"Indie bookstores, particularly children's bookstores, have played a fundamental role in my becoming an illustrator (and also libraries). When I was starting out, I spent a long time looking at, reading, and buying picture books in order to study the form, but also to familiarize myself with certain publishers and how they chose their stories. What worked and didn't work? Who were the publishers I could possibly contact and work with that had an affinity with what I was doing?

"Bookstores are a great way to study the picture book form, the market, and current trends. Libraries and second-hand stores are great to form a historical knowledge of picture books. Novels have [also] been a great resource for me."

Eight Cousins Books, Falmouth, Mass., is moving out of its original location this spring and consolidating operations into its newer store at 199 Main St. The Enterprise reported that co-owner Eileen C. Miskell said the bookstore's lease of the brick building at 189 Main St. is set to expire at the end of May.

In July 2024, Eight Cousins added the second store to provide a designated space featuring teen and adult titles, while the "well-known brick building at 189 Main St. [called Eight Cousins Kids] has been used as a children-centered space since that time, with children's books, toys, and gifts."

On the bookstore's website, the owners noted: "After two years of operating with two locations, we've realized that we are more efficient and more united as a team when we are all together in one space. Although we've enjoyed the adventure of the two spaces, and the support of our Falmouth community, we believe that a single location provides the opportunity for more seamless service and enhanced community engagement."

Over the next few weeks, the bookstore will be moving the Eight Cousins Kids' inventory into the space at 199 Main St., while remaining open during the transition. 

Eight Cousins Books was founded by Carol Chittenden and her mother, Betty Borg, in 1986 at 630 Main St., then moved to 189 Main St. six years later, the Enterprise noted. Chittenden and Borg transferred ownership in 2015 to longtime employees Mary F. Buckley, Sara Hines, and Miskell. In 2021, Janet B. Totten joined the Eight Cousins ownership team. Buckley retired in December 2020.

Prologue Bookshop, Columbus, Ohio, will be relocating this spring to 787 N High St., just a block down the street from the shop's current space.

Describing the new store as a "bright, airy space," owner Dan Brewster said in a note to his customers that it is "double the size of our current location and we can't wait to fill it with all kinds of incredible books and gifts. We've had a great run at our current spot and are grateful to stay in the Short North Arts District with all our friends and neighbors. It's thanks to your generous support that we're able to take this next step."

Plans call for almost every section to be expanded, with poetry, essays, fantasy, horror, and Spanish-language titles all getting a boost. Prologue will also be growing its selection of art, design, photography, film, and music books. The additional space will allow the bookshop to host events and book clubs more comfortably, without having to close parts of the store.

"We'll be announcing the specific dates of the move soon, so stay tuned," Brewster added. "Our current location will stay open until it's time to move the books. There is much work to be done and we'll keep you updated at every turn. We can't wait to show off the new space and celebrate with all of you at the grand opening party."

The Brown Dog Bookshop hosted a ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration over the weekend at 2940 Dallas St. in Kennesaw, Ga. The Marietta Daily Journal reported that the new bookstore "features over 2,000 books across a variety of genres with an emphasis on literary fiction."

"We just want this to be a place where people can come and meet other readers," owner Kelly Lee said. "It has been something I've always envisioned." She and her father had a tradition of going to local bookstores, and during one of those trips, they envisioned opening their own bookstore one day. "That was kind of our thing (and) what we did," Lee said. "It had always been a dream in the back of my mind."

Lee retired from her finance career last year, and decided to bring the vision to life. When the space became available last September, Lee said it was the right spot to open her shop since it was "in a good area that is looking up."

The upper floors of the store "are a dedicated area selling children's books filled with toys and comfortable seating, along with an office space that guests can rent for local book clubs, studying, and working," the Daily Journal wrote, adding that paintings and other works from local artists adorn the store's walls.

Lee said she is most looking forward to seeing the books that customers respond to, and her goal is to provide a "place for readers. We really just want it to be a place for readers to meet up. A place to find people who like the same things that they do, for college students to be able to come and find a book they need for class or to just hang out."

Patchouli Joe's Books & Indulgences in Denton, Tex., will close this spring, WFAA reported.

In an announcement posted to the bookstore's website, Patchouli Joe's owners Charlie Forester, Stephanie Forester, Diane Mayes, and Joe Mayes, called the news bittersweet and pointed to the economy as the main reason for the closure.

Economic conditions have "many people hesitant to spend precious dollars on 'luxury' items like books," they wrote. "Costs have risen in just about every aspect of the business and, in those areas where costs have remained stable, even those have become more than we can bear given the decrease in sales." At the same time, changes in the neighborhood, such as a decrease in parking, have contributed to the difficulties.

The store opened in Leander, Tex., in 2019, and relocated to Denton in 2021.

The owners noted that although the closure will allow them to pursue new opportunities and ventures, they will dearly miss the bookstore's staff and especially its customers.

"We've seen graduations and weddings," they wrote. "We've watched people walk through major illnesses and all manner of life events. But all of them stood with us, sometimes even while their knees shook. All of these people have been part of creating the heart and soul that is Patchouli Joe’s.

"But most of all, friends, we want to thank all of you who’ve spent time in the store with us, from the bottom of our hearts. Because of you, we’ve gotten to know what it's like to feel loved and welcomed by a community--by you. Thank you seems insufficient but here goes anyway: Thank you."

They are eyeing March 31 as a tentative closing date.

"Screaming at sports ball? Screaming at books?" Those were the options listed on the sidewalk chalkboard in front of Protagonist Books & Coffee, Dryden, N.Y., on Sunday in anticipation of the NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. The bookshop noted: "Go Bills! And if sports ball isn't your thing... we've got books."

[Editor's note: Bills won!]

Posted by Leviathan Bookstore, St, Louis, Mo.: "How's this for a greeting to 2026? Two baby New Years are the least we deserve after all the world's been through lately. Here's hoping that our bookstore will remain a haven from the storm for all of us."

Mabel's Fables Bookstore, Toronto, Ont., Canada, shared a snowy pic on Facebook, noting: "Cozy winter bookstore."

At Sourcebooks:

Lismarie Cuevas has been promoted to sales manager, international sales.

Cana Clark has been promoted to senior marketing associate, Sourcebooks Kids.

Today:
Kelly Clarkson Show: Kenan Thompson, co-author of Unfunny Bunny (Feiwel & Friends, $19.99, 9781250364814).

Fresh Air: Liz Moore, author of The God of the Woods (Riverhead Books, $19, 9780593418925). 

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Ania M. Jastreboff, authors of Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like to Be Free (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668217283). They will also appear on Today.

Also on Today: Maya Shankar, author of The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans (Riverhead, $30, 9780593713686).

Good Morning America: Dr. Lucky Sekhon, author of The Lucky Egg: Understanding Your Fertility and How to Get Pregnant NOW (St. Martin's Press, $35, 9781250408716).

The View: Jamie Oliver, author of Eat Yourself Healthy: Food to Change Your Life (Flatiron, $39.99, 9781250427069).

Only two book-to-film adaptations collected some hardware at last night's Golden Globe Awards, but they were significant wins, with One Battle After Another's four nods leading the bookish pack. Golden Globe-winning movies that started as books or have book connections included:

One Battle After Another, loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland: Best motion picture musical or comedy; director (Paul Thomas Anderson); screenplay (Paul Thomas Anderson); female supporting actor (Teyana Taylor);

Hamnet, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's novel: Best motion picture drama; female actor (Jessie Buckley)

Other bookish Golden Globe-nominated films that did not win included Frankenstein, inspired by Mary Shelley's classic novel; Wicked: For Good, based on the musical adaptation of Gregory Maguire's novel; Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, based on Amélie Nothomb's The Character of Rain; Train Dreams, based on Denis Johnson's novella; No Other Choice, based on Donald E. Westlake's The Ax; Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, based on the book by Warren Zanes; Die My Love, based on the novel by Ariana Harwicz; and The Testament of Ann Lee, based on Mother Ann Lee, Morning Star of the Shakers by Nardi Reeder Campion.

Among the TV nominees were Slow Horses, adapted from Mick Herron's book series; All Her Fault, based on Andrea Mara's novel; The Girlfriend, based on the novel by Michelle Frances; and The Narrow Road to the Deep North, adapted from the novel by Richard Flanagan.

A four-book shortlist has been released for the inaugural Gambling Books Awards, launched in September 2025 by the team behind the Gambling Files podcast, the Bookseller reported. The prize aims to "highlight excellence in the field of gambling books of all kinds." The shortlisted titles are:

The Truth Detective by Alex O'Brien
Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling by Jonathan D. Cohen
Sol: My Friend and Adversary, Sol Kerzner by Peter Venison 
Dead Lucky by Connor Hutchinson

Each of the shortlisted writers receives £1,000 (about $1,340), while the winner gets £7,000 (about $9,385). The shortlisted authors will travel to Barcelona for the naming of this year's winner during the European Casino Awards on January 29.

Wrestling with grief, love, and creation, a reclusive painter struggles to navigate the decline of her beloved with the help of a loyal 13-year-old neighbor, a trusty pickup truck, and a couple of shovels. Nancy Foley's I Am Agatha is a striking first novel, jumping off from scant details of the life of a true historical figure to follow the author's imagination beyond. Like its protagonist, this story is sure-footed and occasionally, markedly vulnerable.

Based upon the painter Agnes Martin, Foley's Agatha Smithson leaves 1960s New York City to resurface in New Mexico, where she builds an adobe house on a high mesa, lives mostly apart from society, and creates her life's finest works. She's passionate about her home and her "ocean canyon": "It's ridiculous that anything goes on anywhere other than Mesa Portales, that one can isolate oneself from the world but still it goes about its business." She is prickly, domineering, capable of grim humor. "You'd sure make my job easier if you could give a straight answer now and then," comments a local lawyer. "But I guess it's not in your character."

Agatha is peremptory, "quick to recognize the correct path forward in all situations." She is given to strong allegiances but demands great loyalty and holds long grudges; her friends are few and precious. Thirteen-year-old Josey is, like Agatha, obstinate, free-willed, and given to few words. He is her ally, a valued hard worker, and a vital human connection. Agatha has one great love, found later in life: a widow named Alice, who lives alone with a secret buried in her backyard. As Alice's dementia worsens, Agatha will be late to learn what secrets have been kept from her, too. Fierce and indomitable, Agatha is also overwhelmed by love and grief.

Driven by commitment to her work, which she takes very seriously, Agatha is moved not at all by the opinions of others. But in Alice, she finds something different and shocking. "Work is not the only thing in life," Agatha says, to a young disciple's incredulity, but "I surprise myself by feeling it to be true. I would do anything possible, anything at all, to keep Alice with me." Agatha's big, brash personality and determination to grow old with Alice is pitted against more staid forces like Alice's son, who would rather move his mild-mannered mother into assisted living. An accomplished artist and staunch recluse, Agatha does not easily brook resistance, but the end of Alice's life will be one of her greatest struggles. I Am Agatha is an arresting, darkly funny, and heartrending consideration of life, love, and endings. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: A solitary aging painter rages against the slow loss of her partner to dementia in this spare, feeling first novel.