"We don't really have video stores anymore, and so the closest I can get to feeling like I'm in church is wandering into an indie bookstore and getting lost in the aisles, checking the staff pick sections, and being surrounded by all of these little worlds. Bookstores are a series of potential portals that you can dive into. That style of dreaming was part of my childhood and so those spaces continue to feel very, very holy for me.

"Also there's the beauty of a physical object. I'd say 95% of what I read is in print. I don't read e-books or listen to audiobooks. I like to sit on the couch with a cup of tea and a paperback. It's crazy, it's a very simple medium--a book is just ink on blank pages with a cover--but knowing what went into making the ink form all those specific patterns on the page.... Humanity is in between the covers of any book."

Ed Devereux, who founded Unabridged Bookstore, Chicago, Ill., on November 1, 1980--46 years ago yesterday--is retiring and selling the store to longtime employee and store manager Shane Khosropour. Devereux will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations, but will continue to recommend great books that will be marked around the store with the usual yellow shelf talkers.

Shane Khosropour (l.) and Ed Devereaux

Devereux got his first job in bookselling in 1972, at the Illini Union Bookstore at the University of Illinois. After working in bookstores during and after college, and then as a sales rep for Ballantine Books, he opened Unabridged. Over the years, Unabridged grew into three storefronts, becoming a beloved Chicago institution and one of the premier LGBTQ owned and operated bookstores in the country.

"I have bookselling in my blood," Devereux said in an e-mail. "From the beginning I wanted something that had never been done--a general, neighborhood bookstore that in addition specialized in LGBTQ literature. It's been a dream come true for me, an amazing journey, a joy and a privilege to be such a part of a large, diverse, inclusive, literary community. Thank you. I'm so proud of what we've accomplished at Unabridged, and I am forever grateful for the outpouring of support shown to the store over the years by the staff, our sales reps, our amazing customers, and the wider indie bookselling community here in Chicago. It's been the thrill of a lifetime, and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this grand experiment for 46 years! I remain passionate about books and bookselling, and that's why I'm thrilled that Shane, with his keen sense of what it takes to operate a bookstore, is now at the helm, guiding the store into the future." 

Shane Khosropour began working at independent bookstores in 1997, at both the University Book Store and Paul's Book Store in Madison, Wis. He joined Unabridged more than 20 years ago, and has been "an integral part" of the store as manager and book buyer and was instrumental in leading the store through the pandemic.

"I look forward to what the future holds for Unabridged, and I'm so excited and grateful to be a part of the store's journey," Khosropour said.

The Bookish Bison Mobile Bookshop made its debut last month in Sioux Falls, S.Dak., the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.

Built out of a 7'×16' trailer, the Bookish Bison carries primarily romance titles along with thrillers and science fiction, with a big emphasis on local, independent authors. In addition to books, owner Jess Leigeber and her husband, Chris, carry bookmarks, stickers, tote bags, and other book-related items.

The mobile bookstore held a grand opening on Saturday, October 24, at Big Lost Meadery and Brewery in Sioux Falls. The store's next appearance, at the bistro Zest Social House, is scheduled for November 7. Later this month she'll also visit a holiday market and vendor fair in Tea, and a brewery in Yankton.

Leigeber told the Argus Leader she decided to open a bookstore in order to fill a gap in the community, and she decided on a mobile bookshop so that she and her husband "could venture out of Sioux Falls and hit surrounding cities as well." They chose the name Bookish Bison to evoke the great plains and the store's itinerant nature.

Originally from Alabama, Leigeber and her family began traveling through the Midwest in an RV in 2024. They found themselves returning to Sioux Falls and the surrounding area repeatedly, and eventually they decided to relocate there.  

Going forward, Legeiber plans to take the Bookish Bison to markets, coffee shops, breweries, and other locations within about an hour's drive of Sioux Falls. She hopes to have local independent authors join her at these stops, and she is considering a monthly book club.

Follett Higher Education and the University of Florida recently celebrated the grand reopening of a transformed UF Bookstore in Gainesville. The $2.5 million renovation was completed by Follett as part of a renewed 10-year partnership with the university. 

"These renovations create a more welcoming, modern space for our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors, while reflecting our continued commitment to enhancing the campus experience," said Brandi Renton, v-p for business affairs at UF. "We're grateful for our longstanding partnership with Follett and the shared commitment to student success, affordability, and innovation that will continue to shape the bookstore for years to come." 

Follett Higher Education CEO Emmanuel Kolady added: "Our longstanding relationship with the University of Florida reflects a shared commitment to delivering an exceptional campus experience and the traditions that make UF unique. The newly renovated bookstore builds on that history, bringing Gator pride to life through an enhanced retail experience that connects the campus community." 

Ike Ong, "a redoubtable bookseller" who co-founded London bookshop Skoob Books in 1979, has died, the Guardian reported. He was 74. The shop, which sold general and academic secondhand books, "started out in a Covent Garden lockup that had previously housed market wheelbarrows. After a falling out between the partners (stories vary), he ran Skoob Books for the next 25 years."

Ike Ong at Skoob Books in 1979  (courtesy Skoob Books)

In 1981, Skoob moved to Sicilian Avenue in Holborn, central London, where Ong opened a second shop, specializing in antiquarian and foreign study books. This was followed by three more locations, in Singapore, Brisbane, and Kuala Lumpur.

Jynsym Ong, who wrote his father's obituary, noted: "Ike's next adventure was in publishing. From 1987 onwards he produced a guide to U.K. secondhand bookshops, then volumes of esoterica and anthologies of Malaysian literature written in English. It is perhaps with these books that he had his most lasting impact."

Ike Ong's interest in films eventually led him to make some, particularly documentary and historical re-enactment works, including History in Action for English Heritage and Twilight of the Longhouse. He also studied and taught filmmaking on a mezzanine below the Skoob shop floor fitted with former local movie theater seats.

Ong was born in Penang, British Malaya. His father served in the Royal Air Force and wrote book-keeping and commercial text books used in Malaysian schools. Ong was sent to London to study accounting, but in the 1970s he started working for Poole's secondhand bookshop on Charing Cross Road. When that closed, he co-founded Skoob Books.

In 2001, Skoob Books moved again, and a few years later, he had to consider yet another move. "Ike's view of life, after years of keeping the business afloat, had become bleaker. For him, bookselling had run its course," his son wrote. Ike Ong sold the bookshop in 2005.

Jonathan Stutzman (l.), author of Tiny T. Rex Tries Soccer (Chronicle), teamed up with Portland Timbers soccer club mascot Timber Joey, founder of the Rose City Readers program, to share their love of reading with kids at Portland, Ore., elementary schools.

Page & Pine Bookshop in Puyallup, Wash., shared a photo of its storefront window, noting that "it's a gorgeous day to treat yourself to a new book... amazing window artwork by @art_by_t.h.elliott."

At Summit Books:

Anna Skrabacz has been promoted to marketing director. She was previously associate director of marketing.

Luiza De Campos Mello Grijns has been promoted to associate publicist/assistant editor. She was previously publishing assistant.

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Ashley Arias has joined Abrams as senior manager, people & culture.

Tidal Wave: The Pilots, the Princess, and the Enemy Ace--A True Story of Courage and Survival in WWII by Adam Makos (Ballantine).

Today:
Good Morning America: Andy Richter, co-author of Elf Unwrapped: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Christmas Classic (Dey Street, $30, 9780063445147). 

Also on GMA:: Adam Grant, author of Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World (Viking, $33, 9798217059706).

Tonight Show: Eric Ripert, author of Mindful Cooking: Simple Recipes for Nurturing Body and Soul (Random House, $38, 9780593978269).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Henry Winkler, co-author of Detective Duck: The Mystery of the Flash Flood (Amulet, $14.99, 9781419780516). 

Today: Rebecca Gayheart discusses My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments by her late husband, Eric Dane (The Open Field, $32, 9780593995662).

The View: Stephen King, co-author of Other Worlds Than These: A Talisman Novel (Scribner, $35, 9781668233092).

Watch What Happens Live: Jane Leeves, co-author of Daphne & Me: My Life on Frasier (And a Bit More) (Morrow, $29.99, 9780063426955).

Clarence Hammond's romantic short story "Summer Session" is in development as a microdrama and a feature film. Deadline reported that "microdrama veteran Kristen Brancaccio will direct both versions, and develop the story in vertical format, with Hammond adapting the script for the movie. Plot details are under wraps for the moment."

Hammond will produce alongside Ancora Entertainment's Maria Frisk and Michael Napoliello, Artists First's Katie Zipkin-Leed, and Select Management Group's Matt Shepley.

"I'm thrilled to be bringing Clarence's beautiful world of Summer Session to life for both traditional and digital audiences," said Brancaccio. "I'm passionate about the unique storytelling possibilities within the rapidly-evolving vertical format and am excited that Maria and Michael at Ancora share that vision. Matt and Katie have been on the forefront of bridging the gap between vertical and legacy entertainment, so having them on the team is the perfect fit."

The shortlist has been unveiled for the 2026 Bookseller's Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year. The award was conceived in 1978 by Trevor Bounford and Bruce Robertson, co-founders of the Diagram Group, as a way to avoid boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The winning title is chosen by members of the public via an online vote, and a winner will be named on November 20. This year's shortlisted titles are:

Play Naked: Puta Economies Against Olympic Dispossession by Amanda De Lisio
The Museum as Large-Room Pinball Machine, edited by William J. Buxton
The Excremental Imagination: Disgust, Compassion, and Laughter in Medieval Japan by Rajyashree Pandey
Queering Economics: Reimagining the Dismal Science by Michael E Martell & Leanne Roncolato
Joan and Roger Alive in the Afterlife: More Than Two Years Later, Joan and Roger Continue to Appear Every Time I Turn on the SLS Camera, and They Communicate with Us by Jeremy Spillane
Six Dead German Composers and How They Got That Way by Robert Bakos

There is no prize for the winning author or publisher, but the traditional "passable bottle of claret" will be awarded to the person who nominated the winning entry.

Kikuko Tsumura's delightfully quirky Lie Concierge presents quotidian snapshots of women's lives across 11 stories, replete with poignant observations and sharp insights. As in her U.S. fiction debut, There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, women at work take the spotlight.

The titular story is a charming two-parter that irrefutably confirms that one lie begets another--in this case, a mendaciously rollicking continuation. "I wasn't 'a liar.' I was 'a person who could lie,' " Minori insists. Her first falsehood to a dishonest acquaintance leads to an elaborate performance to help her niece, Saki, which then proves so successful that Saki brings Minori a not-yet friend in need of misleading his grandmother. Minori's effective prevarication follows her into work, and in Part II, she's fielding requests from her higher-ups for believable excuses with--eventually--surprisingly honest outcomes.

For many of Tsumura's women, dealing with stress and frustrations motivates all manner of unexpected methods. In "The Third Bad Habit," Ms. Nakayama steals then smashes her mother's dishes against the wall at work whenever maternal annoyances overwhelm her. In "Where Things Pass You By," Ms. Kurata manages growing professional and personal discomforts by observing life from a subway station platform bench. And in "In-House Ghost Photos," the late Mrs. Komai helps a newer employee navigate around the hateful senior managing director, and the newbie then manages a brief reunion of sorts between Mrs. Komai and her beloved husband.

Women experience warm connections in "The Buying-Spree Chronicles," about a granddaughter who inherits her grandfather's 168 green pens and gathers an appreciative community while giving them away; in "Two Thousand Company Drinks," about Ms. Yokoi, who discovers enjoyable companionship with an older colleague whose retirement party she's asked to plan; and in "The Catch-Up Girl," in which young Sanae draws support and inspiration from an older student to better handle school's social pressures and disappointments. In "The Birthday Ritual," Saeko reclaims her natal day instead of dreading it as the anniversary of the end of the marriage she regrets.

Buoyantly translated by Yuki Tejima, who lives in Tokyo, Tsumura's narratives acknowledge and highlight women who are too often unseen until their labor is needed--at the office, at school, in their homes. Tsumura repeatedly reveals abundant inner lives as they witness, react, and digest everyday experiences, from the minor (what to eat next?) to undoubtedly more significant ones, such as pivoting careers or ending (and starting) relationships. Restless, questioning, revealing, and undeniably funny, Tsumura's stories promise to entertain and enlighten. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: Kikuko Tsumura's gently probing, poignantly humorous 11 stories in Lie Concierge feature working women navigating their daily lives.