In the first half of 2025, revenues at Bertelsmann rose 1.2%, to €9.1 billion (about $10.6 billion), and group profit dropped by more than half to €201 million ($234 million).

Despite "difficult conditions," Bertelsmann chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe called the results "solid" and said it expects "positive overall business performance for the full year." The company noted that the profit drop was "mainly due to revaluations in the investment portfolio, in particular due to currency effects." It also said that business outside Germany has grown to 74% of overall revenue and that North America is the single-largest market, representing 30% of Bertelsmann revenue.

Penguin Random House revenues rose 2.1%, to €2.3 billion ($2.7 billion), and operating EBITDA fell 12.4%, to €255 million ($297 million).

In a letter to staff, PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya said that PRH's "sales performance, achieved during a time of rising macroeconomic pressures and an overall slowing of consumer spending in some of our key markets, reflects both the broad appeal of our books and your continued excellence in publishing them."

He noted that "many markets, especially the Spanish, Brazilian, Colombian, Mexican, and Indian, are very strong, while the U.K. market is flat and the U.S. and German markets are particularly soft this year. What's especially heartening to me is that despite the state of the market, our publishers around the world are outperforming their local marketplaces, leading to our increase in revenues overall."

Malaviya attributed the decline in profitability to "rising costs in nearly all areas of our business. Even so, our commitment to invest in authors, publishing programs, and long-term capabilities has not wavered. In many of our businesses, we're publishing more books than we did last year, launching new imprints, and expanding the ways we connect readers with the stories that matter most to them."

Malaviya pointed to several of the house's recent successes, including Barbra Streisand's My Name Is Barbra, named Audiobook of the Year at the Audies; Alexei Navalny's Patriot, which received both Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography; and Kristine Bilkau's Halbinsel, which won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in fiction.

PRH has "an incredibly strong global lineup of upcoming publications in the coming months," he continued. Among them: The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown, Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood, and The Rose Field by Philip Pullman.

Field Day Books & Bottles, a new and used bookstore serving a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, opened this month in Portland, Ore., the Oregonian reported.

The bookstore, located at 6836 N.E. Sandy Blvd., in Portland's Roseway neighborhood, emphasizes LGBTQ, BIPOC, and neurodiverse perspectives and carries books that encourage new experiences, co-owner Kitty McLeod-Martinez told the Oregonian. In addition to books, there is a fridge featuring beer, wine, and cider, along with non-alcoholic options like kombucha.

McLeod-Martinez and co-owner Alec Ballweg first met roughly 10 years ago while working at Powell's Books in Portland. They kept in touch while taking different career paths, until Ballweg reached out to McLeod-Martinez about a year ago to ask if they had ever thought about opening a bookstore. McLeod-Martinez recalled answering: "Only all the time."

The bookstore's name comes from Casey McQuiston's romance novel The Pairing, in which the main characters open a combined bakery and cocktail bar called Field Day. Both Ballweg and McLeod-Martinez loved the book and felt the fictional Field Day had "exactly the vibe that we want to curate." They got McQuiston's blessing when the author was in town for the Portland Book Festival, and the owners hope McQuiston can one day visit the bookstore.

"There're very few spaces that encourage people to spend time together and foster the sense of community that they'd been missing," McLeod-Martinez told the Oregonian. "It's not about drinking and getting drunk.... It's about the experience of sharing something."

Austen's Shelf, a Black-owned mobile bookstore with a Regency theme, will make its debut appearance at the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, N.J., on September 5, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Built out of a 7' × 14' trailer, the 98-square-foot bookstore stocks 380 titles. There are books for all ages across a variety of genres, along with book-related merchandise like candles, greeting cards, and stickers. The space is meant to evoke a Regency-era sitting room, and features a wooden mantelpiece, wainscoting, and wallpaper.

Owner Charity Herndon, a YA author whose second novel, Laced in Gold, is coming out next year, told the Inquirer that she decided to open a bookstore in response to a breast cancer scare: "In the scariest moment of my life, this [store] was just the peace that carried me through. I'm hoping that when people come into the store, that they feel that same amount of peace and that they feel at home." 

Herndon said it was important to her to emphasize diverse authors. "I really wanted to be inclusive and that every single person that walks in can find a book for them and that they can see themselves through the characters in the book."

The debut appearance at the Cherry Hill Mall will begin on September 5 and run through September 7. After that, Herndon plans to take the mobile shop to bookswaps, wineries, coffee shops, and more around southern New Jersey.

Barnes & Noble, West Kendall will close next month.

Barnes & Noble will open a new store next week in Miami, Fla., and close an existing store in late September.

The new store is in the Colonial Palms Plaza at 13605 S. Dixie Hwy and spans roughly 15,000 square feet. It will open on Wednesday, September 3, with local author Luz María Doria on hand to cut the ribbon and sign copies of her books. The new Miami store is one of four new B&Ns opening in September; the others will open in California, Maryland, and Washington State.

Earlier this summer, B&N announced that it will be closing its West Kendall store on September 24. Per the Miami New Times, that store was in operation for more than 30 years.

Jenny Feder, artist and a founder of Three Lives & Company in New York City, died earlier this month after a brief illness. She was 73.

Jenny Feder

In 1978, Feder, with Jill Dunbar--her wife of 50 years--and Helene Webb, opened Three Lives & Company on Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village. Several years later, as recalled by Calvin Trillin, with the help of neighbors and customers, the store moved to its present location on West 10th Street at Waverly Place. The corner itself is historic, immortalized in Edward Hopper's 1927 painting of Silbers Pharmacy, and is across the street from Julius', one of the oldest gay bars in the city. The fixtures in both stores were designed and built by Feder and reflect her warm and resourceful nature.

In 2001, Feder and Dunbar sold the store to Toby Cox. Under Cox's stewardship, and with his dedicated staff, they have carried on the store's role as a hub of downtown literary life.

Cox said, "Since the news of Jenny's passing, we've been saying that Jenny was the visionary for the shop. She designed and hand-built the space. She was also the master of the display, always at work beautifully presenting the books and making the shop come alive. It is a joy and honor to work in the space that Jenny created."

After selling the store, Feder and Dunbar moved to the North Fork of Long Island where Feder continued her life's work as an artist. Growing up in New York City, she had attended the High School of Art and Design, the Art Students League, and spent summers studying at the Instituto de Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her intimate, small-scale sculptures reflect a lifetime of reading, traveling, and collecting ephemera. She created alluring and multifaceted houses reflecting the world of books that animated her life. A review by Helen Harrison in the New York Times described her work as reminiscent of Joseph Cornell's boxes: "Ms. Feder's tiny buildings are like repositories for memories--little refuges for the imagination after it has tired itself in flights of fancy. Travel, romance, game-playing and role-playing are all alluded to, as is the sometimes-disquieting sense of vulnerability that one feels when away from a safe haven."

Rick Kot, executive editor at Viking, remembered: "When I moved to Chelsea in the mid-1980s from the far reaches of the Upper East Side, I had to learn all the best local places, and a good bookstore was certainly a priority. Three Lives was a name that kept coming up when I asked advice from friends in the area, so one day I took the dog and we made our way down to West 10th Street. The minute we stepped in, I knew I was home, for the atmosphere, for the brilliantly curated selection, and for the warm welcome we received from both Jill and Jenny. (And Clover certainly appreciated the biscuit that was immediately offered.) Both women were not only dependable sources of advice, carefully tailored to the taste of the individual customer, but were warm, wry, and always up for a good long talk. Our first visit soon became a regular Sunday ritual--I only had to mention “Three Lives” to Clover and she'd begin barking in happy anticipation. That era of the publishing business will always be special to me as something of a Golden Age, and I can't help but associate it with Three Lives. Jenny and Jill forever set a standard for me for what a good bookstore should be, and happily, Toby and his crew have carried on that legacy."

Book Soup, West Hollywood, Calif., hosted an SRO launch party for Nikki Nash's memoir, Collateral Stardust: Chasing Warren Beatty and Other Foolish Things (Sibylline Press). Pictured: (from l.) Sibylline Press publisher Vicki DeArmon; Nash; and Nash's publicist, Kim Dower, aka Kim-from-L.A.

Barack Obama has released his summer reading list. On Instagram, he wrote, "Reading has always been an important part of my journey, which is why I couldn't be more excited that we'll have a new branch of the Chicago Public Library at the Obama Presidential Center when it opens next year. For now, I figured I'd share some of the books I've read recently, along with some notes about why I liked them--and why you might, too. Take a look and let me know what I should check out next."

Obama's list:

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson
Rosarita by Anita Desai
Audition by Katie Kitamura
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
Who Is Government? by Michael Lewis
The Sirens' Call by Chris Hayes

Keith Arsenault

Keith Arsenault of Chesapeake & Hudson has won the 2025 Saul Gilman Award, given by the New England Independent Booksellers Association for "outstanding service as a sales representative to New England independent bookstores." The award will be presented at NEIBA Fall Conference Awards Banquet on September 10, in Manchester, N.H.

Lindsey Macarthur has joined Abrams as manager, school & library sales.

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Casey Elsass, author of What Can I Bring?: Recipes to Help You Live Your Guest Life (Union Square, $30, 9781454955344).

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 30
3:25 p.m. Sarah Gold McBride, author of Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America (Harvard University Press, $32.95, 9780674249295), at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Wash.

4:30 p.m. Hannah Wunsch, author of The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Modern Medical Care (‎Greystone Books, $19.95, 9781778402135).

Sunday, August 31
8 a.m. Kathryn Harkup, author of V Is for Venom: Agatha Christie's Chemicals of Death (Bloomsbury Sigma, $28, 9781399413077). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9:35 a.m. Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI (Penguin Press, $32, 9780593657508). (Re-airs Sunday at 9:35 p.m.)

10:50 a.m. Megan Greenwell, author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream (Dey Street, $29.99, 9780063299351), at Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts bookstore in Berkeley, Calif. (Re-airs Sunday at 10:50 p.m.)

11:55 a.m. Robert George, author of Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment (Encounter Books, $34.99, 9781641774215). 

1 p.m. Chris Sweeney, author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668025840), at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Mass.

1:50 p.m. Laura Poppick, author of Strata: Stories from Deep Time (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 978-1324021605), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

2:45 p.m. Emily M. Bender, co-author of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want (Harper, $32, 9780063418561), at Third Place Books in Lake Forest, Wash.

3:50 p.m. Adam Aleksic, author of Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language (Knopf, $29, 9780593804070).

6:55 p.m. Gianno Caldwell, author of The Day My Brother Was Murdered: My Journey Through America's Violent Crime Crisis (Broadside Books, $32, 9780063375253).

Geraldine Brooks will receive the 2025 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, which honors "an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished by not only its mastery of the art, but also its originality of thought and imagination.... The award seeks to recognize strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout long and consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the American experience." The award will be presented to Brooks at the National Book Festival on September 6, where the author will discuss her latest book, Memorial Days: A Memoir (Viking).

"One of the reasons we invited Geraldine Brooks to become the next Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner is how she makes readers feel. She invites readers into her narratives with such grace and infectious energy and helps us understand the lives of characters who might have lived in other times and other places," said acting Librarian of Congress Robert Randolph Newlen. "She has moved millions of American readers, and readers around the world. We are deeply honored that Geraldine is joining us to accept this prize."

Brooks commented: "I am honored by this wonderful prize from America's greatest library. As a writer inspired by history, it is moving to be connected by the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction to the institution created by John Adams for the very first Congress, saved by Thomas Jefferson after the conflagration of 1812, and carried into the present by visionary librarians who value inclusion, free expression and truth."

Brooks was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel March. Her other novels include People of the Book, Caleb's Crossing, The Secret Chord, Horse, and Year of Wonders, which has been translated into more than 30 languages. As a journalist, she reported for the Sydney Morning Herald and covered crises in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans for the Wall Street Journal. She and her late husband, journalist and author Tony Horwitz, won the Overseas Press Club Award for best coverage of the Gulf War. 

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, September 2:

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, illus. by Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins, $26.99, 9780062644695) is the classic fairytale reimagined by two literary legends.

Framed in Death by J.D. Robb (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250370822) is the 61st crime thriller with Eve Dallas.

Billion-Dollar Ransom by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski (Little, Brown, $32, 9780316570039) is a thriller about the kidnapping of a billionaire's family.

The Girl with Ice in Her Veins by Karin Smirnoff (Knopf, $29, 9780593536711) continues Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander series.

The Hallmarked Man: A Cormoran Strike Novel by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland, $40, 9780316586009) is another thriller by J.K. Rowling.

Tom Clancy Terminal Velocity by M.P. Woodward (Putnam, $32, 9780593718032) is the 14th Jack Ryan Jr. thriller.

Archibald and the Furry Dinosaurs by Suzanne Lang, illus. by Max Lang (Random House Studio, $18.99, 9780593811962) features a new (prehistoric) character from the team behind Grumpy Monkey.

Fearful: A Powerless Story by Lauren Roberts (S&S, $16.99, 9781665971072) is a companion novel to the Powerless trilogy which takes place during the events of Fearless.

Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom by Christine Brown Woolley (Gallery, $29, 9781668078266) is the memoir of a woman who escaped Mormon polygamy.

The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things by Nikki Giovanni (Morrow, $26, 9780063447523) is the late poet's final collection.

The Blue Zones Kitchen One Pot Meals: 100 Recipes to Live to 100 by Dan Buettner (National Geographic, $35, 9781426224126) focuses on food for longevity.

Paperbacks:
You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King (Scribner, $20, 9781668037720).

Head Witch in Charge by Avery Flynn (Berkley, $19, 9780593335239).

Crazy Spooky Love: A Melody Bittersweet Novel by Josie Silver (Dell, $19, 9780593983003).

If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia (Berkley, $18.99, 9798217187072).

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

Hardcover
Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton (Putnam, $28, 9780593854600). "Maternity horror at its most gruesome. Thea's newborn daughter, Lucia, grows at an unnatural rate and develops a thirst for blood. Thea must summon every ounce of strength within to save her daughter from a monstrous fate." --Anna Anabseh, Underground Books, Carrollton, Ga.

This Happened to Me: A Reckoning by Kate Price (Gallery, $29.99, 9781668036228). "Price gets comparisons to Jeannette Walls and Tara Westover, and they are deserved! An unflinching tale of overcoming repressed childhood trauma and breaking cycles of abuse. Her story of growth will inspire you." --Andi Richardson, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va.

Paperback
The Stone Witch of Florence: A Novel by Anna Rasche (Park Row, $18.99, 9780778310464). "When a thief steals holy relics from churches in Florence during the outbreak of the Black Plague, one woman formerly accused of witchcraft and exiled is brought back to investigate by a deceitful, powerful bishop. A fascinating historical read." --Jane Simons, The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra, N.Y.

Ages 4-8
Bob the Vampire Snail by Andrea Zuill (Random House Studio, $18.99, 9780593814963). "This is a surprisingly fast-paced and thrilling tale about your would-be average, uncomplicated snail. But Bob's not just any snail, he's also a vampire! Readers will delight in Bob's journey." --Chelsea Bromley, Bromley's Books, Marquette, Mich.

Ages 10+
Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner (S&S Books for Young Readers, $23.99, 9781665938136). "This graphic novel is a fun story about music, fame, family, and ghosts! Gardner throws a bit of mystery into this coming-of-age story about a girl who wants to be a famous musician that gets the surprise of her life when she finds a haunted synthesizer." --Katrina Bright-Yerges, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, Wis.

Ages 14+
That Devil, Ambition by Linsey Miller (Storytide, $19.99, 9780063388611). "That Devil, Ambition is a dark and twisted story following three characters fighting for their lives as they race to outsmart their professor, the devil. A gripping story with unpredictable characters that will leave you questioning loyalties." --Kaitlyn Mahoney, Under the Umbrella Bookstore, Salt Lake City, Utah

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Sue Monk Kidd's ninth work, Writing Creativity and Soul, deftly blends practical craft advice and spiritually minded self-help as she traces her development as a writer.

Kidd (The Invention of Wings; The Book of Longings) observes that her books share "a submerged female longing for voice and self-identity." Growing up in the South in the 1950s, she learned girls must be quiet, polite, and conventional. On her 30th birthday, though, the nurse and married mother of two declared she was going to become a writer, despite her high school guidance counselor having told her it was not a career for a woman, only a hobby. During the postwar baby boom, her great-uncle gave his nieces and nephews $100 for each child. However, when Kidd was born, he handed her mother a check for $99.99--"a penny less because Sue's a girl." Although she didn't hear that family story until later in life, that missing penny has been a spur ever since.

The opening section, "Moorings," recounts moments from Kidd's apprenticeship. She knew from age six that she wanted to write, but her actual career started inauspiciously when a short story she submitted to a regional magazine was returned with a note reading "THIS IS USELESS!" She remembers going to a Maya Angelou lecture and hearing her boil down the requirements of writing to three things: "First, you need something to say. Second, you need the ability to say it. Finally, you need the courage to say it at all." Honing her skills and finding confidence took many years; she offers shortcuts to both.

The "Mystery" and "Method" sections consider stories' sources and the nitty-gritty of their construction. Kidd gives pointers for mining characters' motivations and achieving a good pace and sense of place. Her specialty, she notes, is first-person female narrators who experience an "exodus." Aristotle's Incline (opening hook, three plot points, catharsis, and wrap-up) is her paradigm, but she encourages beginners to discover what works for them. She also addresses the specific challenges of memoir, which "not only takes me into myself" but "frees me from myself." The final part, "Meaning," reflects on how writing has connected her with family and strangers alike.

The book flows easily, its rapid-fire chapters interspersing writing tips with pilgrimages to the homes of literary role models, examples from her books and others', and inspirational quotations. A trove for Kidd's fans, this accessible toolkit for budding authors is also suited to readers of Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: The Secret Life of Bees didn't come out of nowhere; in her craft-meets-self-help book, Sue Monk Kidd traces her decades-long writing apprenticeship, relaying what she has learned and what it means.

Posted by Strand Book Store

Writing this week's column about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce was not on my bingo card, until the marriage proposal heard round the world happened on Tuesday. Operating on the theory (Or is it hypothesis?) that there's no such thing as too much news about Taylor and Travis, I'm here to report that many booksellers and librarians are as engaged with the engagement as everybody else on the planet (and beyond, for all we know). And I've got the social media receipts to prove it:

Memes
Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, Okemos, Ann Arbor, & West Bloomfield Mich.: "Channeling the love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce by making it bookish. Which slide are you claiming?"

Lido Village Books, Newport Beach, Calif.: "This is how my love for bookstores looks in case you were wondering."

Sunshine Book Co., Clermont, Fla.: "It's a love story. You and your favorite fictional character are getting married."

Main Street Books, St. Charles, Mo.: "Your next read is waiting for you at your local indie bookstore."

Astoria Bookshop, Queens, N.Y.: "Are we doing this right?"

Posted by Word Bookstores

Bookish Congrats
Viewpoint Books, Columbus, Ind.: "Congratulations to Taylor and Travis, two of our favorite teachers! From all your adoring 'students' at Viewpoint Books!"

Stacks Book Club, Oro Valley, Ariz.: "We heard something about our English teacher getting married?"

This Is a Bookstore & Bookbug, Kalamazoo, Mich.: "Congrats all around."

Lovebound Library, Salt Lake City, Utah: "Not sure how we're supposed to focus on anything else today!!!"

The Last Chapter, Chicago, Ill.: "Screaming, crying and so very happy because she finally found her happy ending. S/o to @loveboundlibrary for the inspo. Have a great week main characters, because we know we for sure will. Xoxo, A and TLC Team."

M. Judson Booksellers & Camilla Kitchen, Greenville, S.C.: "We're excited. Come raise a glass to Tay and Trav with $5 Henry Varnay today. Check out the list and get ready to fall in love all over again!"

Books-A-Million: "We've always been a fan of love stories and this one might be our favorite. Congratulations, Taylor and Travis!"

WORD Bookstores, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jersey City, N.J.: "Meet the love of your life in one of our bookstores with our 'Between the Covers' matchmaking board! #taylorswift #tayvis #indiebookstore"

White Rose Books & More, Kissimmee, Fla.: "Like the rest of the world, I think we are thrilled to say congrats to @taylorswift and @killatrav and wish them all the best! Don't forget we have a listening party for Life of a Showgirl happening on October 3!! See all you swifties then."

Imaginary Proposal Spots
Bliss Books & Wine, Kansas City, Mo.: "Love Story unlocked! Congratulations to Taylor Swift and our boy Travis Kelce on their engagement!  We're all still swooning in KC over this chapter of their romance. Shoutout to Jannae and Alaia for the borrowed setup from their proposal that we were honored to host at Bliss. Proof that fairytales do happen in bookstores."

Rainy Day Books, Fairway, Kan.: "BABY, SHE SAID YES! The official king and queen of Kansas City will be tying the knot and ruling over the Chiefs Kingdom, dawning a new Era for the love birds!"

Lovestruck Books and Cafe, Cambridge, Mass.: "It's a Lovestruck story, baby, just say yes."

Blue House Books, Kenosha, Wis.: "When Travis Kelce first asked if he could propose to Taylor Swift at Blue House Books, we told him no. We were way too busy shelving romances and couldn't possibly squeeze in a celebrity engagement. Plus, he kept knocking into our shelves and throwing books around while screaming 'HIKE!' But then he pointed at our Brighton Walsh event sign and said, 'Please, guys. It's the perfect spot. Forbidden romance, single dad + nanny, grumpy + sunshine… I need the most important moment of my life to be right next to it.' So we caved. They got engaged, took some adorable photos with Taylor's dear friend, Sam and her husband Kyle, and declared there's officially love in the air here.... Congrats to the happy couple."

Lake Forest Book Store, Lake Forest, Ill.: "Congratulations Taylor and Travis! So glad you made us part of your love story."

Plaid Elephant Books, Danville, Ky.: "Well, that was unexpected. But we're so happy that Taylor & Travis decided to make us part of their special day. Small town bookstores really are quite romantic."

Posted by Astoria Books

Aaron's Books, Lititz, Pa.: "We agree, Lititz is the perfect place to celebrate an engagement! Especially for a book-loving Pennsylvanian like Taylor."

Magic City Books, Tulsa, Okla.: "#Romantasy."

Potential Wedding Venues
Kansas City Public Library: "Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, we have the perfect wedding venue for you! Surrounded by love stories and parchment for your paper rings. Shout out to Taylor Swift for being a marketing genius and announcing her engagement on the day of our Swiftynomics event at the Plaza Branch. To learn more, visit kclibrary.org/events. Did you know the Central Library hosts weddings? Visit spaces.kclibrary.org/weddings for more information."

Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, Ohio: "Hey Travis and Taylor! Did you know the Library offers low cost meeting spaces for private events, including weddings? Book a room for a special event today."

Ella at High Five Books

Book Recommendations (Naturally)
Strand Book Store, New York, N.Y.: "Do @taylorswift and @killatrav need any help adding books to their wedding ceremony... asking for a friend."

High Five Books, Florence, Mass.: "Have you heard the news?! No, not THAT news--this: Booksella Ella has joined our crew, and she can show you precisely where we keep our Taylor coloring books and football guides!"

Book Bin, Northbrook, Ill.: "The Swifties at Book Bin are celebrating! Are you ready for it?"

Storyline Bookshop, Arlington, Ohio: "Yes, this bookstore is full of Swifties. So of course we're excited for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement! While we wait for the wedding, check out some of these books to keep the romance, humor, and love vibes going. Just like their sweet and playful connection, these stories are all about opposites attracting, loyalty, and a little small town charm."

Whistlestop Bookshop, Carlisle, Pa.: "If The Wall Street Journal says it's so, it must be true. Check out our Golden Biography books of the Kelce Brothers and Taylor Swift side by side on the shelf."

Daughters Coffee & Books, Durham, N.C.: "In honor of Taylor Swift's engagement, we've got all the Swiftie goodies stocked and ready. Pins, stickers, books & more--because love stories belong in every era."