Books Around the Corner, Gresham, Ore., is relocating to 393 NE Kelly Ave. and will host an "official re-re-re-re-opening and first Spooky Day" on Independent Bookstore Day, April 30. The bookstore had closed its bricks-and mortar operation in early February due to financial and health problems.

"In the midst of everything, all the ups and downs, we've found a permanent home not only for Books Around the Corner but for our family," owner Stephanie Rose Csaszar noted in announcing the development. "That's right we found our very own Bob's Burgers setup and just closed on the purchase of our very own condo. We are lucky that the condo is a mixed-use space already set up for a business downstairs and an apartment upstairs. The seller is willing to carry the loan for us the first five years to make this all possible. With my chronic health conditions, I won't be open to the public on a regular basis but will be in some capacity."

Books Around the Corner will primarily be open by appointment, while offering pickup and continuing to ship books. The store's Halloween/spooky theme also continues, focused primarily on horror, mystery and true-crime titles for all ages, along with favorite titles in other genres as well as used books. On "Spooky Days" (usually a Friday, Saturday or Sunday throughout the month), Books Around the Corner will be open to the public all day, with no appointment required.

Union staff at the Greenlight Bookstores and Yours Truly, Brooklyn, N.Y., have unanimously ratified their first union contract with the two bookstores and stationery store, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union announced.

Representing some 40 workers who handle sales, stocking and information services, RWDSU said the contract's provisions include an increase in the minimum hiring rate; annual wage increases amounting to 9% over three years; paid time off; paid holidays; a gold healthcare plan for full-time workers, offering a lower deductible with more coverage than their previous plan; and a new ancillary care plan providing both full-time and part-time workers with telecare, vision insurance and dental insurance.

Maritza Montañez, a Greenlight Bookstore worker and member of the bargaining committee, said, "I am proud of all the work and consideration that we put into organizing our workplace and negotiating our first contract. And I'm excited that we are part of a wave of bookstore workers organizing across the country to improve their working conditions. Our organizing efforts began because we wanted to create a safer and more equitable workplace, especially for the many BIPOC employees hired as frontline booksellers during the pandemic. Our first contract does just that, increasing the base pay for new hires, scheduling annual wage increases, and providing health insurance options that will put money back in workers' pockets. Bookselling is an industry driven by part-time labor, with so many workers juggling multiple jobs but receiving no benefits. In an economy where part-timers rarely receive any sort of healthcare benefits, I'm proud that we were able to secure an ancillary plan. Importantly, we established transparent procedures for discipline, channels for grievances, and a labor management committee that will continue improving our workplace. We've put a lot of care into building our union, and I'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my co-workers to improve our working conditions."

Alvin Ramnarain, president of Local 1102 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, added, "When workers can count on the job security that only comes from a union contract, they can truly excel at their jobs. The experienced book and stationery sellers at Greenlight and Yours Truly are committed to their customers and now people can shop there knowing they're supporting good union jobs. The worker-led bargaining committee negotiated a strong first contract that will help them tremendously."

RWDSU also represents workers at book and stationery stores in New York City, including McNally Jackson, Goods for the Study and Book Culture.

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And in other union news, by a vote of 2,654 to 2,131, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., voted last week to unionize, a result that many called groundbreaking and a historic turning point in modern U.S. labor history.

As the New York Times put it, "It was a union organizing campaign that few expected to have a chance. A handful of employees at Amazon's massive warehouse on Staten Island, operating without support from national labor organizations, took on one of the most powerful companies in the world. And, somehow, they won."

The union effort was marked by several factors that observers said helped turn the tide of union losses at Amazon facilities, most recently what looks like a second losing election in Bessemer, Ala., although the vote, not yet certified, appears much closer this time.

Chris Smalls

For one, the union and the unionization effort were organized by people who work or had worked at the warehouse, particularly union president Chris Smalls, who Amazon fired in 2020 for organizing a small walkout protesting Amazon's Covid policies, which many workers found lacking. The unionization effort relied on a committed group of workers who did such things as light warming fires at the nearby bus stop for workers coming off the night shift in the winter, as well as distribute food and even marijuana. The union effort was financed by a $121,000 GoFundMe campaign.

Amazon can still appeal last week's vote, which many expect from the virulently anti-union company. (The company spent $4.3 million on anti-union consultants last year, according to the Times.) Connor Spence, v-p of membership of the Amazon Labor Union, demanded in a statement that Amazon begin negotiations in early May in light of "the decisive results of the union election." He said it was "in the common interest of both parties to respect the outcome of this democratic election."

Union president Smalls added that Amazon needs to "maintain the status quo with regards to terms and conditions of employment at [the warehouse]. Additionally, we demand the employer respect each worker's legal right to union representation in disciplinary meetings, and the outcome of any such meeting be subject to bargaining."

The Amazon Labor Union is also seeking to represent workers at another Amazon Staten Island warehouse; a vote is scheduled for late this month.

Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give and On the Come Up, will be the ambassador for this year's Independent Bookstore Day celebration, scheduled for Saturday, April 30.

"Indie bookstores are the heart of our industry, and we must continue to support them in the same way that they support and champion books," Thomas said. "With the immense impact that indie stores have had on my career, I couldn't be more honored to be the ambassador for this year's Independent Bookstore Day."

IBD has grown every year since its founding in 2013, with 872 bookstores slated to participate this year, and it will be the first in-person IBD celebration since the start of the pandemic. The week leading up to IBD will be a Spirit Week, featuring themed days and encouraging customers and staff to dress up as their favorite bookstore characters.

Bookstore Boot-Camp, the training program designed by the Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates, has gone online. Prospective bookstore owners can now find sets of educational material at OpeningABookstore.com that were previously available only through in-person workshops and retreats.

Donna Paz Kaufman

"We learned during the pandemic that interest in opening a bookstore soared to its highest level in our thirty years," said Donna Paz Kaufman, founder of the Bookstore Training Group. "When you've completed your business plan and have confirmed funding, it's important to have the steps and resources you need at your fingertips to get your bookstore open."

Included on the new website are 12 self-study training videos with hand-outs and spreadsheets that cover store design, opening inventory, merchandising, buying, marketing and more. Also available online is the "Managing Today's Bookstore" course, meant for booksellers in leadership positions who want to learn best practices for daily operations.

Founded in 1992, the Bookstore Training Group of Paz & Associates has worked with more than 1,000 existing and prospective booksellers.

Richard Howard

Richard Howard, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet "who made the venerable genre of the dramatic monologue speak in a modern voice, and whose translations brought the work of Roland Barthes, Alain Robbe-Grillet and dozens of other French writers to an Anglophone audience," died March 31, the New York Times reported. He was 92.

Howard's "intellectually finespun verse, replete with abstruse historical references, often addressed the reader directly as 'you' in words spoken by characters as various as Sir Walter Scott, John Ruskin and Edith Wharton," the Times wrote. "In his hands, a verse style most closely associated with Robert Browning re-emerged as a surprisingly nimble vehicle, allowing Mr. Howard to weave his way through a welter of poetic subjects."

His Pulitzer was awarded in 1970 for Untitled Subjects, which "presented 15 dramatic monologues spoken by Victorians and Edwardians both eminent (Sir Walter Scott) and obscure (a secretary to William Gladstone, the British prime minister)." Howard's other books include Two-Part Inventions; Talking Cures; Inner Voices: Selected Poems, 1963-2003; Misgivings; Lining Up; Trappings; Fallacies of Wonder; and The Silent Treatment. His last published collection was A Progressive Education in 2014. 

After translating two volumes of Charles de Gaulle's war memoirs, published in 1959 and 1960, Howard "introduced a pantheon's worth of French writers into English," and his rendition of the complete Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire won the American Book Award (now National Book Award) in translation in 1983. His reputation "was bolstered by his translations and critical essays. Simultaneously with Untitled Subjects, a wide-ranging collection of his criticism appeared, Alone with America: The Art of Poetry in the United States Since 1950," the Times noted. A second volume of criticism, Paper Trail: Selected Prose 1965-2003, was published in 2004.

In 1970, he joined the publishing house George Braziller as editor of its series Braziller Poets, where he advanced the careers of several younger poets, including Frank Bidart, Cynthia MacDonald, Charles Simic and J.D. McClatchy. He was the poet laureate of New York State from 1993 to 1995, and at various times the poetry editor of The Paris Review and Western Humanities Review. After teaching English at the University of Houston for 10 years, he became professor of writing at Columbia in 1997.

"He's always throwing his voice, and therefore distracting you the way a magician does, from something that is driving him," poet Edward Hirsch told the Washington Post, noting that Howard had grown up gay in the constricted milieu of 1940s Ohio. "It's possible to be dazzled by the literary encyclopedia coming to life and to miss the fact that these poems are driven by personal experience, by a need to disguise yourself and reveal yourself."

From Howard's poem "209 Canal":

Not hell but a street, not
Death but a fruit-stand, not
Devils just hungry devils
Simply standing around the stoops, the stoops.

As you might imagine, we enjoy the creative editorial mischief that results in our annual Shelf Awareness April Fool's Day issue. We also love to see what indie booksellers come up with to share on social media. Here's a sampling of fun indie #AprilFoolsDay posts:

Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association: "Over the past two years of the pandemic the [GLIBA] has experienced unprecedented growth and record levels of financial support from its publishing partners. As we look to the future of GLIBA and the ways we can best support our community of booksellers and responsibly spend the money we have generated, there is only one logical answer. Space exploration.... The Great Lakes Independent Bookseller's Association will officially expand its territory to include Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and the Moon."

Flagship Books, Kansas City, Kan.: "Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know about an important change: After giving it very little thought, we feel that the wisest course of action at this time is to rearrange the letters of our previous name and to now be known as Flash Pig. Thank you for your continued understanding and support."

The Mysterious Bookshop, New York, N.Y.: "It's tough out here for an independent bookseller and publisher of mystery fiction, so as of today, we're expanding the business. Welcome to The Mysterious Bookshop & Grocery!"

Magic City Books, Tulsa, Okla.: "We will no longer carry books by authors/publishers who also sell their books on Amazon. Time to pick a side. Effective immediately."

McNally Robinson, Winnepeg, Man., Canada: "Per the general manager, starting next week, only bare feet will be allowed in the bookstore. Shoes, socks, and sandals will no longer be permitted. We thank you for your cooperation."

Schuler Books, Okemos and Grand Rapids, Mich.: "Since so many people on social media mistake us for libraries and our booksellers for librarians, we've decided we might as well become one. So as of our 40th anniversary this September, we will cease operations as Schuler Books and become Schuler Libraries. April Fools!"

Highland Books, Brevard, N.C.: "Be sure to check out our new display of books with ghostwriters."

Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, N.H.: "Dear loyal patrons and community. Our industry is rapidly evolving, and we must adapt with it. It's been a wonderful 30 years of selling books, but due to unprecedented demand for raunchy oven mitts, sarcastic dish towels, and sassy aprons, we will officially be shifting our business focus solely to kitchenware. Yours truly, The social media guy with no authority whatsoever. HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!"

Blue House Books, Kenosha, Wis.: "We regret to say our owner, Sam, is stepping away from Blue House Books. We know this may come as a shock to many of our customers and friends, but Sam has decided it is time to pursue other endeavors. She will be joining Elon Musk and other rich people on their next journey to outer space. Rather than put their money toward solving medical crises, world hunger, or other humanitarian efforts, these rich people have decided to sponsor our very own bookseller to make the trip a foot above the Earth's atmosphere. We wish her the best. In her absence, Blue House Books will be run by Tom Hiddleston. Casey is very excited and does not wish for Sam to return anytime soon."

Morgenstern's Books, Bloomington, Ind.: "Morgenstern's, Indiana's largest Independent Bookstore, has confirmed it has acquired Amazon. 'We wanted to leverage the momentum of our first eight months,' said founder Rick Morgenstern. This was the next logical step in our strategic plan.' 'We welcome all Amazon employees into the Morgenstern's family and flagship store with open hearts,' added co-owner Sam Eads."

Two Birds Books, Santa Cruz, Calif. "ATTENTION CELEBRITIES: Two Birds Books is open 10-6 all weekend for your mass book-buying needs. In fact we're running a limited time 'buy 395 books get 5 free' promotion. Call us! (Still from Architectural Digest--Ashley Tisdale's Open Door tour)." Books are discussed around the 3:20 mark. Tisdale later tweeted: "and p.s. if you're going to buy 400 books, don't forget to shop independently. If you can't send your husband, go to bookshop.org."

Afterwords Books, Edwardsville, Ill.: "Effective IMMEDIATELY: Afterwords is replacing our entire existing inventory with donations of Readers Digest Condensed books, encyclopedias, OLD dictionaries, and Harlequin paperback romances (the older, mustier, and yellowed, the better). Bonus points for any books infused with the scent of cigarette smoke, bookmarked with deceased insects, or lovingly chewed on by critters."

Congratulations to RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth, N.H., which is marking its 20th anniversary with a celebration and sale this weekend. From Friday, April 8, through Sunday, April 10, everything in the store will be discounted 20% and there will be regular door prizes and giveaways.

Owner Tom Holbrook wrote to customers: "In 1995 I started work as a bookseller at Borders Books in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and instantly fell in love with bookselling. It didn't take me long to realize that's what I wanted to do for a career.

"However, I didn't love working for a big corporation, and I also wanted to get back to New England, where I grew up. I was so fortunate to find Dan Chartrand and Bob Hugo--two experienced and clever indie booksellers who took me in and together we launched RiverRun Bookstore in 2002.

"The industry has changed a lot over the years--heck, ebooks didn't even exist in 2002--but the store has survived through it all, thanks to you. Some of you have been getting this newsletter for almost two decades. I am so, so grateful.

"So, please, stop by during our sale and say hi. It means a lot."

Lauren Lauzon has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Penguin Press. She joined the press two and half years ago.

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At Berkley:

Bridget O'Toole has been promoted to senior manager, marketing.

Jessica Mangicaro has been promoted to senior manager, marketing.

Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai by Matti Friedman (Spiegel & Grau).

Today:
Good Morning America: Lilly Singh, author of Be a Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost to Getting My Life into Shape (Ballantine, $20, 9780593357811).

Tamron Hall: Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, authors of The Home Edit Workbook: Prompts, Activities, and Gold Stars to Help You Contain the Chaos (Clarkson Potter, $19.99, 9780593139820).

Tonight Show: Kevin and Danielle Jonas, authors of There's a Rock Concert in My Bedroom (Razorbill, $17.99, 9780593352076).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Shaquille O'Neal, co-author of Shaq's Family Style: Championship Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends (Ten Speed Press, $29.99, 9781984860064).

Tomorrow:
Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Elizabeth Alexander, author of The Trayvon Generation (Grand Central, $22, 9781538737897).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Allegra Hyde, author of Eleutheria (Vintage, $17, 9780593315248).

"On the heels of the success of HBO Max's post-apocalyptic limited series Station Eleven, created by Patrick Somerville based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel," the two are teaming up again for series adaptations of Mandel's most recent book, The Glass Hotel, as well as her upcoming novel Sea of Tranquility, Deadline reported.

The two projects are in development at HBO Max. Paramount TV Studios has optioned The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility and is producing the potential two new series. St. John Mandel and Somerville will co-write both projects.

"Emily has a stunning new book about to come out called Sea of Tranquility," Somerville said. "It has the moon, time travel, and futuristic book tours, I think I've made it clear I'm a big fan of one of her earlier novels, but I gotta say--this is my favorite Emily novel. It's... incredible."

Among the winners at last night's 2022 Grammy Awards was Don Cheadle, in the Best Spoken Word Album category (including poetry, audiobooks & storytelling), for his narration of Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis (Hachette Audio).

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The winners of the 2022 Waterstones Children's Book Prizes are:

Best Overall Winner and Best Book for Young Readers: The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold
Best Illustrated Book: Grandad's Camper by Harry Woodgate
Best Book for Older Readers: Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth

Sex is one of those eternally beguiling subjects. Even once the mystery of where babies come from is dispelled, there is that persistent, even nagging sense that one might be doing it wrong. For Popular Science executive editor Rachel Feltman, that insecurity festered for years under the wet blanket of a Sunday school education that further foisted shame upon pretty much all carnal acts. So, it would be fair to suggest that the wildly entertaining Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex is as much an act of reclamation and redemption as it is an eye-opening stroll through a rather colorful evolutionary history of sexual activity.

"I'm writing this because I hope you can learn quickly what it took me far too long to learn: that today's mainstream definition of sex is deeply flawed and that this has the ability to cause us harm," Feltman writes in her introductory chapter, "Everything Weird Is Normal--Everything Normal Is Weird." Without wasting any time, she then discusses duck penises; homosexuality in the wild, wild west; "a blob with 720 sexes that displayed both fungal and animal characteristics"; and the "really stupid" yet commonly accepted calendar for clocking weeks of pregnancy.

It would seem that Feltman has left no stone unturned when it comes to facets of gender, intercourse, masturbation, sexually transmitted infections, birth control, performance anxiety, pornography, kinks, etc. And through the sheer volume of examples she wields with no shortage of quips, asides and witticisms, there does seem to be ample evidence to suggest that, yes, somewhere, someone has indeed been there and done that. "That weird thing you like? It's fine. I promise," she assures readers. "Like, really. It's probably not even that weird. Like, not to offend you? I'm sure you're a unique snowflake and all, a real rebel without a cause, but, like, trust me, people have been weirder." Right down to the ancient Egyptian use of crocodile dung as a barrier method, or the 19th-century cottage industry of goat testicle grafts for virility--Feltman makes a fairly airtight case!

After such a kaleidoscopic ride, Been There, Done That resolves without being especially titillating, nor didactic. It shines, instead, as an irreverent invitation to be enchanted by one's body, rather than ashamed; to be present in desire, rather than dislocated from it; to cast off the veil of insecurity and embrace one's whole self. --Dave Wheeler, associate editor, Shelf Awareness

Shelf Talker: This colorful evolutionary history of sex from the executive editor of Popular Science makes a refreshingly assured case against shame and insecurity.

The bestselling Libro.fm audiobooks at independent bookstores during March:

Fiction
1. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (HarperAudio)
2. Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton (Hachette Audio)
3. The Maid by Nita Prose (Penguin Random House Audio)
4. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Penguin Random House Audio)
5. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (Simon & Schuster Audio)
6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Simon & Schuster Audio)
7. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Simon & Schuster Audio)
8. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Simon & Schuster Audio)
9. Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood (Penguin Random House Audio)
10. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Macmillan Audio)

Nonfiction
1. Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown (Penguin Random House Audio)
2. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Penguin Random House Audio)
3. How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur (Simon & Schuster Audio)
4. Cultish by Amanda Montell (HarperAudio)
5. The 1619 Project by Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman and Jake Silverstein (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
6. Atomic Habits by James Clear (Penguin Random House Audio)
7. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett (HarperAudio)
8. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Tantor Media)
9. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (Penguin Random House Audio)
10. The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow (Macmillan Audio)