"Do I shop at bookstores when I travel?! You should have seen my wife's epic eye roll at that question. Anytime I'm traveling, the first thing I do is check online to see where the local bookstores are. And there are a ton of great ones in the Pacific Northwest. Elliott Bay in Seattle, Powell's in Portland (of course), A Book for All Seasons in Leavenworth, Auntie's in Spokane, Trail's End in Winthrop. All those places have gotten a good chunk of my time (and money) any time I've been anywhere near them. And I hope with this book coming out I'll get the chance to discover lots more great bookstores and booksellers in all sorts of new places, too."

On January 10, Bill and Wendy Cochran opened Walls of Books, a 2,000-square-foot, predominantly used bookstore, in Zanesville, Ohio. The community, Bill Cochran said, has not had a major bookstore since a nearby Waldenbooks went out of business. For years, the only options were to drive an hour or so to Columbus, Ohio, or order books online.

"That's been the thing I've heard the most, that we've definitely needed a bookstore," recalled Cochran. "People are looking to buy and sell books. It's been years."

It's an unusual operation because it's a franchise branch of Gottwals Books, a used bookstore with four locations in Georgia that in 2012 set up a franchise business under the Walls of Books name. Besides the Cochrans' store, the other two Walls of Books franchises are in Tifton, Ga., and New Orleans, La.

Cochran has no prior experience in bookselling or retail--after 16 years as a real estate appraiser, he was eager to leave that profession--and came upon Gottwals Books unexpectedly: he ran an Internet search for "bookstore franchises." He and his wife, who is a teacher, share a love of books and reading, and it didn't take Cochran very long to decide to open a store.

After traveling to Georgia for training at Gottwals's main office, Cochran returned to Zanesville to look at locations. He eventually found one that used to be a fitness center, and after completing the necessary renovations, the bookstore "showed up in a 53-foot semi."

"It was a bookstore in a box," said Cochran of the 25,000-pound trailer that contained his initial stock of 20,000 books, along with bookshelves, counters and everything else he needed. Along with the inventory came a crew of Gottwals employees to help set everything up and train Cochran's staff, which includes a full-time manager and two part-time employees.

Zanesville residents have embraced the store enthusiastically, Cochran said. "Our reception by the public here has been overwhelming," he continued, adding that the store has exceeded sales expectations since opening. "It's been quite a surprise."

The store's stock remains mostly used books, but Cochran has begun to carry some new titles and will order new books if a customer asks for them. The store carries a wide selection of Melissa and Doug toys, but no other non-book items. Cochran has yet to host any events, but plans to feature events with local writers and a storytime series for children. And at some point in "late winter," he plans to hold the store's grand opening ceremony.

"It's been so busy, we haven't been able to focus on those things," said Cochran. But now that things are up and running, he'll have time for the "ribbon cutting with local dignitaries." --Alex Mutter

Emily Burry Phillips, owner of Burry Bookstore, Hartsville, S.C., has announced this will be her final year running the bookshop her father opened in 1972 and she took over 21 years ago. In a letter posted on the bookshop's Facebook page, Phillips wrote:

"Now is the time for change. The year 2015 will be the last year Burry Bookstore will exist under my ownership....

"What will happen to this icon in the community? I don't know. Wouldn't it be marvelous if an enthusiastic entrepreneur showed an interest in purchasing the bookstore? With a viable downtown, new hotels and restaurants popping up, a college campus and governor's school several blocks away, and major industries in the area, there is potential for growth. But if not, Burry Bookstore will be closing by the end of the year. Wow, over 42 years. What a ride! I'm sure my parents never anticipated the number of lives that would be touched by their 'dream' and I have been honored to continue the dream myself for the last 21 years. Thank you, Hartsville, you have been so good to us!"

The American Booksellers Association has added two new staff members:

Liz Button joins ABA's content team as a writer/researcher for Bookselling This Week, and will also play a role in developing educational content in support of the Winter Institute, Children's Institute, BookExpo America and other events. She can be contacted at 800-637-0037, ext. 7520, or liz@bookweb.org.

Naya Moss is the newest member of the organization's technology team, offering general technological assistance to the ABA's staff and playing a key role in managing the behind-the-scenes efforts that allow member booksellers to reach ABA by phone and e-mail, as well as access information on BookWeb.org. She can be contacted at 800-637-0037, ext. 7543, or naya@bookweb.org.

Marcus Borg, an award-winning author who wrote or co-wrote 21 books and was called by the New York Times "a leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars," died Wednesday. He was 72. Borg's most recent book was Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most.

Mark Tauber, senior v-p, publisher of HarperOne, said he was "deeply saddened" by the news of Borg's death, adding: "His life and his work have been a challenge, a comfort and an inspiration to literally millions of readers and students over the years. Marcus was unafraid to follow the scholarly evidence where it led him while both communicating complexity fluently and remaining a man of faith. In these times when writing and speaking (and illustrating) messages and stories that seek truth are dangerous, Marcus Borg was a hero and a beacon."
 
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Literary critic and author John Bayley, "who found an international readership with his memoir Elegy for Iris, a moving account of his life with the novelist Iris Murdoch, his wife, after she was struck by Alzheimer's disease," died January 12, the New York Times reported. He was 89.

From the Facebook page of Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass.: "Our very own Tate Mitchell just posted this video she filmed and edited for a class project! We're so proud to have an employee like Tate and a staff as wonderful as ours! Brookline Booksmith thrives on a steady diet of loyal customers and dedicated staff; the rest is pixie dust, elbow grease, and coffee. Enjoy!"

Carlos Alejandro Guajardo-Molina, general manager of the Wild Detectives bookstore, Dallas, Tex, was featured as one of the city's "100 Creatives" by the Observer's Mixmaster blog, which noted that Guajardo-Molina "has been manning the helm, picking out the books, looking for ways to expand the Wild Detectives scope.... We just had to get a hold of Guajardo-Molina and find out his secret to creating a unique and comfortable space. Luckily he had some time for us in between filling shelves with the coolest books in town."

Asked how he would describe the Wild Detectives--part bar, bookstore, cafe and music venue--he replied: "Just like that, actually. I think it's interesting to hear how our patrons describe it because no one says the same thing. For some, it's all about browsing the books while for others, the books are there to add atmosphere to what they see as a cozy cafe. Others see it more of a project space and come to work and create. And then of course, there are those who just want to hang out and have a drink after work. There's a definite neighborhood vibe to the place too; a lot of regulars and people are always running into other people they know there. I think what makes the space unique is that it's no one thing and yet it offers so much to people with varied interests."

"Looking for something fun to do on a cold Winter's day? Why not browse the bookshelves at your local independent bookstore!" suggested LongIsland.com. "Whether you're looking to spend a quiet day scanning the shelves for new reading material, looking for something to keep the kids occupied for an afternoon, or planning a fun day out on the town with friends and looking for places to stop by, these local Long Island bookstores are a great option for all!"

Among the casualties of the Penguin reorganization last week was Rick Pascocello, who is leaving his position as v-p, executive marketing director, at Penguin Random House, effective the end of the month. He writes:

During my 23-year career in publishing--mostly at Penguin--I have been given the rare opportunity to work closely with so many wonderful and diverse authors including Nora Roberts, Patricia Cornwell, Charlaine Harris, Khlaled Hosseini, Harlan Coben, Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher, Katherine Stockett, J.R. Ward, Sylvia Day and a host of others. I have overseen the marketing campaigns for thousands of Berkley, New American Library, Putnam, Ace, Roc, Celebra, InterMix and DAW titles, and have worked on some aspect of the marketing or promotion of Riverhead Books, the Penguin Press, Perigee and HP Books and Blue Rider books, while spearheading many cross-divisional initiatives. I am most proud of the cause-related marketing campaigns I created, such as Read Pink to benefit breast cancer research and The Kite Runner campaign that built a school in Afghanistan. For friends and colleagues who'd like to reach me--or send me an amazing galley--I can be contacted at rpascocello@gmail.com.

Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to Be More Creative, No Matter How Busy You Are by Danny Gregory (Chronicle Books).

Today on Fresh Air: Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (Picador, $16, 9781250062185).

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Sunday on NPR's Weekend Edition: Michael Booth, author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia (Picador, $26, 9781250061966).

Also on Weekend Edition: J. Ivy, author of Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain (Beyond Words/Atria, $24, 9781582705088).

As the Sundance Film Festival kicked off yesterday, Word & Film "combed through every morsel of the program" to showcase "12 Must-Sees for the Very Literary," including 6 Desires: D.H. Lawrence & Sardinia, Brooklyn, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, The End of the Tour, Experimenter, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief, I Am Michael, Ten Thousand Saints, True Story, A Walk in the Woods and Z for Zachariah.

Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Lowland won the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which was created to celebrate "the achievements of the authors writing about this region, and thereby raise awareness of South Asian literature and culture around the world."

Speaking on behalf of the jury, chair Keki N. Daruwalla praised The Lowland as "a superb novel written in restrained prose with moments of true lyricism. It starts with a sense of loss and trauma due to the death and then the ongoing presence of a key character. The novel is partly political and partly familial, starting with an unromanticized account of the Indian Naxalite movement and ending with a series of individual emotional resolutions. The Lowland is a novel about the difficulty of love in complex personal and societal circumstances, inhabited by characters which are finely drawn and where the lowland itself is a metaphor running through their entire lives. This is a fine novel written by a writer at the height of her powers."

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Finalists have been named for the £5,000 ($7,505) Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize, which "celebrates the best in nonfiction writing." The winner will be announced February 19. This year's Duff Cooper shortlisted books are:

The Impossible Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World by George Prochnik
H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh
In These Times: Living in Britain through Napoleon's Wars by Jenny Uglow
The Iceberg: A Memoir by Marion Coutts
Other People's Countries: A Journey into Memory by Patrick McGuiness

photo: Elizabeth Rendfleisch

Mark Wisniewski's fiction has won a Pushcart Prize and appeared in Best American Short Stories. His new novel is Watch Me Go (Putnam, January 22, 2015). He lives with his wife on a lake in upstate New York.

On your nightstand now:

Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. I'm always curious about the finalists in fiction for the National Book Award. So far am intrigued by Tony's handling of point of view. As I imagine most readers would agree, he sure can lay down a line.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Food wasn't exactly plentiful in the fridge when I was a kid, so thoughts of a peach of that size would make my mouth water as I read, as I'd then try to fall asleep, and then in my dreams.

Your top five authors:

Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver, Toni Morrison, Ben Fountain, F. Scott Fitzgerald. To be both a great storyteller and an extraordinary stylist is all but impossible. I adore these people.

Book you've faked reading:

Tolstoy's War and Peace. Here's a direct quote from inside my mind: "Seriously? You want me to read this?"

Book you're an evangelist for:

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain, my nomination for Best Novel of This Century So Far. Bold, loaded with story, extremely well-written yet eminently readable, unafraid of literary trends when it came out, produced by an author who was, as I understand, under pressure from the publishing industry to outdo himself (which set an extremely high standard). My admiration of this book has no end.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Writing with Power by Peter Elbow. Best book ever about how to tailor your writing process so it'll result in something someone will want to read.

Book that changed your life:

Writing with Power by Peter Elbow. The three words in that title and Seinfeld's jokes about how it helps to produce "interesting writing" are popular mantras around here.

Favorite line from a book:

"Isn't it pretty to think so?" Complain all you want about Hemingway, the guy ended The Sun Also Rises perfectly.

Which character you most relate to:

Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I fear sounding like a cliché with that answer, but it's the most truthful I have.

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

Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America. The quirkiness and specificity and heart in this book caused me to fall in love with writing and being a writer. What a longstanding delight.

Deceased author with whom you've corresponded:

David Foster Wallace. Thought I understood him and that he was as enviable as a writer could be. Never again will I assume anything about anyone's success.

In his novels, including High Fidelity and About a Boy, Nick Hornby has demonstrated a keen talent for warmhearted portrayals of flawed but ultimately sympathetic characters. Funny Girl, the story of a reluctant beauty queen who becomes an unlikely BBC sitcom star in mid-1960s London, shares the same delightful literary DNA.

From the moment Barbara Parker renounces the crown of Miss Blackpool and heads south to London in pursuit of her ambition to become the British Lucille Ball, it's clear there is something special about her. The theatrical agent who discovers her and wants to turn her into a swimsuit model is quickly disappointed when Barbara improbably finds herself a leading role on a television comedy that focuses on the domestic life of a young housewife and her husband, an employee of Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Barbara adopts the stage name Sophie Straw, but she doesn't completely abandon her old identity. Her show is entitled Barbara (and Jim), the parentheses a not so subtle statement about nascent feminism and the impetus for one of the story's many sharp comic scenes. The novel's plot traces the TV show's steadily growing popularity over several seasons (alongside the tensions that creates in Sophie's personal life), as it deals more frankly with sexual and gender issues, much in the manner of the real British sitcoms Steptoe and Son and Till Death Us Do Part that morphed into huge hits on American television (Sanford and Son and All in the Family, respectively).

Hornby unobtrusively seasons the story with a taste of the cultural changes just beginning to transform Britain into "this new England, full of books and films and music and television programmes that said real things about real people" and that made the country seem "brighter, sharper, funnier, younger." The Beatles are in the middle of their brief, brilliant career, while daring musicals like Hair are drawing enthusiastic audiences. In a moving subplot, one of the writers on Sophie's sitcom--a closeted gay man--breaks free with a novel that's published just as criminal penalties for private homosexual acts are abolished in 1967, while his writing partner marries a woman in a struggle to suppress his similar feelings.

Hornby's genial temperament and accessible style make it easy to become engrossed in the emotional lives of Sophie and her colleagues. As much as Funny Girl provides an entertaining glimpse inside the world of television and of a society at a time of ferment that will leave it forever changed, it's a timeless, winning portrait of a young woman striving to realize her life's dream. --Harvey Freedenberg, attorney and freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Displaying his characteristic style, Nick Hornby's seventh novel is a gently humorous story of a young woman's rise to stardom on a 1960s-era British sitcom.

"The bookshelf, like the book, has become an integral part of civilization as we know it, its presence in a home practically defining what it means to be civilized, educated and refined. Indeed, the presence of bookshelves greatly influences our behavior.... They are infrastructure." --Henry Petroski, The Book on the Bookshelf

Before shelving commenced.

A miracle is taking place. The books in our house are currently being alphabetized and organized by category--fiction, nonfiction, poetry and art. This is an epic undertaking. There, I said it. My long, un-alphabetized era of biblioshame is finally coming to an end.

The process does feel like bolstering infrastructure, and I'll tell you why. But first, a history lesson: In 2006, I wrote: "My living room is the closest thing I have to a personal library. On my bookshelves, which take up significant space in this large room, are, as you might suspect of a lifelong reader and longtime bookseller, hundreds of books. I've managed recently to get them into a kind of order--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art--but alphabetization still eludes me."

That "order" was painfully short-lived, but last September, in a different house and city, I noted that we were planning an ambitious bookcase-building project. Several years had passed since the move, and our substantial book collection, while readily accessible, existed in a state of barely contained anarchy. Locating a particular title was often a fraught and disappointing enterprise. "This will change soon and our home will at last be fluent in the language of books," I wrote.

And so it has. There is a new bookcase upstairs for titles currently "in play," and our renovated basement guest room/library features bookshelves constructed to fit an intriguing wedge of space. A year-and-a-half after buying this house, we're beginning to feel that the infrastructure is finally near completion, as we dust and shelve books that have been huddled in exile for much too long.

I knew when we began this stage of the process there would be pleasure in seeing our books take on a less amorphous organizational shape, but there have been a few other surprises as well:

Shelving books as an amateur: For years, shelving was part of my job description as a bookseller. Bookcarts constantly emerged from the receiving area and finding time to shelve was a daily challenge, as well a matter of ongoing negotiations with colleagues. Now, however, I'm shelving as an amateur and it has been fun, which is a little shocking.

Unanticipated memories: My mother long ago gave me a four-volume, leather-bound set of Oscar Wilde's works, which had belonged to my grandfather. He spent his life working in Vermont marble mills. I have no memory of him reading... anything. But I have the mystery of these beautiful books, which I just rediscovered in a box.

Shelving in progress.

Stunning inventory gaps: As the alphabetical infrastructure gradually filled in, I asked myself more than once: How can we not have a single title by ______? You fill in the blank. I'm too embarrassed.

Discovery: There it suddenly was, a book--almost in tatters from page-flipping and awash in marginalia--I hadn't seen for years and had long given up as MIA. I'm not going to tell you the title because you have some of these, too. Just imagine losing, and then finding, your book.

Loss: Even the discovery that a book I was certain had traveled along with us for years is no longer part of the herd can be a source of bittersweet pleasure. The realization provokes new questions: Where did it go? Should we get a new copy?

Javier Marías observed that "although the various apartments in which I've lived in various countries have always been very temporary and not, of course, mine, I have never been able to feel even minimally at ease in them until I have acquired a few books and placed them on the shelves, a pale reflection of that childhood bounty. Only then have I begun to think of the place in question, be it in England, the United States, or Italy, as habitable.... the walls need to be totally covered so that the books can speak to me through their closed mouths, their motley, multicolored, and very silent spines."

"Reshelving in the bookstore is never done," Granada Books, Santa Barbara, Calif., recently posted on Facebook. The same could be said for reshelving in the home, but we're getting closer every day. Our new bookcases, and the books gradually lining their shelves, have become a key part of the infrastructure that supports this house. --Robert Gray, contributing editor (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)