"Lamentably, I think this is part of a greater shift," said Frederike Schuur, owner of Sternschnuppe Buchhandlung in Hanover, Germany, during a panel discussion last week at the RISE Bookselling Conference in Verona, Italy, about attacks on bookshops.

On the panel with Schuur were sweet pea Flaherty, owner of King's Books in Tacoma, Wash., and Edwidge Adjomalé, legal affairs monitor for the Syndicat de la Librairie Française, the trade association for French booksellers. Jessica Sänger of the Börsenverein, Germany's association for booksellers and publishers, moderated the discussion.

Left to right: Frederike Schuur, Edwidge Adomalé, sweet pea Flaherty, and Jessica Sänger

"There is a kind of relabeling going on," Schuur continued. "When people are speaking in favor of basic rights of minorities, of social justice, of the rule of law in general, it's being marked as being too liberal, too left-wing, too woke, too extremist."

Adjomalé reported that there are a number of ways by which books can be banned in France. By government order, specific passages can be edited from books and restrictions can be placed on the sale and promotion of a specific title. This hasn't occurred since 2001, Adjomalé noted, and is generally avoided as it is "politically incendiary," though that may change as the political climate shifts further to the right. There are also specific laws that allow for the banning or restriction of children's books, which has happened more recently largely in response to right-wing pressure.

Touching on the harassment of bookstores in France, Adjomalé said it has always happened, but typically involved only explicitly left-wing or right-wing bookstores. Now the "spectrum is broadening," with general bookshops being targeted. Booksellers are facing online harassment, vandalism, and destruction of property. 

At the same time, local governments can exert pressure on bookstores in various ways, with Adjomalé pointing to a recent incident in Paris where 40 stores were up for grants, but the city council decided to not award any of the grants due to one of those bookstores selling a pro-Palestinian title. While there was another vote a month later and the grants eventually were awarded, Adjomalé said this sort of practice could become increasingly common.

Schuur discussed the recent controversy in Germany related to the German Bookshop Award, which is an annual prize honoring bookstores for the work they did the previous year. Schuur's bookstore was one of 115 stores to receive the award last year, a lower number than expected, and instead of the usual prize ceremony, there would be an abbreviated event during the Leipzig Book Fair.

Before long, a newspaper article revealed that three left-leaning bookstores had "magically disappeared from the list" after Germany's minister of state for culture had looked into their activities via a domestic intelligence agency, using a process normally reserved for protecting against terrorism. While no specifics were ever given, the agency found "relevant information" related to those bookstores, and they were excluded from the prize without explanation. Schuur characterized the decision as "political" and "arbitrary," pointing out that there's no way to know whether they were excluded due to specific books sold, booksellers participating in political activities outside of the bookstore, or the bookstore partnering on cultural events with other institutions. 

The immediate response, Schuur recalled, was a massive show of solidarity for the excluded bookstores, with booksellers and many others in the industry rallying around them. Bookstores were suddenly "at the center of things," and though "everyone was on our side for the moment," Schuur said she does worry that the incident could be a troubling sign of things to come.

Flaherty, meanwhile, offered the European booksellers in attendance a snapshot of the situation in the U.S., including the thousands of instances of book bans per year, the increasing amount of pressure and harassment booksellers face for things like carrying diverse books or hosting drag story hours, the reality of selling books amid federal occupation or ICE raids, and the recent national book banning bill in the U.S. Congress.  

Flaherty urged booksellers to be proactive, noting the work done by the American Booksellers Association and ABFE to prepare booksellers for harassment and content attacks. When it comes to attacks on vulnerable members of the community, bookstores sometimes try to create whole new responses from scratch; Flaherty advised finding and amplifying the people and organizations already doing that work in the community. Flaherty also highlighted the importance of working with independent presses and small publishers, as they are the publishers "most like indie bookstores."

In the panel's q&a portion, Flaherty shared a cause for optimism: after 26 years of being in bookselling and telling people to support indies, it seems to have finally "clicked" this past holiday season. Customers understand the need to support bookstores as not only small businesses but also "bastions of knowledge" and community spaces. "The joy is that we're bringing people together and the public is actively supporting us for doing it," Flaherty said. --Alex Mutter

Overbooked bookstore will open later this spring at 619 2nd Ave. North in Fargo, N.Dak. InForum reported that as owner Michelle Forness has been working to set up Overbooked, "she got a little help from her friends. The high school English teacher of 25 years says students, former students and teachers have pitched in to assist with everything from shelving and organizing books to mopping floors."

Michelle Forness

"It's been really fun," she said, adding that when her current teaching contract concludes at the end of the school year she will switch careers to become a bookseller. She plans to have a limited soft opening on Saturdays in May, followed by a grand opening and full-time hours in June.

Overbooked will primarily carry new releases, popular titles, independent, and local publications, as well as bookish gifts. There will also be dedicated sections for children, middle readers, and young adults. The shop also features what she described as "the checkout counter of my dreams."

Forness said she had been thinking about opening a bookstore for years, but those aspirations didn't come together in a meaningful way until last fall, "when Dane Ferguson, who knew Forness was interested in opening her own bookstore, offered to sell her bookshelves and unsold book inventory from his business, Fergie's Bookshops, which closed in January," InForum noted.

"The stars kind of aligned and so many things were put in my path that I knew if I didn't do it now, I would never do it," Forness said. "I'm passionate about downtown Fargo and joined the Downtown Community Partnership right away.... It is a special place to me and my family and I want to see it thrive."

Long Story Books, a new indie bookstore slated to open in late summer in Atlanta, Ga.'s historic Inman Park neighborhood, has installed a book vending machine. It is in the nearby popular Krog District, near the main entrance of Krog Market and just a few blocks from the space the bookstore will occupy, at 717 Edgewood Ave., after construction is completed. 

The vending machine is currently featuring new fiction releases, favorites of the staff and owner Kate Kiefer Lee. "It's so easy to change out books, and we're really looking forward to keeping the selection fresh. There are just too many good books! The vending machine is a great way to showcase options for every type of reader, without any barrier to entry," she said.

Kiefer Lee added that the vending machine idea was inspired by both the "Penguincubator" and the "Book-O-Mat" trends from the 1930s and '40s, as well as a reward-token-based machine in her children's public school. The company behind the latter helped the Long Story Books team create a custom machine. 

"The vending machine is novel, and it's fun to see people react so positively to it. But most importantly, it meets people where they are and creates another opportunity to enjoy a great story," Kiefer Lee said.

Page and Petals, which opened in November 2024 in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., will close, effective May 24. In a statement shared on its social media pages, the bookstore posted: "We have made a very difficult decision to close our storefront in Wappingers Falls. This comes with such a heavy heart and [we] truly will miss each and every one of you. In the meantime, we will be revamping our website and remaining open online for preorders, book & goodies orders with amazing inventory and options for our favorite people. Shipping and free local delivery will be available.

"We will also be popping up from time to time in our community once we are finishing transitioning and can't wait to see you all there.... This certainly isn't the end of Page & Petals. We will continue to create spaces in the community and connecting with all of you as much as we can."

The WOLF reported that owner Jackie LeVan "and her team hosted many events with local authors, bringing in other local vendors like coffee carts and dirty soda pop-ups. They hosted monthly book clubs and became a hub for readers in Dutchess County.

"On a personal note, Page and Petals was one of my favorite local businesses. Jackie took the time to get to know her customers and created an amazing space for readers. I remember giving her a list of the books I enjoyed. She went above and beyond to hand pick a few books that she thought I would like... she nailed it. I love western romances now... Thanks, Jackie!"

Australian author David Malouf, who "successfully merged his passion for literature, language and imagination with his connection to home to become one of Australia's most celebrated writers," died April 22, the Guardian reported. He was 92. Malouf "wrote of characters who transcended time and place. His novels explored ideas of identity and post-colonialism, but also broader themes--life and death, liberty and conflict, virtue and vice--and the interaction of these opposing forces in creating tension and temptation."

David Malouf

"In most of my books and stories, the central character suffers some sort of disruption--loss of innocence if you like, or of the self--and has to work through to wholeness, or healing," he told Colm Tóibín in 2007.

As a poet, Malouf's debut collection was Bicycle and Other Poems (1970), followed by Neighbours in a Thicket (1974), which won the Australian Literature Society gold medal. He published his final novel, Ransom, in 2009, but continued writing poetry, with his last collection, An Open Book, coming out in 2018. 

Malouf's first novel was Johnno (1975), "which many believe to be partly autobiographical, [and] tells the story of two boyhood friends living in steamy, sultry wartime Brisbane," where the author was born, the Guardian noted. His novella An Imaginary Life (1978) was a fictionalized reimagining of the exiled Roman poet Ovid. In 1990, The Great World won the Commonwealth prize and Miles Franklin literary award. 

Remembering Babylon (1993), which was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1993, "tells the story of a shipwrecked cabin boy, who comes to represent the tension between two worlds--that of the local Indigenous people with whom he has lived for 16 years, and the Scottish settlers whom he joins," the Guardian wrote.

Malouf was always a voracious reader, beginning with classic English children's books, then reading Shakespeare aged eight, and at 12 reading Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity Fair, and Moby-Dick, his favorite novel. He said these books "kept telling me the most extraordinary things about the world, and I couldn't wait to grow up and get into it."

Addressing the fact that none of his books were adapted into films, Malouf said, "they're all interior; you can't translate that to the screen. Almost nothing happens."

Among his many honors, Malouf was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1987 for his service to literature and in 2016 received the Australia Council award for lifetime achievement in literature.

In the Age, literary journalist Jason Steger wrote: "My reaction to the news that David Malouf had died on Wednesday was one of great sadness because he was lovely, kind man--a gentleman. And also one of great gratitude because over the years he gave us so many wonderful works--novels, short stories, essays, libretti and poetry--that will remain essential to any understanding of Australian literature.... Malouf was a modest giant in Australian literature. He had a long life and his work will last for a very long time."

The Conversation noted that Malouf "was in every sense a man of letters. He was a great reader and profoundly erudite. He was a sociable, assured and generous contributor to literary and public conversation. These same qualities imbue his writerly voice, his regular invocation of a communal 'us' or 'we.' His intimacy of address marks his poetry and prose, inviting trust and drawing in readers."

Colm Tóibín posted on Facebook that he had last spent time with Malouf in May 2025, "and what he had at that last meeting was what he had always--a sort of grace, a lightness in his tone, a way of being amused.... More than a decade ago, when he won an award in Athens, I met him there. How lightly he wore his deep knowledge of the city. He took me through the archaeological museum item by item. He was private. He treasured his time alone as he did his family and a few close friends. If there is one piece of fiction by him that I love most and read often, it is a long story called 'The Valley of Lagoons.' I cannot imagine what will happen now when Carmen Callil and Patrick White both discover that he has arrived in heaven."

This past weekend, the staff of Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., gathered for their annual Christmas dinner, which had been delayed due to ongoing issues with ICE in the Twin Cities area. The 16 staffers of this entirely women-owned and -operated store enjoyed a lively evening of food and fellowship to celebrate the most financially successful year in the store's 36 years of business. Everyone brought along their current favorite adult and children's title to share with the group. (photo: Rachael Johnson)

Francesca Albanese

Today is the pub date for a drop-in title from Other Press, When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words, and Wounds of Palestine by Francesca Albanese, translated from the Italian by Gregory Conti ($28.99, 9781635426038). UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territory, the author is under U.S. economic sanctions for her reporting and can't travel to the U.S., so no launch event or tour is planned. Still, the book is popular enough that Other Press has done a second printing already and is holding inventory for independent bookstores. Photo: Albanese showing endpapers in the book done by artist Malak Matar.

Hayley Moss has left Watkins Media to start a marketing consultancy. She may be reached at hayzmoss@gmail.com.

At Abrams:

Frank Albanese has been appointed chief operating officer. He was formerly senior v-p, supply chain. Before joining the company in 2024, he was senior v-p, market insights and sales operations, at HarperCollins, where he worked for more than 20 years.

Michael Sand has been named executive v-p and continues to oversee the adult division, which he has led since 2014.

---

At Simon & Schuster:

Ingrid Carabulea has been promoted to senior marketing manager. She joined the S&S imprint in 2024.

Omesha Edwards has been promoted to senior publicist. She joined S&S five years ago.

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Ana Huang, author of King of Gluttony (Bloom Books, $18.99, 9781728289779).

Tamron Hall: Jess Hilarious, author of 'Til Death Do We Parent: Raising My Kid with His Dad (Atria/Black Privilege Publishing, $28, 9781668059357).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Lena Dunham, author of Famesick: A Memoir (Random House, $32, 9780593129326).

Writer Victoria Asare-Archer (Missing You, Stay Close) is developing a new environmental legal drama for Eleventh Hour Films based on Monica Feria-Tinta's 2025 book A Barrister for the Earth. Variety reported that "the series will focus on the people working in cutting-edge environmental law as they seek to defend the earth against climate change." Feria-Tinta, a lawyer who specializes in public international law, has appeared in courtrooms across the globe in her quest for environmental justice.

Sony Pictures-backed Eleventh Hour (Alex Rider, Magpie Murders) is working on the project with global organization Climate Spring, "whose mission is to revolutionize how climate change is represented on screen and in popular culture," Variety noted.

"I'm honored that Eleventh Hour Films and Climate Spring see the potential for this story to reach a wider audience," said Feria-Tinta. "The issues at the heart of this book--environmental justice, the beauty of the natural world, and the power of the law to protect it--deserve to be seen and heard."

A shortlist has been released for the 2026 Branford Boase Award, which is sponsored by Walker Books and presented to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. The prize also honors the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent. The winner, who will be named July 8, receives £1,000 (about $1,355), with author and editor each getting an inscribed plaque. This year's shortlisted titles are:

Tart by Becki Jayne Crossley, edited by Cathy Liney
How to Roller-Skate with One Leg by Ella Dove, illustrated by Jennifer Jamieson, edited by Anne Marie Ryan 
Evie and Maryam's Family Tree by Janeen Hayat, edited by Bella Pearson 
Love on Sight by Asli Jensen, edited by Shalini Vallepur 
Gloam by Jack Mackay, edited by Katie Jennings 
The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Trevaldwyn, edited by Emma Jones and Charlie Castelletti
Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, edited by Natasha Brown and Jenny Glencross 

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

Top Pick
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister (Morrow, $30, 9780063338470). "Simone comes to Texas from the U.K. to visit her daughter, Lucy. Lucy is kidnapped, and the perpetrators force Simone into trafficking drugs into Mexico for Lucy's safe return. When a confrontation goes wrong, Lucy and Simone are reunited, but are suddenly on the run from the law. The story is breathtaking, and readers will constantly be on edge, wondering if and when the pair will be caught--and what the consequences will be." --Cari Dubiel, Twinsburg Public Library, Ohio

Five: A Novel by Ilona Bannister (Crown, $28, 9798217088027). "Five strangers meet at a train station, but only four will leave alive. Readers are challenged to predict the victim from among a cast of flawed, unlikable characters whose backstories are unexpectedly gripping. This thought-provoking thriller is an ideal book club pick that will spark a different debate for every reader." --Marika Zemke, Commerce Township Community Library, Mich.

I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy (Shortwave, $21.99, 9798897320165). "Nat Cassidy is one of horror's more unique voices. This short story collection is terrifying and filled with relatable characters. These wild, grim, violent stories unfold as if the author has sidled up to you at a bar and started sharing them. And you simply can't stop listening." --Lila Denning, St. Petersburg Library System, Fla.

The Burning Side: A Novel by Sarah Damoff (Simon & Schuster, $29, 9781668085011). "April and Leo's marriage is already on the brink when a devastating fire levels their home. Forced to retreat to April's childhood home with their children, they must navigate generational trauma and deep-seated grief alongside her parents and siblings. Amidst the literal and figurative ashes, the couple struggles to determine if their relationship is worth salvaging." --Emily Orth, Surprise Public Library, Ariz.

A Parade of Horribles (Dungeon Crawler Carl) by Matt Dinniman (Ace, $32, 9798217190065). "Coming in off the back of a complex and scope-changing Book 7, Book 8 reminds readers of the horrible truth of the Dungeon: for all of their drive and cleverness, Carl and Princess Donut are still just a man and his talking cat trapped in an AI-controlled game that is trying to kill them. This interesting shift in scope and pacing reminds readers of the players' predicament." --Aaron Mason, Radford Public Library, Va.

The Last Page: A Novel by Katie Holt (Alcove Press, $19.99, 9798892424103). "Ella thinks she's going to inherit the used bookstore where she has worked for years, but is devastated when a grandson shows up as the new owner. Now they must put aside their rivalry, and their off-the-charts chemistry, to save the store. The characters' clever book reviews at the start of every chapter also serve to carry the plot forward." --Migdalia Jimenez, Chicago Public Library, Ill.

A Fortune of Sand: A Novel by Ruta Sepetys (Ballantine, $30, 9798217093243). "When Marjorie covertly joins an artists' residency in Prohibition Era Detroit run by a secretive benefactor, she finds both inspiration and compelling secrets. Intriguing family dynamics and cons-within-cons abound in this novel set among monied families with ties to the growing auto industry." --Jessica Trotter, Capital Area District Libraries, Mich.

The Calamity Club: A Novel by Kathryn Stockett (Spiegel & Grau, $35, 9781954118812). "In Depression-era Mississippi, a girl trapped in a Dickensian orphanage and a young woman trying to lift her family out of financial ruin cross paths. Young Meg feels trapped, while Birdy is faced with family issues that run deep. This dual-narrated story is totally engrossing, and readers will be rooting for the characters." --Donna Ballard, LibraryReads Ambassador, N.J.

John of John: A Novel by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press, $28, 9780802167194). "Aimless art student Cal returns to his isolated Scottish home, forced to navigate his grandmother's illness and a community that won't accept his sexuality. The story leans into incredible dialogue and raw, evolving relationships with complicated people readers can't help but care about." --Magan Szwarek, LibraryReads Ambassador, Ill.

Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen (Poisoned Pen Press, $32.99, 9781615957323). "Sister Ursula, a nun fleeing brutal soldiers in 1635, meets Elsebeth, a peasant surviving the Thirty Years' War. They escape into the Bavarian forest, experiencing the horrors of the undead while followed by a necromancer. This atmospheric, haunting folk horror read is told from multiple points of view." --Kristin Skinner, Flat River Community Library, Mich.

"Rose-gold" peaches and the "glory of a freshly baked bread" are simple luxuries the heroine craves in Catherine Kurtz's Feast, a tantalizing 19th-century drama fueled by royal intrigue and culinary decadence. Shifting from the English Channel to the French countryside, Feast is the story of Minha, a young woman coerced into servitude as a "poison taster" for Duc Nicolas at the majestic Château Bellefalaise, and her miraculous path to freedom.

The daughter of an English sex worker and an Indian spice merchant, Minha was a neglected side note to their short-lived union. The one person who cherished her was her late grandfather, a gardener who introduced her to her favorite fruit. There's also her extraordinary sense of smell, what Kurtz describes as the "mysterious brilliance of a palate," a skill awakened by the heady scents of the London bakery she was born above. Home is an elusive concept, one Minha hopes to re-create through fragments of memory.

The staff at the château are hostile toward the poison taster, suspicious of her dark complexion and sensory gifts ever since she detected rat poison in a roasted duck prepared for the duc's birthday. Who was responsible for the toxin is a question that lingers menacingly in the stifled air of the servants' quarters, a sense of danger that lurks between the upstairs and downstairs worlds of the castle.

An artist and food journalist, Kurtz skillfully layers strong flavors, scents, and emotions into her imagery of Minha's world as the young woman's palate turns "raw from the scream of tastes" emanating from the chef's too-rich dishes. Color seeps through the page, from the "gentle dove gray" of early dawn to the "pink-blushed" velvet of the royal horses Minha secretly visits for companionship.

One night she stumbles upon a young man hiding in the stables. Weak and starving, he awakens in her a sense of purpose. It is here that Kurtz's thrilling saga plunges into the adventure at the heart of Feast, as Minha finds herself falling for this curious stranger whose destiny, she is convinced, is tied to her own.

Minha's difficulties, however, are far from over and it will take all of her ingenuity to escape from Bellefalaise and find her way home. Readers will devour Kurtz's marvelous debut, cheering Minha as she takes center stage in her own story and, for the first time, truly feasts on life. --Shahina Piyarali

Shelf Talker: A tantalizing debut novel, set in the 19th century, about a young mixed-race woman and the extraordinary sensory gifts that land her a job working as a poison taster for a French duc.