Little Bee Bookshop, a children's bookstore focused on accessibility and environmental and social responsibility, will open in Ayer, Mass., before the start of the school year. 

Owner Debra Rivera will sell predominantly used books along with remainders and new titles through a Bookshop.org affiliate page. There will be a small section for adults, and Rivera's nonbook plans include quality toys, a small selection of cards and other items made by local craftspeople and artists.

Rivera explained that she has tried to be as "environmentally and socially conscious," as she can, and when it comes to sourcing things for the store she's tried hard to "find things that are already in existence." Aside from a few rugs and "a couple small items," she's succeeded in that goal. What she's most proud of are handcrafted bookshelves that she sourced from an elementary school in Massachusetts that was slated for demolition.

Her event plans include storytime sessions and drop-in craft times. She has an art wall set up, and once the store opens, kids will be able to come in and use the store's supplies to create art they can put up on the wall. While the store is small, Rivera noted that she has kept things as "modular as possible" so the bookstore can be easily rearranged. In addition to children's events, she has already had conversations about hosting local mom groups and home-schooling groups.

When it comes to sourcing used children's books, Rivera said the process has been a "pleasant surprise." She's been "really fussy" about quality, and at first most of her books came from donations from friends and family. Once used books sales resumed this year, she started traveling "all around New England" to source books.

Rivera said she's been "kind of blown away" by how excited everyone in the community has been. "People have been so supportive and wonderful."

Jenn Carlson is the new owner of Sparta Books, Sparta, N.J. The bookshop, which is more than 50 years old, had been put up for sale by owners Donna and Bill Fell in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Carlson announced the acquisition of the store on Facebook recently, adding: "Thank you to everyone who has supported us through the process.... I'm so excited to welcome everyone and get to know the wonderful and loyal readers that make this store so unique and special. You'll get to know my family as well--my husband, Brad, and our two boys, Ty & Brody.

"Thank you to the Mondragons for all that you did to pull the little store through the Covid-19 shut down last year. And to Linda Schurmann and Susan Perricone, the amazing women that have worked here for years, and to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. Without them Sparta Books would no longer be here for us all to enjoy. Please stop by and thank them. Inventory is very low and it will take a week or two to build some of it back up, but gift cards are available again!"

On Instagram this week, Carlson added: "As the new owner of Sparta Books, I'm proud and excited to keep this treasured bookstore in our community. We're a local family, and maintaining the charm and small-town feeling found here is as important to us as it is to you. Hope to meet you all soon!"

Owner Teresa Kenney has set September 10 as the grand opening date for her new bookstore, Village Books. The 1,500-square-foot bookstore will open in a small shopping center in The Woodlands, Tex., a planned community not far from Houston. 

The bookstore will sell new books for all ages along with a collection of gift items and coffee and tea. Kenney's event plans include multilingual children's story hours, author readings, classes, and workshops. While Kenney has no prior experience in bookselling, she is also a writer and magazine editor.

The store has long been in the works: in February 2020 Kenney first announced her plans to open Village Books, but the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic forced her to drastically alter her plans. She not only had to push back the opening but also found a new location, though she maintained an online presence throughout the pandemic and held a youth writing contest last summer.

Kenney noted that her birthday is September 10, which would make for double the celebration.

Amazon has major plans for expansion in Florida, with six new facilities scheduled to open in 2022, including a robotics fulfillment center and five additional delivery stations. The 630,000 square-foot fulfillment center will be in Tallahassee, while new delivery stations are planned for Melbourne, Riviera Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Myers and St. Petersburg (City of Pinellas Park). The company has more than 50 customer fulfillment and delivery locations in Florida.

"We are pleased to welcome Amazon to the City of Melbourne. Amazon's first investment here will bring new jobs and opportunities to further strengthen our growing economy," said Mayor Paul Alfrey.

Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook added: "We greatly appreciate the work of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, who worked with city staff to see this opportunity become a reality."

This announcement came just one week after Amazon said it would build a one-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Port St. Lucie, also scheduled for 2022. The facility would join fulfillment and sortation centers in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.

Mark Marzano, director of operations at Amazon, said, "We are grateful for the strong support we've received from local and state leaders as we broaden our footprint throughout the Sunshine State."

St. Lucie County Commission chair Chris Dzadovsky called the news "a testament of how the outside corporate world sees the benefit of local government cooperation that offers certainty and speed-to-market. Without the stability created through government agency cooperation, these investments would likely not come our way.”

Novelist Siân James, who "published books celebrating the lives and loves of women, especially Welsh women," died July 21, the Guardian reported. She was 90. James won the Yorkshire Post first novel prize for One Afternoon in 1975, an event that "announced the arrival of a mature new writer." Her third book, A Small Country, won the 1979 Yorkshire Post novel prize. 

James's focus "was often on the relationships between women and men: marriage, affairs and the place a woman might win and hold for herself in a century that offered more freedoms and opportunities," the Guardian wrote, adding that she "was deeply committed to Wales, its history and the political engagement of its people to the causes of pacifism and social reform, particularly feminism."

Over the course of four decades, James published 13 novels, two collections of short stories and a memoir, The Sky Over Wales (1998). Her 1997 short story collection, Not Singing Exactly, won the Wales Book of the Year award. 

A Small Country, which is recognized as one of the outstanding novels from Wales, was adapted as a Welsh-language TV series, Calon Gaeth, winner of the 2007 Bafta Cymru award for best drama/drama serial for television. James revisited the Evans family and that period around World War I in her last published work, Return to Hendre Ddu (2009). Despite living in England for most of her adult life, she "remained a keen Welsh speaker and translated Kate Roberts's novel Y Byw Sy'n Cysgu, which appeared in 2006 as The Awakening," the Guardian noted.

In a tribute for the Wales Arts Review, Emma Schofield observed: "Writers of Siân James's calibre and skill do not come along every day, but Wales has been fortunate to benefit from her writing for several decades. As the literary world remembers a writer who wrote with grace, wit and honesty, James's writing may find its way to new audiences, where the poignancy of her characters and stories still has so much to say about the lives of women in Wales."

Congratulations to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc), which celebrated its 25th anniversary last night! The Zoom event was hosted by author Isaac Fitzgerald (above, r., toasting with Binc executive director Pam French). Honorees and introducers included Ann Patchett, Niki Coffman, Leigh Bardugo, Anthony Doerr, Celeste Ng, Jeff Kinney, David Steward II, Kuo-Yu Liang, Garth Stein, Steven Malk, Mac Barnett, Min Lin Jee, Jason Reynolds and Jim Lee. Former Borders executive Anne Kubek honored former Borders CEO George Mrkonic, who, in 1996, launched the foundation as "an internal United Way" to help booksellers in need. Everyone praised Binc's work helping bookstore, booksellers, comic shops and comic shop staff, and some recounted particular cases. Concerning the past year, as DC's Jim Lee said, "Batman couldn't have done it better."

For more about Binc and its 25 years of helping the industry, see the Shelf Awareness dedicated issue that we published July 7.

Posted on Facebook yesterday by Let's Play Books! bookstore, Emmaus, Pa.: "Where do booksellers go on vacation? Where do you think?! Loved visiting with the owner of Off the Beaten Path bookstore today--they have a fabulous selection of books (as you may be able to tell from Maddie’s pile)! Check out Bob's new podcast Weaponize Literacy #obpbooks."

Off the Beaten Path, Lakewood, N.Y., agreed: "It's impossible for a bookseller to not seek out the nearest bookstore when traveling. Happy to host the fine folks of Let's Play Books Bookstore!"

"Our dedicated booksellers are working this heat wave with no AC (parts coming Friday!) so they're all getting gift cards for a cool after work treat. Gelato from @gelato_dolceria won't fix the air handlers, but it will certainly help us feel a teeny bit better, don't ya' think?!!" Inkwood Books, Haddonfield, N.J., posted on Facebook Wednesday.

At Chronicle Books:

Diane Levinson has been promoted to associate director of publicity. Previously she was senior publicist.

Natalie Nicolson has been promoted to senior marketing manager. Previously she was marketing manager, entertainment.

Maggie Haas has been promoted to associate manager of website & ecommerce. Previously she was website & ecommerce coordinator.

Keely Thomas-Menter has joined the company as food & lifestyle publicist.

Ailyn Pambid has joined the company as marketing & publicity assistant, adult marketing.

Pirate's Gold by Andrew Coe (Four Winds Press).

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel Dune "is going to be a movie with a massive scale, but it seems that even our wildest imaginations of just how big it could be might be selling it short," io9 reported. "It turns out this movie is going to be so epic, so sweeping, so regal, even its making of book will have its very own Hans Zimmer score."

The Oscar-winning composer of Dune's soundtrack "was so inspired when he looked at the upcoming behind-the-scenes book from Insight Editions, he decided to write some musical accompaniment," io9 noted. The Art and Soul of Dune by executive producer Tanya Lapointe, which "will be available both in standard and jaw-dropping limited editions," is going to have a dedicated Zimmer score available to download and stream upon release on October 22, the same date as the film’s debut. 

Filming is underway in Ireland on Netflix's film adaptation of The Wonder, based on Emma Donoghue's novel and starring Florence Pugh, Deadline reported. Sebastian Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) is directing a cast that also includes Tom Burke, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Dermot Crowley, Brían F. O'Byrne and David Wilmot. The film is due for release in 2022.

Donoghue is co-adapting her story with Lelio and Alice Birch. Producers are Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell for House Productions, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures. Exec producers are Donoghue, Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen. Cinematographer is Ari Wegner (Lady Macbeth).

Lelio said: "Bringing the powerful novel The Wonder by Emma Donoghue to the screen not only offers me the chance to portray the collision between reason and faith, individual and community, obedience and rebellion, but also to explore my own interpretation of what a 'period' film can be. I couldn't be more thrilled that the magnetic and courageous Florence Pugh will play our fierce female lead."

The City of Toronto and Toronto Public Library have released a shortlist for the Toronto Book Awards. The winner will be named in a ceremony this fall. Each shortlisted finalist receives C$1,000 (about US$800), with C$10,000 (about US$8,025) given to the winner. This year's finalists are:

Missing from the Village by Justin Ling
Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez
Æther: An Out-of-Body Lyric by Catherine Graham 
Swimmers in Winter by Faye Guenther 
On Property by Rinaldo Walcott 
Speak, Silence by Kim Echlin 

photo: Michael Woolsey

Shugri Said Salh was born in the desert of Somalia in 1974 and spent her early years living as a nomad. In 1992, she emigrated to North America after civil war broke out in her home country. She attended nursing school at Pacific Union College and graduated with honors. Salh has been storytelling since she could talk. From her grandmother and the nomadic community in which she was raised, she heard stories and learned of their power to entertain, teach and transform. When she isn't writing or telling stories, she works as an infusion nurse. She lives in California's Sonoma County with her husband and three children. The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert (Algonquin, August 3, 2021) is her first book.

On your nightstand now:

I always have a pile of books and read several at a time. I just finished The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, both of which I loved. The whole idea of "race jumping" in The Vanishing Half intrigued me, and how the twins lived completely opposite lives--one Black and poor and one white and privileged--and the secrets and deceptions it took for one to live as a white woman. Where the Crawdads Sing married my two favorite subjects: nature and love. Delia Owens wove a beautiful story that had me reading the book everywhere I went--in the tub, on a hike, on the toilet.

I am currently in the midst of reading two books. The first is What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey. After I lost my beloved younger brother to alcohol addiction this past spring, I wanted to delve deeper into understanding the price of trauma. The other book I am reading right now is Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I have always been fascinated by those who lived before us and how they survived. If I hadn't become a nurse and a writer, I would have been an anthropologist.

Favorite book when you were a child:

When I was a child, I did not have books to read. Living in the nomadic lands of Somalia, I was immersed in our oral tradition of storytelling and reciting poetry around the fire at night. I heard stories of brave ancestors battling other tribes or wild animals, traditional tales and poems composed on the spot. One of the stories that enchanted and frightened me as a little girl was the story of Dhegdheer, a long-eared evil witch that ate disobedient nomadic children. The story was designed to scare children and keep them from wandering off into unsafe territory, but there were also a few wise children who outsmarted Dhegdheer. This is what really captivated me about the story--I envisioned myself as one of those heroic children who could outsmart Dhegdheer.

Your top five authors:

Right now my favorite author is Delia Owens. I can't stop re-reading her book. Her descriptions move me and evoke my memories of growing up in the Somali desert and the strong connection that nomads have to the land. I also love the style of Brit Bennett, Trevor Noah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ken Follett. They all write with honesty, eloquence and relatability.

I also have to mention all of the Somali storytellers, both oral and written, that shaped my childhood. Somalia is known as a nation of poets, and I have been touched by all of the poets who tell the story of our lives.

Book you've faked reading:

I wouldn't call it faking it, but I really wanted to read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, but I just couldn't get through it. I think I liked the idea that it would make me look more intelligent or feel more "whole" if I read it, but for whatever reason, the concept felt unattainable to me. So rather than faking it, it feels more like I failed in my quest for this knowledge. At times I do carry a conversation as if I've read the whole book, but with closer examination it's clear that it was a half-done job.

Book you're an evangelist for:

One book I am really passionate about is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Gyasi follows the families of two half-sisters from Ghana for the last 300 years. One of the sisters was married off to an Englishman and lived a life of comfort and the other was sold to America as a slave. Following the two women's descendants through the generations is an amazing experience.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. The cover intrigued me and it's also one of those books that makes you look sophisticated to own it, but I am genuinely interested in the topic. However, in all honesty, I haven't finished reading it. It is on my list to finish on my next vacation--it's the kind of book that you have to be fully present to read and digest. I'm not giving up, because it feels like it has some answers that I am searching for.

Book you hid from your parents:

When I was in high school and living with my older sister in Mogadishu, I started being curious about sex. Somali girls were not allowed to know anything about sex--it was a completely taboo subject. So I turned to my peers, especially young girls who were getting married early, to find the answers to my questions. I wasn't aware of any books on the subject, and even if they existed, no one would sell them in public to a young girl. Since I didn't have any black market connections, I had to rely on oral information. But I definitely hid the fact that I was seeking this information from my family.

Book that changed your life:

When I first emigrated to Canada, the first book I ever read was by Sue Johanson, and it was questions and answers about female anatomy and sex. Clearly I didn't get far with my questions to my friends (turns out they didn't know much either!). Johanson's book changed my life because it taught me all the things about my body that I never knew. For a girl who grew up in a country where female circumcision was the norm, the only things I knew about my body were others shaming me and the trauma that was put on it. This book taught me about the beauty of my body and took away a layer of shame that had existed all my life. It looked like she was even celebrating the female body!

Favorite line from a book:

Over the years I have highlighted or marked so many favorite lines that it is hard to choose, but my most recent favorite line is from Where the Crawdads Sing. It is part of a poem that the main character wrote:

"Luring him was as easy/ As flashing valentines./ But like a lady firefly/ They hid a secret call to die."

These lines echo the deep oral tradition of my family.

Five books you'll never part with:

Educated by Tara Westover, Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Vanishing Half and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I know that's six. I couldn't leave any of those out.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

Don Quixote. My brilliant poet brother recommended this book to me 20 years ago, but I just couldn't grasp the language at that time. I kept picking it up and putting it down and trying to struggle through it. Recently, my brother passed away unexpectedly and I want to read Don Quixote again, both to see if I can now understand it better and to connect to my brother by reading one of his beloved favorites.

Other memoirs that inspired your writing:

I read a lot of memoirs and I am especially inspired by those that are crafted in an engaging way and really bring a story alive for the audience. But the two memoirs which guided me the most are When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. When Breath Becomes Air encouraged and further inspired me with the beautiful writing and the way he drew the reader into his story. And I found A Long Way Gone to be eloquent and engaging even though the subject matter was brutal at times. It made me realize that I too could produce something captivating while sharing my story.

Journalist and novelist Dawn Turner (Only Twice I've Wished for Heaven; An Eighth of August) has spent her career writing about the intersections of politics, race and class in Chicago and across the United States, including coverage of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. In Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood, those same connections become the lens through which Turner explores her own childhood memories, as well as those of her sister and childhood best friend, whose lives started so similarly and diverged in remarkable and heartbreaking ways over the decades.

"To understand Debra, Kim and me--to understand what will happen to us," writes Turner in the introduction, "you have to know the place that has begun to shape us." That place is Bronzeville, a historic Chicago community known as the "cradle of the city's Great Migration, the epicenter of Black business and culture." This three-square-mile community is the setting of Turner's story--and life--as the neighborhood is increasingly affected by systemic disinvestment, racially motivated policing and the opioid epidemic. Against that backdrop, Turner recalls growing up with her younger sister, Kim, and best friend, Debra, doing the things kids do: sneaking notes in classes, making up adventures in the neighborhood, trying to do right by their parents. Somewhere along the way, though, their three paths diverged: Turner, heading to college and marriage and a successful career; Kim, struggling with alcoholism and dead of a heart attack at far too young an age; and Debra, caught in the throes of addiction and sent to jail for murder.

This divergence forms the central tension of Three Girls from Bronzeville, as Turner attempts to understand how three young Black girls with such similar childhoods could have such dramatically different fates. Turner's exploration ties back again to Bronzeville's past and present, as she comes to the realization that Kim and Debra's paths were shaped as much by circumstance and opportunity--or lack thereof--as by their own individual decisions. "Debra and Kim didn't have to dream my dreams," she writes. "I just wanted them to have--and make--better choices."

Turner's vivid recollections of her girlhood in Bronzeville ground Three Girls from Bronzeville in the experiences of those in the Chicago neighborhood, as Turner expertly combines memoir and social history in her analysis of the many systems that made Bronzeville into the place it is today--and how those same oppressive systems shape the lives of even society's youngest neighbors. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Shelf Talker: A seasoned journalist turns an incisive lens on her own past to understand how race, politics and class shaped the lives of three young Black girls.

Considering that I've never, as far as I can tell, written about National Book Lovers Day (August 9) before last Friday's column, doing so for the second week in a row is the very definition of unprecedented. But a couple of things struck me, the first being just how popular the unofficial holiday turned out to be on social media among indie booksellers, including:

Hickory Stick Bookshop, Washington, Conn.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day from your bookselling team at The Hickory Stick! We think every day should be Book Lovers Day but whatever you're reading today, enjoy!  Actually... what are you reading today?"

The Little Bookshop, Midlothian, Va.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day!! We've been so busy reading books, we almost forgot!!"

Pig City Books, Lexington, N.C.: "Happy National Book Lover's Day! I'm thinking we should normalize presents for National holidays? If you would like to celebrate a reader in your life, feel free to check out our website and order your loved one a new read! Local pickup & international delivery available! Hope you all get to spend at least a part of your day with your nose in a good book!"

Inklings Bookshop, Yakima, Wash.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day! Here are your local Inklings Book Lovers with some of their favorite books."

Nowhere Bookshop, San Antonio, Tex.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day!! 'Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.' "

Prairie Fox Books, Ottawa, Ill.: "Happy Book Lovers Day! We still have used books left 10 for $1.00... come and grab some great hardcovers and see what changes we are making to our kids section!"

Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Mo.: "At Skylark every day is book lovers day, but today it's National Book Lovers Day! (Really!!)."

Secondly, I learned that Google seemed to R&Ding an AI conscience of sorts (for 24 hours at least) and celebrated NBLD by sharing "top U.S. trends from Search and Maps for our fellow bibliophiles out there, along with tips to hunt down local bookstores that are worth, well, bookmarking.... So far this year we've seen millions of book-related searches on Google Maps--with searches peaking on July 11 when they were up 111% from the same day in 2020. Beach reads anyone?"

Thus far in 2021, the top five genres on Google Search for "Best... books" are fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, historical fiction and fiction. "Books about..." searches were led by love, life and mental health.

As might be expected, Google's tips on finding great bookstores were, well, Google-centric: "Discover bookstores near you and save to lists for a future visit.... Use the Explore tab on the Google Maps app to search for bookstores near you"; and "Follow others on Google Maps for their recommendations. Show love for local bookstores. Leave reviews, add photos, update hours or other missing details about your favorite book stores so other bookworms can discover and learn about the spots you love."

Google also said that more than 40 states have at least one comic book store among their top 10 searched bookstores, with Florida at the head of the rankings with eight comic book stores in its top 10 most-searched bookstores on Google Maps.

In addition to offering some tips to "track down and support independent bookstores near you," Google noted: "And don't worry, if you're wondering where you are going to store and display your latest novels--you're not alone. In January, search interest for 'bookcase' hit an all time high."

Search Engine Journal dove into the numbers a bit: "Ever ready to respond to a trend, Google hopped on the book-loving bandwagon with some search data and tips that marketers can take advantage of to better their strategies and shoppers can use to find hidden treasure in the form of local bookshops."

Citing the rise in "bookcase" searches ("largely surpassing 'book shelf' "), SEJ wrote: "Not only did Google showcase the types of terms marketers within the publishing or independent bookshop sectors can target as part of their digital advertising efforts, but they also touched upon other online shopping trends related to reading.... This not only helps marketers with allocating their advertising budgets but also when deciding what products to stock in the short and long term.... Optimizing for Google can often be a serious topic, so it's extremely refreshing when Google delivers information in quirky and fun ways."

Ultimately, however, independent booksellers are not a collection of neatly categorized algorithms. So I'll leave the final words of indie NBLD wisdom to Word After Word Books, Truckee, Calif., which recently moved and expanded (during the Covid-19 pandemic, no less!):

"Happy National Book Lovers Day! Today we wanted to show you our booksellers' smiling faces (well, we're smiling behind our masks, we promise) along with some of our favorite books we've read lately! As you would imagine, we are all devoted book lovers and passionately opinionated about the books we read and adore and absorb into our hearts.

"We ship our books across the nation, so you can order a book (or several) from our wordafterwordbooks.com to send to the book lover in your life, near or far. Not only that, but we personally add complimentary gift wrapping and a bookmark to every order we ship. What has been *your* favorite book you've read lately??"