photo: Eleni Stefanou

Last night in London, Anna Burns won the £50,000 (about $65,945) Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her novel Milkman. She is the first author from Northern Ireland to win the award. This is her third full-length novel and first major prize.

"Howls and cheers for Anna Burns!" Graywolf Press tweeted as the publisher announced a new release date of December 11 for Milkman in the U.S.  

"None of us has ever read anything like this before," said chair of judges Kwame Anthony Appiah. "Anna Burns's utterly distinctive voice challenges conventional thinking and form in surprising and immersive prose. It is a story of brutality, sexual encroachment and resistance threaded with mordant humor. Set in a society divided against itself, Milkman explores the insidious forms oppression can take in everyday life."

Congratulating Burns on the win, Luke Ellis, CEO of Man Group, praised this year's shortlisted novels, which "explored particularly diverse and wide-ranging experiences and themes, and were linked by their brilliant use of language and creativity."

The Man Booker judges said the language in Milkman "is simply marvelous; beginning with the distinctive and consistently realized voice of the funny, resilient, astute, plain-spoken, first-person protagonist. From the opening page her words pull us into the daily violence of her world--threats of murder, people killed by state hit squads--while responding to the everyday realities of her life as a young woman, negotiating a way between the demands of family, friends and lovers in an unsettled time. The novel delineates brilliantly the power of gossip and social pressure in a tight-knit community, and shows how both rumor and political loyalties can be put in the service of a relentless campaign of individual sexual harassment. Burns draws on the experience of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to portray a world that allows individuals to abuse the power granted by a community to those who resist the state on their behalf. Yet this is never a novel about just one place or time. The local is in service to an exploration of the universal experience of societies in crisis."

Total net book sales in August in the U.S. rose 1.2%, to $2.178 billion, compared to August 2017, representing sales of 1,080 publishers and distributed clients as reported to the Association of American Publishers. For the year to date, total net book sales have fallen 0.6%, to $9.903 billion.

Downloaded audio continued its explosive growth, with sales rising 45.2%; adult trade, with the exception of mass market, had solid gains; and adult e-books were up slightly. Sales of children's/YA hardcovers and paperbacks both rose substantially. K-12 and higher ed were almost even with the same period last year.

Sales by category in August 2018 compared to August 2017:

Canadian indie Type Books had a soft opening October 3 for its third store in Toronto, at 2887 Dundas St. West in the Junction neighborhood. Toronto Life described the new location as "particularly pretty." A grand opening is planned for next month. Type Books co-founders Samara Walbohm and Joanne Saul opened their first bookstore, on Queen West, in 2006.

"It was a time when a lot of independent bookstores were closing--and we missed them!" said Saul. "It's an overused term, but we truly wanted to act as a community hub, and be grounded in our neighborhood."

For the past year, the co-owners had been encouraged to open a store in the Junction, particularly by manager Rebecca Andoff and window designer Kalpna Patel, who live in the area. "We were getting a lot of positive pressure suggesting it was exactly the kind of neighborhood that was ripe for an independent bookstore, and Type in particular," Saul noted. 

Andoff told Quill & Quire: "People have been so unbelievably enthusiastic. My favorite thing is when the door is propped open I can hear what people say when they realize there is a Type Books here now, and it's like kids on Christmas morning. It's so hyperbolic."

On Instagram, Type Books Junction posted: "We are so thankful to everyone who has come to see us this past week--you've made us feel right at home! And an extra special thanks goes out to all the neighboring businesses who have been so welcoming and supportive--we are honored to be in your company."

Liz Gorinsky, who was an editor for nearly 15 years at Tor Books, has launched a publishing company called Erewhon Books that will focus on speculative fiction. Named after Samuel Butler's Victorian utopian novel Erewhon, the company will be distributed by Workman.

Erewhon Books' first list will appear in 2020 and consist of books of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other speculative fiction. The company aims to publish books with "unique and well-formed prose, on the literary end of the spectrum but with clear commercial appeal. They especially like works that fall between genres with veins of weirdness, horror, or dark humor, and are committed to publishing authors from a wide variety of underrepresented backgrounds."

Liz Gorinsky

While at Tor, Gorinsky edited such speculative fiction authors as Liu Cixin, Annalee Newitz, Cherie Priest, Nisi Shawl, Catherynne M. Valente and Jeff VanderMeer. She was also part of the team that founded Tor.com and in 2017 she won a Hugo Award for Best Editor, Long Form. She commented: "I started to learn about science fiction and fantasy at Tor Books as an intern, but I've loved those genres ever since I started reading. I've been honored to publish many beautiful SF&F books that have been bestselling, award-nominated, critically acclaimed (or all three!), and I'm thrilled to carry on my work with the many great authors in this genre and build the special attention and individual approach that a boutique independent publisher can provide."

Erewhon Books includes editorial assistant Jillian Feinberg and business adviser Peter Burri, who is co-founder of the independent press The Experiment and has 25 years of experience in publishing operations and financing. The company also has financial backers with publishing experience who are, Erewhon Books said, "committed to the long-term growth of the company."

Daniel P. Reynolds, CEO of Workman, Erewhon Books' distributor, commented, "It's exciting to be part of the talented team starting up Erewhone Books. Many years ago, Workman had a bestseller with Good Omens--our first and only SF&F title--so it's about time we got back into this category. We can't wait to help Erewhon develop their own list of bestsellers."

Barnes & Noble is closing its store in Westwood Village in Seattle, Wash., at the end of January, according to the West Seattle Blog. The 26,000-square-foot store opened in October 2005. The company was reportedly unable to come to an agreement on a new lease.

Vladimir Radunsky, "an illustrator who used an abundance of artistic styles to create captivating children's books about subjects including Albert Einstein, a rapping dog and a towering stalk of asparagus," died September 11, the New York Times reported. He was 64.

Radunsky illustrated more than 30 children's books, some of which he also wrote, including The Mighty Asparagus (2004). Among the books he illustrated are On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein (2013) by Jennifer Berne; Mark Twain's Advice to Little Girls; three books based on Woody Guthrie lyrics; a collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov on Because (2007); and the original cover for Louis Sachar's Holes (1998).

Author and illustrator Chris Raschka described Radunsky's artistic approach in Mother Goose of Pudding Lane, a forthcoming book they created together, as "beautiful portraits" interspersed with "perfectly childlike" doodles that "only a trained artist could make.... He was trained as an architect and was a gifted draftsman. He could paint in a very traditional manner, but he loved to obscure the paintings with scribbled drawings." The two collaborated on several books, including Hip Hop Dog (2010).

{pages} in Manhattan Beach, Calif., hosted author Dav Pilkey, who's touring for Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas (Scholastic). A sold-out crowd of 1,450 attended his event at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center last night, and today he'll be at Chadwick School, where he will speak to 800 students, including 500 guests from Title 1 schools for whom the author is providing transportation and books. Pictured: "Team Pilkey" members Sandra Mukogawa, Dee Yeh, co-owner Linda McLoughlin Figel, Dav Pilkey, co-owner Sunni Won, general manager Kristin Rasmussen, Ailish Elzy and Samantha Littrell.

Congratulations to the Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, N.C., which is marking its 65th anniversary. It will celebrate with a party on Thursday, December 6, starting at 6 p.m. at the store with a champagne toast. At 6:30, the party moves to 305 Trackside, a nearby event center, where drinks and light hors d'oeuvres will be provided.

Since its opening in 1953, the Country Bookshop has remained a fixture in downtown Southern Pines despite changing hands several times and moving twice. Today it is owned by the Pilot, a newspaper in Southern Pines, and is run day-to-day by Kimberly Daniels Taws, the incoming president of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.

The store's original founders, Lockie Parker and Margaret Olmstead Rounds, eventually sold the store to Peg Benedict and her husband, Cad, with Katharine Boyd as silent partner. Shortly after buying the store, the Benedicts moved Country Bookshop to a new space, roughly doubling it in size. The Benedicts retired two years later and sold the business to James and Joan Scott.

Under the Scotts' ownership, the store moved to its present location. Joan Scott helped create the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities. In 2002, the Moore County Literacy Council created the Joan Scott Literacy Award in her honor and the Southern Pines mayor made April 28, 2002, Joan Scott Day.

After Scott died in 2005, longtime customer Bobbie Bickett took over, and introduced, among other things, computer management systems and online ordering. But by 2010, the store was at risk of closure and David Woronoff, the Pilot's publisher, had the newspaper company buy the store.

With Taws at the helm, Country Bookshop now hosts more than 100 events each year and recently began offering professional publishing services for independent authors.

"The only reason this store has been here for 65 years is because our customers choose to shop here," Taws told the Pilot. "I am grateful for everyone who has ever stepped inside."

James Conrad, co-owner of the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, N.Y., shared a photo of the bookshop's recent sidewalk chalkboard creation, noting: "For the Woodstock Film Festival weekend the Golden Notebook posted the first page of an original film script about how you can use an independent bookstore to find the inspiration for your next film project." The sign reads:

Unedited script P. 1
Bookstore: Present Day
There is a chalkboard outside an independent bookstore.

Chalkboard
"Future film scripts sold inside!"

You do not question how a chalkboard can talk. You enter the bookstore and leave with inspiration.

Fade Out

Kathy Murphy

Kathy L. Murphy, founder of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Reading Nation book club, has announced a change of venue for the 2019 Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend Author Extravaganza. The annual book club convention has been moved from Nacogdoches, Tex., to the Jefferson Tourism & Transportation Convention Center in historic Jefferson and will take place January 17-19.

"We have gone back to our roots where everything began with my former Beauty and the Book and the founding of my Pulpwood Queens of East Texas Book Club in 2000," Murphy said.

The Heart of the Goddess: Art, Myth and Meditations of the World's Sacred Feminine by Hallie Iglehart Austen (Monkfish Book Publishing/Consortium, dist.).

Today:
Morning Edition: Nadia Murad, author of The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State (Tim Duggan Books, $16, 9781524760441).

CBS This Morning: René Redzepi and David Zilber, authors of The NOMA Guide to Fermentation (Artisan, $40, 9781579657185).

NPR's Here & Now: Ben Bradlee, Jr., author of The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America (Little, Brown, $28, 9780316515733).

Tomorrow:
Today Show: J.R. Ward, author of Consumed (Gallery, $26.99, 9781501194900).

Dr. Phil: Nancy Wang Yuen, author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism (Rutgers University Press, $99.95, 9780813586304).

The View: Jill Soloway, author of She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy (Crown Archetype, $27, 9781101904749).

Watch What Happens Live: Busy Philipps, author of This Will Only Hurt a Little (Touchstone, $26.99, 9781501184710).

CBS has put into development Ranger, inspired by James Patterson's novel Texas Ranger, Deadline reported. The project is from American Sniper writer Jason Hall, Shooter co-executive producers T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson, Peter Lenkov's 101st Street Entertainment, James Patterson Entertainment and CBS TV Studios, where Lenkov and Patterson's companies are based.

Ranger is written by Hall, Brady and Newson, who will also executive produce with Lenkov and Sean Canino for 101st Street Entertainment; as well as Patterson, Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout for James Patterson Entertainment.

Rebecca Ley won the 2018 Not the Booker Prize for her novel Sweet Fruit, Sour Land. The Guardian reported that the three judges "have taken the brave decision to overrule the public vote and put their weight behind this dark dystopian novel in the place of Ariel Kahn's optimistic and gentle Raising Sparks."

The judges praised the "stark poetry and sincerity" of Ley's novel, which also "rewarded rereading more than others on the list."

The Guardian's Sam Jordison noted that while the winner wasn't his favorite, "that makes this choice so much the better and so much the more interesting. The judges weren't swayed by my opinions or suggestions about other books and were absolutely solid in their decision. It surprised me--but again, I'm taking that as a positive. It's great that the Not the Booker still has the ability to spring something new and unexpected 10 years into its run. Clearly, we have a worthy winner. Many congratulations to Rebecca Ley."

When Izzy, a chipmunk who lives in a cozy-looking home (complete with furniture, books and a tiny guitar), gets a note from Bear asking her to "[p]lease come at once!" she doesn't consider refusing. Izzy knows the summons must be important, because "Bear never ask[s] for anything." Even though the sky looks ominous, Izzy puts on her striped scarf, grabs a lantern and hurries out, just as the "flakes [begin] to flutter down." The snow continues to fall, piling "deeper and deeper and deeper" until, before long, Izzy finds herself stalled, up to her chest in snow.

Shelf Talker: When Bear asks Izzy to come over "at once," Izzy and her friends Scritch, Bingle and Snaffie brave a dark and stormy night to get there.