"Let me start with this: I didn't choose children's bookselling. It chose me. And I think that goes for tons of people in the industry. It doesn't matter what your position is, whether you're a general bookseller or a children's bookseller or you specialize in poetry, it's something that finds you and you fall in love with it."

The Literary Hideaway opened May 28 in Grosse Ile, Mich., the News-Herald reported.

Located at 8166 Macomb St., the bookstore carries general-interest titles for all ages. There is a dedicated children's room as well as a section featuring baby clothes and accessories, and the Literary Hideaway also serves tea, coffee, beer, and wine, along with baked goods from Sugar Island Baking Company.

Owner Jennifer Lemerand, who had a previous career as a teacher, always dreamed of opening a bookstore. She grew up in Grosse Ile, and told the News-Herald that the community never had a library.

"We just have an extremely literate community and a very tight community and literacy is important to them, and knowledge and learning," she said. "And I may not be able to bring a library, but I think to bring a space, you know, where you can still grow and learn, I think is exciting."

Lemerand chose to carry baby clothes and related items because the bookstore's building used to house a boutique where locals often bought baby gifts. She does not have any events lined up at the moment, though she does hope to start hosting book clubs and other activities in the months ahead.

"I love bookstores, I love going in them," Lemerand said. "I love spending time in them. I love buying books. So it has just been a dream for most of my adult life to own a bookstore."

South Main Book Company in Salisbury, N.C., has completed renovations on a new event space, the Salisbury Post reported.

The downstairs space, which was completed mid-May, does not feature items for sale and is a "clean, functional, usable space" that community members can rent, said store owner Alissa Redmond.

The store has already used the space to host an author signing, as well as a wedding and birthday party, with more events scheduled. Looking ahead, Redmond intends to give the area a lounge-like feel, and eventually add an elevator to make it accessible. And once the elevator is in place, Redmond may add retail to the downstairs space.

Redmond, who took over South Main Book Company about five years ago, completed the renovation work with the help of a grant she received two years ago.

Julie Christopher has been named head of brand strategy at Abrams, a newly created position focused on developing strategic brand marketing initiatives for author brands and franchise properties.

Julie Christopher

Christopher has more than 15 years of brand and marketing strategy experience. Most recently, she was senior v-p, global marketing, at the Lumistella Company, home of The Elf on the Shelf franchise. Early in her career she worked at HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, then took leadership roles at Entertainment One (eOne), part of Hasbro, where she led brand marketing for major entertainment properties, including Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, My Little Pony, Power Rangers, and Transformers in North America, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Melanie Chang, senior v-p, marketing, publicity, and corporate communications, said, "Julie's appointment reflects our commitment to pioneering new approaches in publishing. Through innovative brand strategy, we're positioning ourselves to expand market presence and deliver exceptional value to our stakeholders. Julie's expertise will help us set new standards for how publishers connect with audiences while fostering the creativity that drives content excellence."

Christopher said, "I'm incredibly excited to return to my publishing roots and combine my love of books with a passion for meaningful brand storytelling. This role creates the space to champion bold voices and build lasting identities that amplify Abrams' creative spirit--and spark connection far beyond the page."

Scottish author and philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who tore up the work he was writing on ethics in 1981 "and produced what became his best known book, After Virtue," died May 21, the Guardian reported. He was 96. While MacIntyre described himself as "a revolutionary Aristotelian," he was also an enthusiast for the ethics of Thomas Aquinas. "Forward to the 13th century" was the motto jokingly attributed to him.

Noting that by reviving the sort of ethics that identifies "the good" with human flourishing, "MacIntyre aimed to lead us out of 'the new dark ages,' presumably into a better future," the Guardian wrote, adding that he "influenced the resurgence of virtue ethics and communitarianism (he denied espousing either), and the now fashionable distrust of liberalism, individualism and the Enlightenment."

MacIntyre's other books include A Short History of Ethics (1966), Against the Self-Images of the Age (1971), Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1988), Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry (1990), and Dependent Rational Animals (1999).

After earning an MA at Manchester University (1951)--where he taught the philosophy of religion--MacIntyre lectured in philosophy at Leeds University (1957-61), was a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford (1961-62), senior fellow at Princeton (1962-63), fellow of University College, Oxford (1963-66), and professor of sociology at Essex University (1966-70). 

He moved to the U.S. to become professor of history of ideas at Brandeis University (1970-72), and later held professorships at Boston, Vanderbilt and Duke universities, as well as the University of Notre Dame (1988-94 and 2000-10, then emeritus).

Posted on Instagram by Basket Books & Art, Houston, Tex.: "Summer setting in."

"Have a whale of a time with a sandtastic book." That was the sidewalk chalkboard message, touting Daniel Kraus's Whalefall (MTV Books), in front of Lahaska Bookshop, Lahaska, Pa., which noted: "We love a theme."

After Happily Ever: An Epic Story of Midlife Rebellion by Jennifer Safrey (Sibylline Press).

Today:
All Things Considered: Etgar Keret, author of Autocorrect: Stories (Riverhead, $28, 9780593717233).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Mark K. Updegrove, author of Make Your Mark: Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents (Harper, $26, 9780063430167).

Sherri Shepherd Show: Montel Williams, author of The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier (Hanover Square Press, $30, 9781335081032).

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, May 31
9:30 a.m. Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668084946). (Re-airs Saturday at 9:30 p.m.)

6:40 p.m. Columbia University presents the 2025 Bancroft Prize to Kathleen DuVal, author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (Random House, $25, 9780525511052), and James Tejani, author of A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America (W.W. Norton, $35, 9781324093558).

Sunday, June 1
8 a.m. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, authors of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again (Penguin Press, $32, 9798217060672), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

2 p.m. Hassan A. Tetteh, author of Smarter Healthcare with AI: Harnessing Military Medicine to Revolutionize Healthcare for Everyone, Everywhere (Forbes Books, $29.99, 9798887504810).

3:15 p.m. Vicky Nguyen, author of Boat Baby: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668025567).

4:15 p.m. Michael Luo, author of Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America (Doubleday, $35, 9780385548571), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

5:20 p.m. Columbia University Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University present the 2025 Lukas Prize to Rebecca Nagle, author of By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land (Harper, $32, 9780063112049), and Kathleen DuVal, author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (Random House, $25, 9780525511052).

The 2025 NAIBA Book Awards, sponsored by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and recognizing an author who was born or has lived in the region and/or a book whose story takes place in the region, have been announced. The winners are:

Fiction: James by Percival Everett
Nonfiction: The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger
Young Adult Literature: Twenty-four Seconds from Now: A Love Story by Jason Reynolds
Middle Grade: Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller
Picture Book: Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten by Michelle Knudson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

In addition, Jason Reynolds has won the NAIBA Legacy Award. He commented: "It's an honor to be recognized by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. I don't take it for granted and am grateful to be counted amongst the number of brilliant storytellers who have received this award before me. My only hope is that I can continue to live up to what this legacy award means as I continue on this journey of writing the world I want to see."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, June 3:

Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central, $30, 9781538765821) is the fifth mystery with archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson.

Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie by James Lee Burke (Atlantic Monthly Press, $28, 9780802164520) is a historical thriller set in early 20th century Texas and the fifth entry in the Holland family series.

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine, $30, 9780593158715) follows a team of astronauts during the 1980s space shuttle program.

What Kind of Paradise: A Novel by Janelle Brown (Random House, $29, 9780593449783) follows a woman raised by her father in a remote cabin seeking the truth about her past in San Francisco.

The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich by Evan Osnos (Scribner, $30, 9781668204481) contains essays originally published in the New Yorker about America's oligarchs.

Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church by Kevin Sack (Crown, $35, 9781524761301) is a history of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., where nine people were murdered in 2015.

Stuart Woods' Finders Keepers by Brett Battles (Putnam, $30, 9780593854716) is the 66th Stone Barrington thriller.

Flashlight: A Novel by Susan Choi (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30, 9780374616373) tracks the fallout of a father's disappearance over decades and across continents.

How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle by Ray Dalio (Avid Reader Press/S&S, $35, 9781501124068) explores macroeconomic issues.

Free Ride: Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey That Changed My Life by Noraly Schoenmaker (Atria, $29.99, 9781668092491) chronicles a popular YouTuber's motorcycle rides across Eurasia.

This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Weiss Friedman (Ballantine, $28, 9780593872079) is written by social media figure The Dogist and argues dogs make us better people.

Submersed: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines by Matthew Gavin Frank (Pantheon, $28, 9780593700952) delves into the sometimes dark world of DIY submersibles.

My Friend May by Julie Flett (Greystone Kids, $19.95, 9781778401718) is a picture book tribute to the love of a child for their cat.

Fight AIDS!: How Activism, Art, and Protest Changed the Course of a Deadly Epidemic and Reshaped a Nation by Michael G. Long (Norton Young Readers, $19.99, 9781324053538) is a YA nonfiction work about 1980s activist organizations and events like ACT UP, gay liberation, and the Stonewall Riots.

Paperbacks:
Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn (Bloom Books, $18.99, 9781464243660).

The Monster and the Last Blood Match by K.A. Linde (Entangled/Red Tower Books, $19.99, 9781649379702).

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady (Berkley, $19, 9780593640845).

The Summer We Ran: A Novel by Audrey Ingram (Zibby Publishing, $17.99, 9798989923069).

Just Beachy by Wendy Wax (Berkley, $19, 9780593335963).

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 Lilac People: A Novel by Milo Todd (Counterpoint, $27, 9781640097032). "Focusing on the experiences of queer and trans people during World War II, Milo Todd tells stories of suffering, survival, and resilience without leaning into unnecessary trauma. A timely and powerful novel." --Hezekiah Olorode, Old Town Books, Alexandria, Va.

Old School Indian: A Novel by Aaron John Curtis (Zando-Hillman Grad Books, $28, 9781638931454). "Curtis is a pugilist on the page, fighting tropes in a landscape that uses language to marginalize the Indigenous experience. Abe Jacobs wrestles colonization in the world and with the disease inside his body, forces that gnaw at his very existence." --Arvin Ramgoolam, Townie Books, Crested Butte, Colo.

Paperback
My Best Friend's Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner (St. Martin's Griffin, $18, 9781250873323). "If you're a sapphic who's been in love with your best friend, have a seat. Wilsner paints a picture of exactly what that feels like and cranks up the spice. If you've ever been there, this book is beautiful catharsis." --Katey Salogar, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ages 4-8
Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World) by Corey R. Tabor (Greenwillow Books, $19.99, 9780063373587). "Adorable! Despite the simple dialogue from our main character--maybe because of it!--Crow and his neighbors will have kids engaged, excited, and possibly rolling on the floor like any other Cranky, Crabby Crow." --Julie Rowan-Zoch, Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins, Colo.

Ages 10+
Candle Island by Lauren Wolk (Dutton Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780593698549). "Candle Island is one of those stories that stays in your heart. A beautiful book about love, family, and grief that shows the healing power of creativity and nurturing wildness in wild spaces. I loved it!" --Susan Williams, M. Judson Booksellers & Storytellers, Greenville, S.C.

Teen Readers
Blades of Furry (A Graphic Novel): Volume 1 by Emily Erdos and Deya Muniz (Little, Brown Ink, $32.99, 9780316459839). "Blades of Furry has tons of rainbow lighting, heart eyes, and gay yearning, while not shying away from social commentary. The protagonists--figure skating, martial artist animals--learn and grow alongside one another, fighting for life and love against all odds." --Olivia Williams, Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Hannah Pittard's sixth book, If You Love It, Let It Kill You, is a quirky work of autofiction about an author and professor tested by her ex-husband's success, her codependent family, and an encounter with a talking cat.

Hana P. goes into a tailspin when she hears that her ex-husband's debut novel chronicles his marriage-ending affair with her dear friend. "I don't like your portrayal," another friend warns her. "Smug... Insecure." (That Hana wrote a whole memoir about said acrimonious divorce--i.e., Pittard's We Are Too Many--doesn't lessen the offense.) Researching her ex's career, Hana learns that he also published a short story in which she's "knifed to death by a homeless man." The news prompts her frenetic inquiry into the ownership of stories and life's possible routes.

Although Pittard (Visible Empire; Listen to Me) opens by declaring, "What follows is pure fantasy," her protagonist has a clear autobiographical heritage. Hana lives in Kentucky, with her divorced parents and sister nearby. They often meet for drinks and banter on Hana's porch. She has a comfortable partnership with boyfriend Bruce, and a good relationship with his daughter, "the eleven-year-old." However, she's been texting with "the Irishman" and is tempted to resume their affair. Meanwhile, she's fending off the flirtatious attentions of a 20-something student.

Hana (or should that be Pittard?) relishes flouting the "rules" of creative writing here. For her Hemingway-hating undergraduates--whose names she can't keep straight--it's all "vampires or talking kittens," she complains. Yet one thread involves Hana finding an injured cat and engaging it in personal, philosophical dialogues before handing it off to a student. In the theoretical section "A brief interview," her students mutiny. "What about the cat?" they ask; "you're fixated and then...? What? Is there a plot here or...?"

It's a fair question. And yet a sort of plot does develop, as crises both literal and existential teach Hana who and what matters. With her affectations (such as playing dead) and unreliability, Hana can be a frustrating narrator, but the metafictional angle renders her more wily than precious. The dialogue and scenes sparkle, and there are delightful characters, including Hana's father, who's had five wives and starts microdosing psilocybin at age 80. Pluck any line and it's sure to be memorable ("I know my mother like the inside of my elbow"). This gleefully odd book is perfect for Miranda July and Patricia Lockwood fans. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: Hannah Pittard's zany work of autofiction questions the rules of creative writing--as well as the logic of life and love.

If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a book? Are we living in a simulation? Is there such a thing as a time/print space warp? If we experience something over and over in what we perceive as present tense, but local and national media only experience it in future tense, which one is "real"? And the big question: Just how niche are we anyway?

My online niche rabbit hole descent began with three specific "breaking news" moments this month. The first was a New York Times piece, headlined "Beginning a New Chapter, Surrounded by Books," which noted that "across the country, many couples are weaving bookstores and books into their proposals or weddings."

At Red Stick Reads

It was breaking news for the Times, I guess, even if it wasn't news to us. In April and May alone, Shelf Awareness highlighted romantic moments at Red Stick Reads, Baton Rouge, La.; Volumes Bookcafe, Chicago, Ill.; 57th Street Books, Chicago, Ill.; Thank You Books, Birmingham, Ala.; Blue Cypress Books, New Orleans, La.; Lost and Bound Books, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Scuppernong Books, Greensboro, N.C. And this has been going on for awhile. 

It seems like news and social media has upped the public aspect of the ceremonies, but we were highlighting bookish nuptials and engagements as far back as 2008, when Shelf Awareness reported that because several county clerks in her area had stopped performing marriages, Heather Lyon, owner of Lyon Books & Learning Center in Chico, Calif., as well as a recently "ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and, for good measure, the Church of Spiritual Humanism," said she would happily perform non-religious marriages in the bookstore.

And in 2012, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, Ariz., was the setting for a proposal that came in the form of a coupon to be redeemed at the store register. The coupon was good for one engagement ring. Bookshop wedding bells were ringing in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and happily ever after. 

The second "breaking news" moment hit me just a few days later, when the Associated Press reported: "A wave of new owners brings fresh energy to independent bookselling."

Citing positive recent member growth numbers from the American Booksellers Association--2,863 individual members (up from 1,244 in 2016) at 3,281 locations (up from 1,749), with more than 200 stores in the process of opening--the AP said the influx has "helped the independent book community dramatically expand, intensify and diversify. Independent bookselling is not a field for fortune seekers: Most local stores, whether run by retirees, bookworms or those switching careers in middle age, have some sense of higher purpose. But for many who opened in recent years, it's an especially critical mission."

Courtney Bledsoe at Call & Response Books

Courtney Bledsoe, owner of Call & Response Books, Chicago Ill., said, "This endeavor is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. We're just doing this to serve the community, doing something we love to do, providing people with great events, great reading. It's been a real joy."

All true, all excellent news, though the momentum has been building steadily for more than a decade (and despite Covid).

Now we arrive at my third breaking news moment this month. Call it the camel's back breaker. Earlier this week I heard the Bloomberg Radio folks reference the AP article and proceed to "cute chat" about how wonderful the news was. They referenced their own great experiences at Murder Ink mystery bookstore on New York's Upper West Side, which closed in 2006;  and the old Shakespeare & Co. bookstore on Broadway and 81st St., which closed in the mid-1990s. Then they mentioned Barnes & Noble.

That was when I began to wonder: Are indie bookstores a niche business? Does that explain the media time lag on the newsworthiness of significant changes and trends in this cozy corner of the book trade?

Perhaps it does, but I also considered the fact that I have experience in an actual niche business. During the 1980s, I worked as an editor for Sailboard News, the trade magazine for the windsurfing business, covering what was at the time dubbed the "fastest growing sport" in the world. 

It was a challenge to write "breaking news" stories for an industry where the overriding controversy was that nobody could actually use the term "windsurfing" because the patent holders, and particularly a litigious dude named Hoyle Schweitzer, fiercely protected the design and the word. Thus the name Sailboard News and the use of "boardsailing" as counter-semantics. 

Between patent battles and state-by-state inconsistencies regarding whether sailboards were or were not vessels (thus requiring registration and/or flotation devices), the news end of the sport was considerably less sexy than the exotic beach locations highlighted in the advertisements that kept us afloat.

Still, about this time each year, national media outlets like USA Today and the New York Times would dutifully call our office for generic quotes to run with their annual "hit the beach" pre-summer features. That, my friends, was life in a true niche business zone.  

Which brings me back to the question: How niche is the bookselling business? For me, books are and always have been a key pathway to how I perceive the world, other humans, and even the passage of time. After 30 years in the book trade, I think it's the center of the known universe. And having been a longtime bookseller myself just heightens that perception. The national media may be operating on a bookstore news time delay, but I'll take our bookish present tense any day. And aren't books timeless anyway?