Latest News

Shelf Awareness for Thursday, August 7, 2025


Viz Media:  Kamudo, Vol. 1 by Akira Himekawa

Dutton: Sheer by Vanessa Lawrence

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: All You Can Be with ADHD by Kim and Penn Holderness, illustrated by Vin Vogel

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers: The Tree That Was a World by Yorick Goldewijk, illustrated by Jeska Vertsegen and translated by Laura Watkinson

Dead Sky Publishing:  Fireproof: Memoir of a Chef by Curtis Duffy with Jeremy Wagner

Beach Lane Books: The Everything Trail by Meg Fleming, illustrated by Chuck Groekink

Random House Graphic: Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

Wayne State University Press: Every Body Beloved: A Jewish Embrace of Fatness by Minna Bromberg

News

NVNR: 'Really Great and Really Positive'

New Voices New Rooms concluded yesterday in Atlanta, Ga., with a movable feast breakfast, bookseller retreats, and a guided tour of the wholesale trade center AmericasMart. All told, the conference welcomed 330 booksellers, 129 exhibitor personnel, and 90 authors.

Linda-Marie Barrett, executive director of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, noted that roughly one-third of the bookseller attendees were new to NVNR, and it was the "largest attendance for the SIBA contingent in years." Despite a "somber opening" with Monday's breakfast keynote about people affected by book bans, the show's energy 'has been really great and really positive," she said. 

Linda-Marie Barrett and Eileen Dengler

For this year's show, NVNR made "a lot of effort to bring in small presses," and it hosted more authors than it ever has, Barrett said. She was particularly pleased with the range of authors at the show, from debut writers to veterans. Reflecting on the fifth year of the New Voices New Rooms partnership, Barrett said it now operates like a "well-oiled machine," and they continue to refine their approach to the show every year.

She added that both SIBA and NAIBA have had "huge growth" in membership in recent years, and seeing so many new booksellers at the show during a time of political and economic uncertainty was very encouraging and evidence of a great deal of optimism in bookselling.

Eileen Dengler, executive director of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, said she saw a lot of positivity from booksellers and was glad to see not only so many first-time attendees but also a lot of "nice cross-pollination" between SIBA and NAIBA booksellers. She noted that NVNR took a different approach to the way it organized its educational tracks this year. There were more sessions devoted to children's bookselling, and there were new tracks on profitability, with sessions related to things like turns and KPIs, and therapist-moderated sessions about mental health.

NVNR featured several "Ask Me Anything" stations, where experienced booksellers fielded questions on everything from buying strategies, used books, and bookstore models to TikTok. Here, Doug Robinson (Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, Ga.) and Christine Patrick (Winchester Book Gallery, Winchester, Va.) talked about best practices for returns.

Dengler has led NAIBA since 1999 and announced earlier this summer that she'd be retiring at the end of 2026. When she first made the decision to retire, Dengler reflected, she felt "a lot of heavy feelings about it," but she knew it was the right decision. Then when she had to tell the NAIBA board about it, "that was emotional" too. This show was not her last but, when she attends next year, she'll be training her replacement. Her focus now, she said, is not on the fact that she's leaving but on the fact that she'll be setting up NAIBA's next executive director for success. "I love to train people, I love to share what I know," Dengler said. She wants to make sure that when she retires next year, NAIBA's new leader "has all the answers they need." --Alex Mutter


Dead Sky Publishing: Fireproof: Memoir of a Chef by Curtis Duffy with Jeremy Wagner


Bluestocking Bookshop, Holland, Mich., Sets Grand Reopening at New Location

Bluestocking Bookshop will host a grand reopening celebration on August 30 at its new location in Holland Town Center at 12330 James St., Suite A110, in Holland, Mich. The Sentinel reported that owner Aimee Chipman has planned "a full weekend of events designed to celebrate community, creativity and connection."

Bluestocking's new location.

The bookstore, which opened in 2019 on Butternut Drive, is moving to a new space that "will offer more than books, with expanded community areas, a make-and-take fragrance bar, and a rotating collection of new and used titles that reflect the diversity and curiosity of the shop's readers, according to a community announcement," the Sentinel noted. 

"This move isn't just about more square footage, it's about making more room for people," said Chipman. "We've designed this space for more conversation, more creativity, and more connection. Whether someone's here for a book, a workshop, or just a quiet corner, we want them to feel like they belong here in Holland and on the Lakeshore."


KidsBuzz: HarperCollins: How to Drive Your Brother Bananas by Diane Z. Shore, illus. by Laura Rankin


Bound & Vine Coming to Fayetteville, N.C.

A bookstore and wine bar called Bound & Vine will open in downtown Fayetteville, N.C., later this year, the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal reported.

Kellie Artis

Owner Kellie Artis has signed a lease for a 1,400-square-foot space at 134 Person St., and renovations will soon be underway to add bookshelves, a bar, and seating. Bound & Vine will carry an array of general-interest titles and serve alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. 

Artis plans to host author readings and other events at the store, and she will create a membership program that grants customers discounts, preferential registration for events, and access to a monthly first edition club. She hopes Bound & Vine will become a spot where community members can discover new books, connect with other readers, and linger and enjoy themselves with a drink.

After learning about book bars via social media, Artis wondered why there wasn't anything like that in Fayetteville. Eventually she decided to "stop complaining and actually create the space that we complain that we don't have," she told the Business Journal. From there, she put out a survey that revealed a great amount of community interest in having a bookstore and wine bar.

Artis launched early-bird memberships this summer and expects the store to open in the fall.


GLOW: Berkley Books: Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan


National Association of Black Bookstores Launches

The National Association of Black Bookstores (NAB2) has officially launched as a nonprofit collective "to unify, elevate, and empower Black-owned bookstores across the country [and] to promote literacy, amplify Black voices, and preserve Black culture by increasing the visibility, sustainability, and impact of Black bookstores and booksellers. The organization represents a powerful step toward creating long-term infrastructure and collective advocacy for one of the most vital cultural cornerstones of Black America."

NAB2 was founded by Kevin Johnson, a former National Basketball Association star, former mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and son of Georgia "Mother Rose" Peat West, founder of Underground Books in the Oak Park section of Sacramento, who died last December. Johnson called his involvement in NAB2 "deeply personal. It's a way for me to honor her legacy and ensure that the stories, voices, and spaces she cherished continue to thrive."

The inaugural board includes owners from Marshall's Music and Books, Jackson, Miss.; Hakim's Bookstore, Philadelphia, Pa.; Marcus Books, Oakland, Calif.; and Source Booksellers, Detroit, Mich.

The association plans to meet virtually and in person, with key events slated during Black Lit Weekend in New York (August 15-16) and the Sacramento Black Book Fair (September 12-13). For more information, click here.

NAB2 should not be confused with the Black Bookstore Coalition, which has more than 40 members and was founded in 2020 by Ramunda Lark Young of MahoganyBooks, Washington, D.C., and National Harbor, Md., and Kalima DeSuze of Cafe con Libros, Brooklyn, N.Y., who has since moved on to other endeavors.

In a statement, Young wrote that Johnson "approached members of our Coalition with a proposal to merge efforts under his leadership. After thoughtful discussion and a leadership vote (comprised of nine bookstores from across the nation), we've decided not to align with NAB2 and will continue our work independently. Our decision was shaped by member concerns about the significant overlap in missions, the timing and rollout of the request, and elements of Mr. Johnson's public record that warrant reflection and due diligence."

Young added: "We believe there's room for multiple efforts to thrive. Groups such as the American Booksellers Association DEI Committee, regional bookselling associations, and many others are also working hard on initiatives that support us and this ecosystem. We believe this work must always be rooted in care, community trust, shared values, and collective vision."

In the last five years, among other accomplishments, the Black Bookstore Coalition has launched the Black Bookstore Coalition Bestsellers List; created initiatives like Black Lit Weekend, led by Onikah Asamoa-Caesar, owner of Fulton Street Books & Coffee, Tulsa, Okla.; partnered with authors and publishers across the industry; and developed and launched a Black author-focused book catalog in partnership with one of the top five publishers that has printed and shipped close to 12,000 copies to Black-owned bookstores across the nation (including stores not part of the coalition).


Obituary Note: Stella Rimington

Dame Stella Rimington, the first female director general of MI5 and an author of spy novels, died August 3, the Bookseller reported. She was 90. Rimington was chair of the Booker Prize judges in 2011 and was also considered the inspiration for Dame Judi Dench's portrayal of M in the James Bond films. She was the author of 12 spy novels, the most recent of which was The Hidden Hand.

Alison Hennessey, publishing director of Bloomsbury's imprint Raven Books, said, "It has been an immense privilege to work on Dame Stella's books since I worked at Bloomsbury. She rightfully won many fans for her carefully crafted tales, which came with an authenticity that few other espionage authors could offer their readers. We are extremely fortunate to have published seven of her novels here, with her last book publishing earlier this year, and our whole team offer their deep condolences to her family."

After her university years, Rimington moved to India in 1965 with her husband, who was first secretary (economic) for the British High Commission in New Delhi. She began to work for MI5 while on a job as a part-time clerk for the Security Service, and joined the permanent staff of MI5 when she returned to England. She rose to hold the position of director general from 1992 to 1996, the Bookseller noted. After her retirement, she was made a dame commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1996 New Year Honors list. 

Rimington published a memoir, Open Secret, in 2001 and At Risk, the first in her book series starring MI5 intelligence officer Liz Carlyle, in 2004. Other Carlyle novels include Secret Asset (2006), Illegal Action (2007), Dead Line (2008), Present Danger (2009), Rip Tide (2011), and The Moscow Sleepers (2018). In addition to The Hidden Hand, her other Manon Tyler novel is The Devil's Bargain (2022).

During her career in MI5, Rimington "faced obstacles in that male-dominated world every step of the way, even into her retirement, when she was chastised by intelligence veterans for publishing memoirs that, in the end, turned out to be revealing of her career path but not much else," the New York Times noted. 

"It did not matter that I had a degree, that I had already worked for several years in the public service, at a higher grade than it was offering, or that I was 34 years old," she wrote in Open Secrets. "The policy was that men were recruited."

"As the first avowed female head of any intelligence agency in the world, Dame Stella broke through longstanding barriers and was a visible example of the importance of diversity in leadership," Ken McCallum, the current MI5 director general, said in a statement.

In interviews, "reporters were excited to ask the talkative former MI-5 spymaster for her thoughts on James Bond," the Times noted, adding that in a 2012 interview she said that Bond was "extremely well trained, but the difficulty is that he doesn't seem to know where the boundaries lie."


Notes

Image of the Day: The First Lady of World War II

On Tuesday, Shannon McKenna Schmidt, a frequent contributor to Shelf Awareness in our early days, gave a lecture and did a signing for her book The First Lady of World War II: Eleanor Roosevelt's Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back (Sourcebooks) to a crowd of more than 100 at the Wright Museum of World War II, Wolfeboro, N.H. Book sales were handled by Wolfeboro's Country Bookseller.


Bookstore Romance Day, UPS Style: Writer's Block Bookstore

"We asked our favorite UPS man to help us send a message to all of you," Writer's Block Bookstore, Winter Park, Fla., posted on Facebook, adding: "Who's ready to celebrate Bookstore Romance day this Saturday?? Well Gabe is! Those of you on or around Park Ave. in Winter Park can back us up that nothing says 'read to me' as much as Gabe and a good book!"


Reese's August Book Club Pick: Once Upon a Time in Dollywood

Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan (‎‎Berkley) is the August pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "‎As Eve and Jamie navigate their budding relationship, they must also confront and heal from the wounds of their individual pasts. What unfolds is more than just a romance--Ashley Jordan's debut is a moving story of two people who learn to uplift one another and, in the process, discover the best versions of themselves."

Reese wrote: "A LitUp Fellow turned debut author, Ashley's voice is vibrant, funny, and full of heart. I read this in one sitting, it's that good!"


Bookseller Moment: Storyline Bookshop

Posted on Facebook by Storyline Bookshop, Arlington, Ohio, which opened in July 2024: "Fun fact: When planning the bookshop buildout, I considered naming it Skylight Books but I wasn't sure if we'd be able to actually get a skylight in the space. It was always one of those 'nice to haves' but if I'm being honest, I didn't think it would happen. 

"We had to drill through layers of a concrete roof, and get approval from the city, and work with the building owners on the plans, and it was $$$ and getting the skylight installed prolonged the opening by 6 more months. 

"So I went with Storyline Bookshop on all of the initial business documents as a temporary name but then fell in love with it. Storyline tells a beautiful story and really fits the brand. It's perfect. Even when we got approval on the skylight, it never felt like the right name. Storyline was it!

"But when the sun shines through the Skylight Room, I am reminded of the days of building the space and all the hard work it took to make it a reality. When the space is filled with people and the light shines through, I am in awe of how it turned from a long open room to a community hub for book lovers and kids with big dreams, and how it has become a Third Place for so many people. Your home is your first place, work is your second, and Storyline is your third. Come grab a book and have a seat in *your* Skylight Room anytime."


Media and Movies

Media Heat: Peter Ames Carlin on Fresh Air

Today:
Fresh Air: Peter Ames Carlin, author of Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of 'Born to Run' (Doubleday, $30, 9780385551533), celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Bruce Springsteen album.

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Dawn Staley, author of Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, $28.99, 9781668023365).

Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat: Candace Parker, author of The Can-Do Mindset: How to Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions (Zando, $28, 9781638932185).


This Weekend on Book TV: Garrett M. Graff on The Devil Reached Toward the Sky

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, August 9
8 a.m. Garrett M. Graff, author of The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb (Avid Reader Press, $35, 9781668092392). (Re-airs Saturday at 8 p.m.)

Sunday, August 10
8 a.m. Bruce Bechtol, co-author of Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea (The University Press of Kentucky, $29.95, 9781985902176). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9:15 a.m. Carol Moseley Braun, author of Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics (Hanover Square Press, $32.99, 9781335523839). (Re-airs Sunday at 9:15 p.m.)



Books & Authors

Awards: Forward Poetry Shortlists

Finalists have been named for the Forward Prizes for Poetry, which include the £10,000 (about $13,360) Forward Prize for Best Collection, the £5,000 (about $6,680) Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, the £1,000 (about $1,335) Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, and the £1,000 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem--Performed. 

Winners of the annual awards, which celebrate new poetry in the U.K. and Ireland, will be named October 26 in London. This year's book finalists are:

Best collection
I Sugar the Bones by Juana Adcock
Southernmost by Leo Boix
The Island in the Sound by Niall Campbell
Avidya by Vidyan Ravinthiran
Wellwater by Karen Solie

First collection
Theophanies by Sarah Ghazal Ali
Chaotic Good by Isabelle Baafi
Heirloom by Catherine-Esther Cowie
Altar by Desree
Goonie by Michael Mullen


Attainment: New Titles Out Next Week

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, August 12:

For Richer For Poorer: A Novel by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press, $29, 9780593498798) follows a successful fashion designer managing her business and family.

Too Old for This by Samantha Downing (Berkley, $30, 9780593101032) finds a retired serial killer contending with a nosy journalist.

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (Grand Central, $28, 9781538765104) is the fourth thriller with missing persons expert Frankie Elkin.

Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer (Avon, $30, 9780063450875) begins a new romantasy series.

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (Tor Nightfire, $27.99, 9781250398659) takes place in the aftermath of a global event during which eight million people died in highly improbable ways.

The Birds of Christmas by Olivia Armstrong, illus. by Mira Miroslavova (Eerdmans, $17.99, 9780802856470) is a picture book folktale about the Nativity.

The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor, illus. by Tana Ford (First Second, $14.99, 9781250817488) is an Africofuturist middle-grade graphic novel about a cat who must stop an alien invasion.

The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces by Seth Harp (Viking, $30, 9780593655085) unravels a web of drugs and murder at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks (Harvard Business Review Press, $30, 9798892792264) collects entries from Brooks' "How to Build a Life" column in the Atlantic.

Cudi: The Memoir by Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668201336) is the memoir of the rapper.

The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 by Jonathan Mahler (Random House, $32, 9780525510635) explores a pivotal span of modern New York City history.

Rehab: An American Scandal by Shoshana Walter (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781982149826) looks at the failures of America's rehab-industrial complex.

Paperbacks:
A Silence in Belgrave Square (A Below Stairs Mystery Book 8) by Jennifer Ashley (Berkley, $18.99, 9780593549933).

The Curse of Gods (The Curse of Saints Book 3) by Kate Dramis (Sourcebooks Casablanca, $17.99, 9781728289694).

Heart Strings (A Love in Galway Novel Book 2) by Ivy Fairbanks (Putnam, $19, 9780593851883).

Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe (Berkley, $19, 9780593640104).


IndieBound: Other Indie Favorites

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

Hardcover
Daikon: A Novel by Samuel Hawley (Avid Reader Press, $29.99, 9781668083055). "A historical novel that really opens your eyes to what Japanese people experienced at the end of World War II. Daikon fills in the emotion that strict history does not. Wonderful characters and beautiful writing!" --Becky Anderson, Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville, Ill.

Hot Girls with Balls: A Novel by Benedict Nguyen (Catapult, $28, 9781646222476). "Hot Girls with Balls is a searing satire of a hostile world that asks minorities to speak on behalf of their communities and then silences them. I couldn't help but root for Six and Green as they navigated their roles as two Online Famous Trans Girls in the men's pro-Volleyball league--all while being hot sweaty girls in love." --Ellis Breunig, Page 2 Books, Burien, Wash.

Paperback: An Indies Introduce Title
Make Your Way Home: Stories by Carrie R. Moore (Tin House Books, $17.99, 9781963108286). "I mean it when I say this book is breathing life into me. Each story is a slow burning tale set in the South, braiding history, love, family, and self-discovery together with crisp prose and honest storytelling." --Nadi Hinojosa, Lark and Owl Booksellers, Georgetown, Tex.

Ages 4-8
Island Storm by Brian Floca, illus. by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books, $18.99, 9780823456475). "This is beautiful. The perfect match of text and image bring an island storm to life. You can feel the anxiety. You can hear the cry of the neighbor to 'go home' just as you can hear the wind building, the thunder rumbling, and the trees creaking." --Kristine Jelstrom-Hamill, Buttonwood Books and Toys, Cohasset, Mass.

Ages 8-12
Into the Bewilderness: A Graphic Novel by Gus Gordon (HarperAlley, $24.99, 9780063246126). "Utterly charming and utterly hilarious! Furball and Turnip--er, Luis and Pablo, journey to the big city to find some high culture. Profound questions are asked and not answered. Maybe it doesn't matter when you have a best friend walking by your side!" --Joan Trygg, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn.

Ages 14+
Tenderly, I Am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone (Holt, $19.99, 9781250348906). "Lacrimosa Arriscane is a heroine as sharp as she is vulnerable, and her entanglement with the enigmatic Felimath siblings pulses with gothic tension and forbidden heat. Part divine horror, part tragic romance, and wholly original, this book will leave you breathless, unsettled, and aching for more." --Cassidy James Taylor, Grump & Sunshine Bookshop, Belfast, Maine

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]


Book Review

Review: Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)

Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson (Atria, $30 hardcover, 352p., 9781668087633, September 30, 2025)

Listen in on the conversation between women's rights in the U.S. and the cinematic world through six classics of the horror film genre in the adept, intelligent pop-culture history Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson. Horror is often cited as a misogynistic genre, but here Johnson, professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, points out a golden era of scary stories with a grounding in reproductive rights, domestic violence awareness, and attitudes toward women working outside the home.

Johnson's project began with a lecture in 2022 on the 1968 film Rosemary's Baby, in which a young New York City woman unwittingly and unwillingly becomes pregnant with the child of Satan. Johnson (Waster and the Wasters: Poetry and Ecosystemic Thought in Medieval England) saw the film as "a parable about the dangers of denying women their reproductive agency" and taught it as such. The U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of federal protection for reproductive rights shortly afterward had Johnson turning to art, "where the most complex social problems and traumas get worked through and processed," and specifically horror again. She maintains that horror has deep ties with American feminism, especially in a subgenre she terms "domestic horror": films that place the horror within the home and family. Johnson's chapters peel away what the reader thinks they know about each film and point out the subtext, intentional or not. Like Rosemary's Baby, Alien explores reproductive violence. The Stepford Wives spotlights conflict over women's liberation. The Exorcist and The Shining both deal with domestic violence. The Omen shows the duplicity and oppression inherent in the patriarchy. Analyses of the women's rights landscape and significant events at the time of each movie's release give context to dissections of each film's plot, placing horror squarely in frame with reality.

This commentary on the horror genre's ability to shape and echo the political landscape is riveting, enlightening, and occasionally scream-inducing in its reminders of the not-so-long past. Readers should expect to be entertained while finding new respect for the genre, though the author does not sugarcoat the abuses of the male directors behind the projects. Johnson's fly-throughs of point-supporting scenes create an instant desire to see for oneself, and the experience may be heightened with a watch-along. This deep excavation of art imitating life is more than positive affirmation for horror fans; it is a call--or scream--to action. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: This adept and intelligent pop culture history views six classics of horror cinema through an impassioned feminist lens.


Deeper Understanding

Robert Gray: Keeping Up with 'What Dan Read'

I've always felt like an underachiever as a reader when measured by volume. Twenty years ago, I confessed my slow reading habits in a blog post about ARCs ("I'm Reading as Fast as I Can!!"), noting that although I had increased my reading speed somewhat--out of professional necessity--during the first 13 years I'd been a frontline bookseller, I still felt like a biblio-laggard.

Strangely, though, "my customers think I'm a reading machine," I wrote then. "They will sometimes ask, with unmasked awe, 'How many books do you read per week?' It's as if they think I've become some kind of Electrolux, devouring pages as fast as they come off the printing press. The truth is more mundane.... 

"Often I have three, four, or five books going at once, and continue to cast my eyes with hunger and longing at the endless stream of new and tempting titles that come across my desk. And I often just graze, reading 50 pages and bailing if I'm not fully engaged. Nevertheless, the stack on my desk continues to grow at a pace that outstrips my ability to keep up. I seem to look for reasons not to continue reading, reasons to give myself a break and move on to the next title."

I've never been one of those readers who sets yearly goals or meticulously catalogues the books I've read. Before I became a bookseller, I was practically monogamous when I read. I could spend a month with a book, six months with a particular author. The pages of my books were covered with marginalia. I lived in them for long periods, then moved on, as if walking a long, narrow path rather than driving an interstate highway."

So it was with a long-gestating mixture of awe and humility that I recently learned about the extraordinary reading life of Dan Pelzer, who died at the age of 92 on July 1. He logged all 3,599 of the books he had read since 1962, when "he first began jotting his reads down on his language class work sheets while stationed in Nepal with the Peace Corps, to 2023, when his eyesight failed him and he could no longer read," the New York Times reported. 

Most of his books came from the Whitehall Branch of the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Library, which posted on Facebook a message from his daughter, Marci Pelzer, who noted, in part: "Nobody loved the library more than Dan. When we were little, he took us to the downtown library every Saturday morning and enrolled us in every summer reading program. He was a regular at the Livingston and then Whitehall branches until he could no longer read. I'm sure he would be among your highest circulation and longest term borrowers."

She had considered printing his reading list to distribute at the funeral, but it was too long and ultimately she asked her godson create a website featuring What Dan Read, a digitiized version of the handwritten list that guests could access through a QR code on the back of the funeral program. 

The library has since created book displays in his honor at the Whitehall Branch and at Main Library. Lauren Hagan, CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, said a team of about six people at the library were re-creating Pelzer's list online so that it could be used by other patrons.

What Dan Read has since gone viral. Recently, Marci Pelzer told WBNS: "You know, I just keep thinking about how crazy it is that we've spread the list to so many people. Our intention was to hand it out at his funeral. Then, we got the idea to have a QR code. Then, I put it on LinkedIn and it kind of took off and then when the library got a hold of it, it just went crazy.... It's amazing. It's like the dialogue with him about books can continue indefinitely and spread around the globe."

At the Columbus Library

In 2006, a Columbus Dispatch feature explored Dan Pelzer's devotion to reading, noting that he "was making his way through roughly 80 books a year. He had recently read James Joyce's Ulysses, and he wasn't afraid to tell the journalist what he really thought. 'The worst,' he said. 'Pure torture.' " Still, Pelzer finished reading the classic novel because he finished reading every book he started. "Even the books that were dogs, he would slog through to the final page," the Dispatch noted.

When I wrote that blog post mentioned above in 2005, I had just returned home from BookExpo, where I had once again been showered with gifts in the form of ARCs and "now, a new mound of guilt towers above me at this desk. I did not grab them off stacks on a mad locust tour of the show floor. These were nearly all given to me personally by publishers, editors, or authors, who each time handed me the most precious gift they had to give: their work, their life, their hope. I do not have a vested interest in any of the titles that come my way until I read and love them."

I asked myself then: "When will I read all these galleys? Can I read them all? Will I read yours? Maybe, maybe not. But, rest assured that, within the considerable limitations of my ability, time, and attention span, I'll be reading as fast as I can."

I'm no Dan Pelzer though.

--Robert Gray, contributing editor

KidsBuzz: HarperCollins: How to Drive Your Brother Bananas (I Can Read Level 2) by Diane Z. Shore, illus. by Laura Rankin
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