Ivy and Ink, a Romantasy Boutique, officially opened on February 12 in the Seabrook Shopping Center at 2005 Southwest Gage Blvd., Topeka, Kan. KSNT reported that "local readers can expect to find plenty of 'romantasy' books on the shelves to take care of any present reading obsessions or pick up a candle and some coffee while enjoying the store's cozy atmosphere."

Owner Becky Yokiel shared her vision for the new bookstore: "Definitely wanted people to feel something when they walk into the store. Other than just coming here to buy things, I just wanted it to feel different than anywhere else you would go in town, maybe where it feels magical and whimsical and like maybe you are stepping into a book a little bit."

She plans eventually to offer a "shop and talk" featuring a different book each month. In addition to books, Ivy and Ink also sells bookmarks, stickers, tea, T-shirts, cookies, and more, KSNT noted.

"The first 3 days the store was open, I did 41 transactions," Yokiel posted on Instagram. "That may not seem like much to some but to me it's so incredible. When I had this crazy dream to open this little store, I really didn't know how it would be received since it's kind of niche. However, 41 people (mostly strangers at that) believed in my dream enough to support it. I think that is pretty amazing. I'm so blown away by the beautiful words of encouragement I've received, all the post shares, likes, tags, it's all meant the world to me."

A children's bookstore called Stop & Grow has opened in Coronado, Calif., the Coronado Eagle & Journal reported. Located at 1339 Orange Ave., Suite 8B, Stop & Grow made its debut in December, and carries children's books ranging from board and picture books to middle-grade titles, as well as some educational toys and gifts. 

Owner Amanda Johnson, whose background is in education, told the Eagle & Journal she aims to support local children and families and provide resources for early childhood education.

"Stop & Grow will always offer a calming, nurturing, and enriching environment," she said. "I want parents to know and children to feel as though they can look, touch, and explore the books and resources to find the perfect one just for them. Stop & Grow is meant to be a place to fill your cup, not to drain it."

Since opening, Johnson has been expanding the inventory based on customer feedback, and she has greatly enjoyed "meeting and conversing with travelers, locals, young families, former students, teachers, and my favorite so far, the sweetest grandparents stopping by to shop for their grandchildren near and far."

Johnson noted that although she's always wanted to open a small business that supports children and families, she wasn't always sure that it would be a bookstore. "When I had my daughter, I wished there were more places that supported working parents with young children," she explained to the Eagle & Journal. "I dreamed of a place where I could bring my babies, and I could get some work done, while they were safe and engaged close by."

Following its closure in December, the Paper Crane Bookstore in Two Rivers, Wis., will reopen this year under new ownership as Uncorked Book Lounge, per the Herald Times Reporter.

Paper Crane will become Uncorked Book Lounge this spring.

The bookstore will stay in the same storefront at 1610 Washington St., and new owner Carrie Paczkowski plans to open later in the spring. Uncorked Book Lounge will feature books, gifts, and a wine bar.

Previous owners Rebecca and Kyle Crane started Paper Crane as a pop-up bookstore before eventually moving into a bricks-and-mortar location. When they announced the closure last year, they cited financial difficulties as well as a desire to start a new chapter in their lives. Rebecca Crane wrote of Paczkowski: "Kyle and I are so happy and excited for Carrie, and we can't wait to support her new business."

Paczkowski thanked community members for a warm welcome, adding: "I especially want to thank Rebecca and Kyle Crane as they have been so helpful and generous with their knowledge. I will be working hard to get Uncorked Book Lounge open as soon as possible but in the meantime, keep following our socials for updates."

Bards Alley Bookshop, Vienna, Va., will relocate to 103 Church St. NE after 10 years of leasing its current storefront nearby at 110 Church St. NW. Owner Jennifer Morrow said she has purchased the property, former home of John Edwards Hair Design, from John and Deborah Kurcina. 

Bards Alley's current store

Bards Alley's future home

"When I opened Bards Alley, my goal was to create a village of kindred spirits," she noted. "Educating people through words and discussion is extremely powerful, not only for individual success, but also for social good. Now that we've built the foundation, I want to continue to be a champion for literacy. John and Deborah wanted to preserve the history of the building, and we shared a vision of what it could be for the bookstore. I'm excited to start this new chapter. 

"We are overjoyed to have the opportunity to preserve this historic property and find a permanent home for the shop! We are still outlining everything, so no dates are set yet, but keep an eye out on our website and socials for updates."

Morrow told FFXnow that the building, a two-minute walk from the current shop, "is not only the perfect location, the corner of Church and Center streets, but the exact footprint I was hoping to occupy. My primary goal was to remain on historic Church Street, which is a hub for restaurants and small local retail shops. It's a walkable and bike friendly area and easily accessible from the W&OD trail."

She officially took possession of the building on February 5, and the process "remains in the outline stage," with the shop "tentatively" aiming to open its new location next fall or winter, Morrow noted. "This location will have private parking for Bards Alley customers, a dedicated space for events like book clubs, and the building itself, built in c. 1900, has its own history, which was important for me to preserve."

Michael Silverblatt, the longtime host of the KCRW radio show Bookworm, which was "known for interviews of authors so in depth that they sometimes left his subjects astounded at his breadth of knowledge of their work," died February 14, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 73.

Michael Silverblatt

Although his 30-minute show, which ran from 1989 to 2022 and was nationally syndicated, included interviews with celebrated authors, "the real star of the show was the host himself, the nasal-voiced radio personality who more than once in life was told he did not have a voice for his medium," the Times noted, adding that Bookworm "represents one of the most significant archives of conversations with major literary powerhouses from the late 20th and early 21st centuries."

Acknowledging that he was as much a character as his interviewees,  Silverblatt once said, "I'm as fantastical a creature as anything in Oz or in Wonderland. I like it if people can say, 'I never met anyone like him,' and by that they should mean that it wasn't an unpleasant experience."

A New York City native, he left home at 16 to attend the State University of New York in Buffalo. After graduating in the mid-1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and worked in Hollywood in public relations and script development. 

He eventually met Ruth Seymour, the longtime head of KCRW. She "had just returned to the United States from Russia and was at a dinner party where everyone was discussing Hollywood. There, she and Silverblatt became immersed in a one-on-one discussion of Russian poetry," the Times noted.

"He's a great raconteur and so the rest of the world just vanished," Seymour told Times columnist Lynell George in 1997. "Afterward I just turned and asked him: 'Have you ever thought about doing radio?' " That's what he did for the next 33 years.

"Michael was a genius. He could be mesmerizing and always, always, always brilliant," said Alan Howard, who edited Bookworm for 31 years. "It's an extraordinary archive that exists, and I don't think anyone else has ever created such an archive of intelligent, interesting people being asked about their work. Michael was very proud of the show. He devoted his life to the show."

"He was such a singular person," noted Jennifer Ferro, now the president of KCRW. "He had a voice you would never expect would be on radio."

In the 1997 Times column, Silverblatt said: "In general I try to read the author's complete work.... That's not always true, and I never say it if it isn't true. But more often than not, I have, at least, read the majority of the work. And sometimes it's a superhuman challenge."

Click here to see the latest Independent Press Top 40, the weekly bestseller list celebrating the bestselling 40 fiction and 40 nonfiction titles from independent publishers, as sold by independent bookstores across the country. The list is sponsored by the Independent Publishers Caucus and the American Booksellers Association.

Plenty Downtown Bookshop in Cookeville, Tenn., was named "Small Business of the Year" by the Chamber of Commerce during a gathering of business leaders for the chamber's annual meeting.
 
"We were shocked and so thrilled," said executive director Lisa Uhrik. "The Small Business of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce has always been a silent dream for me---to be involved with something seen as valuable to our community. And this is especially nice because it recognizes the work of so many people." 

Co-founder Dave Uhrik added: "Plenty is the book-culture building work involving tremendous staff professionals, who so many know and love. And it is fed and led by a lot of people who find space to lead things--from poetry to music to workshops."

Bookshop manager and co-founder Ashley Michael commented: "The reach of this little bookshop blows me away. Because we're also a nonprofit, we've been able to more easily gift books to places in our community that desperately need them, and form partnerships with so many incredible nonprofits who are also doing great work here. The work we do is the collaborative efforts of many, and we're really thankful to be a part of it." 

Todd McGarity has joined Lakeside Book Company as senior v-p of business development, book services. He has more than 20 years of experience in publishing, distribution, and corporate strategy and was most recently v-p of corporate business development & strategy at Hachette Book Group. Earlier he held business development roles at Random House, Pearson, and Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

---

Victoria Velez has joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as publicist. She was most recently at Scholastic.

Posted by Janke Book Store in Wausau, Wis.: "Bring It On Brown! We love Mike!"

Today:
Fresh Air: Michael Pollan, author of A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (Penguin Press, $32, 9781984881991).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Melissa de la Cruz, author of Sibylline (Putnam Books for Young Readers, $20.99, 9798217002610).

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.

Sunday, February 22
8 a.m. Jason Zengerle, author of Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind (Crooked Media Reads, $28, 9781638932932), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 8:30 p.m.)

9 a.m. Gabriel Sherman, author of Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family--and the World (Simon & Schuster, $29, 9781982167417), at Politics and Prose. (Re-airs Sunday at 9:30 p.m.)

10 a.m. Peniel Joseph, author of Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution (‎Basic Books, $34, 9781541675896). (Re-airs Sunday at 10:30 p.m.)

11 a.m. Dr. Ashely Alker, author of 99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250359643), at Politics and Prose.

11:50 a.m. Trevor Reed, author of Retribution: A Former US Marine's Harrowing Journey from Wrongful Imprisonment in Russia to the Front Lines of the Ukrainian War (Morrow, $30, 9780063428546).

1:30 p.m. Alex Pentland, author of Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI (‎The MIT Press, $27.95, 9780262050999)

2:40 p.m. ‎ Jacob Soboroff, author of Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster (‎Mariner, $30, 9780063467965).

3:55 p.m. Beronda L. Montgomery, author of When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy (Holt, $27.99, 9781250335166), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

4:55 p.m. Awarding of the Frederick Douglass Book Prize for "outstanding non-fiction books on the subject of slavery and abolition" to Justene Hill Edwards, author of Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 9781324073857).

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation has announced finalists for the $10,000 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. The winner will be named in early April, with all three authors to be honored on April 26 at the 50th Anniversary PEN/Hemingway Award Ceremony in Boston, Mass. They will also be granted a two-week residency at Ucross Foundation on Ucross's 20,000-acre ranch in northern Wyoming. This year's finalists are:

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown)
Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan (Pantheon)
Blob by Maggie Su (Harper)

"Whether it be through finely tuned voices, fresh takes on old forms, or exquisite world-building, this year's finalists stand out for their daring and breathtaking application of craft," said awards committee chair Lauren Francis-Sharma. "These three debuts show us how to mark humanity on a page and remind us how we discover our best selves through our relationships with others. We are delighted to showcase the immense talents of these exemplary novelists."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, February 24:

A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, $32, 9781984881991) explores consciousness through a variety of scientific, philosophical, and spiritual lenses.

Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery by Gavin Newsom (Penguin Press, $30, 9781984881939) is a political memoir by the Governor of California.

I Told You So!: Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right by Matt Kaplan (‎St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250372277) looks at persecuted scientists who were later vindicated.

We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America by Norah O'Donnell and Kate Andersen Brower (‎Ballantine, $35, 9780593727027) chronicles less well known female figures in American history.

Brawler: Stories by Lauren Groff (Riverhead, $29, 9780593418420) collects nine short stories. 

Trust No One: A Thriller by James Rollins (Morrow, $32, 9780063413238) is a thriller about university students falsely accused of murder.

Kin: A Novel by Tayari Jones (Knopf, $32, 9780525659181) is literary fiction about the diverging lives of two childhood best friends from Louisiana.

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (Tor, $29.99, 9781250362766) is romantasy about a monster hunter in 1785 France.

The Crossroads by C.J. Box (Putnam, $32, 9780593851098) is the 26th Joe Pickett thriller.

Kitty Caterpillar by Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White, illus. by Brigette Barrager (Balzer + Bray, $18.99, 9781250392893) features an adorably fuzzy pink and white creature who is part kitty-cat, part caterpillar. 

The Weedy Garden by Margaret Renkl, illus. by Billy Renkl (Greenwillow, $19.99, 9780063432819) is the author's debut picture book, with collage illustrations by her brother, about the ecosystem of a wildlife-friendly garden.  

Paperbacks:
And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison (Berkley, $19, 9780593953143). 

The Violin Maker's Secret by Evie Woods (HarperCollins, $18.99, 9780008777678).

The Whisking Hour: A Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander (‎Minotaur, $9.99, 9781250410023).

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

Hardcover
The Future Saints: A Novel by Ashley Winstead (Atria, $29, 9781668024669). "Ashley Winstead enters new territory in this beautiful look at grief and friendship--and how to move on after tragedy. Theo and the Saints are all such gorgeously flawed people. I wanted to hug them all while I yelled at them (except Kenny, an angel)." --Andi Richardson, Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va.

Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo, trans. by Gene Png (Ecco, $28, 9780063473362). "It's a treat to have a translation of this Korean bestseller. Two forty-something South Korean women choose to defy convention and form a found family. Though they both enjoyed being single, buying an apartment together launched a lively journey." --Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books, Davidson, N.C.

Paperback: An Indies Introduce Title
A Clean Hell: Anarchy and Abolition in America's Most Notorious Dungeon by Eric King, Raymond Luc Levasseur, and Josh Davidson (PM Press, 9798887441597, $22.95) "An excruciatingly honest look at one of the most brutal federal prisons in the country. This important work lays bare the broken prison system and provides the foundation for resistance against injustice and bias within our federal prison system." --Kristin Pidgeon, Riverstone Books, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Ages 4-8
Mungo on His Own by Matthew Burgess, illus. by Julie Benbassat (Clarion Books, $19.99, 9780063216716). "The illustrations are so cute. I wish I could squeeze little Mungo! What a beautiful story about independence, confidence, and bravery. Such an important message for kids as they grow up and into themselves." --Katie Pionk, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, Mich.

Ages 10-14
Saber-Tooth: A Novel in Verse by Robin Gow (Amulet Books, $18.99, 9781419777387). "Digging a giant hole in the yard as a way to process anger and shame is not Jasper's worst idea, but digging up a manipulative (and vengeful) saber-tooth tiger's bones doesn't give Jasper the emotional resolution he so desperately needs. This story works on all levels: literal, magical, emotional." --Betsy Haberl, Booked, Evanston, Ill.

Ages 14+
The Roommate Arrangement by Samantha Markum (Margaret K. McElderry Books, $20.99, 9781665973076). "Samantha Markum blends the very real struggles of imposter syndrome, gifted kid burn out, and overbearing parental expectations with the joys of crushes, finding forever friends, and the little moments where you realize you truly belong. This story deserves to be cherished, just like the characters within it." --Emily Morgan, The Novel Neighbor, Webster Groves, Mo.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

In the nine interlinked sections of her thought-provoking, poignant debut graphic memoir, Names and Faces, Leise Hook grapples with "what it means to have a mixed identity in a world that insists on its impossibility."

Hook beautifully marries the verbal and visual representation of her internal struggle, using predominant shadings of blue and salmon pink, with full-color renderings reserved for flashbacks or moments of clarity. In the introduction, haunting questions appear in thought balloons that nearly crowd her out of one panel, in which she sits at her desk while a rendering of herself splinters into three ghost-like figures. She sets the stage for the tug-of-war within, a U.S.-born woman caught between her mother's Chinese heritage and her father's German roots. Her parents, both linguists, each gave her a name: Liang Li Dun in Chinese; Leise Sara Hook in English. A striking panel image in "Names" shows her portrait in triplicate, a red outline sketch and a blue outline sketch flanking a full-color rendering ("Leise and Lidun/ live alongside/ each other").

In "Faces," Hook breaks her blue- and pink-dominated palette for full-color memories of elementary classmates in Michigan, and of sixth grade at an international school in Tokyo, where she finds herself among mixed-race students ("I was blissfully unremarkable--allowed to exist in a way I'd never experienced before"). "The Vine and the Fish" mines the phrase "invasive species" in a green palette as Hook considers the many Asian species originally brought to the U.S. to address ecological problems ("Can we fully understand our ecosystems as long as xenophobia is part of how we see and name?").

Hook's first language was Mandarin Chinese. In "Fluency," she again uses a triple portrait image, this time in gray half-tones, to show a left profile speaking in English, the central image looking out at readers, and the right profile speaking in Chinese. She uses full color judiciously, for moments of epiphany. The final section, "The Portrait," balletically synthesizes the themes of the preceding sections. Hook begins in a blue-tinted color scheme with a memory of sitting for a painter at age six, and ends with her own creation of a full-color self-portrait. "Part of what gives me trouble is I think I feel more Chinese than I look," she writes. Hook generously lays out the moving specifics of her journey, and thus allows readers to experience the universal, ongoing struggle to form a self. Her interrogation offers a template to readers of the questions that make for a meaningful life. --Jennifer M. Brown

Shelf Talker: In her moving debut graphic memoir, Leise Hook shares the process of her evolving sense of self with readers.

There are few things I like better than giving shoutouts to indie booksellers, so yesterday morning was like waking up to gifts under the tree when I read in the Bookseller that 76 bookstores across the U.K. and Ireland had been named regional and country finalists for the 2026 British Book Awards (the Nibbies) Independent Bookshop of the Year. 

Last year's Nibbies winner, the Heath Bookshop

Sponsored by book wholesaler Gardners, the award "celebrates stores that are at the center of local communities, bringing passion and knowledge to the shop floor." The regional and country winners will be revealed on March 10, with the overall winner--who receives £5,000 (about $6,770)--to be named on May 11 at the British Book Awards ceremony in London.

What always warms my own bookseller's heart when the nominations are revealed is just how important, even at this early stage of the awards process, recognition can be to communities. Among the headlines I've already seen this week: 

"Two Shropshire independent book shops shortlisted for 'book shop of the year' award"; "Lake District bookshop in running for top national award"; "Mold and Buckley bookshops named Wales finalists in awards"; "Two independent Edinburgh bookshops shortlisted for award"; "The bookshop cafes in Manchester and Stockport just recognised with huge honor"; "Carrickfergus retailer Independent Bookshop of the Year finalist." 

All bookselling is local.

"What impresses is how these shops are nimbly and proactively moving into areas that tap into local needs," said Tom Tivnan, deputy editor of the Bookseller, "such as launching festivals, fundraisers, wellness groups and supporting local schools. All this on top of the core mission of spreading the joy of books, which indies arguably do better and with more passion than any other sector."

Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association of the U.K. and Ireland, observed: "Booksellers are often the unsung heroes of the book industry--and we know how much they punch above their weight, engage in their communities and foster cultural diversity in the places they help to create and enhance. We all want a bookshop on our high street, and the bookshops on the shortlists exemplify all that great bookselling represents, for us as readers, as authors, as citizens."

The Heath Bookshop in Birmingham, which claimed last year's overall indie bookshop Nibbies win and is back with a chance to repeat, noted: "Thank you to all our brilliant customers for your support.... And congratulations to all the other finalists across the country!" And Griffin Books, Penarth, overall 2023 winner and 2026 Wales finalist, posted: "What a delightful way to brighten up a grey Wednesday morning!... We are absolutely over the moon to be included alongside our fellow fabulous Indies.... We absolutely love being part of this incredible indie bookshop community!"

Other Nibbie finalists expressing delight, gratitude, and a sense of community on social media included:

Backstory, Balham (London): "We're so thrilled.... We're in excellent company with some amazing indies. Thank you so much to all of our lovely customers. We all have everything crossed for the win."

Maldon Books, Maldon (East England category): "What great news to wake up to!... The biggest well done to our brilliant team, who work ever so hard, and huge congratulations to all the finalists--bookshops are truly amazing!"

Tales for Tadpoles, Bray (Ireland): "Absolutely thrilled to be a Regional & Country Finalist.... And to be amongst such great bookshops too."

Bàrd Books, Bow (London): "I've never been more certain that this was the right site, the right idea, the right team of people to make it happen.... Okay, this isn't the Oscars. And we've not actually won... (yet). But I'm taking this moment as a win."

House of Books & Friends, Manchester (North England): "We're over the moon.... It is thanks to all of our incredible customers who have made our little CIC the warm and welcoming home to so many great titles, events, and projects that tackle loneliness in communities."

Poetry Pharmacy, Bishop's Castle (Midlands): "Yay! We're over the moon to share some wonderful news.... This means so much to us. Thank you to all of our visitors because you are part of this moment.... For now, we're prescribing poems with extra joy."

Book Lovers Bookshop, Edinburgh (Scotland): "We are so incredibly excited and honored.... As a new indie bookshop in Edinburgh it's such an honor to be mentioned among you all! And congratulations to all of the wonderful bookshops who are finalists across all of the regions and countries highlighted."

The Folkestone Bookshop, Folkestone (South-East England): "We're thrilled to announce we've made it as a regional finalist for Independent Bookshop of the Year.... We opened The Folkestone Bookshop in 2022 because we love books and community, and we are so grateful that Folkestone said 'WE DO TOO!' "

Bert's Books, Swindon (South-West England): "This is super exciting!... Our fourth year we've made it this far, hopefully we can make it a little bit further this year--but I'm so excited to see some of my friends in other bookshops across the country make the list!"

London finalist Village Books in Dulwich summed it up nicely: "2025 was a fantastic year for us and we are so thrilled to be considered alongside such fantastic bookshops from across the U.K. A huge thank you also to all of our wonderful customers who submitted testimonials for why you love our shop. It means a huge amount to us to be your local bookshop."

All bookselling is local... and regional... and national.