Michael "Mike" Shoults has been named chief operating officer of Hachette Book Group U.S. Distribution, a new position. He will oversee both the warehouse operations in Indiana and the fulfilment departments in Boston and Indiana. Third-party distribution represents 50% of Hachette Books Group's business.

Mike Shoults

After serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army for eight years with multiple combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Shoults joined Amazon, where he led teams in fulfillment, transportation, and cargo aviation operations. In 2021, he joined GameStop to overhaul its transportation and logistics operation. He then became global head of supply chain at Heyday, a private equity startup focused on supply chains.

Shoults commented: "I feel like my life's professional work and personal passion for books has led me to this very point. The opportunity to join Hachette and lead in a big way is more than good fortune; it's an absolute dream for me. It makes sense that I should funnel my zeal for supply chain ops and my love of books into delivering for readers across the country!"

Matt Wright, CEO of Hachette Book Group U.S. Distribution and Hachette U.K. Distribution, said, "I created this role to drive continuous service improvement from the point that we receive a customer's order, to the delivery of that order, continuing right through to after sales care. By joining up the functions, the role of COO will have complete responsibility for the end-to-end service delivery. In addition, this role will be instrumental in building strong relationships with our publisher clients, and their customers, ensuring that our improvement plans align closely with their needs."

Speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair last October, David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group and Hachette U.K., said that the two companies pick and pack around 120 million books a year, adding that there are "interesting things to be done" that will help both sides of the Atlantic be more efficient and reduce the time it takes for books to get to market. He noted: "If we could shave 24 hours off delivery time in the U.S., which is our aim, that would be revolutionary for us."

Reagan Arthur's new imprint at Hachette Book Group and Grand Central, publishing works of fiction and narrative nonfiction, is called Cardinal. It aims to focus on books that "entertain and enlighten, across genres and across borders. The books will vary in setting, voice, and audience, but they will always have two cardinal traits in common: excellent writing and brilliant storytelling."

Cardinal's first title will be The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey, appearing September 16. Cardinal will then publish six titles a year, starting next year with:

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (Winter 2026)
The Golden Boy by Patricia Finn (Winter 2026)
The Good Eye by Jess Gibson (Summer 2026)
Skin Contact by Elisa Faison (Summer 2026)
Get Lost by Justin Halpern (Summer 2026)
The Rise by Ian Rankin (Fall 2026)

And so far for 2027:

Solo by Marya Hornbacher (Winter 2027)
Record Lows by CJ Green (Winter 2027)
Fortune by Alex Mar (Winter 2027)

Reagan Arthur (photo: Michael Lionstar)

Arthur rejoined Hachette last July after a five-year stint as executive v-p and publisher of Knopf. Before that, she had been at Little, Brown for 19 years, starting in 2001 as senior editor. She founded the Reagan Arthur Books imprint in 2010, and became senior v-p and publisher in 2013.

Arthur commented, "I became very fond of cardinals during the pandemic: I loved their cheerful red presence in an often bleak time. I learned that they can symbolize, according to various belief systems, good luck, love, hope, and renewal--things I'm firmly in favor of. And one meaning of the word cardinal is 'of great importance,' which is how I regard the books and writers we'll publish, and our goal of bringing readers books that will brighten the landscapes of their own lives."

Hachette CEO David Shelley said, "I'm really enjoying reading my way through the launch list. Reagan is an exceptional talent-spotter and tastemaker, and I know that Cardinal books will entertain and enlighten millions of readers in the years to come."

Independent Publishers Group has reorganized its global sales force. In the U.S., effective March 15, sales to independent bookstores will be managed by three commission sales representative groups: Fujii Associates, Imprint Group, and Como Sales.

Fujii will sell to accounts in the Midwest, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas; Imprint Group will sell to accounts in the Western U.S.; and Como Sales will sell to accounts in the Eastern U.S. Travis Hale has been promoted to field sales manager and will oversee the three rep groups. In addition, Brad Fish has been promoted to manager, educational and library sales, and will oversee sales into the educational wholesale channel.

Tim McCall, senior v-p, sales and marketing, said, "IPG moved to a limited number of inside sales reps at the beginning of the pandemic, a move that accommodated the attendant change in retail business. But it's time to think expansively again, and these three groups collectively bring a diversity of interests, robust industry relationships, and the sort of literary zeal that is the hallmark of every good sales force. These rep groups don't just sell; they're an essential brain trust. I look forward to their counsel and creativity, and I entrust them wholeheartedly with the care of our indispensable, independent retail partners."

In the U.K., IPG has partnered with Gardners Books for distribution and will be represented by Compass for academic and professional sales. These arrangements bolster IPG's existing partnership with Gazelle in the U.K., which covers sales and distribution for trade titles. Scott Hatfill, v-p of international sales at IPG, will oversee all sales and distribution partners in the U.K.

Maddie Smith is the new owner of the former Children's Book Cellar in Waterville, Maine, which has been renamed Smitty's Book Cellar and recently held a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening celebration to mark the changes. WABI reported that Smith, who "remembers strolling the aisles as a kid," purchased the business late last year from longtime owner Ellen Richmond, who has retired.

Maddie Smith

"I've always been a reader," Smith said. "I grew up with my mom reading a lot and so it's always been a part of my life and I picked it back up in college, and it stuck more that time [and] just kind of led to this."

The bookstore, which has been in the Waterville area since the late 1980s, has been expanded to include a wider variety of books in addition to children's titles. An in-store book club is expected to launch this month. 

"My mom would shop for me here and I'd come in here growing up," Smith recalled, "but I was just browsing around downtown with my mom, and it came up with the previous owner that she wanted to retire and again here we are." 

Smitty's Book Cellar is located on Main Street in downtown Waterville, and Smith said she "has gotten a lot of warm welcomes from not only the customers but fellow business owners. Like anytime I do an event, Robin's Nest down the street sends me flowers and just little things like that. It has been a very welcoming community so far."

Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, Calif., which is currently in the process of repairing extensive flood damage to the store, had posted on Bluesky February 22: "We're wet in the worst possible way. Due to flooding in our store, we will be closed for the day. We're not sure how long we will be closed at this point, but will keep everyone updated regarding interruptions for events beyond this afternoon's." The bookseller followed up with a Waterworld movie reference and apt book recommendation.

On Monday, the bookstore's latest e-newsletter shared an update: "First, thank you to all of the customers, authors, publishers, and other community members that have reached out to offer their support in the last week. The outpouring of support has been incredibly heartwarming and has helped us get through the uncertainty of the last week. We also want to extend a special thank you to our fellow independent bookstores who have offered support including opening their spaces for last minute event venues. This is truly a special book community and one we are so happy to be a part of."

Describing the current situation as "continually evolving," Mysterious Galaxy wrote that no inventory was damaged in the flooding and the vinyl flooring is intact and does not need to be removed. "The bad news: The carpet in the children's section was flooded and is being replaced. Additionally, they found some significant water damage in the walls on the west side of the unit as well as in the wall behind the YA section separating the front area of the store from the back room. The drywall needs to be replaced. There was also damage to the fixtures."

The bookstore is currently closed to in-store shopping and events, but demolition has already begun and the hope is to reopen for in-store browsing by early next week. Customers are being encouraged to shop online or call for curbside pickup. 

"In short, we are tremendously thankful for all the support we've seen in the last week," Mysterious Galaxy noted. "We will make it through and we know that because of the wonderful community we are so very proud to be a part of."

The Hidden Chapter Bookstore in Fort Thomas, Ky., has added a cafe, Link NKY reported.

The cafe debuted with a soft opening on Friday, February 28. At opening it served espresso and matcha drinks, with food options still to come. It resides in a space that previously belonged to a different store, and it is still being renovated.

The Hidden Chapter sells new and used books and is located at 118 N. Fort Thomas Ave.

Richard "Dick" Fontaine, who at different times was a top executive at B. Dalton Bookseller, Barnes & Noble, GameStop and its related companies, Ingram, and Michaels, died on February 25. He was 82.

While teaching high school English, Fontaine began working part-time at Dalton, then joined full time and rose through the ranks to become president. In 1984, he left Dalton, becoming president of Ingram Software and Ingram Video, and also headed Michaels. In 1988, two years after B&N purchased Dalton, Fontaine was appointed to head the company's Software Etc. In 1991, Fontaine was named president and CEO of Dalton and executive v-p of B&N, responsible also for B&N's Scribner's and Doubleday bookstores.

In 1996, Fontaine co-founded what became GameStop with B&N CEO Len Riggio and Dan DeMatteo, buying the bankrupt NeoStar, which was a merger of Software, Etc., and Babbage's. Fontaine became CEO and helped turn GameStop around. In 2002, Fontaine became chairman. From 2008-2010 he was executive chairman, and then became chairman international from 2010-2013. He retired as a board member in 2016.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (‎Simon & Schuster) is the March pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "Broken Country is an epic love story about a married woman whose first love unexpectedly comes crashing back into her life and changes everything in an instant. Passion proves dangerous, ultimately leading to murder and the unearthing of a web of secrets that she always intended to leave buried in the past."

Reese wrote: "Broken Country is a gripping mix of thrilling murder mystery, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to relive your truest love story all over again... plus, that ending?!"

"It may look icy on the outside and you may need your ice climbing gear to park, but it is warm and cozy inside," Dragon Tale Books, Menomonie, Wis., posted on Instagram.

Forest Magic for Kids: How to Find Fairies, Make a Secret Fort, and Cook Up an Elfin Picnic by Susie Spikol, illustrated by Renia Metallinou (Gibbs Smith).

Today:
Today: Emma Straub, author of Mama Hug (Rocky Pond Books, $18.99, 9780593618592).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Tyler Merritt, author of This Changes Everything: A Surprisingly Funny Story About Race, Cancer, Faith, and Other Things We Don't Talk About (Worthy Books, $28, 9781546006961).

Sherri Shepherd Show: Alexander Smalls, co-author of When Alexander Graced the Table (Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster, $19.99, 9781534488724).

Drew Barrymore Show: Avan Jogia, author of Autopsy (of an Ex-Teen Heartthrob) (Gallery Books, $27.99, 9781668062272).

Jennifer Hudson Show: Nicole Avant, author of Think You'll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude (HarperOne, $28.99, 9780063304413).

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, March 8
5:10 p.m. Rebecca Brenner Graham, author of Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany (Citadel, $29, 9780806543178).

Sunday, March 9
9 a.m. Sally C. Pipes, author of The World's Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy--and How to Keep It (Encounter Books, $24.99, 9781641774079). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

10 a.m. Omar El Akkad, author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (‎Knopf, $28, 9780593804148). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

3:05 p.m. Judith Giesberg, author of Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families (‎Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781982174323), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

4:10 p.m. Mara Einstein, author of Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults (Prometheus, $28.95, 9781493086153).

6 p.m. Mike Pepi, author of Against Platforms: Surviving Digital Utopia (Melville House, $19.99, ‎ 9781685891374).

7 p.m. Eoin Higgins, author of Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left  (Bold Type Books, $30, 9781645030461).

Winners have been selected for the 2025 Bancroft Prize, awarded by Columbia University to two works of either American history, including biography, or diplomacy. Each winner receives $10,000. The winners:

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal (Random House)
A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America by James Tejani (W.W. Norton)

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Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck, Survival and Love by Sophie Elmhirst has won the £30,000 (about $38,630) 2024 Nero Gold Prize of the Year, given to a book by an author living in the U.K. or Ireland and sponsored by Caffè Nero, the Booksellers Association, and Brunel University of London.

Chair of judges Bill Bryson said: "Maurice and Maralyn is an enthralling, engrossing story of survival and the resilience of the human spirit. Impressively novelistic in its narrative approach, it is a gripping retelling of a true but forgotten story. It is a story of a marriage as much as of an adventure at sea, one that subtly explores the dynamics of a relationship under the greatest imaginable stress. Shining through is the heroine’s courage and fortitude; as Maurice flounders, it is Maralyn's strength that allows them to survive at sea for 118 days--the book is a tribute to Maralyn's grit. Sophie Elmhirst's writing is understated but powerful, immersing the reader intimately in the unfolding drama and the horror of struggling to survive against the odds with very few resources."

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The longlist has been selected for the $3,000 Plutarch Award, sponsored by the Biographers International Organization and judged solely by biographers. The winner will be announced during the 2025 BIO Conference, June 5-6 in Washington, D.C. To see the 10-title longlist, click here.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, March 11:

The Jackal's Mistress: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday, $29, 9780385547642) is a Civil War romance between a Confederate woman and wounded Union soldier.

Voice for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People by the Dalai Lama (Morrow, $28, 9780063391390) reflects on the 75 years since China invaded Tibet.

On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR by Steve Oney (Avid Reader Press, $35, 9781451656091) is a history of National Public Radio.

Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever (Ecco, $28.99, 9780063327603) is the memoir of a woman who worked closely with Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain.

Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney (Abrams Image, $28, 9781419770395) is the memoir of a trans activist.

How to Love Better: The Path to Deeper Connection Through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion by Yung Pueblo (Harmony, $27, 9780593582275) is a guide to stronger relationships.

The Antidote: A Novel by Karen Russell (Knopf, $30, 9780593802250) follows five residents of a small Nebraskan town during the Dust Bowl.

Girl Anonymous by Christina Dodd (Canary Street Press, $30, 9781335463524) is romantic suspense about a woman working for a man whose father was killed by her mother.

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (Putnam, $29, 9780593851463) follows a mother whose 10-year-old son is blamed for another child's disappearance.

The Witch Who Trades with Death by C.M. Alongi (Angry Robot, $28.99, 9781915998538) is romantasy about a witch in service to a cruel emperor.

Home by Matt de la Peña, illus. by Loren Long (Putnam, $19.99, 9780593110898) is the duo's follow-up to their first picture book collaboration, Love.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna (Roaring Brook, $17.99, 9781250899835) is a middle-grade fantasy built around British folklore and Indian mythology and featuring a neurodivergent protagonist.

Paperbacks:
Go Luck Yourself: A Royals and Romance Novel by Sara Raasch (Bramble, $19.99, 9781250333216).

A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever by Matt Kracht (Chronicle, $15.95, 9781797232751).

Shoot Your Shot: A Hockey Rom-Com by Lexi LaFleur Brown (Canary Street Press, $18.99, 9781335016560).

Your Deepest Ground: A Guide to Embodied Spirituality by John Prendergast (Sounds True, $19.99, 9781649633026).

You Deserve to Know by Aggie Blum Thompson (Forge Books, $18.99, 9781250892034).

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

Hardcover
Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories by Amanda Peters (Catapult, $27, 9781646222599). "This short story collection is filled with stunning prose, ranging chronologies, and characters that will stick with you after even the shortest vignette. A beautiful homage and moving contribution to the lineage of Indigenous storytelling." --Camille Thornton, The Bookshop, Nashville, Tenn.

Beartooth by Callan Wink (Spiegel & Grau, $28, 9781954118027). "Callan Wink has an ability to describe the look and smell of a setting like I've never experienced. This is the story of two brothers fighting to survive in a modern West by partaking in an illegal poaching trade. A suspenseful and timely family novel." --Josie Williams, Invitation Bookshop, Gig Harbor, Wash.

Paperback
The Storm We Made: A Novel by Vanessa Chan (Marysue Rucci/S&S, $18.99, 9781668015155). "An incredible book from a strong new voice, focusing on the choices that a mother makes in the middle of colonial occupation during World War II. Vanessa Chan touches upon the murky grey areas of survival in a time of oppression and upheaval." --Jesse Hassinger, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Mass.

Ages 4-8
To See an Owl by Matthew Cordell (Random House Studio, $18.99, 9780593649893). "Janie is a young birdwatcher who especially loves owls, but they're very hard to spot. Fortunately, Janie has a lot of determination and is not giving up! An inspiring story accompanied with gorgeous illustrations, perfect for the nature-lover." --Andrew King, Ridgecrest Books, Shoreline, Wash.

Ages 10-14
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (Dial Books, $18.99, 9780593618981). "A is a compelling narrator in a whirlwind adventure navigating trans identity, discrimination, and fighting off demons with his Golem and friends. This book is so generous and nuanced in its depiction of characters and is hopeful in its honesty." --Hannah Amrollahi, The Bookworm of Omaha, Omaha, Neb.

Teen Readers
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith (HarperCollins, $19.99, 9780063372528). "I am obsessed with this book and cannot stop talking about it even weeks after reading it. Set in an alternate Victorian era England, The Rose Bargain is gripping from the very first page." --Tara Leimkuehler, Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Ariel Courage presents a provocative, hypnotic excursion with her debut novel, Bad Nature, which offers a road trip, a revenge fantasy, and a snarky sendup of American culture.

Courage's mesmerizingly repellent protagonist, Hester, is a successful lawyer with money to burn--one form of revenge upon her "impracticable, unprofitable" upbringing--and an antiseptic lifestyle kept up by a personal trainer, a dermatologist, a cosmetic dentist, and other professionals. In her nondescript but designer-decorated Manhattan condo, she has regular, emotionless sex with the "objectively repulsive" building super.

Hester relates early in her narrative: "I was always going to kill my father." This intention shifts from someday to immediate when, just after her 40th birthday, she receives a breast cancer diagnosis. The oncologist tells her that, without treatment, she has six months to live. With characteristic, practiced detachment, Hester quits her job and leaves Manhattan in her Jaguar E-type, aiming for her long-estranged father's new home in Death Valley. She will kill him and then herself with the gun in her glove box. Simple.

Hester's cross-country road trip is beset with trouble. She loses the E-type to theft at a Philadelphia rest stop, and with it, her gun and her mother's ashes. The first lesson that her wealth--an important feature of her constructed armor--will not solve all her problems comes when she must settle for an insultingly affordable rental car. She picks up a hitchhiker: "what my mother had euphemistically called an urban outdoorsman and what in college I would've called a crustpunk." This young man, John, becomes her unlikely companion on a convoluted and indirect route toward the eventual destination. John is a principled traveler: eschewing consumerism, he photographs Superfund sites, documenting destruction. Stops along the way include Hester's (only) ex-boyfriend from college and a friend (likewise) from high school, with disappointing if predictable results. Hester gets sicker. The outcome of her larger journey is less easy to guess.

Caustic Hester is aware she has "daddy issues" but "I'd rather pluck his eyeballs out with a fork and eat them jellied on toast than endure five minutes of therapy." Her first-person voice is deeply sarcastic, darkly funny, and almost entirely self-aware. Bad Nature's title offers commentary on Hester's terminal cancer (and her mother's), on the violent impulses of her hated father (and her own), on the environmental devastation John is called to witness. Even more than wealth, rigorous self-grooming, and personal aloofness, Hester's carefully cultivated cynicism is her final weapon, and its potential loss might be the most painful and surprising part of this madcap expedition. Courage delights and challenges with this mashup of emotions, until readers may be surprised, in turn, to care about Hester after all. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: Bleakly funny, gloomy, and magnetic, this novel's revenge-fueled, terminal road trip will tender surprising truths.

It's not my fault that Jeff Bezos seems typecast to be a James Bond book/movie villain (bullet head, ineffable wealth, extreme ambitions to conquer Earth and outer space). 

Recently, however, he has taken his Bondian bent up a notch. Having previously acquired Bondish screen rights through Amazon MGM, Bezos recently ponied up the cash (future movie title: License to Be a Killjoy) to convince siblings Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson [EON Productions] to relinquish their remaining oversight and approval control so "Amazon can do with Bond what they wish," as the Telegraph put it. 

The cloak-and-dagger plot twists are worthy of a spy novel. 

Amazon was described by the Hollywood Reporter as "the powerful international organization run by a bald-headed billionaire who hangs out in a hollowed-out volcano (well, a yacht, but big diff)." 

Back in December, a Wall Street Journal article about the now-resolved stalemate called it a "hostage" situation instigated by the longtime Bond producers and quoted Barbara Broccoli as allegedly describing Amazon to friends as "f**king idiots," GQ noted.

"The ink could hardly have dried on the contract" before Bezos posted on social media: "Who'd you pick as the next Bond?" The Guardian wrote that EON had kept the quest for a new Bond "behind completely closed doors, like a sort of state secret, but Bezos's first act has been to throw the gates open, with an Elon Musk-esque act of quasi-crowdsourcing. It may be just a PR-grabbing gesture, but it demonstrates that Amazon is planning to do things differently from now on."

As a former bookseller and an editor/columnist who focuses on independent bookstores, my reasons for stereotyping Bezos as a Bond villain have instinctively evolved from a long-held grudge, dating back three decades to the creation of his online book sales weapon of mass destruction.

I also have a personal interest in the world of Bond that began in the mid-1960s, when I was reading Ian Fleming's novels in high school. How deep the obsession went can be gleaned from page 52 in our yearbook, where a "Senior Class Prophecy" predicts what the graduating class of 1968 would be doing 50 years hence. The yearbook editorial staff looked into their crystal ball and wrote: "Bob Gray... famed critic of Ian Fleming."

Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No

An even more personal connection: My wife's late father, the actor Joseph Wiseman, played Dr. No in the first Bond movie, released in 1962.

Dr. No: [about his aquarium] The glass is convex, 10 inches thick, which accounts for the magnifying effect.
James Bond: Minnows pretending they're whales. Just like you on this island, Dr. No.
Dr. No: It depends, Mr. Bond, on which side of the glass you are.

Now that Bezos has the rights to the James Bond character, the Guardian looked to author William Boyd, who wrote his own official Bond novel, Solo, in 2013, for perspective: "Boyd foresees a succession of 007 spin-off products and entertainments. Perhaps even be new AI-generated novels? 'Certainly wait for Bond aftershave--and for the theme park and the dinner jackets,' he said. 'The new owners will have to commodify everything about their billion-dollar purchase, so there will be nightclubs and vodkas.' "

Boyd does not see the tawdry future as treachery, however, noting that the line had been crossed long ago: "It is too late. The great schism is that the films have nothing to do with the novels. The films are preposterous action movies that have to sell globally and so cannot have too much dialogue." Since the release of Dr. No, the movies "have got further and further away from the stories and the gulf is now so wide, it doesn't really matter." 

Appropriately enough, the Bezos/Bond/Broccolis plot threaded its way though this year's Academy Awards ceremony, with Vox reporting on the "delightfully random James Bond tribute (perhaps a eulogy, given its recent Amazon acquisition?) featuring pop stars Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye with a slightly shaky but amusing medley of Skyfall, Diamonds Are Forever, and Live and Let Die."

And Collider noted that host Conan O'Brien's opening monologue directly addressed Amazon's Bond franchise takeover: "O'Brien joked that Amazon had named their Senior v-p of Global Affairs, Steve Belsky, as the new 007. He also poked fun at Amazon chief Jeff Bezos for supposedly being delivered to the ceremony by a careless delivery man, only for the camera to pan to an empty seat with security footage showing that the Bezos box was actually stolen by a daring thief."

Halle Berry said at the Oscars tribute that Bond evolves, but GQ wrote that "no matter how British he might have been, the James Bond that existed in the 63 years between Dr. No and last month was also, symbolically, a creature of Hollywood, and on some level we will not see that guy again, and it was pretty crazy to see the Oscars poke Big Tech by acknowledging that--in true Oscar fashion, with a big old flashy dance number."

Everything old is new again.

And what would a James Bond plot be without a ticking clock? The Guardian reported that while Amazon may have captured creative control of the super spy for the moment, "a clock is now ticking that means 007--or at least a version of him--could escape into the wider world in a decade's time." The character and plots of Ian Fleming's novels enter public domain in 2035.