Barnes & Noble has launched a new Nook audiobooks app for iPhone and iPad and a new website, NookAudiobooks.com, featuring more than 60,000 audio titles that can be purchased online and listened to on a Nook by Samsung tablet, iPhone, iPad or Android device.  

"We're thrilled to expand our Nook Audiobooks offering to further our commitment to creating an easy way for customers to find and access their next great listen on their favorite devices," said Fred Argir, B&N's chief digital officer.

The Pan African Connection Book Store, Art Gallery and Resource Center in Dallas, Tex., has moved to the Glendale Shopping Center in the Oak Cliff neighborhood, according to the Dallas News.

Owner Akwete Tyehimba called the move "bittersweet. But I knew that the only choice for us was to just move forward." Founded in 1989 by Akwete Tyehimba and her late husband, Bandele Tyehimba, the store had fallen behind on its rent at 8282 Fourth Ave. in South Dallas and was evicted.

Tyehimba told the paper that she was encouraged that many supporters and customers brought trucks and an 18-wheeler to help move her inventory. One customer, the Rev. Clarence Glover, said the new location is more accessible and visible, which should help boost business.

Al Herron Sr., who owns Glendale Shopping Center, said he believes Pan African will enhance the mix at Glendale. "I think it's going to be a good move. They offer a cultural presence that the community and center need. Commerce and culture go hand-in-hand."

Natasha Besliev

Natasha Besliev has been named as the new CEO of Bonnier Publishing Australia in a move that "will consolidate the group's business in Australia, including imprints the Five Mile Press and Echo Publishing, as it prepares for further growth," the Bookseller reported. Besliev, who will join Bonnier Australia in the new year, is currently managing director of Hardie Grant Egmont.

René Girard, "whose explorations of literature and myth helped establish influential theories about how people are motivated to want things," died November 4, the New York Times reported. He was 91. Many writers, including Karen Armstrong, Simon Schama and J.M. Coetzee, "have cited his work"; and Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal, "credits Professor Girard with inspiring him to switch careers and become an early, and well-rewarded, investor in Facebook," the Times wrote. His books include Deceit, Desire & the Novel, Violence & the Sacred and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World.

With just over two weeks to go until Small Business Saturday on November 28, independent booksellers around the country are getting ready for the third Indies First celebration and the ensuing holiday shopping season.

At Rakestraw Books in Danville, Calif., children's author Mac Barnett (Sam & Dave Dig a Hole; President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath) will sell books from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Small Business Saturday. According to store owner Michael Barnard, there will be raffles all day; each person who comes into the store will get a ticket. Barnard also plans to bring in some signed stock that normally his store doesn't carry.

"But mostly we're going to be selling books," he said. "It's a really busy day for us. It's bigger each year."

Rakestraw Books has been participating in Indies First since Sherman Alexie first proposed the idea two years ago. At first, he said, people's support for the event came as something of a surprise. "It really is something that people are excited about," explained Barnard. "They get it. And they got it so easily."

In Doylestown, Pa., Doylestown Bookshop will have authors in store from noon until 1:30 p.m. Each author will be set up in a different part of the store with a display of their top five favorite books. Having the personal selections on the table, said marketing and publicity manager Krisy Paredes, serves as a great conversation piece and helps make the guest booksellers more approachable.

"It really opens it up for the customers," Paredes continued. "They usually end up buying everything off the table."

There will be more guest booksellers later that day, but they won't be local authors. They include the mayor of Doylestown, the president of the local business association and Penguin Random House sales representative Bobbie Ford, who will also have to have their five favorite books picked out. And although plans are not yet finalized, Paredes hopes to end the day with some live music in store, and throughout the day there will be light refreshments. A nearby brewery, in fact, has created a bookshop brew, and it's releasing that beer on Small Business Saturday.

"We've been doing Indies First since the beginning," said Paredes. "We absolutely love it. We really wanted to try this year to mix it up, to not have just authors."

At Fiction Addiction in Greenville, S.C., owner Jill Hendrix is bringing in local self-published and small press authors for Indies First. The authors will come in groups of three, and each group has a 90-minute slot. In her area of the South, Hendrix explained, it can be difficult to bring in big-name local authors, and one needs to stretch the definition of local. She's learned from the previous Indies Firsts that the author-as-bookseller route doesn't work quite as well for her area as it might in a more urban area with more authors.

"But we do want to include authors, which is why we do small press," she added. "And we really like the promotional idea and discounts that the ABA has negotiated for us."

Looking ahead to the holiday season, Hendrix noted that her store is having its best year to date and she hopes that trend will continue. "People seem inclined to spend," she said. "I'm hopeful that it will be a very good holiday season."

In Manzanita, Ore., Cloud & Leaf Bookstore will be participating in Indies First for the first time. The store is hosting seven local authors as booksellers, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Among the visiting writers are Lauren Kessler, author of Raising the Barre, and Mark Scott Smith, author of Enemy in the Mirror: Love and Fury in the Pacific West. There will also be treats from a local bakery and discounts on selected titles and holiday gifts throughout the day.

"I think it's going to be fun," said owner Jody Swanson. "We're usually busy that day anyway. And I know all the authors--they're all local people."

At Bank Street Book Nook in New Milford, Conn., co-owner Vanessa Gronbach will offer refreshments along with some specials and promotions. No authors have been confirmed yet, but Gronbach hopes to have a few local authors serve as guest booksellers. Gronbach bought the bookstore in February 2014, and last year's Small Business Saturday was her first. That day, two children's authors handsold books to children. "It was fantastic," she recalled. "It was so much fun."

This year, Gronbach said, she plans to be fully stocked with books. "We underestimated how many people came out on Small Business Saturday last year."

Charis Circle, the nonprofit connected with Charis Books & More, Atlanta, Ga., is celebrating Indies First with a 24-hour read-a-thon fundraiser, during which participants read whatever they want, the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote.

The event will be held Sunday, November 29, starting at 12:01 a.m. Readers and others are encouraged to donate on their own behalf or on behalf of participants. Charis Circle hopes to raise $10,000, and already has more than $2,000 pledged. --Alex Mutter

You can see a map of Indies First/Small Business Saturday events here.

Taking a page from Penguin Random House rep presentations, Larry Dorfman, book trade sales manager, Capstone Publishing, and Chris Kerr of Parson Weems, which reps Capstone in the Northeast, went to Jeff Kinney's new bookstore, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Mass., and presented the children's and YA publisher's lists to a group of independent booksellers last Wednesday. Dorfman reported: "I did an introduction, then Chris launched into a recap of the Fall list. We had Chris's samples for almost every title. I then went through the Spring '16 titles. Lots of appreciative oohs and ahhs. Lots of note-taking. We finished up with pizza and drinks. A great day with terrific booksellers." The store, he added, is "very impressive." Pictured with Chris Kerr (l.) are some of the attendees, who included Kelsy April, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Conn.; Jamie McCauley, R.J. Julia, Madison, Conn.; Sharon Ristau and Bob Smith, UConn Coop, Storrs, Conn.; and Robin Gross, Books on the Square, Providence, R.I.

Canadian children's book author and illustrator Barbara Reid probably won't be facing a breaking & entering charge for "undertaking some shenanigans around the launch of her latest picture book, Sing a Song of Bedtime," at Mabel's Fables Bookstore in Toronto, Quillblog reported, adding: "Hey, Mabel's Fables, you might want to beef up your security system, lest you be overrun with daybreak break-ins by marauding authors."

For the Dwarf + Giant blog of the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, Eric Larkin created an international "Literary Eats & Drinks" list. "I've never been that interested in restaurants or even that into food, but I sure love a themed environment. Also, I like pubs," he wrote. "Most people love all of the above, in some combination. Here's a short and varied list of ways people have combined literary theming with drinks and eats, from long-standing to newish, fancy to down-to-earth, deeply themed to straight-up 'No, he sat in this chair' type joints."

Silly Wonderful You (Balzer + Bray) by Sherri Duskey Rinker, author of Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip Mutts.

Tomorrow:
The Meredith Vieira Show: Christie Brinkley, author of Timeless Beauty: Over 100 Tips, Secrets, and Shortcuts to Looking Great (Grand Central Life & Style, $30, 9781455587940).

Live with Kelly and Michael: Dr. Melina Jampolis, co-author of The Doctor on Demand Diet (Ghost Mountain Books, $25.95, 9781939457462).

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: John Cleese, author of So, Anyway... (Three Rivers Press, $16, 9780385348263).

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, November 14
12 p.m. Coverage from the 12th annual Louisiana Book Festival, which took place October 31 in Baton Rouge, La. (Re-airs Sunday at 12 a.m.)

4:30 p.m. Sarah Vowell, author of Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (Riverhead, $27.95, 9781594631740). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

7:30 p.m. Antony Loewenstein, author of Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of Catastrophe (Verso, $26.95, 9781784781156), at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York, N.Y. (Re-airs Sunday at 10:45 a.m.)

9 p.m. Rita Gabis, author of A Guest at the Shooters' Banquet: My Grandfather's SS Past, My Jewish Family, A Search for the Truth (Bloomsbury, $28, 9781632862617). (Re-airs Sunday at 3 p.m.)

10 p.m. Patrick J. Kennedy, author of A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction (Blue Rider, $28.95, 9780399173325).


Sunday, November 15
5:45 p.m. David Jaher, author of The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World (Crown, $28, 9780307451064).

André Alexis won the C$100,000 (US$75,405) Scotiabank Giller Prize, presented annually "to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English," for Fifteen Dogs. The other five finalists received $10,000 ($8,788) each.

The judges wrote: "What does it mean to be alive? To think, to feel, to love and to envy? André Alexis explores all of this and more in the extraordinary Fifteen Dogs, an insightful and philosophical meditation on the nature of consciousness. It's a novel filled with balancing acts: humor juxtaposed with savagery, solitude with the desperate need to be part of a pack, perceptive prose interspersed with playful poetry. A wonderful and original piece of writing that challenges the reader to examine their own existence and recall the age old question, what's the meaning of life?"

---

Kevin Barry has won the £10,000 (US$15,190) Goldsmiths Prize, which recognizes "published fiction that opens up new possibilities for the novel form," for Beatlebone, which is being published in the U.S. next week by Doubleday. Chair of judges Josh Cohen said the novel "takes its reader to the edge--of the Western world, of sanity, of fame, of words. But it also takes us to the very edge of the novel form, where it meets its notorious doppelgänger, autobiography. Its compulsive narrative of one of the last century's great musicians and pop icons gradually, and without a hint of contrivance, becomes a startling and original meditation on the uncanny relationship of a writer to his character. Intricately weaving and blurring fiction and life, Beatlebone embodies beautifully this prize's spirit of creative risk."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, November 17:

Warheart by Terry Goodkind (Tor, $29.99, 9780765383082) continues the Sword of Truth fantasy series.

All Dressed in White: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Simon & Schuster, $26.99, 9781501108556) is the second thriller with TV producer Laurie Moran.

The Guilty by David Baldacci (Grand Central, $28, 9781455586424) continues the Will Robie thriller series.

The Rift: A New Africa Breaks Free by Alex Perry (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316333771) explores present day misconceptions about Africa and hopes for the continent's future.

Paperback:
Trinity Seven, Vol. 3: The Seven Magicians by Kenji Saitou and Akinari Nao (Yen Press, $13, 9780316263689).

Movies:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the last of four films based on the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, opens November 20.

Legend, based on the book The Profession of Violence by John Pearson, opens November 20. Tom Hardy stars as Ronald and Reggie Kray, identical twin gangsters in 1960s London. A movie tie-in (William Collins, $14.99, 9780008150280) is available.

Carol, based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, opens November 20. Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett star as two women who fall in love in 1950s New York City. A movie tie-in with the film's title (Norton, $14.95, 9780393352689) is available.

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

Hardcover
Speed Kings: The 1932 Winter Olympics and the Fastest Men in the World by Andy Bull (Avery, $26.95, 9781592409099). "What a ride! And what unforgettable characters--a Rhodes scholar who boxed and won gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics; a high-society playboy; a Hollywood has-been; and the star of them all, who was born with a silver spoon and turned it into gold medals racing anything that went fast. Bull covers the lives of his speed kings from London, Hollywood, St. Moritz, and the Pacific with great depth and breadth, including the development of bobsled racing with all of its real dangers. An excellent read for anyone who loves sports, is interested in history, or simply appreciates well-crafted books." --Ann Carlson, Waterfront Books, Georgetown, S.C.

And West Is West: A Novel by Ron Childress (Algonquin, $26.95, 9781616205232). "Ethan is a young Wall Street quant who writes an algorithm that allows his company to profit from the financial upheaval caused by antiterrorist strikes. Jessica is a young Air Force drone pilot who is discharged because she has discussed a questionable UAV strike in a letter to her father. This book is a powerful wake-up call to understand how fear, greed, and war inform our technological advances. Childress has truly earned his PEN/Bellweather Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction." --Karen Tallant, Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis, Tenn.

Paperback
The Forgers: A Novel by Brad Morrow (Mysterious Press, $14, 9780802124272). "This literary thriller is all about book collectors, booksellers, old books and manuscripts, and, of course, forgers. A famous book collector is found murdered and one of the suspects is Will, his future brother-in-law, who was once arrested for forgery. Nothing is proven, but soon Will starts to receive threatening letters written in the hand of long-dead authors. Feeling challenged in his craftsmanship, Will goes into a forgery duel that will force him to the limits to save his livelihood and the love of his life. So well written, The Forgers will take some time to finish as readers might want to reread every sentence!" --Jean-Paul Adriaansen, Water Street Books, Exeter, N.H.

For Ages 4 to 8
It's Tough to Lose Your Balloon by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf, $17.99, 9780385754798). "In this cheerful book, each child-sized calamity is brightened with a silver lining. Kids might wonder if the consolation prize is always worth the original loss, but parents will welcome this opportunity to demonstrate that a positive attitude truly is the key to happiness." --Jennifer Armstrong, Northshire Bookstore, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

For Ages 9 to 12
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend: A Memoir by Jacques Papier by Michelle Cuevas (Dial, $16.99, 9780525427551). "Meet Jacques Papier, friend to Fleur, an identity which he cherishes. Jacques has spent his entire life with Fleur, playing, learning, and enjoying their time together, except for one thing: Jacques is a product of Fleur's imagination. It's when he realizes this that things get complicated. Delightful, funny, sweet, and enjoyable, this new middle-reader from Cuevas is sure to delight, even as she touches on one of the hard things about growing up." --Melissa Fox, Watermark Books and Café, Wichita, Kan.

For Teen Readers
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa (Balzer + Bray, $17.99, 9780062331755). "Jeremy, Mira, and Sebby are three of the most interesting and authentic Young Adult voices I have ever read. Life as a teenager is rarely as simple as the world might have us believe, and these three characters and their stories are a wonderful illustration of just how hard it feels some days to simply get out of bed in the morning and march out into your day as if everything is fine. Scelsa reminds readers that it's O.K. to feel unsure or afraid, and that true friends will accept you as you are and walk with you while you find your way." --Laura Donohoe, Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, Asheville, N.C.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

If you're blessed with a nonagenarian father, grandfather or uncle who's still got all his marbles, has lived among the best in the worlds of sports, literature and art, and has a knack for anecdotal storytelling, light verse, illustration and brief eulogies, consider yourself very, very lucky. If you aren't, long time New Yorker writer and author of countless articles and a dozen books (The Summer Game, A Pitcher's Story) Roger Angell is a perfect stand-in. His new collection, This Old Man, is a potpourri of short pieces which he calls in his introduction a "dog's breakfast": a "mélange, a grab-bag, a plate of hors d'oeuvres, a teenager's closet, a bit of everything." And what a breakfast of champions it is.

Angell's gentle wit and insight permeate these brief vignettes about his family, colleagues, acquaintances, famous political figures and, of course, ballplayers. Among them, he reviews his stepfather E.B. White's One Man's Meat, summing it up as a book that "always had the heft, the light usefulness, of a bushel basket, carrying a raking of daily or seasonal notions." His membership in "the greatest generation" somewhat embarrasses him, with its cavalier acceptance of the firebombing of Japan at the end of the war that annihilated close to a million civilians--and makes him reflect: "Killing more civilians than the other side is what war makes you do, but reaching the decision and then acting on it doesn't make you good or great. It makes you tired and it keeps you awake at night, still crazy after all these years."

With chapter headings like "Farewells" and "Past Masters," he touches on a broad swath of dead literary and sports icons like Donald Barthelme, Vladimir Nabokov, fastballer Bob Feller, slugger Duke Snider, V.S. Pritchett (who taught him that "fiction need not always confirm our knowing, irony-abraded wariness; sometimes we need it to motor along life's outer possibilities, to provide the jolts and swerves that keep us awake"), Carl Yastrzemski ("One of my poignant private regrets when he departed was the same one I felt when Nikita Khrushchev stepped down: I know how to spell their names without looking."), and William Maxwell (whose stories "are the same stories we tell ourselves... in search of happiness but much more often in the hope of finding an unexpected window or bend in the path").

Angell's collection winds down with "This Old Man," a piece from the New Yorker. He's still got some spunk: "I'm ninety-three, and I'm feeling great. Well, pretty great, unless I've forgotten to take a couple of Tylenols in the past four or five hours... the downside of great age is the room it provides for rotten news. Living long means enough already." Let's hope Angell hasn't really had enough already. There can be no better guiding hand to the other side, especially one who appreciates the rarity of an unassisted triple play and laments instant replay reviews because "umps should always be right, even when they aren't." --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Shelf Talker: Long-time New Yorker editor and baseball writer extraordinaire, Roger Angell collects what he calls a "dog's breakfast" of his columns, eulogies, letters, illustrations and verse.