Whitefish Bay Book Co. opened last month at 322 E. Silver Spring Drive in Whitefish Bay, Wis. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that owner Karin Werner "grew up with books. Her mother owned a used bookstore near Seattle for 30 years. Werner said she worked there throughout high school, doing her homework behind the counter and helping customers when they came in."

After a health issue two years ago, she decided to pursue a career she was more passionate about than her work as an attorney. "Books are something I've always loved," she said, adding that bookstores are thriving because people like going to them, talking to others about books, and getting book suggestions. "They are gathering places."

Whitefish Bay Books, which occupies 800 square feet, offers new books in various genres, including children's titles, as well as bookmarks, games, and gift items. "I think books make the best presents," she said.

Shortly before the grand opening, Werner told WFB Buzz that the bookshop's 
selection skews intentionally toward what she knows best: "Women buy 75% of the books out there and read 75% of the books. It's intentionally a little more feminine selection... because I do think you're more effective if you can talk to people about the books." 

That said, she is deliberately layering in genres outside her own wheelhouse (more mystery, suspense, and "masculine nonfiction"), reading widely herself and listening to audiobooks "so she can speak knowledgeably to a broader range of customers. She described steering a friend's husband toward a vacation read from that section recently, calling the recommendations 'amazing' even though it's not typically her lane," WFB Buzz noted.

Werner is exploring ways to activate the space beyond normal retail hours. Book clubs may be one option, and she is gathering community input on other ideas, from mah-jongg nights to writing groups. She is also hoping to bring on a part-time staff member later this year.

Bibliobar will move to this space at 1024 E. 15th St.

Bibliobar in Plano, Tex., will move to a new, larger location this fall, Community Impact reported. The bookstore will be moving from 1018 E. 15th St. to 1024 E. 15th St., with owner Chelsea Tresp aiming to have the new space open the first week of October. At 2,000 square feet, the new space will be more than double the size of the old location, and Tresp will make use of the extra room by expanding the inventory, creating a designated children's section, and adding an area in which the store can host events and customers can relax.

"A bookstore is definitely like a third space, or it should be," Tresp told Community Impact. "We have a lot of people who come in and want to hang out."

Tresp started Bibliobar as a pop-up shop in 2017. In 2023, it moved into its first bricks-and-mortar home before moving into the space at 1018 E. 15th St. in 2025. The store carries a wide variety of books for all ages, with an emphasis on social justice and diverse voices. 

After Bibliobar moves into its new home, Tresp plans to keep the old space and open a new business there. Through that business, community members will be able to rent space to sell items of their own. 

Tresp is looking for volunteers to help with the upcoming move.

Bold Fork Books, a culinary bookstore in Washington, D.C., will close at the end of September, City Cast DC reported.

"This has been a brutal year for our bookstore," wrote co-owners Clementine Thomas and Sam Vasfi in an announcement posted to Instagram last week. "Business has slowed, costs have gone up, and there's no indication these trendlines will change anytime soon. Like so many of our fellow small businesses, we've tried to come up with solutions, but the fundamentals have become insurmountable." 

Located in D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Bold Fork Books first opened in October 2020. It sells new and vintage cookbooks, hosts food- and book-related events, and runs international culinary tours. The store is named after culinary legend M.F.K. Fisher's With Bold Knife and Fork.

"I just thought the idea of Bold Fork was just so evocative of curiosity and tasting, all of things we approach cookbooks with," Thomas told WTOP News around the time of the store's opening.

The bookstore's last day in business will be September 30. Prior to the closure, Vasfi and Thomas plan to host events to commemorate and celebrate both the bookstore and its customers.

"We want to make the most of our last month together, with plenty of opportunities to gather, connect, and celebrate," the owners wrote. "We'll have more to share soon about events and other ways to come together in the weeks ahead.

"At the end of the day, Bold Fork Books is a place: four walls, some shelves, and a whole lot of books. What made it special was you--the people who filled it. Thank you all for the journey of a lifetime."

Wiley has been named the inaugural recipient of the Book Industry Study Group's Founders Award, which recognizes "exceptional and sustained organizational commitment to BISG and its mission."

The company, the only current member whose membership dates continuously to the organization's founding in 1976, was cited for having been "far more than a member. Its representatives have contributed their expertise, time, and leadership to BISG's committees, standards, programs, and collaborative initiatives, helping BISG address shared challenges and strengthen the infrastructure that supports the book publishing industry."

BISG executive director Allison Belan said, "As we celebrate BISG's 50th anniversary, it is especially meaningful to recognize an organization that has been part of our work from the very beginning. Wiley's 50 years of continuous membership are remarkable on their own, but this award recognizes something more. For five decades, Wiley has consistently brought its people, expertise, and perspective to the table. BISG exists because organizations across the industry choose to work together on challenges bigger than any one company, and Wiley's longstanding commitment to that work exemplifies the collaborative spirit on which BISG was founded."

Amanda Miller, group vice-president, Wiley Books, said the company is "deeply honored" to receive the award, adding, "Being part of BISG since its founding has given us a front-row seat to the significant impact this organization has on our industry, from the standards it sets to the collaboration it makes possible across every part of the supply chain. We're extremely grateful for that work, and we're committed to continuing to support BISG and its mission in the years ahead."

The Founders Award will be presented during BISG@50: Book Publishing Next Forum & Anniversary Celebration, taking place September 16 at the New York Historical in New York City.

Gloria Steinem, journalist, author, editor, and feminist activist, died yesterday at age 92.

Gloria Steinem signed ARCs of My Life on the Road (Random House) at BookExpo in 2015.

"Calling herself 'an entrepreneur of social change,' Ms. Steinem helped usher in sweeping cultural transformations across virtually every facet of American life, from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom," the New York Times wrote. "For more than half a century, she personified the women's movement and became its most enduring symbol; her tinted aviator glasses and curtain of streaked-blond hair parted in the center made her one of the most recognizable women in the world....

"Her own feminist awakening didn't come until her mid-30s, when, as a journalist in 1969, she attended a 'speak out' of women discussing their illegal abortions. Charismatic, articulate, media savvy, deeply empathetic and a workaholic, she evolved into a political and cultural force."

In the 1960s, she was a prolific freelance journalist, contributing to a variety of publications. In 1968, she helped found New York magazine, where she wrote a regular political column. In 1971, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine, the ground-breaking feminist magazine, and was an editor there for 15 years. Among many other achievements, she also co-founded the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Women's Media Center, and Equality Now, and produced documentaries.

An autobiography, An Unexpected Life: A Memoir, is being published by Random House on September 22. In it, Steinem writes about growing up "a curious child: going on road trips with her itinerant father, caring for her mother, and devouring every book she could find" and her slow awakening to the problems of poverty and women's roles in society, becoming a leading feminist--and the rest of her long, rich life.

Her earlier books were bestsellers and included:

Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983), which includes a variety of essays and material, including her exposé, "I Was a Playboy Bunny"; a tribute to her mother, "Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)"; essays on female genital mutilation and the difference between erotica and pornography; and the satire, "If Men Could Menstruate."

Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992), which draws on her own experiences with a lack of self-esteem as well as those of others, including Mahatma Gandhi.

The Truth Will Set You Free, but First It Will Piss You Off!: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion (2019), an illustrated collection of inspirational and outrageous quotes by Steinem along with her introduction and essays.

Marilyn: Norma Jean (1986), in which she "revealed the woman behind the myth."

My Life on the Road (2015), in which Steinem discussed the importance of travel. As she explained, "Taking to the road--by which I mean letting the road take you--changed who I thought I was. The road is messy in the way that real life is messy. It leads us out of denial and into reality, out of theory and into practice, out of caution and into action, out of statistics and into stories--in short, out of our heads and into our hearts."

Among her many honors, Steinem received the Penney-Missouri Journalism Award, the Front Page and Clarion awards, the National Magazine Award, the Women's Sports Journalism Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, the James Weldon Johnson Award for Journalism, and others. In 2013, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

This past week, Shelf Awareness sent our monthly pre-order e-blast to nearly 920,000 of the country's best book readers. The e-blast went to 919,378 customers of 284 participating independent bookstores.

The mailing features 11 upcoming titles selected by Shelf Awareness editors and a sponsored title. Customers can buy these books via "pre-order" buttons that lead directly to the purchase page for the title on each sending store's website. A key feature is that bookstore partners can easily change title selections to best reflect the tastes of their customers and can customize the mailing with links, images, and promotional copy of their own.

The pre-order e-blasts are sent the last Wednesday of each month; the next will go out on Wednesday, September 30. Stores interested in learning more can visit our program registration page or contact our partner program team via e-mail.

For a sample of the August pre-order e-blast, see this one from Commonplace Reader, Yardley, Pa.

The titles highlighted in the pre-order e-blast were:

Victorious by VE Schwab (Tor)
Partita by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper)
Every Story Is a Love Story by Imbolo Mbue (Random House)
As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)
Two Saddest Kitchens by Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein (Bloomsbury)
Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga/S&S)
The Brightness by Chad Harbach (Little, Brown)
Return to the Shack by William P. Young (Apiary)

Warwick's, La Jolla, Calif., hosted the launch event for San Diego-born former NFL player Andre Hardy (standing at right, in the gold Padres hat), who discussed and signed his debut novel, Tear the City Down (Grand Central). He was in conversation with Gary Phillips (at right, in blue), Golden Poppy finalist for The Haul: A Heist Novel (Soho Crime).

Lakeside Book Company has added four publisher clients for full sales and distribution:

Karis Parenting, which publishes materials to equip parents and caregivers of young children with tools to weave their faith into early childhood development activities. Karis is a ministry of the First Baptist Church of Asheville, N.C., and is funded through Lilly Endowment's Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative. Its work blends theology and science to meet the needs of parents and caregivers. (Effective September 1 with Lakeside Book's Christian division.)

Académie du Vin Library, which publishes books from some of the world's leading wine experts as well as revised editions of important wine classics. Besides its stand-alone titles, it is widely recognized for the Classic Wine Library and the Wines of series. (Effective October 1.)

Les Éditions Goélette, a Quebec publisher of French-language books, which is launching its first English-language list with Lakeside Book. The Goélette list spans a wide range of categories from puzzle books, general fiction, and practical guides to children's books, educational materials, and cookbooks. Goélette will work with Lakeside Book to select titles from its core list to repackage in English for the U.S. market starting January 1.  

Empress Editions, which is dedicated to amplifying the voices of midlife women by developing a publishing program for this demographic. Nonfiction titles spotlight memoirs and self-help, while fiction is focused on romance and its many sub-genres. (Effective January 1.)

At Chronicle Books:

Keely Thomas-Menter has been promoted to senior publicist.

Caroline Page has joined the company as sales, marketing & publicity assistant.

---

Stephanie Felty is being promoted to senior publicist at Berkley.

It's already that time of year. Split Rock Books in Cold Spring, N.Y., shared a photo of the shop's window display, noting: "Back to school tomorrow here in Philipstown! If you know someone who is feeling a little nervous--there's a book for that!"

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Dr. Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell, author of Girlhood, Translated: Understanding Young Women in the Age of Therapy Speak and Self-Diagnosis (Crown, $30, 9798217085736). 

The View repeat: Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer, authors of The Husky and Handsome Guide to Grilling (Simon Element, $30, 9781668075357).

Jennifer Hudson Show repeat: Brandy Norwood, author of Phases: A Memoir (Hanover Square Press, $32.50, 9781335013279).

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, September 5
9:30 a.m. Jack Cheevers, author of Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent into Vietnam (Simon & Schuster, $35, 9781668082409). (Re-airs Saturday at 9:30 p.m.)

7:30 p.m. Amity Shlaes, author of Coolidge: A Political Biography of Presidential Leadership, Service, and How One President Rebuilt America's Trust in Government (Harper Perennial, $21.99, 9780061967597). (Re-airs Sunday at 7:30 a.m.)

Sunday, September 6
8 a.m. Darby Saxbe, author of Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men's Lives (Flatiron, $29.99, 9781250387523), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

9 a.m. Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari, author of Labor: One Woman's Work (Avid Reader Press, $28.99, 9781668015407), at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Mass.

11 a.m. Pauline Steinhorn, author of Dreaming of the River: A Mother and Daughter’s Fight for Survival during the Holocaust (Amsterdam Publishers, $17.95, 9789493418844), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 10:40 p.m.)

5:55 p.m. Theo Baker, author of How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University (Penguin Press, $32, 9780593832837).

The shortlist has been selected for the $75,000 2026 Cundill History Prize, honoring the best in history writing in English and administered by McGill University.

The shortlist:
The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries and Ireland's Legacy of Silence by Louise Brangan (Bodley Head)
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult by Jonathan Cheng (Knopf)
Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple (William Collins)
Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History by Linford D. Fisher (Liveright)
Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean by Eric T. Jennings (Yale University Press)
The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews by Alexander Lee (Picador)
We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore (Liveright/John Murray Press)
John Doe Chinaman: A Forgotten History of Chinese Life Under American Racial Law by Beth Lew-Williams (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press)

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, September 8:

Switzy: A Novel by Emma Cline (Random House, $32, 9780593595244) follows a retired executive on a trip to Europe near the end of his life. 

The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday, $32, 9780385550345) is historical fiction based on 16th-century Irish folk hero Grace O'Malley. 

Taipei Story: A Novel by R.F. Kuang (Morrow, $32, 9780063473744) follows a Chinese American student on a summer language program in Taipei.

Massif: A Novel by Garth Nix (Harper Voyager, $30, 9780063292017) is a space opera about humans hitching rides on sentient spacefaring mountain ranges. 

Wickhills by Premee Mohamed (Tor, $29.99, 9781250378415) is urban fantasy about a secret agent protecting a defecting scientist with a powerful magic weapon.

Espiritu by Aiden Thomas (Feiwel and Friends, $20.99, 9781250894939) is a return to the YA world of Cemetery Boys told from ex-ghost Julian's point of view.

I Am a Spicy Nugget by Loryn Brantz (Viking, $18.99, 9798217042142) is a picture book featuring a child who turns into a screaming nugget when her feelings get too big.

How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time by Sarah Longwell (St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250464170) explores how to create an anti-MAGA coalition.

The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict by Priya Parker (Riverhead, $30, 9780593420225) argues the importance of healthy conflicts.

Monumental: A Stonemason's Tale by Simon Warrack (W.W. Norton, $31.99, 9781324075981) chronicles a stonemason's work preserving cultural sites around the world, from Venetian palaces to Angkor Wat.

Food Is a Feeling: Recipes & Stories, with Love by Carla Lalli (Clarkson Potter, $36, 9780593800621) contains 65 recipes and 30 essays from a James Beard Award-winning author. 

Paperbacks:
She's a Doll by Barbara Truelove (Bindery Books, $19.95, 9781967967186).

Bury Your Dead by Ana Paula Maia, trans. by Padma Viswanathan (Charco Press, $17.95, 9781917260343).

Big Bad Wolf by Laurie Gilmore (HarperCollins, $18.99, 9780008831783).

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

Hardcover
Dad, Love, Me: A Memoir by Matthew Quick (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668091753). "With stunning honesty and insight, Matthew Quick shares his experience of growing up with an abusive parent now in the twilight of his life. Dad, Love, Me feels like sharing your deepest thoughts and fears with an intimate friend." --Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller, Stillwater, Minn.

Triage by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press, $28, 9781644454008). "Claudia Rankine returns with a wise, open-hearted, and deeply sensitive book about the simple and monumental struggles of everyday life in our present moment. A book that serves as a thoughtful companion for anyone putting on a brave enough face to confront the most difficult questions of our age. Beautiful, illuminating, and poetic." --Bryan Seitz, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Paperback
The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert (Sourcebooks Casablanca, $18.99, 9781464235412). "Who doesn't want to fake date fictional royalty? While Cherry is living out our wildest dreams, she's also a strong, fierce, independent queen that you can't help but to root for. I'm here to eat it up every single time." --Jonlyn Scrogham, A Novel Romance, Louisville, Ky.

Ages 4-8
The Beginner's Guide to Being a Wizard by Keith Negley (Flamingo Books, $18.99, 9798217318568). "The Beginner's Guide to Being a Wizard is begging for an enthusiastic and committed story time performance! Bring on your funky headgear and sticks (not too pokey!), and don't forget the emergency cheese. An entertaining and pitch-perfect read-aloud!" --Rebecca Waesch, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, Ohio

Ages 8-12
The Magic Library of Waterfall Way by Julie Abe (Bloomsbury Children's Books, $18.99, 9781547618293). "Lyra is a character that's easy to love and her quest to save the library and recover the Scholar's crystal had me both enchanted and on the edge of my seat and her search for a home is guarded yet heartfelt. Part adventure, part fantasy and part found family. Everyone will love this one." --Rayna Nielsen, Book Banter Books, New Orleans, La.

Ages 13+
Young World by Soman Chainani (Random House Books for Young Readers, 21.99, 9780593905180). "Chainani not only managed to accurately capture the state of U.S. and world politics, but also created an engaging story that is all too believable. It's a spot-on commentary about teenage love, political machinations, global warming, and more. If only everyone read this book…" --Mark Kaufman, Story & Song Bookstore Bistro, Fernandina Beach, Fla.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

What is it about hockey that causes people long past their athletic prime to don bulky equipment and risk their wellbeing in such a violent game? With just the right mix of candor and affection, that's the question longtime New Yorker staff writer Nick Paumgarten ponders in his engaging memoir, The Intangibles: Friendship, Fatherhood, and the Love of the Game.

Paumgarten was raised in privileged circumstances on New York's Upper East Side and later Long Island, coming to the sport as an eight year old and playing in Central Park in the 1970s. It was an undistinguished career that saw him abandon organized play while attending St. Paul's, a New Hampshire boarding school, but something about the game, not least the outlet it provided for his anger, grabbed him and wouldn't let him go.

After returning to New York City following his graduation from Princeton University, it wasn't long before he began a two-decades-long engagement with a succession of more than a dozen teams. Their games ranged from roller hockey on the Lower East Side to ice hockey above a parking lot at Chelsea Piers on the West Side, all of it adding up to a "cultish pastime" that felt "clandestine, a kind of secret life." Those efforts climaxed with the battles of the eponymous team through several seasons in its dogged pursuit of the "marvelous, meaningless accomplishment" embodied in the "towering plastic trophy" awarded to the champion of its C League in what's aptly known as "beer-league hockey," for the postgame gatherings that are as much an element of the experience as the on-ice contests.

Paumgarten's memoir is episodic, blending his often self-deprecatory reflections on his experiences with portraits of his fellow players like Junta, who once co-managed the band Phish, and the Brad, a master rigger of industrial cranes, whose ardor for the sport matched his own. Paumgarten is unafraid to visit the dark side of hockey, not least the casual homophobia that was "as common as mildew" among some of his teammates. Despite his reservations about hockey's less admirable aspects, he wasn't reluctant to introduce his two sons to the game, as he describes in a section on his experiences as a youth hockey coach and parent.

The Intangibles concludes with Paumgarten's wistful reflections as he considered, in his mid-40s, finally hanging up his skates and facing a "puckless life." Even with a growing list of chronic injuries, including several concussions, he adroitly captures the internal struggle facing any aging athlete when it's time to abandon a beloved game for good. "I love these men," he writes, and thanks to the intimacy of this memoir, he allows readers to experience some of that love along with him. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: In a heartfelt memoir, New Yorker staff writer Nick Paumgarten recounts his decades-long infatuation with the sport of hockey, focusing on his time in aptly named beer leagues in New York City.

Some people are natural door openers. But most are not.

--William H. Whyte, City: Rediscovering the Center

As a book person, I live in a narrow corner of the universe where an unnaturally high percentage of the people I interact with are readers and indie bookstore patrons. For many of them, the simple act of opening a bookshop's front door and walking inside is not an alien experience, even though statistically almost no one in the world opens bookshop doors, ever.

When I was a bookseller, we had endless discussions in meetings about how to get people who hadn't been to the bookstore before to just open the damn front door and come inside--how to project hospitality in order to be of service. That was an evergreen conversation.

Many years ago, I wrote that for bookstore owners, the word "open" has more than one connotation. First, you open your business, and then you hope all of your careful preparations will entice readers to open your front door. The first opening is celebratory; the second an ongoing challenge as long as you own the shop. 

I conceded that there are other crucial openings--customers open books that intrigue them and then, ideally, open their wallets--but opening that door, to the physical storefront or online portal, is the crucial first step.

Bookselling isn't a dramatic profession. Often people who envy booksellers do so because they imagine some idyllic little bookshop myth, where the bookseller reads peacefully at a counter, well-fed cat sleeping nearby. And when the little bell over the door rings, gently heralding a customer's arrival, the bookseller looks up casually from their book and welcomes the newcomer to biblioparadise.

As you may have guessed by now, I've been thinking lately about bookstore doors. In fact I've even collected a few social media videos of, well, people opening doors into bookshops. 

For example, Quill & Quest Bookstore, Farmington, N.Mex., opened their door as a "welcome to all our new followers!... We sell a wide range of new books across all genres, as well as bookish gifts and accessories. There's also a little cafe in the back serving espresso coffee, loose leaf tea, and more!... Come visit us sometime! There's always something to do at the bookstore."

New bookstore owners love to introduce their shops to the community with video prompts that offer a quick peek inside. Long Dark House in Old Town Alexandria, Va., noted that it was "working hard to get everything together in next few weeks !!... We're building a home for horror, sci-fi, and all the wonderfully strange stories in between, plus events, author visits, book clubs, community gatherings, and more! Follow along here and join our mailing list so you don't miss opening details and everything lurking ahead. Open soon."

"It's a sprint to the end!" Among the Pages, Durant, Okla., posted last month in anticipation of its imminent grand opening celebration. 

And the Lost Story Bookshop, Katy, Tex., opened the front door from inside the store to share the excitement of its grand opening celebration: "Women, you mean the world to me. Thank you for showing up & supporting this dream. I can't wait to see what this bookshop holds for all of us!!!"

Doors open for myriad reasons. Cupboard Maker Books, Enola, Pa., used the theme to express gratitude to patrons as it introduced a new section of the bookstore: "We'd like to thank every author, reader, visitor, and cat lover who took the time to sign, write in, or draw in each of the 194 books that form the book arch leading into our new Romantasy & Paranormal section. Now you are all part of our story and Cupboard Maker Books history."

Of course not every day is grand opening day. Many booksellers use opening door videos to offer customers an inside look at what Stacks Book Club, Tucson, Ariz., called a "typical day." Pagdandi Bookstore & Coffee in Baner, Pune, Maharashtra, India, offered a quick tour and a generous dose of bookselling philosophy: "A bookstore is made up of so much more than the books on its shelves. Every day brings its own rhythm, its own routines, and countless little moments that keep everything moving. Most of them go unnoticed, but together, they're what make this place feel like Pagdandi."

Sometimes the doors open to make a point, as they did recently at Wild Aster Books, Chamblee, Ga. ("Shopping small, giving to your community and not supporting billionaires.") and Mysterious Galaxy Books, San Diego, Calif., via Bookshop.org ("kinda chic to support indie bookstores over billionaires."). 

Other times it's the customers themselves who post videos as they open doors. On Bookstore Romance Day, @batttykoda opened the door into Love & Other Books, Ferndale, Mich., describing it as the "cutest little shop" and  giving a "shout out to the Bookseller Taylor, who was so lovely to yap with about weird girl lit!"

Ultimately, any discussion of this subject must also take into account the reality check Lark & Owl Booksellers in Georgetown, Tex., posted last night, which began: "Let's have a talk about keeping the doors open." 

The entrance to a 21st-century indie bookstore--whether analog or virtual--has also, fortunately, become something of a swinging door, with booksellers searching for more and more ways to open their doors and get outside to foster community in wonderfully creative ways. Long may those doors keep opening!