For the third year, indie booksellers in New Orleans are celebrating Independent Bookstore Day on a different date from their colleagues nationwide, to avoid conflicting with the Jazz & Heritage Festival, one of the city's largest. The Festival, where city booksellers together operate the book tent, runs April 28-May 7.

As a result, this year New Orleans' IBD celebrations take place on Saturday, May 13, two weeks after the rest of the country. Besides offering the exclusive IBD items most stores around the country will have in stock, Octavia Books, Garden District Book Shop, Tubby & Coo's Mid-City Book Shop and Maple Street Book Shop are offering the chance to win $100 in gift certificates for book lovers who visit all four bookstores as part of a citywide scavenger hunt and are able to figure out a secret phrase after finding clues at the stores. The four stores have also joined together to give away a limited number of Blackbird Letter Press New Orleans City Notebooks (printed in Louisiana) to customers who spend $25 or more on Saturday, May 13.

As Octavia co-owner Tom Lowenburg said, "We are working together to make New Orleans IBD a fun and unforgettable celebration that is worth the wait."

Each store will also celebrate IBD in its own way. At Garden District Book Shop, for example, Splat the Cat will make an appearance noon-1 p.m., followed by Sesame the Opossum and his mom signing their book, Opossums Don't Live in Houses and Other Alternative Facts.

Bookie's, the new and used bookstore in Chicago, Ill., is expanding into much larger space where it will stock a higher proportion of new books, dnainfo.com reported. At the same time, Bookie's plans to retain its current space as a place for book signings, book clubs, children's book fairs, game nights, community meetings and more.

Located in the Beverly neighborhood, Bookie's is a crowded 900-square-foot store whose inventory is about 75% used books. The new 2,800-square-foot space will devote 2,000 square feet to retail and offer 50% new and 50% used books. The new store, which will have "more of an open and airy feel, with areas for children's story time and comfy chairs for adults to flip through the pages of books they are considering buying," is expected to open around June 7. After that, the current store will be reconfigured as Bookie's Annex.

"This is a necessary expansion to give me more room," owner Keith Lewis said. "I need more space to be able to display my books and merchandise." He added that the store has "a couple of potential book signings lined up. Amazon has cut into the business quite a bit, and we need to strike back."

Bookie's was founded by Larry Kroff in 1989. Lewis, a former schoolteacher, bought the store in 2015. The current location is 2419 W. 103rd St.; the new store is around the corner, at 10324 S. Western Ave.

"We don't have your typical background or experience," said Dan Ullom, co-owner of Brick & Mortar Books, opening next month in Redmond, Wash. The 4,000-square-foot bookstore will sell new books for children, teens and adults, with about 40%-50% of the inventory devoted to children's and YA titles. Ullom plans to have a soft opening in May, followed by an official grand opening toward the end of June. "We know there's a lot to learn," he said. "We're putting our hearts and souls into it."

Dan Ullon and Tina Ullon

Ullom's partners in this endeavor are his parents, Tina and John. Dan and Tina plan to work at the store most days (they are hiring someone with experience opening and running a bookstore). Though neither of them have prior experience in bookselling, they both share a passion for books and especially for getting children to read. Tina Ullom has been a school librarian for the last 15 years, while Dan Ullom has taught third and fourth grade for nearly as long. A major impetus for opening Brick & Mortar Books is sharing their love of reading and hoping to turn reluctant readers into avid readers.

"Our thing is, we've spent a ton of time with kids and learning how to get kids interested in reading," Ullom explained. He added that the store will have such a large selection of kids and YA books because "that's where we know we can make a difference."

At the same time, the store will stock plenty of poetry, fiction and nonfiction for adults, with an estimated opening day inventory of around 20,000 books. Ullom won't be selling used books, as there are already two used stores in the area. For non-book items, Ullom is particularly excited about stocking and selling a variety of chocolates. The store will also have greeting cards and journals, and on the kid's side, Ullom plans to carry plenty of science kits and other practical items that promote STEM and STEAM education. Aside from the chocolate, Ullom won't sell any food or drink. He noted that a French bakery is slated to open across the street, less than 100 feet from his store, and that his "passion isn't in food." Brick & Mortar Books will, however, be coffee friendly.

Remarked Ullom: "In the Seattle area, you can't not be coffee friendly."

Brick & Mortar in progess

Ullom's plans for events have evolved as he's come closer to opening. In addition to traditional author events, Ullom intends to do more poetry events than he had initially thought, as the city of Redmond has a vibrant poetry scene and even its own poet laureate. Bricks & Mortar Books will host events with the nonprofit Reading with Rover, which allows children to build their reading ability and confidence by reading out loud to specially trained dogs--Ullom called these events "not only adorable" but fun and enriching for the kids as well. Given his and his mother's backgrounds, Ullom would also like to do events with local schools and libraries.

Brick & Mortar Books will open in Redmond Town Center, a shopping center that Ullom described as very open and having a feel somewhat like that of Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif., though not quite so upscale. The street outside his store is a pedestrian walkway on which there are plenty of other shops and, when the weather is appropriate, bocce ball and shuffleboard. Ullom and his family were initially skeptical of opening in a mall in 2017 but, after exploring the possibility and some back and forth with the mall's management, were convinced that "they get it."

The mall also used to be home to a Borders Books & Music, which left Redmond without a new bookstore after it closed in 2011. Ullom reported that he still hears from people that they miss having a bookstore in that mall. So far, the community response has been encouraging, he said. The store has accumulated several hundred Facebook followers despite still being weeks away from opening, and around 20 community members have offered to volunteer. A local TV personality even called Ullom to say that he wanted to help in any way that he could. Other Seattle-area booksellers have been similarly supportive: Ullom recalled that booksellers from Third Place Books, Elliott Bay Book Company and Queen Anne Book Company have offered to help, with one bookseller even offering to take the day off and help at Ullom's grand opening.

"In the Pacific Northwest, there is such a great community of booksellers and bookstore owners," said Ullom, emphasizing that in an area full of tech companies it is especially important to make sure bricks-and-mortar retail survives. "We all want this to work." --Alex Mutter

The nominees for the 2017 Pannell Award, sponsored by the Women's National Book Association and honoring "bookstores that enhance their communities by bringing exceptional creativity to foster a love of reading among their patrons," are:

General Bookstore:
Bluebird Books, Hutchinson, Kan.
Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Tex.
Books Inc., Santa Clara, Calif.
Byrd's Books, Bethel, Conn.
Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, Wash.
Gene's Books, Sanibel, Fla.
Harleysville Books, Harleysville, Pa.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington, Ky.
Laurel Bookstore, Oakland, Calif.
Longfellow Books, Portland, Me.
Malaprop's Bookstore, Asheville, N.C.
Napa Bookmine, Napa, Calif.
Odyssey Bookshop, Hadley, Mass.
Sandmeyer's Bookstore, Chicago, Ill.
The Bookworm of Edwards, Edwards, Colo.
The Conundrum, St. Francisville, La.
Volumes Bookcafe, Chicago, Ill.
Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif.

Children's Specialty Bookstore:
Bank Street Book Store, New York, N.Y.
Blue Bunny Books and Toys, Dedham, Mass.
Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore, Cincinnati, Ohio
Books of Wonder, New York, N.Y.
Children's Book World, Haverford, Pa.
Children's Book World, Los Angeles, Calif.
Cover to Cover, Columbus, Ohio
Green Bean Books, Portland, Ore.
Magic Tree Bookstore, Oak Park, Ill.
Monkey See, Monkey Do... Children's Bookstore, Clarence, N.Y.
Once Upon a Storybook, Tustin, Calif.
Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn.
Second Star to the Right, Denver, Colo.
Spellbound Children's Bookshop, Asheville, N.C.
Stories, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Children's Bookstore, Baltimore, Md.
The Curious Reader, Glen Rock, N.J.
The French Library, New Orleans, La.
The Reading Bug, San Carlos, Calif.

One winner in each category will be chosen in early May; the awards will be presented at the BookExpo Children's Books and Author Breakfast on Friday, June 2.

The nonprofit literary organization Rain Taxi presented "Somalis in the Twin Cities," a discussion featuring Stefanie Chambers (Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus, Temple Univ. Press) and Ahmed Ismail Yusuf (Somalis in Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society Press), and moderated by Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, at Open Book in Minneapolis. The event was introduced by former mayor of Minneapolis R.T. Rybak, author of Pothole Confidential (Univ. of Minnesota Press). Book sales for the event were handled by Milkweed Books. The Twin Cities are home to the largest Somali American population in the U.S., and this community has made important contributions to the political, economic and social fabric of the region. Pictured: (l.-r.) Jaylani  Hussein, Ahmed Ismail Yusuf, Stefanie Chambers, R.T. Rybak. Photo: Jennifer Simonson.

Horton's Books & Gifts, Carrollton, Ga., posted a funny and cogent indie bookstore feline-themed request on Facebook yesterday: "Help a cat out. I mean, do you have any idea how much it costs to feed this guy? #shoplocal #CarrolltonGA".

Catherine Cusick, the American Booksellers Association's member relationship and social media manager, is leaving, effective tomorrow, and will soon join Longreads as audience development editor. In May, she may be reached at catherine@longreads.com.

You're More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen's Guide to Making Change Happen by Eric Liu (PublicAffairs).

Tomorrow:
Wendy Williams: Bobbi Brown, co-author of Bobbi Brown Beauty from the Inside Out: Makeup * Wellness * Confidence (Chronicle, $24.95, 9781452161846). (See the book trailer here.)

Tonight Show: W. Kamau Bell, author of The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell (Dutton, $28, 9781101985878).

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, April 22
1:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Live coverage from the 22nd annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California. Highlights include:

• 1:30 p.m. A panel discussion on writing biographies with Blanche Wiesen Cook, Leigh Fought, Lisa Napoli and Susan Quinn.
• 2:30 p.m. Open phones with Michael Eric Dyson, author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America (St. Martin's Press, $24.99, 9781250135995).
• 3 p.m. A panel discussion on the Republican Party with Hugh Hewitt, Peggy Grande and Corey Fields.
• 4 p.m. Open phones with Cleve Jones, author of When We Rise: My Life in the Movement (Hachette, $27, 9780316315432).
• 4:30 p.m. A panel discussion on writing about history with Joe Jackson, Adam Hochschild and Michael Hiltzik.
• 5:30 p.m. Open phones with Rebecca Solnit, author of The Mother of All Questions: Further Reports from the Feminist Revolutions (Haymarket, $14.95, 9781608467402).
• 6 p.m. A panel discussion on the Syrian conflict with Alia Malek, Christopher Phillips and Elliot Ackerman.
• 7 p.m. Open phones with Corey Fields, author of Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American Republicans (University of California Press, $30, 9780520291904).
• 7:30 p.m. A panel discussion on the publishing industry with Lisa Lucas, Bonnie Nadell, Oscar Villalon and Sean McDonald.
• 8:30 p.m. Open phones with Hugh Hewitt, author of The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for a Lasting GOP Majority (Simon & Schuster, $24.99, 9781501172441).

10 p.m. Ken Buck, author of Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption Is Worse than You Think (Regnery, $28.99, 9781621576389). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. Kevin Gutzman, author of Thomas Jefferson--Revolutionary: A Radical's Struggle to Remake America (St. Martin's Press, $29.99, 9781250010803).

Sunday, April 23
1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Continuing live coverage from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Highlights include:

• 1:30 p.m. A panel discussion on the environment with Miriam Horn, Lee Van Der Voo and Steve Early.
• 2:30 p.m. Open phones with Chris Hayes, author of A Colony in a Nation (Norton, $26.95, 9780393254228).
• 3 p.m. A panel discussion about California with Gabriel Thompson, Kimball Taylor, Christine Pelisek and Tim Hernandez.
• 4 p.m. Open phones with Gary Younge, author of Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives (Nation, $25.99, 9781568589756).
• 4:30 p.m. A panel discussion on writing about history with Jeff Guinn, Annie Jacobsen and Douglas Preston.
• 5:30 p.m. Open phones with Mugambi Jouet, author of Exceptional America: What Divides Americans from the World and from Each Other (University of California Press, $29.95, 9780520293298).
• 6 p.m. A panel discussion about slavery and genocide with Sharla Fett, Benjamin Madley and Christina Snyder.
• 7 p.m. Open phones with David Horowitz, author of Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan to Save America (Humanix Books, $26.99, 9781630060879).

10 p.m. Daniel Sharfstein, author of Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War (Norton, $29.95, 9780393239416), at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn.

11 p.m. David Nichols, author of Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy (Simon & Schuster, $27.95, 9781451686609).

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance has determined finalists for the 2017 Southern Book Prize (formerly the SIBA Book Award). This year features an expanded list of categories--including seven fiction and three nonfiction categories. Finalists were chosen by Southern independent booksellers from the longlist ballot. The finalist titles will be sent to juried panels of booksellers, who will decide on the winners in each category. Winners will be announced on July 4, "Independents Day." Check out the Southern Book Prize shortlist here.

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Caitlin Bailey won the Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry for her manuscript Solve for Desire, which was chosen from more than 200 submissions from poets across the Upper Midwest. Bailey, who receives $10,000 as well as a contract for publication by Milkweed Editions, is the sixth recipient of the annual prize. Poet and prize judge Srikanth Reddy said Solve for Desire "is the work of a poet who sings, boldly, across the distances between us. 'I am not afraid of any edge.' "

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, April 25:

Two Paths: America Divided or United by John Kasich (Thomas Dunne, $27.99, 9781250138460) is the memoir of the Governor of Ohio.

Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker by Stephen Galloway (Crown Archetype, $27, 9780307405937) is the biography of the first woman to head a major movie studio.

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant (Knopf, $25.95, 9781524732684) explores the life of the Facebook COO after her husband's sudden death. (April 24.)

The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior by Robert O'Neill (Scribner, $28, 9781501145032) is the memoir of a Navy SEAL.

Lincoln's Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac by Stephen W. Sears (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $38, 9780618428250) explores the tumultuous leadership of the Army of the Potomac.

All the Rivers: A Novel by Dorit Rabinyan, translated by Jessica Cohen (Random House, $27, 9780375508295) takes place in New York City, where an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man have an affair.

The Witchfinder's Sister: A Novel by Beth Underdown (Ballantine, $28, 9780399179143) is a historical thriller based on witch hunts in 1640s England.

Anything Is Possible: A Novel by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, $27, 9780812989403) follows several characters in a small town.

The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History by Stephan Talty (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9780544633384) looks at the Italian-American detective who worked against a criminal enterprise run by fellow immigrants.

The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World by Scott Hartley (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9780544944770) argues that liberal arts will drive business innovation.

Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick (Roaring Book Press, $17.99, 9781626725492) is a YA novel about a teen boy reluctantly caught in the U.S.-Mexican border drug trafficking scene.

Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life in the Californias by Marcela Valladolid (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30, 9780544808553) gives Mexican food recipes from a Food Network host.

The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress (Delacorte Press, $16.99, 9781101940051) is a middle-grade series debut about a boy who likes his predictable life stumbling into a very unpredictable world.

Paperbacks:
Weber's Greatest Hits: 125 Classic Recipes for Every Grill by Jamie Purviance (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24.99, 9780544952379).

The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's Griffin, $16.99, 9781250080400).

Movie:
The Circle, based on the novel by Dave Eggers, opens April 28. Emma Watson stars as a woman who gets a dream job at a tech giant, whose founder (Tom Hanks) encourages her participation in a potentially nefarious experiment.

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

Hardcover: An Indies Introduce Title
Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time by Andrew Forsthoefel (Bloomsbury, $28, 9781632867001). "This book could not be coming at a better time. Amidst a calamitous political landscape, Americans today seem wary of their fellow citizens and suspicious of one another's beliefs, religion, and ethnicity. Forsthoefel does an amazingly wonderful job showing us that our fellow citizens are not to be feared, but instead are to be celebrated for their humanity and their heart. Setting off to walk across the country after graduating college, Forsthoefel aims to get to know the people in the world by taking the time to listen to as many people who cross his path. And the stories he brings us of the individuals he meets along the way, in addition to his own personal journey, are insightful and ultimately uplifting. A thoughtful and inspiring portrait of America today." --Hilary Gustafson, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Hardcover
Marlena: A Novel by Julie Buntin (Holt, $26, 9781627797641). "I can't believe this is a debut novel: the writing is so assured; the prose so exquisite. Buntin is a master of word choice, and every sentence felt deliberate and precise. I quickly got sucked into this story about a pair of teenage girls, one doomed, one not. It was a quick read, but one I found myself lingering over. I'd recommend Marlena to fans of Megan Abbott's dark, twisty books about girlhood--this is a similarly fierce read!" --Lauren Peugh, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, Ariz.

Paperback
A Little More Human: A Novel by Fiona Maazel (Graywolf Press, $16, 9781555977696). "A Little More Human kept me up way past my bedtime. Fiona Maazel's seamless novel draws you in subtly and irresistibly. I just had to know how Phil Snyder (nursing assistant, professional superhero impersonator, and actual mind-reader) ended up on a horse with splashes of blood on his clothes and no memory of how he got there. Uncovering secrets in snippets along with Phil reminded me of his own mind-reading talent and built the suspense beautifully page by page. Another clever literary masterpiece from Fiona Maazel!" --Anna Thorn, Upshur Street Books, Washington, D.C.

For Ages 4 to 8
Priscilla Gorilla by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Michael Emberley (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, $17.99, 9781481458979). "From the team behind Miss Brooks' Story Nook comes another tale of classroom drama. Priscilla loves gorillas, but her love for them may be a bit much in the classroom. When the entire class starts behaving like the wild animals they love, it'll take a good teacher and some facts about animals to calm things down. A dynamic plot and energetic illustrations make this book a certain classroom favorite!" --Marika McCoola, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Mass.

For Ages 9 to 12: An Indies Introduce Title  
Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren (Bloomsbury, $16.99, 9781681191317). "Valor has a plan. She will almost shoot the prince, get herself sent to prison, find her sister, and break her out. What could go wrong? The first part of her plan goes perfectly, but Valor soon realizes that there is more to this prison, and to her sister's imprisonment, than meets the eye. Full of satisfying twists and turns, not to mention a unique matriarchal society, Valor's tale will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish." --Molly Olivo, Barstons Child's Play, Washington, D.C.

For Teen Readers
Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves (Knopf, $17.99, 9781101935996). "Anna lives in a world filled with magic, but only those who can pay the circle's price have access to it. Anna's family is well off, yet Anna is deemed barren--any spell cast in Anna's presence goes awry! Without magic, Anna is not accepted in the world of pomp and circumstance. All that begins to change when the circle takes a special interest in Anna. What is so different about her? What trouble may she cause? In the beginning, this book seems like a cross between The Dark Days Club and A Shadow Bright and Burning, but hold tight because it holds its own." --Kelsey Morrison, Moravian Book Shop, Bethlehem, Pa.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Twenty-four years after the publication of her first short story in the New Yorker, Katherine Heiny's (Single, Carefree, Mellow) debut novel finally has made its way into the world, and the wait has been worth it. Standard Deviation is a winning effort that smartly examines the ties that bind in even the most unlikely of marriages.

Set in the affluent territory of New York's Upper West Side, Heiny's novel focuses on the pairing of venture capitalist Graham Cavanaugh and his wife, Audra Daltry, a freelance graphic designer 12 years his junior. Their affair ended Graham's marriage to corporate lawyer Elspeth Osbourne, a woman as orderly in the conduct of her life as Audra is free-spirited in hers. That striking difference leads to the novel's principal motifs: Graham's persistent speculation on the vagaries of romantic attraction that caused him to wed two such different women, and his hope that, despite the fatal wound he inflicted on his marriage to Elspeth, "maybe they could be successful friends."

Graham and Audra also must deal with the challenge of their 10-year-old son Matthew's Asperger's syndrome, a subject Heiny portrays with an understated realism. Matthew demonstrates a preternatural talent for origami that leads to the invitation to join a club that meets in the apartment of a middle-aged manchild named Clayton, and eventually takes the family to a convention of origami enthusiasts in Connecticut. Heiny trains a keen eye on that event, one that leads Audra to wonder why there aren't "nice, well-rounded people who enjoy a bit of origami, the way there are nice, well-rounded people who enjoy a bit of bondage."
 
Heiny's gift for quick-witted dialogue displays the skill of an observational comic. She applies that same talent to concise descriptions of her characters, as when Graham pictures Elspeth and her new partner, Bentrup, as "an entirely platonic couple like Bert and Ernie." Seen through the lens of Graham's mild bewilderment, Audra's penchant for striking up frank conversations with total strangers, or welcoming improbable houseguests--including the apartment building's doorman--into the family home, also provides a consistent flow of humor.

With its assortment of quirky characters who stumble through life even as, to all outward appearances, many of them should have it mastered, Standard Deviation bears a certain resemblance to the work of Anne Tyler. Readers who appreciate that style of intelligent but gentle domestic comedy will enjoy this work. --Harvey Freedenberg, attorney and freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Katherine Heiny's debut novel investigates the sometimes inexplicable nature of romantic attraction.