Shelly Mutum, whose parents--Jane Tushaus and the late Bernie Tushaus--owned and ran Prairie Books and Gifts in Hastings, Neb., for more than 40 years, has opened a bookstore of her own, in Omaha, called The Next Chapter, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Located just west of Omaha's downtown in a recently renovated building, The Next Chapter features 1,700 square feet of shopping space and resides next door to a coffee and dessert shop. Some of the store's shelves have actually been salvaged from her parents' store, which closed over the summer.

Mutum told the World-Herald that it was always her "dream and passion" to continue her family's bookstore. But instead of buying Prairie Books and Gifts, she decided to create her own version.

"I just had to do it," Mutum explained. "I couldn't let it go." 

The store is one of three new businesses, including a taco restaurant and the aforementioned coffee shop, located in a building that once housed a BBQ joint. According to World-Herald, the street on which Next Chapter is located is part of a resurgent area that will soon be on the National Register of Historic Places.

Paul Listro and Richard Parent are the new owners of Breakwater Books in Guilford, Conn. The bookshop had been put up for sale in September.

In a letter posted on Facebook announcing the change, previous owner Liza Fixx wrote that "after having been contacted by dozens of interested and talented buyers, I have sold the bookstore and could not be happier about the new owners. Paul Listro and Richard Parent come at a time when Breakwater Books is poised to continue to expand its growth and presence on the Shoreline as a venerable bookstore, an event venue and community gathering place and an anchor in the town of Guilford."

The new owners took control of the business effective October 26. The name will remain the same, and Fixx "will continue to work here and help all of you--our wonderful customers--with your book needs," she noted.

Listro and Parent have had long careers in media, primarily in television and film production, Listro as an attorney and business affairs executive, and Parent as an accountant and finance executive. They are avid patrons of the arts with a keen interest in theater, cinema and literature.

Residents of the Short Beach community of Branford for many years, "they have long been fans of Breakwater Books and are thrilled and humbled to carry the torch of this cultural asset of the shoreline community," Fixx wrote. "They love this community, they love books, and they love dogs.... Please stop in and meet Paul and Richard--they are eager to get to know their new community and all of you! We are all looking forward to a prosperous, exciting and healthy holiday season, and we thank you all for your continued patronage of this special bookstore."

Amazon's store in Georgetown

At least five Amazon Books book and electronics stores around the country are "temporarily closed" and apparently being renovated. The stores include the ones at Columbus Circle in New York City; in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.; in Bethesda, Md.; in Dedham, Mass.; and in Walnut Creek, Calif. Amazon operates 19 Amazon Books locations across the country.

Popville.com, in Washington, wrote that an employee at the Georgetown store, which opened in March 2018, said it would be closed for eight days for "some construction." The store's coffee shop closed last month; speculation is that the store will be reconfigured around the space that housed the coffee shop.

Another publisher expanding into the growing audiobook market is Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, which has launched the Rowman & Littlefield Audio program and plans to publish 35 audio titles in 2019 and 50 audio titles in 2020.

Its first title was The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth (Lyons Press). On November 22, it will publish its first books with simultaneous digital audio, e-book and print editions: Get Tusked: The Inside Story of Fleetwood Mac's Most Anticipated Album and Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters, both from its Backbeat imprint.

The company will publish audiobooks in a range of subject areas, including history, self-help, business and pop culture. Upcoming titles include Abused: Surviving Sexual Assault and a Toxic Gymnastics Culture (Rowman & Littlefield); Democracy in Danger: How Hackers and Activists Exposed Fatal Flaws in the Election System (Rowman & Littlefield); Hateland: A Long, Hard Look at America's Extremist Heart (Prometheus); Al Schmitt on the Record: The Magic Behind the Music (Rowman & Littlefield); and The Shawshank Redemption Revealed (Lyons Press).

Michael Lyons, business development manager at Rowman & Littlefield, commented: "Rowman & Littlefield is fully committed to the fast-growing audiobook market. We publish over 2,000 new titles a year in a multitude of physical and digital formats, and are thrilled to now also publish in the audiobook format. With control over the production process, we can more quickly and consistently get our titles to market in this format. Our authors benefit by reaching a larger audience, and customers will have access to our content in a format with increasing consumer demand."

Last Thursday, the second part of the American Booksellers Association's Fall 2019 Kids' Next List was delivered to nearly half a million of the country's best book readers, going to 458,693 customers of 140 participating bookstores. The next Kids' Next List, the first volume of the winter catalog, will be published December 12.

The e-newsletter, powered by Shelf Awareness, features fall Kids' Next List titles, with bookseller quotes and "buy now" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on the sending store's website. The newsletter, which is branded with each store's logo, also includes an interview (from Bookselling This Week) with the author whose book was chosen by booksellers as the number-one Kids' Next List pick, in this case Kate DiCamillo, author of Beverly, Right Here (Candlewick Press).

For a sample of the newsletter, see this one from the Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, N.C.

Congratulations to Janke Book Store in Wausau, Wis., which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. WAOW reported that "dozens of people in the community celebrated at the Rothschild Pavilion, commemorating the major milestone reached by the Janke Books. The celebration consisted of root-beer floats, molasses cookies and a walk down memory lane.... Looking towards the future, the owners of the store say they're hopeful for 100 more."

"This is just a fun party saying thank you to Wausau and our staff and our customers because without this community we wouldn't be here," said co-owner Jane Janke Johnson.

Johnson also shared stories about the bookstore with the Wausau Daily Herald, which showcased photos from the store's past.

Established in 1874 and purchased by Carl Janke in 1919, the bookshop "is recognized as an institution in Wausau," the store's website noted. "Janke Book Store has held true to the adage of founder Janke that an independent bookstore's success is founded on providing far more than books to its customers."

Highlights of the birthday celebration were featured on Janke Book Store's Facebook page.

As Halloween looms in the immediate future (well, Thursday), indie booksellers have been preparing a suitably bookish variety of tricks and treats. Here's a sampling from social media:

Curious Iguana, Frederick, Md.: "Once a reader, always a reader!"

Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, Ohio: "Halloween is one week from today and that means we're looking less like Loganberry and more like The Haunted Bookshop. Round up all your favorite goblins for the most literary and delightful free Halloween treat, 10/31 4pm-8pm. Secret passageways! Literary characters who look suspiciously like your neighborhood booksellers, and, worst of all.... Caaaaaannndyyyyy. Woooooo...."

Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.: "It's almost time for the #13BooksOfHalloween countdown! Check back tomorrow for the first spooktacular read! Because what better way to get in the #Halloween spirit than terrifying yourself with great books?!⁠" (Check out the #13BooksOfHalloween on Watermark's Instagram page)

Wicked Good Books, Salem, Mass.: "Do you know Jack? Skellington, that is. He's next to WGB and for a donation will pose brightly."

The Ripped Bodice, Culver City, Calif.: "It's Halloweekend and the spooky blind dates have Arrived!!"

Subterranean Books, St. Louis, Mo.: "Our tree found some accessories."

Jabberwocky Children's Books & Toys, Fredericksburg, Va.: "It's happening! Treats on the Street! Come to Jabberwocky for treats, not tricks."

Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth, Minn.: "Halloween is this week & if you haven't been down to Fitger's yet to see the shop windows that have been decorated you're running out of time. We were proud to win 3rd Place in the Annual Decorating Contest. Here's a look at our windows for those of you who can't come see them in person."

Blue Willow Books, Houston, Tex.: "Halloween is in one week, and we're in full spooky swing! Stop on by to see our ~spooky reading~ recommendations, from adult thrillers to story time picks."

Story on the Square, McDonough, Ga.: "The weather is cooling and our ghostly friend is here to say life without books is spooky! Get your hands on a BOOk today until 6."

Odyssey Bookstore, Ithaca, N.Y.: "Welcome to Kooper's *Pick of the Litter*!! In honor of Halloween, Kooper chose Halloweiner by @dav_pilkey and Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe. Books for the kid in your life - or just the kid in you. And if you're wondering about that white pumpkin.... read Bunnicula to find out!"

Jackson Hole Book Trader, Jackson Hole, Wyo.: "Finding the days are getting more and more spooky.... We have lots of Halloween books for kids, but don't forget to creep yourself out with the power of tales. We're spending our nights with Alyson Hagy's Ghosts of Wyoming. What's your Halloween read this year?"

Bards Alley, Vienna, Va.: "We LOVE a parade! We had so much fun participating in the Vienna Halloween Parade with all of our friends and neighbors--and, most of all, we loved seeing all of YOU!"

Maria's Bookshop, Durango, Colo.: "Ya'll, our Halloween window is always on point but this year it's especially creepy. Come see for yourselves!"

Lighthouse Books, Brighton, Ont.: "Something for monsters of all ages."

Three Sisters Books & Gifts, Shelbyville, Ind.: "We are getting ready for Halloween. It is a little bit spooky here."

The Well-Read Moose, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho: "Happy Halloween! A big thank you to our cute customers and hardworking staff! We gave out a record number of books. We shared some candy and listened to the cutest Halloween stories!! We cannot wait until next year!!"

David Unowsky, founder and CEO of Hungry Mind Bookstore (aka the Ruminator), Minneapolis, Minn., which closed in 2004, has been named publishing consultant at the Mayo Clinic Press. Among other things, he will be responsible for outreach to bookstores around the country, visiting local stores several times a year, setting up events, working with authors on events, and working with the Mayo Clinic Press team.

Besides running Hungry Mind, Unowsky founded the Hungry Mind Review (aka the Ruminator Magazine), was president of the Upper Midwest Booksellers Association, a board member of American Booksellers Association, a co-founder of an independent publisher, and founding president of the Metro Independent Business Alliance. He was also awarded the Kay Sexton Award for service to the Minnesota book community and the Pat Bell Award for service to Midwest Independent Publishers. Since 2004, he has run reading series at Magers and Quinn and SubText bookstores in the Twin Cities.

Can I Kick It? by Idris Goodwin (Haymarket Books), part of the BreakBeat Poets series.

Today:
Fresh Air: Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here (Ecco, $26.99, 9780062913463).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Rachel Hollis, author of Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals (HarperCollins, $24.99, 9781400209606).

CNN's New Day: Guy Snodgrass, author of Holding the Line: Inside Trump's Pentagon with Secretary Mattis (Sentinel, $27, 9780593084373). He will also appear on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.

The View: Mary Wilson, co-author of Supreme Glamour (Thames & Hudson, $40, 9780500022009).

Freeform has put in development Dante's Inferno, "a contemporary reimagining of the 14th century epic poem set against the demonic underworld of present-day Los Angeles," Deadline reported. In its retelling, Dante's Inferno "follows Grace Dante, who thought her life sucked. Between parenting her drug addict mother and her troubled brother, our 20-something hero has had to give up all her dreams. Then one day everything changes and her dreams start magically coming true, school, career, love… but the godfather of all this good fortune is the Devil himself. And to outwit him, she'll have to journey through Dante's Inferno."

Sleeper Cell creators/executive producers Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris will write the script alongside Handmaid's Tale writer-producers Nina Fiore and John Herrera. The four will executive produce with Danielle Claman Gelber (One Chicago) and Studio 71's Michael Schreiber and Dave Devries.

The Saltire Society has announced shortlists for the 2019 Saltire Literary Awards, "widely regarded as Scotland's national book awards," as well as two new prizes. This year, for the first time, the Saltire Society will award a prize for Scottish Book Cover and a special Award for Lifetime Achievement. The winning title from each of the book categories receives a cash prize of £2,000 (about $2,600) and goes on to be considered for the £6,000 (about $7,795) Saltire Society Book of the Year. Winners will be announced November 30 in Edinburgh.

The Midwest Independent Booksellers Association has selected its Midwest Connections Picks for November. Under this marketing program, the association and member stores promote booksellers' handselling favorites that have a strong Midwest regional appeal.

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag (Morrow, $27.99, 9780062889362). "Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, live in a boat atop the planet's swollen oceans, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies in the few remaining outposts of civilization. Myra's oldest daughter was stolen seven years ago. Throwing aside their usual caution, Myra and Pearl voyage to the icy northern seas, hoping against hope to find Row."

Suicide Woods by Benjamin Percy (Graywolf Press, $15.99, 9781644450062). "A boy falls through the ice on a pond and emerges in a frozen, uncanny state. Patients in therapy for suicidal ideation undergo a drastic session in the woods with fatal consequences. Thrill seekers exploring the 'Bermuda Triangle' of Alaska are stranded on an island that wants them dead."

The Twenty-Ninth Day: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in the Canadian Tundra by Alex Messenger (Blackstone, $25.99, 9781982583330). "This true-life wilderness survival epic recounts seventeen-year-old Alex Messenger's near-lethal encounter with a grizzly bear during a canoe trip in the Canadian tundra. Left for dead, he wakes to find that his summer adventure has become a struggle to stay alive."

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy (Putnam, $18.99, 9780525518587). "Sixteen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with a dark and terrible magick that hasn't been seen for generations. As she approaches her seventeenth nameday, she must face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne--because in the Queendom of Myre only the strongest, most ruthless rulers survive."

In Wake, Siren, her first story collection, Nina MacLaughlin (Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter) reexamines the myths of Ovid's epic poem The Metamorphoses through a lens superheated with feminist rage. The raw, smart, outspoken result practically sears the reader's hands. 

MacLaughlin reclaims the voice of almost every female character in the nearly 1,200 lines of the original work. "We don't always know what's inside of us, or what it might take to free that creature from its cage," warns one of the shapeshifting narrators of these 34 stories. Sea-nymph Galatea confides in her best friend Scylla about the e-mails from her stalker, a cyclops, threatening her and her boyfriend. In a therapy appointment transcript, Myrrha explains her taboo love for her father and begs to connect with the tree she believes is inside her. Nereid Thetis shapeshifts, in lines of poetry, from woman to "Fox/ flame across the backyard sleek and fleet as fire," and dozens of other forms, hoping to escape rape by Peleus. Callisto, Ursa Major herself, reveals the rage that powers the stars of her constellation and, in counterpoint, Medusa tells the secret of what turns those who look upon her face to stone. Although the vast majority of protagonists are women, MacLaughlin also includes gender-shifting soothsayer Tiresias and Hermaphroditus, a teenage boy assaulted by a nymph, as protagonists. 

For examples of toxic masculinity, entitlement and objectification, MacLaughlin could scarcely ask for richer material than classical mythology. In Wake, Siren, she uses the transformations of the source material's characters from people into animals, trees and echoes as a metaphor for the dehumanizing effects of sexual assault. The familiar mythological figures and use of lush natural settings give the narratives a sense of antiquity, although sprinklings of modern dialogue and technology complement the material surprisingly well. The resulting sense of neutrality in time period contributes to an impression of reading adult fairy tales.

According to her author's note, MacLaughlin wrote the entire book in a three-month burst, and the finished product retains that frenetic energy of creation. Some stories hew closely enough to each other to feel somewhat repetitive. However, the fatiguing nature of reading multiple accounts of sexual assault also highlights the seriousness of the subject matter. Realizing that The Metamorphoses itself has always contained these assaults and yet remains a literary touchstone for multiple cultures will likely have a heavy emotional impact on many readers. MacLaughlin's stories are vivid, wrenching and urgent. Literary fiction readers and classics fans will not want to miss this gutsy reimagining. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: MacLaughlin puts a feminist spin on the stories of women from Ovid's The Metamorphoses with dark, angry and exhilarating results.

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

1. Fast Lane by Kristen Ashley
2. As Long as I Have You by Bella Andre
3. Winter Wishes: A Regency Holiday Romance Anthology by Various
4. Sexy Dare by Carly Phillips
5. The Perfect Smile by Blake Pierce
6. Six Merry Little Murders: Christmas Cozy Mystery Novellas by Various
7. Falling for Sky (Cyborg Seduction Book 11) by Laurann Dohner
8. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter
9. Lady Osbaldestone's Plum Puddings by Stephanie Laurens
10. Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]