At Lagardère, Hachette Book Group's parent company, publishing division revenue in the third quarter ended September 30 rose 0.9%, to €836 million (about $932 million), on a like-for-like basis. Overall Lagardère revenue rose 2.4%, to €2.63 billion (about $2.93 billion), but rose 2.7% with currency fluctuations.

Chairman and CEO Arnaud Lagardère said that in the third quarter, "amid a challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, the Lagardère Group once again demonstrated great solidity, with growth accelerating to 2.4% from 1.8% in the previous quarter.... Lagardère Publishing confirmed its leading positions, with growth lifted in particular by very strong performances in English- and Spanish-language General Literature." 

The company said that U.S. publishing revenue rose 4%, "driven by several publishing successes including Caroline Chambers's What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking, Manuel Garand's Murdoku: 80 Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles, Rachel Gillig's The Knave and the Moon, James Patterson and James O. Born's Delusional: A Michael Bennett Thriller, and James Patterson and Mike Lupica's The Country Road Murders, as well as by a strong performance from the partner publisher distribution network. Rising audiobook sales continued to support growth."

The company also noted David Shelley's upcoming appointment as global adviser to Hachette Livre's executive management, which will include "guiding the group in developing new markets and global digital offerings, expanding international synergies and overseeing mergers and acquisitions." Shelley will also become executive chair of Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK.

Shelley, who is currently CEO of Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK, commented on third-quarter results in the U.S., noting that the company had "an extremely strong line of #1 New York Times bestsellers" during the period. These included Counterrevolution by Victor Davis Hanson (Basic Books), Gilded Blade by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), Perilous Fight by Colin Kaepernick (Legacy Lit), PlantYou Quickies by Carleigh Bodrug (Balance), Styx: The River (Deluxe Limited Edition) by Nikita Gill (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), This Is Me by Hayden Panettiere (Grand Central), and What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers (Union Square & Co.).

He also pointed to "a strong slate of releases in the coming months, including A Married Little Christmas by Abby Jimenez (Forever), All In by David Baldacci (Grand Central), The Brightness by Chad Harbach (Little, Brown), The Family Cross by James Patterson (Little, Brown), One Helluva Ride by Michael Douglas (Grand Central), The Hollow by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown) and Promise Me, America by Joe Biden (Little, Brown). We are also celebrating enormous sales of puzzle books, notably Murdoku (Union Square) and The Killer Isn't Alice (Little, Brown)."

Hauser & Wirth gallery and publishing house opened a gallery and bookstore on October 3 at 201 Hamilton Ave. in downtown Palo Alto, Calif. The Stanford Daily reported that Hauser & Wirth "brings something special" to the city with an interior that is "split into two distinct sides--the art gallery and the bookstore, each of which has its own main entrance. I entered from the gallery side, and the interior was laid out beautifully, with different sculptures and artworks spaced evenly throughout the place....

"Once I finally reached the bookstore section, I was immediately fascinated. The high ceiling featured exposed wooden beams and large hanging lights; books bound with string, bright covers and bold typography filled tables and shelves. Statues and paintings hung on the walls, while a few tables and chairs were scattered in alcoves by large windows."

The bookstore's collection "can best be characterized as coffee-table books for people interested in esoteric contemporary art. Books with striking colors and patterns occupied nearly every inch of the bookstore," the Daily noted.

"Conceived as a welcoming community hub, the Bookshop will be a site of ongoing public programs in the future, extending the gallery's longstanding commitment to publishing, learning and cultural dialogue," Hauser & Wirth had noted when announcing to new Palo Alto space. 

In addition to galleries in New York City, Los Angeles and West Hollywood, Calif., Hauser & Wirth also has locations in the U.K., Switzerland, Spain, France, Monaco, and Hong Kong.

Left on Read, a Black-owned bookstore in Wichita, Kan., has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $90,000. Owner Latasha Eley Kelly, who founded the bookstore in 2024, plans to use that money to stabilize the bookstore's daily operations, address staffing needs, strengthen inventory, maintain programming, and support the long-term health of the bookstore.

Kelly told KSN that costs for operations and staffing have risen while the grant money she previously relied on ended unexpectedly this year. She is "shifting now to other ways to ensure we have longevity in the community."

Earlier this year, Left on Read moved from its original home at 612 E. Douglas Ave., Suite 200, to a new, larger space at 2721 E. Central Ave., Suite 121. The store's new home is part of Revolutsia, a shopping complex made from shipping containers. On the GoFundMe page, Kelly noted that the move to Revolutsia was "unexpected," and it "would not have happened without the generosity of Mike Ramsey of Bokeh Development."

Per KSN, Left on Read is the only Black-owned bookstore in the state of Kansas.

Last month, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., held a Campus Store grand reopening celebration to showcase the new layout and amenities of the store, the Johns Hopkins News-Letter reported. Major store renovations took place this summer after Follett Higher Education Group assumed operations from Barnes & Noble College in 2025. 

Kristin Forbes, who joined Hopkins with Follett Education, is the new store manager and has been working on the space's renovation for more than a year. "We really wanted to make this feel like a store for the students. You guys are always welcome here," she said, adding that although the person-oriented design of the store prioritized student experience, the store's renovations were meant to extend beyond student needs. 

In addition to featuring merchandise and providing study space, the bookstore is expected to host events such as book signings, live music, and art exhibitions.

Craig L. Symonds, a prizewinning historian "whose books conveyed the critical role played by U.S. naval superiority since the Civil War," died October 13 the New York Times reported. He was 79. Symonds taught at the U.S. Naval Academy for three decades. 

In 2023, Symonds won the Pritzker Military Museum and Library Literature Award for lifetime achievement in military writing. Other honors include the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for Lincoln and His Admirals (2008) and the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature for Neptune: the Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings (2014). His other books include The Battle of Midway (2011) and Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History (2005). At the time of his death, he was writing a book about the 12 most decisive maritime engagements in history. 

"Craig L. Symonds's books on Civil War generals and admirals, on naval history and on World War II entitle him to first rank among military historians," said Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson, who shared the Lincoln Prize with Symonds in 2014.

Historian Harold Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City, described Symonds as "unique because he addressed two separate conflicts: the Civil War and World War II.... As his many honors demonstrate, he was the very best naval historian in the country, not to mention so graceful a writer that he made even landlubbers comprehend the most technical material."

Holzer and Symonds edited The New York Times Complete Civil War, 1861-1865 and, with Frank J. Williams, The Lincoln Assassination: Crime and Punishment, Myth and Memory, both of which were published in 2010. Holzer noted that Symonds's "overarching premise was: First, that the naval branch's contributions to U.S. military success have always been underestimated."

Military historian Ian W. Toll said Symonds, "by spending his entire career studying and thinking about these different eras, appreciated the through lines, the 'eternal verities'--everything about naval warfare changed, but the sea always remained the same."

Symonds received a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1967 and a master's degree from the University of Florida in 1969, both in history. He joined the Navy Reserve in 1971 and served at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. After rising to the rank of lieutenant, he returned to the University of Florida and earned a doctorate in naval history in 1976, the Times noted. After a stint as an assistant professor at the Naval Academy, he was promoted to full professor in 1985. According to the academy, he was the first person to win its teacher and researcher of the year awards. In 1989, he received the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

At the Boston Book Festival this past weekend, Shelf Awareness children's and young adult editor Siân Gaetano (left), moderated the young adult author panel "Fantasy Worlds and Falling in Love," featuring (l.-r.) Elizabeth Lim (A Forgery of Fate; Knopf), Jennifer Lee (As I Dream of You, illustrated by LeUyen Pham; First Second), and Maria Ingrande More (A Wild Radiance; Peachtree Teen). (photo: Shoshana Flax, Horn Book)

An experienced bookseller, Coco Zephir is currently a marketing intern at Penguin Random House. She loves romance titles and here offers profiles of a pair of books she's most excited about:

Bad Words by Ríoghnach Robinson (St. Martin's Press, 9781250431295, $30, October 6)

"I had said something nice. She had said something honest."

Looking for the next it book in romance? Bad Words will consume you, as a book critic and author battle it out in the name of fiction.

This book is about readership, authorship, and what happens when the lines blur between the two. What makes or breaks a book? How do socials influence book sales? Should authors dip into book reviews? Numerous angles of publishing are tackled in this deftly woven story of Selina and Parker in New York City.

If there's one romance you read this fall, this should be it.

Broken Rival by Tessa Bailey (Avon, 9780063381018, $30, October 6) 

Two brothers and one infamous time traveler search for love and freedom in Tessa Bailey's new dystopian romance, Broken Rival.

Magnolia is infamous across time, thanks to her parents' illegal time travel creation. In an effort to protect her, her parents send her to the past to shelter with a pastor and his family: a wife and two sons, Fallon and Ramsey. Magnolia's feelings are torn between the two brothers, and when disaster strikes, all bets are off for who will win her heart in this punchy dystopian romance.

For fans of high-heat dystopian love triangles.

Alison Langlois has joined Cherry Lake Publishing Group/Sleeping Bear Press as manager, marketing & publicity. Langlois previously worked at Above the Treeline/Edelweiss.

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After 30 years at New World Library, editorial director Jason Gardner will retire at the end of 2026.

To introduce its Kugali Ink imprint, Disney-Hyperion created this trailer for two new middle grade graphic novels: Àkànní by Jessica Tagbajumi, illus. by Jason Lamy, colored by Obaseun Ogunkeye and Etubi Onuchyo, and Runeless by Bill Masuku, illus. by Daniel Quartey, colored by Barlo Moreira, and inked by Mario Vitor Gouveia Cau.

Today:
CBS Mornings: Arian Simone, author of Fearless Freedom: A Manifesto for Unlocking Wealth and Equality for All (Storehouse Voices, $31, 9798217087617).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ina Garten, author of Simply Ina: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, $40, 9780593234174).

Tonight Show: Andy Cohen, author of Andy's Bravo Scrapbook: Twenty Years Behind the Scenes of the Real Housewives and the Bravoverse (Andy Cohen Books, $38, 9798217090143). He will also be on the View tomorrow.

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Marcus Samuelsson, author of Back to Green: Rediscovering a World of Delicious, Healthy Eating (Avery, $40, 9780593715222).

CBS Mornings: Jane Leeves, author of Daphne & Me: My Life on Frasier (And a Bit More) (Morrow, $29.99, 9780063426955).

Tamron Hall: Aki and Koichi Kim, authors of Life / Style (Epic Ink, $30, 9781577156208).

Jennifer Hudson Show: Dolph Lundgren, author of Fights Worth Fighting: Finding Strength in Struggle (Harper Horizon, $29.99, 9781400255177).

Watch What Happens Live: Lisa Vanderpump, author of Home at Villa Rosa: Cooking and Living the Vanderpump Way (Workman Publishing, $35, 9781523536139).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Stephen Graham, co-editor of Letters to Our Sons (Union Square, $32, 9781454968283).

Apple TV has added a dozen new cast members to the second season of Down Cemetery Road, based on Mick Herron's novels The Last Voice You Hear and Smoke and Whispers, which are part of his Oxford book series, Deadline reported. Herron is also the author of the novels that have been adapted into the popular Slow Horses TV series. 

Down Cemetery Road season 2 cast additions include Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Paterson Joseph (Wonka), Aasiya Shah (Bait), Dimitri Leonidas (Foundation), Paul Chahidi (This Country), Liz White (The Long Shadow), Amanda Abbington (Sherlock), Jeff Rawle (Drop the Dead Donkey), Ashley McGuire (Slow Horses), Amber Grappy (One Day), and Yali Topol Margalith (Alice and Steve). Emma Thompson is exec producer and stars as Zoë Boehm opposite Ruth Wilson as Sarah Tucker. Morwenna Banks (Slow Horses) is returning as lead writer and executive producer.

The logline for Down Cemetery Road's second season notes: "After a woman falls in front of a train Zoë [Thompson] is called in to investigate, but this seemingly simple case soon upends her life as she and Sarah [Wilson] find themselves navigating the dark side of the glamorous world of art and antiquities. Matters take a deadly turn when they stumble into the path of a brutal serial killer who will stop at nothing to cover up his crimes."

Arrowsmith Press, in cooperation with the Derek Walcott Festival and Derek Walcott Estate, has named The Inferno by Lorna Goodison winner of the 2026 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. Honoring the work of St. Lucian Nobel Prize poet Derek Walcott, the award includes a $2,000 honorarium and is presented annually for a book of poetry by a non-U.S. citizen published anywhere in the world. 

Judge Rosanna Warren wrote: "Lorna Goodison has remade Dante's Hell in her own Jamaican vernacular, as salty-tangy-outrageous as Dante's Italian appeared in its day. Her Virgil is 'Miss Lou,' the actor, poet, and folklorist Louise Bennett-Coverley whose description of her mission fits Goodison as well: 'Me was a little gal/ pickney when I wish upon a star fi the gift fi write/poetry that praise mi people inna wi own Jama tongue.' In Goodison's 'Jama tongue' and flamboyant puns, Dante's dead sols, the duppies, spring into fantastic life. Lorna Goodison has enlarged and electrified the English language."

Anachronisms come in many forms, but high on the list are chance encounters with a former lover one is not entirely sure one wants to see again. Or is that just serendipity in a different costume? Those questions, and the memories that go along with them, are at the heart of Bright Monday, an introspective and satisfyingly wistful novel by David Leavitt (Shelter in Place), one of the U.S.'s literary trailblazers in both queer-themed fiction and astute, perceptive depictions of family life.

In 2022, Adam, this fine novel's protagonist and first-person narrator, is a writer who has traveled to Milan from New York for a three-month sabbatical. His original plan was to stay home with his husband, Robert, and work on his writing. Instead, his friend Valeria coaxed him to come to Italy and translate her latest novel. Unlike its predecessors, she wrote this one under a pseudonym, and it was a huge commercial success. On Easter Sunday, two days before he is to return to New York, Adam goes for a walk in a dog park and receives a shock when he sees Francesco, his former lover from 32 years earlier. Francesco invites Adam to lunch at his home but first calls his wife, Natalia, who was Francesco's girlfriend all those years ago, to ask if it's okay. Adam is surprised when she says yes, given that, back then, she "had told [him], without compunction, that introducing [him] to Francesco was the biggest mistake she had ever made." Accepting Francesco's invitation may also prove to be a mistake: in the elevator of his apartment building, Francesco pulls Adam into a passionate kiss.

The novel's long middle section is an extended flashback that takes readers to the New York of 1989, when Adam, who worked in a bookstore, met many visiting Italians through his gay friend Emilio, the New York correspondent for an Italian newspaper. Adam had an immediate attraction to Francesco, a Columbia student who told him that, while he had slept with a number of women, "On the Kinsey scale, I'm probably a seven." What follows is a highly intellectual and deeply felt novel about passion and betrayal, ambition and longing, recriminations and forgiveness, all of it at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. Like the gray skies in the beloved Yasujirō Ozu films Adam frequently cites, a mood of melancholy blankets this thoughtful and rewarding work. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Shelf Talker: David Leavitt's Bright Monday is a melancholy novel about a gay American writer's chance encounter with a former lover in Milan, a meeting that resurrects feelings of longing, passion, and betrayal.