Sleepy Dog Books in progress.

Sleepy Dog Books plans to host its grand opening on May 6 at 120 E. Broadway in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. Spartan Newsroom reported that the celebration will include live music downtown, as well as an array of other local businesses setting up booths and pop-up shops on the street. 

The new bookshop is owned and operated by Riley and Jennifer Justis, graduates of Central Michigan University and lifelong educators who settled in Mt. Pleasant to raise their children. The Justis kids also inspired the name of the store when reading to their two dogs became a family tradition. 

"We always said to ourselves we were going to try to find a place to raise our kids by the time they were in kindergarten and stick to that place,” said Riley Justis. "Mt. Pleasant just happened to be the place that we moved to for my Ph.D. We fell back in love with the community from the family side."

Sleepy Dog is currently offering online ordering in advance of the bricks-and-mortar debut, and "has also given the community small tastes of the store with pop-up booths at local events. Filled with books and other merchandise, the pop-ups are a preview of what is to come," Spartan Newsroom noted.

"The community support, the community outreach--the outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous," said Justis. 

Recently the shop posted on Instagram: "Big things happening at Sleepy Dog Books! Our first round of books have arrived!! Thousands of books are making their way to the shelves... and more to come!!!"

At the Book Industry Study Group's annual meeting on April 22 in New York City, the organization will present two awards:

The Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service will go to Joe Gonnella, an industry veteran whose career included roles at Waldenbooks, Bantam Doubleday Dell, and more than 30 years at Barnes & Noble, where he was v-p, publisher relations. During his time at B&N, Gonnella served on the BISG board for nearly two decades, including several years as its chair. His direction and support was critical in moving the industry forward on the adoption of the ISBN-13 identifier, work that was done in BISG committees and adopted by the book industry in 2007.

The Industry Champion Award is going to Pat Payton, senior manager, provider relations at ProQuest, part of Clarivate, whose career includes service with Borders, Bowker and now ProQuest. Her involvement with BISG started 15 years ago, and over that time she has led efforts to develop and maintain the BISG guide to metadata best practices, helped create BISG's educational product taxonomy, and worked with the Library of Congress to map ONIX metadata fields to their catalogue-in-publication (CIP) portal, among many contributions.

The awards will be presented as part of the lunchtime program at the annual meeting, which will take place at the Harvard Club of New York. Registration is now open, with options available for in-person and virtual attendance.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey has been selected as the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion, an annual commendation that recognizes a lifetime of devoted literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers. Winfrey will accept her award, along with this year's PEN/Faulkner Award winner and finalists, in a virtual celebration to be held on May 2. 
 
"Oprah Winfrey is a literary force field," said PEN/Faulkner board v-p Mary Haft. "She has been like a lighthouse, standing sentry and shining a beacon of light onto literature and into the lives of writers and readers."
 
The PEN/Faulkner Foundation created the PEN/Faulkner Literary Champion in 2020, on the occasion of the organization's 40th anniversary. The inaugural recipient, recognized in 2021, was award-winning actor and longtime Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

"What is the one book all of Canada should read?" asks Canada Reads every year. CBC's "Battle of the Books" (March 28-31) is currently underway. Each day, celebrity panelists champion books and vote to eliminate one, until a single title is chosen for whole country to read. Using the theme "One Book to Connect Us," the 2022 finalists are: 

• Ojibway author and Vogue fashion writer Christian Allaire champions Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
• Actor and activist Malia Baker champions Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
• Entrepreneur and former Syrian refugee Tareq Hadhad champions What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
• Forest ecologist and author Suzanne Simard champions Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller
• Olympian and LGBTQ2+ advocate Mark Tewksbury champions Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Hosted by Ali Hassan, the debates are broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC Listen, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books. Spoiler alert: thus far, What Strange Paradise and Life in the City of Dirty Water have been voted off Canada Reads '22.

The Book Keeper in Sarnia, Ont., is among booksellers keeping score: "Despite the phrase "comin' in hot" being said a record number of times for a CBC radio 1 program, the first day of the Canada Reads 2022 debate was super classy! Life in the City of Dirty Water... championed by Suzanne Simard... was voted off.  I really wanted to hear more of what she had to say about the book. Ah well. The nature of the beast!!! Five Little Indians... received zero votes against. In the grand scheme of things, this means little... but in the strategy side of things, in the mental game, something to consider!!!" 

And from Analog Books, Lethbridge, Alb.: "It's Canada Reads week and the debate is well underway with one book already voted off the table. What better way to connect to all the books that connect us than a visit to Analog Books. All Canada Reads titles are in stock now.... Follow along as the week unfolds to reveal the one book to 'Connect Us All.' "

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In Belgium, Marc Filipson, founder and CEO of the Brussels bookstore chain Filigranes, will step aside from his position "following a harassment complaint lodged against him by his current employees," the Brussels Times reported. A new director will be hired.

More than half of the company's 95 full-time employees had "filed a collective complaint against him with the Securex social insurance fund, relating to various forms of harassment and poor working conditions," the Times wrote, noting that Filipson "apologized to all who were hurt and 'may have been hurt.' He added that he will start therapy in the coming days to work on his 'bad habits.... I have understood that I have work to do.' "

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Indian bookstore chain Higginbothams has closed its 75-year-old iconic shop on MG Road in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The New Indian Express called Higginbothams "one of the stores that popularized the concept of a retail general bookstore in Kerala. For years it remained the preferred spot for booklovers to get their hands on the latest paperbacks by their favorite authors."

"We used to go there with friends and spend time there. I was disheartened when I heard about its closure. Just like the shutting down of the British Library, this too has come as a shock," said Sukesh R Pillai, founder of Books and Beyond, adding that it is time the concept of bookstores changed. "Now e-books are available everywhere. Some are even free online. Many online stores offer high discounts also. This is one of the main reasons for the lack of business at bookstores. Selling books alone will not help revive bookstores. They should offer a space for reading at stores and allow students to come and refer to the books for research. Add on features like book clubs, celebrity talks etc. would help woo readers back to bookstores." --Robert Gray

Todd Gitlin

Todd Gitlin, "whose immersion in the student rebellions of the 1960s laid the foundation for his later work as a writer, a cultural historian and both a voice and a critic of the left," died February 5, the New York Times reported. He was 79. A memorial to honor his life will be held Saturday, April 9, 3:30-5 p.m. at Columbia University's Low Memorial Library on 535 West 116th St. in New York City.

A professor of journalism and sociology, Gitlin was chair of the Ph.D. program in Communications at Columbia University, and an honorary professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is the author of 16 books, including The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage; The Twilight of Common Dreams: Why America Is Wracked with Culture Wars; Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives; The Whole World Is Watching; the novel Sacrifice, which won the Harold Ribalow Award for Fiction on Jewish Themes; and co-author of The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and the Ordeals of Divine Election. His novel The Opposition will be published June 1 by Guernica World Editions.  

Gitlin "personified the cultural and political ambitions of the '60s, with a continuous readiness to confront orthodoxies of whatever stripe," the Times wrote, adding that as a president of Students for a Democratic Society, he assisted in organizing the first national demonstration against the war and helped lead the first protests in the U.S. against apartheid in South Africa. 

Although he spent his adult life as an academic, Gitlin "considered himself first and foremost a writer," the Times noted. In an interview, Harvey Molotch, a sociologist and longtime colleague from the 1960s, called him "a contemplative activist," one who "searched for ways to integrate the urgent needs of everyday life with larger political and social goals." 

By late 2021, Gitlin's activism "had taken the form of organizing a group of ideologically disparate writers and activists to oppose continuing efforts by Republicans, under the sway of former President Donald J. Trump, to undermine free and fair elections," the Times wrote. 

Michael Kazin, a historian and longtime friend who is a former co-editor of Dissent magazine, said Gitlin "had made a transition that others had not, from revolutionary and radical politics to a more practical politics, a sort of left wing of the possible."

The Strand in New York City hosted the launch for human rights lawyer Kate Kelly's Ordinary Equality: The Fearless Women and Queer People Who Shaped the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Rights Amendment (Gibbs Smith) Monday night. Kelly (l.) was in conversation with her co-host on the Ordinary Equality podcast, Jamia Wilson.

Yesterday was National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, and several independent booksellers got in on the fun with social media posts, including: 

Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, N.C.: "Today is Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. We are grateful to be a part of this community. And today, we celebrate all the small, family owned businesses that make Wake Forest special."

Abalabix Books, Crystal Lake, Ill.: "Today is National Mom and Pop Business Day! ⁠Be sure to stop by your favorite independent businesses today to celebrate! "

Two Birds Books, Santa Cruz, Calif.: "Happy National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day! Here's to all the small, local businesses who talk shop at family meals and happily take on the less glamorous tasks alongside the fun ones. Our community is what it is because of you!--Gary & Denise. You can support your favorite local businesses by: Talking them up--word of mouth advertising is invaluable for small shops; giving gift cards from local businesses as gifts; sharing social media content from your favorite small shops to help more people find out about them; show your favorite local mom-and-pop shops some love by tagging them!"

Next Page Books, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: "Today is National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day and our small business could not be more 'mom and pop' if we tried. However, instead of focusing on us today, we want to acknowledge everyone who continues to support our business and the other small brick-and-mortar shops that make New Bohemia such a special place. We could not do this without you and, for that, we're eternally grateful.... Thanks for shopping local, Cedar Rapids. We're happy to serve you!"

"This is basically Spring Training for book lovers," Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, Fla., noted in sharing a bookstore fitness video on Facebook.

Signs of spring: fresh air, fresh books. Posted on Facebook yesterday by Pearl's Books, Fayetteville, Ark.: "Our new releases wanted some fresh air today! Come take one home so they can be truly happy!"

Rumble and Roar: Sound Around the World by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Khoa Le (Millbrook Press).

Today:
Fresh Air: A.J. Baime, author of White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America's Darkest Secret (Mariner Books, $30, 9780358447757).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Brené Brown, author of The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition (Hazelden Publishing, $16.95, 9781616499600). Brown will also be on Ellen tomorrow.

Apple TV+ has given a nine-episode series order to Dark Matter, based on Blake Crouch's sci-fi novel, with Joel Edgerton attached to star, Deadline reported. Crouch will write the pilot script and serve as showrunner. The project has been in development at Apple since 2020. 

Matt Tolmach (Jumanji franchise) is exec producing, and Sony Pictures Television will produce for Apple TV+. Edgerton and Crouch are also executive producers, and Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me) is set to direct the first four episodes.

The eight winners of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, administered by Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and honoring "literary achievement across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, at every stage of their careers," have been announced. Each recipient is given a grant of $165,000.

Mike Kelleher, director of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, said: "Across 10 extraordinary years, the Windham-Campbell Prizes have celebrated exceptional literary achievement and nurtured great talent by giving the precious gifts of time, space and creative freedom. We are proud to mark our 10th anniversary with the most exciting list of recipients yet. Led by a trailblazing group of global women's voices, these writers’ ambitious, skillful, and moving work bridges the distance between the history of nations and a deeply personal sense of self."

This year's winners:

Fiction:
Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (Zimbabwe)

Nonfiction:
Margo Jefferson (U.S.)
Emmanuel Iduma (Nigeria)

Drama:
Winsome Pinnock (U.K.)
Sharon Bridgforth (U.S.)

Poetry:
Wong May (Ireland/Singapore/China)
Zaffar Kunial (U.K.)

photo: Rich Porter

Khan Wong has published poetry and played cello in a folk-rock duo. As an internationally known hula hoop teacher and performer, he's also toured with a circus, taught workshops all over the world, and produced flow arts shows in San Francisco. He's worked in the nonprofit arts for many years, most recently as an arts funder for a public sector grantmaking agency. His science fiction/fantasy debut is The Circus Infinite (Angry Robot Books, March 8, 2022), a found-family, queer space fantasy

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

Love found families, aliens and circuses? Want to dive into the bohemian underbelly of a spacefaring civilization? This book is for you. With love!

On your nightstand now:

Currently in the middle of Jade City by Fonda Lee. A bit late to the party on this one, but it is definitely living up to the hype. A martial arts crime syndicate fantasy featuring jade-fueled magic? All the yes. I'm looking forward to finishing the whole trilogy.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron. This was my first exposure to aliens and space travel in a book and it really impacted my imagination. I got it at a Scholastic Book Fair.

Your top five authors:

Ursula K. Le Guin: For her emphasis on the social sciences and the way she explored race, gender, sexuality and different ways society can be organized. Everyone knows the big novels, but my favorite of hers is The Word for World Is Forest, a novella with a very strong environmentalist theme.

Octavia Butler: I admire the way she explores race and power dynamics (related to race and other factors) and politics. And just really great stories. My favorite work of hers is the Xenogenesis Trilogy (re-issued as Lilith's Brood), which features some amazing aliens and a deep exploration of what's essentially human.

Neil Gaiman: The Sandman series is a foundational text for me. I love it for how it blows open what comics can do, the meta-narrative about storytelling and myth, the worldbuilding. The Endless are a brilliant creation. I also love his prose novels, with Neverwhere being a particular favorite.

Jonathan Lethem: I've followed his career since his debut, and admire the way his work erodes the line between genre and "literary." It's an aspect I hope to nurture in my own writing. That being said, I do prefer the early works. Amnesia Moon is my favorite.

Maxine Hong Kingston: Her deep exploration of the Chinese American experience, and the way she blends nonfiction and fiction really inspired me when I first set out to write. I feel like I'm hearing stories from a wise auntie when I read her. My favorites of hers are her earliest works, The Woman Warrior and China Men. I think of them as a duology.

Book you've faked reading:

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. It was assigned reading for a class in college, and I somehow got a B+ on the paper I wrote for it.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I have two: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and Imajica by Clive Barker. I fell in love with the, shall we say, eccentric, carnival family of the former and the epic worldbuilding and unfolding mysteries of the latter. Both of these books had their heyday but seem to be fading in the mists of time. They're both masterpieces, in my opinion. Both of these books deserve to be read, studied and analyzed especially by aspiring writers. Both would make for fantastic adaptations in the right hands. Imajica just cries out for the big-budget premium cable/streaming series treatment.

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. It was the combo of the wonderful, evocative title and the cover art that did it. I rarely buy a book on this basis alone; I can't really think of another one.

Book you hid from your parents:

The Lord Won't Mind by Gordon Merrick. Because it's very, very gay. I was 16 and was so nervous buying it on my lunch break at my job at the mall.

Book that changed your life:

I can't say that any book has changed my life, to be honest. But the book that blew my mind the most and really shifted my perspective on life and the world and humanity was Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

Favorite line from a book:

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

The famous opening line from Neuromancer by William Gibson. Not a profound line that reveals the meaning of life or anything, but the conciseness, the rhythm, the mood and hint of worldbuilding in this simple sentence is just *chef's kiss*.

Five books you'll never part with:

Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman. It's my favorite arc of the Sandman series. If I can count the whole series as one book, I would. But if I have to consider them individually, this one. It's also signed, made out to me and my partner, with a sketch of Dream by Neil's own hand. I watched him draw it!

Imajica by Clive Barker. One of the books I evangelize. I just love it and have re-read it multiple times. Also a signed edition.

The Complete Poems of Cavafy, Rae Dalven translation. Before I focused on writing SFF, I wrote poetry and Cavafy was foundational for me.

Engine Summer by John Crowley. Along with Imajica, one of the books I've most re-read. I love the world, and the pervasive melancholy just gets me.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I read this for the first time during an idyllic summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. The hauntedness, the longing, the FEELS.

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

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. For the revelation. If you know, you know.

The story or concept you wish you had come up with:

Not a book, but the concept of the Netflix series Sense8. Disparate strangers who find themselves mysteriously psychically linked? All the themes of connection, empathy, community with action and in-your-face-queerness? Yeah.

More than a foot tall and nine inches wide, the exquisite The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky, by Korean author/illustrator Kim Jihyun, makes a magnificent first impression. The pages within showcase spectacular illustrations and, without a single word, gorgeously reveal a story of family, nature and discovery. Two parents, their young son and playful pup leave their city apartment for a car trip through country roads and rolling hills to where grandparents await.

While the adults are busy with warm greetings, the boy notices a winding trail just beyond the windows. With the pup following closely behind, he ventures into the nearby forest. Through the trees, boy and dog discover a small wooden dock on a wide-open lake. The boy dives in to discover a wondrous underwater world of swaying plants and curious fish. Back on land, boy and dog soak in the bright sun until it's time to return to the house for a boisterous family meal. As darkness falls, the shimmering nighttime beckons boy and dog back out for a starry spectacle.

Kim's art, in her debut book, proves both visually splendid and cleverly contextual. The car's license plate, for example, is KIM702, perhaps summoning a personal trip, hinting at a July vacation jaunt. The grandparents, Kim suggests, are maternal: framed photographs on the living room wall depict family members, including a portrait of a little girl in a wide-brimmed bonnet. By day's end, the pup might have a new friend, as a black cat approaches the window in which the canine perches and waits.

The illustrations are "entirely drawn and painted using writing ink and slow-dry blending medium." Kim's opening palette is predominantly black, white and in-between greys, with just the merest suggestions of underlying blue. As the family transitions from city to country, the single color expands and intensifies. Every page turn brightens the scenery, as Kim deftly employs varying hues of blue to mirror the variations on the water's surface or to capture the limitless expanse of uninterrupted, soporific skies. The concluding author's note provides the book's origin story: a summer stay "in a lakeside town in another country." She dexterously transforms memories of what she calls "soft sunlight," "gentle breeze," "the deep lake," "countless stars" and night sky into a dazzling masterpiece. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

Shelf Talker: The depth of the lake and the height of the sky are brilliantly captured in this wordless picture book masterpiece about a trip to the countryside.