"Literacy is so important to society. The idea that people can passively, in a way, and in a solitary way, take on information. We are always being fed so much--whether it's Facebook or whatever, things are being put in our face--but here, readers take the time to select. 'What will I learn about now?' 'What will I read about now?' I'm sure it alters your brain patterns, and I think it does make for a nicer person. We are so lucky. You hear horror stories of retail or restaurants, but we don't get that because, as I say, our readership has already pre-sorted people that are coming in the bookstore."

Registration for the American Booksellers Association's 18th annual Winter Institute--Wi2023--to be held in Seattle, Wash., February 20-23, 2023, opens on Wednesday, September 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Registration is through the ABA's website and is limited to three booksellers from any store. Registration will also open for the Paz Bookstore Training Workshop on September 14. All Winter Institute attendees must be vaccinated. More information is available here.

Day registration--for bookstores within 50 miles of Seattle--opens on Wednesday, September 28. International booksellers' Winter Institute registration opens on Wednesday, October 19. More information will be available later.

The program for the Winter Institute will be announced in Bookselling This Week on Wednesday, September 7.

Barnes & Noble, one of the original tenants of the Avenue at White Marsh shopping center in Baltimore, Md., will close temporarily to remodel. In a Facebook post addressed to customers, the store said that it will close September 5, with plans to reopen in the spring of 2023.

Construction will begin soon on the bookstore, located at 8123 Honeygo Blvd. in Nottingham-White Marsh, the Avenue News reported, adding that the remodel will include downsizing the current location to create space for an additional business.

The Avenue at White Marsh posted on social media: "We've got big news! Barnes & Noble, one of the original tenants to open at the Avenue, will be remodeling to provide our community with their newest concept store. Work will begin in early September, requiring a temporary closure to complete construction as quickly as possible. We look forward to celebrating their Grand Re-Opening in early 2023!"

The Journey Christian Bookstore has opened in Richmond, Ky., the Richmond Register reported.

Owned by Karren Morris, the store carries books, DVDs, CDs, clothing, artwork and other Christian-related merchandise. Morris said she was inspired to open the Journey because she couldn't find a store nearby. "I didn't want to go to Lexington for a bible," she commented.

She chose the name for the store "because I was on a journey looking for a bookstore and on a journey to strengthen my relationship with Christ," she added.

The store had a pop-up version elsewhere in the Richmond Mall in June.

Joseph Delaney, known for the dark fantasy series the Wardstone Chronicles, died August 16. He was 77. The Bookseller reported that Delaney "worked as an apprentice engineer and fitter before getting his A-Levels at night school and then becoming an English teacher. He would write in the early mornings before school until his first children's book, The Spook's Apprentice about Tom Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son who trained to fight ghosts and creatures from the Dark, was published by Random House Children's Books in 2004."

Delaney left teaching to write 12 more titles in his globally bestselling series, along with 17 other titles, predominantly set in the same world. The books have been translated into 30 languages, won many awards and have sold 4.5 million copies around the world. In 2014, The Spook's Apprentice was adapted into a movie called The Seventh Son.

In a statement, his family said: "Dad loved writing and lived his dream over the last 18 years as an author published by Random House and Penguin. His imagination was boundless, and he could have kept creating new and exciting stories for years to come. He enjoyed meeting fans throughout the world and hearing their thoughts on his books. We are very proud of what he achieved.... We hope that his books will inspire children and adults to create stories and live dreams of their own. That would have made him happy. We would like to thank Penguin Random House as well as all the wonderful people who helped him on his adventure and especially everyone who has read his books."

Ruth Knowles, publishing director for Puffin, added: "The Spook's Apprentice was first published just before I joined Random House Children's Books (now Penguin Random House Children's) and so Joe and his totally unique blend of fantasy-horror have been a part of my entire working life.... I was so proud to have been his editor for many years. It was frustrating at times--we would meet for a beer in Manchester and in response to my questions he would simply smile and remind me every time that he followed 'the Bram Stoker' method of writing (meaning nothing was ever planned or plotted in advance!) so I would have to wait for answers--but it was also of course completely magical as the creatures and characters from his worlds would slowly come into focus, journeying into brilliantly terrifying adventures. I hope he's with the ghosts of his beloved Lancashire now and that there's some delicious red wine on tap. We are so very proud to publish him."

(photo: Newborn Kittens Rescue)

Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Ariz., hosted Karin Slaughter on the release day of her novel Girl, Forgotten (HarperCollins). The event was also a fundraiser for Newborn Kittens Rescue; Slaughter contributed matching funds, for a total of more than $4,000. Pictured, Slaughter and bookseller Patrick Millikin with their new friends. You can watch Slaughter's conversation with owner Barbara Peters here.

Posted by the Book & Cover, Chattanooga, Tenn: "It's a beautiful morning! Doors are open, bookshelves are fluffed, and crisp iced coffees and teas are waiting for you!"

Spotted at Innisfree Bookshop, Meredith, N.H.: "My workout is reading in bed until my arms hurt."

Rosie Mahorter has been promoted to senior publicity manager at Bloomsbury USA.

A Place for Pauline by Anouk Mahiout, illustrated by Marjolaine Perreten (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press).

Today:
Live with Kelly and Ryan: Kal Penn, author of You Can't Be Serious (Gallery, $28, 9781982171384).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Yasmin Fahr, author of Boards and Spreads: Shareable, Simple Arrangements for Every Meal (Clarkson Potter, $24, 9780593236246).

Tamron Hall repeat: Bridgette Hill, author of The Toxicity of Me: Lord, Don't Let Me Be Toxic (WestBow Press, $24.95, 9781664255456).

Netflix has released a trailer for White Noise, the film adaptation of Don Delillo's 1985 novel. Deadline noted: "We've seen Noah Baumbach dote on the dramatis personae of dysfunctional family before in his Oscar-winning movie Marriage Story and Cannes Film Festival premiere The Meyerowitz Stories, but here's a Baumbach we've never seen before in his feature take of Don DeLillo's National Book Award-winning novel.... Baumbach's homage to DeLillo's masterpiece of modern anxiety is faithful to the author's text."

White Noise is Baumbach's fifth reteam with Adam Driver, and fourth as a director with partner Greta Gerwig. The film also stars Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Lars Eidinger, Andre Benjamin and Jodie Turner-Smith. Baumbach, David Heyman and Uri Singer are producers of the movie, which opens the Venice Film Festival next week.

The winners of the 2022 Ned Kelly Awards, sponsored by the Australian Crime Writers Association and celebrating the best in Australian crime writing, have been announced:

Best Crime Fiction: The Chase by Candice Fox
Best True Crime: Banquet: The Untold Story of Adelaide's Family Murders by Debi Marshall
Best Debut Crime Fiction: Banjawarn by Josh Kemp
Best International Crime Fiction Published in Australia: The Maid by Nita Prose

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The winners of the 2022 Davitt Awards, sponsored by Sisters in Crimes and recognizing the best crime and mystery books by Australian women, are:

Best Adult Novel: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Best Young Adult Novel: The Gaps by Leanne Hall
Best Children's Novel: The Detective's Guide to Ocean Travel by Nicki Greenberg
Best Debut Book and Readers' Choice: Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
Best Non-Fiction Book: The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek by Kate Holden

A young woman struggles through anguish and depression after her husband dies by suicide in Someday, Maybe, the raw, honest first novel from Nigerian British author Onyi Nwabineli.

"Here are three things you should know about my husband," main character Eve tells readers, going on to say that she loved Quentin deeply, he seemed happy and yet, "he committed suicide." She says of herself, "Here is one thing you should know about me: 1. I found him. Bonus fact: No. I am not okay." The aftermath leaves her unable to do more than lie in bed and try to catch his scent from a sweatshirt. Her close-knit Nigerian-British family rallies around her with food, prayers and nudges to return to life, but grief consumes her as she tries to take stock of her new reality. A steady diet of prescription pills dulls the pain but ultimately sends Eve into a deeper spiral that ends in the loss of her job. Complicating matters further is Aspen, Quentin's mother, who always disapproved of Eve as a daughter-in-law and now blames her for Quentin's death. As Eve freefalls into despair, a surprising revelation upends her world yet again, driving her briefly to flee in search of the answers behind Quentin's actions. Eve's best friend and family want to stand by her, but her avoidance of Aspen's castigating phone calls and frivolous lawsuit accidentally drags them into the mess. Eve must find a way to move forward when the love of her life has removed himself from it.

Nwabineli's perceptive, painstaking interrogation of loss and depression is told in Eve's candid, sarcastic voice. Often the fictional journey of a bereaved character is portrayed as a smooth, uplifting arc. Here, readers will find grief portrayed realistically as a complex, long-lived creature that embeds itself deeply, shifting but always present. Nwabineli also declines to offer any posthumous explanations from Quentin and instead imbues Eve's loss with an added layer of incomprehension, a horrible riddle with no solution. Interstitial scenes in which Eve looks back on her courtship and marriage to Quentin bring lightness and establish their deep connection. Her savvy, outspoken friends and family are fully realized characters who each offer a different dimension of support and wisdom in her time of need. Readers ready for a challenging pilgrimage through tragedy will find rewards in Nwabineli's clear-eyed, compassionate take on the often-unremarked messiness of survival. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: Nwabineli's first novel is a clear-eyed, compassionate take on grief as a young widow struggles with depression following her husband's suicide.