Citing low foot traffic that has caused other businesses in the area to close, East End Books has shuttered its Boston Seaport store, which opened in 2023. Its final day was yesterday. East End Books will continue to operate its flagship waterfront bookstore in Provincetown, Mass., which is celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year. The Seaport store was next to the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Woods Hill Pier 4 restaurant.

The store explained, "We love the Seaport area and are confident that in the future, this will be a busy, vibrant place. When the foot traffic increases, it will be possible for indie businesses to thrive. However, the foot traffic is too low at the present time to sustain our indie bookstore, and it is unclear when that might change.

"We have done everything possible to succeed in this location. Our book events have been wonderful and people who've discovered us have let us know how much they love our bookstore. Just not enough people make it to the Seaport on a daily basis.

"As customers have let us know, it is challenging to get to the Seaport via public transportation and parking can be difficult and costly. So, unfortunately, we must follow other businesses in the area who have made the difficult decision to close."

East End Books thanked "our wonderful Boston customers! We are so grateful to all of you who've joined us on our Boston Seaport journey! Without your love and support, our indie bookstore could not have opened." The store added: "We are very grateful to Kristin Canty at Woods Hill Pier 4 Restaurant who has been one of our biggest champions, and who made it possible for us to open in her building. It has been wonderful being a neighbor."

MoJoe's Book and Brew will open later this year in the Cortland Corset Building at 75 East Court St., Cortland, N.Y. The Cortland Standard reported that after considering the idea and trying to make it a reality for eight years, Molly Lane and Joe Cortese are looking forward to opening their business. Renovations are underway.

Cortese said that the store will include a cafe, taproom, retail space, and a rentable event room. Lane has an affinity for the retail side of the business and Cortese brings experience in the restaurant world, so the new business will combine their passions to create a community-oriented space.

"We're envisioning a place where you can just come hang out for hours," Cortese added. "We're trying to create a third space for the Cortland community."

The store will also feature a kids' corner and event space to cater to families and customers of all ages. Cortese said the event room will also serve as a gallery for some of the artists with studios in the building.

Building owner Peter Muehlbauer, who has been helping Lane and Cortese get the renovations in place and fund the build-out of the restructured space, noted, "It was always my dream to have a coffee shop in here. The bookstore and the event space are going to do really well all together here."

Lane said, "I'm really excited to be my own boss, but I have to say I'm even more excited for the community collaboration. We're really trying to incorporate our love for the community into our spot, with the other bookstores in the area and artists, especially in the building." They plan to host readings, children's story time, guest authors, movie nights, and other events. 

Cortese noted that their goal is to be open by late August in time for the return of SUNY Cortland students for the academic year.

Little Free Library will celebrate the inaugural National Little Free Library Day on Sunday, May 17, marking the beginning of Little Free Library Week, May 17-23. The day "will serve as a focal point for a weeklong celebration that invites people everywhere to share books, connect with neighbors, and engage with Little Free Libraries in their communities," LFL noted.

Observed on the anniversary of Little Free Library becoming a nonprofit in 2012, the event highlights the organization's mission to build community, inspire readers, and expand book access via its global network of more than 200,000 book-sharing boxes. Through its nonprofit programs, LFL provides thousands of Little Free Libraries and books to individuals and organizations in "book deserts"--areas with limited or no access to reading materials. 

"We're thrilled to introduce National Little Free Library Day to celebrate the joy and power of this movement and the people behind the books--the neighbors, families, volunteers, and partners who bring Little Free Libraries to life," said Daniel Gumnit, CEO and executive director of LFL. "During Little Free Library Week, we're reminded that sharing a book can spark a love of reading, bring neighbors together, and build stronger, more caring communities."

During Little Free Library Week, LFL will also announce the winners of the 2026 Todd H. Bol Awards for Outstanding Achievement, honoring stewards who are making a difference in communities worldwide. For more information about National Little Free Library Day and Little Free Library Week, click here.

Simon & Schuster has launched Simon Global, a worldwide distribution channel that will enable S&S titles to be sold and distributed more seamlessly across its international publishing divisions.

Caryn Schwartz in the U.S. and Alex Santos in the U.K. and have been promoted to the new roles of head of Simon Global (UK/US) and are recruiting a coordinator to support the growth strategy across distribution lists.

Caryn Schwartz

S&S CEO Greg Greeley said: "Simon & Schuster has built a reputation as a trusted global home for authors and their stories. We know great stories aren't bound by borders. Simon Global will extend the reach of our authors' work even further, ensuring their books will find readers worldwide."

Nicholas Hayne, director of international sales and client publisher services, said: "Simon Global offers a global sales landscape to our authors by making their titles available throughout all Simon & Schuster companies worldwide, where rights allow. The intention is to make intercompany distribution throughout the business more streamlined, allowing us to sell more of what we have, more efficiently, and in more territories than ever. We're really excited about the possibilities that this creates, with Simon Global sitting alongside our growing third party client publisher distribution."

Alex Santos

Perminder Mann, CEO of Simon & Schuster UK and international, said, "One of  Simon Global's key aims is to offer more effective global distribution to our authors from our companies whether they're first published in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, India, or by VBK in the Netherlands and Belgium.

"More effective worldwide distribution will grow sales and visibility of our publishing, no matter where our books are being sold and distributed. It reinforces our global outlook, our service to our authors and our mission to connect people and books around the world."

It was a full house at Powell's Books at Cedar Hill Crossing in Beaverton, Ore., for Joe Abercrombie, who's touring for the trade paperback release of his epic fantasy adventure The Devils (Tor Books), which already has James Cameron signed on to adapt. Abercrombie (left, front) was joined for the event by author Brent Weeks (right, front).

The BookMark in Neptune Beach, Fla., shared a pic of the colorful sidewalk chalkboard in front of the shop preparing customers for an upcoming big day: "Stop in today to shop for that special mom in your life! We've got a great selection of Mother's Day cards, as well as books, puzzles, journals and more. We also wrap for free so you can get it all done in one stop!"

Posted on Instagram by Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Tex.: "Come on in, dear readers."

Dispatches from Moscow: Spies and Lies by Carol J. Williams (Stoney Creek Publishing), first in the Iron Curtain Chronicles series.

Today:
Today Show: Goldie Hawn, co-author of The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1 (Penguin Workshop, $17.99, 9780593889442). She will also appear on the View. 

Also on Today: Morgan Radford, author of Now Then: A Novel (Amistad, $27.99, 9780063457836).

Live with Kelly and Mark: Jamie Lynn Sigler, author of And So It Is...: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope (Harper, $30, 9780063434714). She will also appear tomorrow on the View and Watch What Happens Live.

Fresh Air: Douglas Stuart, author of John of John: A Novel (Grove Press, $28, 9780802167194).

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

Also on GMA: Caro Claire Burke, author of Yesteryear: A Novel (Knopf, $30, 9780593804216). She will also appear on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Today: Tina Knowles, author of Matriarch: A Memoir (One World, $22, 9780593597422).

CBS Mornings: Freya India, author of GIRLS: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything (Holt, $29.99, 9781250442222).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Ellen Burstyn, author of Poetry Says It Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up (HarperOne, $26.99, 9780063387683).

Broadway's current revival of Ragtime, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, "will ride on the wheels of a dream" with a national tour, set to launch in fall 2027 from Shea's Buffalo Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y., with further stops to be announced, Playbill reported. This will be the first union tour of the Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty-Terrence McNally musical to travel the continent since the original production closed its own final tour in 2001.

Director Lear deBessonet is reassembling her Broadway creative team for the tour, including choreographer Ellenore Scott, scenic designer David Korins, costume designer Linda Cho, lighting designers Adam Honoré and Donald Holder, sound designer Kai Harada, projection designer 59 Studio, hair and wig designer Tom Watson, and sensitivity specialist Ann James. Casting is to be announced. 

"Ragtime is one of the most ambitious musicals ever written, and it feels timelier than ever," said Kirdahy, Ryan, Greenblatt, and Richardson in a joint statement. "What Lear deBessonet and this extraordinary company have created at Lincoln Center Theater is both epic in scale and deeply human. We couldn't be more excited to share it with communities across North America."

The revival opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater via Lincoln Center Theater October 16, 2025, and the multi-extended run is currently set to continue through August 2. 

The shortlist for the 36th annual Reading the West Book Awards has been selected by independent booksellers in the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association region and will now be voted on by booksellers and readers. Ballots must be cast by May 31. Winners will be announced June 11. To see the nominees in each of the eight categories, click here.

Heaven's Graveyard by Grace Curtis (Idolfire; Floating Hotel) is an intriguing science fantasy exploration of history, myth, and the fine line between fascination and obsession.

Cod's reverence for Aleya Ana-Ulai is not limited to thinking the mythic hero was her imaginary friend as a child. She has moved far from her home to build a career as an archeologist and search for every grain of truth to prove that the age-old heroine might have been real: where Aleya might have walked outside of the myths that have survived and where her final resting place might be. But Cod's focus on the ancient and mythic past has left her with a spartan life in the present. She's lonely, isolated, unaware of the political struggles in her own time--an impending war and the possibility of being cut off from her homeland--and how those struggles are connected to the secrets she is desperate to uncover.

Her mother is in a sanatorium and the only other person who might write to her is an ex-lover, Sparrow, whose first letters Cod chooses to burn. It seems like nothing might call Cod away from her research--until her old mentor sends a mysterious wire claiming he has uncovered something that she absolutely must return to see. But when Cod arrives home, it is just in time for the professor's funeral. She and Sparrow try to puzzle out his last discovery and who was responsible for his death. Cod unearths the secrets of the myths, a hidden city, the magic of the ancient gods, and pieces of her own past. In doing so, she learns what it will take for her to protect these things before they fall into the wrong hands.

Curtis has written an engaging science fantasy crossed with a murder mystery that probes human truths about the dangers of fixation, unrequited love, and meeting one's heroes (or even deities). She does so while maintaining a sense of humor and without becoming heavy-handed in her consideration about how stories shape the world and what it means to have a free world. Love and obsession might be intertwined, but grief pierces through all their forms. Through Cod, Curtis shows readers the high cost of getting everything you ever wanted, and what it means then to choose to "do the work of being good, the work of being brave." --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Grace Curtis's sapphic science fantasy crossed with a murder mystery is a tantalizing exploration of what it could mean to meet one's hero.