"The impact of City Lights on American literature has been revolutionary, which may be the highest compliment one can bestow upon an enterprise whose goal since its inception has been to transform both the realm of literature and society beyond. Since its founding in the early 1950s by Peter D. Martin and Lawrence Ferlinghetti--the latter himself a former Sandrof Award honoree--City Lights has introduced American audiences to audacious new voices, inviting us to lunch with Frank O'Hara, wander with Marie Ponsot, and howl with Allen Ginsberg. Far more than a press or a bookshop, City Lights shines as a beacon for innovation and justice and as a guiding flare for readers and writers across the globe who dream of a better world."

Luminary Books, a new and used bookstore in Gardnerville, Nev., has been put up for sale. In 2020, owner Bethany Frediani purchased Shelby's Book Shoppe, a mostly used store that was founded in 2005, after being a regular customer there for years. Last fall, she reopened the store as Luminary Books, featuring about 75% used titles and a heavily curated selection of new titles.

On Facebook this week, Frediani posted: "Owning this bookstore been a wonderful, crazy ride and every book lover's dream. Now my husband and I are planning to relocate in the near future, and so, sadly the time has come to say goodbye to Luminary (and its previous iterations: Shelby's Book Shoppe and Eddy St. Book Exchange). 

"I couldn't be more grateful for the support and love from this community, especially during the pandemic and craziness of the last few years. We couldn't have done it without you!
If you or anyone you know has always dreamed of owning a bookstore, come talk to us. Perks include: bringing your dog to work, more books than one person could ever read, amazing neighbors, and lovely customers who become friends. Send us an e-mail or stop by the shop, and let's chat bookstore ownership. Serious inquiries only, please."

Frediani added that the bookstore will be operating as usual during the time of transition. 

Main Point Books, Wayne, Pa., has set a date for the move back to its 116 North Wayne Avenue location after substantial renovations on the basement, which will hold a larger children's department and bigger special event space.

During the renovation, Main Point Books has been operating out of a temporary pop-up store at 122 East Lancaster Ave. It plans to close that shop on March 26 and use the next week to unpack before reopening in its original location on April 1.

In an announcement Tuesday, owner Cathy Fiebach noted: "We can't wait to show you our new (and mostly finished) lower level. But that means you'll have to do without us for a week. We know, we're not happy about it either, but it can't be helped (unless you want to help us pack!)."

She encouraged customers to check out the changes as well as to come to a grand opening celebration: "We hope you'll join us on Saturday, April 29 to celebrate our long awaited expansion, 10th anniversary and Independent Bookstore Day."

Scholarships have been announced for 35 booksellers to attend this year's ABA Children's Institute (Ci2023) in Milwaukee, Wis., Bookselling This Week reported. The awards cover the conference fee, hotel stay and up to $500 in travel expenses to the June 5-7 event. Check out the complete list of scholarship winners here. 

The first Hamptons Mystery and Crime Festival (dubbed "Hamptons Whodunit") will take place Thursday-Sunday, April 13-16, in East Hampton Village, N.Y.

The festival will feature thriller and mystery authors as well as journalists and true crime and legal experts. Panels address such topics as neo-noir, how to craft complex characters, editors who become crime writers, crime fiction through a Latinx lens, adapting books to TV and film, organized crime, and more. There're also escape rooms, a crime scene enactment challenge and a tour of the Hamptons' most notorious crime sites.

Authors Alafair Burke and A.J. Finn are the honorary co-chairs, and Michael Connelly, Lisa Jewell, Casey Sherman and Anthony Horowitz are guests of honor. Festival co-founders are Carrie Doyle, Jackie Dunphy, Mayor Jerry Larsen and Lisa Larsen.

For more information, click here.

British author Eric Brown, who published more than 50 novels, children's books and short story collections, died March 21, the Guardian reported. He was 62. His first of more than 20 novels was Meridian Days (1992), set on a distant planet. His series included the Bengal Station trilogy--Necropath, Xenopath and Cosmopath (from 2009 to 2010).

Brown's fiction was "often concerned with contact between humankind and alien races, with a strong focus on the human aspect of the stories," the Guardian noted. His crime fiction included the Langham and Dupré "cosy crime" series, and he wrote books for young readers. In 1999 and 2001, his stories won the British Science Fiction Association award for short fiction.

Writer James Lovegrove said: "I knew him as a kind, self-effacing and generous soul who wasn't above a curmudgeonly grumble now and then or the occasional rant at the inanities of the world but remained nonetheless sanguine and positive.... His fiction reflected this. It's full of humanity and compassion, with a deep-rooted English sensibility and an abiding belief that our species can rise to any challenge and act responsibly. Himself an underrated author, he championed other authors, living and dead, whose work he felt wasn't getting the attention it deserved.... People who discovered his fiction while he was alive cherished it, and I truly hope that many more will now follow their example."

Ian Whates, book editor and founder of NewCon Press, which published a collection of short stories by Brown, said he was "a mild-mannered Yorkshireman who felt more comfortable sitting around a table in a pub with a handful of good friends than he did socializing at large events." He added that Brown developed "his own style of 'traditional' science fiction before branching out into more experimental forms of the genre.... As a writer and, more importantly, as a person, he will be sorely missed."

Brown's literary agent, John Jarrold, said he felt "privileged" to have represented Brown since 2005. "He was a wonderful, underrated writer, full of brilliant invention and an innate understanding of characters' flaws and foibles. He will be greatly missed as an author--but even more importantly as a warm, caring human being."

On a stormy evening, fans braved power outages, fallen trees and closed freeway exits to celebrate Liam Callanan and his new novel, When in Rome (Dutton), at Rakestraw Books in Danville, Calif. Speaking to the SRO crowd, Callanan quipped that he felt like "George Bailey surrounded by so many friends and readers." Pictured: store owner Michael Barnard (l., with a straw rake) and Callanan.

From Larry Law, executive director of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and creator of the AMAZON Instructions for Bookselling' Poster: "I made this graphic because I wanted a digestible message about what independent bookstores have to compete against. I've made it available to bookstores as a downloadable poster and bag stuffer. I’ll have printed posters to give away at Spring Forum. Please feel free to share."

"Come Peep Our Shop. We Have an Eggcellent Selection," the sidewalk chalkboard message outside Fairytales Bookstore, Nashville, Tenn., suggested, noting: "We do carry an 'eggcellent' selection of toys and books. You are welcome to peep in the shop Tuesday-Sunday 10 to 5. And, yes, I do laugh at my own jokes and find myself to be punny.--Katie"

"That chair's waiting for you to have a seat and find your spring break read," Pearl's Books, Fayetteville, Ark., posted on Facebook.

The Lamb Cycle: What the Great English Poets Would Have Written About Mary and Her Lamb (Had They Thought of It First) by David Ewbank, illustrated by Kate Feiffer (Brandeis University Press).

BAFTA-nominated Mike Faist and Oscar-nominated actor Lucas Hedges will star in a London stage adaptation of Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain." Deadline reported that the production, described as "a play with music," will run at the Sohoplace Theatre in the West End for a 12-week season beginning May 10.

Theater owner and producer Nica Burns "stressed that the play is based on Proulx's short story originally published in the New Yorker in 1997 and not on Ang Lee's acclaimed 2005 film that starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal," Deadline wrote.
 
Writer Ashley Robinson approached Proulx about the stage rights and she granted them. Jonathan Butterell (Everybody's Talking About Jamie) directs, with Dan Gillespie Sells writing some of the music. Singer-songwriter Eddi Reader will perform onstage with a country and western band.

First-look images have been released for My Sister's Bones, based on Nuala Ellwood's 2016 novel and starring Olga Kurylenko (Black Widow), Jenny Seagrove (Another Mother's Son), Anna Friel (Marcella) and Ben Miles (The Crown), Deadline reported.

Bill Kenwright's BKStudios is behind the project, which also stars David Bradley (Pinocchio), and Maggie Steed (Ten Percent). Shooting took place on location in Whitstable, Herne Bay, London and Morocco. The project is directed by Heidi Greensmith, whose debut film, Winter, garnered three awards at the New York Film Festival, including best director, as well as a BIFA nomination in the discovery award category. The book was adapted for the screen by Naomi Gibney (Devils).

"Creating a strong distinctive style that would reflect the complexity of the story was as important to me as working with our incredible ensemble cast on finding the truth in the Rafter family trauma so that together we could craft a distinctive thriller," Greensmith said. "Every story needs an element of suspense, but as Hitchcock said, 'There is no terror in the bang, only the anticipation of it.' "

Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last night during a ceremony, fundraiser and reading by finalists in New York City. This year's NBCC Award recipients are:

Autobiography: Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu (Doubleday)
Biography: G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage (Viking)
Criticism: Free Indirect: The Novel in a Postfictional Age by Timothy Bewes (Columbia Univ. Press)
Fiction: Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Nonfiction: The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act by Isaac Butler (Bloomsbury)
Poetry: Hotel Oblivion by Cynthia Cruz (Four Way)
The Gregg Barrios Prize for Book in Translation: Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk (Deep Vellum)
The John Leonard Prize: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Tin House)
The Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing: Jennifer Wilson
Toni Morrison Achievement Award: City Lights Booksellers, San Francisco
The Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award: Joy Harjo

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The shortlist has been selected for the £20,000 (about $24,640) 2023 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, which honors "the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under." The winner will be announced on May 11, shortly before International Dylan Thomas Day on May 14.

The shortlist:
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Seven Steeples by Sara Baume
God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel
Send Nudes by Saba Sams
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

photo: Shoott Photography

Moses Ose Utomi is a Nigerian American fantasy writer and nomad currently living in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and has published short fiction in Fireside magazine, Fantasy magazine and elsewhere. The Lies of the Ajungo (Tordotcom) is the first in a planned trilogy that follows a boy's epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother's life.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

A Saharan-inspired epic fantasy with the pacing and revelations of a psychological thriller. Dark but endearing, brutal but buoyant.

On your nightstand now:

Too many to name. But two debut books on my nightstand that I'm excited to read are The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin and Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun.

Favorite book when you were a child:

When I was in elementary school, I discovered a book called The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. I don't really remember the plot, to be honest, but it was potentially the most intense sense of wonder I'd ever experienced. It was the first book that felt like a secret between me and the author, especially so because this was before Internet reader communities like Goodreads, the StoryGraph, etc. As far as I knew, I was the first and only person to ever go on that journey.

Your top five authors:

In no particular order: Rick Remender, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hajime Isayama, Buchi Emecheta, T.H. White.

Book you've faked reading:

I don't know if I've faked reading a book entirely. But there are several books that I DNF, and if someone asks, I say, "Yeah, I've read it, but it's been so long, I don't really remember." That way, when they inevitably start talking about central plot points of the book, I can use the fog of time as my excuse.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I come across a lot of fantasy readers who haven't read The Once and Future King by T.H. White. If it were up to me, that book would come preinstalled in every bookshelf.

Book you've bought for the cover:

It's been decades since I've bought a book that I wasn't already aware of in some way. But The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna has an extremely intriguing cover.

Book you hid from your parents:

I was lucky to have parents that let me read pretty widely without censorship. It also helped that my older brothers were readers, too, and would run interference if my mom started asking too many questions. I never really had to hide anything.

Book that changed your life:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. It was the first book I read with a strong dialect that felt right. By chapter two, my brain had been rewired to think and talk how the characters think and talk. Every book I have written since (and probably every book I will ever write) has some version of this, teaching the reader the speech pattern or dialect of the characters.

Favorite line from a book:

Is it blasphemy to say I don't have one? I enjoy an evocative line, but all of my favorite lines are only my favorites because of the context. It's about the moment, the scene, the characters. Outside of that, the line doesn't really land.

Five books you'll never part with:

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb; The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta; The Once and Future King by T.H. White; A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess; The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. That book is chaos at the highest level, and I remember reading through it in complete disbelief that an author would so beautifully let their whole fictional world just unravel like that. I thought, "How can he ever put this all back together again?", which is one of the most sublime feelings as a consumer of stories but an absolute nightmare for a creator. Godspeed, George!

A common thread among the books you love most:

I am the opposite of a comfort reader. All of the books I most love made me feel uncomfortable upon the first read. Specifically, they have some unnerving quality that makes me wonder whether there's something I'm not understanding. This is a delicate balance. Many of the books I like the least also make me think: "uh... am I missing something"? But the books I love make me want to push further into that discomfort rather than lean away from it, because somehow the author has made me trust that it will all be worth it.

Canadian author Erum Shazia Hasan explores the complex moral and ethical quandaries facing a humanitarian aid worker in her powerful debut novel, We Meant Well. The setting is Likanni, a village in an unnamed country, a former French colony characterized by lush beauty, poverty and war, and the narrator is Maya, a 30-something from Los Angeles who works for an international charitable organization based in Geneva, one that is recognizable by its "fancy blue logo."

Hasan's protagonist is a woman with immense empathy who chafes at the severely restricted donor-friendly scope of her job, which is simply to focus on running the charity's orphanage and not concern herself with underlying problems plaguing the village. With her heart not fully healed from a doomed love affair with a fellow aid worker, she finds herself stuck in a sterile marriage to a well-to-do lawyer. Maya was adopted as an infant from Bangladesh by a wealthy American couple, and grew up a white girl trapped in a brown body with no understanding of her heritage and roots. As a mother, the gaping holes in her life's narrative sap her maternal confidence.

Maya oversees operations in Likanni from her luxury perch in the Hollywood Hills until she is summoned to the village by her superiors to investigate a rape allegation against one of her colleagues, Marc. Protestors surround the charity's office, demanding justice. A public relations fiasco would affect donations to the organization, and Maya is instructed to "be responsive to the aggrieved beneficiaries while protecting the brand."

We Meant Well follows its narrator as she returns to picturesque and impoverished Likanni, where she spent many years working. Maya is devastated to learn that the rape victim is Lele, her protégée and employee. Lele, the daughter of the village chief, has transformed from a bright, happy young woman to a bed-ridden shadow of her former self. Clearly she has suffered an immense trauma. And she is pregnant.

Readers may question Maya's choices as she tries to untangle the truth of what happened to Lele while facing bureaucratic pressure to evacuate Marc and quickly resolve the crisis. As We Meant Well reaches its dramatic, unexpected climax, Maya has to make a split-second decision that will have lasting effect for all concerned. Hasan tantalizes readers: she opts not for a neat and tidy ending, but instead positions her characters for a destiny-defining reckoning beyond the page. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer

Shelf Talker: A humanitarian aid worker at an international charity is faced with an impossible choice when one of her colleagues is accused of rape by a village chief's daughter.

One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time. I mean, Spring doesn't feel like Spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for Fall and so on. Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June!

While it now is officially Spring, the season can be complicated for many folks. It always has been, depending on where you live. Here in upstate New York, this year's vernal equinox was preceded by the biggest snowstorm of the winter thus far. A week later, the evidence still covers much of the lawn, though temperatures have moderated considerably since.  

A long time ago Robert Frost, who used to live in a nearby state, wrote in "A Prayer in Spring": "Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;/ And give us not to think so far away/ As the uncertain harvest; keep us here/ All simply in the springing of the year."

Nice thoughts, even during Mud Season, as Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, Vt., helpfully pointed out: "Happy first day of spring! Of course we all know it's really mud season, but who's quibbling."

The traditional unpredictability and downright persnicketiness of Spring everywhere is exacerbated--naturally and unnaturally--by climate change. In yesterday's e-mail newsletter from East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, Calif., owner Brad Johnson observed: 

"I'm writing this newsletter while looking out of my office window at the fallen debris, a tangle of tree limbs and trash, from this week's wind storm. The news suggests another is on the horizon, so my morning thought is: 'Should I bother cleaning up the backyard, or maybe wait a week?' Such a wild year of weather thus far. I gather this is something we'll be saying a lot for years to come."

No doubt. Earlier this week, many indie booksellers marked the change of season on social media, including:

Odyssey Bookstore, Ithaca, N.Y.: "Come celebrate the first day of Spring with us tonight at TCPL Angela Douglas will be reading from her new book--Nature on the Doorstep.... Odyssey will be there with books for sale. It's the perfect time to pause and take a look around at the wonderful world just outside your own backdoor."

Interabang Books, Dallas, Tex., cited Anna Karenina on its sidewalk chalkboard, adding: "Let us help you plan for Spring: Read a good book. Read another good book. And another...."

Four Pines Bookstore, Bemidji, Minn.: "Goodbye Winter and hello Spring! Happy first day of Spring! We are so ready for the snow to melt and gardening to begin! We have brought back our Butterfly and Bird seed mixes to help you get your garden started!"

Powell's Books, Portland, Ore.: "A perfect combination of sunshine and rain over the weekend sprung spring on Portland! Bring on the start of reading-outside season with a book or two from our Spring Sale! While you're at it--why not pick up our Reading on the Willamette puzzle so you can celebrate with a puzzle picnic once the blossoms are out!"

Book Beat, Oak Park, Mich.: "Happy spring equinox from all of us at Book Beat! Get outside like our pal Sunshine and pick up a spring read."

Maria's Bookshop, Durango, Colo.: "Spring has arrived (despite what the onslaught of snow this week might indicate) and you may have begun to notice animals of every size slowly waking. Our Programs Manager, Mary, and our Inventory Manager, Nina, are big fans of Bear Smart Durango."

The Book & Cover, Chattanooga, Tenn.: "It's Springtime at The Book & Cover! Thanks to our pals @theclaypot these chilly temps can't keep us from fluffy florals--the door tree is blossoming and the cherry branches are back! Just in time, we have a springy new drink special from @jewelthongnopnua: The Spring Equinox! Available iced or hot, this lavender honey matcha latte is light and floral and perfect for spring."

Theodore's Books, Oyster Bay, N.Y.: "Happy Spring! Soon it will be warm enough that you'll need a beach read or a mindfulness book to read by your garden or a big history book to page through when it rains all day! We have it all."

Coyote Wisdom Metaphysical Bookstore, Lansing, Mich.: "Happy first day of Ostrara! How did you celebrate!?"

BookPeople, Austin, Tex: "Happy first day of Spring! Or as we call it in Texas: Summer."

It's all about perspective. Up north, seeing temperatures rise and snow melt at the end of March is a blessing, but I suspect Mr. Vonnegut had it right when he considered:

"What could be springier than May and June? Summer is July and August. Really hot, right? Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves. Next comes the season called 'Locking.' That is when Nature shuts everything down. November and December aren't Winter. They're Locking. Next comes Winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold! What comes next? Not Spring. Unlocking comes next. What else could April be?"

Happy Unlocking season!