Congratulations to Books & Books, which in a week, on Tuesday, June 28, will hold a "pop-up party at our newest pop-up store," which is called Books + Books + Bikes + Lebo. The store is a cooperative venture between Books & Books, a local bike/outdoor store called No Boundaries and graffiti artist LEBO, and is located in the Wynwood section of Miami, Fla., an area that's transforming into an arts district.

Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan said that when a 10,000-square-foot space became available on a temporary basis, "I thought I'd try to put together an idea that had been kicking around for a while: marry a remainder bookstore with another indie business, and No Boundaries was a natural fit and a great partner." Because the Wynwood area is known for its graffiti, "it made perfect sense to invite LEBO, someone I've admired for a long time, to show his work in the space. He also agreed to design the outside of the building and is in the process of 'painting' some of the interior walls, as well."

The store will sell books, bikes, running and outdoor gear, art, vintage vinyl records (which Books & Books has been selling for some time), and perhaps typewriters and vintage cameras.

"We've had a soft opening for a few weeks now," Kaplan said, "and everyone who wanders in is entranced by the mix."

Thomas Dunne, who has been an editor at St. Martin's Press since 1971 and had his own imprint since 1986, is changing his role and imprint to create a "smaller and more focused group"; St. Martin's president and publisher Sally Richardson said the imprint will have a "boutique" list.

Emphasizing that he has "no interest in retirement or semi-retirement" and is "still having fun," Dunne said that "overseeing a list of 15 editors and assistants who report to me is more than I feel I want to manage at this point in my career."

The smaller, restructured Dunne imprint will include executive editor Peter Joseph, associate editor Melanie Fried and Dunne's assistant, Cameron Jones. The rest of the Thomas Dunne Books staff will move into other roles at St. Martin's. Dunne will focus on acquisitions and noted that he will continue to be involved in St. Martin's strategic planning.

The restructured Thomas Dunne Books will, Dunne said, acquire "several dozen titles a year, a mix of very commercial works and also books of unusual quality that might not fit the typical definition of commercial. In other words, we will continue much as before."

With two days left in its Kickstarter campaign to raise $70,000 to open a bookstore in Queens, N.Y., the Queens Bookshop Initiative is less than $6,000 away from its goal.

The initiative is led by Vina Castillo, Natalie Noboa and Holly Nikodem, all of whom have bookselling and bookstore management experience. The trio has pointed out that after the closing last year of Barnes & Noble stores in Forest Hills, Bayside and Fresh Meadows, Queens, with a population of 2.3 million, now has just one bricks-and-mortar bookstore selling new books, Astoria Bookshop. The group hopes to open in or near Kew Gardens or Forest Hills.

In an e-mail yesterday, the trio wrote in part, "It has been a fantastic weekend of connecting and Kickstarting... We saw an amazing jump on our Kickstarter from $33k to over $59k, so some of you out there are really pulling for us!...

"We started off Saturday at our booth at the LIC Flea market. Some of you came by and gave us such comfort and words of support; it filled our hearts with so much joy. When Holly met someone who had donated and chose her bag in person, she was literally jumping up and down. We even had shoppers back the Kickstarter in person, right there in the booth! But our day was officially made when we met Jack.

"This tiny human embodies the REASON we are doing this. Before twisting his dad's arm to buy him TWO books (NOT one, it had to be two) he flipped through every page of a Curious George collection, commenting on everything he saw and showing us the pictures as he went. He was full of so much joy and his passion for books totally matches ours!"

Design for the Midtown Reader building in Tallahassee

Speaking with the Tallahassee Democrat, Sally Bradshaw discussed Midtown Reader, the general independent bookstore she plans to open in early November in Tallahassee, Fla.

While the store will carry a wide variety of titles, it will focus, Bradshaw said, on Florida writers and books about Florida. "This is the state capital," she said. "And there's not really a venue or a collection at least in Tallahassee of Florida-focused content and so that will hopefully be our niche."

Among local authors she mentioned Robert Olen Butler and Bob Shacochis, both of whom teach at Florida State University. "I'm hopeful we can bring a lot of attention to the local writing community."

Norman Nissen, a "loyal and stellar" longtime bookseller at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y., died June 15. He was 57.

In sharing with "deepest sorrow the unexpected passing of our colleague," the booksellers of Book House and Market Block Books (Troy, N.Y.) and owner Susan Novotny wrote: "Norman joined the Book House staff 19 years ago after a number of years with Dalton and Media Play. He frequently backed his book recommendations with a money-back guarantee if the customer did not like the book. Patrick Rothfuss and Neal Stephenson were early beneficiaries of this unique commitment to authors he loved. Returning customers never asked for their money back, only another book recommendation. Norman loved the book business."

The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza will celebrate his life at the store Thursday, June 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On a pre-pub jaunt, Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child and the forthcoming To the Bright Edge of the World (Little, Brown), met with PNBA booksellers in Portland, Ore., at the Jackknife bar, where they took advantage of a nearby digital photo booth. Pictured: Ivey, Emily Adams, Third Place Books, Seattle; Brian Juenemann, PNBA; Shawn Donley, Powell's Books, Portland; Sally McPherson, Broadway Books, Portland.

Congratulations to Bethany Beach Books, Bethany Beach, Del., which is celebrating its 25th anniversary and "still does business with books the good old-fashioned way," DelmarvaNow.com reported. Owner Jackie Burns said, "We are planning on having 25 of our most popular books 25% off for 25 days during the month of July."

Store manager Amanda Zirn added: "Since we are right next to the beach and the boardwalk, people stop here on the way to the beach to pick up a book. We love to hear that people forgot their chargers for their e-readers at home. We definitely use that to our advantage."

To help celebrate Independent Bookshop Week in the U.K. and Ireland, the Sunday Express shared some "page-turning romances: couples who found love at a bookstore," noting that "there's something about a bookshop that inspires the notion of romance."

Cathy Rentzenbrink met her husband, Erwyn, at an induction day for a job at a new Waterstones on Oxford Street, where she "sat next to a tall, rather strange-looking Dutchman called Erwyn who had the remnants of a black eye that he said he'd got playing squash. I thought, 'If you've ever played squash in your life, then I'm the Dutchman!'... A few years later, we got married and had a baby boy. His first three-word sentence was 'Mummy read book' and I really hope he might fancy a Saturday job in a bookshop when he's a bit older."

Jon and Jenny Hind

Jessica Graham, met her future husband Marek Laskowski in 1987, while he was browsing in her bookshop, Primrose Hill Books. "I was quickly aware of regular customers, one of whom came in every Saturday morning to buy paperback fiction--some crime novels, some literary. We struck up our first lengthy conversation when he ordered a book that happened to have been written by one of my former university tutors.... Then he started working on Saturdays--otherwise, we would scarcely have seen each other. Before long, we moved in together and Marek became a semi-permanent fixture at the shop, too, much preferring it to being a computer consultant.

"We married in 1993... In 2000, our son Tom was born and we brought him to work each day, popping him into his crib or playpen in the office and carrying him in a sling on the shop floor. The customers were enchanted. Almost four years later, our daughter Lydia was born, and I took her into work, too. We've carried on giving each other books as gifts, though it's become increasingly difficult to pull off a surprise."

Jon Hind met his wife, Jenny, on a first date in a Hertfordshire bookshop. "When we met, I was a single parent with two teenage daughters and Jenny was single and caring for her widowed mother. We had been exchanging messages when there was a 20% sale at David's in Letchworth, my local bookshop. I knew Jenny was a bookworm, so I suggested she came over to Letchworth so we could meet face to face.... We carried on visiting the bookshop throughout our blossoming relationship and bonded over the authors we had in common."

Cincinnati Refined offered "5 reasons to love Joseph-Beth Booksellers" in the Rookwood Commons & Pavilion shopping center, noting: "It's no secret that we're all about the local-love. So it may not surprise you to hear that one of the nation's largest independent bookstores also happens to be one of our all-time favorites. Book bums & bibliophiles, Joseph-Beth Booksellers is for you.... Yep, there's something pretty darn special about Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and we're glad we've got a store right here in Cincinnati to enjoy. So... Enjoy!"

Draw Your Big Idea: The Ultimate Creativity Tool for Turning Thoughts into Action and Dreams into Reality (Chronicle Books) by Nora Herting and Heather Willems, the founders of ImageThink, a graphic facilitation firm.

Today:
Fresh Air: Wendy Warren, author of New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America (Liveright, $29.95, 9780871406729).

Tomorrow:
Live with Kelly: Anderson Cooper, co-author of The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss (Harper, $27.99, 9780062454942), will co-host the show. He will also co-host tomorrow's show.

Watch What Happens Live: Bethenny Frankel, author of I Suck at Relationships So You Don't Have to: 10 Rules for Not Screwing Up Your Happily Ever After (Touchstone, $16, 9781451667424).

Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Flaked, BoJack Horseman) will host Syfy Presents Live From Comic-Con, the network's first live three-night telecast from the San Diego convention, July 21-23. Deadline reported that each night, Arnett "will invite fans at the network's outdoor stage to discuss and engage in the Con's breaking news, insider party coverage, and exclusive content, along with sneak peeks of the most anticipated films and TV series. He'll also conduct interviews with stars from the hottest franchises during the three-night broadcast."

" 'I assure you, we are coming,' warns Samuel L. Jackson as a fresh--yet frightening--face in the latest trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," based on the novel by Ransom Riggs, the Hollywood Reporter wrote. Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench and Chris O'Dowd. Fox is releasing Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children September 30.

Sarah Crossan won the CILIP Carnegie Medal for children's literature for her verse novel about conjoined twins, One; and Children's Laureate Chris Riddell took the CILIP Kate Greenway Medal for excellence in illustration for his illustrations of Neil Gaiman's retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, The Sleeper and the Spindle. The medals are judged by librarians across the U.K. and have been awarded annually since 1936 and 1956, respectively. Winners each receive £500 (about $735) worth of books to donate to their local library and the £5,000 (about $7,345) Colin Mears Award cash prize.

Sioned Jacques, chair of this year's judging panel, said: "What a thrilling pair of winners we have in Sarah and Chris. Sarah's book, One, is poignant and thought-provoking, each chapter a poem that is a work of art in its own right, while collectively they create a highly emotive and engaging story. The judges found it deeply moving, beautifully observed, unusual but perfectly crafted--the sort of book that will stay with the reader long after the final page.

"We were blown away by Chris Riddell's work in The Sleeper and the Spindle; he is surely at the height of his powers. His illustrations lift this re-told tale into high art, offering sumptuous pleasures on every page. The more one looks at his pictures the more one notices: subtlety and complexity, the clever use of such a limited palette, the daring use of solid black areas--no space is wasted. Some 15 years after Chris first took home a Kate Greenaway Medal he shows no sign of slowing down--he remains a thrilling, prolific and prestigious talent."

They are joined in 2016 for the first time by the Amnesty CILIP Honor, "a new commendation for the book on each shortlist that most distinctively illuminates, upholds or celebrates freedoms." From the Carnegie Medal shortlist the honor went to Robin Talley for Lies We Tell Ourselves; while the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist honor went to Ross Collins for There's a Bear on My Chair. 

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World Literature Today announced the shortlist for the biennial $25,000 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, which "celebrates the importance of children's and young-adult literature and the impact it has on our children's minds." The winner will be announced October 28 during the Neustadt Festival of International Literature and Culture honoring the 2016 Neustadt laureate, Dubravka Ugrešić. The 2017 nominees are:

Alma Flor Ada
Lynda Barry
Lori Marie Carlson
Candace Fleming
Marilyn Nelson
Ema Wolf
Jacqueline Woodson

When Zoo signs up to be one of 12 contestants on a TV reality show, she does so intending to have one last adventure before she and her husband try to create a family. She knows she'll face hardships during her stint in the woods, will have to deal with the scripted personalities of the other 11 members of the show, and will have to pretend that what is happening around her is real despite the cameramen, hidden cameras and drones that record the contestants' every move. Because the show has promised that the experience will be tough, Zoo expects to be challenged and welcomes the idea. In addition, the chance to win a million dollars is enough to keep her in the game. What Zoo and the other players in the woods don't realize is that something goes very wrong during the filming of the first week; Zoo figures the events and devastation she has to contend with are part of the game. Through Zoo's eyes, readers slowly learn the truth about the game and the world.

With The Last One, Alexandra Oliva has written a debut novel that combines elements of reality TV with those of a post-apocalyptic world to create a tense atmosphere, filled with memorable characters who move through the game and surrounding world with varying levels of proficiency. Using their wits, the game players must undergo Team and Solo Challenges, following the colored clues that match their individually colored bandanas, while dealing with obstacles that only nature can provide.

Oliva has done her homework on orienteering, the basic hunting and trapping of animals, and other survival skills a person might need to live alone in the woods without much more than the clothes on one's back. The depth of research adds a level of authenticity to the novel, which supports each character as he or she contends with the various tasks that the host and producer have concocted as part of the game. Oliva also does an excellent job of portraying the psychological and emotional traumas that the contestants face, particularly those of Zoo, who begins to question her motives for playing as time progresses. For fans of Survivor and The Hunger Games, Oliva has melded the best of both worlds and added her own unusual twist to produce a fast-paced world that expertly balances fiction and faux reality. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer

Shelf Talker: The contestants on a survival-based reality TV show face hardships that make them wonder what's real and what's part of the show.

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

1. Rootbound (The Elemental Series Book 5) by Shannon Mayer
2. Billionaire Undaunted (The Billionaire's Obsession Volume 9) by J.S. Scott
3. Idol (VIP Book 1) by Kristen Callihan
4. The Contract by Melanie Moreland
5. Inferno by Deborah Bladon
6. F*cking Awkward by Various
7. Baked to Death (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 2) by Catherine Bruns
8. Beautiful Storm by Barbara Freethy
9. Montana Brides Boxed Set: Books 1-3 by Leeanna Morgan
10. Enchanted Immortals Series by C.J. Pinard

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]