"Reading had always been an insular pleasure of mine, but working in a bookshop taught me about people--about connection and community that can be so hard to foster in large cities.... And I was changed by my colleagues, too, eccentric and wildly intelligent people--often writers or other creatives--who read voraciously and taught me about classical music, history and queer science fiction.

After a few wonderful years, my first journalism gig brought my time with Readings to a close. Bookstores, though, remain that sanctuary to me, and since leaving, I have dreamed, somewhat starry-eyed, of opening my own one day. I still visit them at least once a week, and take pleasure in plucking books from my home bookshelf to recommend to friends. Whenever that time in my life comes up, I say resolutely: 'That was the best job I ever had.' "

Spindle & Spine held its grand opening celebration on October 29 at 504 N. Main St. in High Point, N.C. At the end of the festivities, owner Amanda Foster Anderson posted: "High Point, oh my goodness--what a day, WHAT A DAY. This photo pretty much sums up where I am tonight. Physically exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, and so incredibly thankful.

"You showed up for Spindle & Spine today in ways I will never forget. Every hug, kind word, purchase, and 'I'm so proud of you' meant more than I could possibly explain. Seeing this dream filled with friends, family, familiar faces, and people walking through our doors for the very first time... whew..... There were so many moments leading up to today when I wondered how it would all come together. Then you filled this place with the love and community I hoped it would hold. To everyone who helped get us here and everyone who came to celebrate: thank you. You gave me a day I'll carry with me forever. My feet hurt, my heart is full, and apparently the couch works just fine."

Anderson told Triad Business Journal that just over a year ago, she was finishing up a meeting when she realized that she wanted to visit a local bookstore, but the nearest one was more than 30 minutes away. She subsequently decided that having a bookstore in town was essential for her community: "Nobody else wanted to open up a bookstore, so here I am opening up a bookstore." 

Spindle & Spine "is furnished like a living room. It is kid-friendly and community-oriented," Triad Business Journal wrote. "Having grown up in the furnishings capital, Anderson sells locally sourced furniture and art along with other assorted gifts. Still, about 70% of the store is made up with a carefully curated selection of books, including a local author section."

"It was always part of the idea to make it a space where people wanted to go, they wanted to be, and it makes them feel like home," she noted, adding that she plans to host frequent social events. There is also a large children's section "for kids to just be." 

Books, Baubles, and Banquets, an all-ages, general-interest bookstore, opened in August in Angola, Ind., the Herald Republican reported.

Located in a basement space at 119 W. Maumee St., Books, Baubles, and Banquets carries a wide-ranging selection of used and new titles, along with bookish merchandise and gifts. Event plans include local author signings, book club meetings, and silent book clubs. The store has two reading rooms and customers are welcome to hang out, play chess, and bring in coffee from a nearby cafe.

"Baubles is a bookish word for trinkets, and the banquets is because I knew I was going to do bookish events," owner Austin Van told the Herald Republican. "I wanted it to sound whimsical, like a place you would read about in a book."

A lifelong reader, Van always dreamed of opening a bookstore. After her family bought the building at 119 W. Maumee St., she suddenly had the perfect opportunity. "I love books," she said. "New, used, or whatever people bring in. Reading has been a lifelong hobby, and my favorite part of the job is helping people find books they can get really excited about."

Kent Bookstore, a new and used bookseller located at 15 William St. North, Unit 1, in Lindsay, Ont., Canada, is under new ownership. The Lindsay Advocate reported that Abigayle Marrison had been a customer for years when she noticed posters last July indicating that the bookshop was seeking new owners.

She discussed the possibilities with her parents, Sherry-Ann Smith and Rob Foster, and two days later Smith spoke with then-owner Cheri Hogg. By October, the family was running the store.

As "lead bookworm," Marrison will be out on the floor helping customers. The family previously owned Coaches Diner in Bethany, so the business world is familiar. "Abigayle grew up in the business, so she learned the day-to-day customer service part and was able to transfer it here," Foster said.

"We heard a lot of people say that they're really excited that the store's going to continue," Smith added. "They were worried that it was going to change or go under."

While many aspects of the bookstore will remain the same, Marrison hopes to expand the offerings to appeal to a younger demographic. This includes bringing in more fantasy and romance novels, as well as starting a book club and hosting author events.

The new owners are grateful for the support they've received from customers and other business owners. "I've really loved getting to meet everyone so far. People have come in just to talk, and I've gotten to hear about their favorite books. I think that's probably what I love most," Marrison said. "I'm so happy that people are continuing to support (the store) and choosing to shop independent. They could be going elsewhere, so it's been pretty amazing to meet people who also have a passion for books."

Barnes & Noble will open new stores today, November 11, in Queen Creek, Ariz., Louisville, Ky., Henrietta, N.Y., and Helena, Mont., and hold a grand opening for its new store in Odessa, Tex., this Friday, November 13.

The Queen Creek store will occupy a 15,000-square-foot space in the Queen Creek Marketplace at 21546 S. Ellsworth Loop Rd. and include a B&N Cafe. Alana Yazzie, author of The Modern Navajo Kitchen, will appear for a ribbon cutting and signing; the costumed character Cat in the Hat will also make an appearance. The opening will bring the number of B&N stores in Arizona to 19, with more openings planned for early next year.

In Louisville, Ky., the new store will reside at 5000 Shelbyville Rd., Suite 1493, in Mall St. Matthews. It will span more than 20,000 square feet and include a B&N Cafe. Local author Kim Michele Richardson will cut the ribbon today before signing copies of her book The Mountains We Call Home. The costumed character Llama Llama will join the festivities too. This is the second B&N to open in Kentucky this year.

The Henrietta store, located at 660 Jefferson Rd., Suite 200, in the Market Square Plaza shopping center, will span 15,000 square feet. Tim Probert, author of the graphic novel Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian, will be on hand for the ribbon cutting and signing, with a special appearance by the Cat in the Hat. The Henrietta store is one of five new B&Ns to open in New York this year, and it brings the number of B&Ns in the greater Rochester area to five.

The Helena store will occupy a 9,000 square-foot space in Skyway Regional Shopping Center at 2005 Cromwell Dixon Lane. It will not feature a B&N Cafe. The opening will include an appearance by local author Luke Larkin, who will cut the ribbon and sign copies of their debut novel, The Unheld. The costumed character Llama Llama will also stop by. This is the first B&N to open in Helena and the first to open in the state since the opening of the Kalispell store in 2024. 

Located at 6351 TX-191 in the Chimney Rock Shopping Center, the new Odessa, Tex., store spans 13,000 square feet and does not include a B&N Cafe. Local author Patrick Dearen will cut the ribbon Friday before signing copies of his novel The Big Dry. The costumed character Arthur will also make an appearance. The Odessa store is the seventh new B&N to open in Texas this year. An eighth will open in Fort Worth later this month.

B&N plans to open 60 stores by the end of 2026.

Tom Thompson, v-p, creative/advertising at St. Martin's Press, died suddenly on November 1.

An exemplary professional, admired as a leader and published poet, Thompson had a long career as an advertising executive at both St. Martin's Press and Verso Advertising. He graduated from Dartmouth College and earned two masters' degrees, including an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa.

Tom Thompson

Jennifer Enderlin, president and publisher of the St. Martin's Publishing Group, said, "It's hard to put into words just how much Tom meant to so many of us. A published poet, a gentle spirit, a beautiful soul who approached his work with passion, and embraced his team with grace. He could always be relied on to be a voice of clarity when navigating the creative process, and a visionary who gave our books such a unique and wonderful presence."

Thompson was the author of three poetry collections: Passenger (Four Way Books, 2018), The Pitch (Alice James Books, 2006), and Live Feed (Alice James Books, 2001). He was the recipient of grants and awards from the Academy of American Poets and the Poetry Society of America.

Thompson's time at SMP/Macmillan was preceded by more than 20 years as an account executive at Verso Advertising (Bennett Book Advertising when he began there). Verso Advertising president Martha Otis noted, "He was widely admired by his clients and highly valued by the Verso team for his creative genius--and that special sensibility of a poet which he brought to everything he did." 

Kim Ludlam, director, creative services, St. Martin's Press, said, "I worked with Tom every day for the past 10 years. He was much more than my supervisor--he was a friend, a mentor, and a sounding board. He taught me so much, and I will be forever grateful to have had this exceptional, caring, and brilliant man in my life."

Eileen Lawrence, v-p, executive director of marketing at Tor Publishing Group, and Thompson's colleague at Verso, said, "He was both incredibly creative and logical, making him perfect for his role in publishing. His kind heart made him a wonderful friend. We met early in our careers and remained friends, eventually both working at Macmillan. We have sons that are similar in age, and over the years we celebrated their births, commiserated over school applications, and shared the ups and downs of parenting and life in general. I had lunch with Tom recently, and his face lit up when telling me how thrilled he was that both his sons are passionate about their careers. I will miss Tom's calming presence, his smart, thoughtful takes on work initiatives, and his warm smile when we crossed paths at work."

Here at the Shelf, we knew Tom as one of the smartest and most professional marketing partners we worked with. We often test-drove new products by Tom; his insights and opinions were truly valued, and made our products better. Tom was a professional, but any lunch or coffee or meeting with him always included an update on his family. It was obvious that his work and his writing were important to Tom, but his family was his most cherished accomplishment. While many booksellers or librarians may not realize that the superlative advertising for St. Martin's Press sprung from Tom's team, we all benefited from his incredible talent.

[Note: We're leaving the comments open on this article for those who would like to leave a remembrance.]

Artist and iconographer Charles Rohrbacher signed copies of his new book, The Illuminated Soul: Praying the Liturgy of the Hours with Sacred Art (Church Publishing), at his local bookstore, Hearthside Books & Toys in Juneau, Alaska. (photo: Anjanette Barr) 

Serendipity Books in Chelsea, Mich., shared a photo of a "gorgeous sunny Monday in the bookstore! Thank you to all who shopped with us this weekend during Wine, Walk, and Shop! It was a fabulous weekend in Chelsea kicking off a holiday season of shopping small and local!"

"It's always Halloween here! Buy a spooky book!" The sidewalk chalkboard message in front of Butcher Cabin Books in Louisville, Ky., offered hope to readers looking for frightening reads year round. The bookshop added: "The creepy doll we got from y'all last week really was cursed, well, the bag was anyway. Glitter errwhere. It's the gift bag that keeps giving. But she really loves the doll itself."

Kimberly Lew is joining Bloomsbury as marketing director, effective November 16. She was previously an associate director of marketing at Crown.

---

Publicity assistant Eva Kerins has been promoted to associate publicist at Avid Reader Press.

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Danielle Steel, author of Celebration: A Novel (Delacorte, $29, 9780593973332).

Also on GMA: Yung Pueblo, author of Journey: The Year That Changes Everything (Harmony, $30, 9780593980941), and Judy Joo, author of Mukja: Let's Eat!: Fan-Favorite Recipes from K-Pop, K-Dramas & More (Countryman Press, $29.99, 9781324111542).

Today: Erin French, author of The Lost Kitchen Volume 3: Seize the Supper (Celadon, $40, 9781250369628).

Live with Kelly and Mark: Jean Chatzky, author of The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement Strategy to Spend More, Worry Less, and Never Run Out of Money (Avery, $32, 9798217179473).

The BBC and Britbox North America have greenlit The Other Elliot Sister, a 10-part drama from Bad Wolf that aims to match the ratings success of The Other Bennet Sister. Deadline reported that the new project "will follow the eldest sister in Jane Austen's Persuasion, similar to how The Other Bennet Sister followed Mary Bennet, the overlooked sister from the Bennet family" in Pride and Prejudice.

Sarah Quintrell (The Other Bennet Sister) is adapting the forthcoming novel from author and former BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow. Production is slated to start in 2027.

"Elizabeth Elliot is an intriguing figure at the edges of Persuasion--someone we know just enough about to wonder what might be going on beneath the surface," said Jane Tranter, CEO of Bad Wolf. "We're delighted to be returning to the world of Jane Austen with the BBC and BritBox, and to bring another overlooked character to the center of her own story."

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, added that the audience "instantly fell in love with Mary Bennet and we're sure they will do the same with Elizabeth Elliot. It promises to be yet another captivating, heartfelt adaptation from Sarah Quintrell." The Other Bennet Sister will get three specials this Christmas season.

Chloe Anne's manuscript The House Where Mercy Died won the 2026 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, which is "dedicated to removing barriers for unpublished writers, has no age limit and requires only three finished chapters at the time of submission so as to encourage and empower writers to be brave and bold and back their talent." It is awarded in memory of Hachette Australia's former CEO Matt Richell, who died in a surfing accident in 2014. 

Commenting on the winning manuscript, the judges said "the literary ability to build tension and atmosphere was apparent from the opening paragraphs."

The award is sponsored by the publisher and Hannah Richell, in partnership with the Emerging Writers' Festival and Simpsons Solicitors. The winner receives A$10,000 (about US$6,870), to be donated by Hachette Australia, along with a 12-month mentorship with one of the company's publishers. 

Rose Smith  (photo: Nils Juul-Hansen)

Rose Smith's writing can be found in the Missouri Review, CRAFT, Five Points, and the Swannanoa Review. As a film producer, her work has screened at Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest, and MoMA's Doc Fortnight and has aired nationally on PBS, Sundance Channel, and others. She is a graduate of the M.F.A. Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Austin, Tex. Her debut novel, The Shared Life of Egan and Lucian (Hawthorne, November 3, 2026), is the story of identical twin brothers, the woman they both love, and the rugged and beautiful Maine island they all call home.

Handsell readers your book in six words:

Girl meets boy, then his twin.

On your nightstand now:

The Queen of Bad Influences by Jim Shepard
Fair Play by Tove Jansson
Homer's The Odyssey, Daniel Mendelsohn's translation
The manuscript of Girlhood by my dear friend Chaitali Sen, out from Grove Atlantic next year

Favorite book when you were a child:

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire. This book, given to me when I was very small, held me in its thrall for years (I still have it, although the jacket is faded and torn) and ignited a lifelong obsession with the classics.

Your top five authors:

George Eliot. The extraordinary sympathy of her narrator is an absolute beacon for me. She can illuminate even the darkest soul with her attention.

Virginia Woolf. When I read her sentences, I feel my mind reset. The boundaries of what is possible suddenly expand.

Toni Morrison. When I was 14 years old, I saw Toni Morrison speak in Albany. She made an indelible mark on me that day. I will read Sula over and over for the rest of my life.

Elizabeth Strout. Her work is deceptively straightforward, extraordinarily wise.

Colm Tóibín. Pure beauty in language. He can create the most complete intimacy on the page.

Book you've faked reading:

I find myself nodding along if someone brings up The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I've picked it up more than once and can never seem to finish.

Books you're an evangelist for:

Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Alison. Narrative mirrors shapes in nature, and not just the wave. This brilliant book changed how I understand storytelling.

Middlemarch by George Eliot. Practically everyone I know has heard me go on and on about this novel. I love it unabashedly and reread it every few years.

The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch. There are people I have recommended this remarkable book to who have thrown it across the room, and there are people who love it like I do. I can never say which one you'll be, so I just keep riding for Iris, consequences be damned.

Books you've bought for the cover:

I would've bought these books anyway (they're all brilliant), but the covers are outstanding:

The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

Book you hid from your parents:

Forever by Judy Blume, although I have to say, there was no real reason for this. My parents were utterly libertine in their reading, and that freedom extended to me. I vividly remember sitting shoulder to shoulder with my best friend at Kay's Pizza on the lake, holding the paperback under the table, heat rushing to my cheeks.

Book that changed your life:

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. This book taught me how to make meaning out of my life experience. She did the hard work of knitting together the things that happen to us and what we make of them.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. This tender, magical, honest book made me want to write. It still does, every time I read it.

Favorite line from a book:

"a fox in her fox-fur/ stepping across/ the grass in her black gloves/ barked at my house// just so abrupt and odd/ the way she went/ hungrily asking// in the heart's thick accent" from the poem "Fox," by Alice Oswald, which is in her collection Falling Awake.

Five books you'll never part with:

The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard. This collection of essays came to me as a windfall. I've never read anything like it since. Relentlessly wise, hardheaded, bighearted, heartbreaking, and funny.

A very old paperback copy of Housekeeping, signed by the author, to 22-year-old me: "For Rose, in admiration of the shortness of your hair."

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Was there ever a more fascinating character than Mantel's Cromwell? "He, Cromwell." Oh, the language! Every time I return to this book, I find something new to admire. Once, in Daunt Books in London, the bookseller told me I had just missed Hilary Mantel! She'd walked out just before I walked in.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. For me, Tóibín is the greatest at setting a scene. Whenever I am stuck, I can open to any page in this book--filled with Post-it notes and marginalia--to be set free.

My very old copy of The Classic, Standard, Definitive Roget's International Thesaurus, which I picked up at an estate sale. It's filled with interesting little notations from the previous owner.

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

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. My mother gave me this book the summer I turned nine. She made me sit at the kitchen table until I'd read the first chapter. After that, I couldn't put the book down. My first totally immersive, falling-in-love-with-a-book experience.

Manuia Heinrich's debut YA novel, Salt Water Blood, is a satisfying, stimulating mystery/thriller depicting two siblings whose plan to leave home for a better life is thwarted by a potential murder charge.

Before Moe (pronounced mo-eh) was born, she was claimed by Moana, the ocean. "As the story went," Moana's "waves whispered" to the girl's parents on their island home of Vaeaga, "convincing them to name [their daughter] after her": Moemoana means "ocean dream." This connection means Moe can hear Moana's thoughts, giving her the ability to see the future, but this gift has only brought Moe pain. She was forced to experience her father's death and her mother's choice to abandon her and her younger brother, Tao, before both events happened.

Now 18, Moe is making plans for her and 17-year-old Tao to leave Vaeaga and build new lives in Paris. But one evening, four days before they are due to leave, Tao's girlfriend goes missing. Tao has no memory of the night, the argument they reportedly had, or how blood ended up all over his clothing. Because Moe and Tao are members of the local Indigenous community, the gendarme (soldiers who oversee law enforcement) quickly assume the worst. Moe's desire to leave the island behind clashes with her need to save Tao, and she uses her hated connection with Moana to solve the girl's disappearance.

Heinrich draws from her experience as "ta'ta Mā'ohi, an Indigenous person of Mā'ohi/French Polynesian origins" and the history of French colonization on the Mā'ohi Nui archipelagos to construct the fictional island of Vaeaga. She neatly focuses on one family's trauma to contextualize the experiences of the wider community, whose issues are rooted in the historical impact of nuclear testing conducted by France between 1966 and 1996. Heinrich gracefully develops a character who, through extraordinary circumstances, learns how much the past is tied to her family's and friends' struggles in the present. She brings together historical, ecological, and colonial crimes and highlights their ongoing fallout in a devastating but comprehensible way. Moe's ocean powers will likely capture readers' imaginations, as will her desperate race to solve the mystery of the missing girl and exonerate Tao. Salt Water Blood is an unflinching account of the impacts of generational trauma as framed by a young woman's fierce love for and loyalty to her brother. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Manuia Heinrich's debut YA novel is a gripping thriller and bildungsroman rooted in Indigenous culture, community, and contemporary issues of environmental justice and antinuclear activism.

The following were the most popular book club books during October based on votes from book club readers in more than 95,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau)
2. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (Atria)
3. Whistler: A Novel by Ann Patchett (Harper)
4. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (St. Martin's Press)
5. Yesteryear: A Novel by Caro Claire Burke (Knopf)
6. The Correspondent: A Novel by Virginia Evans (Crown)
7. The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse)
8. Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine)
9. The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett (Ballantine)
10. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron) 

Rising Stars:
The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday)
Adam and Eve by Jeffrey Archer (HarperCollins)