"If you look at the high school reading assigned to me when I was a student at Miami Beach High School 50 years ago, I suspect most all of the books I was reading would be challenged today. If you're a kid who's a little confused or not sure of your identity, books are a way to open up your world.... [Banned Books Week is] a way of raising awareness for and resistance to what is a very irrational, performative policy that is being developed simply to create trauma for people. There's education to allow people to know what's going on. There is a sense of solidarity in knowing that you're not alone. And there is the ability to become active and push back so you don't feel powerless.... We have to be vigilant." 

#BannedBooksWeek is underway, and indie booksellers nationwide are posting photos, book picks and opinions on their social media channels. We're sharing a selection of them with you, including:

At Birch Tree Bookstore

Birch Tree Bookstore, Leesburg, Va.: "Soon (and sadly), we're going to need a bigger shelf. In 2022, the @americanlibraryassociation documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources, nearly double the challenges in 2021 and the highest number on record. All this week for Banned Books Week, we're answering all of your questions on stories, AMA-style. Ask away and repost our answers to raise awareness on one of the most pressing issues our schools and libraries face today."

Morgenstern Books, Bloomington, Ind.: "Today is the first day of banned books week! Check out our social media each day for a favorite banned book from one of our booksellers. Today we have Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler."

At Authors Note Bookstore

Authors Note Bookstore, Medina, N.Y.: "It's BANNED BOOKS WEEK! This time every year, booksellers, educators, and librarians promote titles that have been banned or challenged in schools and libraries across the country.... While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read."

Broadside Bookshop, Northampton, Mass.: "Today and everyday we stand against book banning. We believe in the power of books and stories, and we are proud to sell banned books and support banned authors and artists. What’s your favorite banned book?"

Storybook Cove, Hanover, Mass.: "Banned Book Week is here! Which BANNED books have you read?"

At Under the Umbrella Books

Under the Umbrella Bookstore, Salt Lake City, Utah: "Banned Book Week is here! It's the first week of October and is a REALLY BIG deal for a queer bookstore like ours because nearly all banned books include LGBTQIA+ content and/or are written by BIPOC authors, and as you can imagine there's a lot of overlap between the two."

Valley Bookseller, Stillwater, Minn.: "It's Banned Books Week, and we have plenty to choose from. Check out all the titles on our display, and take a shot at 'Guess the Banned Book'--they're organized easy to hard, winning guesses get a $5 (easy), $10 (medium) or $15 (hard) gift certificate."

At Green Dragon Books

The Green Dragon Bookshop, Fort Dodge, Iowa: "We're getting a few blind date with banned books ready for #bannedbooksweek which started today!"

Wicked Good Books, Salem, Mass.: "It means a lot to us to join the @cityofsalem and @pangalloforsalem Mayor Dominick Pangallo and participate in this project, the Little Free Banned Book Library at the #SalemMA City Hall. Dedicated this morning to begin #BannedBooksWeek."

Riffraff's new owners, Ottavia De Luca and Lucas Mann.

Riffraff Bookstore & Bar, Providence, R.I., which was put up for sale in June after owner and co-founder (with Emma Ramadan) Tom Roberge moved to Switzerland, has new owners. In an Instagram post introducing themselves, Ottavia De Luca and Lucas Mann said they "could not be more thrilled" with the decision to purchase the business. "We have loved this place since before it was even open (we helped stock shelves in those earliest days). We held our baby shower at Riffraff, we spent so many pandemic afternoons with our daughter in the beautiful courtyard finding community in otherwise lonely times. This is where we buy our books, meet our friends for drinks, where we've seen too many amazing readings to count. In short, we know that Riffraff is a special place--stubbornly independent, but also welcoming."

De Luca, who has been working in the wine and spirits business for more than a decade, will take over day-to day-operations of the store. Mann, a writer and English professor, will be running the readings and events. "Together with the wonderful Riffraff team already in place, we promise to keep the good Riffraff name going while only adding to what the space has to offer (keep an eye out for exciting new developments!)," they wrote. "Thank you to Tom for entrusting us, thank you to Victoria and the rest of the staff for welcoming us, and thank you to YOU, the amazing Riffraff community, for making this unique place what it is. Come meet us, say hey, grab a drink, find a great book, check out an event. We are so excited for the future!"

When friends of De Luca saw Roberge's June announcement about the sale, they asked if she and her husband planned on pursuing the opportunity. "I simply could not pass this up," she said. "When Tom and I talked about it, we knew this was meant to be."

Longtime West End residents, De Luca and Mann told the Boston Globe they plan to retain the store's name, pop-ups, book clubs, and charm. Prior to moving to Rhode Island, De Luca worked at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City. "For her, the store was 'pivotal' in her understanding of how a bookstore could be a place to foster and grow a community," the Globe wrote. 

"What Tom and Emma created is such a special place, and the wonderful staff, delicious drinks, and carefully curated book selection will remain," said De Luca, who is also a member of the Out Loud Theatre, an experimental and avant-garde collaborative in Providence. "Our offerings will only grow from there."

De Luca said they're planning to feature local artists with receptions to celebrate their work, as well as hosting wine nights, open mics, food, live music, and movies in the courtyard. "We've always felt welcome here," she added. "We want to make sure every person who steps into the space feels the same. This is a place to try something new, to seek out weird, wonderful art and literature, to share your own work, to support and be supported by your community. "

Kathy Hourigan

Kathy Hourigan, v-p & managing editor, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, will retire in December after a remarkable and legendary 60-year career that was celebrated just three weeks ago. In a letter announcing the retirement, Reagan Arthur, Knopf executive v-p, publisher, described Hourigan as "part train conductor (keeping everything and everyone running on track), part air-traffic controller (juggling hundreds of projects at a time while averting disaster at every turn), and part encyclopedia (able to instantly cite a past or future publication date, price, or subtitle). Kathy is 100% a force of nature: determined, loyal, indefatigable, and above all, fiercely devoted to the principles of quality and excellence that are the bedrock of our publishing philosophy."

The longest tenured employee at Penguin Random House, Hourigan joined Knopf in 1963 and has worked with all four Knopf publishers: Alfred A. Knopf, her longtime friend Robert Gottlieb, Sonny Mehta, and Arthur, who noted: "I don't have to guess how much she meant to them, because I know what she's meant to me, and to all of us lucky enough to know and work with her."
 
Doubleday publisher Bill Thomas recalled that when the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group was formed in 2008, Hourigan suddenly "had to work with a publisher with its own long-standing quirks and traditions. Simultaneously, she had to learn and communicate completely new digital book-making processes, as well as e-book adaption protocols. She managed all of this quickly and brilliantly. Immediately she earned the respect and affection of her new Doubleday colleagues, bringing the same passion for quality to Doubleday's books that long distinguished her tenure at Knopf. She is particularly beloved by the younger staff at Doubleday, whom she mentors with kindness and patience."
 
Hourigan has guided thousands of books into publication over the years, working closely with several landmark Knopf authors. "It's nearly impossible to encapsulate the scope of Kathy's impact on the world of publishing but suffice to say that time and again Kathy has gone above and beyond, doing whatever needed to be done to get our books into the world," Arthur observed.
 
Her five-decade collaboration with Robert A. Caro remains key to her Knopf legacy. Caro said: "In losing Katherine Hourigan, the publishing house of Knopf is losing more than just the unparalleled institutional memory built up over the course of 60 years. It is losing a link to, and a key to, its greatness. Kathy worked on my books for almost 50 years, and during all that time I learned to trust absolutely her literary sensibility--when she voiced an opinion on one of my manuscripts, I learned I had better listen to it--and her integrity: I don't think Kathy ever uttered a word she didn't mean."
 
Arthur wrote that Hourigan "has not only been a wonderful colleague, she's also been both mentor and friend to generations of KDPG staff. We will miss her cheerful presence, her multiple question marks, and her ability to perform miracles on a daily basis, but I'm happy to say that her editorial work with Robert A. Caro will continue into the future. Long the beating heart of Knopf, Kathy has devoted unwavering service to our authors, their books, and the family of Knopf Doubleday. Please join me in thanking Kathy for her invaluable contributions to this company, and in wishing her the very best for the new chapter ahead."

This past Wednesday, Shelf Awareness sent our monthly pre-order e-blast to more than 950,000 of the country's best book readers. The e-blast went to 950,923 customers of 231 participating independent bookstores.

The mailing features 11 upcoming titles selected by Shelf Awareness editors and a sponsored title. Customers can buy these books via "pre-order" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on each sending store's website. A key feature is that bookstore partners can easily change title selections to best reflect the tastes of their customers and can customize the mailing with links, images and promotional copy of their own.

The pre-order e-blasts are sent the last Wednesday of each month; the next will go out on Wednesday, October 25. Stores interested in learning more can visit our program registration page or contact our partner program team via e-mail.

For a sample of the September pre-order e-blast, see this one from Your Brother's Bookstore, Evansville, Ind.

The titles highlighted in the pre-order e-blast were:

My Name Is Barbra by Barbra Streisand (Viking)
Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon by Snoop Dogg and Earl "E-40" Stevens, photographs by Antonis Achilleos (Chronicle)
The Liberators by E.J. Koh (Tin House)
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Tor)
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez (Riverhead)
Class by Stephanie Land (Atria)
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (Entangled)
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan (Grove)
Day by Michael Cunningham (Random House)
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year by Andrea Beaty, illus. by David Roberts (Abrams)

"Our dear shop dog boss, Opie, has passed away," Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn., posted on Instagram. "Opie was the beloved companion of Parnassus general manager Andy and his wife Mary, but he was also 'our' dog in the way that all the shop dogs are family to all the shop people. We know that to those of you who visited him over the years, he was yours, too.

"Opie lived a long and adventurous life! We will remember him for his baritone howl welcoming visitors; his steady, solid presence on the sofa at staff meetings; his eternal, drooling hope that someone might share a bite of lunch; and his truly impressive tolerance of toddlers who tried to ride him like a horse. A dog-dad of sorts to the shop pups, Opie brought patience and gravitas to the job every day. If you have a favorite Opie memory, we’d love to read it in the comments."

W.W. Norton & Co. will handle print and digital distribution in the U.S., Canada, and other international markets for Akashic Books, effective January 1, 2024. Founded in 1997, Akashic Books publishes a range of fiction, nonfiction, art books, music books, children's picture books, and young adult titles. It has published more than 500 books and is distributed in the U.K. and Europe by Turnaround.

Akashic publisher and co-founder Johnny Temple said, "Since our inception, W.W. Norton & Co. has been a guiding light and a true role model for us as a passion-driven, detail-obsessed independent company. When Norton agreed to take over our distribution for the U.S., Canada, Australia, and other territories worldwide, we were incredibly honored and humbled. Their sales force has a stellar reputation, and we are excited to join the Norton team."

Steven Pace, sales director at Norton, said, "We value and share their mission as an independent publisher. We look forward to a long and successful partnership. We have admired their editorial reach and hope to focus the marketplace to their strengths and talents."

This Book Is Banned: A Delightfully Silly Picture Book from the Author of P Is for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar, illustrated by Julia Patton (Sourcebooks Explore), a trailer in which a group of authors and librarians read from the book.

Today:
Fresh Air: Cat Bohannon, author of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (Knopf, $35, 9780385350549).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Natasha Kravchuk, author of Natasha's Kitchen: 100+ Easy Family-Favorite Recipes You'll Make Again and Again (Clarkson Potter, $29.99, 9780593579213).

CBS Mornings: Amy Schneider, author of In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life (Avid Reader Press, $28, 9781668013304). She will also appear on the View.

Today Show: Geri Halliwell-Horner, author of Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen (Philomel, $18.99, 9780593623343).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Anderson Cooper, co-author of Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune (Harper, $32.99, 9780062964700).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Nick Offerman, author of Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Likes to Walk Outside (Dutton, $18, 9781101984703).

Netflix has released a first-look trailer for Leave the World Behind, the apocalyptic thriller based on Rumaan Alam's novel and starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke, Deadline reported. The film makes its world premiere October 25 as AFI Fest's opening-night feature, then hits select theaters November 22, and begins streaming on Netflix December 8.

Written and directed by Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot, Metropolis), the film's cast also includes Myha'la, Charlie Evans, and Farrah Mackenzie. The project is produced by Esmail Corp, Red Om Films, and executive produced by Higher Ground Productions.

First Among Men: George Washington and the Myth of American Masculinity by Maurizio Valsania (Johns Hopkins University Press) has won the $50,000 2023 George Washington Prize. Conferred by George Washington's Mount Vernon, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Washington College, the award honors "the year's best new books on the nation's founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance a broad public understanding of early American history."

The jury chose three other finalists: Mary Sarah Bilder for Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution (University of Virginia Press); Fred Kaplan for His Masterly Pen: A Biography of Jefferson the Writer (Harper); and Stacy Schiff for The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams (Little, Brown).

Organizers described the winning title this way: "In First Among Men: George Washington and the Myth of American Masculinity, Valsania considers Washington's complexity and apparent contradictions in three main areas: his physical life (often bloody, cold, injured, muddy, or otherwise unpleasant), his emotional world (sentimental, loving, and affectionate), and his social persona (carefully constructed and maintained). In each, he notes, the reality diverges from the legend quite drastically. Ultimately, Valsania challenges readers to reconsider what they think they know about Washington."

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The shortlist for the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has been selected. The winner, who receives $15,000, will be announced on December 5 at the Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit.

The shortlist:
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (Ecco)
Lookout by Christine Byl (Deep Vellum/A Strange Object)
Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson (McSweeney's)
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks (Algonquin Books)
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton (Ecco)
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White (Astra House)
Y/N by Esther Yi (Astra House)

Sparks fly--sometimes literally--in Rosie Danan's steamy contemporary romance Do Your Worst, when a feisty curse-breaker meets a skeptical archeologist in a cursed castle in the Scottish highlands.

Riley Rhodes was born into a family with a "unique talent for vanquishing the occult," a skill Riley has tried to make good on in the years since her grandmother's death. She's now trying to turn curse breaking, "a mysterious and often misunderstood practice," into a proper consulting business, so Riley is thrilled to receive an invitation to work at the long-cursed Arden Castle in Scotland, which has driven off dozens of owners over the decades. Clark Edgeware, meanwhile, is at Arden for quite the opposite reason--not to launch a career, but to salvage his name and reputation after a spectacularly public controversy at his last archeological dig.

When Riley learns that the skeptical, yet drop-dead gorgeous, Clark has tried to get her fired from working at Arden, she vows revenge. Her attempts keep going sideways, though, and the two find themselves thrown together in increasingly tense situations in the castle, involving ladder falls, fire sparks, and freak storms, to name a few--all of which leave them both more than a little breathless. ("Her body was just confused from the whiplash of meeting him, kissing him, swearing... revenge, and then having him kinda sorta save her from, if not death, then at least disfigurement.")

In these increasingly inexplicable and seemingly inescapable situations, Danan (The Roommate) shows off her skills working with tried-and-true romance tropes in new and exciting ways: opposites attract, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers. The two decide to work together to break the curse Clark still refuses to believe in, ultimately leading up to an "enemies-to-lovers sex ritual with a smoldering Englishman," as Riley's friend so accurately sums up. With no small amount of heat and the perfect smattering of steamy bedroom scenes throughout, Do Your Worst offers up a deliciously tense and perfectly believable romance with just a hint of the occult, as two unlikely lovers learn to let their guards down and let each other in. What starts in the name of breaking the curse of Arden Castle becomes a romp through history and modern romance, with a fascinating and entertaining exploration of just what is involved in forgiving one's enemies--and oneself. Full of witty banter, flirtatious provocation, occult matters, Scottish accents, and satisfying character development, Do Your Worst is a perfect read for spooky season. Or, frankly, any season in need of a little extra spice. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: A steamy enemies-to-lovers romance puts an occult curse-breaker in close proximity with a grumpy, disgraced archeologist in an ancient Scottish castle to great effect.

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

1. Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score
2. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
3. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
4. Twisted Games by Ana Huang
5. Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
6. A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole
7. King of Pride by Ana Huang
8. Hooked by Emily McIntire
9. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter
10. King of Wrath by Ana Huang

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]