For the audience, the Wednesday morning breakfast, beautifully moderated by Audrey I-Wei Huang, a bookseller at Belmont Books, Belmont, Mass., felt like sitting in on a conversation in a bar or someone's living room. The event featured four wonderful writers--Min Jin Lee, Marlon James, Colson Whitehead, and Xochitl Gonzalez--who were by turns hilarious, thoughtful, charming. They received two standing ovations and plenty of laughter and applause.

One by one the quartet answered questions, touching on their past books and upcoming titles. The first question was a request for "a tidbit" about their latest book that booksellers could use to handsell the title.

Gonzalez, whose Last Night in Brooklyn (Flatiron Books, April 21) is set in 2007, said she wanted to capture "the feeling of being young and alive before we were recorded all the time" and what it was like "to live off the record." It's both for people who lived in that era as well as for younger people "to experience it" and maybe try to live in a way where "life is unwatched."

From left: Xochitl Gonzalez, Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, Min Jin Lee, and moderator Audrey I-Wei Huang

Gonzalez said she started a business at age 23 and ran it for a decade, until the financial crisis, a period when she felt "anything was possible... a powerful vibe to have amongst a community of people of color." She also emphasized that a key part of Last Night in Brooklyn was experiencing that time without knowing that the financial crisis was coming, which she compared with The Great Gatsby being written before the Great Depression.

Whitehead, whose Cool Machine (Doubleday, July 21) is set in the 1980s, noted that this is the third title in his Harlem Trilogy, featuring Ray Carney. "This is the first time I worked on something for seven or eight years [and] I was really occupied with sticking the landing. With a trilogy you don't want to go down at the end, you want to go higher and higher."

Whitehead said that for him, "time is a very structural element," and "I'm always trying to find a moment in New York City history that can animate the main character, Ray Carney."

James's The Disappearers (Riverhead, September 1), is set in the 1980s and '90s in Jamaica, and traces the effects of the murder of a gay man. He called the book "an experiment," in which he took things that happened in his life and gave them "to a character who's not like me... so it's kind of autobiographical but it really isn't."

Lee's American Hagwon (Cardinal, September 29) follows how the 1997 Asian financial crisis changes a Korean family. That crisis, she said, wrecked the lives of many people, with "many middle-class people losing their jobs," and even though it was "so far away, the modern Korean is walking around with the sense of economic humiliation and trauma." She wanted to highlight the effects of economic assaults on people, especially how they influence daily decisions.

Events are key among the ways these writers connect with readers. Gonzalez said she enjoys when people who don't know each other connect at her events because "they have this thing in common: they've read my book."

James noted that his tours in the U.K. don't usually take place at bookstores but at community centers, which adds to the audiences because sometimes people are attracted to a community event even if they don't know the author.

Lee said that she "keeps showing up" for events because many people assume she doesn't speak English and isn't American. So she's done "a thousand events"--but definitely doesn't want to do another thousand. She quoted her own advice to her students--"you can feel bad or do something"--and for her, "it's always about showing up."

James said that when he was "young and stupid," he wished that instead of being considered a Black writer, he would be seen as "simply a writer." Now he doesn't care so much about labels. Someone asked him if The Disappearers was "a gay book or a book with gay people." He responded, "I wrote a gay-ass book."

Whitehead complained about the media, which often stand "between the book and the reader." When traveling, he said, he often is interviewed by journalists who have "maybe two questions about the book," and then ask questions like "Is it true that black people sleep upside down like bats?"

In a similar vein, Gonzalez said, "I can't tell you how many times I've been put on a panel about immigration and immigrant writers." But her family aren't immigrants. Her mother's family is from Puerto Rico and her father's family is from south Texas. "America came to us," she said. "No one emigrated anywhere."

Gonzalez added that she doesn't feel offended to be considered a Latino writer, but doesn't like being seen as different from "an American writer." She's also delighted that in Europe, she's considered a feminist writer.

As for messages, Lee said, "I'm a real believer in the message. I have a real axe to grind. I'm pissed about so many things, and I'm not going to mention his name." For her, the challenge is to make her fiction a kind of Trojan horse with a message: "I want to fight in my own private, quiet way," hoping that her books will leave readers "deeply persuaded about something that I really, really care about." She aims to get the reader "to stay with me for 16 hours and want to hang out with the voice. Then you might agree or disagree with me, but at least we'll have a conversation."

James noted that he has written about slavery and people finding their own community and joy and strength. "But there's also anger about having to do that in the first place." He called The Disappearers, which features gay characters in a very homophobic country, "a message book." The message: "Stop hating us." --John Mutter

Indie booksellers attending ABA's Winter Institute in Pittsburgh, Pa, this week continue to share social media posts chronicling their experiences. Among the highlights:

The Little Book, Des Moines, Iowa: "Standing in wild lines at the Romance After-party at #Wi2026 and feeling extra grateful for a room full of almost entirely women and queer folks who show up for a genre that is so often overlooked and infantilized. Feeling grateful for my friend Sarah and her work at @shelflovedsm, for making a space for folks who love to read about love, unapologetically, in our little Midwest city. Booksellers are cool people, if I do say so myself--Bee."

Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C.: "Winter Institute is a yearly bookselling industry event organized by the American Bookseller's Association @americanbooksellers. This year, we sent our Events & Marketing Manager, Outside Sales Coordinator, and Inventory Manager to Pittsburgh to check it out! Day 1 featured a tour of 5 amazing local bookstores."

City Lights, San Francisco, Calif.: "City Lights Publishers is attending the independent booksellers' association meeting, known as 'Winter Institute,' this week in Pittsburgh, sharing our recent and forthcoming books with our fellow indie booksellers and publishers."

Aaron's Books, Lititz, Pa.: "If you've been missing Sam and Todd this week, they're only a few hours away! They've been spending some time in Pittsburgh at the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute. What do you do at a bookseller conference? You learn about ways to serve your community, pick up some fabulous upcoming books, and get to hear from the one and only LeVar Burton himself! Basically, Sam and Todd are living the dream."

Downtown Books, Manteo, N.C.: "What are the odds we'd run into @duckscottage at Winter Institute! #abawinterinstitute Happy Birthday BINC!"

Serendipity Books, Chelsea, Mich.: "This week Booksellers Shannon, Lucy and Owner Michelle are in Pittsburgh for the annual @americanbooksellers Winter Institute! They're attending panels and informational workshops, touring indie bookstores around Pittsburgh, hearing incredible speakers (LeVar Burton!), meeting fellow indie booksellers from around the country, and generally having a blast! Can't wait to hear and share more about what fabulous bookish ideas they gather while there! (This also means that Bookseller Kaci is holding down the fort at the bookstore this week, so everyone be nice to her)"

The Rogue Bookshop, Beloit, Wis.: "Jamie is in Pittsburgh this week for Winter Institute, gathering with hundreds of passionate booksellers, discovering incredible upcoming titles, and coming home full of inspiration for the shop. Between sessions, there's been time to explore the city a bit too--and yes, this really is Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It's been especially meaningful to hear from voices like @levar.burton and be reminded just how powerful stories and community can be."

The Last Chapter Bookshop, Chicago, Ill.: "Did someone say besties? It's your 2 favorite Midwestern Princesses here reporting live from ABA Winter Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. We are having so much fun meeting other bookstore owners, connecting with publishing communities, and just being with people in the book world who share the same love that we do for this industry. XO!"

Dungeon's Gate, Ankeny, Iowa: "Scenes from Day One at ABA Winter Institute (juuusstt a couple days after the fact). We loved checking out some of Pittsburgh's fabulous indie bookstores! Amazing Books & Records, Riverstone Books, White Whale Books & Coffee, Spark Books. Bonus: the French goodies we found on the way! Gaby et Jules Patisseries et Macarons."

The Book Club Salida, which has been operating as a pop-up bookshop, will open a physical storefront in March at 129 W. Sackett Ave. in Salida, Colo. The Mountain Mail reported that owners Deb Bass O'Brien and Samantha "have been cleaning the space up since they got their lease February 1."

"We don't have to haul the books around anymore," Bass O'Brien noted, adding that the new space will allow them to expand inventory. They will also feature a couple of "nooks" in the shop and a children's corner. She anticipates that visitors will enjoy the browsing aspect of the shop.

Bahn added: "I love having conversation about what we're currently reading." She added that since she and Bass O'Brien are both teachers, "it will be exciting for us to have another space for kids to find community."

Bahn and Bass O'Brien have been public school educators in Salida for more than 15 years. The bookstore's website notes: "In addition to new and used books, we will offer author visit, book club memberships and meetings, locals’ specials, private book club events, kids’ programming, and more! We are looking forward to being a community space celebrating literacy and conversation." 

A recent National Literacy Trust survey, Teenage Reading: (Re)framing the Challenge, found that fewer than one in 10 boys aged 14 to 16 in the U.K. read daily, as "reading for pleasure was being crowded out of teenage lives by schoolwork, screens and sports," the Guardian reported. Although reading declines for both boys and girls in early adolescence, the report found that there are "signs of recovery" among girls in later teenage years, while boys' engagement remains persistently low.

The NLT survey of 80,000 young people (11-16 years old) found that 46.9% of children 8 to 11 enjoyed reading, falling to 29.5% (11-14) and 28.6% (14-16). By mid-adolescence, daily reading is "uncommon," coming in at 31.1% (8-11), 17.1% (11-14), and 14% (14-16).

Reading rates are lower for boys at every age, the Guardian noted, citing survey results that showed 36% of girls 8-11 years old said they read daily, compared to 26.3% of boys of the same age. At 14-16, the results dropped to 17.6% of girls and just 9.8% of boys.

"Over the past 20 years, children and young people's enjoyment of reading and their daily reading habits have fallen steeply to their lowest levels on record, with the drop especially pronounced for teenagers," said NLT CEO Jonathan Douglas. "As young people grow older, reading increasingly competes with a multitude of pressures on their time, changing routines, a wider range of interests and activities and greater independence. As a result, reading can become easier to displace, particularly when it is not rooted in daily life. Teenage boys' reading is especially fragile."

---

Romania has been named guest of honor at the 80th Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), scheduled for October 11-15, 2028. 

"I am very excited that Romania will be guest of honor at the 2028 book fair," said Juergen Boos, Fair director. "Romanian literature has long been present in Europe thanks to its strong contemporary literary voices. Authors such as Mircea Cărtărescu and Gabriela Adamesteanu are being read worldwide and their works have been translated into numerous languages. Their books tell of a country that has undergone political upheaval, censorship and new beginnings. We are looking forward to seeing the diversity of the country's multilingual literary landscape in Frankfurt." 

András Demeter, Romania's Minister of Culture, commented: "The designation of our country as guest of honor at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2028 certifies a cognizance of the values of our culture, but it also implies a significant responsibility. We intend to approach this participation with care, professionalism and long-term vision, revealing the depth and vitality of Romania's cultural landscape today." 

---

BookNet Canada examined what it called "the Heated Rivalry effect" on Canadian romance fiction sales, noting that Rachel Reid's novel series, further enhanced by the TV adaptation, is "such a big hit, even Prime Minister Mark Carney has gotten swept up in the phenomenon."

Thus far in 2026, the first six titles on the romance category bestseller list are all of Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, BookNet Canada noted, adding that "likely due to the name of the TV show, the second book in the series, Heated Rivalry, is the one winning the sales face-off.... We can't wait to see if the impact of the show continues to drive book sales throughout 2026."

Ann Godoff

Ann Godoff, "a percipient editor and intuitive publisher who cultivated the careers of dozens of novelists and nonfiction authors for more than three decades as the head of Random House and then of Penguin Press," died February 24, the New York Times reported. She was 76. Godoff's authors included Ron Chernow, E.L. Doctorow, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Thomas Pynchon, Tom Brokaw, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, William Styron, and Alice Waters. The literary agent Esther Newberg described her as "an author's publisher."

At Random House, Godoff was named executive editor in 1991 and rose to editor in chief and publisher of its trade publishing group "before being famously fired in a corporate restructuring in 2003," the Times noted. Soon afterward, she founded Penguin Press, where she was editor-in-chief and publisher.

Among the bestselling books Godoff published were John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994) and Caleb Carr's The Alienist (1995). More recently, she edited and published A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot; the memoir Young Man in a Hurry by California Governor Gavin Newsom; and Michael Pollan's A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. One of the last books she edited was a memoir by former Times critic and columnist Frank Rich that will be published next year.

Godoff also "was known for making big bets on celebrity authors," including an $8.5 million advance to Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Board chairman whose memoir, The Age of Turbulence, became a hardcover nonfiction bestseller in 2007, the Times noted.

Bill Shore, author of The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back (1999), recalled meeting her to propose his book: "Ann Godoff described the book she'd like to see written, the book she said she'd want to read. She went into what I could only describe as a literary jazz riff for about 20 minutes. Her tempo increased as she spoke. She concluded by saying, 'So, if that's what you want to write, if you want to write a book about the cathedral within, then that's a book I want to buy.' "

Chernow, author of Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., said: "I always saw Ann as a double threat: an astute editor but also a superb publisher. She not only had a flawless sense of what would sell and what wouldn't, but a gift for how to position a book in a crowded literary marketplace."

"Ann influenced generations of editors and publishers by showing us, through her example, that you can champion works of cultural significance while still being commercially successful.... If there were a Hall of Fame for book publishing, Ann would be voted in on the first ballot," said Jonathan Karp, a former Random House editor-in-chief and now CEO of Simon & Schuster.

She began her publishing career as a part-timer typing mailing labels for Alice Mayhew, an editor at Simon & Schuster. Godoff later became an editor and was promoted to senior editor. She worked for Simon & Schuster from 1980 to 1986, when the Atlantic Monthly Press hired her as editor-in-chief. She joined Random House in 1991.

Annik LaFarge, who married Godoff in 2012, recalled her favorite story, which occurred in California in 1960 when Godoff's mother helped host a fundraiser for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign at the home of actor Tony Curtis.

"Someone had the idea to pose young Ann--she was 11--at the end of the diving board of the pool, and Frank Sinatra sang to her 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls,' " LaFarge said. "I can just imagine her face as he sang, 'Those little eyes so helpless and appealing/ One day will flash/ And send you crashing through the ceiling'.... For all her formidable prowess, she'll always be, for me, the little girl at the edge of the diving board."

Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, N.C., hosted Kate Quinn (front, left) for her new novel, The Astral Library (HarperCollins). Quinn was in conversation with Laura Beth Victor. (credit: Kelsey Kemp Photography)

Oprah Winfrey chose Kin by Tayari Jones (Knopf) as her first Oprah's Book Club Pick of the year, Oprah Daily reported, noting that the novel "meets the moment perfectly" and "is rooted in the kind of human connection the club has always championed, while also delivering a sweeping, immersive story that reminds us all why we love reading--and love reading together even more." Jones's 2018 novel, An American Marriage, was also an Oprah's Book Club pick.

"Tayari's storytelling washed over me like a trip back home, like a visit with my own 'kin' I hadn't seen in a long while. It is masterful and reminds us of the true bonds we share with family, whether biological or chosen," said Winfrey, calling Jones "one of those writers who has trained herself to write, but she also has the gift. She's able to allow the divine to come through her and light up the pages with her words."

"To be selected for Oprah's Book Club is a writer's dream, and to be chosen twice is a stunning gift," Jones said. "Oprah knows that our stories will heal us. For decades she has elevated the voices of the world--book by book. Like the old folks say, I'm honored to be one in that number."

Winfrey interviewed the author on her podcast, available here.

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.

Green Apple Books, San Francisco, Calif., is one of several small businesses across the U.S. featured in Visa's advertisement for Visa & Main, its new platform "built to champion small businesses--at the corner of commerce and community."

Tomorrow:
Jennifer Hudson Show: Taylor Cassidy, author of Black History Is Your History (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781665957700).

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, February 28
6:15 p.m. Kostya Kennedy, author of The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America (‎St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250341372).

Sunday, March 1
8 a.m. Xi Van Fleet, author of Made in America: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Enabled Communist China and Created Our Greatest Threat (Center Street, $32, 9781546009344). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9 a.m. Jon Ralston, author of The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781982194413), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

11 a.m. Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq (Times Books, $26, 9780805082401). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)

12 p.m. Patrick Dorinson, co-author of The Common Sense Cowboy's Guide to Life: Stories from the Old Guy at the End of the Bar (‎Humanix Books, $24.99, 9781630063351).

12:30 p.m. Emily Mendenhall, author of Invisible Illness: A History, from Hysteria to Long COVID (University of California Press, $28.95, 9780520421523), at at Politics and Prose.

1:20 p.m. John Sanbonmatsu, author of The Omnivore's Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves (NYU Press, $30, 9781479825967).

2:20 p.m. Dr. Robert Wachter, author of A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future (‎Portfolio, $32, 9798217044245).

4:25 p.m. Heather Ann Thompson, author of Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage (Pantheon, $35, 9780593702093), at Red Emma's Book Store in Baltimore, Md.

5:55 p.m. Jennifer Wright, author of Glitz, Glam, and a Damn Good Time: How Mamie Fish, Queen of the Gilded Age, Partied Her Way to Power (Grand Central, $30, 9780306834608).

The Goorie and Koori poet Evelyn Araluen's The Rot won the Victorian Prize for Literature, the overall prize of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, honoring Australian writing and administered by the Wheeler Centre on behalf of the premier of the state of Victoria, the Guardian reported. Check out the winners in all categories here. 

Araluen, whose book also won the Indigenous writing category, received A$125,000 (about US$89,045), altogether. The judges praised The Rot as "a work of remarkable poetic intelligence; formally bold, emotionally exacting and politically uncompromising" and "a vital intervention in this country's cultural conversation."

"These poems were about witnessing a genocide and the feeling of inertia and grief and rage and passivity that sits in the body when you feel so powerless against our government's complicity in that genocide," Araluen said. "I had people get up and leave and shout at me and have a go at me … I shouted back and felt so enraged. But I had incredibly beautiful people coming up to me afterwards, some of them crying, saying the poems had helped them understand how they have been feeling."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, March 3:

Want to Know a Secret? by Freida McFadden (Poisoned Pen Press, $32.99, 9781464264849) is a thriller about a baking influencer with dark secrets.

Felicia's Favorites: A Novel by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press, $29, 9780593973059) unites five adult daughters to hear their late mother's will.

The Supreme Gift: Love Is the Greatest Thing in the World by Paulo Coelho, trans. by Margaret Jull Costa (HarperOne, $22.99, 9780063470088) explores the power of spiritual love.

A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman (‎Scribner, $30, 9781668219614) is a family saga set in the Australian outback.

Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (Ecco, $30, 9780063377684) follows a mother and daughter in the aftermath of an affair.

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser (‎St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250396341) reimagines the evil stepmother from Cinderella.

You with the Sad Eyes: A Memoir by Christina Applegate (Little, Brown, $32, 9780316594929) is the memoir of the actress.

Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks by Benjamin Hal (Harper, $30, 9780063398122) investigates two connected disappearances two decades apart in Arkansas.

Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life by Rachel Hartigan (National Geographic, $28, 9781426222542) traces the life and possible deaths of the famous aviator.

Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'Brien (Atria, $30, 9781668211700) focuses on the 1979 Indiana State Sycamores.

Honor Flight: Celebrating America's Veterans by Jeff Gottesfeld, illus. by Matt Tavares (Candlewick, $18.99, 9781536230154) reunites the team behind Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for a picture book honoring service members and the U.S. capital's monuments.

If We Never End by Laura Taylor Namey (Bloomsbury YA, $20.99, 9781547618057) is a YA speculative romance about a young woman who finds a ghost boy inside a watch.

Paperbacks:
No Matter What by Cara Bastone (Dial Press, $18.99, 9780593977675). 

In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde (Entangled: Amara, $19.99, 9781649379795).

Strange Buildings by Uketsu (HarperVia, $18.99, 9780063514096). 

Just Friends by Haley Pham (Atria, $19, 9781668095188).

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

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing: A Novel by Alice Evelyn Yang (Morrow, $30, 9780063419292). "I love a story that delves into the rich complexities that family dynamics can bring, and this book does just that. A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is masterful in making you feel deeply for the characters across generations." --Annastasia Williams, Bookshop at the Bottom, Knoxville, Tenn.

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
Every Happiness: A Novel by Reena Shah (Bloomsbury, $28.99, 9781639733002). "Stunning and unflinching! In its luminescent prose, you will find complex characters you can't help but root for and themes that come alive. The longing in Reena Shah's every word blurs the line between reader and character." --Cassie Goodwin, Loudmouth Books, Indianapolis, Ind.

Paperback
Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart (Kensington, $18.95, 9781496740724). "Based on the true story of The American Plan of the early 20th century, aiming to prevent the spread of venereal diseases to World War I service members. A very real testament to the plight of women who endured terrible treatment in the name of righteousness." --Mamie Potter, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C.

Ages 4-6
Cat's New Book by Nathalie Belhassen (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9781523528592). "A heartwarming celebration of well-loved books and the joy of sharing the stories we treasure. The beautiful messes they gather when read alone, passed between friends, enjoyed together, and shared aloud with others." --Kassandra McKenna, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Ages 8-12
A Kid Like Me: A Graphic Novel by Norm Feuti (HarperAlley, $24.99, 9780063354111). "I loved so much about this story--Ethan's love for nerdy games, and desire to figure out who he is while navigating the struggles of middle school friendships and the comparison to his classmates. This one hits on so many important coming of age themes!" --Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Ages 12+
Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya (Joy Revolution, $19.99, 9798217024469). "Looking for your next great read with star-crossed lovers and a traveling circus? This Latine-inspired fantasy has it all: magic, adventure, humor, dark secrets, and a fiery second-chance romance." --Alyssa Raymond, Copper Dog Books, Beverly, Mass.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Kang Jiyoung's Mrs. Shim Is a Killer is a kaleidoscopic novel of murder-for-hire, crisscrossing loyalties, self-determination, and dark humor. In Paige Morris's translation from the Korean, Kang's matter-of-fact prose reveals a sly, absurdist wit. This playfully murderous thriller is not soon forgotten.

In the first chapter, readers meet Mrs. Shim. A 51-year-old widow, she supports a family of three; her son is of university age, her daughter just younger. Since the death of her husband five years ago, she has struggled to provide for her family by working in a butcher's shop, relying on her knife skills to eke out a living while dutifully preparing kimchi, soybean soup, and other staples at home. When she loses her job, she is desperate for other work--not easy for an ajumma, or middle-aged woman, to find. At the Smile Private Detective Agency, however, she meets a boss impressed by her use of a knife. "I'd like you to become a killer," the man says matter-of-factly, and Mrs. Shim finds she is in no position to turn down the gold bar he offers. Reluctant at first but driven by her need to provide for her children, she becomes Smile's best killer yet, causing surprised rumors to circulate about the knife-wielding ajumma.

Mrs. Shim Is a Killer shifts perspective to follow one character and then another, from a long list of players in Mrs. Shim's story. Aside from the title character, chapter titles refer to them by epithet: The Boss, The Shaman, The Confidant, The Daughter. Intrigue unfolds in this series of puzzle pieces, which provides varying angles on events where killers and amateurs off killers, bosses, and more. Because not all of these character spotlights take place in the same timeline, old secrets also come to light, and present-day rivals may reveal more nuanced relationships in the past. In final standoff scenes, characters are set against one another in unexpected arrangements and, through it all, readers root for Mrs. Shim, a reluctant but determined assassin.

Kang (The Shop for Killers) plays off expectations about mothers, lovers, and cultural norms to her reader's constant surprise. With a complexly twisting plot, disarming characters, and a deceptive sense of humor, Mrs. Shim Is a Killer breaks genre boundaries in a surprisingly hopeful package. Bloody but cheerful, this unusual tale is entertaining and strangely cozy. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: In this bloody but cheerful novel, a middle-aged widow and mother of two becomes a contract killer to support her family, reinventing herself along the way.

When the news broke last December that ReaderLink would be ending its distribution of mass market paperback books because of a dramatic decrease in sales over the past couple of decades (131 million units in 2004 to 21 million in 2024), I had a curious double response. 

(credit: Escondido Public Library)

First, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I'd purchased an MMPB, nor what that book might possibly have been. And second, I recalled two moments when MMPBs played a formative role in my reading life.

That initial reaction came back to me a couple of days ago, when the Guardian featured a piece headlined "America says goodbye to the mass-market paperback," noting that "for generations of readers, the gateway to literature was not a hushed library or a polished hardback but a wire spinner rack in a supermarket, pharmacy or railway station. There, amid chewing gum and cigarettes, sat the mass-market paperback: squat, roughly 4" by 7" and cheap enough to be bought on a whim." ReaderLink's decision "marks the end of a format that once democratized reading for the working class."

Paula Rabinowitz, a professor emerita of English at the University of Minnesota and the author of American Pulp, observed that the format "generated a new technological explosion of this form of mass reading. The whole idea was to make the books no more expensive than a package of cigarettes at 25 cents and they were often sold outside of bookstores."

Shelly Romero, a literary agent in New York City, told the Guardian she has early memories of going to her local supermarket and buying pulp fiction: "We were very working class; my mom was working two jobs sometimes. The appeal of books being cheaper and smaller and able to be carried around was definitely a thing.... 

"They had that democratic aspect to them where you can just find them anywhere and it always felt like it was the pick 'n' mix candy-type store where there is something here for everyone, whether it's the Harlequin romance novel or something very pulpy like a sci-fi or horror novel that you could quickly get."

I get it. I also grew up in a small working-class town, where my only book-buying options were Colville's news stand (also a great destination for comics) and Calvi's Dairy Bar. 

My first personal library was courtesy of the news stand. In addition to watching every episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (IYKYK), I read, re-read, and collected the tie-in novel series, with subtitles like The Doomsday Affair, The Copenhagen Affair, and The Dagger Affair. I bought new editions as soon as they were released and carefully shelved the numbered MMPBs (1-23) on top of my dresser, between wooden bookends my father had made for me. 

Those novels were an early bridge to the world I would choose to live in as an adult--the world of books where I became a reader, a writer, a bookseller, and an editor.

Six decades later, a quick inspection of the bookcases in our home (and there are a lot of bookshelves) shows that my MMPB collection has been reduced to just two titles, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle, translated by Thomas P. Whitney (Bantam, 1969, $4.95); and The Making of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Ballantine, 1971, $1.25), translated by Gillon Aitken, with an introduction and screenplay by Ronald Harwood. 

Although I saw the Denisovich film adaptation in 1973, two or three years earlier I'd made my first great reading "find" on an MMPB spinner rack at Calvi's Dairy Bar, which was owned by Delfina, a first-generation Italian immigrant. Calvi's was one of those miraculous establishments that managed, in limited space, to fit a lunch counter with stools, a few booths (discretely tucked in the back), a line of glass-enclosed display fixtures offering myriad curios, and, most importantly, the shrine to reading that was the MMPB spinner rack. 

Incredibly, The First Circle was wedged among the romance, thriller, mystery, self-help, and diet books. It would inspire me to read Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Cancer Ward. The chance discovery had a profound effect on my reading life. Thanks, Delfina.

In December, after ReaderLink announced its decision, Esther Margolis, publisher of Newmarket Books, told NPR's Daniel Estrin: "I'm very sad about it. I've been sad about it for a while. Even during the '80s, when it started to really shift, I was sad because it really--like you asked before, that you could actually establish a total unknown. 

"Today, thank God, you have TikTok and BookTok. They could take somebody unknown and somebody can just get on a camera and say, I love this book, and next thing you know, you have Colleen Hoover or somebody. But that's what you could have done in the past paperback that you can't do really today. To me, Stephen King is a great example. I mean, his whole career, I don't know what--how that might have been built otherwise, if not for the mass-market paperback."

MMPBs still live, of course, but I guess this is my quiet, pre-RIP paying of respects to the format. Or maybe it's just my old eyes acknowledging the fact that I probably couldn't read the small type now anyway.