The Perkins Cove Bookshop hosted its grand opening and ribbon-cutting celebration last month at 12 Perkins Cove Rd. in Ogunquit, Maine. Mainebiz reported that "Ogunquit's only bookstore is writing an early success story in the southern Maine summer tourism hotspot."

Co-owners John Ranco and John Cancy had a soft opening in late May, followed by the grand opening on July 1. The bookstore is located near their other business, Perkins Cove Pottery Shop. Ranco told Mainebiz they have owned the pottery store for more than a decade, expanding it over the years into "more of a lifestyle store than a gallery." 

Three years ago they began adding books, which eventually led to opening the Perkins Cove Bookshop when the right location became available. The 900-square-foot store stocks about 1,600 titles, from bestsellers to Maine authors and stories. Although the pottery shop is a seasonal business in a non-winterized building, Ranco said the bookstore will stay open through December and possibly on Saturdays during the winter "when it gets awfully quiet."

Their businesses employ 22 people combined, including six at the bookstore. "People who love books apply for jobs at bookstores," Ranco said. "We have this amazing talented crew of readers who work for us now who have such a breadth of knowledge around different titles and genres and adjacent authors."

Alice Pearce, executive director of the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce, said this is the first bookstore to open in the town for as long as anyone can remember, partly because of a 2006 local ordinance that bans franchises from operating there. "People have been waiting for a bookshop forever," she added. "It's been a boon for local authors."

Page & Flame, an indie bookstore and candle shop that opened in April 2024 in Landrum, S.C., has been closed by owner Amanda Edwards, who will continue to sell her Green Creek Candle Co. products at the Landrum Farmer's Market.

In a social media post, Edwards wrote: "Sometimes the most beautiful chapters begin when we close the book we thought we'd be reading forever. This week marks the end of an era as I close the doors of Page & Flame. But here's the thing about endings--they're just beginnings wearing different clothes. I'm not mourning this closure; I'm celebrating what it made possible.

"What started as a dream to create a cozy corner for book lovers became so much more because of you--my incredible customers who became friends, who recommended hidden gems, who lingered over tea and conversations about your latest reads. You didn't just support a small business; you became part of something magical."

Edwards noted that in addition to "amazing stories and wonderful people," her bookshop also "led me to someone who saw something in me I didn't even know existed. Now I'm part of a writing project that has me absolutely buzzing with excitement. I'm walking through doors I never even dared to dream about. The irony isn't lost on me: I had to open a bookshop to discover I was meant to write the books, not just sell them." She has not revealed details about her plans. 

"Page & Flame was never just about the books--it was about the connections, the conversations, the serendipitous moments that change everything," Edwards observed. "You made this year unforgettable, and for that, I am endlessly grateful."

Barnes & Noble will open a new store in Germantown, Tenn., a Memphis suburb, this Wednesday, August 6.

Located at 2130 Exeter Rd. in the Germantown Collection shopping center, the new store will span roughly 10,000 square feet. It will officially open with a ribbon cutting and signing with Avery Cunningham, author of The Mayor of Maxwell Street (Hyperion Avenue).

The Germantown store is one of five new B&N locations set to open this month. The others will open in Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas. B&N plans to open more than 60 new stores this year.

Allan Ahlberg, "who delighted generations of children with colorful characters and nimble rhymes," died July 31, the Guardian reported. He was 87. He and his wife, illustrator Janet Ahlberg, produced numerous bestselling nursery classics. After her death in 1994, he worked with illustrators like Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman, "with his career coming full circle in a series of collaborations with his daughter Jessica including Half a Pig and a pop-up set of anarchic variations on the tale of Goldilocks."

Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, CEO of Walker Books Group, said, "He was enormously playful in spirit and language and had the ability to make you smile in one sentence. Allan inspired generations of children's writers, inspired all of us who worked with him, and inspired artists to make some of their very best work."

He met and fell in love with Janet Hall while they were both studying at a teacher training college in Sunderland. After they married in 1969, he began teaching in a primary school while she worked as an illustrator. "But when she despaired of the humdrum material she was drawing and asked Ahlberg to write her a story, he later recalled, 'It was as if she turned a key in my back and I was off,' " the Guardian noted.

Their careers blossomed in 1976 with The Old Joke Book, which was followed a year later with the publication of fiction books The Vanishment of Thomas Tull and Burglar Bill. They firmly established their place in publishing in 1978 with a book for younger readers, Each Peach Pear Plum, which earned Janet Ahlborg a Kate Greenaway medal for illustration.

Their other books include Peepo!, The Baby's Catalogue, Funnybones, and The Jolly Postman, an intricately constructed story of deliveries to fairytale characters complete with envelopes containing letters and cards. It took five years to complete and sold more than six million copies.

Janet Ahlberg was 50 when she died of breast cancer in 1994. Allan Ahlberg subsequently published Janet's Last Book in her memory, later recalling: "Writing about something is distancing it.... It distracted me for a whole year. And then I was on the road to recovery."

That road included meeting Walker Books editor Vanessa Clarke, whom he later married, and to collaborations with other illustrators, including Bruce Ingman for The Runaway Dinner and The Pencil; and Raymond Briggs for The Adventures of Bert. In 2004, is first joint project with his daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, was Half a Pig. They subsequently collaborated on more titles including a memoir of his childhood, The Bucket, and a reworking of Goldilocks.

"I'm like a dripping tap," he said in 2011. "As I get older I drip more slowly, but I still come down here. I'm less impatient to spend hour after hour writing, though I like it as much as ever."

Francesca Dow, managing director of PRH Children's, told the Bookseller: "Allan was one of the most extraordinary authors I have had the privilege and pleasure to work with. His brilliant books--so many of them created with his late wife, Janet, the highly talented illustrator--have been described as 'mini masterpieces.'  And they are, wonderful satisfying stories, the perfect marriage of text and illustration, full of surprise and humor, with something new to spot with every reading, and always with the child reader at their heart.... We had many discussions over detail, always with Allan wanting to get the book just so. He knew that making it perfect for children matters, and above all that the very best stories for children last forever. Allan's are some of the very best--true classics, which will be loved by children and families for years to come."

House of Books, Kent, Conn., hosted Greg Galloway in conversation with Paul Tremblay about his new novel, All We Trust (Melville House). Pictured: Galloway (l.) with general manager Ben Rybeck.

"Bookstore Romance Day is this Saturday!" Phoenix Books in Rutland, Vt., reminded its patrons that the big day is approaching by sharing photos of the shop's BRD sales floor display, noting: "Your eyes do not deceive you. Blind date books are back to celebrate Bookstore Romance Day! Our booksellers have created an awesome display filled with all things romance including bookmarks, candles, and so many other fun gifts for the occasion. 

"As for the blind dates, we had a lot of fun looking for newer romance titles for this and we hope that you enjoy their first lines as much as we do!

"Stop by Phoenix Books Rutland to check us out. Who knows? Maybe you'll take home a stunning book home for a lovely night-in."

"What better way to enjoy this cloudy Sunday than with a good book--perhaps paired with a cup of coffee from our neighbors @hannabeescoffee? We're here 'til 6 today to help you pick something out!" The Bookshop, Nashville, Tenn., posted on Instagram. 

At the Penguin Random House Christian Publishing Group:

Robin Bermel has joined the company as backlist & brand director. She has more than 20 years of publishing experience and most recently was senior marketing manager at Tyndale Alliances, and worked at Tyndale House for 11 years.

Savana Bishop has joined the company as associate marketing manager. She was formerly marketing associate at Portfolio Books/Penguin Publishing Group.

Circadian Web: The Space of Time: A Novel by Alistair Conwell (Roundfire Books).

Today:
CBS Mornings: Kerry Burnight, author of Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life's Second Half (Worthy Books, $29, 9781546007357).

Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Josh Gad, author of PictureFace Lizzy (Putnam, $19.99, 9780593463123).

Fresh Air: Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation (Doubleday, $35, 9780385548076).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Robert B. Reich, author of Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America (Knopf, $30, 9780593803288).

Tomorrow:
Today: Meg Josephson, author of Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You (Gallery Books, $30, 9781668082461).

The View repeat: Jeremy Renner, author of My Next Breath: A Memoir (Flatiron, $29.99, 9781250383532).

Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Stacey Abrams, author of Coded Justice: A Thriller (Doubleday, $30, 9780385548342).

The first trailer has been released for Oliver Hermanus's film The History of Sound, starring Emmy winner Josh O'Connor (The Crown) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun, Gladiator II). Deadline reported that the World War I love story is adapted from Ben Shattuck's Pushcart Prize-winning short story about two young men, Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor), "who meet at the Boston Conservatory, where they bond over a deep love of folk music." Years later, an "unexpected reunion, ensuing love affair, and the music they collect and preserve, will shape the course of Lionel's life far beyond his own awareness."

Hermanus (Beauty, Moffie) directs for Cop Car producer End Cue. Molly Price, Alison Bartlett, and Chris Cooper also star. Mubi, which took North America rights at Cannes, has set the film's U.S. theatrical release for September 12.

Finalists have been selected for the 2025 Heartland Booksellers Awards, sponsored by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. Booksellers can now vote for winners here; voting deadline is this Wednesday, August 6. Winners will be celebrated October 14 at a ceremony during the Heartland Fall Forum in Indianapolis, Ind.

The finalists:

Fiction:
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler (Sourcebooks Landmark)
A Lesser Light by Peter Geye (University of Minnesota Press)
Us Fools by Nora Lange (Two Dollar Radio)

Nonfiction:
Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (Crash Course Books)
Original Sins by Eve L. Ewing (One World)
Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden by Teresa Peterson (University of Minnesota Press)
The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon (Thesis)

Poetry:
Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium by Marcie R. Rendon (University of Minnesota Press)
Bluff by Danez Smith (Graywolf Press)
Good Dress by Brittany Rogers (Tin House)
We Live Here: Poems for an Ojibwe Calendar Year by Lois Beardslee (Wayne State University Press)

YA/Middle Grade:
Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights by Ashley Hope Pérez (Holiday House)
The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga (HarperCollins)
Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer (Arthur A. Levine)

Picture Book:
How the Birds Got Their Songs by Travis Zimmerman (Minnesota Historical Society Press)
Mermaids Are the Worst! by Alex Willan (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
So Tortoise Dug by Emmy Kastner (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
The Yellow Bus by Loren Long (Roaring Brook Press)

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Finalists for the 2025 Lambda Literary Awards in 26 categories have been announced and can be seen here. Finalists and winners will be celebrated in New York City on October 4 as part of Lammys Day, which includes readings and panels.

"This year's shortlist represents the voices and resilience of LGBTQ+ people in a time when our stories are under attack through legislation and misinformation," Lambda Literary executive director J. Clapp said. "Standing with the truth and determination of our authors, Lambda Literary is proud of the vulnerability our writers have shown by continuing to use their pen (or keyboard) to move hearts, minds, and missions. More than ever, this year's Lammys represents the importance of our work--we must elevate LGBTQ+ stories to give hope for a future where we are all free while reminding us of the paths blazed by our elders and ancestors. We at Lambda Literary remain immensely thankful for the ongoing support and reminders of our mutual investment in the presence and success of LGBTQ+ writers."

Celebrated Argentinian author Samanta Schweblin and translator Megan McDowell, who co-won the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature for Seven Empty Houses, reunite for their fifth collaboration, Good and Evil and Other Stories, a stupendous six-story collection. Despite the seemingly simple title, little of Schweblin's fiction is ever quite straightforward; her perplexingly peculiar, uncannily startling narratives are poised to delight and challenge.

Complicated, strained relationships between family members repeat and resonate here. In "An Eye in the Throat," a young child loses his voice (and almost his life) after swallowing a battery, but his father is the one who loses his ability to communicate his stifling guilt and desperate love for his son. In "A Woman from Atlántida," a hairdresser gently washes the disheveled hair of an unkempt elderly woman who visits the salon every two weeks; 40 years have passed since they originally met, and the old woman remains the only link to the hairdresser's older sister. In "A Visit from the Chief," a woman frequents her mother's care home, but rarely her difficult mother; on one occasion, she notices a facility resident at the subway station who's managed to leave undetected and the woman decides to take her home, with shocking, terrifying results.

When Schweblin adds animals to her narratives, inexplicable and mystical events occur. In "Welcome to the Club," a woman struggles between her life with a husband and two daughters (and a borrowed, escape-prone rabbit) and the lure of the mossy bottom of the nearby open water. In "A Fabulous Animal," a woman receives a call from an estranged friend who, after 20 years without contact, needs to talk about her son's death witnessed by both women; as the friend announces she's dying, the woman reveals the child's final, equine wish. In "William in the Window," a Shanghai writers' residency gathers an internationally diverse group of 10 authors; when they congregate one evening for the Irish writer's birthday, they also share in the news of the death of her cat.

Schweblin (Mouthful of Birds) again demonstrates her irrefutable mastery for arousing unease, always eschewing easy labels or judgments. Her ending "Notes on the Stories" is a delicious enhancement. To bestow "good" or "evil" verdicts on any of her characters--or their unsettling situations--is a purposefully impossible task, a dazzling reminder that the gray areas of in-between are where realities exist. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Samanta Schweblin's wondrous six-story collection, Good and Evil and Other Stories, evades simplicity to reveal intricately complicated relationships.

The bestselling Libro.fm audiobooks at independent bookstores during July:

Fiction
1. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab (Macmillan Audio)
2. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Penguin Random House Audio)
3. Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry (Tantor Media)
4. These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean (Penguin Random House Audio)
5. A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (Penguin Random House Audio)
6. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang (Penguin Random House Audio)
7. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Simon & Schuster Audio)
8. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Penguin Random House Audio)
9. Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell (Simon & Schuster Audio)
10. James by Percival Everett (Penguin Random House Audio)

Nonfiction
1. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (Penguin Random House Audio)
2. The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger (HarperAudio)
3. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Tantor Media)
4. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Penguin Random House Audio)
5. All About Love by bell hooks (HarperAudio)
6. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Simon & Schuster Audio)
7. There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib (Penguin Random House Audio)
8. Empire of AI by Karen Hao (Penguin Random House Audio)
9. A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst (Penguin Random House Audio)
10. We Will Be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson (Recorded Books)