Kwame Spearman has stepped away from his co-ownership position at Denver Book Society in Denver, Colo., barely a month after the bookstore opened. The former Tattered Cover CEO-turned 2023 mayoral candidate, who launched the new venture with Rich Garvin, left "amid community backlash over his comments on immigration enforcement during the 2023 mayoral campaign," the Denver Post reported.

In a "leadership update," owner Rich Garvin said he had tapped Spearman to help with operations, inventory and programming, but it became clear in recent weeks that "a change in leadership was needed... Kwame is passionate about preserving independent bookstores, and I'm appreciative of his early contributions. However, his continued involvement in Denver Book Society is not serving the mission of this bookstore." 

In a Westword column, Spearman wrote: "The Denver Book Society is in a really good place, and it has reached the point we always intended, where I transition out of my role in the business and Rich Garvin alone leads it forward.... From the very beginning, the plan was that once we reached this point, I would transition out of my role in the business and the bookstore would move forward under Rich’s sole leadership. This transition is not a change in direction. It is the completion of the original plan."

Noting that he has "spent the last several years trying to build and contribute in this city and across the state," Spearman added: "Part of doing that is a willingness to step into the public arena. When you do that, you accept that sometimes you will be misunderstood, mischaracterized, or simply get things wrong."

The Post noted that Spearman's column "appeared to refer to several weeks of social media uproar over resurfaced comments he made on conservative talk radio station KNUS during his brief campaign for Denver mayor in 2023.... that Denver should restart its collaboration with immigration officials. He dropped out of the mayoral race three weeks later."

On Friday, Garvin posted a statement on social media, noting, in part: "Let me be clear: DBS exists to be a welcoming, inclusive space for everyone--a place where stories bring people together. That commitment remains unchanged, and we are continuously working to amplify it.... We look forward to continuing in the future with community-centered programming, partnerships and initiatives that give back locally and champion inclusion, equity and the support of immigrant communities."

"This store is my greatest passion project; I’m sorry that personnel choices alienated the Denver community and that I failed to recognize these issues in advance. I hope that the steps we’re taking will instill confidence, but we know trust is built over time as we focus on doing this important work with our community."

In the third quarter ended February 28, revenue at Scholastic fell 2%, to $329.1 million, and the operating loss increased 13%, to $26.9 million. 

Trade revenue fell 10%, to $69.7 million, primarily because the same period a year earlier featured "a major Dog Man release." Children's book publishing and distribution revenues fell 3%, to $197.6 million, while book fair revenues gained 2%, to $113.3 million. Book club revenues slipped 4%, to $14.6 million.

Education revenues fell 2%, to $56.1 million, reflecting a "continued challenging funding environment for schools and school districts, which has impacted spending on supplemental curriculum materials."

Entertainment revenues rose 25%, to $16 million, and international revenue fell 7%, to $58.7 million, also reflecting strong Dog Man sales a year earlier.

Still, the company reported "higher profits in children's book publishing and distribution and operating performance in the education segment reflecting continued cost discipline."

Scholastic president and CEO Peter Warwick emphasized that the company has made "significant progress in its ongoing plan to enhance shareholder value, including optimizing our balance sheet with over $400 million in net proceeds from two sale-leaseback transactions and advancing our strategy to drive long-term growth and margin expansion. After returning over $147 million to shareholders through open-market share repurchases since December, our board has additionally authorized a $200 million 'modified Dutch auction tender offer' anticipated to be launched in the coming days. This is a core part of a new $300 million share repurchase authorization that underscores our confidence in Scholastic's long-term opportunity."

He noted, too, that the children's publishing, entertainment, and distribution businesses "continued to prove their strength, led by solid performance in book fairs, and underpinned by our iconic franchises across formats and platforms, our proprietary school-based channels and an integrated media business, which is rapidly expanding our reach and access to kids and families on screens and digitally."

Scholastic is making "meaningful progress" in transforming the education division, he continued, with year-to-year trends moderating "despite continued funding volatility for schools and districts."

Scholastic said it forecasts full-year revenue to be "approximately flat" compared to the previous year, "reflecting year-to-date softness in education and strong comps in trade a year ago."

Verbosity Bookhouse held a grand opening in Port Washington, Wis., on Friday, March 13, TMJ4 reported. Located at 123 N. Franklin St., Verbosity Bookhouse spans 3,800 square feet and sells new and used titles for all ages. Per the Ozaukee Press, there is a bar serving tea, coffee, sodas, and other non-alcoholic beverages, and the store features a selection of handmade and vintage nonbook items. There is ample seating, including work stations, beanbag chairs, and a puzzle table. 

Prior to opening Verbosity Bookhouse, owner Melissa Kassens worked in the health care industry and at a dance studio. She told TMJ4: "I was missing something. I was missing some sort of purpose or drive. I wanted to be the narrator in all of that."

She had always liked the idea of opening a business of her own that had a focus on creativity and community, and she "remembered that as a kid almost every town had a bookstore," Kassens told the Ozaukee Press. "Whenever I go on vacation, the first thing I look for is a bookstore."

Kassens noted that as a child, she was inspired by and looked up to children's author Barbara Joosse, who would read to her elementary school class. Now, Joosse lives across the street from Verbosity Bookhouse, and she stopped by to introduce herself prior to the shop's opening. "It was a full-circle moment," Kassens recalled.

River Bend Bookshop in West Hartford, Conn., had its "soft reopening" Tuesday at the new location on 224 Park Road, not far from its previous space. River Bend also operates a store in Glastonbury. The official grand opening for the new store is scheduled for this coming Saturday, March 28.

Store manager Lauren Gauthier told FOX61: "We are very community based and now, since we've moved from our old location, we're next to A.C. Petersen and Playhouse on Park. We have collaborations with them. We do mahjong classes here, we do craft nights, so our community is what we thrive on, and they thrive on us, and it's a really great partnership." Gauthier said what makes the shop special is its partnerships and events.

Bookseller Jess Serrano said recommending books to customers is her favorite part of the job: "I especially love when somebody's coming in looking for a book for somebody else. Those are my favorite kind of sales and my favorite sort of customer interactions."

Gauthier agreed: "We get compliments on our recommendations. We have our staff picks that we offer because we're friendly and love to talk for hours about books. If you want to come talk about it with us, we're your guys."

Allyson Rowh and Emily O'Hearn are buying children's bookstore Blue Marble Books, Fort Thomas, Ky., from longtime owner Peter Moore, LINK nky reported.

Located at 1356 S. Fort Thomas Ave., Blue Marble Books was founded in 1979 and has been in its current home since 1991. Following the death of founding owner Tina Moore in 2016, her husband, Peter Moore, took over the business. He announced last year that the store was for sale.

O'Hearn and Rowh, sisters who grew up in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, purchased both the bookstore and the building. The sale occurred on March 5, and according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, the new owners are considering expanding the store's selection of adult books and hosting more author events.

To celebrate the ownership change, Blue Marble held a ribbon-cutting event last Thursday. Per LINK nky, the event featured "a display of personal notes, articles and letters from Tina's relationships with well-known children’s authors, including Tomie dePaola, Gary Paulsen, and others, along with signed books, memorabilia, and legacy items covering nearly five decades of bookselling history."

Rakestraw Books, Danville, Calif., celebrated the 20th anniversary of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (Knopf Books for Young Readers) with a sold-out event--including one fan who came all the way from Chicago. Zusak discussed the book, its origins, and the impact it has had a generation of readers, and took questions from the audience.

Posted by Rooted Books & Gifts, Grand Island, Neb.: "We've got a very good sitting bench for reading; sidewalk chalk to get creative; and table and chairs to take your work, lunch, or coffee outside... and a dog inside for petting. It's a beautiful morning in downtown Grand Island!

At Macmillan Children's Publishing Group:

Katie Quinn has been promoted to director, marketing from associate director, marketing.

Samantha Sacks has been promoted to senior publicist, from publicist.

Sara Elroubi has been promoted to associate publicist, from publicity assistant.

Laura Hernandez has been promoted to senior marketing manager, from marketing manager.

Masque of Honor (Fields of Honor #1) by Sharon Virts (Flashpoint).

Today:
CBS Mornings: Robert Wachter, author of A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future (Portfolio, $32, 9798217044245).

Good Morning America: Cliodhna O'Sullivan, author of Her Hidden Fire (Viking Books for Young Readers, $22.99, 9798217040506).

The View: Sen. Cory Booker, author of Stand (St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250436733). 

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Andrew McCarthy, author of Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America (Grand Central, $29, 9781538768945). He will also appear on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

Martin Scorsese "has rounded out the cast" of his Apple film What Happens at Night, based on Peter Cameron's novel, with the addition of Welker White, his collaborator on projects including GoodFellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon, Deadline reported. White joins cast members Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Patricia Clarkson, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jared Harris. 

From Apple Studios, in partnership with StudioCanal, the project is "a dream-like story following a married American couple who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby," Deadline noted. Scorsese is directing and producing for Sikelia Productions, alongside Dicaprio, Lawrence and Daniel Lupi. 

The longlist has been selected for the 14th annual Plutarch Award, "the only international literary award for biography judged exclusively by biographers," and sponsored by the Biographers International Organization (BIO). Five finalists will be named soon, and the winner will be announcing during the annual BIO Conference May 28-29 in New York City.

The longlist:
Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin by Daniel Brook (W. W. Norton)
Emerson's Daughters: Ellen Tucker Emerson, Edith Emerson Forbes, and Their Family Legacy by Kate Culkin (University of Massachusetts Press)
The Many Lives of Anne Frank by Ruth Franklin (Yale University Press)
The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide by Howard W. French (Liveright)
Wakara's America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West by Max Perry Mueller (Basic Books)
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux (W. W. Norton)
Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade (Scribner)
The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life by Graham Watson (Pegasus Books)

LibraryReads, the nationwide library staff-picks list, offers the top 10 April titles public library staff across the country love:

Top Pick
Yesteryear: A Novel by Caro Claire Burke (Knopf, $30, 9780593804216). "Natalie is an influencer with a seemingly perfect life: perfect children, perfect husband, and a perfectly beautiful Idaho farm. Never mind the workers who actually run the farm, the nannies who care for the children. And never mind the women online who are jealous that Natalie can afford to be a trad wife who serves her family and, most importantly, her God. Natalie wakes one morning in her house... except it's not. Electricity has been replaced by a fire, her children are dirty, and her husband is old and gruff. Where are the hidden cameras? Where is her real family? Creative, mind-bending, and incredibly well-written, this one is sure to be a blockbuster." --Jenny Davies, Oak Creek Public Library, Wis.

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square Press, $30, 9781335001559). "A troubled young man in 2026 begins communicating with the ghost of a female samurai from 1877 when he visits his father's new home in Japan. Both hold bloody secrets. A gory and suspenseful horror read that combines lyrical, dream-like writing with a compelling story of past meeting present." --Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign Public Library, Ill.

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke (Harper, $30, 9780063444614). "An oft-used trope--people lured to a remote island, then cut off from the outside world--gets a new life. Six writers, following the death of their famous host, must compete to finish his final manuscript for a massive payday. While hesitant at first, the competition soon becomes intense, no one is quite who they seem to be, and death stalks the halls. A wonderfully twisty mystery and a wickedly satirical look at the world of publishing." --Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, N.Y.

Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan (Berkley, $30, 9780593819883). "World War I nurse Mouse receives notice that she is next in line to inherit the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall in the English countryside. But she must do the impossible: fix the crumbling manor in just one month with the surprise aid of a handsome Faerie who can help defeat the magic protecting the manor. Fantastic atmospheric style, world-building elements, and sympathetic characters." --Kristin Skinner, Flat River Community Library, Mich.

The Duke: A Novel by Anna Cowan (St. Martin's Griffin, $19, 9781250382849). "The romance between Celine and Kate is fraught with obstacles (mostly themselves) and the secret they are keeping from the town: that Celine is a courtesan who is blackmailing Kate, a member of the House of Lords. A traditional historical full of yearning and intrigue, this is what every Sapphic Regency reader has been waiting for." --Dontaná M., Oak Park Public Library, Ill.

Start at the End: A Novel by Emma Grey (Zibby, $18.99, 9781968506001). "A thoughtful, emotionally resonant novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy stories about love, loss, and new beginnings. This 'sliding-doors' story balances tenderness and hope, offering a meaningful reading experience that lingers after the final page. An excellent choice for patrons who enjoy contemporary literary fiction and book club--worthy reads." --Janie Hermann, Princeton Public Library, N.J.

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday, $35, 9780385548533). "In 2019, the lifeless body of teenager Zac Brettler was discovered in the Thames River. Police conclude that Zac was suicidal, but his parents believe that something more nefarious led to his death, and discover he was caught up with gangsters and criminals. Compelling narrative non-fiction that's deeply intimate and unnerving." --KC Davis, LibraryReads Ambassador, Conn.

Molka by Monika Kim (Erewhon Books, $28, 9781645661269). "Dahye finds herself in a relationship with a rich, handsome man. But when a video scandal involving the two erupts, he flees Korea, leaving Dahye alone. When she realizes the extent of the betrayal, she seeks a terrible bloody revenge. An unapologetic dive into female rage, exploitation, misogyny, and powerlessness." --Lila Denning, St. Petersburg Library System, Fl.

The Caretaker: A Novel by Marcus Kliewer (Atria/12:01 Books, $29, 9781982198817). "Macy thinks she's finally caught a break when she answers an ad for a weekend house-sitting gig that pays a ridiculous amount of money, even if it comes with some...unsettling instructions. Unsettling turns eerie, which turns to horrifying as Macy realizes--too late--this is one job that she should have never accepted. The chills ramp up fast and never stop in this page-turner horror novel." --Sharon Layburn, South Huntington Public Library, N.Y.

Go Gentle by Maria Semple (Putnam, $30, 9798217176632). "Adora is an Upper West Side philosopher who seems to have her life together. She practices stoicism, and it keeps her grounded and happy--until it doesn't. Who is the mysterious man who wants her to deliver a letter? What are her employers up to? How did she become a stoic? Readers follow along with Adora as she tries to find answers." --Joan Hipp, LibraryReads Ambassador, N.J.

"My little brother, Finley, drowned the first time wrestling the Napoleon pianoforte under the galactic starlight of an Arctic sunset; the way he later told the story, the piano had it coming." The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos is a wildly imaginative story centered on the adventures and trials of a homesteader family in the Arctic. Kendra Langford Shaw's first novel follows these determined renegades as they establish and struggle to keep lives, livelihoods, homes, and community in a tremendously harsh environment.

Chapters alternate between characters and perspectives, beginning with siblings Milda, Finley, and Temperance; their parents, Viola and Fry; their ancestor Moose Bloomer, who began his immigration to the Arctic Territory as part of a large train of settlers but was, at 12, one of a few survivors to make it onto the permafrost; and the shrinking but hardy next generation. In a fantastical twist, each settler family brought a wildly impractical piece of equipment. "Issuing each family a map and an orange flag, the deed to their land hing[ed] upon their ability to 'civilize.' They were required to bring salt pork, botanical texts, and pianos--music, music being what would elevate the territory from raw, unbroken land into a homeland worth having." Moose's train lost and abandoned pianos across the region before settling and striving; pianofortes, surprisingly preserved by freezing waters, washed about the floors of the ocean and the Kamikaze River. Later homesteaders work as piano hunters. Antiques pulled up from the deep command impressive prices. Readers meet Finley when he is a young boy obsessed with recovering his family's Napoleon, and this obsession will guide several lives.

In this strange Arctic world in which sunken pianos are desirable prey and their ivory keys can be found in the bellies of trout, glaciers melt, sea levels rise, and scant resources dwindle. Families battle the elements for survival, and they love one another in traditional and nontraditional ways. Viola, Fry, and their children live in a house on stilts, farming octopus and collecting sea beans, with a sea lion as a pet. They yearn only for "what other families had long ago achieved in terms of the conveniences of modern life: sanitation and heating ducts, coffee, dental work, telescopes, beehives." Shaw's imagination is broad, her characters delightful, and their fates often painful but also transcendent. The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos is a lovely profile of a singular, stark place and a small, tight cast of indelibly colorful characters: a heart-wrenching, unforgettable debut. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: In the Arctic, homesteaders dive for antique pianos and struggle to survive in this compulsively readable first novel of adventure and familial love.