Indigo Books & Music has opened its first U.S. store, at the Mall at Short Hills, Short Hills, N.J., a 30,000-square-foot space that features the Canadian bookselling chain's cultural department store concept. Besides books, magazines, cards and stationery, the store offers toys, electronics, home décor, jewelry, kitchen accessories, handbags and a range of other lifestyle products.

Noting that the store's café is still under construction, Chain Store Age offered this assessment of the new Indigo: "The Short Hills outpost is warm, spacious and inviting, with an open floor plan designed as a series of zones, each with its own focal point. Books are the main attraction, but they are often complemented with products that tell a story around a book category. The Wellness Shop, for example, displays books on meditation, mindfulness, self-help and other related topics along with scent diffusers and candles.

"Other zones include Home, Art and Photography, Paper Shop, Indigo Baby and Indigo Kids, which is set off from the rest of the space with a color-splashed entry portal, colorful flooring and whimsical wall graphics. A large gift selection, Every Gift Tells a Story, is displayed on a wall opposite the checkout counter."

Last November, Indigo made public its plans to open in the U.S., its first foray outside Canada. At the time, founder, chairman and CEO Heather Reisman said Indigo planned to open three to five stores in the U.S. over two years, then assess "market response" and possibly open more stores. She added that the company has been approached by many U.S. real estate developers who like Indigo stores. "So we're cautious, but we're optimistic," she said. "We want them to do as well as they do here." (The Short Hills Indigo site features Heather's Picks, books chosen by Reisman, described as "Indigo's chief booklover.")

In Canada, Indigo has about 85 superstores under the names Indigo and Chapters, and 120 smaller-format stores under the names Coles, Indigospirit, SmithBooks and the Book Company. It has been in the process of renovating 16 larger-format stores into cultural department stores, which the company says has drawn a "tremendous response" from consumers.

Shakespeare & Co., which has operated stores in New York City since 1981, has opened its first store outside the area, in Philadelphia, Pa., BillyPenn reported. The store is in the historic Rittenhouse Square shopping area.

The 2,800-square-foot space--with a ground floor and mezzanine--offers 15,000 titles and has a café and an Espresso Book Machine. (Dane Neller, CEO of Shakespeare & Co., is a founder of On Demand Books, which makes Espresso Book Machines. Neller bought Shakespeare & Co. in 2015.)

The bookseller announced earlier this year that it would open stores in Philadelphia and, later this year, on New York City's Upper West Side and in Greenwich Village. The company described the moves as "the initial phase of a larger planned expansion."

Penguin Random House is launching Penguin Random House South East Asia, with headquarters in Singapore, which will focus on English-language publishing in the region, including Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Myanmar (Burma).

PRH called the move "the extension and expansion of its commitment to local publishing in Asia, currently represented by its Penguin Random House North Asia and Penguin Random House India companies."

Penguin Random House South East Asia aims to publish some 50 titles in adult and children's fiction and nonfiction, "adding to the robust and diverse literary creativity of the region, which is seen as one of the most promising of the emerging publishing regions, with much great writing across genres in English and regional languages."

Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO of Penguin Random House India and South East Asia, will oversee Penguin Random House South East Asia.

Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, said, "This new trade publishing program with original books written by local authors is a natural extension and complement to the longstanding business we have selling adult and children's fiction and nonfiction by our international authors into this vibrant market and community."

The new company's first employee is Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar, who will be executive editor, effective in November. She will be responsible for building the local publishing list, managing acquisitions, and author relationships, with close retailer and marketing support initially from Penguin Random House India.

Bookselling Without Borders, which launched a Kickstarter campaign two weeks ago to raise $20,000 to expand its program next year, has again added a variety of new rewards. They include:

• A two-hour guided tour of Williamsburg or Greenpoint in Brooklyn, N.Y., by sociologist William Helmreich, author of The Brooklyn Nobody Knows: An Urban Walking Guide (Princeton University Press), for a pledge of $500. Includes a copy of the book for each person on the tour.
• "Tastes of Bookselling," during which a donor can spend an afternoon working alongside a bookseller at Papercuts J.P., Boston ($100), or Book Culture, New York City ($195).
• A three-hour "publishing boot camp" for writers at the offices of Catapult, with an emphasis on getting an agent, selling a book, etc. ($50)
• An online writing workshop offered by the Center for Fiction for a donation of $175.
• Membership for a year in book of the month/books in translation clubs, offered both by Inkwood Books, Tampa, Fla., and Changing Hands, Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz. ($120 each.)
• A custom drawing by artist Rick Meyerowitz featuring the donor's favorite author, bookstore, book jacket or bookseller. ($1,500.)
• An original letterpress print commissioned by Michael Fusco and Emma Straub to celebrate the opening of their bookstore, Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2017. The print is by Joana Avillez and features a Lorrie Moore quotation. Signed by the artist and the author. ($125.)

The Kickstarter campaign aims to help fund 16 fellowships to four international fairs next year, and for the first time, two bookstore residencies, in Italy and India. So far, the campaign has raised more than $11,600 toward its goal of $20,000.

Fans of comics, film, television and books (and all of the places where they overlap) gathered at the Javits Center in New York City this past weekend at ReedPOP's New York Comic Con. NYCC, the East Coast's largest pop-culture convention, likely exceeded last year's record-breaking attendance of more than 200,000: this year's four-day event was so large that attendees waded through crowds and waited in long lines not only in the Javits Center but also at any of the number of satellite NYCC locations, such as the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Hammerstein Ballroom and the Hudson Mercantile. Here are a few highlights:

Author/illustrator teams Mariko Tamaki and Brooklyn Allen (Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up) and Eugene Yelchin and M.T. Anderson (The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge)

In a panel on Thursday afternoon, three creative teams discussed both friendships in middle-grade fiction and their own middle-grade collaborations. Brendan Reichs, who worked with Ally Condie on the upcoming novel, The Darkdeep (Bloomsbury), said that one joy of working creatively with Condie was that they were both "willing to fight to the death" over things as large as plot and as small as comma placement; as Condie explained this same idea, she found it rewarding to work with someone who cared about the book as much as she did. M.T. Anderson found the process of discovery to be particularly exciting: "We nudged each other in directions we would not have gone alone," he said of working with illustrator Eugene Yelchin on their NBA-longlisted title, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge (Candlewick). Yelchin appeared to perfectly sum up the collaborative process for all of the creators on stage: "We had to find a common language to tell one story."

On Saturday afternoon, V.E. Schwab sat on a panel with moderator Catherine Kosturski and illustrator Claudia Ianniciello to discuss making comics based on her Shades of Magic series. "The version you're reading and seeing in the comics," she said, "is the closest version [I've seen] to what is in my head." The all-female panel discussed women in fiction, fantasy and comics, and Schwab noted that she has a very specific method for writing female characters: "I love creating women who are so strong, we have to seek to find the weakness."

Dhonielle Clayton, V.E. Schwab, Ibi Zoboi, N.K. Jemisin and Daniel José Older.

Author Dhonielle Clayton, COO of We Need Diverse Books, moderated a WNDB-presented panel of fantasy and sci-fi authors on Saturday, asking "does your fantasy or SFF world have to be woke?" N.K. Jemisin defined wokeness as "being aware of the current state of affairs"; Ibi Zoboi added that it's important to note that the word "came from African American vernacular." Clayton asked the four panelists (including V.E. Schwab and their "resident man," Daniel José Older) a series of probing questions about fantasy and science-fiction worlds and whether the authors work to keep the "woke" language of our contemporary world. It's a balancing act, the authors all said in different ways, that requires deep investment in both their imagined worlds and their shared real one. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness

Inge Feltrinelli, one of Italy's most prominent publishers, died on September 18, the New York Times reported. She was 87. Inge Schönthal was an accomplished photojournalist when she met Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in 1958 at a party honoring him for securing the international rights to Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago. The couple married in 1959.

"From then on I was interested in authors and books," said Inge Feltrinelli, who took control of the publishing house in the late 1960s. The Times noted that "in an industry dominated by men, she proved to be a gifted manager, and under her leadership Feltrinelli moved away from its original leftist orientation toward publishing books more in the mainstream. But she continued to believe that books could change society."

The company also operates a bookstore chain, and the day after her death, branches across Italy paid tribute "by playing a waltz from Luchino Visconti's 1963 film adaptation of The Leopard, the bestselling novel by Giuseppe di Lampedusa that was published by the house in 1958. The bookstores invited shoppers to dance," the Times wrote.

Several people in the book world remembered Feltrinelli in a collection of tributes posted on Lit Hub.

Author Richard Ford observed that "Inge believed in the promise of imaginative writing and therefore in the promise of publishing books. Namely that the world has an unexpressed need and that acts of imagination can approach that need. She believed that there will be a future in which books would and will be useful, and that publishing will continue being dedicated to that need. In other words, Inge believed that the only golden age is the one we're living in right now; and it was her responsibility to burnish that patina a bit more brightly. She embodied and she reflected that brightness in her every breathing moment. I'm sorry for everyone who didn't know her."

Lisa and Richard Howorth, owners of Square Books in Oxford, Miss., noted that if "it seems that being with Inge Feltrinelli was like being in the movies, that is somewhat true. The scenery was always glamorous and the stories splendid, with plenty of laughter, though the conversation was generally serious, about literature or politics. But the movies don't give you friendship and love, or endless coupes of her signature pink champagne, with which we'll be toasting….'To Inge!' "

photo: Christopher L. Smith

Another Haruki Murakami novel, another midnight release party at Manhattan's Three Lives & Company!

Owner Toby Cox reported that this morning's event was a grand night full of raffles, quizzes, Japanese snacks and great merriment to celebrate the release of Murakami’s latest novel, Killing Commendatore. "We gave away lots of goodies, including a pasta dinner kit (yes, another reference to cooking pasta in the new novel!) and a copy of The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories." The trivia contests included identifying the Murakami title from various foreign-language edition covers; hearing one sentence and identifying the correct Murakami title and whether it opened or closed the book; and Murakami Trivial Pursuit, with questions from his life and career. "There was some deep and very impressive Murakami knowledge on display from our customers," Cox said. 

At the stroke of midnight, to the ringing of a bell (another reference to the new novel), the books ascended from the basement and all who were present received a special edition Three Lives tote bag and a Murakami pin from Knopf to commemorate the evening.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and the Book Wardrobe in Mississauga, Ont., summed up the seasonal spirit eloquently on Facebook with a photo and these words: "You could have bought online. Yet you chose to go through our shelves, and went home with a book on your hand. From your local indie bookstore (and local authors!), we thank you MORE. Happy Thanksgiving!" 

Steve Ross, who has been a literary agent and director of the book division at the Abrams Artists Agency since 2010, has set up his own agency, the Steve Ross Agency. Before joining Abrams, he was president and group publisher of the Collins division at HarperCollins and senior v-p, publisher, at Crown Publishers.

He noted that he is discussing "a potential ongoing relationship with Abrams that may also allow me to work with my beloved clients that I signed there as well." For Abrams-related business, he may be reached here.

The Ghost Photographer: A Hollywood Executive's True Story of Discovering the Real World of Make-Believe by Julie Rieger (Atria/Enliven Books).

Today:
Good Morning America: Ellie Kemper, author of My Squirrel Days (Scribner, $26, 9781501163340).

CBS This Morning: Mitch Albom, author of The Next Person You Meet in Heaven: The Sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Harper, $23.99, 9780062294449).

Fresh Air: P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking, authors of LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9781328695741).

Steve Harvey: James J. Sexton, author of If You're in My Office, It's Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Staying Together (Holt, $26, 9781250130778).

Tonight Show: John Cena, author of Elbow Grease (Random House, $17.99, 9781524773502). He will also appear tomorrow on the Daily Show.

Daily Show: Mark Leibovich, author of Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times (Penguin Press, $28, 9780399185427).

MSNBC's 11th Hour with Brian Williams: John Kerry, author of Every Day Is Extra (Simon & Schuster, $35, 9781501178955).

Tomorrow:
CBS This Morning: Brené Brown, author of Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. (Random House, $28, 9780399592522).

Archipel by Inger-Maria Mahlke has won the 2018 German Book Prize. The judges wrote: "The archipelago lies at the outermost edge of Europe; the setting is the island of Tenerife, a nucleus of colonial history and of the history of 20th-century European dictatorships. Inger-Maria Mahlke writes about the present and back to 1919 in a precise and cogent manner. The narrative centres around three families from different social classes, fractured and wounded by Spanish history. Yet it is the dazzling details above all that make this novel such an impressive affair. Through its language, it allows us to experience everyday life, a damaged landscape--and even the light--as though with our own senses. The author's eye for the intricate bifurcations of family and social relationships is fascinating."

---

The nonfiction shortlist for the 2018 Chicago Review of Books award consists of:

• High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen (Harper)
• The Leopold and Loeb Files: An Intimate Look at One of America's Most Infamous Crimes by Nina Barrett (Agate Publishing) [Barrett is the owner of Bookends & Beginnings bookstore in Evanston, Ill.]
• Betwixt-and-Between: Essays on the Writing Life by Jenny Boully (Coffee House Press)
• Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear by Kim Brooks (Flatiron Books)
• Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side by Eve L. Ewing (University of Chicago Press)
• Night Moves by Jessica Hopper (University of Texas Press)

The poetry shortlist for the 2018 Chicago Review of Books award consists of:

• If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar (One World)
• Queer Black Hoe by Britteney Black Rose Kapri (Haymarket Books)
• The Undressing by Li-Young Lee (Norton)
• Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez (Haymarket Books)
• Monument: New and Selected Poems by Natasha Trethewey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• House of McQueen by Valerie Wallace (Four Way Books)

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

1. Once Upon a Sure Thing by Lauren Blakely
2. Hour of Darkness by Lara Adrian
3. The Evolution of Man by Skye Warren
4. A Truly Perfect Gentleman (The True Gentlemen Book 6) by Grace Burrowes
5. Hunting Danger by Katie Reus
6. The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book by Tom Robinson
7. Fractured Honor by Kaylea Cross
8. Mistletoe Magic by Suzie O'Connell
9. Perversion by TM Frazier
10. Memories of Home by Melissa Storm and Kay P. Dawson
 
[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]