Ore.

Dog Ear Books will host its grand opening this Friday at 301 W. Main St. in Russellville, Ark., with snacks, door prizes, acoustic performances by Jamie Lou and Tim Pelton, and more. The new bookshop, owned by Emily Young and her mother, Pat, had a soft opening yesterday.

"Some people have started inquiring about our name," Emily Young wrote on the store's blog Sunday, noting that "the philosophy behind dog-earing a book is pretty straight forward. You need to mark a place to return to at a future point in time. We want to be that place for you. We want you to come in, find something perfect, while also finding things that will bring you back for more.

"We are simply asking you to let us help be your reminder of the place you left off. The places you run away to for just a moment of escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And, if you so choose, a place that you can purchase a book and crease that top corner into a perfect triangle."

Regarding the grand opening celebration, Young observed: "We have waited for this moment for many moons. We can't wait to see everyone's smiling faces and get as much feedback as we can handle. Hopefully, the sailing will be smooth and everyone will see a well-oiled local business. Though hiccups are bound to happen since this is our first time doing this, we know that the community won't hold it against us for too long. Mark your calendars, and get ready for your new favorite place to come back to."

Cabot Street Books & Cards, the latest store in the HugoBooks group, had its soft opening yesterday at 272 Cabot St. in Beverly, Mass. The new location had been originally slated to open in 2015, but redevelopment of the building took longer than anticipated.

The Patch reported that the "former Casa de Moda storefront has been seemingly quiet for months, but the city's long wait is over.... The announcement comes more than two years after Casa de Moda--the popular specialty gift shop that sold cards, jewelry, home wares and more for over 40 years--closed its doors. Atomic Cafe moved across the street shortly after the gift shop opened, but only filled about one third of the store."

Owner John Hugo noted this is the second HugoBooks location "that shares space with Atomic Café, a local indie café and roaster, the first being in Newburyport. The 1,200-square-foot micro indie is a model that we hope can prove itself a worthy model to repeat."

Ahmed Al Ameri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority

Sharjah's "Publishing City," located on the main road between Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, will open in January. The Bookseller reported that project is set to launch its first phase at end of the month, with between 140 and 180 international publishers involved, including representatives from the U.K., U.S., India, China and Africa. A second phase of development is planned to bring the number of publishers located in the city up to 400 by the end of April. It will also feature a bookshop.

The two-story Publishing City building will house publishers, translators, distributors, printers and paper traders, all exempt from taxes. Ahmed Al Ameri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, described it as "an A-Z of everything for books, even e-books."

"What we are trying to do is a United Nations of books, 365 days of continuous book fairs, a lot of programs and training, panels, discussion," said Al Ameri. "We think 800 to 1,500 people will be located there initially, and for later we are talking about 10,000."

Award-winning author and illustrator Natalie Babbitt, who is perhaps best known for her 1975 novel Tuck Everlasting, died Monday, the Associated Press reported. She was 84. Babbitt wrote and illustrated dozens of books. Her literary accolades included a Newbery Honor for her 1971 book Knee-Knock Rise and the inaugural E.B. White Award for achievement in children's literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2013.

Describing Babbitt as a "remarkable" and "loving and wonderful" woman who left her mark in the literary world with her stories, Samuel Fisher Babbitt, her husband, observed: "She once said that her ambition was just to leave a little scratch on the rock. I think she did that with Tuck Everlasting."

Tuck Everlasting "sold four million copies in the United States, was translated into 27 languages and was adapted twice for film--in 1981 and in a 2002 Disney production with Sissy Spacek, William Hurt and Alexis Bledel," the New York Times noted.

The Abrams staff celebrated the launch yesterday of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, the 11th book in Jeff Kinney's mega-popular kids' series.

Congratulations to Common Good Books, St. Paul, Minn., which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. In an e-mail newsletter sent yesterday, the bookstore wrote: "On November 1st, 2006, Common Good Books opened on the corner of Selby and Western. We've survived the collapse of the Metrodome, ten Twins seasons, a move to a new neighborhood, and we've gotten to know thousands of wonderful customers.... Stop by and celebrate with us!" In 2012, the bookseller moved to its current location at 38 S. Snelling Avenue. 

Yesterday, Common Good Books tweeted: "Ten years ago today, Common Good Books opened its doors for the first time. First book sold was A Prairie Home Companion: The Screenplay."

Janine Webb has joined Highlights Press and Boyds Mills Press as director, specialty & gift sales for retail. She has more than 20 years of book publishing and sales experience and has previously held positions at HarperCollins, IDG Books, Simon & Schuster and the Quarto Publishing Group.

Monica Jankauskas has joined Highlights Press as retail marketing manager. In this newly-created position, Monica will manage the day-to-day marketing activities for the Highlights Book Group in the retail channel.

The Black and White Factory by Eric Telchin, illustrated by Diego Funck (little bee books).

Tomorrow:
Diane Rehm: Charles Fernyhough, author of The Voices Within: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves (Basic Books, $27.50, 9780465096800).

Wendy Williams: Daphne Oz, author of The Happy Cook: 125 Recipes for Eating Every Day Like It's the Weekend (Morrow, $32.50, 9780062426901).

Extra!: Tyler Henry, author of Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side (Gallery, $25, 9781501152627).

HBO has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Cormoran Strike, the limited series based on J.K. Rowling's crime novels (under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith), according to the Hollywood Reporter. The project, which was first announced by BBC One last fall, "will be broken up into three separate event series, starting with the three-hour installment The Cuckoo's Calling, followed by The Silkworm and Career of Evil, each of which will run two hours."

Ben Richards (The Tunnel) wrote Cuckoo's Calling and Silkworm, and Tom Edge (The Last Dragon Slayer) penned Career of Evil. Michael Keillor (Line of Duty) will direct the first chapter. J.K. Rowling is executive producing through her Brontë Film & TV production company; along with Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts and Elizabeth Kilgarriff.

Longlists have been announced in eight categories for the 2016 800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards. Shortlists will be released December 6, with the overall winner named in New York City January 12, when the company will also announce the winner of the Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry

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Christopher Tolkien will receive the Bodley Medal, which "is awarded by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds of literature, culture, science, and communication," the Bookseller reported, noting that the son of J.R.R. Tolkien "is a scholar and editor who has spent the last 40 years editing his father's posthumously published work, ensuring that his father's 'rich literary legacy' could be read by all."

Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian, said: "Christopher Tolkien's contribution as a scholar and editor has been immense. Without his dedication and commitment, his father's works would not have reached such a broad public audience and without his erudition and scholarship J.R.R. Tolkien's work would not have been presented so fully and with such authority."

"Although I have never looked for anything remotely of such a kind, I find it especially welcome to receive the Bodley Medal in that it affirms the unique significance of my father's creation and accords a worthy place in the Republic of Letters to Tolkien scholarship," Tolkien said. "It gives me particular pleasure that the award comes from and is conceived by the Bodleian, where a great part of my father's manuscripts lie and where I have happy memories of the great library itself."

Hudson Booksellers has selected its best books published in 2016. A selection of the Best Books of 2016, Bookseller Top 10 features, and Bestsellers from 2016 will be prominently displayed in most Hudson Booksellers and Hudson News stores beginning around November 24. "Best Books" brochures featuring reviews and Bookseller Top 10 lists are available through the holiday season. The titles are also featured online at hudsonbooksellers.com/best-of-2016.

Titles were selected through "a nominated shortlist and voting process by a panel of Hudson's professional booksellers across the country. Books were selected for achievements ranging from literary style and innovation, entertainment value and readability, to timeliness and treatment of subjects and themes."

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach received the most votes across all categories and will be featured as Book of the Year. Hudson bookseller Ryan in Chicago commented: "Despite the serious nature of the material, Mary Roach's signature wit and humor are ever-present as she leads readers into the labs and battlefield simulations that save countless lives every day."

Hudson Booksellers's best books:

Best Fiction:
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters

Best Nonfiction:
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson
The Legends Club by John Feinstein
The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Blood at the Root by Patrick Phillips
City of Thorns by Ben Rawlence
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
Old Records Never Die by Eric Spitznagel
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Best Business Interest:
Eccentric Orbits by John Bloom
Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg
Originals by Adam Grant
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel J. Levitin

Best Young Readers:
Picture Books:
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom
The Airport Book by Lisa Brown
The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

Middle Reader:
Moo by Sharon Creech
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
The Best Man by Richard Peck
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Young Adult:
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

photo: Barbara Bedway

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen nonfiction books, including The Campaign of the Century (winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize) and Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady (a New York Times Notable Book), as well as two books with Robert Jay Lifton. He is the former editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. His new book, The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill, was published by Crown on October 18, 2016.

On your nightstand now:

I just finished last year's Pulitzer winner, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, while starting my second Alan Furst novel this month (I am a major Graham Greene fan but just getting to Furst). I recently read Adam Hochschild's fine history of America and the Spanish Civil War, Spain in Our Hearts, and am now in the middle of listening to my first audiobook. I asked Facebook friends for suggestions and one fellow said he had listened to Jeremy Irons reading Lolita--eight times. So that's where I started. And it is indeed one of the grandest experiences ever. Therefore, I'm now reading Nabokov's wonderful Pnin.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The first adult book I read was Willie Mays's 1955 memoir, Born to Play Ball, when I was seven. I've remained a baseball fanatic since, and later became a Little League coach, which I wrote about in my book Joy in Mudville. As a mid-teen, three books set me on a quite different path than the one I seemed on: Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. A little later: Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night. I also loved John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold--which, I should note, ends with a shooting at the Berlin Wall.

Your top five authors:

I didn't plunge deeply into Dickens until I watched one of the greatest series ever on TV, PBS's Bleak House with Gillian Anderson. Then I read that novel and a half-dozen others, including the lesser known but fabulous Hard Times. Graham Greene wrote my favorite novel of our era, The Quiet American, and his The End of the Affair is also way up there. Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge was fantastic. Let's not forget Don DeLillo, at least in mid-career. And Hilary Mantel for her Wolf Hall books.

I haven't mentioned any nonfiction authors because I tend to be drawn more to subjects when it comes to nonfiction. But I do want to salute my distinguished friend and coauthor Robert Jay Lifton, especially for The Nazi Doctors, Death in Life and his recent memoir, Witness to an Extreme Century. More than honorable mention: The Letters of Vincent van Gogh.

Book you've faked reading:

None really. I've never had the kind of friends I'd need to impress in that way, thank god. I suppose (like so many others) I should pretend to have read David Foster Wallace beyond Consider the Lobster.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I will join Jane Smiley in pointing folks to Dickens's late and lesser-known Our Mutual Friend as rich and funny as nearly anything he wrote. Jane also wrote an excellent slim bio of Dickens not long ago. And I will add Lolita, which I read long ago, but have renewed respect for now from the audiobook. Don't be scared off by the two horrid films (one directed by Kubrick, the other starring Jeremy Irons). The story, on film, is indeed smarmy, and makes you feel guilty. The novel is genius--language is everything and conquers the plot.

Books you hid from your parents:

Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg's Candy. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Both self-explanatory, 1965.

Book that changed your life:

Too many books to list, including many of those above. I would add that the work of art that did most to inspire my book on the Berlin escape tunnels was not a book but rather the Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others. One of the central figures in the movie is a Stasi informer--little did I know that a Stasi informer would end up as a major character in my book.

Favorite line from a book:

Too many to count, although the refrain, "And what makes you think we care?" in Catch-22 certainly has informed my life.

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

Don Quixote, though only Part I.

Jerry Spinelli, author of Newbery Medal-winning Maniac Magee, Stargirl, Milkweed and many other middle-grade books, again proves why he's the king of storytellers. The Warden's Daughter, set in a 1959 Pennsylvania prison, is a buoyant yet powerfully emotional coming-of-age novel that reflects its prickly young protagonist's sense of entrapment in her own inarticulable sadness.

As the Hancock County Prison warden's daughter, "scruffy tomboy" Cammie O'Reilly carries significant social heft among her sixth-grade peers, who are intrigued by the world she shares with "crazed" prisoners of every stripe. In fact, her lipstick-glamorous, fame-seeking best friend, Reggie Weinstein, is obsessed with the most despised new inmate, a man who killed a teenaged girl: " 'Famous is famous,' she cheeped."

Cammie and her father live above the prison entrance (the 19th-century prison looks "like a fortress from the Middle Ages"), and she has daily access to the women's exercise yard. But Cammie's regular chats with the female inmates serve a purpose even Cammie doesn't fully recognize until the summer she turns 13 and begins to feel the hole left when her mother was hit and killed by a milk truck years earlier: "I was sick and tired of being motherless. I wanted one.... If I couldn't have my first-string mother, I'd bring one in off the bench."

She looks to Boo Boo, a big, loud shoplifter who (almost literally) smothers her with love, before settling on the accused arsonist Eloda Pupko (whose name "sounded like it belonged in a comic book"), one of a string of trusted women inmates, the "parade of hands," who have always served as housekeeper to the warden and his daughter. Cammie gets down to the business of wooing Eloda: she fakes an injury, smokes a cigarette in front of her, mocks her, gives her a gift--all to no avail. Will anything turn Eloda, a woman with bright orange hair and a flat demeanor, into the mother Cammie craves?

To her surprise, during this epic summer of adolescent onset and identity search, Cammie finally understands that she is not a happy person: "This was something I seldom reflected on. It was simply my normal state, the only world I'd ever known: The sky is blue. The grass is green. Cammie O'Reilly is not happy. Oh sure, there were moments: a shared laugh with Boo Boo... Reggie's Bandstand Day.... But such moments were brief.... Happiness had to happen to me. I could not make my own." It isn't until years later that Cammie learns that with her gruff compassion and stubbornness she can make her own, and that the people in her life have always been looking out for her in ways she never could have imagined. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Shelf Talker: Cammie O'Reilly, 12-year-old curmudgeon, searches for a mother figure among the female inmates at the prison her father runs in 1950s Pennsylvania.