Gala honorary chair and keynote speaker Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks, and Binc CEO Pamela French

More than 300 people from across the book world gathered last night in New York City for a gala celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation and to raise money for an endowment for the organization to help in its mission of providing a safety net for book and comic store employees, owners, and their stores.

Humorously emceed by author and bookseller Emma Straub, the event included a video appearance by Barack Obama, who said in part, "We need a strong network of bookstores. As the only nonprofit organization in the country that provides emergency financial assistance to book and comic store employees, [Binc is] helping people who are going through a tough time keep food on the table at a time when the cost of just about everything is going up. That's more important than ever. So thanks for everything you're doing and for helping us understand each other and embrace our shared humanity."

Binc CEO Pamela French thanked the many people, companies, and organizations that have enabled the foundation to expand its programs that help book and comic people in myriad ways and to create an endowment. She recalled the lesson she learned working at age 19 as a nurse's aid where the basic rule was to preserve dignity. "While bookselling is a noble profession, it's not always easy. Life throws us curveballs... What you've contributed is allowing us to preserve the dignity of people we all admire and respect. It's so hard to ask for help and your generosity makes it easier."

Gala honorary chair and keynote speaker Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks, praised Binc's "thirty years of heroic work on behalf of booksellers who keep our communities whole... Binc has supported our beloved book community through times of financial hardship, illness, natural disaster, the pandemic, and most recently ICE raids. I can't think of more worthy work than what makes possible every day ensuring readers of all ages have ready access to the books they want and need. This work is what grows the next generation of thoughtful, informed citizens, and booksellers must thrive in order to make it possible. Yet, all too often, the bookstores that are the cornerstones of these communities don't have a financial safety net...

"For thirty years, Binc has been that safety net. I see Binc as booksellers' first responders, lending a hand when they are at their most vulnerable and offering vital resources that keep them afloat. That's why I think we should all be supporting Binc... a key investment in the infrastructure that brings books and readers together."

George Mrkonic, the former Borders president who had the idea of creating an in-house foundation to help staff members in need, was given the Founders Award.

Author and bookseller Ann Patchett was honored for being Binc's first Ambassador, introduced by the current Ambassador, author Amor Towles.

Marco Davanzo, executive director of ComicsPRO, the trade organization for direct-market comics retailers and owner of the Alakazam Comics store, was honored with the Unsung Hero Award.

Evening festivities included a fund-raising auction and the patented Binc heads-or-tails contest.

For more about Binc and to contribute, click here.

Following its debut as a mobile bookstore last summer, Bristlecone Bookshop will open a bricks-and-mortar store in Nederland, Colo., this Saturday. 

Annah Jones

Located at 114 E. 2nd St., the bookstore measures just under 600 sq. ft., with owner Annah Jones noting that although small, the physical storefront is "10 times the size" of the trailer it debuted in. Bristlecone Bookshop carries all-new titles shelved in categories like "The Book Was Better," "Books About Bookstores," and "Reading Is Resistance."

Alongside books, there will be artwork by local artisans as well as an assortment of bookish goods. Jones plans to host book clubs, children's storytime sessions, poetry open mics, and signings with local authors. "I hope it will be a welcoming community space," she said.

After launching Bristlecone Bookshop last summer, Jones took the mobile store to farmers' markets, coffee shops, breweries, and special events. 

Jones also works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Nederland; initially, the store will be open Friday through Sunday.

Boundless Books has reopened in a new, larger location in Greenville, Pa., the Herald reported.

The bookstore, which offers new and used titles, has moved from 217 Main St. to 51 Clinton St. In addition to books, Boundless Books places a major emphasis on crafts and fiber arts, and the store's event offerings include several genre-focused book clubs as well as crafts and art nights.

Owner and navy veteran Chelsea Erb told the Herald that although a lot of people have adopted e-reading, "demand is turning back to traditional books."

Boundless Books reopened in its new space on Independent Bookstore Day, with festivities including a ribbon cutting, refreshments, prizes, and giveaways. 

Looking ahead, Erb plans to add a small coffee bar to the store.

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators is launching the Golden Kite Award for Translation, recognizing "the skilled translators who bring diverse stories to young readers in languages around the world." It will be presented for the first time in 2027 to honor books originally published in 2026, with the winner receiving $2,500 and the honor recipient $500. 

SCBWI's global translator coordinator Avery Fischer Udagawa, who was instrumental in creating the award, said, "The Golden Kite Award for Translation will help translators build and sustain their careers, thanks to its purse. At SCBWI, we recognize that translators, like authors and illustrators, receive a copyright line for their creative contributions and must be named and known. Requiring translators to be named on the covers of their translations--as encouraged by the Authors Guild, PEN America, and The Chicago Manual of Style--helps ensure that readers know who chooses each word, who absorbs the feelings of a source text before rendering them with the utmost care for young readers. That is work AI could never replicate."

Sarah Baker, SCBWI executive director, said the new award "represents long-overdue recognition of the crucial work translators do in carrying children's literature across the borders of language and culture. We believe every child deserves access to great stories, and translators make that possible. We are deeply grateful to Avery Udagawa, whose dedication made this award a reality. We hope that translators of children's literature around the world will take advantage of this important new opportunity for recognition." 

Judith Barnard, writer, philanthropist, supporter of the arts and liberal political causes, bonne vivante, and friend of many, died on May 6. She was 94.

Judith Barnard and Michael Fain

From 1980-2005, she wrote with her husband, Michael Fain, under the pseudonym Judith Michael. (Fain survives her.) Beginning with Deceptions, published by Pocket Books and Poseidon Press in 1982, they published 11 bestselling novels that one reviewer called "romances for the thinking person." The books were lively, well-written, thematically and geographically diverse, and featured heroines struggling with unfulfilled lives, single motherhood, poverty, family sexual abuse, and other contemporary problems. 

In addition to the Judith Michael books, Barnard also published the novel The Past and Present of Solomon Sorge (1967), many feature stories for Chicago Magazine and the Chicago Tribune during the 1970s, a biography of industrialist Albert Pick, and later a collection of short stories, Crooked Branches on the Family Tree (2018).

Barnard and Fain divided their time between Chicago and Aspen for many years, and were devoted to hiking, skiing, and Aspen culture including the music festival. They were patrons and supporters of Chicago theater and music organizations, and other local cultural institutions and political advocacy organizations. Through the Barnard Fain Foundation they supported science education for youth in Colorado. In their retirement community in Chicago, Judith devoted herself to a residents fund, which awards educational grants to employees' high school and college age children.

On tour for Young World (Random House Books for Young Readers), Soman Chainani (c.) posed with booksellers (and mothers) Martha Olsen and Melissa Linko on Mother's Day at The End Bookstore, Allentown, Pa.

Click here to see the latest Independent Press Top 40, the weekly bestseller list celebrating the bestselling 40 fiction and 40 nonfiction titles from independent publishers, as sold by independent bookstores across the country. The list is sponsored by the Independent Publishers Caucus and the American Booksellers Association.

This week's debut fiction titles:

17. Victorian Psycho: A Novel by Virginia Feito (Liveright)
20. Little Red Flags by Jeanette Settembre (Regalo Press)
29. Offseason: A Novel by Avigayl Sharp (Astra House)
33. Mothman Is My Boyfriend: Ten Tales of Cryptid Love and Lust by McKayla Coyle, illus. by Wendy Stephens (Quirk Books)
40. Out Law: A Dresden Files Novella by Jim Butcher (Podium Publishing)

This week's debut nonfiction titles:

11. Go the Fuck to College (Go the Fuck to Sleep #4) by Adam Mansbach, illus. by Owen Brozman (Akashic Books)
13. The Book of Coffee: A Philosophy by Julian Baggini and James Hoffmann, illus. by Mariya Suzuki (Mitchell Beazley)
14. The New Vegetarian: 500+ Recipes for a Lifetime of Great Meals by America's Test Kitchen (America's Test Kitchen)
39. Because of You, Mom by Kobi Yamada, illus. by Natalie Russell (Compendium Publishing & Communications)

"People dream about owning a bookstore and how magical it must be. But the reality is, a little less magical," Good Neighbor Bookstore in Lakewood, N.Y., posted on Instagram. "I still wouldn't trade it for anything. But when a shelf randomly breaks, and in your efforts to repair it, the only solution you have to hold pieces of wood together is a step stool jammed between the shelf and a wall while you wait for glue to dry... it's the scenes they leave out of hallmark movies...."

"Thanks Mike! You are the best! You keep us stocked!" Janke Book Store in Wausau, Wis., paid tribute to its favorite delivery guy with a Facebook post.

Tomorrow:
Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Goldie Hawn, co-author of The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1 (Penguin Workshop, $17.99, 9780593889442).

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, May 16
3:05 p.m. W. Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse than Hell: American Prisoners of the Civil War (W.W. Norton, $38.99, 9780393541090), at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sunday, May 17
8 a.m. Eyck Freymann, author of Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China (Oxford University Press, $29.99, 9780197823842). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:25 p.m.)

9 a.m. Gal Beckerman, author of How to Be a Dissident (Crown, $19, 9798217089215), at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 9:25 p.m.)

11 a.m. Richard Carwardine, author of Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln's Union (Knopf, $35, 9781400044573) receives the 2026 Lincoln Prize from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

12 p.m. Emilie Connolly, author of Vested Interests: Trusteeship and Native Dispossession in the United States (Princeton University Press, $35, 9780691240121), and Beth Lew-Williams, author of John Doe Chinaman: A Forgotten History of Chinese Life under American Racial Law (Belknap Press, $35, 9780674294110) receive the 2026 Bancroft Prize for History at Columbia University.

2:46 p.m. Julian Zelizer, editor of The Presidency of Joseph R. Biden: A First Historical Assessment (Princeton University Press, $29.95, 9780691274799).

3:45 p.m. Cindy Cohn, author of Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance (The MIT Press, $29.95, 9780262051248), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

4:55 p.m. Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, author of The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America's Lawsuit Factory (Atria/One Signal, $30, 9781668068861).

5:45 p.m. Andrés Martinez, author of The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America's Quest to Conquer Global Sport (Bloomsbury Academic, $32, 9798881801823).

The Griffin Poetry Prize has named Raúl Zurita as the 2026 recipient of the Lifetime Recognition Award, given to international artists working in poetry. Zurita will participate in the 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize Readings on June 3 with his translator, Anna Deeny Morales. Their reading will be part of a live performance by Armenian-Canadian pianist/composer Eve Egoyan, with filmmakers Lior Shamriz and Chloé Griffin paying homage to Zurita's poetry throughout.

The event will feature the announcement of the international Griffin Poetry Prize winner, as well as readings by the 2026 shortlisted poets--Gbenga Adesina, Daniel Borzutzky, Alec Schumacher, Elvira Hernández, Aracelis Girmay, Ange Mlinko, and Kevin Young--and the Canadian First Book Prize winner, to be named May 20. There will also be a recitation by one of the 2026 Finalists of Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie, a Canada-wide school recitation competition.

The international Griffin Poetry Prize winner will receive C$130,000 (about US$94,880), while the other shortlisted authors each get C$10,000 (about US$7,300). Zurita, the Lifetime Recognition Award recipient, receives C$25,000 (about US$18,245). 

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, May 19:

Ghalen: A Romance in Black by Walter Mosley (Amistad, $30, 9780063451551) is a coming-of-age story about a neurodivergent Black man.

Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $32, 9780316595384) is the second thriller with Detective Sergeant Stilwell.

The Midnight Train: A Novel by Matt Haig (Viking, $30, 9780593833377) is a sequel to The Midnight Library.

On Witness and Respair: Essays by Jesmyn Ward (Scribner, $29, 9781668064269) collects more than a decade of nonfiction work. 

Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground by Zayd Ayers Dohrn (W.W. Norton, $32.99, 9781324089315) is a memoir by the son of Weather Underground fugitives.

Villain: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots (Morrow, $32, 9780063236936) is book two in the humorous superhero series Hench. 

Babylon, South Dakota: A Novel by Tom Lin (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316576277) follows a Chinese American family who inherit a South Dakota homestead with an alarming military secret.

The Magic Awakens (Renegades #1) by Erin Hunter (HarperCollins, $9.99, 9780063449534) is the beginning of a new middle-grade series about two cat sisters who stumble upon a magical world.

The Dinosaur and the Bird: A Tale of Prehistoric Friendship by Richard Ho, illus. by Jamie Green (Roaring Brook, $19.99, 9781250834188) is a picture book about an unlikely (and sadly untimely) friendship.

Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love by Michael Schur and Joe Posnanski (Dutton, $35, 9798217045112) celebrates sports and sports fans around the world.

Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter by Ada Ferrer (Scribner, $30, 9781668025659) is a memoir by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuba: An American History.

Spain My Way: Eat, Drink, and Cook Like a Spaniard by José Andrés and Sam Chapple-Sokol (Ecco, $45, 9780063328068) shares recipes from the home country of the founder of World Central Kitchen.

Paperbacks:
Dog Days by Emily Labarge (Transit Books, $18.95, 9798893380477).

Major Gift: An 831 Stories Romance by Tiffany Ezuma (831 Stories, $14.99, 9798893311426).

Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee (Union Square & Co., $18.99, 9781454965558).

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

Hardcover
The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson (Sourcebooks Landmark, $18.99, 9781464239335). "Unjustly incarcerated, Cussy Lovett's steadfast courage is at the heart of this historical fiction novel set in 1950s Kentucky. As a believer in the power of literacy, and as a devoted wife and mother, Cussy stays forever hopeful even in the toughest of times." --Caroline Buchta, Andover Bookstore, Andover, Mass.

Ghost Town: A Novel by Tom Perrotta (Scribner, $28, 9781668080634). "On hearing that his father has been memorialized in his hometown of Creamwood, N.J., Jimmy Perrini recalls the fateful summer after his mother's death. Fast cars, Ouija boards, and strong weed all feature in this powerful story about grief, prejudice, and adolescence." --Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

Paperback
The Girls Who Grew Big: A Novel by Leila Mottley (Vintage, $19, 9780593686522). "Just as she did in Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley gives voice and understanding to parts of life that our culture often tells us to ignore. The book is full of life and heart and hope." --Beth Black, The Bookworm of Omaha, Omaha, Neb.

Ages 4-6
The Art of How Dogs Sleep by Alison Kim (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780316580281). "Dogs are incredible, but dogs sleeping? That's an art form. This book captures the glorious delight that is dogs sleeping. You'll find your dog here, your neighbor's dog, the dog you've been dreaming of." --Megan Howe, Alice, Ever After Books, Buffalo, N.Y.

Ages 7-11
Found Sound by Meg Wolitzer and Charlie Panek (Dutton Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 9781101994627). "This book is a lot of fun. Even if you don't think of yourself as someone who would geek out about reverb and anechoic chambers, you might be after reading this book. Hand this to kids who love a sibling story or a puzzle story with plenty of science and facts." --Amanda Grell, Pearl's Books, Fayetteville, Ark.

Ages 14+: An Indies Introduce Title
Until We Meet Again by Lily Kim Qian (First Second, $25.99, 9781250884237). "A gorgeous and moving meditation on childhood, mental illness, and finding your roots when you spent your childhood moving from place to place. The language is poetic and spare, the art is beautiful, and the story is unique. A perfect book for any kid who has a parent with mental illness." --Fisher Nash, Carmichael's Bookstore, Louisville, Ky.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Cecilia Eudave, among Latin America's literary vanguard of "narrativa de lo inusual" (narrative of the unusual) makes her English-language debut with the haunting novel The Summer of the Serpent, translated from the Spanish by National Book Award winner Robin Myers. Reminiscent of interlinked short stories, Eudave's work presents a polyphonic chorus, many of the voices quite young, who are all residents of an unnamed Mexican neighborhood, as they reveal their versions of what happened during that summer of 1977.

That "was an unforgettable year," Maricarmen, the precocious initial narrator, comments, listing global events, lumping together Augusto Pinochet, Son of Sam, Elvis Presley. "And here, in Mexico? The National Family Planning Plan was approved, because we were so many and so violent." She's "still a little girl" visiting the San Antonio Parish fair with her father and younger sister, where she's "a front-row witness to the spectacle of the serpent girl." After the show, Maricarmen begs her father to have her fortune told by the mysterious ophidian, who cryptically prophesizes, "Gaze beyond what's in plain sight, be guided by the serpent's eyes."

Shrouded within this veneer of a seemingly typical community are unexpected inhabitants. One house is home to a "sweetly chameleonic" ghost who first tells the story of a "chubby baby-faced man" who hangs, but somehow doesn't kill, his fox terrier at 7 p.m. every day, except for Sundays. Uriel, two doors down from Maricarmen, records the (in)human/canine schedule as part of his summer "research project." Monika, another neighbor, has a pet boa constrictor that's carefully planning its escape, even as it's admired and occasionally coveted by the local children. Among the few adults mentioned are Maricarmen's parents--her aspiring writer father who instead translates technical manuals, her "high-profile journalist" mother; local sweeper Capi, who sleeps overnight in the auto repair shop along with his dog, Wolf; retired movie star Señora Amelia, whose anger is missed when she's gone.

Eudave shifts viewpoints between her nine chapters, as if determined to further unsettle readers. Recurring names and situational details serve as puzzle pieces that readers may shift and twist while attempting to fit them together. As the larger narrative coalesces, the results agitate and discomfit. Eudave unblinkingly contrasts the innocence of children not yet aware that people can and will commit senseless evil with the heinous behaviors in their midst particularly threatening girls and young women. Eudave's startling fiction effectively holds a twisted funhouse mirror up to reveal disturbing realities. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Notable Mexican author Cecilia Eudave's debut-in-English-translation is a polyphonic mosaic of voices narrating the disturbing events of the strange summer of 1977.

I honestly do not think I will be standing here tonight were it not for independent bookshops when I was first published back in 1981. It was the enthusiasm of independent booksellers handselling my books to readers. It helped me get my foot onto the very first rung of the ladder, for which I will forever be grateful.

--Author Peter James, presenting the Indie Bookshop of the Year winner at the British Book Awards

More than 1,000 people from the book industry gathered on Monday, May 11, "to celebrate all things books and the people who make them" at the British Book Awards 2026 (the Nibbies) ceremony in London's Grosvenor House Hotel, the Bookseller reported, adding: "From the booksellers to the librarians, the trade publishers to the indie presses, the awards recognize every person with a passion for their product that goes way, way beyond the requirements of their role."

You can check out the list of winners in the books and book trade categories online, but my bookseller DNA is equipped with a compass that always points me in the direction of four specific categories: Independent Bookshop of the Year, Children's Bookseller of the Year, Individual Bookseller of the Year, and Book Retailer of the Year. Here's a bit more about the overall winners:

Independent Bookshop of the Year
Book Lovers Bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, was chosen out of eight other regional and country winners to win £5,000 (about $6,745) from sponsor Gardners. Tom Tivnan, deputy editor of the Bookseller, said that past champions in the category "have been trailblazers but, as the first-ever specialist romance bookstore in the U.K. and Ireland, our 2026 winner Book Lovers Bookshop has raised a high bar up a notch. Owner Caden Armstrong epitomizes the canny modern booksellers who are flooding into the indie game--the starting point is a passion for books, but with that comes a nimble entrepreneurship and steely-eyed business plan."

The judges noted that the shop has "such an affecting story. It has a very clear focus, ambition and identity and has quickly made its mark."

Accepting the award, Armstrong said: "We only opened a year and a half ago, and when I opened the shop I did it because I wanted to create a space for romance books, readers and authors to be celebrated. I never imagined we would end up here."

In an Instagram post, Armstrong wrote, in part: "We had the most magical day yesterday.... This award isn't just for our bookshop, this award is for romance publishing and all of the wonderful people that make our industry so beautiful and bright. Congratulations to all bookshops shortlisted and longlisted for this year's awards. It been an honour to be among you. You all inspire us daily!"

Children's Bookseller of the Year
Griffin Books in Penarth, Wales, doubled its footprint in the last year, taking a risk in the current climate, the Bookseller reported. The judges said: "Griffin took a risk in expanding but it's paid off. Its ambition, performance and commitment are extremely impressive."

Accepting the award, Griffin Books noted: "Wow. You can tell we weren't quite expecting that. This time last year, we were a very small bookshop with a tiny children's end of the bookshop, but we had the amazing opportunity to expand and create a dedicated children's and teenage section. I want to pay tribute to the people who've really made that happen."

The bookseller later reflected on the heady experience in an Instagram post: "Griffin Books--U.K. Children's Bookseller of the Year! That sounds pretty good to me. This award is particularly special as it is almost exactly one year to the date that we opened our new bigger Children's and Teen department! We were up for two awards at last night's British Book Awards and though we didn't take home Indie Bookshop of the Year (this accolade went to the brilliant @bookloversbookshop), we did pick up Children's Bookseller of the Year--and we couldn't be happier!"

Individual Bookseller of the Year 
Chrissy Ryan, founder of BookBar in London, "has turned a bookshop into a more social space, opened its second location in Chelsea in London in 2025, and has grown in popularity since. With her BookBar concept, Chrissy Ryan has hit on a unique and compelling formula that is reimagining what bookshops can do for people," the Bookseller noted.

"Wow, I know what I would have done if I had been there on the night, and that is burst into tears and not be able to speak," Ryan said in a pre-recorded acceptance video.

Book Retailer of the Year
Waterstones took the title for the second year in a row, with the judges saying: "While Waterstones is a chain, it makes every branch feel like an independent bookseller. The passion for books shines through."

Accepting the award, Waterstones said: "We are incredibly proud of our 3,000 booksellers, who champion books to readers up and down the land. The importance of physical books and human connection has never been more apparent. We're enormously grateful for support from across the industry, from so many people in this room and beyond."

The community spirit in the room was aptly summed up by Nibbies North England regional winner Truman Books, which posted: "We might not be bringing a British Book award back to Farsley... this time... but we’re super proud to have been recognized as one of the top nine independent bookshops in the country.... It's a joy to be part of such a lovely industry and to run a community focused indie bookshop.... Indie bookshops are a force for good in the world; they are places of inspiration, connection, resilience and resistance, and also comfort and solace. And we love that this is recognized. What a wonderful night."