"Bookstores have always been a place that I really enjoyed going. Every bookstore has knowledgeable people that intentionally selected every single book that's in there, so getting recommendations from booksellers is one of my favorite things. Independent bookstores carry what they like. They're not carrying the same handful of books that you can find in every chain. There are real human beings behind each decision."

Pocket Books, a new and used bookstore that debuted in Lancaster, Pa., in 2022, will open a second location next month, LancasterOnline reported.

Pocket Books' second location

The new store will reside at 23 N. Prince St., in a space that previously housed a used bookstore called Read Rose Books, which closed last month. Jessie Callahan, Austin Carter, and Julie Ross, the owners of Pocket Books, have purchased a significant portion of Read Rose's inventory and will sell those titles along with new books and gifts. 

"We're looking forward to offering downtown customers an eclectic selection of used books that reflect Pocket Books' commitment to supporting women authors, queer and trans authors, and authors of color," Callahan told LancasterOnline.

The new location is set to open on October 3.

After a year of operating in Moraine, Ohio, the Cozy Book Nook is moving to a new, larger location in Dayton, Ohio, the Dayton Daily News reported.

The new space, at 1400 E. Third St., is significantly larger than the bookstore's previous 600-square-foot home. While store owners Leslie and Tony Garcia have access to 5,500 square feet across two floors and a basement, they plan to have the bookstore reside in a 2,000-square-foot space on the first floor and will rent out the upstairs space as offices for creatives. 

The additional retail space will allow the owners to expand their inventory, which includes general-interest new and used books and emphasizes independent authors, as well as their suite of events. Currently they host a number of book clubs; in the new location they will add a beer crawl book club, a speed dating-style event in which authors pitch their books, poetry events, critique sessions for writers, and an awards night for indie authors.

"We want something for everyone that walks in and we also want to hit all the different price points," Leslie Garcia told the Dayton Daily News. She explained that they're moving to a new location because they've outgrown the old one, having run out of places to put new bookshelves.

"There's so much we want to do," Tony Garcia added. "This place is going to allow us to... create an experience when you come, so you’re not going to come just to look for books."

The earliest iteration of the Cozy Book Nook was an online store focused on used titles. They opened a bricks-and-mortar store in Moraine roughly a year ago, as a way of gauging community interest. They've gradually expanded their offerings since opening, and Leslie Garcia noted that "every month is better than the month before, so it's a good sign."

The Garcias are planning for an October 1 soft opening in the new location.

A new bookstore called Teddy's Best Reads will open in Oxford, Conn., next month, CT Insider reported.

Owners Sharon and Charles Muir, have found a space at 306 Center Rock Green, in the Quarry Walk development, and plan to sell general-interest titles for all ages. Their goal is to make the cozy interior feel "a little bit like a Hobbit-hole from Tolkien," where customers and community members are welcome to sit and read for a while. They plan to partner with local schools and host book clubs and other events.

"The current bookstores, like Barnes & Noble, don't have the same feeling like the old '90s stores where you can hang out and read books while checking them out," Charles Muir told CT Insider. "We want to make a space where people can actually hang out and talk about books."

Both Charles and Sharon Muir are avid readers and former English majors. Sharon Muir will handle day-to-day operation at the bookstore while Charles Muir, who is keeping his primary job, will work on weekends.

The bookstore's name references both their dog Teddy and TBR, short for to be read.

On Wednesday, September 10, the New England Children's Booksellers Advisory Council held the first of two children's author breakfasts at NEIBA's Fall Conference. NECBA co-chairs Alyssa Raymond from Copper Dog Books in Beverly, Mass., and Sara Waltuck of Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass., welcomed four authors: C.L. Herman (co-author with Amanda Foody of A Fate So Cold, Tor Teen), Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (Grandmother Moon, illus. by Trisha B. Waters, Augsburg Fortress Publishers + Beaming Books), Jenan A. Matari (Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden, illus. by Aya Ghanameh, Interlink), and Kate Messner (Camp Monster, illus. by Falynn Koch, Bloomsbury).

C.L. Herman

All four discussed their upcoming books and shared a few connected personal anecdotes. C.L. Herman described how both she and her co-author, Amanda Foody, have "always been riveted by Chosen One narratives." The co-authors "homed in on why we thought they were so interesting," together deciding it is because the Chosen One has so much power, but is also under so much pressure. She explained, "We could imagine how difficult that would actually be to deal with. For all that we call them Chosen Ones, they have so few choices of their own. What does it really mean to put the world before yourself?"

Wunneanatsu Lamb-Caso

Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (an enrolled citizen of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation) told the audience that Grandmother Moon was inspired by her own grandmother, a storyteller, historian, and anthropologist. "Every moment was a teachable moment" for her grandmother, and Lamb-Cason recognizes "the gift I was given growing up at her hip. In writing this book, I wanted to pass that gift forward." Grandmother Moon, she said, "is a love letter to the woman who gave me so much, and also a message of continuity--Native peoples are not in the past but very much present and will continue into the future."

Jenan A. Matari's Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden was also inspired by a grandparent--her grandfather. It wasn't until Matari was in her 20s that she learned her grandfather had been displaced from Palestine and she began to understand her own heritage. Her debut picture book was inspired by weekends spent with Jiddo and Teta, playing games, making food, hearing bedtime stories, and unknowingly discovering the beauty of her Palestinian culture.

Kate Messner

Camp Monster "originally started as an epistolary illustrated chapter book," said Kate Messner. When her editor asked if it could instead be a middle-grade graphic novel, Messner said yes. Then she googled "how to write graphic novels." As the title suggests, Camp Monster is about a monster summer camp. "It used to be just a yeti camp," Messner said, "but there weren't enough yetis--times are tough everywhere--so they opened up to all monsters." Messner focused on two main themes in relation to her first graphic novel: "Laughter and grief and joy are not incompatible with each other" and "graphic novels are reading." If you're writing a book that is sad, Messner said, "your saddest books also need to be your funniest books because readers need that release." And "kids who love graphic novels are readers, whether or not they will pick up anything else right now." Children need "light stories in their lives," Messner finished, then expressed her gratitude "to all of you for handing the exact right books to kids when they need them." --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness

Volumes Bookcafe, Chicago, posted a picture of their chalkboard on Instagram, reading, "We only welcome ICE in our lattes." The store added: "Did you know that Bezos supplies surveillance and cloud services to ICE? We only supply ice in our lattes."

The University of Pittsburgh Press will be represented to the trade in the U.S. by the Columbia University Press Sales Consortium, effective October 1. Longleaf Services will continue to handle distribution and fulfilment, and there should be no disruption in operations or logistics.

Peter Kracht, director of the University of Pittsburgh Press, said, "As the University of Pittsburgh Press nears its 90th anniversary celebration with our spring 2026 list, including August Wilson's American Century and an incredible roster of Pitt Poetry Series titles, we're excited to partner with Columbia University Press Sales Consortium to represent us. CUPSC has represented the finest university and scholarly publishers for more than 35 years and will expand the reach of our distinguished program of poetry, short fiction, trade, and academic titles."

Brad Hebel, COO of Columbia University Press, said, "We are very pleased to welcome the University of Pittsburgh Press to our Sales Consortium. Their strong publishing program includes outstanding trade and scholarly books in poetry, architecture, environmental studies, history, and more which will be an excellent addition to the fine group of publishers we represent to bookstores in the United States."

Andy Augusto has been promoted to senior director, international sales at Sourcebooks.

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Saimah Haque has joined the future of agency as senior marketing director.

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Savannah Breckenridge has joined Simon Maverick as senior marketing manager. She was previously marketing manager at Saga Press.

Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply Disappeared by Anna Hayes, illus. by Mary Kate McDevitt (Bright Matter Books).

Tomorrow:
MSNBC's Velshi Banned Book Club: Renée Watson, co-author, and Nikkolas Smith, illustrator, of The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (Kokila, $18.99, 9780593307359).

photo: Aaron Jay Young

Shaka Senghor is a resilience expert, bestselling author, and speaker whose journey from incarceration to transformation has connected with audiences worldwide. Born in Detroit amid economic hardship, he spent 19 years in prison before finding his own path to freedom. How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons (Authors Equity, September 9, 2025) is a hands-on guide to transforming your life with proven meditation, mindfulness, and creative exercises.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

From solitary to the C-suite, How to Be Free powerfully reveals the hidden prisons we all face--and offers a proven path to personal freedom.

On your nightstand now:

I usually have several books on my nightstand at one time from a few genres. There's always one self-help/personal development book, one fiction book, and one business book. Right now, the one I reach for first is Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee.

Favorite book when you were a child:

This was a hard one because I loved to read as a kid. I read encyclopedias and pretty much any book I could get my hands on, but there's nothing like the classic The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss to spark great childhood memories.

Your top five authors:

I feel like top five lists are the bane of our existence. It's so hard to choose a top five for anything that I'm passionate about. It's as hard to choose my top five basketball players or hip-hop artists as it was to choose the following five authors:

Maya Angelou
Donald Goines
Stephen King
Maryse Condé
Toni Morrison

Book you've faked reading:

The Bible. Let's just say I have tried to read it all the way through in order at least 10 times, but never quite did it. I have read a lot of it, though.

Book you're an evangelist for:

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen is hands down the book I have bought the most copies of for people. It's such a sweet treat that you can pop in your pocket and carry with you anywhere.

Book you've bought for the cover:

I bought the book Will by Will Smith (with Mark Manson) based on the cover, because I know the artist and love his work. I haven't read the book yet, but it looks amazing on my shelf.

Book you hid from your parents:

I hid The Shining by Stephen King from my parents while scaring the mess out of myself. There was something special about sneaking and reading it while terrorizing myself with the story.

Book that changed your life:

The Autobiography of Malcolm X showed me the power of transformation and helped me recognize that we can always rewrite our story. It's one of the most important books I have ever read and the one I give the most credit for helping me turn my life around.

Favorite line from a book:

It gets no better than this quote from Toni Morrison: "You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that holds you down," from Song of Solomon. In this one line she cracked the code to living a free and empowered life.

Five books you'll never part with:

Thick Face, Black Heart by Chin-Ning Chu
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
On Writing by Stephen King
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

These are the five that will always be in my library. They are both instructional and inspirational, and they're the kind of books you can open to any page and get a kick in the pants when you need it.

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

Segu by Maryse Condé is so rich, layered, and majestic. I remember savoring the pages and allowing the story to fill my soul and spirit. I didn't want to put it down.

Era you would choose to write in if you had a time machine:

I would go back to the 1960s and travel across the country sipping cognac, smoking cigars, and listening to live jazz in the back of a seedy nightclub while writing drafts on napkins.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, September 16:

The Academy: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316567855) is a drama set in a New England boarding school.

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy (Mariner, $30, 9780063318779) follows five Black women over 20 years of friendship.

Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey (Crown, $29, 9781984862105) contains poetry, memoir, and thoughts on faith.

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (Tor, $29.99, 9780765389190) is book seven in the Old Man's War sci-fi series.

Gray Dawn by Walter Mosley (Mulholland, $29, 9780316573238) is the 17th Easy Rawlins mystery.

Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach (W.W. Norton, $28, 9781324050629) explores efforts to transplant or recreate parts of the body.

We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore (Liveright, $39.99, 9781631496080) looks at the history and philosophy behind the U.S. Constitution.

Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love by Samin Nosrat (Random House, $45, 9781984857781) is a cookbook by the author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.

The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes (Harper, $19.99, 9780063358409) is a companion novel to The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, focused on character Cesar Flores.

Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi by Angie Thomas (Clarion, $19.99, 9780063225183) is the sequel to Nic Blake and the Remarkables, in which Nic must deliver a possibly nonexistent artifact to a cult of mysterious sorcerers.

Paperbacks:
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari (Random House Trade Paperbacks, $25, 9780593734230).

Love at First Fright: A Novel by Nadia El-Fassi (Dell, $18, 9780593871812).

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
Dominion: A Novel by Addie E. Citchens (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27, 9780374609337). "Authoritarianism can be found at all levels of our society. In Dominion, Mississippi, it's found at the Seven Seals Baptist Church, in Rev. Sabre Winfrey. With a twist you likely won't see coming, it all begins to unravel." --Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, Wash.

Hardcover
Hothouse Bloom: A Novel by Austyn Wohlers (Hub City Press, $24, 9798885740500). "A tremendously lush, stylistic novel enlivened by the push and pull between our main character's interiority, and the natural world to which she attempts to escape from her own head. A calming, quietly alluring read." --Bryan Seitz, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Paperback
Loneliness & Company: A Novel by Charlee Dyroff (Bloomsbury, $17.99, 9781639736454). "Lee is an overachiever, but when she's hired to teach an AI program the meaning of loneliness, her life skills are challenged. Dyroff draws an artful and memorable portrait of a woman trying to find answers in a world consumed by technology." --Manda Riggs, Elm Street Books, New Canaan, Conn.

Ages 4-8
Bob the Vampire Snail by Andrea Zuill (Random House Studio, $18.99, 9780593814963). "This is a surprisingly fast-paced and thrilling tale about your would-be average, uncomplicated snail. But Bob's not just any snail, he's also a vampire! Readers will delight in Bob's journey." --Chelsea Bromley, Bromley's Books, Marquette, Mich.

Ages 6-9
Witchycakes #1: Sweet Magic by Kara LaReau, illus. by Ariane Moreira (Random House Books for Young Readers, $15.99, 9798217025855). "A comfy cottagecore chapter book for any young witch to fall in love with! I want to live in a little magical bakery by the sea with a seagull familiar helping my mom bake for our community. Blue gets up to magical hijinks with a sweet cast of characters." --Allie Cesmat, Changing Hands, Tempe, Ariz.

Ages 14+: An Indies Introduce Title
All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781665972550). "Winter has a dying grandmother, a neglectful mother and a missing father. When her father comes back into her life, she lashes out. This interrogates anger and grief so well, as well as the complications of being a caretaker. A book that all should read." --Audrey I-Wei Huang, Belmont Books, Belmont, Mass.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

The Cracks We Bear, a raw, spare novel sparked by new motherhood, marks a joint English-language debut for Chilean author/publisher Catalina Infante Beovic and translator Michelle Mirabella, who previously translated Infante Beovic's short stories.

Laura birthed Antonia with "animalistic screams," irrevocably altering their lives forever. What Laura wanted most to have during the delivery was her mother Esther's Santa Teresa medal, which Esther would "always put on when she was afraid to face things." But the medal is lost, and Esther long dead. "You don't just miss a mother who dies; it's another emotion, difficult to name," Laura muses. "Perhaps there's a word for it in another language, a grouping of letters whose sound can hold such emptiness. We just learn to live like this, half broken."

Without her own mother, Laura's journey into parenthood feels like a dark enigma--"What do I know about being a mother?" Antonia overwhelms Laura: "I can't do this... I don't want to be a mom." Laura was just 18 when Esther died, their relationship complicated and painful in life. "You were born into privilege, Laura, you have no idea what it is to suffer," Esther insisted. She'd been exiled from her native Chile because of Laura's father, Michel, "a revolutionary snob" who dragged her to Cuba, then France, where Laura was born. Michel "lost his mind," and Esther returned to Chile with Laura, placing her in a French private school where Esther taught. Esther "remained silent" while Camilo, Esther's parasitic half-brother, abused Laura since she was nine. As Esther lay in hospital, Laura had her first sexual experience--marked with purpling, bruised violence. Esther died days later.

As Laura embraces Antonia, she realizes about Esther, "trying to understand who you were, what we were" will always be intertwined with her own experience of motherhood. Laura's "therapist says relationships are full of cracks, that they're... these ordinary earthen jugs that have been pieced back together over and over again." Infante Beovic illuminates these cracks with longing and loneliness, exhaustion and first smiles ("without yet knowing what it means to smile"). Her sharp insights are revelatory, reframing an "irrefutable," joyful photograph as evidence that mother and daughter face a coming rift.

Mirabella's translator's note adds her own transformative experience with The Cracks We Bear, which she first read in 2022 "as a daughter" and finished translating as a mother, having since had her own daughter. With empathic perception, author and translator present a nuanced, haunting journey of new (and old) motherhood. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Chilean author Carlina Infante Beovic's penetrating English-language debut sharply examines the overwhelming challenges of new motherhood haunted by the complications of painful daughterhood.