MacAdam/Cage, the small independent publisher that focuses primarily on fiction and some narrative nonfiction, is for sale.

David Poindexter, who founded the company in 1998, told Shelf Awareness that the ideal purchaser would be "someone like myself 15 years ago, with the drive, commitment and resources who wants to get involved in the literary landscape in America on the publishing side" and who could take over "where we leave off." Another possible purchaser would be "a good nonfiction publisher that would like to get into fiction." Right now, Poindexter said, he doesn't have the resources to continue publishing properly for the long term.

After several years of financial difficulty, this year MacAdam/Cage published seven new titles and four paper reprints in the spring and for the fall will publish three new titles and three paperbacks. The backlist has about 350 active titles.

Headquartered in San Francisco, MacAdam/Cage has always emphasized high quality fiction. The house's bestsellers have included The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. It bought MacMurray & Beck in 2000.

The house has a staff of three, with outside contractors. Poindexter said that he would be happy to help in the transition. For more information, e-mail david@macadamcage.com.

The Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt., is a step closer to opening a second location in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after signing a letter of intent to move into a new building currently under construction at 422 Broadway, where the bookseller would occupy 9,000 square feet on both the ground and second floors, the Saratogian reported.

"Saratoga is a great city. It deserves a great bookstore," said Northshire owner Chris Morrow, who cautioned the "plan is contingent upon raising enough money to make it happen. I have only a short amount of time." Although the financial process is going well and several avenues are being explored, "he is hoping particularly for more private investors," the Saratogian noted, adding that he anticipates a "confirmation of the plan will come by year's end."

The new building was chosen instead of an empty former Borders space nearby because the "422 Broadway location is a nicer space," Morrow said. "It's new construction, so I can fix up the store the way I want to. The landlords are local, which is important to me. And now there is plenty of parking."
 
Morrow told Shelf Awareness he is "confident that it will happen, though there's lots of work to do. Saratoga is a special place. I have really enjoyed the people I've met so far. People understand that if they want a diverse, interesting downtown that they need to support the stores that are here."
 

Morley Horder, who has been sole owner of Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, Wash., for the last 15 years, has taken on two partners: Tim Hunter, who has been the store's manager for nearly a year, and Rene Kirkpatrick, who has worked at several bookstores over the past 30 years. The two will be the managing partners, responsible for day-to-day operations of Eagle Harbor; Horder will stay active on the business side and as an adviser to Hunter and Kirkpatrick. The move, he said, "will help ensure that Eagle Harbor Books will continue be a successful, vital, thriving part of the Bainbridge Island and Kitsap community."

Horder said his new partners "both love and are passionately committed to the independent book store business. They have, combined, nearly 40 years in the bookselling business. They understand the role of technology in the ever-evolving retail world, but they strongly believe that the heart of our business is the one-on-one personal relationship we have with our customers, with the goal of putting the right book in each customer's hands."

During his time as manager, Hunter has, Horder said, "clearly demonstrated he understands people, cares deeply about the welfare of employees, expresses a keen understanding of the needs of customers today, has a strong understanding of and facility with technologies of all kinds, and has a brilliant business mind."

Kirkpatrick "stands out as one of the most knowledgeable and passionate booksellers I have ever known," Horder said. "She is a true hands-on leader, as well as a dedicated bookseller."

"I think it very likely that the next thing I publish will be for kids," said J.K. Rowling in an interview with BBC arts editor Will Gompertz to help publicize today's release of The Casual Vacancy, her new novel for adults. "I have a children's book that I really like, it's for slightly younger children than the Potter books, and I think probably the next thing will be for children. I loved writing for kids, I loved talking to children about what I'd written, I don't want to leave that behind. But I wanted to write this as well."

During the interview, Rowling also acknowledged that bidding farewell to the world of Harry Potter had been difficult, but she remained open to the very slight possibility of returning there. "It was murder saying goodbye, but I truly... where Harry's story is concerned, I'm done," she said. "Now, if I had a fabulous idea that came out of that world--because I loved writing it, I would do it. But I've got to have a great idea. I don't want to go mechanically back into that world and pick up a load of odds and ends and glue them together and say, Here we go. We can sell this.... It would make a mockery of what those books were to me."
 

John Waters stopped by City Lights bookstore, San Francisco, Calif., "to give a flat-out fabulous reading" of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover in preparation for the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week. City Lights is celebrating all month long with authors devorah major, Jack Hirschman, Beth Lisick, Stephen Elliott, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and many others who'll share an excerpt from their favorite banned book on the store's blog and at the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression's website.
 

On her Underwords blog, Erin Underwood interviewed Maryelizabeth Hart, co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy bookstores in San Diego and Redondo Beach, Calif.; and John Hugo, owner of three HugoBookstores in Massachusetts, "to hear about the book industry from an 'independent' point of view." Among our favorite responses:  

What inspired you to open a bookstore? What do you love most about your job, about owning a bookstore?

Hugo: I grew up in the business, ringing sales as young as 7 years old in my father's first store in Marblehead. I'm a people person so I love working with great booksellers and talking books with the myriad of different folks who come into our stores to shop and talk books, life, local politics, etc.

Hart: When Mysterious Galaxy opened our San Diego location in 1993, it was (and continues to be) a labor of love and a reflection of the books we are passionate about. Co-owners Jeff Mariotte and Terry Gilman and I believed that the fans in Southern California would welcome a store specializing in speculative fiction and mystery and suspense, the genres we love and the community response bore that belief out. What I love most about being a bookseller is sharing the books I read and am enthused about with other readers--and also learning about new-to-me books from them!
 

Sleepwalker by Wendy Corsi Staub (Harper), the second book in the Nightwatcher suspense trilogy.

Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Frances Ashcroft, author The Spark of Life: Electricity in the Human Body (Norton, $28.95, 9780393078039).

---

Today on Katie: Delilah, author of Arms Full of Love (Harlequin, $13.95, 9780373892617).

---

Tomorrow morning on CBS This Morning: Curt Sampson, author of The War by the Shore: The Incomparable Drama of the 1991 Ryder Cup (Gotham, $28, 9781592407965).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this week 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, September 29

7 p.m. At an event hosted by BookPeople bookstore, Austin, Tex., Michael Brick talks about his book Saving the School: The True Story of a Principal, a Teacher, a Coach, a Bunch of Kids, and Year in the Crosshairs of Education Reform (Penguin, $25.95, 9781594203442). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 a.m.)

8 p.m. Arun Chaudhary discusses his book First Cameraman: Documenting the Obama Presidency in Real Time (Times Books, $30, 9780805095722). (Re-airs Monday at 2 a.m.)

9 p.m. Danny Danon, deputy speaker of Israel's Knesset, presents his book Israel: The Will to Prevail (Palgrave Macmillan, $26, 9780230341760). (Re-airs Sunday at 3:45 p.m.)

10 p.m. After Words. Nancy Jacobson, co-founder of the non-partisan group No Labels, interviews Sasha Issenberg, author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns (Crown, $26, 9780307954794). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. Diana Carlin, Nichola Gutgold and Theodore Sheckels talk about their book Gender and the American Presidency: Nine Presidential Women and the Barriers They Faced (Lexington Books, $29.99, 9780739166796).

Sunday, September 30

7:45 p.m. Jeffrey Toobin discusses his book The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court (Doubleday, $28.95, 9780385527200). (Re-airs Monday at 7 a.m.)

10 p.m. Howard Wasdin presents his book SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper (St. Martin's Griffin, $15.99, 9781250006950).
 

Finalists have been named for the £1,000 (US$1,625) Polari First Book Prize, the Bookseller reported. "This is a really strong short list which reflects the diversity of LGBT literary voices," said chair of judges Paul Burston. The winner will be announced on November 26. The Polari shortlisted titles are:

Frost Fairs by John McCullogh
Ey Up and Away by Vicky Ryder
Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald
Exit Through The Wound by North Morgan
Modern Love by Max Wallis
 

For Basic Books, many of the ingredients for an auspicious launch of Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson are on the table. First, many staff members at Perseus Book Group "have fallen in love with the book," Perseus CEO David Steinberger said. "There has been tremendous enthusiasm company wide for Consider the Fork," which he described as a "beautifully written" history of how people cook and eat and why.

Then, in short order this summer, the company enthusiasm won a kind of "outside validation," as Steinberger put it. Consider the Fork, which will be served up in the U.S. October 9, was named one of the 60 books chosen for the American Booksellers Association's week-long "Thanks for Shopping Indies" promotion that starts on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The book is a B&N Discover New Writers pick for the holidays. Apple included the title in its 50 hottest books of the fall. Consider the Fork is also a November Indie Next pick. The Wall Street Journal will run a serial. Last but not least, the book has garnered excellent reviews, including a sterling one today in Shelf Awareness (see below).

Author Bee Wilson is a British food writer who has written books about food and history, including Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee, Sandwich: A Global History and (in a nice connection with her first name) The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us.

She was formerly the food critic of the New Statesman, has written a weekly food column for the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine, is a regular book reviewer for the Sunday Times and Times Literary Supplement. She won the Guild of Food Writers' Food Journalist of the Year Award three times for her work for Stella, and in 2002, she won BBC Radio 4's Food Writer Award for her work in the New Statesman.

In a trailer, Wilson explains succinctly why anyone interested in how history, culture and economic development have affected cooking and eating should pick up Consider the Fork.

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

Hardcover
In Between Days by Andrew Porter (Knopf, $24.95, 9780307273512). "In his debut novel, Porter masterfully presents each of his characters' experiences with stunning believability: Elton, losing his longtime job as a respected architect; Richard, developing as a poet but struggling with his relationships with other men; Chloe, discovering the consequences of her radical boyfriend's actions. When Chloe drops out of college and returns home, she sets into motion a chain of events that sparks a reaction from everyone around her. There is an air of secrecy and helplessness that pervades the story, mirroring the hushed secrets and misunderstandings that fuel the plot. Beautifully written and suspenseful." --Andrea Aquino, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Calif.

The Map of the Sky: A Novel by Felix J. Palma (Atria, $26, 9781451660319). "Playful and entertaining, this is a thoroughly beguiling read! Featuring narration by H.G. Wells--as in Palma's previous stellar work, The Map of Time--this is a story rife with illusion and mystery. With appearances by Edgar Allan Poe, Captain Shackleton and a possible Martian, this shrewd and versatile novel is a joy to read!" --Tova Beiser, Brown University Bookstore, Providence, R.I.

Paperback
We the Animals: A Novel by Justin Torres (Mariner, $12.95, 9780547844190). "This powerful, lyrical little book is unlike any I've recently read. Told from the point of view of the youngest of three brothers, this unique coming-of-age story takes an intimate look at a Brooklyn family bound together by a dangerous love and constantly on the brink of a furious unravel. The narrator's magical, childlike view of the world makes the tense scenes even more vivid, more real, and more unforgettable. We the Animals is an enchanting, haunting novel." --Shuchi Saraswat, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Mass.

For Ages 4 to 8
Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey, illustrated by Giselle Potter (Schwartz & Wade, $17.99, 9780375867736). "Ruby Small and her three identical dolls, each named Jennifer, feel uneasy with life in a home where dad sculpts topiaries and mom designs tiaras for the family business, Sprigs & Sparkles. A misunderstanding leads to a family vacation in Norway. When an adoring, newly calved glacier insists on following them home, Ruby learns that being different isn't really a bad thing, especially when someone loves you very, very much." --Stacie M. Williams, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Food writer and historian Bee Wilson delves into the lineage of the cookware, utensils and appliances we use to prepare our meals in Consider the Fork, a surprisingly entertaining history of kitchen technology.

The phrase "kitchen technology" might conjure images in our minds of microwaves or high-tech blenders; here, though, technology simply refers to any tool invented for a purpose. In culinary matters, Wilson says, "it took countless inventions, small and large, to get to the well-equipped kitchens we have now." For example, did you know that before Americans used standard measuring cups, ingredients were measured by handfuls or finger widths? Or that Eastern and Western cultures developed different knife styles based on how their feudal systems affected their eating habits?

Wilson considers how cultural influences have changed and evolved the way people of the world prepare and eat their meals throughout history, as well as how cooking implements have left their mark on civilizations. Some ancient cultures, such as the Funnelbeaker culture of Neolithic Europe, are even named for the distinctive types and shapes of their pottery. Wilson primarily addresses the birth and growth of Western cooking, but also covers countries and tribes the world over, including the Maori of New Zealand, some of whom traditionally cooked their food over the naturally occurring boiling pools of the Whakarewarewa hot springs instead of manmade fire.

Wilson's sprightly, knowledgeable voice skips nimbly through the narratives of pots and pans, knives, grinding implements and eating utensils, working up to the theme of the kitchen as a whole. Short asides on particularly interesting niche items such as the mezzaluna, rice cooker and toaster provide quick, fascinating epilogues to each individual chapter. Her insights will change the way you look at your kitchen accoutrements. Take the blunt butter knife, descendent of the deadly and versatile medieval belt knife: "It takes a civilization in an advanced state of politesse--or passive aggression--to devise on purpose a knife that does a worse job of cutting."

Don't be surprised if you find yourself sitting up at night with Consider the Fork, unable to turn out the light until you find out how storing and shipping ice became viable. You will never again walk into your kitchen without thinking of the rich history represented by even the humble fork. --Jaclyn Fulwood

Shelf Talker: Discover the hidden history of your kitchen through Wilson's engrossing, entertaining look at culinary technology through the ages.

In Monday's issue, we mixed up the writers in an announcement of ABC's pilot commitment for a series based on the memoir Fat, Forty and Fired: The Year I Lost My Job and Got a Life (Andrews McMeel). The book's author is Nigel Marsh, while TV writer Jeff Astrof is executive producing the show.
 

The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future by Ralph Nader (Harper, $14.99, 9780062083531), which will be released on Tuesday, October 2, is a paperback original in which the longtime consumer and political advocate offers ideas to "rescue our country from corruption, complacency and corporate domination."

In Tuesday's Attainment column, we mistakenly listed The Seventeen Solutions as a paperback reprint. Our apologies!