BookTree, a new general independent bookstore in Kirkland, Wash., will celebrate its grand opening this weekend with a ribbon-cutting tomorrow and events featuring authors and special guests Saturday and Sunday, according to the Kirkland Reporter.

The store is owned by Mary Harris, who had been a bookseller for many years at Parkplace Books in Kirkland, which closed last December, and Chris Jarmick, a poet and author who held poetry events at Parkplace Books.

Harris told the paper that she hopes BookTree will fill the void left by the closure of Parkplace Books. "It's been my life," she said. "I really felt that I at least had to make the effort to have another one."

BookTree is named for "the iconic bookshelf" that used to be in the children's department at Parkplace and is now in the front window of BookTree. "I was trying to figure out a name, and there it was in the window," Harris told the Kirkland Reporter.

BookTree stocks adult, YA and children's titles. Besides hosting many poetry events and author appearances, the owners want the store to be a home for book clubs, including ones that used to meet at the old store. They also envision the store as a gathering place for the community at large. Harris noted that the store had received "very generous" support from the community.

The store's website calls BookTree "a vibrant gathering place for the exchange of ideas, and discussion of books and the literary arts. It is a place where all are welcome to continue their journey, expand their knowledge, feed their interests and further their education through books and literature. It is a place for families to find and enjoy the best of current literature. A place where our customers can hear local and traveling writers, authors and poets present their work."

BookTree is located at 609 Market St., Kirkland, Wash. 98033; 425-202-7719.

At the end of the year, Barnes & Noble will close its store at the Metro Pointe at South Coast shopping mall in Costa Mesa, Calif., the Orange County Register reported.

"The lease at our Costa Mesa location is expiring and the store will be closing at the end of 2016," David Deason, v-p of development at B&N, said in a statement.

B&N has stores elsewhere in the area in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange, Aliso Viejo and Fullerton.

The U.K.'s Guardian Bookshop has been purchased by former head of books Sara Montgomery and former e-commerce manager Nick Sidwell. The Bookseller reported that they have founded start-up Monwell Limited, and agreed on a deal with Guardian News & Media Limited to take over the online bookseller effective immediately. The newspaper group's recent restructuring efforts have also included the closure of its dedicated children's books site in June and the end of the Guardian First Book Prize in April.

Montgomery said the business will continue to operate as the Guardian Bookshop and will retain the support of the newspaper: "We started this week running it independently, so our first months will be in the run up to Christmas. It is a really useful tool for Guardian readers, it is very popular and it sells an awful lot of books to readers each year--it is one of the largest book retailers in the U.K."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, announced a new "national law of reading" that will "allow government staff time to read at work--although they must focus on reading matter about professional and personal development within the context of the workplace," the Guardian reported, adding that the law "will also oblige coffee shops to offer reading material for their customers and will see branches of libraries opened in malls, as well as exempting books from fees and taxes."

"Our objective is to make reading a daily habit in our people, where relevant entities will be required to translate this law into reality," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the UAE's v-p and Dubai's ruler. The law also mandates a "knowledge briefcase" (reading bag) be given to children at birth, at one and two years old. And unwanted books cannot be destroyed, but must be "preserved, reused or donated."

"The law will encourage the private sector to invest in the establishment of libraries and cultural centers. This will be done by providing the private sector with facilities, incentives and discounts," said Sheikh Mohammed. "Our goal is for 2016 to be the start of a sustainable cultural change among generations--a change that consolidates the importance of reading, celebrates knowledge and boosts the status of reading."

The Campaign for Reader Privacy--a joint initiative of the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers and PEN America--has received a letter from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart J. Evans that reaffirms "protections for the privacy of bookstore and library records that may be targeted under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act."

The CRP had asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch to reaffirm the policy adopted in 2010 by her predecessor, Eric Holder, that "prevents searches of the records of bookstore customers and library patrons who are not suspected of terrorism."

Section 215 of the original act, signed into law in October 2001, allowed the government to search all records "relevant" to a terrorism investigation. As the CRP wrote, "Since almost any record can be considered 'relevant,' there was concern that Section 215 would have a chilling effect on readers who might not feel free to read what they want if they believe the government is looking over their shoulder."

Last Thursday, Readers' Books in Sonoma, Calif., had a very special author event, celebrating owner Andy Weinberger's recently published book of essays, The Ugly Man Sits in the Garden. Andy read to a capacity audience of longtime loyal customers, friends and family. The book coincides with the upcoming November 26 celebration of Readers' Books 25th anniversary.

photo: Z. Lee/JHU Comic Books

Benedict Cumberbatch, whose latest project, Marvel's Doctor Strange, hits theaters tomorrow, told ComicBook.com that if the movie is a bomb he "has a back up plan to work in a comic book shop in New York where the film was shot--more specifically JH Universe Comics in Manhattan."

"I went into a comic book store on the last day of shooting in New York [dressed as Doctor Strange]," he said. "I didn't buy any comics, but I offered my services. I said, 'Look, if the film doesn't work out, I'll come and stack the shelves for you.' "

ComicBook.com noted: "We admit, it would be pretty awesome to walk into the local comic book shop and see Cumberbatch behind the register. But let's be serious, he won't be taking off the Cloak of Levitation anytime soon and that's a good thing!"

Dee and Chuck Robinson

When it rains, it pours: Chuck and Dee Robinson, owners of Village Books in Bellingham and Lynden, Wash., have been honored with two awards in less than a week. The first came last Friday, when the couple received the 2016 Excellence in Educational Giving award from the Whatcom Community College Foundation. Yesterday the Robinsons were named recipients of the Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce Man and Woman of the Year awards. It's the first time that the Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber of Commerce is honoring a husband-and-wife pair as well as two representatives of the same business. An awards dinner is set for December 1.

Congratulations, Chuck and Dee!

Simon & Schuster will handle sales and distribution in the U.S. and Canada for all original titles published by Ubisoft's new book arm. Ufisoft is the creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, whose brands include Assassin's Creed, Just Dance, Watch_Dogs, Tom Clancy's video game series, Rayman and Far Cry.

"Ubisoft is a preeminent and highly-celebrated video game developer," Michael Perlman, v-p, director, client sales and marketing, S&S. "The success of their numerous video game franchises, and of the bestselling books based on their games released by other publishers is a testament to their excellent craftsmanship and creativity. We are certain they will apply the same dedication to their upcoming line of books, and we are delighted for the opportunity to help grow their publishing program and assist in the expansion of the Ubisoft brand."

Ubisoft's first three titles are all Assassin's Creed related: Assassin's Creed: Heresy, an original novel by Christie Golden (appearing November 15); Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide (also November 15); and Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization by Christie Golden, which will appear after the movie Assassin's Creed opens on December 21.

Tony Forde has joined Viking and Penguin Books as senior publicist. He was most recently a publicist at PublicAffairs/Nation Books.
 
Alison Klooster has joined Viking and Penguin Books as senior publicist. She was most recently a publicist at Henry Holt & Co.

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Zea Moscone has been promoted to publicity manager at Little, Brown, handling all cookbooks and lifestyle titles. She will be relocating to San Francisco and will work remotely. Before joining Little, Brown in December 2015 as a publicist, she had worked at William Morrow.

Emma Cueto has joined the Little, Brown publicity department as publicity assistant. She formerly worked at Bustle, where she spent the last three years writing articles for its Books and Lifestyle verticals.

Overview: A New Perspective of Earth by Benjamin Grant (Amphoto Books).

Today:
Fresh Air: George Packer, the New Yorker writer and author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16, 9780374534608).

Tomorrow:
Last Call with Carson Daly: Alan Cumming, author of You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures (Rizzoli Ex Libris, $29.95, 9780847849000).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, November 5
11 a.m. Live coverage of the 21st annual Texas Book Festival in Austin, Tex. (Re-airs Sunday at 12 a.m.)

7:30 p.m. Johan Norberg, author of Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (Oneworld, $24.99, 9781780749501). (Re-airs Sunday at 6:45 a.m.)

9 p.m. Nancy Malkiel, author of "Keep the Damned Women Out": The Struggle for Coeducation (Princeton University Press, $35, 9780691172996), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

10 p.m. Edward Conard, author of The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class (Portfolio, $29, 9781595231239). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. Chuck Collins, author of Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good (Chelsea Green, $17.95, 9781603586832), at Book Culture in New York City.

Sunday, November 6
12 p.m. Live In-Depth q&a with historians Kate Andersen Brower, William Seale and Alvin Felzenberg in a discussion about U.S. presidential history.

3 p.m. Continued live coverage from the Texas Book Festival in Austin, Tex. (Re-airs Monday at 4 a.m.)

10:39 p.m. Julian Guthrie, author of How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight (Penguin Press, $28, 9781594206726).

The winners of the 2017 Dzanc Book Prizes are:

Fiction: This Book Is Not for You by Daniel A. Hoyt
Nonfiction: The One You Get: Portrait of a Family Organism by Jason Tougaw
Short Story Collection: Dead Girls by Emily Geminder

The three judges for the next Story Prize are Daniel Goldin, Harold Augenbraum and Sarah Shun-lien Bynum.

Goldin founded Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis., in 2009, and earlier worked for 23 years at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, primarily as a buyer. He has received the Christopher Latham Sholes Award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers for encouraging and supporting Wisconsin writers and a James L. Patterson bookseller bonus.

Augenbraum was executive director of the National Book Foundation from 2004 until early this year and is now a Franke Visiting Fellow at the Whitney Humanities Center of Yale University.

Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is the author of two novels, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Madeleine Is Sleeping, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Her fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies.

The judges will vote on the three story collections that Story Prize director Larry Dark and founder Julie Lindsey will select from more than 100 books entered for consideration. The three finalists will be announced in January. The winner, who receives $20,000, will be announced at an event at the New School in New York City on March 8, 2017, which will feature readings from and interviews with the authors. The two finalists each receive $5,000.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, November 8:

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown, $28, 9780316387835) centers on a former government agent on the run from her old employers.

Judas by Amos Oz, translated by Nicholas de Lange (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25, 9780544464049) follows a young Jewish scholar in 1959 Jerusalem.

Night School by Lee Child (Delacorte, $28.99, 9780804178808) is the 21st thriller with Jack Reacher. (November 7.)

The Lost Property Office (Section 13) by James R. Hannibal (Simon & Schuster, $16.99, 9781481467094) is a middle-grade fantasy series debut about two siblings who head to London in search of their father.

Dungeonology by Matt Forbeck (Candlewick, $24.99, 9780763693534) explores one of the world's most popular roleplaying games, Dungeons & Dragons.

The Elephants in My Backyard: A Memoir by Rajiv Surendra (Regan Arts, $26.95, 9781682450505) is the story of an actor and artist who felt deeply connected with Yann Martel's Life of Pi.

Paperbacks:
Two Can Play: An Audrey Harte Novel by Kate Kessler (Redhook, $15.99, 9780316302531).

Movies:
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, based on the novel by Ben Fountain, opens November 11. Ang Lee directs this story of Iraq War soldiers paraded on a "Victory Tour" at a Texas football stadium. A movie tie-in edition (Ecco, $9.99, 9780062656568) is available.

Arrival, based on the short story "The Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, opens November 11. Amy Adams stars with Jeremy Renner as a linguist trying to communicate with aliens. A movie tie-in short story collection by Ted Chiang, titled Arrival, is available now (Vintage, $16, 9780525433675).

Elle, based on the French novel Oh... by Philippe Djian, opens November 11. Isabelle Huppert stars as a businesswoman hunting the man who raped her.

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

Hardcover
Reputations: A Novel by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Riverhead, $25, 9781594633478). "With direct and forceful narrative and a translation as smooth and peaceful as the quiet narrator himself, this book takes the reader on a days-long search for the past and the present in modern day Bogotá. A prominent political cartoonist is shaken when a forgotten uncertainty from the past resurfaces. This psychological study of the concept that what we believe makes us who we are is a masterpiece!" --Nicole Magistro, The Bookworm of Edwards, Edwards, Colo.

Irena's Children: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children From the Warsaw Ghetto by Tilar J. Mazzeo (Gallery, $26, 9781476778501). "There have been accounts of men who helped Jews and other victims of the Nazi regime escape the clutches of genocidal pogroms and mass slaughter, but this story is about a woman who courageously smuggled thousands of children to safety. Granted unusual access to the Warsaw ghetto as a public health specialist, Irena Sendler used her position to rescue children by various means, sometimes right under the noses of guards. As compelling as any great fiction thriller, Irena's story will remain with the reader for a long time to come." --Linda Bond, Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, Wash.

Paperback
The Past: A Novel by Tessa Hadley (Harper Perennial, $15.99, 9780062270429). "A novel about a family vacation is often used as a device to bring out the worst flaws of the characters; here, it is used to bring out the best of Hadley's writing talent. She brings the family together, introducing them one by one: Harriet, the outdoorsy one; Alice, the dramatic one; Fran, the motherly one; Roland, the scholarly brother. The siblings, along with assorted children, spouses, and a young friend, spend three weeks in the crumbling house that belonged to their grandparents, trying to decide what must be done with it. Readers who enjoy character-driven novels, such as ones by Kate Atkinson, Margaret Drabble, or Jane Gardam, will welcome this novel. --Yvette Olson, Magnolia's Bookstore, Seattle, Wash.

For Ages 4 to 8
A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story About Knitting and Love by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade, $17.99, 9780553497106). "Sophia has known Mrs. Goldman all her life and Mrs. Goldman has always kept Sophia's head warm with her knitted hats. Providing hats for everyone is Mrs. Goldman's 'mitzvah.' Thus, Sophia is naturally astonished to learn that Mrs. Goldman doesn't have a hat herself. Who is going to knit a hat for Mrs. Goldman to keep her 'keppie' warm? Putting to use the knitting lessons Mrs. Goldman has given her, Sophia decides it's her 'mitzvah' to give Mrs. Goldman her very own hat. With determination and love, Sophia sets out to surprise Mrs. Goldman with the most special hat in the world! A heartwarming picture book full of delightful illustrations." --Jennifer Steele, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

For Ages 9 to 12
Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 9781416961468, $16.99) "The wait is over! Anderson's highly anticipated conclusion to the Seeds of America Trilogy is here, and it exceeds all expectations. Anderson's exhaustive research and brilliant writing make Ashes a must-read for readers of all ages. Isabel, Cruzon, and Ruth are back, and their story of perseverance and hope during the Revolutionary War could not have come at a better time. Thank you, Laurie!" --Bill Reilly, the river's end bookstore, Oswego, N.Y.

For Teen Readers
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine Books, $24.99, 9780545946124). "This is, in essence, a museum catalog for an exhibition you dreamed of one night, and Tan plucked those images from your dreams and made them real. Not literal artistic interpretations of Grimm's fairy tales, but artistic representations of the feelings those tales evoke, Tan's sculptures are at once whimsical and unsettling, surreal and grounded. With an introduction by Neil Gaiman and a forward from Jack Zipes, this book belongs on the shelf of every lover of fairy tales, especially readers who appreciate the darker side of those tales." --Billie Bloebaum, Third Street Books, McMinnville, Ore.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

If ever there was a cult comic strip, George Herriman's Krazy Kat was probably it. Born at the dawn of the 20th century and for 30 years a syndicated feature of major U.S. newspapers, it was revered by artists and intellectuals like T.S. Eliot, E.E. Cummings, Dr. Seuss, Carl Sandburg, P.G. Wodehouse, Langston Hughes and Woodrow Wilson. Intrigued by Herriman's Tremé roots, New Orleans writer and former editor of its alternative newspaper Gambit Weekly Michael Tisserand (The Kingdom of Zydeco) immersed himself in Herriman's broad comic archive and with painstaking research uncovered the rich details about the man novelist Michael Chabon calls "one of the very great artists in any medium of the 20th century." An encyclopedic biography illustrated with many examples of Herriman's work, Krazy is also a captivating history and critique of newspaper comic strips and the artists who created them.

The child of French-speaking mixed race Creoles, Herriman was sufficiently light-skinned to "pass" his whole life as a white man claiming to be the son of French immigrants; he was often called by colleagues "George the Greek" because of his kinky hair and swarthy complexion. Raised in Los Angeles from age 10, he attended Catholic high school before applying his drawing skill and quirky humor to newspaper illustration and cartoons. He learned English in the streets of New Orleans; Latin and German at school; and became articulate in Spanish and Navajo during his later years in Arizona. Herriman launched several syndicated comic strip characters with Joycean names like Pinky Doolittle, Punky Pheetes and Pedesy Fuzzyplace after cutting his cartoon teeth illustrating sports and political events for the New York Evening Journal. When he picked the character Krazy Kat from his Dingbat Family strip to feature in its own comic, he found the perfect vehicle for his skewed humor. Krazy Kat, Ignatz Mouse and Officer Pupp not only tickled the whole country's funny bone, they also won the lucrative loyalty of William Randolph Hearst.

A multilingual combination of vaudeville pratfalls and violence, minstrel show imitation, the optimism and good-heartedness of Chaplin's Tramp, and the Beckettian dialogue of Vladimir and Estragon, Krazy Kat was a precursor of the chaos and upheaval of the 20th century. An example from April of 1921 says it all:

IGNATZ: Now, "Krazy," do you look upon the future as a pessimist, or an optimist?
KRAZY KAT: I look upon it as just mist--

Herriman's vision, sketches and dialogue influenced the epochal comic strips of Charles M. Schulz and Garry Trudeau. With substantial background fieldwork, Tisserand eloquently demonstrates that this self-effacing, mixed-race high school graduate from the streets of the Tremé, laboring for 40 years over a schedule of daily cartoons, became the inspiration of a century of artists, intellectuals, filmmakers and writers. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.

Shelf Talker: Rich in original research, New Orleans writer Tisserand's encyclopedic biography of Krazy Kat artist George Herriman is also an enlightening history of modern comics strips.