"As the owner of a large and growing independent bookstore in Northern New England, I've dedicated myself to building a space where books, ideas, and community all come together. But as in any good story, there are plenty of hurdles before you reach a happy ending. In our case, one rising cost that's hard to shelve is credit card 'swipe fees'.... That's why the Credit Card Competition Act matters. The bipartisan bill--which is expected to be reintroduced in the current Congress--would inject long-overdue competition into the payments system....

"Bookstores like mine are the backbone of the New Hampshire economy. But in order to stay afloat, we can't operate in an environment where credit card giants take too much on every transaction. It's time for the state's elected leaders in Congress to deliver us some fairness--and give local businesses the breathing room we need to grow."

The Booker Prize Foundation is adding the Children's Booker Prize, which will celebrate the best contemporary fiction for children ages eight to 12 years old, written in or translated into English and published in the U.K. and/or Ireland. Launching in 2026 and to be presented annually beginning in 2027, the £50,000 (about $66,585) award aims "to engage and grow a new generation of readers by recognizing and championing the best children's fiction from writers around the world." It joins a lineup that includes the prestigious Booker Prize and International Booker Prize. 

The winner will be selected by a combined panel of child and adult judges, with the U.K.'s Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce serving as inaugural chair of judges for 2027. At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be donated to ensure more children can own and read the world's best fiction. Author Penelope Lively will give the keynote speech at the Booker Prize 2025 ceremony to celebrate the new prize.

"The Children's Booker Prize is the most ambitious endeavor we've embarked on in 20 years--and we hope its impact will resonate for decades to come," said Gaby Wood, CEO of the Booker Prize Foundation. "It aims to be several things at once: an award that will champion future classics written for children; a social intervention designed to inspire more young people to read; and a seed from which we hope future generations of lifelong readers will grow.... We have been laying the groundwork for this prize for the past three years, and in that time we have been buoyed by many fruitful conversations with prospective partners."

Philip Lawford, CEO of AKO Foundation, which is the founding partner and principal funder of the Children's Booker Prize, commented: "We are very pleased to support the Booker Prize Foundation in launching the Children's Booker Prize. At AKO Foundation we believe strongly in the importance of nurturing a love of reading from an early age. The evidence linking reading for pleasure to improved educational outcomes and greater social mobility is compelling, and this initiative aligns closely with our priorities as a funder. We are proud to contribute to a project that will inspire and empower young readers."

Cottrell-Boyce and two other adult judges will select a shortlist of eight books. Three child judges will be recruited--with the support of schools and a range of partners across the culture and entertainment industries--to join the adults in choosing the winning book. 

"Stories belong to everyone," Cottrell-Boyce said. "Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness that diving into a great book can bring. The Children's Booker Prize will make it easier for children to find the best that current fiction can offer. To find the book that speaks to them. By inviting them to the judging table and by gifting copies of the nominated books it will bring thousands more children into the wonderful world of reading. I am absolutely buzzing about the news that I'm going to be chairing the judging panel. It's going to be--as they say--absolute scenes in there. Let the yelling commence."

The inaugural prize will open for submissions from publishers in spring 2026, when the remaining two adult judges will be made public. The eight-book shortlist, with each author receiving £2,500 (about $3,330) and the three child judges will be named in late November 2026, with the winner announced at an event for young readers in February 2027. The eligibility period for the 2027 prize is November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026. 

Fleur Sinclair, president of the Booksellers Association for the U.K. & Ireland and owner of Sevenoaks Bookshop, said: "I'm 100% here for anything that shines a light on the joy, wonder and delight of children's books! We all have nostalgic favourites from our own childhoods, but I'm especially delighted to have a brilliant new platform for children's authors writing right now, and their newly published books. The Booker Prize has a long legacy of championing noteworthy books for adult readers, so I'm excited to see whole families, the older members and soon the young as well, coming together to read and celebrate great new books uplifted by the Booker Prize spotlight."

The Enchanted Forest Bookshop will host a grand opening celebration for its new store tomorrow, October 25, at 2809 Bickford Ave, Suite C, in the Snohomish Station shopping center, Snohomish, Wash. The festivities will include a special promotion, giveaways, activities, and a drawing.

Launched in 2024 as a small online/pop-up bookshop, the Enchanted Forest sells new children's books geared toward ages 12 and under, along with a curated selection of puzzles, games, and other gift items. The store "aims to be a bookish community space for young people that sparks joy and discovery, complete with a campfire-themed storytime area and custom-designed mural by local illustrator and author Katherine Castano." The shop also holds storytimes every other Thursday and has plans to host author events.

Owner Erin Jergenson said they are "thrilled to now have a permanent home that allows us to offer far more books and events for the young people in our community. As a mom of an elementary school age child, I think it's so important for children to have as much access as possible to books that will foster their love of reading, and we hope to be part of the community fabric that enables that access and supports readers and soon-to-be readers on their journey."

Nook & Press bookstore will open tomorrow, October 25, at 3566 Knickerbocker Rd. in San Angelo, Tex. The new bookstore and book lounge, owned by Jaton Hampton, is described as "a space where stories come alive... a bookstore designed for connection, curiosity, and imagination.... Browse our carefully curated shelves, explore the whimsical children's nook, and discover cozy corners to read, work, or simply unwind."

Last week, a store post on Facebook noted: "Never say never. Never say you can't do something. All things are possible. We opened an entire bookstore (with ZERO experience) in less than 2 months. Pretty dang proud. Also, we will do a SOFT opening next Saturday, October 25th. We say SOFT because we have a lot of space and our shelves are not as full as we'd like but we know it will take time and we hope that you will give us some grace. Mark your calendars and come hang with us next Saturday!"

San Angelo native Hampton spoke with the Concho Observer earlier this month and shared a sneak peek at the space, noting that she sees Nook & Press as "a space for people to come, grab a coffee and a book, bring a friend, and get some work done" all while exploring a passion for turning the page."

She added that preserving the city's charm and small business spirit is part of what inspired her in this venture: "We have a really strong love for supporting small businesses.... It's great when we can get the big names to come here--but it's the small businesses of our town that make us so unique."

Describing Nook & Press as "spacious yet intimate," the Concho Observer wrote that "the shop was still being transformed, but the vision of a dark academia reading wonderland was already coming together: classic floral art hangs above rows of shelves, and jewel-toned velvet couches invite you to settle in with your favorite murder mystery and a hot tea. And there's a lovely little meeting room in the back for book clubs, friends, dates--you name it."

"We are not in the business of provoking violence," said Mahmoud Muna, writer, journalist, and co-owner of the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, during a panel discussion about bookselling in times of war at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week.

From l.: Erin Cox, Oleksii Erinchak, Vanessa Martini, Mahmoud Muna.

Muna appeared with Ukrainian bookseller Oleksii Erinchak, owner of Sens (Сенс), and Vanessa Martini, head buyer at Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Calif., while Erin Cox, publisher of Publishing Perspectives, served as moderator.

"We are in the business of provoking ideas," Muna continued, of getting people to "go out of their comfort zones" and "challenge their perspectives." 

Earlier this year, the Educational Bookshop was raided by Israeli police, and Muna and his nephew Ahmad Muna were arrested. The experience of being taken into custody and being told his bookstore was the "cause of violence" was "very weird and very life-changing, to be honest." 

It emphasized the "magnitude of forces" working against the bookstore while also underlining the responsibility the bookstore has to its community. At the same time, getting out of police custody to find that people had volunteered to look after the shop made Muna feel the bookstore's "importance for society," and the outpouring of support also made him and his family members feel loved and appreciated.

In times of conflict, Muna said, booksellers are "almost like public health doctors" in society. They can see the illnesses, and while they can't force pills down people's throats, they can sell and promote books and literature that "address the disease" of the moment. Bookstores can also serve as forums during times of polarization. "If you can't have a civilized, candid discussion about polarized issues in a bookstore, where else can you have it?" he asked.

Erinchak opened Sens, which has always focused on Ukrainian-language books, just a few short months before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (More about Erinchak's story can be found here.) Prior to the invasion, his goal was to highlight Ukrainian culture and identity while promoting literature. After the invasion his cultural mission expanded to combating the "huge lies" spread by Russia, such as the idea that Ukraine "is not a real country," that Ukrainian literature doesn't exist, and even that the Ukrainian language was essentially a modern invention.

He chose to "take all our authors who have been executed by Russia, by the Soviet Union, and promote them," and "show people we have a culture, we have literature."

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, there was a huge surge in Ukrainian publishing and people enthusiastically embraced Ukrainian culture and art. Now, after almost four years of fighting, interest in art and culture has waned a bit and the surge in Ukrainian publishing seems to have plateaued. He noted that it's "very difficult to be focused on culture and literature" when your immediate focus is your life, your future, and basic survival. Erinchak hoped, however, that he and other cultural players in Ukraine could spark another resurgence.

Asked about the wave of book banning and the connected rise in content attacks on bookstores in the United States, Martini said that being in San Francisco, Green Apple has been fairly lucky, but for many other stores around the country it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain partnerships with schools and other institutions that serve children. A "real chilling effect" is evident, and attacks on "institutions of knowledge and inquiry" of all kinds are on the rise. As private businesses, bookstores are refuges.

When it comes to books about polarizing subjects or from authors with controversial beliefs, Green Apple has developed a "whole conversational flow chart" for discussing those books with both staff and customers. While the criteria is "never one size fits all," a major guiding question is whether the author directly advocates harm to others. Martini noted that as a manager, she encourages staff to ask her about why she's carrying specific books or doing things a certain way. With both employees and staff, "trust is being built constantly."

"It's not enough to just say we are this type of bookstore, we are this type of place," Martini said. "You have to demonstrate continually by the actions you continually do and ways you continually talk to each other."

Asked during the panel's q&a portion if bookselling is political, the panelists answered with a simple "yes." Encouraged to elaborate, Erinchak explained that helping people better understand the world will have an effect on the choices they make, and choices mean politics. "If there's no choice, it's not a democracy."

Martini remarked that if bookselling were not political, then "no bookstore would ever face repercussions for carrying certain books." Likewise, if books were unimportant, if they were not political, then no one would try to ban them.

Muna pointed out that in some societies, particularly Western European democracies that have not seen wars or domination for years, the word political has become "more narrow in its meaning," and many things can be apolitical. But for "people who live in oppression, everything is political." --Alex Mutter

Kate Elton has been formally appointed CEO, HarperCollins UK; she had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of Charlie Redmayne earlier this month. She will sit on the global executive committee and report to Brian Murray, president and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers.

Kate Elton

"I have had the pleasure of working closely with Kate on our global publishing projects and have seen personally her thoughtful approach and steady hand," Murray said. "Under her leadership, the U.K. Adult Commercial divisions have achieved tremendous success, transforming HarperFiction into a powerhouse of bestsellers and driving significant revenue growth. A passionate advocate for our authors and books, Kate combines exceptional business acumen with the ability to build collaborative teams, while consistently driving innovation through digital, audio, and publishing initiatives. I look forward to working with her in her new role and congratulate her on this achievement."

Elton commented: "HarperCollins has been my home for the last 14 years, and it's been an enormous pleasure and privilege to play a part in connecting the extraordinary work of our wonderful authors and illustrators with readers. The HarperCollins team is second to none--their creativity, passion, and dedication are genuinely inspiring--and I'm deeply honored to now be asked to lead the team as CEO. The role reading plays in the world--to educate, to inform, to entertain, and to escape--has never been more important, and I look forward to working with all my fantastic colleagues across the business to bring more books than ever into the hands of readers around the world."

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Independent booksellers, cultural product chains, and newsagents in France released a joint statement condemning the announcement by Amazon France of a 5% discount on the retail price of new books delivered to more than 3,000 collection points across France, the Bookseller reported

In the statement, they said they are "extremely worried" by the online retailer's decision to offer the discount on books delivered to "eligible collection points," notably lockers. This initiative, following the start of free deliveries to 2,500 points last November, noting that it "is a commercial maneuver that violates the single book law and distorts competition among book retailers."

The signatories are the French Booksellers Association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française, SLF,) which represents 3,200 indies, the French Association of Distributors of Cultural and Leisure Goods (Syndicat des Distributeurs de Loisirs Culturels, SDLC), which represents 117 Cultura shops and 1,200 Maison de la Presse newsagents, and France's largest cultural product chain FNAC, which has more than 230 outlets in France.

Amazon has disputed the mediator's opinion about lockers, the Bookseller noted.

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The latest installment of BookNet Canada's ongoing "5 Questions With" series featured Robyn York, co-owner of Beach Reads Bookshop in Port Dover, Ont., which "carries new & used books, vinyl records, music, vintage paperbacks, picture books, art supplies, and gifts for book nerds and bibliophiles." Among the highlights:

What attracted you to bookselling?
I've been a bookstore kid for as long as I could read.... Publishing obscure art books throughout my 30s and seeing things from the creator/publisher side gave me an interesting perspective on bookselling, and before we opened Beach Reads, my only experience selling books was tabling at Art Book fairs--a VERY different selling experience. That said, the same basic goal overrides all bookselling: to find the right book for someone is magical.

What is the most pressing issue facing bookselling today?
Resisting the evil empire continues to be a big issue and trying to help customers understand why we need to keep this resistance up, without coming across as angry bitter paper pushers, can be a tricky line to toe. Also AI. I'm very happy/relieved every time I see a large group protesting the use of AI. Everyone needs to read Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder and take heed from the wacky and wise Dav.

During a week in which the Trump administration announced that federal agents were being sent to the Bay Area, City Lights in San Francisco, Calif., used its ongoing banner series collaboration with San Francisco Print Collective to offer a message of defiance. 

On Tuesday night, City Lights "unfurled a series of quotes across its windows on Columbus Avenue, displaying some choice lines from 'Pity the Nation,' a poem by San Francisco poet and City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti," SFGate reported.

The banners read in full: "Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, Whose sages are silenced and whose bigots haunt the airwaves. Pity the nation that praises conquerors and acclaims the bully as hero. Pity the people who allow their freedoms to erode and their rights to be washed away. My country tears of thee. Sweet land of liberty!"

"Though 'Pity the Nation' was written in 2007, every line in it remains true today, and unfortunately, the critique and lament presented in that poem are even more relevant now," City Lights' executive director Elaine Katzenberger said. "The urgency of our current situation, nationally, internationally, and as a race of humans on the imperiled planet we share, needs everyone's attention, and this is our attempt to help support and focus general attention."

Cellar Bird Books, Grand Rapids, Mich., which is participating in a scarecrow contest along with more than 30 downtown businesses, shared a photo of its spooky storefront window display, a play on "Death by TBR."

"Every time someone needs a book from the top shelf, we cue this song," Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, Calif., noted in sharing an Instagram reel: "Any excuse to live out our Belle dreams."

A "first listen" recording has been released of Julie Benko singing "I'll Be Here," a song from the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald biomusical, The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul. Playbill reported that the production, which features a book, music, and lyrics by Christie Baugher, "centers on the marriage of the Great Gatsby author and his wife, Zelda, as they struggle with addiction, mental illness, and jealousy. The musical is a two-actor chamber work."

"I'm so excited to share Julie Benko's gorgeous rendition of 'I'll Be Here' with the world," said Baugher. "This song--one of the very first I wrote for The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul--is both the opening and closing number and is such a perfect introduction to the sonic and emotional world of the show. My hope is that audiences lose themselves in the lush, delicate contours of memory as Zelda does in the show, and that the brilliant 12-piece orchestrations and Julie's beautiful and heartbreaking performance transport listeners to a place that leaves them wanting more."

Playbill added that Brainstorm Live Entertainment will hold an industry presentation of the work in spring 2026, with hopes to give the show an Off-Broadway premiere in the fall. It had a preview production at Buffalo, N.Y.'s Irish Classical Theatre Company last year. Danny Mefford (Fun Home) directed and choreographed, and will continue with the project.

A teaser trailer has been released for the fourth season of the noir thriller series Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, Deadline reported. The next season will premiere February 15 on AMC and AMC+.

Dark Winds is created by Graham Roland, with John Wirth serving as showrunner. The cast includes Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and A. Martinez. Joining them for season 4 are Franka Potente, Isabel DeRoy-Olson, Chaske Spencer, Luke Barnett, and Titus Welliver. 

The fourth season "focuses on the search for a missing Navajo girl, which takes Leaphorn (McClarnon), Chee (Gordon), and Manuelito (Matten) from the safety of Navajo Nation to the gritty terrain of 1970s Los Angeles in a race against the clock to save her from an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime," Deadline noted.

Barnes & Noble has selected 14 finalists for its 2025 Book of the Year, the titles B&N booksellers "find truly outstanding and in which they have felt the most pride in recommending to readers." The finalists, which include five novels, five nonfiction titles, and four books for children and young adults, will be voted on by all B&N booksellers and announced November 13.

This year, the list features five novels, five nonfiction titles, and four books for children and young adults. The B&N Book of the Year is voted on by all booksellers and announced on November 13. This year's finalists are:

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
Growing Home by Beth Ferry (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers)
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (HarperCollins)
This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters) by Map Men (Hanover Square Press)
I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery (Candlewick Press)
Puzzle Mania! by the New York Times Games (Authors Equity)
Good Things by Samin Nosrat (Random House)
There Are No Silly Questions by Mike Rampton (Nosy Crow)
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, Sawyer Robbins (Hay House)
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (Scribner)
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (Random House)
Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (Europa Editions)
The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds (Union Square & Co.)

B&N CEO James Daunt commented: "Our booksellers have an astonishing range of interests and areas of expertise, and when they find something worth sharing they do not hold back. Creating this shortlist always involves enthusiastic debate as booksellers across the country campaign for their favorites, and once again they have succeeded in rounding up the best of the best."

Shannon DeVito, senior director of book strategy at B&N, added: "My fellow booksellers consistently impress me with the genuine passion and thoughtfulness behind their choice of recommendations, and never more so than when winnowing down our finalists for Book of the Year." 

photo: Rupert Whiteley

Hester Kaplan is a writer, teacher, and editor, and the author of novels and story collections, including The Edge of Marriage, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. Twice Born (Catapult, October 14, 2025) is her first book-length work of nonfiction.

Handsell readers your book with a handful of words:

An intimate literary memoir about a daughter coming to understand her famous biographer father through reading his work, and an exploration of family, identity, and the art of writing.

On your nightstand now:

I usually have a few books going at the same time. Right now, I'm reading A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst. This nonfiction reads like a novel, and combines two of my favorite topics--marriage and being lost at sea, both experiences of unpredictable weather, the need for adaptability, and running out of ideas for dinner. I'm also dipping into After Lives, a beautiful collection of essays about biography by Megan Marshall.

Favorite book when you were a child:

As a young kid, I loved the All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor, about a large Jewish family living in a Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1912. Cramped tenement living and the immigrant struggle never looked so rosy. I was also captivated by the Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton, about a girls' boarding school in England. A little older, much of my reading diet consisted of Charles Dickens and Judith Krantz.

Your top five authors:

My favorite authors change all the time and often happen to be the ones I'm reading at the time. I can chart my changing interests, writing, and self through my ever-shifting reading tastes.

Book you've faked reading:

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Now that I've admitted it, I'm going to go back and give it another try.

Book you're an evangelist for:      

Books instead of book:

The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter for its expansive empathy and heart.

Independence Day by Richard Ford for its voice, humor, sadness, and the need for urgency in a novel.

The Age of Grief (stories) by Jane Smiley for its appreciation of the huge impact of small moments between people.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Jaws by Peter Benchley. Who could resist?

Book you hid from your parents:

None. They encouraged me to read everything and anything. But there were some things I read in private, like The Passion Flower Hotel by Rosalind Erskine (pen name for Roger Erskine Longrigg) about a group of girls at an English boarding school who set up what is essentially a sex service for their male classmates. (Who knew I had such a thing for stories set in English boarding schools?) This book was a far cry from the Malory Towers books, and frankly, filthy and delightful stuff.

Book that changed your life:

A book didn't change my life, but a short story did. I was about 13 when my mother gave me a story from the New Yorker to read. I don't remember who it was by, what it was called, or even what it was about, but there was a passage describing asphalt sparkling in an empty parking lot on a hot summer day. I was struck by lightning when I realized I know exactly what that is, and it makes me feel deep melancholy in a way I can't explain. I was in awe from that moment on of the power of a written description to generate an emotional response in the reader--and it was what I wanted to do.

Favorite line from a book:

"Life is short, and full of sorrows, and I loved it," from The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer. I intend to say it with my last breath.

Five (three) books you'll never part with:

Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain because it was the first book my father, Justin Kaplan, ever wrote and the subject of my new book.

ShrinkLits: 70 of the World's Towering Classics Cut Down to Size by Maurice Sagoff because the word play is magical and reminds me to not take things too seriously.

The Stories of John Cheever because a beautifully crafted short story is a work of art to be admired over and over.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. A great read if you're pregnant.

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

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster because everything is revealed. And because if the Marabar Caves were real, I'd be there in a minute.

Janet Rich Edwards's fierce, luminous debut novel, Canticle, follows a young woman named Aleys in 13th-century Belgium as she seeks a deeper connection with God and runs afoul of the ambitious men who control the local church. Edwards's narrative explores dynamics of love and power, the complexities of faith, and the quiet influence of the beguines, a group of independent women who live in community, committed to serving God and one another.

Growing up the daughter of a wool merchant in Bruges, Aleys loves her mother's retellings of the stories of saints and prophets depicted in their family's illuminated psalter. When her mother dies, Aleys refuses marriage to an associate of her father and joins the Franciscan friars, a group of poor but pious men whose simple life appeals to her. They find shelter for her in the beguines' compound, the begijnhof, where she meets the wise magistra Sophia, leader of the community; surly Katrijn, who represents the beguines at the wool market; and Marte, a maid who serves the beguines. Friar Lukas, Aleys's Franciscan spiritual adviser and mentor, is convinced she has been touched by God, but his brother, local bishop Jaan, is both unsettled by Aleys's spiritual passion and determined to use her as a pawn in his power games.

Edwards draws sharp contrasts between Aleys's genuine search for faith and the calculating power plays undertaken by Jaan and other religious leaders. While Aleys is intelligent and hungry for spiritual experience, her youth and naivete leave her susceptible to others' machinations. Meanwhile, Jaan's focus on gaining influence and wealth leaves him contemptuous of his pious brother, and Lukas grows jealous of Aleys's intimate connection to the divine. Though Sophia is a thoughtful leader, even she cannot protect Aleys from Jaan's schemes, and both Katrijn and Marte are hiding secrets of their own.

While Canticle explores church politics (with parallels to modern-day leaders who seek control above all), it also draws a lavish portrait of the beguines and examines the phenomenon of vernacular translations of scripture. Jaan, Friar Lukas, and others are concerned about Dutch translations of Bible stories spreading throughout their town; Edwards weaves this historical reality into the story as a striking commentary on language, truth, and agency. As Aleys attracts more attention from Jaan and other corrupt church officials, she will be forced to face new kinds of trials, and redefine the meaning of devotion and sacrifice.

Thoroughly detailed and sensitively told, Canticle is an exploration of a young woman's hunger for a deeper purpose, a sharp-eyed examination of power's corrosive effects, and a testament to the impact of quiet, faithful service like that of the beguines. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Janet Rich Edwards's fierce, luminous debut novel explores dynamics of power, agency, love, and faith through the life of a spiritually hungry young woman in 13th-century Belgium.