The winners of the National Book Awards, presented last night in New York City, are:

Young People's Literature: A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat (First Second/Macmillan). Santat thanked many people, including "last but not least" his mother, "who saw her young, insecure child endure the struggles of growing up in the tumultuous years of adolescence and gently pushed him out the door to show his young, innocent mind that despite the awkward and awful experiences we can sometimes experience in life that the world is immense, and that within that vast world there is also great kindness and love."

Translated Literature: The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel, translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato (New Vessel Press). Gardel said in part, "Growing up as gay boy in the hinterlands of the northeast of Brazil, it was impossible for me to think, to dream, of such an honor, but being here tonight as a gay man, receiving this award for a novel about another gay man's journey to self-acceptance, I wanted to say to everyone who ever felt wrong about themselves that your heart and your desire are true and you are just as deserving as anyone else of having a fulfilling life and accomplishing possible dreams."

Poetry: from unincorporated territory [åmot] by Craig Santos Perez (Omnidawn Publishing). Perez said in part, "I'm from the very small island of Guam and there was only one bookstore. When I was a kid, my mom would take me there every week. She'd always buy me a book and she instilled the love of reading and writing from a very young age....

"Guam... is a U.S. territory, one of last remaining colonies in the world. And when I was growing up in a kind of colonial American school system, we were never taught my own people's literature. We were always taught American literature. So when I started writing, my mission was to hopefully inspire the next generation of Pacific Islander authors."

Nonfiction: The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk (Yale University Press). Blackhawk said in part, "The subject of American Indian history, while often simultaneously unfamiliar and discomforting, is also a shared experience that touches us all. The currents of the past run deep and inform the topography of the present, a theme that we have seen throughout the work of so many finalists this year. Native America is also a form of our national inheritance. We cannot or should not continue its systematic erasure. Moreover, it is a rich and vibrant field that provides uncommon and uncommonly beautiful insights."

Fiction: Blackouts by Justin Torres (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Macmillan). Torres thanked a range of people, including his partner, friends, his mother, his queer family, and his agent and publisher while nominees and other winners gathered on stage behind him to share a joint statement read by Aaliyah Bilal, author of Temple Folk (Simon & Schuster), a fiction award finalist:

"On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for a humanitarian ceasefire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly children. We oppose antisemitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia equally, accepting the human dignity of all parties, knowing that further bloodshed does nothing to secure lasting peace in the region."

In September, bookstore sales dropped 8.6%, to $730 million, compared to September 2022, according to preliminary Census Bureau estimates--the fifth monthly loss for bookstore sales this year. By comparison to pre-pandemic times, bookstore sales in September were down 14.7% from September 2019. For the first nine months of the year, bookstore sales are up 0.3%, to $6.1 billion, compared to the first nine months of 2022.

Total retail sales in September rose 3.8%, to $685.8 billion, compared to September 2022. For the year to date, total retail sales climbed 3.2%, to $6,150 billion, compared to the first eight months of 2022.

Note: under Census Bureau definitions, the bookstore category consists of "establishments primarily engaged in retailing new books." The Bureau also added this unusual caution concerning the effect of Covid-19: "The Census Bureau continues to monitor response and data quality and has determined that estimates in this release meet publication standards."

Darlene Okpo

Adanne, a Black woman-owned bookstore that was evicted from its DUMBO location in Brooklyn last summer, reopened last Saturday in its new Bedford–Stuyvesant space, at 115 Ralph Ave. BK Reader reported that when owner Darlene Okpo received a 30-day notice in August to vacate her former storefront, she "took to her social media pages to seek emergency help, and with the help of loyal customers, family and friends, Okpo was able to raise more than $37,000 for moving costs and a deposit on a new space."

Okpo's hunt for a new storefront lasted three months and saw several property arrangements fall through. She remained determined, though, and finally signed the Bed-Stuy lease last month. The new location "makes perfect sense for the bookstore. Okpo lived in Bed-Stuy in 2008, and the neighborhood is home to many of her customers, which made the decision to come back an easy one," BK Reader wrote.

"Sometimes you feel like you gotta have it together all the time," she said. "But, there was no pressure for me to be like, 'Everything has to be perfect.' I was like, 'It's going to flow. Everything is gonna come.'" 

The shop includes a workspace in the front and a backyard patio for guests. There is also a bar area, though it's still a work in progress. "With books piled high on each shelf and records of classic artists on the walls, Adanne prides itself on selling a little bit of everything," BK Reader noted.

"For me, it's like nostalgia. In this area, it's all records. Then, we have spirituality and hip-hop. It's a mixture, like a museum," said Okpo. "I want people to take their time and look. That's how I want this space to feel.... I love the space so much."

The Pretty Posy Boutique, a specialty clothing shop in Overland Park, Kan., has closed temporarily and will reopen as a bookshop next month. The Kansas City Star reported that owner Erin Oliva wants to have a different concept in the same space, noting that "while she has built a reliable customer base over the two years she's been open, she's lost the passion for clothes she once had." Deciding that it was time to pursue something else and not wanting to forfeit her "beautiful space" at 7942 Santa Fe Drive, Olivia decided to pivot to books and gifts. 

"Who doesn't want a store in downtown Overland Park?" she said. 

The shop, which is retaining its name, will sell primarily books, with a few other specialty items geared toward women. The Star noted that "most of her books, too, will be geared toward female readers, mostly because it's what Olivia said she knows and likes."

A former elementary school teacher, Oliva said she is an avid reader and wants to offer plenty of books for kids and even host reading-centered events at the shop. "I love connecting with people," she added. 

The future home of Blurred Words

Blurred Words, a "new concept that is an Art Deco bookstore and bar," will open in a few months, pending permits, at 1205 W. Elizabeth St, Unit I, Fort Collins, Colo., according to owner Liz Sanders. What Now Denver reported that four months ago, the company posted on LinkedIn it had secured a lease across the street from Colorado State University, in a 1,730-square-foot space owned by Nicol Campus West. Blurred Words will sell used and new books, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and appetizer treats.

"The boozy bookshop will have cocktails and light snacks behind a secret bookcase entrance, and live music events. Its theme is the 1920s and '30s, a nod to prohibition, the jazz era, and The Great Gatsby," What Now Denver noted, adding that Sanders has worked over the years as a writer, adjunct professor, book reviewer, student librarian, and bookstore manager. She is excited to bring this concept to the community.

The website for Blurred Words notes that at first glance, "it's just a bookstore featuring a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction books and gifts. Further exploration leads to a secret bookcase door opening into a speakeasy bar with specialty cocktails and snacks. An ideal place for book club gatherings and live music events, Blurred Words is a gathering place for time travelers and vintage enthusiasts... a place where intellect and entertainment merge to create a fun experience for visitors and patrons."

Rainy Day Books in Kansas City, Kan., hosted a sold-out launch event for Erin French's Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals & Moments from The Lost Kitchen (Celadon). The event took place at Unity Temple on the Plaza and featured French in conversation with Zoe Francois (Zoe Bakes).

BookTowne, Manasquan, N.J., held its second annual Read-a-Thon this past weekend. Booksellers read in the store window all night and local celebs read during store hours to raise money for the Kindness Cafe. The store also hosted an open house in the early evening, with a percentage of in-store purchases going to the cafe. Owner Peter Albertelli noted, "November is the month for giving back, we love our community... and on a selfish note--who wouldn't want to sleep over in a bookstore!"

"Books have heart!" That was the sidewalk chalkboard message in front of Commonplace Reader, Yardley, Pa., which shared pic on Instagram, noting: "Visit and find a book with heart."

In the Viking Penguin publicity department:

Rebecca Marsh is now heading the department. She joined Viking Penguin from Crown in 2017.

Sara DeLozier has been promoted to publicity manager. She joined Viking Penguin in 2019.

Sara Leonard has been promoted to senior publicist.

---

At the HarperOne Group:

Sarah Schoof has been promoted to publicity manager.

Alison Cerri has been promoted to publicist.

Ashley Candelario has been promoted to associate publicist.

Worrying Is Optional: Break the Cycle of Anxiety and Rumination That Keeps You Stuck by Ben Eckstein (New Harbinger Publications).

Tomorrow:
Today Show: Lauren Graham, author of Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember (Ballantine, $18, 9780593355442).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jonathan Karl, author of Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party (Dutton, $32, 9780593473986).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, November 18
3:15 p.m. Scott Shane, author of Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery's Borderland (‎Celadon, $30, 9781250843210).

5 p.m. Peter Moore, author of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $35, 9780374600594).

Sunday, November 19
8 a.m. David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts, authors of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine (Harper, $40, 9780063293137). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9 a.m. Dan Ariely, author of Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things (Harper, $32, 9780063280427). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

10 a.m. Fei-Fei Li, author of The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI (Flatiron, $29.99, 9781250897930). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Coverage of the 2023 Miami Book Fair. Highlights include:

• 11 a.m. A discussion on fathers with Luke Russert and Priscilla Gilman.
• 12 p.m. A discussion on racial equality and Martin Luther King with Laura Meckler and Jonathan Eig.
• 1 p.m. Hector Tobar on Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of Latino.
• 2 p.m. Richard Haass on The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.
• 4 p.m. A discussion on cryptocurrency and other financial frauds with Ben McKenzie and Jonathan Taplin.
• 5 p.m. Martin Baron on Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post.

Halik Kochanski won the £50,000 (about $62,235) Wolfson History Prize, presented by the Wolfson Foundation to recognizes books that "combine excellence in research with readability for a general audience," for Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-45 (Liveright). Each of the five shortlisted authors receives £5,000 (about $6,225).

"Unveiling lesser-known acts of defiance, this is a remarkable history of pan-European resistance to the Nazis. Through diverse sources and captivating storytelling, it presents a compelling exploration of this critical era," the judges said.

Chair of the judges David Cannadine commented: "Resistance is impressive in its breadth, blending macro and micro history into a single narrative. This book does more than recount the past; it breathes life into forgotten voices and untold tales of bravery, illuminating the spirit of ordinary people who challenged oppression. Through meticulous research and powerful writing, Halik Kochanski highlights the indomitable courage of those who resisted the Nazis. In our own times of conflict and instability, Resistance is a timely winner of the Wolfson History Prize, and we offer our warmest congratulations to Halik."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, November 21:

The Ball at Versailles: A Novel by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $28.99, 9780593498347) follows a debutante ball at the Palace of Versailles in 1959.

Inheritance by Nora Roberts (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250288325) is the first book in the Lost Bride Trilogy.

Tom Clancy Command and Control by Marc Cameron (Putnam, $29.95, 9780593422847) is the 23rd Jack Ryan thriller.

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh (Berkley, $28, 9780593549766) is a thriller set in New Zealand's Southern Alps.

Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers, the U.S. Navy's Only Mutiny, and the Trial That Gripped the Nation by Richard Snow (Scribner, $29, 9781982185442) explores an 1842 mutiny and its aftermath.

Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South by Elizabeth Varon (Simon & Schuster, $35, 9781982148270) is the biography of the Confederate general who supported Reconstruction.

An Invitation to Indian Cooking: 50th Anniversary Edition by Madhur Jaffrey (Knopf, $40, 9780593535684) includes a new foreword by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Defiant by Brandon Sanderson (Delacorte Press, $21.99, 9780593309711) is the fourth and final book in the Skyward series.

When the Stars Came Home by Brittany Luby, illus. by Natasha Donovan (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780316592499), is a picture book about tradition and the powerful nature of story.

Paperbacks:
50 Math Tricks That Will Change Your Life: Mentally Solve the Impossible in Seconds by Tanya Zakowich (Page Street, $21.99, 9781645678281).

Turn It Up!: My Time Making Hit Records in the Glory Days of Rock Music (Featuring Mötley Crüe, Poison, Twisted Sister, Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, and More) by Tom Werman (Jawbone Press, $24.95, 9781911036340).

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
The Berry Pickers: A Novel by Amanda Peters (Catapult, $27, 9781646221950). "A wonderful debut about a missing Indigenous child and the parallel lives of two families--from the loss that echoes through the lives of the berry pickers, to a rancid secret that erodes the other family. A tender, compelling novel." --Keith Vient, Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C.

The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due (Gallery/Saga Press, $28.99, 9781982188344). "The Reformatory had me on the edge of my seat, in sheer terror throughout. While there are definitely ghosts in this one, it's not the ghosts that'll scare you--it's the living. Fenton Haddock is a character that will haunt your dreams." --John Cauley, The Doylestown & Lahaska Bookshops, Doylestown, Pa.

Paperback
Flight: A Novel by Lynn Steger Strong (Mariner, $18.99, 9780063135154). "An intimate exploration of complicated family dynamics with nuanced, distinct characters. A perfect book for anyone who has ever felt out of place going home for the holidays, Flight explores the nature of belonging and community." --David Vogel, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ages 5 to 9
The Little Books of the Little Brontës by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Briony May Smith (Tundra Books, $18.99, 9780735263697). "The Little Books of the Little Brontës is wonderful! An adorable telling of the lives of the Brontë siblings as children and their fascination with telling stories. This is a perfect biography for any child interested in storytelling!" --Olivia Hoover, Book Passage, Corte Madera, Calif.

Ages 8 to 12: An Indies Introduce Title
Jawbreaker by Chistina Wyman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $17.99, 9780374389697). "Jawbreaker is a coming-of-age debut layered with preteen angst, family dynamics, the power of friendships, and self-confidence. This book was instantly relatable and down to earth, with an honest, raw look at everyday issues." --Zsamé Morgan, Babycake's Book Stack, St. Paul, Minn.

Teen Readers
Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone (Holt, $20.99, 9781250887733). "Unholy Terrors takes us to a setting wildly beautiful in its ruin, armed only with Clipstone's honey and ash prose to guard us against the monsters that howl in the Thousandfold. A haunting read for fans of transforming girls and kissable monsters." --Candice Conner, The Haunted Book Shop, Mobile, Ala.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Two crime writers find themselves caught up in an old case, one that may not be truly closed, in the dark, witty, and twisty mystery-thriller The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (The Appeal).

True-crime author Amanda Bailey wants to reinvigorate her career with a project unlike the same old "[d]ead blonde, media frenzy, police fumblings, lucky psychopath" murders of her previous books. The perfect opportunity arises when a new true crime imprint approaches her with an idea for a retrospective on the early 2000s case of the Alperton Angels, a "chilling story ripe with possibility." It involves a psychopathic cult leader and delusional followers who believed they were angels. There was murder, ritual suicide, occult symbols, and the thwarted sacrifice of an infant.

That infant is now turning 18 and can finally give their story in their words to whomever secures the first exclusive interview, and Amanda aims to be that interviewer. She's just got one tiny obstacle to surmount. No one knows the teen's name, sex, where they are, or if they even know they were the Alperton Angels baby. Her task gets harder when she learns former colleague turned rival author Oliver Menzies is also trying to get to the teen first. Amanda rounds up information from first responders, surviving victims, investigators, and other writers who have explored the case, but her attempts at reconstruction bring up only old inconsistencies. She and Oliver fall into an uneasy collaboration, but when people connected with the case begin dying suspiciously, Amanda starts to realize she may have walked into a story that hasn't ended yet.

This unsettling and challenging mystery has at its center a protagonist who can be as much of a dark riddle as the central case. Amanda is brilliant, witty, and often conniving. The push-pull of her frenemyship with Oliver drives her harder toward piecing the Angels' story together and adds a more personal dose of propellant to the plot. Amanda keeps her life purposely devoid of emotional connections, and darkness in her past gives readers a second mystery to solve. As in her previous works, Hallett uses multiple formats to unspool the mystery, including e-mails, chat apps, newspaper articles, and interviews transcribed with commentary by Amanda's sharp-minded assistant Ellie. Fans of true-crime podcasts will find this complex and eerie novel just as satisfying, surprising and rapidly consumable as their favorite episodes. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: Two rival true-crime authors alternately spar and collaborate to investigate a morbid murder case in this dark, witty mystery.