The Nook Bookstore Cafe made its debut last month in El Paso, Tex., the El Paso Times reported.

Located at 3260 N. Zaragoza Rd., Suite B201, the Nook sells new books for all ages. There is a children's area, along with a small selection of used books that operate on a "take one, leave one" basis. Spanish-language titles will be added in the future. The cafe sells coffee, tea, smoothies, and a variety of healthy food.

Co-owners Mandy Castillo and Madeline Elias, who met while working as art teachers, held a grand opening for the bookstore and cafe on July 26. Their event plans for the Nook include book clubs, art classes for both children and adults, and book signings.

Elias and Castillo were motivated to open the Nook after seeing many school districts in and around El Paso cut fine arts from their curricula. Castillo, who had previously owned and operated a food truck, approached Elias one day about the idea of opening a bookstore and cafe. Elias readily agreed. Castillo noted that Elias loves books, while she loves the cafe side of the business.

Elias told the El Paso Times that they strove to make the Nook a cozy and inviting place. "I want people to feel at home. A lot of people come here to study, to work. And I think that's great because it's like they're growing."

"We really wanted it to feel like you're coming into your friend's house," Castillo said. "You're just hanging out in the living room, just reading a book, drinking a smoothie or a tea."

Little Bay Books opened earlier this summer in Ashland, Wis., the Ashland Daily Press reported.

The new and used bookstore, at 220 Fourth Ave. W. in downtown Ashland, sells general-interest titles for all ages, along with a variety of bookish merchandise. Owner Heather Hudak, a veteran and English teacher, hosts storytime sessions, poetry readings, book clubs, and writing clubs. She's also started an audiobook walking club.

Hudak and her son moved to Ashland in 2021 after she finished serving in the military. "This area is important to me," she told the Daily News. "I feel pretty loyal to Ashland now. I work here. I live here. My child goes to school here. This is just another way to add a friendly community space to Ashland."

Hudak noted that Jill Spinster, owner of Spinster Books in Ashland, helped guide her while she was opening the store. "Jill was very transparent, open, and willing to share information. Everybody is really helpful in starting a business."

Little Bay Books debuted with a soft launch in May followed by a grand opening celebration in June.

This Wednesday, August 27, Barnes & Noble will open its new bookstore in Plaza at Rockwall at 1009 E. Interstate 30, Rockwall, Tex., near Dallas. Local author Lana Ferguson will cut the ribbon and sign copies of her books during the grand opening celebration. The 20,000 square-foot store will also feature a B&N Cafe.

"We are very pleased to open this beautiful new Barnes & Noble in Rockwall," B&N said. "The enthusiastic response from the community has been encouraging, and our Rockwall booksellers have been hard at work preparing a bookstore curated with their new customers in mind."

Sonallah Ibrahim, the Egyptian novelist "who chronicled with deadpan irony his country's submission to dictatorship and materialism in an influential career spanning nearly six decades," died August 13, the New York Times reported. He was 88. Egyptian culture minister Minister Ahmed Fouad Hanno said Ibrahim left behind "an immortal literary and humanitarian legacy," and described the author as a "pillar of modern Arabic literature."

Ibrahim "shocked the Arab literary world with his short, singeing debut novel," That Smell (1966), and while many other books followed, "the tone was set by the first--it was censored, banned, circulated underground and not definitively published in complete, open form until 20 years later," the Times noted, adding that the novel's "stripped-down style" and its "harsh depiction of a present without perspective were at odds with the ornate main currents of Arabic literature, as well as the self-confidence of the official Egyptian narrative." 

That Smell's focus is on a young man who has just been released from prison. Ibrahim had spent five years in the harsh jails after dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser rounded up the country's Communists on New Year's Day 1959. He developed his narrative style while incarcerated in the Al-Wahat prison in the western desert, where books by Ernest Hemingway, among others, were available. His appreciation for Hemingway "was an anomaly given his resolute lifelong critique of America," the Times observed. "It wasn't the underlying political message, not on the surface at least, that led to the book's rejection by official and unofficial censors; it was its unadorned treatment of forbidden topics like masturbation, impotence and homosexuality."

"It pierced Arabic literature in a way that nothing else has done," said Margaret Litvin, an associate professor of Arabic and comparative literature at Boston University.

AFP (via France24) reported that, arguably, Ibrahim's most famous novel was Zaat (1992), which told "the story of Egypt's modern history--from the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952 to the neoliberalism of the 1990s under president Hosni Mubarak--through the eyes of an ordinary, middle-class woman." The book was adapted into a prime-time TV series in 2013, "bringing Ibrahim's scathing portrayal of power to a new generation of Egyptians in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprising that ousted Mubarak."

Among Ibrahim's most celebrated works are The Committee (1981), a Kafkaesque allegory of bureaucracy and surveillance, and Stealth (2007), a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood during World War II.

He taught Arabic literature at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999, "which reinforced his doubts about America and its role in the world, as reflected in his 2005 novel, Amrikanly," the Times wrote.

"Real literature gives expression to people's lives and the natural aspirations of an individual people," he said in a 2011 interview with Elliott Colla, a Georgetown University scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies.

"Sonallah understood that the expression of truth--even simple, direct truth--is never a simple, direct matter," Colla said. "His career as a writer was thus dedicated to the pursuit of languages and literary forms that would best allow him to speak truth."

The team at Judging by the Cover: A Bookstore in Fresno, Calif., did a pop-up as the official bookstore for the 2025 Queer Housing Summit at Fresno City College. Pictured: (from l.) co-owners Ashley and Carlos Mireles-Guerrero with keynote speaker Tracy Rosenthal, co-author of Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis (Haymarket Books).

Congratulations to the Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Mass., winner of the 2025 Independent Spirit Award, sponsored by the Book Publishers Representatives of New England and recognizing "the New England independent bookstore of the year." The award will be presented at the New England Independent Booksellers Association's Fall Conference Awards Banquet on Wednesday, September 10, in Manchester, N.H.

The citation reads: "When Paul [Swydan] opened the store, he embraced everything it means to become a full fledged member of any of the communities he takes part in. His desire for advice and education at the trade level should be applauded, and he is constantly striving to improve things. He also formed a wonderful staff who have also jumped into both their local and the trade community with amazing energy. On top of their wildly successful Kids Graphic Novel Festival, they also run 20+ book fairs a year, numerous off-site events, and are also willing to talk to any/every bookstore that has questions about how to run similar events/start a book fair program/etc. You don't see new stores embracing the publishing industry as enthusiastically as Paul has that often anymore and they definitely deserve the Independent Spirit Award this year!"

The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City was closed all day last Wednesday because an episode of the TBS TV series Impractical Jokers was being shot at the location. Bookstore owner Otto Penzer chronicled the shoot on Facebook:

"The crew, about 35-40, arrived at 10:00 a.m. and worked until 10:00 p.m. Setting up lights, cameras, sound equipment, etc., takes time," Penzler wrote. "The show is Impractical Jokers, which I confess I'd never heard of until they asked to film here. The lure to get people into the store was to hear the amazing Brad Meltzer speak, so it was a full house.

"For those unfamiliar with the show, it is (I learned) kind of a reverse Candid Camera with no single 'victim.' As Brad spoke, a member of the audience opened his large bag and unpacked his dinner--lobster. In the shell. As he pulled it apart, cracking shells, spraying juice from lemon wedges, taking a break to enjoy corn on the cob, audience members started to notice. The look of horror on some faces was memorable. When it came time for questions, the diner raised his hand--holding the grotesque half of the critter.

"It took about 90 minutes to film this thing, which will be edited down to about 8-9 minutes of the highlights. I'm told it will air sometime in January. I was assured that our bookshop sign will get screen time. I THINK I'm happy about that!"

Hybred: A Graphic Novel by Jamie Mustard, art by Francesca Filomena (Street Noise Books).

Today:
Good Morning America: Danny Freeman, author of Italianish: Modern Twists on Classic Italian Flavors (DK, $35, 9780593967621)

Also on GMA: Ian K. Smith, author of Beyond Midnight: An Ashe Cayne Novel (Amistad, $21.99, 9780063459229).

Tonight Show repeat: Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, author of Cudi: The Memoir (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668201336).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Vonda Wright, author of Unbreakable: A Woman's Guide to Aging with Power (Rodale Books, $32.50, 9780593736586).

Good Morning America: Hayley Gelfuso, author of The Book of Lost Hours: A Novel (Atria, $29.99, 9781668076347).

Tamron Hall repeat: Saraya-Jade Bevis, author of Hell in Boots: Clawing My Way Through Nine Lives (Gallery, $28.99, 9781668027844).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert repeat: Ocean Vuong, author of The Emperor of Gladness (Penguin Press, $30, 9780593831878).

Adam Sandler's Happy Madison is teaming with Shawn Levy's 21 Laps to develop a movie adaptation of Evan S. Porter's debut novel, Dad Camp, which "follows John, a devoted father who finds his once-close bond with daughter Avery unraveling as she enters her preteen years."

Kevin Jakubowski (8-Bit Christmas, Assassination of a High School President) will write the script. Shawn Levy and Dan Levine are producing on behalf of 21 Laps, with Emily Feher and Max Gains overseeing the project for the company.

World of Books has released shortlists in three categories (fiction, nonfiction, children's) for the inaugural Sustainable Story Award, recognizing "13 amazing authors who are busy writing new books on sustainability." Check out the shortlisted writers here. 

The winner, who will be named September 10, receives £15,000 (about $20,290) and the two runners-up get £5,000 (about $6,765) each. Mentorship from industry experts for the winners is also part of the award. 

In her third novel, Intemperance, Sonora Jha (Foreign; The Laughter) crafts a brilliant and triumphant story of a "pathbreaking feminist sociologist," as her 28-year-old son, Karan, puts it, who wants to be married. For a third time.

The unnamed narrator will turn 55 years old in five weeks. She has chosen this date for her swayamvar, a Hindu ceremony in which a woman of upper-class status chooses her husband from a group of eligible suitors. She will design a feat for them to compete at, and--on that same day--will wed the winner. Jha brilliantly sets the structure of the novel in chapters that lay out the narrator's plans for the celebration. There will be cake. There will be shehnai, played live ("for which I may fly in a musician from India"). The wedding dress will be either "a virginal white in the tradition of my chosen world in America or a fertile red from the culture from which I hail."

Karan asks his mother to "reconsider this," but she insists, "I have had this strange sensation that a love that once cried out somewhere in another time or place has now come to sit like an echo in my chest." Jha makes manifest her narrator's premonition in ways that seem both magical and inevitable. Some strong women come forward to help. But not everyone is supportive. The narrator receives missives from a "distant cousin-brother" in New Delhi, who attempts to dissuade her from her plans by revealing in installments a family curse involving one of her ancestors--Alokendra, son of a zamindar, who fell in love with an "Untouchable," a man named Heera. In a kind of antidote to this pall, a silver box of kohl arrives from an unfamiliar woman in Patna. Each time the narrator applies the kohl, she has a vision. Jha deftly intertwines the details of the curse and the kohl-induced visions to yield moments of clarity for the narrator, as she arrives at an acceptance of who she is and what she wants.

At the core of it all is self-interrogation and forgiveness. The heroine's ex-husband Paul and her best friend Cat are living examples of this. "When you have built a brilliant career out of anger, where do you go when the anger is gone?" she asks herself. A memorable cast of supporting characters also plants seeds for the heroine's queries, including Sara, a stranger holding a swan who sits next to her on the bus; Demi the wedding planner; and Vee the documentary filmmaker.

Thanks to Jha's satirical edge, exquisite pacing, and blending of myth and fact, the days leading up to her heroine's swayamvar will provide a series of epiphanies for readers as well as for the bride-to-be. --Jennifer M. Brown, reviewer

Shelf Talker: In Sonora Jha's brilliant novel, a woman considers how she, a "prominent feminist sociologist," could be interested in marrying a man (for the third time) and stages a swayamvar to find the right suitor.