At E. Shaver Booksellers in Savannah, Ga.

Today is not just about romance, it's about indie bookstore romance. Celebrate the love stories that live on the page and in your local indie. --Indiebound

Saturday was Bookstore Romance Day, which is "designed to give independent bookstores an opportunity to celebrate Romance fiction--its books, readers, and writers--and to strengthen the relationships between bookstores and the Romance community." Here's a sampling of bookshops sharing #BookstoreRomanceDay fun on social media:

Phoenix Bookstore, Rutland, Vt.: "Happy Bookstore Romance Day, everyone! Step through our colorful entrance to a world of romance! We have blind date books, romance titles, stickers, bookmarks, pencil cases, and so much more!"

Loyalty Bookstores, Washington, D.C.: "Bookstore Romance Day is upon us!!! Come by Loyalty in Petworth for 10% off Romance (members can double dip!) on in stock and preorders! Plus get a flower with purchase from our friends @youruptownflorist... So many goodies and good vibes! We'll see you soon."

At Pages: a Bookstore, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe and Phoenix, Ariz.: "It's #BookstoreRomanceDay! Or in our case, Bookstore Romance Day WEEKEND. We're celebrating bookish romance tropes and all things romance, all weekend long.... So bring your bestie. Bring your book club. Bring your heart. We'd LOVE to see you."

Bookish, Modesto, Calif.: "It's Bookstore Romance Day at Bookish, but we're also celebrating our OG romance (25 years coming right up!). Thanks to my partner in everything--love you, Will!"

The Pile Bookstore, Berwyn, Ill.: "Happy #bookstoreromanceday and #bookloversday! Stop by all day for special cold brew, design-a-tote, free audiobooks from Libro.fm, special new merch, and a photo op on our pink couch!"

Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans featured a Mimosa Bar, along with plenty of sweet treats, crafts, book deals and other festivities.

Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Harrisburg, Pa.: "ROMANCE BOOKSTORE DAY IS HEREEE!! Enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, love triangles, second chances, star-crossed lovers--we're celebrating all the tropes of the genre today with our favorite readers... so grab your besties and come hang out with us!" 

Too Fond of Books, Tahlequah, Okla.: "Happy Bookstore Romance Day, everybody! Today is the perfect day to stop in and find the perfect romance you've been looking for!"

Books Inc., San Leandro, Calif.: "Happy Bookstore Romance/Romantasy Day readers! Here at Books Inc. San Leandro we're celebrating with scavenger hunts, blind book dates, and at 2 p.m. we'll be starting our Mocktail Hour and Book Swap!... Don't forget to check out our other locations to see how we at Books Inc. are celebrating Bookstore Romance Day across the bay."

The Novel Neighbor, St. Louis, Mo.: "And we're off!!! Happy Bookstore Romance Day, St. Louis! We have a full store and happy hearts!"

Customers lined up at The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis.

Three Bells Books, Mason City, Iowa: "A dark and stormy day means cozy vibes for Bookstore Romance Day! Get your selfies with Fabio.... Today also is the official debut of our expanded romance section… it doubled in size! Have a fun day, everyone!"  

The Well-Read Moose, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho: "Bookstore Romance Day is a day to celebrate the love and joy of reading romance books--the bestselling book genre of all time!"

Friendly Alien Books, Scranton, Pa.: "Happy Bookstore Romance Day! Stop by and tell us your favorite romance trope/book boyfriend while sipping on a love potion. Our blind dates are selling fast! But the romance shelves are full! And we have plenty of spicy stickers, bookmarks and romance totes! And quick PSA--FAB husband Mikey is manning the ship this weekend while I head to a concert! Please convince him to read your favorite romance."

Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Mass.: "Happy Bookstore Romance Day from our wonderful booksellers to you! Check out some of our favorite love stories! What's better than romance? Tax free weekend! There is no such thing as a tax on love."

Unabridged Bookstore, Chicago, Ill., celebrated by creating "LOVELAND at Unabridged," with the store decorated inside and out.

The Book & Cover, Chattanooga, Tenn.: "We love love! A brilliant start to @bkstoreromanceday!... And the fun continues into the evening!"

Penguin Bookshop, Sewickley, Pa.: "Happy Bookstore Romance Day! Stop by for your 'Blind Date with a book' if you'd like a little mystery with your romance!"

Storyline Bookshop, Arlington, Ohio: "We had THE best Bookstore Romance Day event with a panel of local romance authors!! Thanks to everyone who attended and supported.... Also a special thanks to the authors for sharing your thoughts on the romance genre, how you write your books, and for duking out in the battle of the tropes!"

The Stacks Bookstore, Savannah, Ga.: "Thank you so much to everyone for a delightful Romance Bookstore Day! We had such a lovely time celebrating with you. You were sunshine on this dreary day!"

Pinkalicious Story Time at Watermark Books

Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan: "We had such a great time at Bookstore Romance Day! Thank you to everyone who came out for Storytime, Bingo, Book Bedazzling, to vote in the tournament, rate spicy books, try the cafe specials, or just to shop the store! We appreciate you all and you made it one of the best Bookstore Romance Days we've had!"

The Story Collective, St. Joseph, Mo.: "Our hearts are full after a fun Bookstore Romance Day. Thank you for celebrating with us."

A Second Chance Romance, Kimberly, Wis.: "What a beautiful day celebrating Bookstore Romance Day! We were thrilled to see so many of you stop by, line up EARLY, and swoon over your favorite romance reads! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support--we couldn't do this without you!"

Kiss & Tale Romance Bookshop, Collingswood, N.J.: "A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for Bookstore Romance Day! We're so grateful for your love and support!"

At Morgenstern Books

Morgenstern Books, Bloomington, Ind: "Another Bookstore Romance Day on the books! Such an amazing turnout for one of our favorite days of the year! The blind dates, red velvet syrup, and chocolate croissants went so fast but that just shows the love of the romance community showing up for us. A big thank to everyone that joined us in celebrating and our booksellers for being awesome!"

A Novel Romance, Louisville, Ky.: "Until next year, Bookstore Romance Day! A huge thank-you to all our amazing book besties who came out to celebrate with us! Today wouldn't have been the same without your love, laughter, and the incredible worldwide book community.... It was a day full of romance and bookish joy! And remember: Every day can be Bookstore Romance Day... just come and visit us here at A Novel Romance."

Bookstore Romance Day was celebrated by more than 600 indie stores across the country, as well as seven in Canada and one in Australia, especially the ever-growing ranks of romance bookstores, probably the single-most popular type of bookstore opening in the last several years. Festivities included virtual events that celebrated and explored many aspects of love and romance in such sessions as Love Is Queer, Toy Story, Booksellers Recommend: Favorite Romances for Holiday Giving, and more. Wide-ranging in-store celebrations included warm and fuzzy displays, blind date with a book offerings, games and story times for all ages, crafting (so much glitter!), romance specials, signings, even pet adoption (who says your soul mate has to be human?)--so much that readers' hearts desired. And Libro.fm offered a romance audiobook sale that ends August 20.

"We LOVE our new window art!" Miss Willa's Bookshop, Charles Town, W.Va., posted on Facebook. The store was so busy throughout Bookstore Romance Day that it handed out wristbands for timed store entry that also provided discounts to nearby businesses.

Ruby's Books, Folsom, Calif., made swiping fun again with a dating app-themed display. Readers could swipe through profiles to find a bookseller with similar favorite genres and interests. Once they found their perfect bookseller, they could select a blind date book chosen by their match. The store reported, "Folks were waiting at the door when we opened and had us madly wrapping even more books all day long!"

Bookstore Romance Day at Buzy Beez Bookstore, Summit, Miss., featured a full day of activities, including themed bingo and trivia, and ended with a 12-hour reading challenge that began at 9 p.m.

Neighbors helped Chapters Books and Gifts move merchandise.

On Saturday, Chapters Books and Gifts in Seward, Neb., sustained significant damage to its building because of severe weather. Owner Kelley Limback told KOLN that the exterior brick wall is separating from the building, and is now not structurally sound, with bricks lying on the sidewalk.

Limback added that "a team is coming to put braces on the side of the building to try and keep the wall from completely collapsing. Everyone in the building was told to get out due safety concerns. The sidewalk is also blocked off to protect people from falling bricks," KOLN reported.

On its social media sites, Chapters Books & Gifts posted an announcement of the temporary closure, followed later by an update: "Bookstore Romance Day came with a plot twist. We fell even more in love with our Seward community. Books and gifts were moved to the safety of @emilynixphotography gorgeous studio. We don't know what comes next--yet!! But Chapters will be back soon and better than ever. Thank you @cune_volleyball @cunebulldogs @cunembb @cunemsoc @cune_lifting_sports and everyone else who showed up for Chapters today."

On Sunday, the bookstore posted an update: "The storm hit, we had to move every book, gift, and story out of Chapters. And you came. With trucks, strong arms, quick thinking, and so much heart! We don’t know when we’ll be back in our building, but we do know this: our community is something worth celebrating. Our website is open! We are going to run from a temporary site. Follow us for location updates."

Books-A-Million, which plans to open a total of 15 new stores this year, opened two new locations recently, in Auburn, Maine, and Merritt Island, Fla., near Cape Canaveral.

BAM opening in Auburn, Maine

BAM celebrated the grand opening of the Auburn, Maine, store on July 25, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Lewiston-Auburn Chamber of Commerce and author signings that included Paul Doiron, Patsy Baldus, Matt Cost, Peggy Deblois, Diane Madden, Cody Mower, and Anthony Blasi. The new store also held a two-day book drive benefiting Literacy Volunteers of Androscoggin.

BAM CEO Terrance Finley said, "We are delighted to be continuing our investment in Maine with the opening of our new Auburn location. Along with our recently remodeled and relocated stores in Portland and Bangor, Auburn adds to our longstanding commitment serving Maine communities as America’s hometown bookstore."

Books-A-Million celebrated the grand opening of the new location in Merritt Island, Fla., on August 1. Festivities included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Accelerate Brevard: Chamber of Innovation and signings that featured authors Michael Grover, Caren Schnur Niele, and Robert Redd.

BAM CEO Finley said, "We love our Florida customers and are delighted to announce the opening of our new Merritt Island store. This marks a continuation of our ongoing dedication to serving our customers in Florida and is in fact one of 15 new store openings that we have planned for this year throughout the country. We take great pride in being Merritt Island's local bookstore and look forward to welcoming your community."

"We have the best customers!" Sabu's Books, Columbia, Mo., posted on Facebook. "Jacob and Amanda Ellett took these pictures of our cat, Rama, and framed one for us! It's so beautiful! Thank you! #bookstorecat #catphotography."

"Read more, worry less." That was the sidewalk chalkboard message in front of Anthology for Books, Geneseo, Ill., which noted: "Does August find you wondering or worrying? Thank goodness for books that can sweep away your stress, even temporarily. How about treating yourself to a little murder mystery with our book club this month?"

At Wendy Sherman Associates, the boutique literary agency that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year:

Cherise Fisher, who joined the agency in 2014 after stints at Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, has been named vice-president.

CeCe Lyra has joined the agency and will specialize in adult fiction and nonfiction, focused on psychology, wellness, health and medicine, self-development, pop culture, and women's issues. She was formerly an agent at P.S. Literary, earlier was an attorney, and is co-host of the podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing.

Today:
Good Morning America: Alyson Stoner, author of Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: A Memoir (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250353498).

Also on GMA: Karin Slaughter, author of We Are All Guilty Here: A Novel (Morrow, $32, 9780063336773).

Sherri Shepherd Show repeat: Tamsen Fadal, author of How to Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before (Balance, $30, 9780306833540).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Alexis deBoschnek, author of Nights and Weekends: Recipes That Make the Most of Your Time (Union Square & Co., $35, 9781454954989).

Tamron Hall repeat: Kelsey Grammer, author of Karen: A Brother Remembers (Harper Select, $31.99, 9781400252817).

Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) "is preparing to take his new short film How to Shoot a Ghost to the Venice International Film Festival next month, but it won't be long before cinephiles with public library cards get a chance to watch it," IndieWire reported. Josef Akiki and Jessie Buckley star.

Kanopy, the ad-free streaming service, has signed on as a producer and the exclusive library and educational distributor of the film. Launched in 2008 and available free to more than 50% percent of library cardholders in the U.S., Kanopy released its first original feature film, Banned Together, in April.

Directed by Kaufman, How to Shoot a Ghost is written by the poet Eva H.D., who wrote Kaufman's short Jackals & Fireflies (2023). The film follows "two newly dead young people [who] meet in the streets of Athens, amid the pulsing cityscape and the ghosts of history. One a translator, the other a photographer, they were outsiders in life; in death they struggle with the residue of their longings and mistakes. They wander the city together, finding consolation in the difficult beauty of existence and its aftermath," according to the official synopsis. 

"Given the crisis of education in this country, it remains as important as ever for citizens to continue to have barrier-free access to the wealth of free resources that libraries have always offered," Kaufman said. "Kanopy's partnership with university and public libraries ensures that a rich digital archive of cinematic work from all over the world--from the newest documentaries to the collected adventures of Buster Keaton--will be available to a new generation of cinephiles."

"Kanopy is proud to continue our work of supporting impactful artists with How to Shoot a Ghost," Kanopy general manager Jason Tyrell added. "We are thrilled to join this incredible producing team and help bring an exciting new cinematic vision to Kanopy audiences via our extensive streaming platform. Charlie's love of film craft and singular storytelling sensibilities, coupled with Eva's elegant poetry, weave together into a richly historical and literary work that deserves to be platformed. We are eager to share this project with Kanopy's patrons and educators."

Winners have been named for this year's Jericho Prizes, which honor new Black-British writers of children's picture books. The Bookseller reported that Sebrina O'Connor's Dou Dou's Brave took the award for Best Picture Book Script (ages 3-7), while Best Baby & Toddler Script (ages 1-3) went to Ronke Owoeye's This One? That One!. Each winner receives £1,250 (about $1,680) from partners Hachette Children's Group and a 12-month membership to the Society of Authors. 

Jericho Prize founder and director Fabia Turner said: "Sebrina and Ronke are both incredibly talented writers whose work reminds us why the Jericho Prize must continue to exist. I'm so incredibly proud of them and all eight of this year's finalists for sharing their beautiful stories with the world, which takes a lot of courage when you are new to this industry. I hope this is the start of great things for them all. I'm excited to see what happens next."

Amy Anderson, editorial director of picture books at Hachette Children's Group, commented: "The Jericho Prize does such wonderful work in championing and developing emerging Black-British writers, and Fabia's commitment to the award makes it a true highlight of the children's publishing calendar. Congratulations to Sebrina and Ronke, who are both incredibly talented and wonderful winners--their texts, and all the finalists', are so strong and filled with warmth and heart. They were a complete joy to read."

Sarah Satha, co-founder of the literacy charity Inclusive Books for Children, which provided grant-funding for this year's awards, added: "Every year, the Jericho Prize shines a light on a new pool of talented and driven Black-British aspiring children's authors. In this way, they provide the crucial missing link between publishers, who know they have a diversity problem and want to do better, and new writers keen to break into the industry. Huge congratulations to this year's shortlisted authors, and especially to the winners, on their brilliant scripts."

Wendell Berry (The Need to Be Whole; Jayber Crow) has never hidden behind his stories; the land and people of Port William, Ky., have always been his land and his people. This truth is perhaps never more obvious than in Marce Catlett, where an elderly Andy Catlett looks back along the long line of his life and that of his father and grandfather, to the story that "has held them together like a living root of the same tree."

The story is of their 1906 tobacco crop--of Marce Catlett's long, slow trip to Louisville, where their tobacco will be sold. Every detail is captured, the story's pace as deliberate as the steps of Marce's horse in the dark and as quiet as Marce's neighbor and companion, Jim Stedman: "he said little, thought a lot, watched, listened, and was unsurprised, perhaps by then unsurprisable." Perhaps neither man is surprised when the auction's sole buyer pays mere pennies on the pound, leaving them unable even to cover the cost of its sale by the proceeds. "Its purchase, properly named, was theft." Berry titles this first section "The Past," and the remaining section "The Future," but the story of that 1906 crop lives ever-present in Andy Catlett's life.

Andy Catlett's life mirrors Berry's own: his lawyer father, his love of books, his departure from and sure return to the Kentucky landscape that captured his heart in youth, among other details. And in this title's final pages, Berry's own voice, honed in countless essays on the agrarian life and principles he honors, overshadows that of Andy Catlett. At times, it is nearly strident, a bitter mourning for a life destroyed by "the all-out industrialization of rural America," employing methods he calls "new kinds of mining: maximum production at minimal expense, extraction without maintenance or any return of care." At others, Berry offers a tender archiving of that care, detailing the long year's work of raising and bringing in a tobacco harvest, calling it "beautiful at every step and stage" and noting that "No other crop demanded such continuous attention over so long a time... such artistry of management and handling." So when Andy "prays his benediction and farewell" near the book's close, readers will also hear that of Berry; "his requiem" not for "the cellar, the smokehouse, the hen house, the garden," but for "the way that once lived among them, the paths worn and wearing day by day, that connected them during a lifetime to one man's effort and desire." --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Shelf Talker: Wendell Berry returns to his beloved Port William, offering a kind of benediction full of longing for a former life threaded with wonder at its beauty and its humble persistence.