Literary Bookpost, Salisbury, N.C., has initiated several changes "with an eye to bring more people into the store and create a gathering place," the Salisbury Post reported. Beginning today, the bookstore is serving beer and wine, along with soft drinks. In addition, Literary Bookpost will be closed Sundays and Mondays, while extending hours on Thursdays and Fridays.

Manager Leslie Cataldo said the shop is also opening an outside patio area behind the store, especially for the evening hours. "I hope closing Mondays is not inconveniencing too many people," she noted. "We've heard more than anything that people want later hours. Thursday and Friday are perfect for that. Thursday we will try to build a come-to-the-bookstore night, your book club or a group of friends. People are downtown Friday anyway."

Literary Bookpost plans to host special events in a downstairs space currently used for storage. "We want to work with different organizations in town to give them a place to meet," Cataldo said. "It will be a great place for book clubs to meet--you don't have to clean your home.... We can accommodate large or small groups, in the mezzanine or the back area... I want to create nooks in the back area for reading."

"We're excited about the changes," she added. "It's a great addition to all the beautiful things we have in Salisbury. Our downtown is amazing, compared to a lot of towns our size.... I don't care who you are, I want this to feel like a place you want to go back into."

World Eye Bookshop, Greenfield, Mass., met its fundraising goal over the weekend and will be able to stave off closure. Last Tuesday, owner Jessica Mullins announced that "after a cold, snowy winter where no one was shopping, her store was in a cash flow crunch and needed to make $15,000 in sales by June 1 or it was in danger of closing," the Republican reported.

The response from the community has been wonderful," Mullins said Friday, adding: "Going public was a hard decision, but a decision I ultimately had to make. It was either that or lock the doors and quietly walk away. No one wanted to do that."

Yesterday, Mullins posted on Facebook: "THANK YOU! We made our goal and can stay open, and it's ALL thanks to YOU! Your support means everything to us. YOU make it possible for us and other downtown businesses to be here. WE LOVE YOU!"

Mullins, who has worked at World Eye for 20 years and owned it for four, told the Republican that sales were down 15% from 2014, which had been the bookstore's worst year on record.

"We're moving forward," she said. "The community has been so great. The calls have come in from all over the country. People say they grew up with World Eye. The conversations here in the store have been great, people keep saying how glad they are to see each other 'Let's go to the Co-Op for a cup of coffee. Let's go to Mesa Verde for lunch.' "

Because of confusion in the trade press, the University of California Press and Perseus Distribution want to reiterate the press's sales and fulfillment arrangements in North America:

Effective May 1, 2015, the University of California Press is fulfilled in the U.S. and Canada by Perseus Distribution, under the Perseus Academic umbrella.

Commencing with sell-in for the fall 2015 season, the Columbia Sales Consortium sells the University of California Press in the U.S., while Ampersand Inc. sells the University of California Press in Canada.

At Thursday's Celebration of Bookselling, many E.B. White Read-Aloud and Indies Choice Book Awards honor and winning authors appeared and spoke:

Jory John, author of Goodnight Already! (HarperCollins), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I want to thank the booksellers. This fall I got a chance to travel around and meet a lot of you. It was a choice experience. You feel like family in that I will come to stay with you."

Matt de la Peña, author of Last Stop on Market Street (Putnam), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I'm huge fan of independent bookstores. I have a local one in Brooklyn, the Community Bookstore."

The Special Events Hall was packed for the Celebration of Bookselling.

Richard T. Morris, author of This Is a Moose, an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I have to thank so many of the independent bookstores I've been to. I had a moose that would come to all my readings. Sometimes it was my wife.... Getting your wife into a moose costume is a way to test a marriage. [But when she didn't come along], bookstores provided someone to become the moose. I want to apologize to the unfortunate gentleman at Books of Wonder who was attacked by the dog."

Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Candlewick), the E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book winner. Klassen called the book "a bit of a trust fall, and you guys caught us in a big way." Barnett expressed his thanks to booksellers "for reading through the book because it's a bit deceiving at first... and thank you for sharing this book in your stores." (The two then engaged in the funniest part of the event, playing, while denying that they wanted to, a game of one-upmanship in praise of booksellers.)

Kenneth Oppel, author of The Boundless (S&S), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book. "Thank you for being purveyors of Yoda-like wisdom."

Jennifer L. Holm, author of The Fourteenth Goldfish (Random House), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book, said she was going to channel Little Orphan Annie, then broke into this short song: "Booksellers, booksellers, I love you. Booksellers, you're always an edited book away."

Jory John signing on the show floor.

Jory John and Mac Barnett, authors of The Terrible Two (Amulet Books), E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book. Barnett: "Your enthusiasm for The Terrible Two has blown us away. I don't think either of us have felt anything like this. It's changed both of our lives."

Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books), winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader Award: "When we [writers and illustrators] visit indie bookstores, we want to buy books… It's amazing to be in the spaces and to know that these are owned by people who are welcoming of people who are people like me.... There's someone there who can tell us about the books. You give me recommendations for my daughter but won't let me buy them.... Let us buy your ding-dang books. We have the money and want to support you."

Sally McCloskey, daughter of Robert McCloskey, whose Blueberries for Sal (Viking) was inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame, and the inspiration for Sal: "One of the reasons that you folks have been so successful is because there are many, many, many book clubs around country who buy from our local booksellers.... I'm so proud of our bookstores. I patronize them, and they're not extinct."

Rob Dougherty of Clinton Bookshop, Clinton, N.J., with Jacqueline Woodson.

A.S. King, author of Glory O'Brien's History of the Future (Little, Brown), a Young Adult honor book: "If it wasn't for independent bookstores, I wouldn't have a career--from the day I went to visit Rob and Harvey [at the Clinton Bookshop] in Clinton. Now I live in a town because of Aaron's Books [Lititz, Pa.].... Your support throughout the years has meant the world to me."

Holly Black, author of The Darkest Part of the Forest (Little, Brown), winner of the Young Adult Indies Choice Award. "Thank you for taking me in this January, when I took an all-indie tour down the East Coast. My favorite part was visiting so many unique stories and buying books… I grew up with mall stores [and] it wasn't until I moved to Amherst, Mass., that I learned about local independent bookstores."

Roz Chast, author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Bloomsbury), an Adult Nonfiction honor book: "I'm grateful for all the work you do to keep reading alive, especially my local bookstore, Books on the Common [Ridgefield, Conn].... To walk into an indie bookstore is one of the great pleasures of my life."

Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams (Graywolf), an Adult Nonfiction honor book: "I've had love and respect and gratitude for booksellers since I was a little girl, even before I knew what they were. They are magical spaces.... It's impossible to overestimate how much booksellers did to spread word about [my book] and bring it into being.... I'm buoyed by the energy of indie booksellers."

Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Metropolitan Books), winner of the Adult Nonfiction Indies Choice Award. Via video: "This award means a lot to me because this book was very personal and a bit of a gamble.... I credit a lot to independent bookstores and the personal way you've encouraged people to look a book that's actually uplifting and could matter to them. It's a scary subject and something they might not want to jump into, especially before the holidays."

Andy Weir, author of The Martian (Crown), winner of the Adult Debut Indies Choice Award. Via video: "I really want to thank for the tremendous amount of support you gave. You punch above your weight. You're tastemakers.... There's nothing better than having a bunch of booksellers recommending your books.... Thanks for helping make this dorky computer programmer bundle into a bestselling author."

Lev Grossman, author of The Magician's Land (Viking), an Adult Fiction honor book: "Thank you for doing what us writers could on no account ever do for ourselves if our lives depended on it."

Alice Hoffman, author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things (Scribner), an Adult Fiction honor book: "I've been writing novels for 40 years and going to independent bookstores for 40 years.... For me, the most extraordinary things have been books. They changed my life, saved my life. [When I was growing up, my local bookstore and library] showed me I could look out from the place I lived and see another world out there."

Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner), winner of the Adult Fiction Indies Choice Award: "This book is reaching readers for one reason: because you're suggesting folks give it a try…Thank you for being enthusiasts. Thank you for honoring books. And thank you for honoring my favorite manmade institutions on earth: bookshops."

Douglas Preston, an Indie Champion nominee (and founder of Authors United): "You do not just sell books, you perform a most vital role in our society."

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, winners of the Indie Champion Award: (via video): Gaiman: "We're at Porter Square Books [Cambridge, Mass.], our favorite bookstore." Palmer: "The true thanks belongs to all these indie bookstores--you running the stores, ordering books, dealing with the strange, interesting people who buy books. Thank you."

Current magazine's Reader's Choice 2015 awards honored Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich., as best independent bookstore in Washtenaw county. "Literati has quickly become one of Ann Arbor's favorite small businesses," Current noted. "Mike and Hilary Gustafson, Michigan natives, opened the store in 2013 to provide A2's downtown with a general bookstore, and they take great pride in their well-curated selection. With a new coffee shop, Espresso Bar, located upstairs, Literati hosts author events, panels, and new to the menu, book trivia nights."

Amelia

"Curling up with a good book and a cat is a heavenly experience," Mental floss noted in featuring "13 bookstore cats," including the Spiral Bookcase's renowned Amelia, who celebrated her birthday yesterday in the Philadelphia bookshop.

Dogs on Cape Cod, a photography book by Kim Roderiques (Hummingbird Books, dist. by Midpoint).

Tomorrow morning on the Today Show: Joan Lunden, author of Had I Known: A Memoir of Survival (Harper, $26.99, 9780062404084).

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Tomorrow on CNBC's Squawk Box: Ben Mezrich, author of Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs (Atria, $28, 9781476771892).

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Tomorrow on MSNBC's Krystal Clear: Sarai Walker, author of Dietland (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26, 9780544373433).

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Tomorrow on Tavis Smiley: Noam Chomsky, co-author of On Palestine (Haymarket, $11.95, 9781608464708).

Jon Cor (Dark Matter) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC Family's straight-to-series drama Shadowhunters, based on Cassandra Clare's bestselling the Mortal Instruments YA book series, Deadline.com reported. Cor will play Hodge Starkweather, joining a cast that includes Katherine McNamara as Clary Fray, Maxim Roy as Jocelyn, Dominic Sherwood as Jace and Alberto Rosende as Simon.

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Erin Cummings (The Iceman) will play a lead role opposite Richard Dreyfuss's Bernie Madoff in ABC's miniseries Madoff, based on The Madoff Chronicles by Brian Ross. Deadline.com reported that Cummings plays Eleanor Squillari, personal secretary to Madoff. Ben Robbins is writing the project, which is from ABC News' Lincoln Square Productions.

The winners of the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2014, were announced last night. See the winners in 24 categories on Lambda Literary's website.

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The winners of this year's Reading the West Book Awards, sponsored by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association, are:

Adult fiction: The Painter by Peter Heller (Knopf)
Adult Nonfiction: Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West by Bryce Andrews (Atria)
Children's: Dirt Bikes, Drones and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft (HMH Books for Young Readers)

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Crime Writers of Canada announced winners of this year's Arthur Ellis Awards, with C.C. Humphreys taking the best novel prize for Plague and Steve Burrows winning the best debut novel category for Siege of Bitterns. Quillblog featured a complete list of Arthur Ellis category winners.

Secrets and struggles for redemption abound on a kibbutz in mid-1990s Israel in Pushcart Prize nominee Jessamyn Hope's first novel, Safekeeping.

When Adam arrives on the kibbutz where his Zayde--grandfather--lived for a time after World War II, his withdrawal symptoms are like "a giant centipede stuck to his back, wiggling its army of legs." A drug addict from Manhattan, Adam is racked with guilt that he failed to get clean and sober before his grandfather died unexpectedly. To make amends, he has vowed to deliver a priceless family heirloom into safekeeping. He knows he cannot act as a proper caretaker of the magnificent sapphire brooch, so he decides to track down the person meant to have it: Zayde's long-lost sweetheart, Dagmar, who refused the brooch and Zayde's offer of marriage decades ago.

Unfortunately, Adam has no idea where to find her. Despite her assurance in a long-ago note to Zayde that she would remain on the kibbutz for the rest of her life, no one named Dagmar lives there, and records show no Dagmar ever did. At a loss, Adam volunteers in the kitchen and gets to know his fellow residents. Beautiful Ulya from Belarus has New York City dreams but spends her time committing petty theft in the local convenience store and carrying on a secret affair with a young Arab man she doesn't love. The French child of a single mother, Claudette grew up in a Catholic orphanage that operated under the guise of an asylum for the mentally ill in order to receive higher funding levels from the state, declaring children like Claudette insane as infants and telling them that "bastards are born sick." As an adult, Claudette suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, thanks to the emotional abuse of her childhood, but her unexpected bond with wounded teen soldier Ofir gives her the courage to grapple with her condition. Finally, elderly Ziva tries to evade Adam's search. A founding member of the kibbutz and devout socialist, Ziva fights her son Eyal's efforts to privatize the community while concealing a vital truth: she is Dagmar, and she has her reasons for not revealing herself to the young American who looks just like Franz, her lost love.

Hope catalogues a collection of overlapping struggles for redemption and forward motion, some successful and others not. Although she never shies from portraying the dark side of human nature, readers will find compassion for the damaged souls inhabiting her story. A snapshot of a pivotal moment in the life of a community as well as a retrospective on the persecution of Jewish people throughout history, this emotional journey will leave readers with aching hearts and deepened empathy for the waifs and strays of our world. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: A young American searches for his recently deceased grandfather's long-lost sweetheart among the residents of an Israeli kibbutz.

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

1. Love, Laughter, and Steamy Ever Afters by Various
2. Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
3. Pucked by Helena Hunting
4. Simple Reminders by Bryant McGill
5. Romancing the Paranormal by Various
6. Mended by Sydney Landon
7. Ember: Part Two by Deborah Bladon
8. Just Say When by Kaylee Ryan
9. Falling for My Boss by J. S. Cooper and Helen Cooper
10. The Dig (Matt Turner Series Book 1) by Michael Siemsen

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]