"I don't know how to do without books. The bookstore is functionally the get-good-at-stuff store--on any topic that you want. It's the first place to go if you want to find your purpose, to read what other people have said about it.

"If your purpose is juggling, great. If your purpose is being a chef, great. If it's poetry, awesome. You can browse every single one of those aisles. In the fiction section, you get good at experiencing the lives of others and at expressing emotions or options you might never have been able to put words to before.

"I don't know what the first step would be if it wasn't a book in a bookstore. I think that's certainly what it was in my life--it just so happened that my passion also was books. It was a double whammy on my part. Walking through a bookstore is like choosing a whole new purpose each time."

Nkiru Bookstore, a Black-owned bookstore and nonprofit that operated in Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1976 to 2002, has returned as an online store, BKReader reported. The store focuses on fiction and nonfiction for all ages written by Black authors.

Diani Eshe Greene, daughter of Talib Kweli Greene, rapper and former co-owner of the bookstore, has led the efforts to relaunch Nkiru. Greene celebrated the relaunch with a party at Erzulie Care in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, on November 1. The party featured tables of books for sale, with titles including The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall, and Buck by MK Asante, among many others.

"I think this is amazing, because people are buying the books," Greene told BKReader. "I love bringing the community together for something positive, and this is very powerful in this age."

The bookstore was founded by Leothy Miller Owens in 1976 and purchased by Kweli and rapper Mos Def in 1998, after which it became a nonprofit officially known as the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture. At the time it resided at 732 Washington Ave. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Its closure in 2002 was attributed to several factors, including the gentrification of its neighborhood and the growth of online retail.

Kweli, who served as DJ at the party on November 1, said: "My daughter made this happen. We stand on the shoulders of Leothy Miller Owens, Adalai Miller, and Ms. C.J. I love the way Diani pays it forward. And that's the way it's supposed to be."

"I feel extremely fulfilled to be able to put this together and continue the legacy of my dad, my grandmother and Leothy Miller," Greene added.

Trailside Books, featuring "shelves built around adventure, children's books, and local history," will host a grand opening celebration during the weekend of November 14-15 at 136 Aptos Village Way, Suite 100, in Aptos, Calif., Lookout Santa Cruz reported. 

Owner Marissa Swett, a retired high school teacher, said she had been considering the idea of opening a bookshop long before finally taking the leap: "I'm 47, I have enough time for another career. When I told my sister, she said I had been talking about [owning a bookstore] since I worked at a bookstore in high school." 

When she told her students her plans for a post-teaching career, "they were excited and eager to tell her about the books they were reading," Lookout noted, adding that "one thing that struck her was that many of the boys told her they used to read all the time when they were younger, but struggled to find books that held their interest once they aged out of series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

Helping to change that trend is part of what Swett hopes to accomplish with her new venture. While offering a range of titles, Trailside will focus largely on books with what she calls "an adventurous spirit," reflecting her interests as an avid backpacker and trail runner. The selection will also include children's literature, cookbooks, and local history, among other subjects. 

Swett is working to transform the Aptos Village retail space into her vision in time for the opening, with a bigger celebration planned for January. She is documenting the journey on Substack. 

The Wandering Page: A Bookshop on Wheels hit the road this fall in Moncton, N.B., Canada. CBC News reported that owner Amy McGraw, a part-time labor and delivery nurse, had always wanted to have a bookshop at some point in her life.

"But rent is high. So I thought, why not do something that I can travel with?" she said, adding that the best alternative was to run a mobile bookshop out of a customized trailer after seeing similar concepts online in other parts of the world.

She and her husband spent the summer and early fall setting up the shop in time for appearances at several fall markets. "He put walls up, we put the bookshelves out, the painting, ceiling lights, everything," she said. "And I'm very proud of myself and my husband for doing this and bringing it to life."

As for inventory, McGraw started with a list of books she loves and then asked her followers on social media for suggestions on additional titles: "We have thrillers, fantasy, young adult, fiction, along with some historical fiction. A lot of romance. It's my favorite genre, so there is a lot of romance." She hopes to carry more French books, as well as works by local writers.

McGraw said the response from early customers has been positive. "That's like the first thing that people say. 'It's so cute in here. It's like a living room. Like you feel like you're in an actual room.' "

Joe Gable, longtime manager of the first Borders Book Shop, died November 2. He was 81. He joined the small independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., three years after its 1971 founding by Tom and Louis Borders, and led the growth and transformation of the store into a book "superstore" long before that word would be applied to bookselling chains--such as Borders by the late 1980s. 

Joe Gable

Gable was "fiercely protective of the quality of the store's vast inventory of more than 100,000 individual titles," and also "intent on hiring knowledgeable booksellers--Borders employees famously had to pass a rigorous test of book titles and authors," his obituary noted.

Longtime Borders bookseller and trainer Benita Kaimowitz recalled that during the pre-Internet era, "there was a spot near the front of the store where I could stand and say out loud almost any Google-y type question, and somebody within earshot would know the answer."

Gable managed "Store #01" for 22 years. During his first decade in the position, Borders gained a national reputation for inventory and customer service that served as the basis for the Borders brothers' expansion, which ultimately led to the publicly-traded company Borders Group, Inc.

But Gable's goal was, and remained, different. He told the Ann Arbor Observer in 1986 that his "biggest desire is to make this the best bookstore in the United States."

"Joe may not have been a mythical polymath, but his much-imitated manner and speech, as well as his hands-on oversight of all aspects of Borders' operations, were memorable," according to his obituary. "Speaking low in a manner reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando, and (in the early days) enjoying his pipe even in the store, Joe became the focus of anecdotes, imitations, and of course, both admiration and grumbling."

Despite his hard-boiled manner, he was often a soft touch with employees, firing very few people over his Borders career and quick to give second and third chances.

Gable was born in Reading, Pa. Although he wasn't a big reader in high school, at Albright College he was inspired by his literature teacher, David Noll. Transferring to University of Wisconsin-Madison, he eventually received an M.A. in European history and completed his Ph.D. coursework.

During his studies, Gable worked at Paul's Books and later brought features of that shop, including its section organization, to Borders. In 1974, he moved to Ann Arbor, and wandered into Borders' old location. He had a stand-up job interview with Tom Borders, who asked him, "What do you know about books?" Gable replied: "I know more about books than anyone in this store." He was hired. 

"In his later years with Borders, Joe was both an occasionally hopeful promoter of Borders' growth, and an opinionated and acerbic critic of the many mistakes made along the way," his obituary noted. "He gave frequent--and alas, often unfollowed--advice to 'the grocery boys,' as he termed the executives brought in to grow and run the company." He later observed, "The problem with the new guys is they tried to take the book business, which is complex and boring, and make it simple and sexy." 

In 1996, he moved from store #01 to Borders headquarters as a senior project manager working on store design projects, hoping to preserve some aspects of Borders' bookish integrity. He left the company in 2008 as it neared its end.

"He was as good a reader as he was a bookseller, and his omnivorous interests... occupied him in retirement," his obituary noted, adding that Gable "kept on through book after book until very recently. A passionate non-traveler, Joe most enjoyed the view from his living room chair to the page open in front of him."

A memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nie Family Funeral Home in Ann Arbor. Donations in his memory may be made to the Humane Society of Huron Valley.

Turner Classic Movies hosts Alicia Malone (Murder at the Movies, Running Press) and Dave Karger (50 Movie Nights, Running Press) discussed their books at Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Ga.

Saffron & Co. Bookstore in Kingman, Ariz., posted a video depicting: "What I think I look like welcoming customers.... What I actually look like." The bookstore added: "Sorry about my face, it thought it was being welcoming." 

"Something about a bookstore on a rainy day," Gramercy Books in Bexley, Ohio, posted, adding: "Rain rain is here to stay, so I'm going to the bookstore today! Come on in."

The Vet from the Urban Jungle: Dogs, Cats, Dinosaurs, Dragons, and Drive-Bys by Dr. Doug Mader (Regalo Press).

Today:
CBS Mornings: LeVar Burton, co-author of Take My Word for It: A Memoir (Random House, $32, 9798217198276). He will also appear tomorrow on the View.

Today: Sissy Goff and David Thomas, authors of Capable: How to Teach Your Kids the Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience (Baker Publishing, $24.99, 9780764245329). They will also be on NBC News tomorrow.

Also on Today: Chloe Melas, co-author of The Girl's Guide to Guts: Everything Your Doc Didn't Tell You (But Your Bestie Would) (The Dial Press, $29, 9780593979204).

The View: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, author of Unapologetic: Clarity and Conviction in a World Gone Crazy (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250457721).

Live with Kelly and Mark: Barbara "Babs" Costello, author of Homemaking with Babs: Tips and Tricks for Making a House a Home (Clarkson Potter, $38, 9780593797921).

Here & Now: Laleh Khadivi, author of Female Life on Planet Earth (Ecco, $28, 9780063514249).

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Andy Richter, co-author of Elf Unwrapped: Andy Richter's Oral History of the Making of Elf, the Beloved Holiday Film Starring Will Ferrell (Dey Street, $30, 9780063445147). 

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle, co-authors of Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World (Hanover Square Press, $29.99, 9781335002853).

Also on GMA: Corre Larkin, author of Season to Taste: Comforting Recipes You Won't Find in a Restaurant (Voracious, $37.50, 9780316600903).

Today: Dustin Hoffman, author of Look at Me (Simon Six, $35, 9781668200698).

Also on Today: Gary Sinise, author of Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father, and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through (Thomas Nelson, $29.99, 9781400208159).

Watch What Happens Live: Trisha Paytas, author of Crying on the Kitchen Floor: A Memoir (Grand Central, $30, 9781538781173).

Filming is underway for Am I the Wave?, a film adaptation of Francisco Goldman's award-winning novel Say Her Name, Deadline reported. Alejandra Márquez Abella (The Good Girls) is directing, with Manuel García-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Jurassic World: Rebirth) and Renata Vaca (K-POP: The Debut) leading the cast. 

Set in Brooklyn and Mexico City, the English-language film "is inspired by Goldman's real-life romance with the brilliant young Mexican writer Aura Estrada. It follows Francisco, an American novelist splitting his time between New York and Mexico, and Aura, a fellow writer and force of nature fighting to establish herself on her own terms. Their love story is passionate, funny, intellectual, and deeply alive, until a single, tragic wave on a beach in Oaxaca changes everything," Deadline wrote.

Márquez Abella co-wrote the screenplay with Academy Award nominee Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan) and Goldman.

Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson has won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. This is the first time the prize has been won by a book covering ancient history. Richardson receives £50,000 (about $66,785). The book was published in the U.K. by Bloomsbury and in the U.S. by St. Martin's Press.

Organizers said, "A cinematic, revelatory retelling of one of the most elusive stories in history, Alexander: God, King, Man is based on more than a decade of research across four continents and includes new translations of sources from twelve ancient languages. Richardson's research took him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. The book follows Alexander the Great from his unlikely accession at 20 to a debt-ridden Macedonian throne and a restless army, to his transformation into a conqueror worshipped as a living god. Told with narrative flair, sharp insight and a real feel for the human drama behind the legend, this book reveals the young man behind history's biggest military campaign, a king, a hero and a god who died, broken-hearted, in Babylon at 32."

Chair of judges Kirsty Lang added: "Alexander: God, King, Man is non-fiction writing at its very best: a book that, like its subject, can't stop pressing onward. It's blockbuster history with page-turning narrative pull, a cracking cinematic story about the ancient world involving a masterful assembly of research materials alongside exceptional literary craft. Richardson combines the use of new technology and recent archaeological discoveries to tell the story of an extraordinary leader who conquered an empire stretching from Ancient Greece to the Indian subcontinent."

Just as he did in The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (America Fantastica) explores in Clarity the shattering shrapnel that trauma scatters in all directions. Ruby Stjern appears in Tom Barrie's life when she needs help: at 17, she's pregnant and wants to place the baby for adoption. Tom, 33, is the person she goes to; he leads the congregation at Damascus Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minn. Each has seen their version of war: Tom in Bagram, Afghanistan, Ruby in her upbringing. The novel tracks a tortured, years-long relationship between them, in which she's always running and he's trying to find her, but she is always three steps ahead.

Grace, Tom's wife of seven years, is the first to name the seemingly split personalities Ruby inhabits--Ruby, Roberta, Bobby--with the narrative moving among Bobby's first-person narrative, Tom's third-person perspective, and Grace's first-person narrative as Ruby evolves toward wellness. Tom loves Grace "the way he hoped someday to love God." He has a complicated relationship with God, and his faith manifests more as doubt than hope. On the night Grace is scheduled to return from Denmark, where she's doing research for a book on Hans Christian Andersen, Tom comes home to find Ruby sleeping in the bed he shares with Grace. An unusual living arrangement commences, with Ruby living upstairs in Grace and Tom's house.

Calamity follows Ruby wherever she goes: Tom rents out his deceased father's house, and it burns down; the doctor present at the delivery of Ruby's baby mysteriously dies by suicide; Ruby's parents died in what was deemed a "murder-suicide." O'Brien slowly unwinds what propels Ruby and how she acts as a catalyst to keep Tom and Grace's marriage together. But nothing for Tom, Ruby, or Grace is simple. Through them, O'Brien asks if there is such a thing as truth: "You were good to me," Ruby tells Tom and Grace. "But watch out for clarity. People who know all the answers are fucking fools."

O'Brien beautifully and convincingly depicts humans who must face their darkness or forever carry and be ruled by it. Outward geography, marital status, and occupations all change, but people remain weighted down until they confront it and, unburdened, become available to life and love. O'Brien offers no easy answers but gives readers deep insights into what it means to be human, to love deeply, and to care for others. --Jennifer M. Brown

Shelf Talker: In Tim O'Brien's moving novel, a pregnant teen asks a minister to help her place her baby for adoption, and a friendship develops that profoundly changes them both.