Lost the Plot mobile bookstore officially rolled out just before the holiday season to serve the greater Seattle, Wash., area with pop-ups, book swaps, crafting events, author signings, and more. Although the bookseller has been hosting pop-ups and events since last July, the fully finished converted delivery truck hit the road just before Thanksgiving.

"Rooted in the belief that stories help us connect, the bookstore-on-wheels brings bookish events, casual social gatherings, and curated reads to breweries, markets, and local businesses throughout the region," owner and founder Ashley Hoffman noted, adding that Lost the Plot "transforms everyday spaces into hubs of community and curiosity. Its shelves hold a carefully curated selection of adult fiction and bookish items, with nearly all titles written by women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled authors." 

"I'm so glad that reading has become more popular again," said Hoffman. "BookTok has brought so many new readers into the fold, but the stories that get the most visibility still tend to come from a narrow group of voices. I believe that immersing ourselves in diverse stories makes us better, more empathetic people. With Lost the Plot, my goal is simple: drive around the Puget Sound and help people discover their new favorite books, especially the ones they might never stumble upon otherwise."

Based just north of Seattle, the mobile bookstore brings bookish events and community-centered experiences to the Greater Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, and Eastside areas. With a goal of creating welcoming, low-pressure spaces where readers can gather, discover new stories, and connect, Hoffman said "the response so far has reinforced something I know many booksellers are seeing: readers are seeking connection just as much as they're seeking books."

Reading Nest, an all-ages, general-interest bookstore, has debuted as a holiday pop-up in Cedarburg, Wis., Greater Milwaukee Today reported.

The bookstore opened on November 21 inside of Valley Skin Studio & Boutique and will operate until December 21. It is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and in addition to books, Reading Nest carries gift items such as candles, puzzles, and stickers.

Owner Kristin Burkart, who opened the store with the help of her friend Annie Chivinski, has a background as a realtor and has wanted to open a bookstore for a long time. Over the past year, as her real estate business slowed, she became particularly excited about the idea, and when she learned that the owner of Valley Skin Studio wanted something in the shop over the holidays, she jumped at the chance.

Burkart figured it would be a good way to test whether a permanent, bricks-and-mortar bookstore would be viable, and so far the pop-up has been very well received.

"If I had a nickel for every time someone said, 'We need a bookstore in Cedarburg,' I'd have a silly amount of nickels," Bukart told Greater Milwaukee Today. "It's been so fun meeting new people that come in and that are just as excited and geeked out as I am about books."

BookCon, which is returning to the Javits Center in New York City on April 18 and 19, 2026, after a hiatus that began with the pandemic in 2020, has sold out and has attracted top publishers. Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks are bringing authors to the show to participate in signings and panels and will be exhibitors on the show floor. (Other companies offering a range of book-related merchandise include Blissfully Bookish, Book Beau, Cliche Teas, Kingdom of Threads, Pinstory, Reading Portal, Steamy Lit, and more.)

Jenny Martin, event director at ReedPop, which organizes BookCon, said, "We have seen a tremendous response from partners and fans alike who are just as excited about the upcoming return of BookCon in 2026 as we are. Publishers are a cornerstone of the book industry, and we are thrilled that they are supporting BookCon's return as we work to create an unmatched experience for attendees."

Leigh Marchant, senior v-p, chief marketing officer, Hachette Book Group, said, "We're thrilled for the return of BookCon--there's nothing like the energy of thousands of passionate readers meeting and interacting with the authors and stories that they love. Along with booksellers, influencers, and other publishers, HBG is very excited to be a part of the celebration that brings together the book community. We can't wait to bring our creativity and passion to the show floor."

Melissa Campion, senior director, author events, Macmillan, said, "BookCon is a great opportunity to connect our authors directly with the enthusiastic readers who champion their work. Much like our presence at New York Comic Con, we are thrilled to continue fostering that vital author-reader relationship and drive excitement for our upcoming books."

Lindsey Elias, director, brand events, Penguin Random House, said, "The return of BookCon is exciting news! It's great to be able to bring our books and authors to their biggest fans."

Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO, Soucebooks, said, "The return of BookCon signals an exciting moment for our industry. Events like this remind us that the future is being shaped by passionate readers who see books as essential to our shared culture. We're energized to be part of BookCon 2026 and to help authors, readers, and booksellers define what's next for storytelling."

BookCon was founded in 2014 and was an immediate success, drawing 10,000 enthusiastic readers, particularly teenage girls, its first year, limited because of a cap on attendance. BookCon remained a vital event through 2019.

Poet and novelist DéLana R.A. Dameron, "whose work spoke with aching honesty about the Black experience in the modern South, and who moonlighted as a competitive horsewoman from her farm in South Carolina," died on November 29, the New York Times reported. She was 40.

DéLana R.A. Dameron

Dameron's debut poetry collection, How God Ends Us (2009), won the South Carolina Poetry Book Prize. Redwood Court (2024), her first book of prose, is a collection of linked stories. Novelist Charmaine Wilkerson praised the author for doing "a beautiful job weaving in local vernacular and casting a fresh gaze on an engaging, though flawed, cast of characters." Reese Witherspoon selected Redwood Court for her book club.

Dameron intended those books, as well as another volume of poetry, Weary Kingdom (2017), "to be the start of a 10-book cycle exploring everyday Black life in and around Columbia, her hometown," the Times noted, adding that she drew inspiration from playwright August Wilson's 10-play cycle set in different decades of the 20th century.

"She was a world builder," said Maya Millett, her editor at Random House, 

Dameron "wanted her cycle to encompass a variety of forms: poetry, novels, even children's literature. (She wrote a picture book about her horse Shadrach, which is currently in production.)," the Times noted. 

"I believe my project as a writer who is also Black and Southern is to document the experience of Black, Southern folks across multiple generations," she said in an interview last year with the website Indyweek.

Dameron returned to South Carolina in 2019 after 13 years in New York City. She started taking riding lessons, and, with her husband, Curtis John, purchased a farm, Saloma Acres, outside Columbia in 2021. Within a few years she was riding competitively. She also made the farm "a public space, hosting events like theater productions and movie nights. Among the cultural groups she brought to the farm was the Luminal Theater, an organization, run by Mr. John, which shows Black-made independent films on a screen assembled in a field," the Times wrote.

"Her intention was to make sure that Black people felt comfortable in nature and were connected to the land," said Renée Watson, a writer and friend. "She was very good at gathering folks and making sure that everyone felt welcomed."

From her poem "When Mama died, I lost my air":

When Mama died, I lost my air. Hit with an anvil of grief. 
In dreams, the rains came. Streets filled with sorrow. 
I'm standing with Thomas at the bridge edge seeking relief. 

The sound of her voice is fleeting. Time is a thief-- 
she will never return to me. Thomas says not to follow 
his lead. Don't hold onto it. It's heavy. This anvil of grief. 

This past week, Shelf Awareness sent our Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast to more than 340,000 of the country's best book readers. The e-blast went to 344,000 customers of 70 participating independent bookstores.

The mailing features four upcoming titles selected by Shelf Awareness editors and three advertised titles, one of which is a sponsored feature. Customers can buy these books via "pre-order" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on each sending store's website. A key feature is that bookstore partners can easily change title selections to best reflect the tastes of their customers and can customize the mailing with links, images, and promotional copy of their own.

The pre-order e-blasts are sent the second Wednesday of each month; the next will go out on Wednesday, January 14. This is a free service for indies. Stores interested in learning more can visit our program registration page or contact our partner program team via e-mail.

Ad spots are also available in the Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast. For more information contact sales@shelf-awareness.com for details.

For a sample of the December Kids & YA Pre-Order E-Blast, see this one from Through the Fold Books, San Diego, Calif.

The titles highlighted in the pre-order e-blast were:

The Lions' Run by Sara Pennypacker, illus. by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray)
Queen of Faces by Petra Lord (Holt)
Rumplestiltskin by Mac Barnett, illus. by Carson Ellis (Orchard/Scholastic)
Camp Monster by Kate Messner (Bloomsbury)

Warwick's, La Jolla, Calif., hosted the launch event for Janet Kintner's memoir, A Judge’s Tale: A Trailblazer Fights for Her Place on the Bench (She Writes Press), attended by more than 100 people. Pictured: Kintner (second from left) with Warwick's staffers Irene McCormack, Irene Deniston, and John Beaudette.

"Happy Christmas Sweater Day from us fashionistas!" Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vt., posted on Facebook. 

"Santa's special orders have started to arrive and there are A LOT of you who made the nice list this year!" Belmont Bookshop, Belmont, N.C., posted on Instagram. "Thank you all for putting us on your holiday wishlists! We are working as fast as we can to process everything and will be reaching out in the next 24 hours to notify you of your orders!"

City Lights Books, San Francisco, Calif., shared a clip (via the San Francisco Standard) of actor Benicio del Toro "on the @SFFILM Awards red carpet, shouting out @citylightsbooks--the North Beach institution he still calls legendary."

Tomorrow:
Today: Hilton Carter, author of Unfurled: Designing a Living Home (CICO Books, $35, 9781800655720).

Also on Today: Dick Harpootlian, author of Dig Me a Grave: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Who Seduced the South (Citadel, $29, 9780806542881).

Apple TV has renewed Down Cemetery Road, based on the standalone novel by Mick Herron (Slow Horses) for a second season. Starring and executive produced by Emma Thompson, the show co-stars Ruth Wilson. Season 2 will be written by Morwenna Banks (Funny Woman), who also serves as executive producer alongside Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta and Tom Nash at 60Forty Films, Thompson, and Herron. Börkur Sigþórssen ("Insomnia") will be lead director.

"I'm so thrilled that Down Cemetery Road has been enjoyed enough to warrant a second season," said Thompson. "The thought of working with the team again, with wonderful Morwenna Banks in the writer's seat and the indomitable Ruth Wilson who is the best and most brilliant co-star any aging Dame could desire, is frankly far more than I feel I deserve. Zoë Boehm is a punkishly delicious avatar and I can't wait to pull on her knock-off Doc Martens again. Thanks to everyone who watched! We are go for the next one and it's all down to you."

Jay Hunt, creative director, Europe, Apple TV, added: "Audiences around the world fell in love with Down Cemetery Road and I am glad the unlikely duo of Zoë and Sarah will be back with their unique form of acerbic wit." 

Season 2 reunites Zoë Boehm (Thompson) and Sarah Trafford (Wilson), "chasing down another twisted mystery. After a woman falls in front of a train Zoë is called in to investigate, but this seemingly simple case soon upends her life as she and Sarah find themselves navigating the glamorous but ruthless world of black market 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," Apple TV noted.

The longlist of 16 titles has been selected for the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, at the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi. The six shortlisted titles will be announced in February 2026, and the winning novel on April 9. The winner receives $50,000, and each shortlisted finalist receives $10,000. To see the 16 longlisted titles, click here.

Chair of judges Mohamed Elkadhi said: "The novels included in this year's longlist are a microcosm of the contemporary Arab literary scene in all its richness and variety. Many of the novels turn inward, exploring the private worlds of distinctive and unforgettable characters experiencing psychological crises and struggling to adapt to lived reality. History, too, figures prominently in works that evoke the recent or distant past with striking immediacy, probing its reverberations in the present.

"Questions of identity also recur, framed against the backdrop of war, conflict, migration, revolution, and the uneven rhythms of social and urban change. While some writers adopt realism and classical structures, a greater number blur the boundaries between the real and the extraordinary. 

"Their narratives employ multiple narrators, streams of consciousness, and fragmented structures to reflect the relativity of the universe. Digging deep into the human psyche, they portray the pain suffered by those who feel isolated and alienated from reality, as they strive to uncover a truth distinct to that commonly accepted, moving in the orbits of the repressed and the unspoken."

In Rebecca Kauffman's sixth novel, The Reservation, the staff members of a fine-dining restaurant each have a moment in the spotlight during the attempt to solve a theft.

Aunt Orsa's is the top restaurant in its Midwestern college town. The staff has been gearing up for one momentous fall day: author John Grisham has reserved a table for dinner for his entourage, and Orsa is desperate to make a good impression to counteract some negative online reviews. To her dismay, everything starts going wrong: 22 steaks are stolen, the dishwasher breaks, and there's an injury in the kitchen--not to mention the daily frictions among her employees. Pantry chef Shannon is jealous of host Julia. Server Byron is rumored to be writing a novel about his coworkers. Julia and Byron were dating until he posted a Photoshopped image of her on Facebook. Orsa's nephew, operations assistant Danny, has a crush on the Mennonite pastry chef, Jane. However, when she needs a favor she confides in the prep cook, Edgar, instead of in Danny.

Kauffman (Chorus; I'll Come to You) explores her characters' interactions and backgrounds with aplomb in linked short stories--a format she's employed several times. The table of contents is presented as a "Menu" with 16 chapters, each focusing on a different customer or member of staff via close third-person narration. A number of chapters could even function as standalone short stories, with killer last lines. Two standouts expose economic and social realities: Edgar has a second job at a poultry plant and sends most of his earnings home to his family in Guatemala; a pair of diners realize their addict son hasn't reformed after all when the restaurant gift card he gave them is exposed as fake.

For the most part, the mystery takes a backseat to the character studies. When the narrative does prioritize Orsa's amateur investigation, it can feel a little hokey; long dialogues working through her list of suspects entail too much spelling out, and there is also some repetition across the chapters. But it's a pleasure to go deep with each character, discovering hidden sorrows and motivations--especially Orsa's childlessness and lead line cook Glen's brain damage from a childhood accident--while awaiting the finale of "Grisham Day." The Reservation is a big-hearted novel perfect for J. Ryan Stradal's fans. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: Rebecca Kauffman's circadian novel-in-stories, a gentle mystery, spins character studies of the workers at a Midwestern restaurant coping with kitchen catastrophes and preparing to host John Grisham.

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. Delivering the Wow by Richard Fain
2. Fallen Gods by Rachel Van Dyken
3. Fate of a Royal by Amo Jones
4. Puzzle Mania! by Joel Fagliano
5. Sin Bin by Chelsea Curto
6. Bad Bishop by L.J. Shen
7. Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms by Claire Kingsley
8. Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
9. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]