With negotiations between UPS and the union representing 340,000 UPS workers at a standstill, it becomes more likely that a strike could begin at the end of the month, when the current contract expires. In June, UPS's unionized workers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.

Already the book industry is beginning to make preparations. Over the weekend, the American Booksellers Association advised booksellers to prepare in a variety of ways:

• Prioritize returns for July. "Even if you don't ship returns with UPS, expect the system to be backed up."
• Order more titles, "cash and space permitting."
• Order fall author events books early, "cash and space permitting."
• Request an increase in publisher account credit limits to allow for higher orders.

The ABA also suggested booksellers enroll in its PartnerShip program to save on FedEx Express and FedEx Ground. It noted: "FedEx will most likely experience delays, but PartnerShip may help you save time and money as you coordinate deliveries."

In a similar vein, last week Ingram sent a service alert that stated: "In anticipation of a potential UPS work stoppage on August 1st, we strongly encourage everyone to be ready to stock up with enough inventory to meet customer demand. We recommend ordering as early as July 25th prior to UPS service disruption. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide any necessary updates to ensure your business continues operating as normal."

The Poisoned Pen bookstore, Scottsdale, Ariz., has gone so far as to urge customers to order wanted titles earlier than they might otherwise, writing, "With the potential UPS strike disruptor we have had to order all event books and new titles well into September right now. They are shipping in early to be held. Wherever will we put these thousands of new books?

"It's crucial you order NOW because we may well not be able to increase any orders. Seriously... Now!"

Similarly the Country Bookseller, Wolfeboro, N.H., posted on Instagram: "We've been warned by our publishers and distributors that the impending UPS strike may affect deliveries heading into August. Order now to ensure we will have any titles you are in need of when you arrive."

Several booksellers contacted by Shelf Awareness said they are making plans in anticipation of a UPS strike.

Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Tex., said the store has placed all August event orders so they will be on hand (unless they haven't been released yet), but otherwise hasn't changed ordering patterns. She noted that "almost all" of the store's incoming shipments from publishers are delivered by UPS, while all its outbound shipping is done via Fedex Ground or USPS. She added, "My UPS driver is in the camp of 'it will be solved quickly.' It is my sincere hope that my driver is correct."

Another store is considering driving more than 200 miles to several major publisher and wholesaler warehouses to replenish supplies if a strike occurs and lasts for a while.

Some publishers are also advising booksellers to order early, and a few have changed pub dates to lessen the impact of a UPS strike.

At Penguin Random House, the company is reviewing all PRH and PRH Publisher Services initial title orders and, when possible, shipping them one to two days sooner than usual. The company also advises that any accounts with an August author appearance for a PRH or PRHPS title should contact the publisher to get an early shipment of books for the event. PRH noted, too, that the potential strike would most affect shipment parcels of less than 300 lbs.

Workers at four Half Price Books locations in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota have gone on strike, KSTP reported.

The workers are part of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Locals 1189 and 663, and the four stores, in St. Paul, Blaine, Roseville, and St. Louis Park, have closed temporarily. The striking workers allege that store management has not approached union negotiations "with the respect and seriousness" they deserve, and pointed to an "offensive" 1% wage increase.

In a statement, Half Price Books president Kathy Doyle Thomas said the company could not discuss specifics about the negotiations, but Half Price Books "strives to provide competitive benefits and good working conditions for all of our employees across the country and has been a progressive workplace for all of our 50+ years."

Per UFCW, eight Half Price Books stores have voted to unionize, and a ninth store will hold a union vote this week.

Among the "culture war" amendments made to the Defense Bill passed by Republicans in the House on Friday were several that elevate to the federal level the kinds of book bannings and related measures passed by many state governments controlled by Republicans.

The successful amendments that got the most attention included cutting the Defense Department's DEI efforts, limiting transgender care, and ending time off and transportation reimbursements for women who must travel to receive abortions.

Among other successful amendments was one proposed by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R., Colo.) that bars military school libraries from buying or having "pornographic and radical gender ideology books," as reported by CNN.

The New York Times noted that the bill also prohibits "Defense Department schools from teaching that the United States or its founding documents are racist."

And according to the House Armed Services Committee (whose statement about the bill is titled "Ending Wokeness in the Military"), the bill's "parents' rights" section gives school parents "the right to review curriculum, books, and instructional materials."

The bill also, the committee said, eliminates funding for "drag shows, Drag Queen Story Hours, or similar events," as well as ends "the Navy's promotion of a drag queen as a 'Digital Ambassador.' "

The Senate is expected to pass a defense bill without any of the House "culture war" provisions, setting up a likely contentious effort to reconcile the differing versions of the bill.

Macmillan is offering to match up to $5,000 of gifts made to the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation in an effort to help meet the needs of bookstore and comic shop employees and owners affected by the devastating flooding in the Northeast. At least nine stores have already been affected by severe flooding in Vermont and elsewhere, Binc said.

Executive director Pam French commented: "We were devastated to see the national headlines with photographs and video of damage to beloved community bookstores and are so grateful for our friends at Macmillan and their willingness to partner with us in support of bookstores and comic shops. Thanks to Macmillan for helping ensure Binc is here to help."

Líra Könyv, Hungary's second-largest bookstore chain, was fined 12 million forints ($35,930) last week "for placing the popular Heartstopper by British author Alice Oseman in its youth literature section, and for failing to place it in closed packaging as required by a 2021 law," the Associated Press reported. 

The Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, which issued the "consumer protection fine," told state news agency MTI it had conducted an investigation that found "the books in question depicted homosexuality, but they were nevertheless placed in the category of children's books and youth literature, and were not distributed in closed packaging." 

Hungary's "child protection" law "forbids the display of homosexual content to minors in media, including television, films, advertisements and literature," the AP noted. "It also prohibits LGBTQ+ content in school education programs, and forbids the public display of products that depict or promote gender deviating from sex at birth."

In April, 15 European Union countries backed legal action against the law in the European Court of Justice. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commision, has called the law "a disgrace."

The fine against Líra Könyv came just days before the Budapest Pride march, an annual event that drew thousands of people to Hungary's capital.

---

The amount of funding distributed this year by Canadian Heritage's two-year Support for Booksellers component of the Canada Book Fund varied significantly from store to store, but "the money provided a much-needed boost that allowed indies to address shipping costs, upgrade their websites, and extend their social media campaigns," Quill & Quire reported.

Last November, Canadian Heritage announced that booksellers would be receiving funding through the "temporary recovery initiative." In the first phase, C$12 million (about US$9.1 million) went to 180 booksellers operating a total of 467 bookstores across the country. Based on a bookstore's 2019 sales of Canadian-authored books, the funding ranged from C$1,000 (about US$755) to C$150,000 (about US$113,525) for small chain and independent bookstores, with greater amounts for large chain bookstores. 

"We were open in a brick-and-mortar [store] for the last month of 2019, so I was quite pleased to get any grant," said Hilary Atleo, owner of Iron Dog Books, Vancouver, which received C$3,000 (about US$2,270). "I'm grateful."

For McNally Robinson, which has two stores in Winnipeg and one in Saskatoon, owner Chris Hall said the effect of the C$150,000 it received is "huge.... It's allowed our [website] budget to increase by six or seven times what we would normally be able to invest. It feels as if we're doing six or seven years of investment all at once."

Iron Dog's Atleo observed: "You can get a grant to write a book, you can get a grant to publish a book, but from my perspective as a bookseller, there is absolutely no care given to whether or not that book is well distributed, whether or not there is significant uptake or sales of that title--there is no investment in where the book is going." She added, "It's always been a bit bizarre to me that we consider publishers folks who need and are deserving of public funding, but bookstores are businesses that have to sink or swim on their own."

--- 

Claire Murdoch

The Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) has appointed Claire Murdoch, Penguin Random House NZ head of publishing, as president, succeeding Graeme Cosslett, who served a two-year term and now becomes immediate past president, Books+Publishing reported.

Huia Publishers executive director Eboni Waitere was elected v-p, with her predecessor Craig Gamble (Te Herenga Waka University Press) moving to a position on the council. Scholastic NZ publishing manager Lynette Evans and the Literacy Place director Sheena Cameron have joined the new council, which also includes members Hana Pomare (Hana) and Suzy Maddox (Hachette Aotearoa NZ). --Robert Gray

At Arcadia Books, Spring Green, Wis., author and journalist David Maraniss (r.) discussed his biography of Jim Thorpe, Path Lit by Lightning (Simon & Schuster), with store owner James Bohnen.

Congratulations to Books on Main, Fort Morgan, Colo., which has been named July Business of the Month by the city, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Fort Morgan Times.

Alycia Stewart, who opened the store, which sells mostly used books and some new, last October, told the Times that when she was notified about the honor, "I jumped up and down. I was really excited. We haven't even been in business for a full year yet, so to have already made that kind of impact is really fulfilling."

The Times compared Stewart's story with a Hallmark movie:

"The hometown girl comes back after leaving town for a few years to do something she's envisioned all her life: owning her own business. And it seems like every step to achieve the dream fell into place seamlessly as if someone wrote it in a script."

"I've always wanted to own my own business," she told the newspaper. "I always thought I was going to open up my own bed and breakfast, and then the pandemic happened."

After working for Marriott and then at Dish Network, "she pondered how she could surround herself with reading, coffee and pastries--joys in her life--daily.

"During Mother's Day of 2022, Stewart was back in Fort Morgan driving around on Main Street with her mother when she saw a for sale sign in a building located on 302 Main St., that would soon become Books on Main. After she researched the building and deemed it to be a perfect fit, it took only two months from that day before Stewart purchased the building last July."

Stewart called finding the building "fate."

Trent Harmon has been promoted to senior online sales manager at Sourcebooks.

---

Hannah Moseley has been promoted to manager, paid marketing, at Open Road Integrated Media.

Men Stepping Forward by Elisabeth Kelan (Bristol University Press).

Today:
CBS Mornings: Ben McKenzie, author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud (Abrams, $28, 9781419766398).

Morning Joe: Shannon Mullen, author of In Other Words, Leadership: How a Young Mother's Weekly Letters to Her Governor Helped Both Women Brave the First Pandemic Year (Steerforth, $29.95, 9781586423681). Also appearing: Maine Governor Janet Mills and Ashirah Knapp, the subjects of the book.

The Talk repeat: Daymond John, author of Little Daymond Learns to Earn (Random House Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593567272).

Fresh Air: Emily Monosson, author of Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic (W.W. Norton, $28.95, 9781324007012).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Colson Whitehead, author of Crook Manifesto: A Novel (Doubleday, $29, 9780385545150).

Good Morning America: Daniel Silva, author of The Collector: A Novel (Harper, $32, 9780062834874).

Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Jay Shetty, author of 8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781982183066).

Screenwriter Peter Moffat (Silk) is adapting Jonathan Freedland's nonfiction book The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World as a TV project. Variety reported that Margery Bone's Bonafide Films (Mood) has secured the rights to the book, "which is set to be made into a high-end limited series." 
 
Moffat and Freedland will exec produce alongside Bob Bookman, Jonny Geller, Margery Bone, Tom Dunbar, and Zander Levy.

"This is a story of how human beings can be pushed to the outer limits, and yet still somehow endure," said Freeland. "How the actions of one individual, even a teenage boy, can bend the arc of history."

Moffat added: "Jonathan Freedland's conclusion that Rudolf Vrba deserves to 'stand alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler and Primo Levi in the first rank of stories that define the Shoah' is hard to argue with. It's a great privilege to be asked to adapt this profoundly moving work."

Christine Pillainayagam and her editor, Leah Thaxton, of Faber & Faber, have won the 2023 Branford Boase Award for Ellie Pillai Is Brown. The award honors the author and editor of a debut novel for young people. Judges called the book "a wonderfully lyrical book about the messy teenage years told with humour and pathos."

---

Fall for the Book and George Mason University's Institute for Immigration Research have announced the longlist for the 2023 New American Voices Award, which recognizes the work of first-generation American writers. Three finalists will be announced later this summer and the winner in October at the Fall for the Book festival at the university's Fairfax, Va., campus.

The longlist:

Between Two Moons by Aisha Abdel Gawad (Doubleday)
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Pantheon)
Creep: Accusations and Confessions by Myriam Gurba (Avid Reader Press)
The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng (Riverhead)
The Islands by Dionne Irving (Catapult)
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Hogarth)
What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro (Riverhead)
The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe (Dzanc Books)
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (Grove Atlantic)
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong (Tin House)

The late Congressman John Lewis often talked about getting in "good trouble, necessary trouble" to effect social and racial change. Drew Gilpin Faust, Civil War historian and the first female president of Harvard University, borrows Lewis's words (once directed at her) for the title of her memoir, Necessary Trouble. Faust (This Republic of Suffering) describes her moral and philosophical awakening and paints a portrait of a midcentury world shaped by forces including postwar American prosperity, the fear of communism, the Civil Rights Movement, and the United States' doomed involvement in the Vietnam War. On her journey from a comfortable Virginia childhood to the all-female intellectual environments of Concord Academy and Bryn Mawr College, Faust learned to follow her conscience and to question the long-standing, constrictive traditions that governed the lives of Southern white women.

Faust, a self-confessed tomboy, was often at odds with her socialite mother, who longed for her only daughter to be "a lady." With a self-reflective tone, the memoir's early chapters interweave Faust's family history with her childhood experiences: Faust examines her ancestry, with its privilege and tragedies, including her father's financial struggles, and the limits placed on women in her family. The narrative picks up speed when Faust moves north to attend Concord Academy in Massachusetts, which proved a dynamic training ground for her young mind. She chronicles her time there and at Bryn Mawr, detailing both dorm-room hijinks and serious academic pursuits at a time when most college women were still expected to become society wives. Faust knew, even then, that she wanted a different path for herself. She recounts several pivotal summer experiences, including a tour behind the Iron Curtain with an interracial group of young Americans and her participation in the Freedom Summer protests of 1964. These experiences, as well as Faust's growing conviction that the Vietnam War was unjustifiable, shaped her life and intellect, then and now. She details her intellectual and personal awakening alongside the growing complexity of the American political and social landscape.

Necessary Trouble shows Faust turning her historian's lens onto her own life: detailing the forces that shaped both her and her country, the strengths and weaknesses of the all-white intellectual environments that formed her, and the powerful sense of justice and the pursuit of truth that have come to define her life. Engaging and thoughtful, with vivid details and a wry sense of humor, Necessary Trouble is a nuanced portrait of midcentury America and an exploration of the ways it directly foreshadowed--and even created--our current political moment. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Civil War historian and Harvard President Emerita Drew Gilpin Faust's engaging and thoughtful memoir chronicles her personal and intellectual awakening as a young woman.