Wonderland Bookshop in progress.

Wonderland Bookshop, specializing in new books for children and young adults, is opening in October at 409 State St. in Greensboro, N.C. The News & Record reported that a ribbon cutting is planned for October 18, but Amy Lamb, co-owner of the 900-square-foot store with her sister Elizabeth Berger, is hoping to have a soft opening before then.

"It's a great niche. I think a lot of people still want to buy books and don't want to order them. They want to come into stores," Lamb said. "I think a children's bookstore is a really fun environment and a great place for parents and adults to bring kids.... We hope to do book clubs and story times and that it will just have a real community feel to it."

Wonderland Bookshop's arrival is occurring at a time "when the shops on State Street are getting a multi-phase makeover," the News & Record wrote.

Robbie Egan

Effective in December, the Australian Booksellers Association is appointing Robbie Egan its new CEO, replacing Joel Becker, who announced in June that he is retiring from the ABA at the end of the year.

Egan is currently group operations manager for Readings, which has seven locations in and around Melbourne, and has been the association's treasurer and a board member for the past 15 months. With "a lifelong career in bookselling at the highest levels, Robbie brings a wealth of practical experience and achievement to the role," the ABA said.

The deadline for submitting bookseller nominations to James Patterson's Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program has been extended nearly two weeks, to Friday, October 12, Bookselling This Week reported. Patterson has pledged $250,000 to provide independent bookstore employees with some extra cash around the holidays this year.

In partnership with the American Booksellers Association, the bestselling author will distribute bonuses in amounts ranging between $750 and $1,500 to individual booksellers. The grant application asks just one question: "Why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?" After reviewing the answers, Patterson will select the winners from bookstores across the country. All past recipients of Patterson grants are eligible for this year's bonuses, and booksellers can nominate themselves.

Independent booksellers are marking Banned Books Week with a variety of displays, events and promotions celebrating the freedom to read. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, the annual celebration draws national attention to the dangers of censorship. Earlier this week we highlighted some creative indie bookstore efforts. Here's another sampling:

Hickory Stick Bookshop, Washington, Conn.: "It’s #BannedBooksWeek! Stop in and check out our display of #bannedbooks and then sit down and type out a letter to your favorite banned author on our #publictypewriter! Pat just wrote hers to Margaret Atwood. Who will you address yours to?"

Powell's Books, Portland, Ore.: "Sex. Profanity. The occult. No, it's not an episode of Game of Thrones. It's Banned Books Week, and we're dedicating an entire month to it to show our support for open access to information and everyone's right to tell their stories. Stop by here all month for information, original guest author posts, staff recommendations, and more."

The Little Bookshop, Midlothian, Va.: "Banned Books Week is this week!! Stop by TLB to guess which book is in this jar and be entered to win a gift certificate!"

Fenton's Open Book, Fenton, Mich.: "National Banned Book Week. How many have you read? Stop on in and get one!"

Curious Iguana, Frederick, Md.: "It's time for our Banned Books Search! Today through September 30 Curious Iguana and the 1st Amendment Society (@flyingdogbrewery) will be hiding 60 banned books around Downtown Frederick. If you find a book, it's yours to keep*! Swipe for photo clues. Happy searching! Be sure to tag us and use the hashtag #fREADomfrederick as you complete your search! *One book per person, please."

Banned Books display at Story on the Square, McDonough, Ga.

Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, Ohio: "We've got #bannedbooks and picks from the #greatamericanread aplenty in our window this month. Come explore some brave and original voices to celebrate freedom of expression and #bannedbooksweek here at Loganberry!"

Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, Calif.: "Celebrating #bannedbooksweek!"

Element of Fun Books & Toys, Rochester, N.Y.: "It’s Banned Books Week! Banning books silences stories. Speak up and like for the freedom to read during Banned Books Week!"

The Mitten Word Bookshop, Marshall, Mich.: "Many American booksellers are taking time this week to remind citizens that too many great books have been banned from libraries, bookstores, and schools for no valid reason. We are offering some of the best & most famous books of all time, each on the 'banned book' list, for 15% off! See you soon (before the sale ends!)."

Avid Bookshop, Athens, Ga.: " 'If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.' --Haruki Murikami. It's Banned Books Week! This is a national event founded in 1982 to raise awareness that people are STILL trying to ban books."

Amazon 4-star, a new physical store "where everything for sale is rated 4 stars and above, is a top seller, or is new and trending on Amazon.com," opens today in New York City, at 72 Spring Street in SoHo. According to the company, Amazon 4-star was created "to be a place where customers can discover products they will love. Amazon 4-star's selection is a direct reflection of our customers--what they're buying and what they're loving."

The store is stocked with products from some of the most popular categories on Amazon.com, including devices, consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books and games. Prime members pay the Amazon.com price in the store, which features sections like "Most Wished For" items, "Amazon Exclusives" and "Frequently Bought Together," as well as "Trending Around NYC."

"Amazon apparently isn't done testing out new store concepts," CNET wrote, adding: "With so many store concepts, it seems clear Amazon is still experimenting and hasn't yet landed on a single top store idea it could expand to many more cities."

Elizabeth Hohenadel

Elizabeth Hohenadel, senior publicity manager at Riverhead Books, died on September 24 at the age of 34, the result of a medical condition that arose suddenly a few months ago.

Hohenadel had been at Riverhead since 2007, when she first joined as a publicity assistant. Over the years she worked with dozens of authors, including Brit Bennett, Nick Hornby, Jon Ronson and Sarah Waters, and was a major force behind campaigns for books like The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic.

Allison Dobson, president of Penguin Publishing Group, said Hohenadel was "beloved for her gregarious enthusiasm, her keen but kind sense of humor, and a commitment to her authors that did not diminish after publication." Hohenadel "excelled in bringing smart commercial fiction to a wide readership, with her relentless messaging, her personal appeals, and that well known humor." Dobson also fondly remembered Hohenadel's "indiscriminate love of chips, nachos and dips, and her anonymous memos reminding staff to clean up their spills at our bedraggled office sinks."

Colleagues, authors and others in the book industry also paid tribute to Hohenadel on twitter.

Jon Ronson, who worked with her on two of his books, said she "was a totally brilliant and delightful and professional publicist.... She was so great in every way and this is just heartbreaking."

"The true super power of [Riverhead Books] has always been its incredible people: warm, kind, generous, and fun," wrote Emma Straub. "Liz was all those things and more. I wasn't her author, but I loved her, and I will miss her, and I'm heartbroken for her family."

Hohenadel is survived by her husband, Brian, and her son, Owen.

The 2018 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Awards were presented last week at a ceremony in New York City. The 2018 award winners are Chelsea Bieker (fiction/nonfiction), Lisa Chen (nonfiction), Lydia Conklin (fiction), Gabriela Garcia (fiction), Karen Outen (fiction/nonfiction) and Alison C. Rollins (poetry). Each received $30,000. The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards are given to writers of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction; since the program--created by novelist Rona Jaffe--began in 1995, the foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million to emergent women writers. Pictured: (front, l.-r.)  Lisa Chen and Alison C. Rollins (back, l.-r.) Lydia Conklin, Karen Outen, Tayari Jones (guest speaker), Gabriela Garcia and Chelsea Bieker (photo: Star Black)

For years, Landmark Booksellers in Franklin, Tenn., has issued an open challenge to all visitors: anyone who can correctly identify all 22 portraits of famous Southern writers hanging on the store's walls can win a free book.

Co-owner Joel Tomlin, who opened the store with his wife, Carol, in July of 2005, reported that in the store's entire history only one person has ever been able to name all 22 authors. That person was Dr. Hubert McAlexander, a retired professor of English and Southern Literature at the University of Georgia. The Tomlins hosted McAlexander when he published Peter Taylor: A Writer's Life and, as a reward for completing the challenge, McAlexander received a boxed set of the Complete Writings of Peter Taylor from the Library of America.

Landmark Booksellers sells new, used and rare books, with a specialization in Tennessee history and Southern literature. It resides in an historic building on Franklin's main street that was built between 1806 and 1808.

Posted on Facebook yesterday by Star Cat Books, Bradford, Vt.: "Gaby has graduated to taking money for books. #starcatoftheday."

At [words] Bookstore, Maplewood, N.J.:

Lisa Matalon has been promoted to manager. A staff member since the bookstore's opening in 2009, she has served as both the autism vocational training coordinator and the community relations manager. As [words] prepares to open its second location, owner Jonah Zimiles will continue his daily strategic functions and frontlist buying at the bookstore, while Matalon will manage the store's 20 staff members and day-to-day operations.

Carrie Harmon has been promoted to events manager from events coordinator.

Ancient Wonders--Then and Now by Stuart Hill, illustrated by Lindsey Spinks (Lonely Planet Kids).

Today:
Fresh Air: Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine (Anchor, $17.95, 9780804170888).

Tomorrow:
HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military (Norton, $30, 9780393064445).

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, September 29
2:30 p.m. Bruce Schneier, author of Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World (Norton, $27.95, 9780393608885). (Re-airs Monday at 1 a.m.)

5:30 p.m. Bethany McLean, author of Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It's Changing the World (Columbia Global Reports, $15.99, 9780999745441), at Brazos Books in Houston, Tex.

6:15 p.m. Matthew Hennessey, author of Zero Hour for Gen X: How the Last Adult Generation Can Save America from Millennials (Encounter, $23.99, 9781594039942). (Re-airs Sunday at 11:10 p.m.)

7 p.m. Eli Saslow, author of Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist (Doubleday, $26.95, 9780385542869).

8:30 p.m. Bruce Ashford, author of Letters to an American Christian (B&H Books, $16.99, 9781535905138). (Re-airs Monday at 4 a.m.)

10 p.m. Carol Anderson, author of One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy (Bloomsbury, $27, 9781635571370). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.)

11 p.m. Francis Fukuyama, author of Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26, 9780374129293). (Re-airs Sunday at 2 p.m.)

Sunday, September 30
12:30 a.m. Kwame Appiah, author of The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity (Liveright, $27.95, 9781631493836). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

5 p.m. David Pietrusza, author of TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy (Lyons Press, $34.95, 9781493028870).

6:10 p.m. Jesse Norman, author of Adam Smith: Father of Economics (Basic Books, $32, 9780465061976).

7:15 p.m. David Levering Lewis, author of The Improbable Wendell Willkie: The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order (Liveright, $28.95, 9780871404572).

8:15 p.m. Mary Jo McConahay, author of The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II (St. Martin's Press, $29.99, 9781250091239).

Pauline Dakin won the C$10,000 (about US$7,710) Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction, which is administered by Wilfrid Laurier University, for her memoir Run, Hide, Repeat, CBC reported. The prize recognizes "a Canadian writer of a first or second published book with a Canadian locale and/or significance."

Juror Bruce Gillespie praised the winning book as "a true story unlike any other you've read that will keep you guessing from beginning to end. More than just a mystery, Dakin's memoir is also a moving reflection on the complexity of family relationships."

The other two books on the shortlist were Life on the Ground Floor by James Maskalyk and A History of Canada in Ten Maps by Adam Shoalts.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, October 2:

Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick, $16.99, 9780763694630) is a sequel to the children's book Raymie Nightingale.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle (Crown Archetype, $27, 9781984822581) chronicles the life and comedy career of a Monty Python member.

Full Disclosure by Stormy Daniels, foreword by Michael Avenatti (St. Martin's Press, $27.99, 9781250205568) reveals all about the adult film star and her presidential affair.

The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy by Greg Miller (Custom House, $29.99, 9780062803702) is a Washington Post reporter's exposé on the executive branch.

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28, 9781328695741) explores the martial uses of Twitter and Facebook.

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris (Saga Press, $26.99, 9781481494922) is the start of a new paranormal series set in a fractured United States.

Alaskan Holiday: A Novel by Debbie Macomber (Ballantine, $20, 9780399181283) takes place in a remote Alaskan lodge where a chef takes a seasonal job.

The Dead Ringer: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton (Minotaur, $26.99, 9781250157690) is the 29th mystery with Agatha Raisin.

Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26, 9781328489883) follows the grandson of a deceased shepherd who returns home to tend the flock.

Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Tiffani Thiessen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30, 9781328710307) is a cookbook by the TV actress.

Make Something Good Today: A Memoir by Erin Napier and Ben Napier (Gallery, $26.99, 9781501189111) is a memoir by HGTV stars.

Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side by Howard Marks (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30, 9781328479259) gives investing advice.

Paperbacks:
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, $22, 9781501139161).

The History of Gangster Rap: From Schoolly D to Kendrick Lamar, the Rise of a Great American Art Form by Soren Baker (Abrams Image, $24.99, 9781419729157).

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

Hardcover
The Dinner List: A Novel by Rebecca Serle (Flatiron, $27.99, 9781250295187). "Everyone has played the game of selecting five favorite people to attend their ultimate dinner party. For Sabrina, however, the game has become a reality. The Dinner List is a magical night full of wistfulness, nostalgia, love, and loss. Who among us has not wished for an opportunity to reconnect with a loved one or converse with someone admired from afar? Readers everywhere will sink their teeth into this delicious and heart-warming tale of one enchanted evening." --Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, Minn.

Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road by Kate Harris (Dey Street, $24.99, 9780062839343). "What a terrific read! Kate Harris seamlessly intertwines science, history, geology, geography, and philosophy in this tale of her 10-month bike ride on the Silk Road. At times, this book reads more like a thriller than a memoir! Harris and her pal Melissa covered 10,000 kilometers and visited 10 countries, and their endurance, exploits, and experiences will amaze you; I found myself eagerly looking up maps and pictures to track their journey. Along the way, the author explores the nature of boundaries, both real and imagined, and the meaningfulness of exploration and wildness. Is it appropriate to use the term 'badass' in a book review? If so, these gals are it!" --Sara Reinert, The Homer Bookstore, Homer, Alaska.

Paperback
The Ninth Hour: A Novel by by Alice McDermott (Picador, $17, 9781250192745). "Alice McDermott's dazzling The Ninth Hour turns on the contradictions that confound our need to reconcile with mortality. The empathetic characters, at once agents and benefactors of Christian charity, grow to realize not just the grace but also the hubris of their faith. A stunning work of generational storytelling, The Ninth Hour is compulsively readable and deeply thought-provoking. McDermott is a master artisan of humanity." --Lori Feathers, Interabang Books, Dallas, Tex.

For Ages 4 to 8
Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian by Jacob Sager Weinstein, illustrated by Vera Brosgol (Clarion Books, $17.99, 9780544801226). "Lyric McKerrigan is the gal we all wish we could call in a pinch. This whimsical tale--which never leaves us in doubt about who has the upper hand--leaves the reader wanting to see more of this pink-haired librarian in action. Slapstick humor and bold illustrations make this a slam dunk. Perfect for kids who want to read graphic novels but aren't quite ready." --Jane Knight, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vt.

For Ages 9 to 12
The Law of Finders Keepers (Mo & Dale Mysteries) by Sheila Turnage (Kathy Dawson Books, $16.99, 9780803739628). "Oh, what pure joy to head back to Tupelo Landing, to hear Mo LoBeau's voice again, and to delve into the Desperado Detective Agency's final case. Thrills and intrigue abound as a hunt for pirates' treasure leads to information about the identity of Mo's oft-mentioned 'Upstream Mother.' I've loved this series from the very beginning and love sharing it with other readers, young and old!" --Kathleen Carey, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

For Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
Rule by Ellen Goodlett (Little, Brown, $17.99, 9780316515283). "Three young women, each with her own deadly secret, discover that one of them will ascend to the throne of their dying father. Each soon discovers that her secret will be used against her, and together they urgently work to discover their blackmailer before they can be executed as traitors to the kingdom. Treachery and black magic intermix with sisterly loyalty and ill-fated romance. Your heart will race as quickly as your fingers turning the pages of this smart and captivating debut." --Nancy Baenen, Arcadia Books, Spring Green, Wis.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]