Because of the Labor Day holiday, this is our last issue until Tuesday, September 8. Enjoy the long weekend!

"Independent bookstores have been very important to my career, and they've also always been magical spaces to me. When my wife and I were looking for our wedding venue last year, we spent some time casting about in the usual places--private rooms in restaurants, etc.--and then decided to take a different approach. We thought: what spaces make us happy? With that new framework, the choice was obvious, and we were delighted when Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn agreed to host our wedding. There were twelve or so guests, one bouquet of flowers, coffee, and croissants. We hosted an open book bar. It was perfect."

Opening day crowd at Leaves & Lore

Leaves & Lore, a fantasy-focused bookstore, opened in West Chester, Pa., on Saturday, August 22, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The bookstore, which resides at 118 N. High St., carries new titles for all ages, and though there is a strong emphasis on fantasy and romantasy, there are sections devoted to horror, mysteries and thrillers, romance, and other genres. Alongside books, customers can find candles, stickers, apparel, and bookmarks; coffee and sweet treats are also available.

Leaves & Lore's interior is designed to make customers feel like they've stepped into a fantasy novel, and the space can be rented for private events. Some of the store's future event plans include launch parties and signings with local authors.

Owners and father-daughter team Jeffrey and Jessie Hilker told the Philadelphia Inquirer they were blown away by the store's opening day. Some 1,500 people stopped by, said Jeffrey Hilker, and the store made 600 transactions. In fact, added Jessie Hilker, they had to close early the next day because they simply ran out of books.

"I'm a pretty optimistic person, and I thought we would do well," Jeffrey Hilker remarked. "I just didn't think it would be like this."

Jessie Hilker, a lifelong reader, described the store as a "passion project," noting that she and her father spent two years waiting for the perfect space to open up in West Chester, and they went on a bookshop tour of the U.K. to find inspiration.

"I wanted to open a bookstore because I enjoy reading," Jessie Hilker said. "So to see so many other people enjoy it, as much as I do, makes it very special."

Porchlight Books will make its debut as a pop-up bookstore on September 11 in Richardson, Tex., Community Impact reported.

The bookstore will make its inaugural appearance at the Boho Market at CityLine Plaza, carrying a range of titles for all ages. In addition to books, owner Ann Halff will offer stickers, bookmarks, apparel, and other book-related items.

"One of the things I'm most excited about is creating a bookstore experience that feels approachable to all and community-driven," Halff told Community Impact. "I have a deep love for bookstores because they are more than just a place to buy books; they are gathering places for the community to learn and grow."

Halff's long-term goal is to open a bricks-and-mortar bookstore in Richardson. Until then, she'll make appearances around Richardson and the North Dallas area to "participate in local events, build a community of readers, and prove the concept as we grow," she said.

Quimby's Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be moving to a new location before the end of the year, Greenpointers reported. With its current building at 536 Metropolitan Ave. being demolished for redevelopment, Quimby's will move around the corner, to 418 Union Ave. The new space is the same size and has a backyard. Its previous tenant closed September 1, and Quimby's will begin renovating and remodeling the space in October. Owner Steven Svymbersky hopes to have it open by December 1.

A friend of the bookstore has created a Givebutter campaign to help Svymbersky with the move. It has a goal of $50,000, and notes: "Uprooting and remodeling isn't easy--the new space on Union needs to be retrofitted to accommodate new shelving, lighting, sound, signage, and general construction. It takes time and money to rebuild. Help Quimby's write its next chapter."

Quimby's roots trace back to Chicago, Ill., where Svymbersky opened the original store in 1991. Since the beginning, Quimby's has focused on art, zines, independent publications, comics, and other "strange and wonderful printed matter." Svymbersky sold the Chicago store in 1996 and opened the Brooklyn store in Williamsburg in 2016.

East Village Bookshop's midtown store at 2500 J St. in Sacramento, Calif., was one of approximately nine businesses hit by a series of burglaries reported in the downtown area between Monday night and early Wednesday morning, ABC10 reported. Police said they are investigating the incidents, which primarily occurred during the early morning hours.

On Wednesday, East Village Books posted: "Last night our midtown location was broken into and robbed. We'll be closed until further notice. Please support us at our East Sac/McKinley location [at 3604 McKinley Blvd.]. That bookshop remains open daily 10-6. Thanks, everyone." In an update, the bookseller later added: "We were able to get the door boarded up. Midtown location is now OPEN."

"When I got to work, it was just glass all over the floor on the outside and on the inside," East Village Bookshop staff member Jalila Chehab told CBS News, adding that video from inside the bookstore shows the suspect trying to open the register, yanking it out and, according to Chehab, taking everything inside.

ThriftBooks, an online retailer of used books based in Seattle, Wash., will be closing its 120,000-square-foot warehouse in Halethorpe, Md., and laying off 136 workers, effective October 31, as it expands its presence in Arizona, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. The company plans to move its Maryland operations to four other book processing centers, according to a notice posted to the Maryland Department of Labor's Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log.

One of the world's largest booksellers, ThriftBooks described the shutdown as a change to the way its network is organized, not a reduction in the number of books it handles: "Every year ThriftBooks provides millions of used books a second home, and this investment helps us keep doing that at scale."

ThriftBooks uses its warehouses to organize an inventory of more than 13 million titles. The company sources most of its inventory from library partnerships, charities, and thrift stores, purchasing "crates of books by the pound, and workers sort and grade them by condition. ThriftBooks then sells books on Amazon, eBay or its own website," the Baltimore Business Journal noted. The closure of the Halethorpe branch is part of a multi-year strategy to cut costs by consolidating its warehouse network. 

Congratulations to An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Mass., which has won the 2026 BPRNE Independent Spirit Award, honoring excellence in an independent bookstore member of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and sponsored by the Book Publishers Representatives of New England.

The citation: "An Unlikely Story is a shining beacon in its small town, bringing authors from far and wide to the southeast corner of the state, expanding the horizons for readers and their community alike. The hospitality from both the cafe and the bookstore is absolutely outstanding, and booksellers and baristas alike work tirelessly to bring a little bit of magic to everybody who walks through their doors. And they handsell the hell out of books! Bill's Five Minutes with Bill continues to be a social media and in-person draw. They are also always at NEIBA and ABA events, often bringing new and different booksellers, and frequently step up to introduce or participate in other ways. They've grown so much in the eleven years since they opened, and they are now an institution recognized in New England and beyond."

Click here to see the latest Independent Press Top 40, the weekly bestseller list celebrating the bestselling 40 fiction and 40 nonfiction titles from independent publishers, as sold by independent bookstores across the country. The list is sponsored by the Independent Publishers Caucus and the American Booksellers Association.

This week's debut fiction titles:

23. Scythe & Sparrow (Collector's Edition) (The Ruinous Love Trilogy) by Brynne Weaver (Slowburn)
29. Saving the Rain: Deluxe Limited Edition (Crimson Ridge #4) by Elliott Rose (Kensington)
31. The Plight Before Christmas: Deluxe Limited Edition: An Un-EX-pected Sugar and Spice Christmas Romance (Holiday Hijinx #1) by Kate Stewart (Kensington)
32. The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn (New Directions)
36. Carmilla, Deluxe Edition: The Dark Sapphic Romance that Inspired Dracula by Sheridan Le Fanu (Pushkin Press)
39. We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books)
40. Butcher & Blackbird: The Ruinous Love Trilogy by Brynne Weaver (Slowburn)

This week's debut nonfiction titles: 

1. The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State by Jill Lepore (Liveright)
4. Guinness World Records 2027 by Guinness World Records (Guinness World Records)
33. Reality TV for Snobs: Everything You Need to Know About the Shows You're Too Intellectual to Watch (The Outsider's Guides) by Ali Barthwell (Quirk Books)
37. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (Norton)
38. What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory by Brian Eno, Bette Adriaanse (Faber & Faber)

"We've waited long enough, so we're ignoring the temperature and getting into the fall spirit in the bookshop!" Lost & Bound Bookstore & Soda Bar in Mustang, Okla., posted on social media.

Seen at the Book Cove, Pawling, N.Y.: "Books... easier to care for than house plants and less likely to get eaten by the cat." (Picture thanks to David Steinberger!)

At Bloomsbury:

Katie Vaughn has been promoted to senior marketing manager.

Olivia Treynor has been promoted to assistant marketing manager.

Emelyn Ehrlich has been promoted to sales coordinator

Today Fresh Air remembers the late Gloria Steinem, airing conversations with her from 1987 and 2015. 

Warner Bros. Television has optioned worldwide rights to We've Decided to Go in a Different Direction, Tess Sanchez's bestselling essay collection, for series development. Deadline reported that the book by Sanchez, a former Hollywood casting director and executive, is based on her own experiences and "billed as a funny, honest and moving exploration of navigating a career change in Hollywood, rediscovering your identity, and overcoming the relatable messiness that ensues from unforeseen circumstances."

Mindy Kaling will exec produce the comedy series via Kaling International and its overall deal with Warner Bros. TV. Howard Klein is also an executive producer via 3 Arts Entertainment, alongside Sanchez and her husband, Emmy-nominated actor Max Greenfield. A search for creator/writers is underway.

Sanchez and Greenfield "aggressively sought out Kaling to collaborate with them on this deeply personal project. (Kaling provided a blurb for Sanchez's book, calling it 'funny, relatable, honest')," Deadline noted. Greenfield had a recurring role on Kaling's Netflix comedy series Running Point, while Kaling and Sanchez first worked together when Sanchez oversaw casting for her Fox series The Mindy Project, where Greenfield made multiple appearances.

A longlist has been selected for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction. The shortlist will be released on October 1 and the winner named on November 4. The winning author receives £50,000 (about $67,690), shared with the translator where applicable. To see the 13 longlisted titles, click here.

Chair of judges Kirsty Lang said, "All 13 books have compelling narratives that entertain as well as inform, and the longlist covers a huge variety of subjects; from literary biography to ancient and modern history, true crime and outstanding reportage from across the globe. Chairing this prize is like being part of a very well-informed and opinionated book group. Whittling our choices down to 13 books led to some forthright discussion, but we got there in the end and are very proud of our longlist."  

photo: Mallak Kassem

Maha Hashwi is a writer and spoken-word poet whose work explores the complexities of growing up Lebanese American in Dearborn, Mich. Her first book is The Pomegranate Is a Grenade (Central Avenue Poetry, September 1, 2026), a poetry collection that examines what it means to grow up Arab and Muslim in the United States. Hashwi leads a community writing workshop, Anyone Can Write, encouraging people of all backgrounds to put their stories on the page. She now lives in New York City.

Handsell readers your book:

A child of immigrants learns the harsh truths about growing up in America as a Muslim woman. She writes the lessons into poetry.

On your nightstand now:

Hanif Abdurraqib's There's Always This Year. I love how he tells stories of home and community through basketball. I think everyone should read Hanif's poetry, commentaries, or even his Instagram captions. No doubt you'll learn something and come away amazed.

Favorite book when you were a child:

I absolutely loved Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus's Junie B. Jones series when I was a child. Now, I can't remember any of the stories, but I can still picture Junie's messy hair and big glasses.

Your top five authors:

Toni Morrison
Hala Alyan
Clint Smith
Michelle Zauner
Suzanne Collins

Book you've faked reading:

Probably something from high school but I have no idea what it was.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I'll Tell You When I'm Home by Hala Alyan! She's an incredible person and her writing is from another world. I'm in awe of the way she intertwines her worlds in one honest, heart-wrenching memoir. You must must must read.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha (among other reasons). The cover is beautiful and the content is amazing.

Book that changed your life:

My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter by Aja Monet.

Favorite line from a book:

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer," from Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Before and after reading that book, that line has stuck with me. It has been my phone background. This year, for me, is one that answers.

Five books you'll never part with:

No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay; I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy; Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; and, coming in September, The Pomegranate Is a Grenade.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist! I have tried reading it again recently, and I wasn't in the right headspace. But I think he tells such a marvelous story on journey. It impacted me so much the first time I read it, I wish I could go back to that experience.

Book you can't wait to see on the shelves:

The Pomegranate Is a Grenade by Maha Hashwi :)

Jennifer Croft is an author (Homesick; The Extinction of Irena Rey) and translator (Pedro Mairal's The Woman from Uruguay from the Spanish; and, from the Polish, Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob and Flights, for which she shared the Booker International Prize). Her illustrated second memoir, Notes on Postcards, is an earnest, elegant meditation on place and purpose. Postcards, which she "sent... home religiously" from her travels, are literal display pieces in this attractive art book; at the same time, they offer the template for a structure uniting the advantages of brevity and (self-)exposure.

"From an early age," Croft divulges, "I needed to travel, to be in the world." Chronological sections headed with location stamps span 2010 to 2022. Every year or two, she moved, always looking for "the One," geographically and romantically: Buenos Aires or Los Angeles, Juan or Jules? It wasn't until she met fellow translator Boris Dralyuk that she contemplated giving up the nomadic lifestyle and putting down roots. The focus is on 2021-22 when, following two miscarriages, she gave birth to twins not long after her father's death. In a satisfying full circle, the book opens in her hometown of Tulsa, Okla., and leaves her there at the end, settled with her family and working as a professor.

Interspersed with this personal narrative--which is cleverly captured via fragments of text of postcard dimensions--is the history of the postcard. Although the definitive precursor is disputed, one early example stands out. At the 1865 Austro-German Postal Conference, Heinrich von Stephan proposed an "open post-sheet" as a quick and inexpensive missive. The technology has advanced little since, adding only a box for the stamp and a line dividing address from letter. The postcard has filled various roles: conveying news, commemorating vacations, telling jokes, or encapsulating places. The image on the reverse might outweigh, match, or underline the importance of the handwritten message. Specimens from Croft's collection highlight this variety of functions and tones. Some are mundane, others (reporting a death, for instance) momentous yet offhand. When exchanges are reduced to such "bare communication," she wonders, "is what you ultimately get to feeling? Need?"

"Postcards make me feel less lonely, less lost," Croft says. In an era of constant digital messaging, they retain value as tangible tokens of place and incident. The book presents life, appealingly, as a concatenation of everywhere one has been, all that has happened--and positions the translator as linguistic and cultural go-between. In paring her story back to the basics, Croft has produced something that, much like a postcard, is simultaneously "telltale and intimate... ephemeral and lasting." --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: A charming illustrated history of the postcard, alongside postcard-sized fragments of ruminative prose tracing how places and events shaped Croft's life as a daughter, translator, and mother.