Indie Bookstore Day Spirit Week celebrated Silly Sock Day on Monday and Plaid Tuesday. Among the indies participating:

At the Next Chapter Books

Silly Sock Day
The Next Chapter Bookstore, Hermiston, Ore.: "Happy Silly Sock Day. We are rocking our socks from Sock It To Me--we know how much you all love them, too! How are you celebrating today? Post your silly socks to your stories and tag us @thenextchapterhermiston and #TNCSpiritWeek so we can share them to our stories."

Sugarfoot Books, San Anselmo, Calif.: "Leading up to Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday we have Spirit Week! Today is Silly Sock Day, please enjoy our silly socks!"

Main Street Books, St. Charles, Mo.: "Happy Indie Bookstore Spirit Week! Monday is Crazy Sock Day, and our booksellers really stepped up on this one! (STEPPED up? Get it? Because we are on a step, and this is about socks… yeah, you get it.)

Itinerant Literate Books, North Charleston, S.C.: "Counting down the days to IBD with Bookseller Spirit Week! Monday is Silly Sock Day, but we also just call it a fashion statement. Plus, we think it pairs nicely with our new store shirts, now available in lovely lavender (Olivia approved!)." 

At Books & Books at the Studios, Key West, Fla.: (l.-r.) bookseller Leslie, store founder Judy Blume, store manager Emily, bookseller Joey, assistant store manager Sara.

Plaid Tuesday
The Twig Book Shop, San Antonio, Tex.: "Clad in plaid for Indie Bookstore Spirit Week! Join us on Saturday, 25th April for #indiebookstoreday!"

bbgb books, Richmond, Va.: "leading up to indie bookstore day on saturday is indie bookstore spirit week! today is plaid day! everything we are holding will be available on indie bookstore day!"

Main Street Books, Davidson, N.C.: "Plaid Tuesday marks Day 2 of Indie Bookstore Day Spirit Week! Only four sleeps until our party with special guest Alicia D. Williams, author of Nani and the Lion. 

Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn.: "Plaid Day for #ibdspiritweek2026 Booksellers + Plaid = a match made in heaven."

Chaucer's Books, Santa Barbara, Calif.: "A few of the crew in their best plaids for Plaid Day (go with it) and #BookstoreSpiritWeek! (Brandy would like to remind everyone it is also Lesbian Visibility Week. So Plaid Day works there, too.)"

Lovestruck Books & Cafe, Cambridge, Mass.: "If Lovestruck Books & Cafe was a sitcom. Today's Spirit Week theme: PLAID. All leading up to Indie Bookstore Day with @americanbooksellers on 4/25!"

Content Bookstore, Northfield, Minn.: "Day 2 of #BookstoreSpiritWeek: Plaid Tuesday, or as we call it at Content, Dress Like David Day. David: Inventory Manager, Fearless Leader, Style Icon, Reacher of Things on High Shelves. Never without a plaid shirt or a cold can of Pepsi Zero. We love you."

Coming soon: Juliet Books (and Maisy).

Juliet Books & Beautiful Things will open in June at 200 Parkthrough St. in Cary, N.C., the Triangle Business Journal reported. Owner Marcie Montague, a former SAS Institute executive and Cary resident, said, "I want downtown Cary to really have a heart, and it can't only be eating and drinking establishments. We have to bring some other type of experiences to the downtown."

The bookstore will occupy a space formerly occupied by longtime Cary business Tart's Barber Shop. The Tart family owns the property and has given Montague right of first refusal to purchase it. "If they do decide to sell it, then I would be able to buy the building, which would be great," she noted.

Montague has spent her career in tech, working at SAS for more than 20 years. After leaving the company, she spent five years at SingleStore, which was acquired last year by private equity firm Vector Capital Management in a $500 million deal, the Triangle Business Journal noted. Montague used her stock payout from the acquisition to open the bookstore, something she has wanted to do for the past decade.

"You can do a lot of things with money. You can stick it in the bank, and then you die. You can go to Las Vegas and gamble it, or you can do something that you've always wanted to do," she said. "I thought, even if I lost every penny, which I do not plan on, and I don't think that I will, I will still be happy that I took the risk and did it."

The store is named after Juliet Capulet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In addition to books, it will offer sideline gift items to showcase local makers, host book clubs and other events, and Montague is planning to apply for a beer and wine license. She plans to hire three employees for the store. The mezzanine level will be a dedicated children's section, with a mural that replicates Juliet's balcony. 

"I'm trying to have it be a community store. I am trying to get vendors that are local makers and local artists to carry in the store, so that when you come in, you can feel like you're supporting the whole Cary community," Montague said. She is taking a small business course through the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center and also earning certification through the Professional Booksellers School.

Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, N.Y., which suffered significant damage in January due to burst pipes in the building at 82 John St. where it is located, plans to move around the corner to Senate Garage, currently an event venue, on N. Front St. in 2027.

Rough Draft will move next year to Senate Garage.

In a statement, Rough Draft owners Amanda and Anthony Stromoski wrote: "We've worked hard, both to make our own improvements and also to get some reassurance that problems beyond our control, as renters, would be addressed. With just over a year left on our lease, we've ramped up these efforts and spent a lot of time wondering what's next for us. We've even inquired about purchasing the building, to ensure we'd have space to grow and evolve. Unfortunately, it's become clear that there is no path toward a long-term future in our current space."

Noting that they consider this plan "a new opportunity--one we believe can provide a bigger, better, more sustainable future for Rough Draft," the owners added that "the team behind this amazing, historic building [Senate Garage] will be retiring from the wedding business at the end of 2026. And we're hoping that we can take the special magic this venue provides for private events, and open it up to everyday guests. Fill it with people, books, beverages, and conversation, and bring even more life to the space."

Describing Senate Garage as feeling "like a dream-come-true landing spot," the Stromoskis said there will be "more room for seating, more books, and more drinks, more readings and music and trivia and community events. Maybe even more food!... The possibilities are endless. We can't wait to get going."

Although the 2027 timeline is not set, Rough Draft is making the announcement now "because we're excited to start planning, and we know word will get out! And because this is such bittersweet news, we want to savor this last year at 82 John Street, along with every one of you who has come to see it as such a special place. This Saturday, April 25, is Independent Bookstore Day--probably our last at this location--so please join us in making it our best yet!"

Congratulations to Watchung Booksellers, Montclair, N.J., winner of PW's Bookstore of the Year, cited in a nominating letter for being "a beloved literary and community hub for anyone who treasures the written word." (Some Shelf Awareness staffers are former residents of Montclair and nearby towns and can attest to that!)

Margot Sage-EL and Maddie Ciliotta-Young

Yesterday in its newsletter to customers, owner Maddie Ciliotta-Young wrote about the award. She has been owner since 2022, taking over from her mother, Margot Sage-EL, who bought the store in 1996 with a partner, then took full ownership in 2000. Sage-EL moved the store and expanded it, and in 2023, the Kid's Room, a children's branch was opened nearby.

Ciliotta-Young said in part, "This is a huge honor that we are so proud of and has kept a smile plastered on my face all week. Bookselling was not on the top of my list of careers when I was growing up. In fact, when my mom first transitioned from a Great Owl Books catalog to owning Watchung Booksellers, I stopped reading for a year in protest.

"Fast forward a few decades and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else but right here with our amazing staff, customers, and literary community. This designation didn't happen by chance and it's truly humbling to get national recognition for what we do day in and day out. Behind every book club is a bookseller who’s dying to share their favorite backlist with you. Behind every podcast episode is a bookseller with a vision that the next conversation will be the reason a listener deepens their relationship with books. Behind each storytime is a bookseller who curates a space where babies and toddlers grow up surrounded by books and joy. Behind every bookfair is a bookseller who knows each school so intimately that we aim to change the literacy trajectory of even the most reluctant reader. Behind every event is a bookseller who has taken a chance on an author that we are so sure you will love too.

"We don't do this for fame or glory--although this glory certainly feels good! We do this because we believe in books and we know you do too. We believe that books have the power to shape, change, and connect communities. We know that gathering around literature, introducing our youngest community members books, and supporting writers only makes a community stronger. We're grateful that you all trust us enough to join in while we set out to do just that. Thank you."

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, HarperCollins is launching HarperCollins American Classics collection, a curated series of special editions drawn from the books that have helped define the American literary tradition, the publisher said, adding that the collection "reflects HarperCollins's enduring commitment to publishing stories that illuminate the breadth and complexity of the American experience since the company's founding in 1817."

Debuting in May, the series will feature 35 deluxe trade paperback editions spanning HarperCollins's adult and children's imprints. The selected works "capture the ideals, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped the nation's 250-year history, inviting readers to reflect on the cultural and literary voices that continue to define America," the publisher said.

The HarperCollins American Classics collection includes classic novels such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web; groundbreaking nonfiction like Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and bell hooks's All About Love; and contemporary works such as South to America by Imani Perry and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. A full list of collection titles is available here.

Rainy Day Books, Fairway, Kan., celebrated author Caro Claire Burke (r.) and her debut novel, Yesteryear (Knopf). More than a hundred readers attended, and the evening was full of vibrant laughter and conversation. Burke spoke with bookseller Chantel McCray about her experience as a debut author, themes of her novel, and details about its upcoming adaptation.

Posted on Instagram by Story Line Books in St. Paul, Minn.: "Believe it or not, this is the best picture we got. We swear Bag is more excited than he looks for #indiebookstoreday and this year’s @raintaxireview Twin Cities Indie Bookstore Passport. Come and get yours anytime between today (Wed 4.22) and Sunday and start getting your stamps! The more bookstores you hit before Sunday, the better the prizes! Bag will be here Thursday and Friday but won’t be here on Saturday or Sunday so come by early to say hi!"

"If you go on a work trip with Matt or Kai, run." Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego, Calif., shared an Instagram reel showing what can happen "when you room with the social media person during a work trip."

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:

18. Gilgamesh: A New Verse Translation by unknown (Liveright)
25. Kill Dick by Luke Goebel (Red Hen Press)
35. Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry edited by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon Press)

This week's debut nonfiction titles:

23. How to Deal with Your ____ So Your Kids Don't Have to: An Encyclopedia for Ditching Your Emotional Baggage (Parenting Book Series #4) by Eli Harwood (Sasquatch Books)
29. 52 Weekends in the Pacific Northwest: A Local's Curated Guide to Year-Round Getaways by Kara Patajo (Sasquatch Books)

At Abrams:

Kathleen Spinelli is promoted to executive director of sales, international and distribution client publishers.

Liz Frew is promoted to senior director, national accounts.

Jay Salton is promoted to senior manager, special markets.

Kristen Luby is promoted to director, school & library marketing.

Maddie Brock is promoted to marketing associate, adult.

Gaby Portugal is promoted to marketing associate, children's.

Gabby Fisher is promoted to executive director of publicity, adult.

Tayla Wagenseller is promoted to publicist, children's.

Today:
Fresh Air: Steven J. Ross, author of The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy (Bloomsbury, $32.99, 9781635578003).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Allison Hope Weiner, author of Murder and the Media: Behind the Scenes of Four High Profile Murders (Post Hill Press,  $18.99, 9798895651346).

Also on GMA: Donna Hay, author of Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt: A Celebration of Modern Coastal Home Cooking (HarperOne, $50, 9780063514164).

Sherri Shepherd Show: Jamie Oliver, author of Eat Yourself Healthy: Food to Change Your Life (Flatiron, $39.99, 9781250427069).

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, April 25
8:08 p.m. Robert P. Watson, author of Declaration: The Story of American Independence (Bloomsbury Academic, $35, 9798216371557). 

Sunday, April 26
8 a.m. Buck Sexton, author of Manufacturing Delusion (Sentinel, $32, 9780593716588). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:13 p.m.)

10:45 a.m. Ellen Carol Dubois, author of Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Revolutionary Life (Basic Books, $35, 9781541647510). (Re-airs Sunday at 10:54 p.m.)

11:45 a.m. Jenna Nicholas, author of Enlightened Bottom Line: Exploring the Intersection of Spirituality, Business, and Investing (Amplify Publishing, $19.99, 9798900261546).

3:05 p.m. Geoff Bennett, author of Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to '90s Sitcoms (Harper, $32.99, 9780063418172).

4:10-7 p.m. At the National Black Writers Conference at Medgar Evers College in New York City

• 4:10 p.m. A discussion on climate change and Black authors with Trymaine Lee, author of A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America; Cebo Campbell, author of Sky Full of Elephants: A Novel; Chelsea Frazier, co-author of All These Liberations: Women Artists in the Eileen Harris Norton Collection; and Natalie Baszile, author of We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy.
• 5:39 p.m. A discussion on censorship with Amistad Books editorial director Abby West; Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Happy Land; Ayo Sekai, author of A2: A Scholarly Poetical Science Discourse; and Clarence A. Haynes, author of The Legacy of Jim Crow.

The shortlist has been selected for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction, whose goals are "championing and amplifying women's voices and nurturing a global community of readers." Sponsored by Baileys and Audible, the prize has an award of £30,000 (about $40,500). The winner will be announced June 11. 

The shortlist:
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson
Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly
Heart the Lover by Lily King

Chair of judges and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard said: "We are delighted to present a shortlist that doesn't shy away from examining life's challenges, but also brings many moments of joy. As judges, we are first and foremost readers, and these novels intrigued and profoundly moved us. The plot lines kept us turning pages to find out what happens next, the characters found a place in our hearts and the stories stayed with us long after the last sentence. The incredible strength of the longlist challenged and delighted us, as we whittled down 16 books to this exceptional shortlist.

"We are proud to support the Women's Prize Trust's mission of championing women's creativity, established and new. With over half of the shortlist represented by debut novelists and independent publishers, we are spotlighting talented emerging writers as well as showcasing the best of known and much loved authors."

---

Finalists have been selected for the 2026 Hugo Awards, recognizing "excellence in science fiction and fantasy" in many categories. Winners of the Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award, and the Astounding Award will be announced at the World Science Fiction Convention, LAcon V, on August 30. All members of the World Science Fiction Convention are able to vote on the Hugo Awards, including those who have memberships in the virtual portion of the convention. Voting on the final ballot will begin in early May. In addition to the traditional categories, the 2026 awards will again include a Best Poem category, following a trial run in 2025. To see all the finalists, click here.

"The 2026 Hugo Award ballot reflects the wide spectrum of contemporary science fiction and fantasy," said convention chair Joyce Lloyd. "This shortlist highlights established voices and emerging creators. These are works that comfort us in hard times and challenge us to not only envision, but to work towards, better tomorrows and more inclusive worlds."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, April 28:

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune (Tor, $25.99, 9781250881236) follows an elderly gay couple on a road trip through the end of the world. 

Poetry Says It Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up by Ellen Burstyn (HarperOne, $26.99, 9780063387683) is a memoir about the actress' lifelong love of poetry.

A Deadly Episode: A Novel by Anthony Horowitz (Harper, $32, 9780063305748) is the sixth Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery.

Questions 27 & 28 by Karen Tei Yamashita (Graywolf, $30, 9781644453810) is a novel about the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.

Fat Swim: Fiction by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Hogarth, $28, 9780593242261) contains interconnected short stories.

The Abyss by Jeyamohan, trans. by Suchitra Ramachandran (Transit Books, $26.95, 9798893380040) is a work of Tamil literature about a man who profits from deformed beggars.

Fish Like Me by Jamie Sumner, illus. by Devon Holzwarth (Atheneum, $19.99, 9781665942577) is a picture book about a child in aquatic therapy that celebrates differently abled bodies.

Shim Jung Takes the Dive by Julia Riew (Quill Tree, $19.99, 9780063294073) features a tween who travels to an underwater kingdom that is inspired by Korean folklore.

Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About: A Memoir by Isabel Klee (Morrow, $28, 9780063451070) is by a dog rescuer in New York City. 

Paperbacks:
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley, $19, 9780593953051).

The Duke: A Novel by Anna Cowan (St. Martin's Griffin, $19, 9781250382849).

Death Meets Cute by J. Penner (Poisoned Pen Press, $18.99, 9781464249372).

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

Hardcover
Body Double: A Novel by Hanna Johansson, trans. by Kira Josefsson (Catapult, $27, 9781646223138). "A chance meeting between two women in a department store cafe leads to an affair of obsession in this captivating novel by Hanna Johansson, translated by Kira Josefsson. Perfect for fans of Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith." --Caitlin Baker, Island Books, Mercer Island, Wash.

Son of Nobody: A Novel by Yann Martel (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 9781324118138). "An absolutely stunning read. We follow a scholar as he pieces together a lost epic of the Trojan War: not of the mighty kings focused on during The Iliad, but of a common foot soldier's suffering during the ten long years of war." --Sierra Hollabaugh, The Bookery Cincy, Cincinnati, Ohio

Paperback
The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins Anderson (A John Scognamiglio Book, $18.95, 9781496748300). "I love books about the strength, determination and devotion of women. This story of the incredible bonds and hardships of three sisters during Prohibition who will do what it takes to survive is all that and more." --Jane Simons, The Dog Eared Book, Palmyra, N.Y.

Ages 4-7
Gunnar the Viking's Great Pizza Adventure by Diego Vaisberg (duopress, $18.99, 9781464233630). "Gunnar shows that with bravery and creativity you can change the course of your life and shows us all that trying something new isn't always easy, but the results can be rewarding and delicious!" --Sally Sue Lavigne, The Storybook Shoppe, Bluffton, S.C.

Ages 8-12
Last Day Pool Party by Emma Steinkellner (Labyrinth Road, $21.99, 9798217031429). "This graphic novel follows six middle school graduates at a celebratory pool party. They all have concerns--a best friend moving away, dealing with feeling invisible, getting ridiculed on a viral video--and all navigate their issues in the best way they can." --Alex Weston, The King's English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, Utah

Ages 13+
Ellen Poe: The Forgotten Lore by Diana Peterfreund (Running Press Kids, $12.99, 9798894141688). "After moving in with her aunt in her spooky Edgar Allan Poe-themed B&B, Ellen starts having nightmares and visions that lead her to believe that she might be a descendent of the haunted writer." --Manda Barker, Raven Book Store, Lawrence, Kan.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Whether because of its spectacular location, its cultural significance, or simply its romantic image, San Francisco has always occupied a distinctive place in the American mind. In assessing its contemporary relevance, reporter Jonathan Weber has had a front-row seat since 1990, when he was named the first Silicon Valley correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. The product of his close observation is City on the Edge, a well-informed, granular account of San Francisco's history since 1990, and a portrait of how it has served as a microcosm of some of the fundamental changes occurring in U.S. society during that time.

Much of the story of San Francisco's last 35 years inevitably centers on the tech industry, beginning with the dotcom boom of the 1990s and its spectacular bust in 2000. The book is peppered with the origin stories of now-iconic companies with local roots, like Twitter, Uber, and Airbnb, whose growth was spurred by a massive tax break favoring city-based tech businesses enacted in 2011. And in the years following the Great Recession, San Francisco became a place where "initial ground rules, and legal precedents, were being established for new forms of commerce and human interaction."

But even as the tech-fueled fortunes of the city followed a decidedly upward trajectory through the early decades of the 21st century, it faced persistent issues of homelessness and drug addiction and crime, along with rapidly rising wealth inequality and gentrification. Those tensions manifested in many forms but are epitomized in the story of the Google buses, which were designed as a sensible response to the issue of city residents commuting to jobs in Silicon Valley to the south, but quickly became a flashpoint of grievance between powerful tech interests and local residents.

In the concluding section of the book, Weber describes how even as San Francisco benefited from one of the more successful governmental responses to the shock of Covid-19, the virus wreaked major damage on the city's economic life. With businesses enthusiastically embracing remote work, the hollowing-out of San Francisco's downtown during the pandemic exposed "just how little progress had been made on the conjoined problems of homelessness, addiction, mental illness, street crime and wealth inequality."

As he narrates this story, Weber juggles a large cast of noteworthy characters, including Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom and businessman/philanthropist Warren Hellman. For non-San Franciscans, there will be moments when City on the Edge veers too deeply into the narrow byways of the city's often Byzantine politics, but Weber usually doesn't linger overlong there. With all its triumphs and travails, it is impossible to leave this account without a strong sense that what Weber calls the "boom-and-bust cycles" of San Francisco life are destined to repeat yet again. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Journalist Jonathan Weber offers a stimulating account of the interplay between the worlds of technology and politics in San Francisco over the last 35 years.

I'd say the bookstore culture in the U.S. is one of its true deep strengths--a crucial, vital stay against the current madness.

--Martha Cooley, author most recently of My Little Donkey: And Other Essays (Catapult)

As Independent Bookstore Day draws closer, my thoughts have turned to the bond between writers and booksellers. During more than three decades in the book trade, I've been lucky enough to meet many authors, some of whom have become important threads in the fabric of my reading life. One of these writers is Martha Cooley, whom I first encountered through the pages of her debut novel, The Archivist, which I read in 1998 when I was still a frontline bookseller. It quickly became one of my handselling favorites.

Martha Cooley

I didn't meet her in person until 2001, when she became my first semester instructor in the MFA in Writing program at Bennington College. During the years since, our paths have only crossed a few times, but I've always been her reader. Cooley's books include the novels Thirty-Three Swoons and Buy Me Love; as well as essay collections Guesswork: A Reckoning With Loss and, most recently, My Little Donkey. 

Here's where I revert to handseller mode again for a moment: I love My Little Donkey and highly recommend it. One of the many aspects of Cooley's work I've long appreciated is the intricate way she can blend observations of natural and emotional landscapes with her reading life. That's not easy to do, but her approach is at once grounded and somehow magical. 

A Brooklyn resident for many years, Cooley has, since 2021, lived in the ancient Italian village of Castiglione del Terziere in Lunigiana. Last November, however, she was back in the U.S. for a book tour that launched in November at Brooklyn's Community Bookstore and finished at Village Well Books in Culver City, Calif. 

Seeing her Facebook posts during that stretch got me thinking, as many things do (an occupational hazard), about indie booksellers, which led eventually to asking Cooley about her experiences with bookshops, both here and in Italy. As it happens, her husband, Antonio Romani, was a bookseller and is also a writer. An English translation of his book The Patient Wait of the Stones: Time and Memory in Lunigiana (Galpon Press) will be published in May. It was co-translated by the author and Cooley.

"Well, my main relationship with a bookseller is with my husband, an ex-bookseller!" Cooley said. "I met him in the best bookstore in Cremona, Italy (which he managed), and I can still recall that feeling of 'now here's a nice bookstore' that I had upon entering Il Tarlo (which means 'The Bookworm' in Italian). It was on two floors and was light-filled and cheery and full of interesting and unexpected books. And it had a great kids' corner, which included some terrific dolls and stuffed animals as well."

In terms of her favorite indies in the U.S., she noted: "I've been a fan of the Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn, ever since I first moved there in 1997. Already popular, the Community became a true neighborhood hub in the days and weeks after 9/11, when it organized various events and gatherings for residents of Park Slope (a neighborhood that sent quite a few firemen to the Twin Towers, several of whom perished). The store is run by Stephanie Valdez, a lovely human and discerning reader who always makes customers feel welcome and knows how to suss out what a reader might want to discover next."

Martha Cooley at Community Bookstore

Cooley added that her launch event for My Little Donkey was held at the Community, "and although I haven't lived in Park Slope since 2021, I felt as though I were coming home.... That's because I spent over 15 good years in the neighborhood--and in some ways I still think of myself as a Brooklyner, though I now live in a tiny medieval village in northernmost Tuscany."

On her recent book tour, Cooley said she particularly enjoyed a visit to Celia Bookshop in Swarthmore, Pa.: "Although I didn't do an event there, I wanted to see the store because its literary manager is the novelist Rachel Pastan, a former colleague of mine in the Bennington Writing Seminars. Celia's a great store, physically beautiful and stuffed with terrific titles--Rachel has marvelously wide-ranging taste.

"I also really enjoyed Capricorn Books, a small, well-stocked bookstore in Jenkintown, Pa. I confess to enjoying book-related merch, and at Capricorn I bought myself a green corduroy baseball cap that says 'Book Babe' on it--a cap that has garnered quite a few smiles and nods, both in the States and in Italy."

Regarding Italian booksellers, Cooley recommended "a nice small one in the nearby town of Pontremoli called Antica Libreria Savi, which has a friendly vibe and a nice kids' section. When I'm wanting to visit a larger store, there's the marvelous Feltrinelli in Parma, which has comfy armchairs on its upper levels. I once tucked in there for a long read, stretching out on a cushioned window-seat on the top floor. That reading session turned into a wee nap... but nobody woke me up or kicked me out.

"In Rome, I'm partial to the Open Door Bookshop in Trastevere, a very good English-language shop. In any case, wherever I find myself in Italy I'm always seeking out local bookstores--keen to find out what titles are foregrounded, and how the staff respond to questions about both Italian- and English-language books. It's such a treat being in conversation with booksellers. I always feel like they're super happy to talk about the titles that excite them--and eager to hear about books and authors that are new to them. I'm often searching for titles in both languages, which can be a bit crazy-making but is truly a privilege and a pleasure."

--Robert Gray, contributing editor