The American Booksellers Association and the Independent Publishers Caucus have launched the Independent Press Top 40, a new weekly bestseller list celebrating the most popular titles from independent publishers, as sold by independent bookstores across the country.

The Independent Press Top 40 will spotlight the top 40 fiction and nonfiction titles each week. The rankings are based on weighted sales data reported by independent bookstores nationwide. The list will be published every Thursday afternoon. See the first list here.

Dan Simon, cofounder of IPC and publisher at Seven Stories Press, said, "Independent bookstores are the lifeblood of independent publishing. They champion the bold, and the unexpected. It's thrilling to see a list that reflects the incredible variety of titles you simply won't find on any other bestseller list. I firmly believe that this list is a game-changer and will help elevate the visibility of the enormous contributions of independent publishers and independent booksellers."

ABA CEO Allison Hill said, "Independent publishing of independent and diverse voices is more important than ever and ABA is excited about this partnership to highlight the indie publishing books that indie bookstores know and love. This indie-to-indie collaboration is a celebration of the creativity, diversity, and entrepreneurial spirit that defines both independent publishing and independent bookselling."

Athenix Books & Brews, offering a selection of new and used titles, has opened recently at 624 E. Main St. in Little Falls, N.Y. WKTV reported that owner Nicholas Bennett named the shop by merging his daughters' names, Athena and Nixi.

Since the bookshop's January 2 launch, "the community has warmly welcomed the bookstore, with over 350 visitors braving the cold during the opening weekend to support this new venture," WKTV noted, adding that Bennett's focus is on creating a unique experience for visitors.

"You walk in here, you're walking into an experience. It's called The World of Athenix," he said.

Athenix Books & Brews features monthly showcases of local artists, and Bennett plans to introduce a café in March, serving a variety of coffees, teas, smoothies, and juices. He has partnered with local roasters to let customers choose the coffee that will be served at the café.

Bennett's vision "is to create a social hangout in Little Falls, a place he has always considered home," WKTV wrote, noting that he describes the city as a "hidden gem" that more people need to discover. His wants his shop "to become a community staple, attracting visitors from far and wide, and Bennett hopes it will evolve into a destination for both locals and tourists."

"It's not just a bookstore. It's an experience," he said. "I want to make sure everybody leaves happy."

Face in a Book, El Dorado Hills, Calif., will close this spring after 14 years in business, ABC10 reported. 

"It's been a great run, and a pure pleasure to share books and learn from each other," read a Facebook post announcing the closure. "[Owner Tina Ferguson] and all of the booksellers are profoundly grateful to those of you who have supported us over the years, and look forward to seeing you before we close."

The bookstore opened in El Dorado Hills in early 2012. At the time, Ferguson told the Sacramento Writing Examiner she wanted "people to know that we're here for them in the community. We want this to be their neighborhood store where they can find a new discovery of books." The name was inspired by a conversation with a friend, in which Ferguson said, "Well, I think people ought to get off of Facebook and put their face in a book."

In 2025 Face in a Book won the Mystery Writers of America's Raven Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. Two Face in a Book staff members have also been the recipients of holiday bonuses from James Patterson. 

Face in a Book held its final author event on Saturday, January 3: the store hosted James L'Etoile for the launch of his book Illusion of Truth (Oceanview Publishing).

The store will close permanently at the end of March.

Open Road Integrated Media has bought RosettaBooks, the digital publisher with a catalog of more than 700 e-books, from private equity firm MEP Capital, which is also a minority investor in Open Road. RosettaBooks has been a client of Open Road's marketing services for more than seven years. 

RosettaBooks founding publisher Arthur Klebanoff will continue as consultant, adviser, and the point of contact for Rosetta authors and agents. He commented: "I look forward to continuing as the steward of Rosetta's titles. Thank you to MEP for their outstanding support, and to Open Road, which is truly the ideal home for our authors and their works."

The companies said that the purchase "brings together two of the industry's pioneering digital publishers and singular e-book catalogs." Rosetta's catalog includes works by Walter Tevis, Terry Goodkind, Nancy Friday, Robertson Davies, Arthur C. Clarke, M.C. Beaton, Martin Gilbert, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Winston Churchill, as well as books that are the basis of classic films Spellbound, The Manchurian Candidate, Dr. Strangelove, Field of Dreams, and The Graduate.

Open Road's catalog includes works by William Styron, Alice Walker, Graham Greene, Dee Brown, Walter Lord, James Herriot, and Pearl S. Buck.

Open Road CEO David Steinberger said, "We are deeply gratified to be bringing Rosetta's iconic collection of titles to Open Road's catalog. This is a list of truly astonishing quality."

Amazon is attempting to break into the physical retail market again. Village officials in Orland Park, Ill., recently voted to approve Amazon's plan to build a 228,000-square-foot mega store near Chicago that is "roughly the size of a newer, larger Walmart Supercenter," Business Insider reported.

According to planning documents, the facility would offer groceries and general merchandise, as well as other services and prepared food options. Customers would also be able to place and receive online orders on-site. There was no mention of whether in-store book sales would be part of the operation.

Katie Jahnke Dale, an attorney for Amazon, told the planning commission that the plan is "a more purpose-built and thoughtful" approach to traditional big-box stores, the Orland Park Patch reported. "This is a retail concept, a retail store, albeit with perhaps a larger storeroom in the back, which will allow us to enhance the customer experience," she added.

"The site in question is our planned location for a new concept that we think customers will be excited about," an Amazon spokesperson told BI, which noted: "If all this sounds familiar, it's probably because hypermarkets like this one have been a staple of American retail since 1988, when Walmart opened its first Supercenter outside St. Louis. Walmart now has about 4,600 U.S. stores." 

Amazon currently operates 58 Amazon Fresh grocery stores, 14 Go convenience locations, and more than 500 Whole Foods Markets. "Where those stores primarily focus on food, the new plan calls for a much broader range of merchandise, such as housewares or apparel, that can complement grocery shoppers' carts," BI wrote. "As traditional retailers like Walmart and Target ramp up their e-commerce efforts, Amazon is taking a few pages from the brick-and-mortar playbook as well."

Historian Daniel Walker Howe, "who sought to dethrone Andrew Jackson as the defining figure of his era of American history, arguing instead for the central importance of technological advances and the rise of journalism and a women's rights movement, among other turning points in the country's early life," died on December 25, the New York Times reported. He was 88.

Howe was best known for his book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (2007), which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. The book was his first attempt to write for a nonspecialist audience. He had already retired into emeritus status at the two universities where he taught--the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Oxford. 

The title phrase, taken from the Old Testament, was used by Samuel F.B. Morse as the first official message sent by telegraph. The Times noted that Howe argued that this invention, part of a "communications revolution," brought about a more dramatic change in society than even the Internet has.

The book ended with the chapter "A Vision of the Future," about the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 on the rights of women. "I wanted to highlight that which had first surprised me, but then convinced me--the principle that material improvement in society fostered moral improvement," he said in an interview with the National Book Critics Circle.

"The book had sought to upend consensus in several respects," the Times wrote. "Esteemed historians of the period--particularly Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Charles Sellers and Sean Wilentz--had considered it 'the Age of Jackson,' crediting the president with embodying America's democratic spirit."

Howe, by contrast, saw the country's ills stemming from many of Jackson's policies, including his expulsion of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in violation of treaty guarantees, a precedent for "geographical expansion and white supremacy that would be invoked in years to come by advocates of America's imperial 'manifest destiny,' " Howe observed. He also emphasized that Jackson, a slave trader as a younger man, had continued to support slavery.

Howe contended that the U.S. "would head toward greater equality among the races and the sexes, along with a more activist federal government, leading him to characterize the Whigs, which held the White House through much of the 1840s and into the 1850s, as 'the party of America's future,' " the Times noted, adding that "years after What Hath God Wrought was published, many on the left described it as an unexpected guide to modern America, drawing praise from the writers and political commentators Ta-Nehisi Coates and John Ganz as well as Jake Auchincloss, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts."

"It discusses how Andrew Jackson built the Democratic Party in 1828 as a Christian nationalist anti-elitist party--if that sounds familiar to people--and then how the Whigs came to contest him and ultimately won in the 1840 election," Auchincloss told the Times last year. "And I find that template to be informative for the political era we're living in now."

Debut author (and HarperCollins publicist) Jessica L. Cozzi (l.) celebrated the release of her YA novel, We've Hit Turbulence (Delacorte Romance), at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was joined for the event by author K.L Walther; the two discussed Cozzi's love of rom-coms, planners, and fulfilling her dream of becoming a published author.

Simon & Schuster will handle sales and distribution for Severn River Publishing in the U.S. and Canada beginning May 1.

Severn River Publishing is a veteran-founded independent publisher of commercial fiction, specializing in thrillers, mysteries, and historical fiction. Founded in 2018 with headquarters in Virginia, Severn River publishes series for a broad readership in e-book, print, and audio formats.

Laura Keefe is joining the Random House Publishing Group as v-p, executive director of marketing, overseeing marketing efforts for Random House, One World, The Dial Press, Hogarth, and Modern Library, effective February 2. She has most recently been v-p, senior director of marketing at Knopf.

"By day, our full store is buzzing in our temporary home--thanks to you. By night, the lights are on at our permanent space as we update and prepare to come back. We're working hard to get home. Thank you for shopping, supporting, and cheering us on through this season," Chapters Books & Gifts in Seward, Neb., posted on Instagram. 

Last August, the indie's building was significantly damaged by severe weather, but soon reopened in a temporary space nearby. In early December, the bookshop posted a video update titled: "We will come back home."

Today:
Fresh Air: Julian Barnes, author of Departure(s): A Novel (Knopf, $27, 9780593804506).

Tomorrow:
Live with Kelly and Mark: Haley Lu Richardson, author of I'm Sad and Horny (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668210352).

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, January 17
2 p.m. Eric Gardner, author of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, $99, 9780197804490).

3:15 p.m. Paul Hutton, author of The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West (Dutton, $35, 9781524746131), at Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, N.Mex.

4:16 p.m. Lorissa Rinehart, author of Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress (St. Martin's Press, $33, 9781250353047).

Sunday, January 18
8 a.m. Rick Atkinson, author of The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Crown, $42, 9780593799185). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:16 p.m.)

9 a.m. Tom Frieden, author of The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives--Including Your Own (‎The MIT Press, $29.95, 9780262050968). (Re-airs Sunday at 9:16 p.m.)

11:50 a.m. Mary Roach, author of Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy (W.W. Norton, $28.99, 9781324050629).

1 p.m. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, author of Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature (‎Spiegel & Grau, $30, 9781954118904). 

2:05 p.m. Melanie Kaplan, author of Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research (Seal Press, $32, 9781541604988), at Wonderland Books in Bethesda, Md.

3 p.m. James Campbell, author of Heart of the Jaguar: The Extraordinary Conservation Effort to Save the Americas' Legendary Cat (‎W.W. Norton, $35, 9780393867619), at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee, Wis.

4 p.m. Stefan Fatsis, author of Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary (Atlantic Monthly Press, $30, 9780802165824), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

Finalists have been selected for the 2026 Philip K. Dick Award, organized by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust. The award is for "distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the U.S. during the previous calendar year." First prize and any special citations will be announced on April 3 at Norwescon 48, which sponsors the award ceremony. 

The finalists:
Sunward: A Novel by William Alexander (Saga Press)
Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey (Orbit)
Casual by Koji A. Dae (Tenebrous Press)
The Immeasurable Heaven by Caspar Geon (Solaris)
Uncertain Son and Other Stories by Thomas Ha (Undertow Publications)
Scales by Christopher Hinz (Angry Robot)
City of All Seasons by Oliver K. Langmead and Aliya Whiteley (Titan Books)

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, January 20:

Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America by Howard Bryant (Mariner, $32, 9780063308169) is a dual biography of two Black trailblazers and their appearances before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery (Holt, $27.99, 9781250335166) chronicles the intersections of Black history and American botany. 

My Husband's Wife: A Novel by Alice Feeney (Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar, $28.99, 9781250337818) is a thriller about two women claiming to be one man's wife. 

Half His Age: A Novel by Jennette McCurdy (‎Ballantine, $30, 9780593723739) follows a 17-year-old girl obsessed with her creative writing teacher.

Twelve Months by Jim Butcher (Ace, $30, 9780593199336) is book 18 in the Dresden Files urban fantasy series.

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao (Del Rey, $32.99, 9780593725023) tracks a fantastical train that appears to people whose lives are adrift.

How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder: A Novel by Nina McConigley (‎Pantheon, $26, 9780593702246) follows an Indian American family in 1986 Wyoming.

Fros, Fades, and Braids by Sean Qualls (HarperCollins, $19.99, 9780063144279) is a nonfiction picture book that gives "a brief history of Black hair in America."

Better the Devil by Erik J. Brown (Storytide, $19.99, 9780063338326) features an unhoused queer teen who assumes the identity of a kid who disappeared years ago to find a safe haven. 

Football by Chuck Klosterman (‎Penguin Press, $32, 9780593490648) explores the country's most popular sport.

Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling by Danny Funt (Gallery, $30, 9781668062029) investigates the surge in legalized sports gambling.

Paperbacks:
Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey (Avon, $18.99, 9780063380882). 

Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra (Berkley, $18.99, 9780593816493).

The Society by Karen Winn (Dutton, $18.99, 9780593475362).

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 Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty (Erewhon Books, $32, 9781645662891). "I raced through this book. I cared for the characters, and I cared about their lives. I was devastated to learn it was the beginning of a trilogy! How will I live with the suspense?" --Nichole Bryant, Bryant Books & Music, Hastings, Neb.

Television: A Novel by Lauren Rothery (Ecco, $28, 9780063443327). "Such a fresh, nimble novel, with so much depth. It's a story about uncanny love and the inconvenience of celebrity, about restlessness and contentment and the ways we move between them." --Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books, Birmingham, Ala.

Paperback
Booked for Murder: An Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery by P.J. Nelson (Minotaur, $19, 9781250393487). "Madeline inherits her aunt's bookstore and mansion. She finds herself in the middle of much drama and mystery, with a murder to solve. In the midst of everything, Madeline finds kindred spirits and possibly a home." --Alexandra Bender, Fonts Books, McLean, Va.

Ages 3-6
Love Finds a Way by Vern Kousky (Roaring Brook Press, $18.99, 9781250334756). "That grouchy Owl had no chance of hiding from love when he got that guard dog, Brutus! I love it and you will, too." --Leslie Jennings, Brewster Book Store, Brewster, Mass.

Ages 8-14
Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes, illus. by Setor Fiadzigbey (Little, Brown Ink, $13.99, 9780316279673). "One of the most stunning and heartbreaking graphic novels you will ever read! Even more powerful and poetic than the original novel. A must-read for everyone." --Chris Abouzeid, Belmont Books, Belmont, Mass.

Ages 12+
The Obsession by Natasha Preston (Delacorte Press, $14.99, 9798217028009). "Holy cow, that can not be how it ends?! I have never been more invested in a story in my life! I need to know what happens next or my heart will forever be in my stomach!" --Morgan Tyndell, Arts & Letters Bookstore, Granbury, Tex.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Maggie Smith's luminous fifth poetry collection, A Suit or a Suitcase, considers mortality, motherhood, and the layers of the self with her signature humor, wit, and keen eye for detail. With crisp, lyrical observations and striking images, Smith (Dear Writer; You Could Make This Place Beautiful) muses on what it means to be a self, how a self may evolve over time, and the odd, potent power of the human mind to both contain and transcend the limits of experience.

Smith's titular poem explores the body-mind connection as she admits the temptation to limit "the me of me" to her thoughts and ideas, and wonders how it might feel to live more fully in her physical body. The collection's subsequent poems reflect on other facets of identity: the layers of self that build up like sediment as a person ages; the "blurry doppelgänger" of a shadow; the "vellum-thin" unfinished selves of the past each person carries. "Beside Myself" examines multiple shades of a common phrase, as Smith tries to become more whole by reknitting the fragments of herself back together, "cinching/ the threads." But Smith also delves deeply into the wonder and whimsy of being both a corporeal and intangible being. In "Self-Portrait as an Incomplete List of Mysteries," she ruminates on who she might have become if she had chosen a different town, a different husband; how both metal and language can become tarnished, yet still retain parts of their original identities; and how her poems "trust me enough to keep arriving." She also ponders, "what rodeo I'm on. I've lost track of my rodeos."

In her memoir and elsewhere, Smith has written extensively about life during and after her marriage, and the identity shifts occasioned by the loss of a central relationship. In "Hope Chest," she contemplates what it means to be given away as a bride, then discarded--"not returned,/ not given back" after her divorce. "I take it back," she declares, naming herself as the hope chest. "Dearly/ I take myself back." In "Foal," she recounts new ways of being in her body and her mind, "now that I have no other heart/ to which I might apply my own." While solitude and memory can be slippery things, Smith is learning to make her peace with both of them, and with the different versions of self, truth, and memory that all (somehow) exist side by side.

Wry and poignant, A Suit or a Suitcase is a thoughtful companion for anyone trying to pay attention to the self, the world (physical and invisible), and the constant surprises of memory and love. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Maggie Smith's luminous fifth poetry collection considers the mind-body connection, the slippery layers of identity, and the mystery of being both a corporeal and intangible self.

About this society, for instance--I know it's common enough in books--a secret organization of criminals with a mysterious supercriminal at the head of it whom no one ever sees. That sort of thing may exist in real life, but I can only say that I've never come across anything of the sort, and I've had a good deal of experience one way or another.

--Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery

The not-so-mysterious allure of independent booksellers is in the air this week. Sunday marked the debut of the PBS mystery series Bookish, created, written, and starrring Mark Gatiss as "amateur" detective Gabriel Book, proprietor of the antiquarian shop Book's Books in 1946 London. On Tuesday, the Mystery Writers of America revealed that Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., is its 2026 Raven Award winner. And today, Netflix releases Agatha Christie's Seven Dials, a three-part series adapted by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall from The Seven Dials Mystery. 

To celebrate the Christie series, Netflix UK selected seven women-led indie bookshops earlier this month to give away exclusive goodie bags, which included a themed tote bag, notebook, and a TV tie-in edition of the book. A chance to win a pair of tickets to the London premiere was on offer as well. 

Stars Helena Bonham Carter and Mia McKenna-Bruce appeared in a social media clip sharing the news: "In celebration of Netflix's first ever adaptation of Agatha Christie, the world's most successful female author, for the next seven days we are shining a light on seven amazing women-owned U.K. independent bookshops. So go down to your local and show them some love this week. And you might just pick up a special goodie bag while you're there." The booksellers chosen were: 

At Bridge Books

Bridge Books, Dromore: "The secret is out! I am beyond chuffed to have been selected as one of seven woman-owned bookshops in the U.K. to collaborate with @netflixuk and @officialagathachristie to mark the launch of The Seven Dials on your screens. Over the next seven days, pop into the shop and pick up a lovely goodie bag (who doesn't love a goodie bag!).... Now, that's what i call a good start to 2026!"

Rare Birds Books, Edinburgh, Scotland: "We're so excited to be partnering with @netflixuk and 6 other brilliant female owned indie bookshops to celebrate the new adaption of The Seven Dials Mystery.... We have a beautiful display in-store so come check it out!" 

The Small City Bookshop, Bristol: "We are so thrilled to be chosen as one of seven shops being highlighted by @netflixuk this week, and really honored to be among these great female-led indie bookshops."

The Bookshop by the Sea, Aberystwyth, Wales: "So exciting to do a giveaway with @netflixuk supporting women owned bookshops in honor of the best selling female author of all time Agatha Christie! And their new show Seven Dials!... Pop in and support your local bookshop!"

The Heath Bookshop, Birmingham: "We are absolutely honored to have been chosen as one of seven female led bookshops to be highlighted by Netflix this week as they celebrate the announcement of the first ever adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials!.... (We are obviously beyond excited that we've been invited to the premiere ourselves agghhh!!"

BookBar, London: "Starting the year with snow and a @netflixuk collab.... We're thrilled to be celebrating the new Netflix adaptation of The Seven Dials Mystery alongside six other cracking indie bookshops, THE Helena Bonham Carter and Mia McKenna-Bruce and the Netflix team. We've got this beautiful window installed at BookBar Islington."

Truman Books

Truman Books, Farsley: "We're very excited to announce that we've been chosen by Netflix as a partner (in crime)! Alongside celebrating their first ever adaptation of Agatha Christie--the world's most successful female author, Netflix are shining a light on seven female-owned, independent bookshops across the U.K.--and we're one of them!" 

Truman Books owner Amanda Truman told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus that this collaboration "shows that books are hugely important alongside film and TV adaptations, working hand in hand to tell a story. Netflix, by choosing to link with indie bookshops like us, is helping to encourage people to explore the books behind the screen adaptations and make reading a relevant and fun part of the everyday. The display in our window has really caught the attention of passers-by. It's been a delight to see everyone, school children in particular, stopping to look....

"This partnership has no doubt helped reignite an interest in Agatha Christie and the giveaway has encouraged people to visit the bookshop, with many discovering additional engaging, entertaining reads on our shelves.... Netflix have also used Agatha Christie, the best-selling female author of all time, as a means to shine a light on independent, women-owned bookshops and the role they play within their communities, in championing a diverse range of authors and as a platform for cultural change."

Also testifying on behalf of the Queen of Crime ("Christie remains my favorite") and booksellers was Bookish's Mark Gatiss, who shared in a recent interview one of the reasons he chose to write about someone in the profession: "I had the idea about eight or ten years ago of a man called Book who ran a bookshop and that, perhaps because every detective has to have a thing, he could solve crimes through access to all the books in his shop, or in fact all the world's writing somehow. It seemed to me a positive attribute to have as a detective, that you could actually learn stuff." 

No mystery there.