"As far as I can tell, as a weekly patron of local bookshops for quite some time, the difference is the people that work there. They love books and people that love books and they show it, which is probably the simplest formula for bookselling success. I bring my two young daughters into small, independent bookstores all the time, and as rowdy as they get, the booksellers are always welcoming and warm and kind and don't mind the two yellow-haired-terrors streaking through the stacks. So we keep going back.... As a result, I've come to care about local bookstores. They've invested in my family's future, and so it seems natural that I would invest in them."

Whyte's Booksmith, a new and used bookstore in San Anselmo, Calif., has been put up for sale. The Marin Independent Journal reported that the bookstore has been in business for 38 years, since owner Michael Whyte, then manager of the Mill Valley Book Depot, was offered a loan from his father to start his own bookshop.

"There were so many young families who value reading and education," he said. "What I like most about San Anselmo and the Ross Valley is simply that our neighborhoods so deeply appreciate and participate fully in making ours a safe and pleasant little place in the world in which to raise families and enjoy our wonderful friends and neighbors.... Ross Valley, right from the start, has been tremendously supportive. My hope is that the business will continue to provide its important service, to remain a focal point of the community, and continue to prosper."

Whyte is confident that his bookstore will continue to play that role: "In downtown San Anselmo, we've seen businesses come and go over time, but it's become evident to we who have prospered here that those businesses which offer goods tailored to this community, who have really listened to our community's needs, do well."

For more information, e-mail booksmithonline@yahoo.com.

University Book Store in Seattle, Wash., is making major changes to its flagship store on the University of Washington campus. According to general book department manager Pam Cady, the store is consolidating its entire book inventory on the flagship store's first floor.

While the book inventory, which had previously been spread across the first and second floors, will now have less total square footage, the first floor still amounts to more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, and Cady described the new layout as "much more intimate." At the same time, the move will allow the flagship store to significantly expand its second-floor event space.

"It's something we've been considering for a while," explained Cady. "I think it's coming at a good time. Our neighborhood will be undergoing big changes in the next couple of years with light rail opening almost on our doorstep, so we wanted to get ready for that and position ourselves for the future."

Cady added that although the store is still in the thick of moving inventory, it's been "pretty fun to see how it's all shaping up... I think it's going to be a great space for book lovers to shop."

University Book Store was founded in 1900 by two University of Washington students, who first opened for business in a coat closet next to the university president's office. The store has six locations around the Seattle area and has operated as a trust since 1964, with UW students, faculty and staff as the beneficiaries.

Jack Macrae is retiring from Henry Holt after more than 35 years with the publisher. His extensive career in publishing ranges from having been a deputy director with HarperCollins in the 1960s to editor-in-chief at Henry Holt (1983-89). Most recently, he managed the Holt imprint John Macrae Books. Macrae is also part-owner--with his wife, Paula Cooper--of 192 Books in Manhattan.

In a message announcing the departure, Holt president and publisher Stephen Rubin said Macrae's family "boasts three generations of notable publishers, none more distinguished than Jack. Hugely well-regarded within the publishing community, Jack is known for his sharp wit, winning personality, and deep knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. Most recently for Holt, he edited two-time Booker Award-winner Hilary Mantel, Carl Safina and Gabriel Levering Lewis."

Rubin also recalled that "many, many moons ago, Jack's grandfather, John Macrae Sr., joined the firm E.P. Dutton, and eventually became its second president. Legend has it that he became fast friends with Henry Holt and that in the 1890s, Macrae Sr. read an English novel on submission to him, but found it 'too hot' for Dutton and turned it over to his pal, Holt. That hot book was The Prisoner of Zenda, which Holt published in 1895 and sold more than a million copies, an unheard of amount then. Jack spent 15 years at Dutton, the 'family business,' where he published Jorge Luis Borges among others, before joining Holt. We thank him for his sterling contributions over the years and wish him happiness and good health in his well-earned retirement."

Now in its seventh year, Penguin Random House's annual Two-Day Transit program will return on Monday, October 1, and run until March 1, 2019. For those five months, orders for PRH titles placed by independent booksellers by 3 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday, will arrive within two days, weather and transport conditions permitting. Orders placed on Fridays and Saturdays will be shipped the following Monday, with both PRH's Westminster, Md., and Crawfordsville, Ind., operations centers taking on weekend shifts to expedite Monday arrivals.

The program once again includes every frontlist and backlist title from the imprints of the Crown, Knopf Doubleday and Penguin Publishing Groups, as well as Random House, Random House Children's books, Penguin Young Readers, Penguin Random House Audio and DK Publishing, in addition to clients of PRH Publisher Services.

Jaci Updike, president of U.S. Sales at PRH, said: "We are thrilled by and proud of how popular and integral our 2-Day program continues to be with our accounts. From its beginnings as a two-month pilot experiment, it has been extended and expanded to reflect the evolution of our business. But its primary intention has never changed: to empower indies to order and receive our titles quickly and efficiently, so they can enjoy uninterrupted profit from consumer demand for them."

Madeline McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House U.S., added: "Since we launched this program of expedited holiday-period shipping six years ago, it has become the gold standard for the industry and remains one of the best tools we have to support this channel in the crucial fourth quarter."

Darcy Egan

Darcy Egan, a former bookseller at Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, Ohio, died recently. In a moving tribute on the bookstore's Facebook page, owner Harriett Logan wrote: "We lost one of our Loganberry family last week. Darcy Egan was a bookseller here 2013-2015, while pursuing her Masters degree in English at John Carroll University. She left us to pursue a career teaching English.

"During her time at Loganberry, Darcy was instrumental in tackling the task of shifting our data to a new inventory management system. She almost single-handedly catalogued the LitArts room (if you've been here, you'll understand how mind-boggling that is). She also created our monthly poetry open mic, Broadsides & Ephemera, which is still running strong.

"She was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 25. She fought valiantly for more than two years, and never lost her smile, nor her red lipstick. The annual fundraising 5k for colorectal cancer, fondly named the UndyRun, is this Saturday 09/29. You are welcome to join us in fundraising to find a cure for colon cancer, and to honor Darcy. Thanks. Peace."

Last week, Tor authors Jenn Lyons (The Ruin of Kings, February 2019) and Arkady Martine (A Memory Called Empire, March 2019) had lunch with nearly a dozen booksellers from bookstores around the Triangle  region of North Carolina. Pictured: (l.-r.) Lane Jacobson of Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill; Jenn Lyons and Arkady Martine; Matt "Mouse" Mock of McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro; Lany Holcomb of Bookmarks in Winston-Salem; Billy McCormick of McIntyre's; Tony Peletier of Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh; Kaley Lowman of Quail Ridge; Amber Brown of Quail Ridge; and Colin Sneed of Flyleaf. Photo: Macmillan rep Carin Siegfried

Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York City "has been feeding an appetite for cookbooks since 1983," amNewYork reported in profiling the Upper East Side bookstore that offers shoppers "an adventure," according to co-owner Matt Sartwell. He added, "Funky, fun things happen when you have a specialized bookstore. There's a serendipity of who you meet here."

Sartwell noted that home cooks, from neighbors to out-of-towners, make up the bulk of the store's clientele: "People come in and want an adventure they think they won't find at a more general bookstore. We have depth. You won't find as many books on a single topic at Barnes & Noble like we have on cookies, cocktails or whole-grain bread baking."

At Penguin Random House, Amanda Close has been appointed senior v-p, strategic market development, a new position in the company's sales group.

---

Valentina Rice has joined Bloomsbury as v-p of sales and marketing in the U.S. for consumer and special interest. She was most recently v-p of sales, marketing and publicity at Bonnier Zaffre. Earlier, she was v-p of international sales and marketing for Penguin Group (USA).

Let's Talk About Death Over Dinner: An Invitation and Guide to Life's Most Important Conversation by Michael Hebb (Da Capo Lifelong Books).

Tomorrow:
The View: America Ferrera, author of American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures (Gallery, $26, 9781501180910). She will also appear on the Daily Show.

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Mark Leibovich, author of Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times (Penguin Press, $28, 9780399185427).

The final trailer has been released for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, featuring Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) "finally meeting his brother.... Johnny Depp's powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald also returns, despite being captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Scamander at the end of the first film. This time he warns his followers to 'join me or die,' " Deadline reported.

"You're going to want to watch to the end of this trailer," J.K. Rowling warned. "There's a lot in there for you guys. When you see the trailer, don't speak to each other until the end because there's a name you'll want to hear."

Directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Rowling, the film also stars Jude Law, Zoë Kravitz, Ezra Miller and Claudia Kim. It opens in theaters November 16.

Deborah Eisenberg will receive the Paris Review's 2019 Hadada Award for lifetime achievement, given annually to "a distinguished member of the writing community who has made a strong and unique contribution to literature." She will be honored April 2 at the Paris Review's annual gala, the Spring Revel.

Eisenberg has published four collections of stories: Transactions in a Foreign Currency, Under the 82nd Airborne, All Around Atlantis and Twilight of the Superheroes, all of which were reprinted as The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg. Her fifth collection, Your Duck Is My Duck, was published by Ecco this week.

---

Kirkus Reviews has announced the six finalists in each of the three categories of the Kirkus Prize. Every category winner receives $50,000. Winners will be announced October 25. This year's finalists can be seen here.