Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, San Diego, Calif., just launched a $225,000 GoFundMe campaign to help "with some vital upgrades we need to make as well as to help recuperate some finances lost over the two year pandemic." Co-owners Jenni Marchisotto and Matthew Berger posted on Facebook yesterday: "Hey Galaxy! While things are looking up in terms of book festivals & conventions starting back up again, the Mysterious Galaxy team is in need of your help. All the purchases made by our wonderful customers over the past two years has helped our bookstore stay afloat and your support has been a tremendous boost for us both financially as well as in morale.... 

"We took over in Jan. 2020 and were open a brief, glorious six weeks before the world shut down. These last few years have been tough, with no conventions or offsite events and higher business costs taking a financial toll. But the love for the store from the community have shown us that there's a magic to this place that we want to keep alive for years to come. With in-person events and conventions coming back, we know there are brighter days ahead and with your help we'll be able to put our best foot forward. Your donations will primarily help us invest in the technology and other resources the store has needed but that we had to forgo to stay financially afloat."

The GoFundMe page details some of the planned improvements Mysterious Galaxy wants to complete, including:

• Updated technology to support conventions and offsite sales, including computers, chip-enabled card readers, wireless hotspots and more
• New bookshelves and other furniture needed to complete the space and expand some growing sections
• Improved audio-visual equipment to ensure high-quality virtual and hybrid events continue

"Donations would also help us weather the highs and lows while allowing us a little freedom to explore new ways to deliver bookish goodness," Marchisotto and Berger noted. "We know better times are ahead, but we could use some help getting there. We're committed to the store's long-term success and are confident that the creative and caring team we have will help us make everything you love about the store even better. Thank you to everyone who's bought a book, watched an event or followed us on social media these last few years. Any donation ultimately helps us continue our mission of helping readers discover the weird, the fantastic, and the unexpected."

Emily Drabinski

Emily Drabinski, interim chief librarian at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, has been named 2022-2023 president-elect of the American Library Association. Drabinski received 5,410 votes, while Kelvin Watson, executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, had 4,622 votes.

"Thank you to everyone who participated in this election," Drabinski said. "I am humbled and excited to serve as your president-elect. Thank you to Kelvin Watson for standing for election with me. I have the deepest respect and gratitude for Kelvin and his commitment to libraries.

"As we face an uncertain and challenging future, I know this: we have each other, and we are enough. I am ready to get to work with all of you to strengthen our association and our field to support library workers and the communities we serve. Thank you for your confidence and support of my vision for ALA and your role in that vision. We have a lot of work ahead to build collective power for the public good. I can't wait to get started with all of you."

Drabinski has served as chair of the International Relations Committee (2020-21), ALA councilor-at-large (2018-20) and chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Frameworks and Standards Committee (2019-20). She is an active member of ACRL and Core (Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures). She is co-chair of the ACRL President's Program Planning Committee (2020-21) and serves as reviews editor for College & Research Libraries. She is also a member of several round tables and of several ALA affiliates: the Black Caucus of ALA; REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking; the American Indian Library Association; the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association; and the Chinese American Librarians Association.

Jennifer Engkraf, owner of Vaults Books & Brew in Castle Rock, Wash., is working to replace a book donation program that provided free books to local students. According to the Daily News, Engkraf hosted her first book giveaway in November and is planning another for May. Going forward she hopes to run giveaways twice per year for Castle Rock third-graders and will form a 501c3 to collect donations.

Reading Is Fundamental provided free books to Cowlitz County elementary school students for more than 40 years, until the program's local efforts were defunded in 2016. About a year ago, a private donor who used to live in Castle Rock gave Engkraf seed money to start her own donation program. Giving away one book per student, Engkraf noted, costs about $1,000 for each giveaway.

Engkraf, who has a background in early childhood education, told the Daily News that she is focusing on third-grade students because they are at a critical stage for literacy, and that after third grade it takes students longer to catch up on their reading skills.

She added that the books she received as a child helped foster her lifelong love of reading, and she wants to provide local students with the same experience. "Some kids go home and don't see books and think reading is just for school. I want to normalize reading."

The Augustana University Bookstore in Sioux Falls, S.Dak., will change to an on-campus merchandise store called Ole's Outlet, effective June 1. The move replaces the current bookstore, which is operated by Barnes & Noble College, with an operation run by MRG Sports and Promotion, a Sioux Falls retailer.

The new store will sell Augustana-branded merchandise, along with school supplies. Textbook rental and purchasing options are now available at the Augustana Online Bookstore, through a partnership with online bookstore platform Akademos.

"We wanted to reimagine the bookstore and how it's operating," said Suzie O'Meara Hernes, senior director for community engagement & strategic partnerships. "Ultimately, we evaluated a number of merchandise providers, but having that local connection with MRG--its service, product and solutions--provided the best option, as did Akademos." 

Allen Mittelman, co-founder and longtime co-owner of the Library Ltd., Clayton, Mo., died on April 15. He was 85.

Mittelman and his wife, Terry, met when they both worked at the main Abraham & Straus department store Brooklyn, N.Y. He worked in cosmetics, then managed the book department. She worked in handbags and hosiery. They moved to St. Louis, Mo., where Terry had grown up, and in 1970, they founded the Library Ltd. (a bookstore, despite its name). Slowly but steadily they built it into one of the largest independents in the country. When the Mittelmans sold the store to Borders in 1997, it had 50,000 square feet of space and annual sales of $10 million. (Borders operated the store under the Library Ltd. name for several years but eventually renamed it Borders and closed it in 2001, opening a more traditional Borders in a nearby location.)

Mary Catherine McCarthy, executive director, retail product management, at Cokesbury, was v-p and general manager at the Library Ltd. during the last five years of the Mittelmans' ownership, when the store doubled in size. She offered a loving tribute of Allen Mittelman: "Every story you ever heard about him was most likely true. He would throw reps out of his office if they were more than 10 minutes late (and you couldn't come back until you came with your boss). He would yell at kids who asked for CliffsNotes and tell them to read the book. He would chase down anyone who parked in the bookstore lot and didn't come in the store. He did not know the meaning of forgive and forget. However, with Terry he created bookstores in St. Louis, one more beautiful than the next, ending with a magnificent 50,000 square foot store that had a 14-foot castle (with a moat with fish) that surrounded the kids area. The cookbook room looked like a French bistro. The travel room was modeled after a train station with a gigantic clock. And there was a full-service café. Allen was fiercely loyal, adored Terry, loved Frank Sinatra and was focused on every detail of the store (no detail was too small). Terry and Allen beat the chains at their own game and then sold the business to Borders for an ungodly sum of money. The book business is full of characters, but Allen was one of a kind."

A conversation with Alsace Walentine, co-owner of Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, Fla., was featured in the Tampa Bay Times, which noted: "At a time when so many businesses have failed, Tombolo has done surprisingly well, hosting authors and legions of avid readers." Among the highlights of the q&a:

How did you come up with the name?
We were literally going through the dictionary looking at words for something meaningful. Tombolo is a geographic term for a type of sandbar that connects an island to the mainland A tombolo connects a lone island, and I thought that's what a really good independent bookstore does, it creates connections to this whole world of ideas and stories, a whole world of authors and other readers.

Have customers been drawn to certain types of books during the pandemic?
We sold more of the plague that (first) year. I think it's really interesting how many authors had books coming out at the very beginning of the pandemic. It had been about 100 years since the Spanish flu so I think a lot of authors were just looking at history. Certainly a lot of people want to escape the pandemic so a lot of shoppers are buying things that have nothing to do with it. We always intended to have a strong Florida nonfiction section because there are so many tourists, but it's also important to understand your history.

How about all the political books that came out about the Trump presidency?
Typically we lose money if we try to bring in books that people are enthusiastic about for 24 hours and that's it. We're looking for books with a nice long tail so they can pay the rent on the bookshelf.

Tampa's Inkwood Books has closed and Haslam's in St. Petersburg hasn't reopened since the pandemic. Are you worried about the future of independents like Tombolo?
I'm a 100% optimist about the future. I have unwavering faith in people's desire to read physical books and have a place to go and browse a curated selection of physical books.

"A little sandwich board humor for your Monday from our Boston store," Posman Books noted, sharing a photo on Instagram. The message: "Why does an elephant use his trunk as a bookmark? So he nose where he stopped reading." 

"It's a cold, gloomy day here in Nashville, so shop dog Opie strongly recommends stopping by and picking out a book to snuggle up with. What have you been reading lately?" Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn., posted on Facebook on Monday. 

Rich Johnson has joined Diamond Book Distributors as v-p, sales and business development. Most recently, he was president and founder of Brick Road Media, a publishing consultancy. Earlier he was v-p, sales, marketing & business development for Lion Forge Comics, co-founder and co-publishing director for Yen Press at Hachette Book Group and v-p of book trade sales for DC Comics.

Paula Amendolara has joined Sourcebooks as senior v-p of sales. Most recently, she was v-p and director of sales, national accounts, at Simon & Schuster,

The Joy of Science by Jim Al-Khalili (Princeton University Press).

Today:
Fresh Air: Richard Thompson, author of Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975 (Algonquin, $16.95, 9781643752532).

NPR's Here & Now: Glenn Boozan, author of There Are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent (Workman, $14.95, 9781523515646).

Tomorrow:
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Tiffany Haddish, co-author of Layla, the Last Black Unicorn (HarperCollins, $18.99, 9780063113879).

Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to Jessica Townsend's novel Nevermoor, and Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) is attached to direct the musical adaptation, Deadline reported. Gracey is creating original music for the film, with Drew Goddard adapting and producing alongside Sarah Esberg via their Goddard Textiles.

Townsend tweeted: "I actually cannot describe how much it means to me to have an Australian directing this film, and a musical version no less. Genuinely, my childhood self would EXPIRE at this news."

Lauren Groff, author of Matrix (Riverhead) and six other books of fiction, has won the 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, sponsored by the New Literary Project and honoring "a mid-career author of fiction who has earned a distinguished reputation and the widespread praise of readers and reviewers." Besides receiving a $50,000 award, Groff will be in residence at the University of California, Berkeley, in October.

Joyce Carol Oates commented: "Lauren Groff is an audacious writer of tremendous range and depth: most recently, treating modern American marriage in her novel Fates and Furies, exploring contemporary paradoxes and mysteries through the continually surprising stories in Florida, and then fleshing out life in a protofeminist 12th Century French abbey in Matrix. Wherever her imagination leads, she writes with subtlety and force. For all that, there is an enthralling undercurrent of poetry in her prose, with sentences of beauty that reward careful attention. With wicked precision she eviscerates where called upon--she once said she 'writes in opposition.' Even so, there is a longing to connect, a desire to fashion meaning in the torrent of our times, a sympathetic imagination always at play. 'The truth does not always comfort,' she writes in one story, thereby testifying to a truth we have no choice but to live by."

---

Shortlists have been released for the Jhalak Prize as well as the Children's & YA Prize, the annual literary awards celebrating books by British/British resident BAME writers. The winning authors, who each receive £1,000 (about $1,305) and a specially created artwork as part of the Jhalak Arts Residency, will be named May 26 at the British Library. This year's shortlisted titles are:

Book of the Year
Consumed by Arifa Akbar 
Somebody Loves You by Mona Arshi 
Like a Tree, Walking by Vahni Capildeo 
Keeping the House by Tice Cin 
The Roles We Play by Sabba Khan
Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller

Children's & YA
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíkí-Íyímídé 
We're Going to Find the Monster by Malorie Blackman & Dapo Adeola 
The Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs by Jeffrey Boakye, illustrated Ngadi Smart 
Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan 
The Sound of Everything by Rebecca Henry 
The Crossing by Manjeet Mann

Prize director Sunny Singh said: "Once again, Jhalak Prize shortlists are testaments to the extraordinary range and quality of work being produced by writers of colour in contemporary Britain. I am particularly struck by the bold experiments in form and genre, courageous explorations of themes and ideas and the incredible variety of creative practice demonstrated by our shortlistees. Our 2022 shortlists are made up of books to be read and re-read, and remembered and cherished far into the future."

In partnership with National Book Tokens, for a second year 12 independent bookshops will celebrate the shortlists. Each of the 12 shortlisted titles will be championed by an independent bookshop, creating content ranging from videos to author q&as, social outreach to special events.

Singh added: "The Jhalak Prize is delighted to once again partner with 12 independent bookshops who join us as our Bookshop Champions to celebrate shortlisted books in the run-up to our awards on 26th May. Independent bookshops are crucial to our industry and absolute life-savers for writers. Their ongoing role in championing our shortlists cannot be emphasised enough and we are truly grateful for their support."

photo: Sheryl Lanzel

Steve Almond is the author of a dozen books, including Candyfreak and Against Football. He's the recipient of an NEA grant for 2022 and teaches creative writing at Harvard and Wesleyan. His work has been published in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mysteries and the New York Times Magazine. After 30 years of writing terrible novels, he says, he finally wrote one that doesn't suck: All the Secrets of the World (Zando).

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

All the Secrets of the World is a mashup of Jane Eyre and Breaking Bad. It's got sex, mayhem, astrology and scorpions. Plus a kick-ass teen heroine.

Favorite book when you were a child:

The Joy of Sex (illustrated).

Your top five authors:

Meg Wolitzer (The Wife is a modern masterpiece.)
Megha Majumdar (A Burning is my favorite novel of the past five years.)
Natasha Trethewey (Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir completely wrecked me. Astonishing.)
Per Olov Enquist (Swedish writer. I re-read his novel The Visit of the Royal Physician every year.)
George Saunders (For his wild imagination and his unrelenting humanity.)

Book you've faked reading:

The Western canon.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I wrote a whole book about the novel Stoner by John Williams called William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life.

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.

Book you hid from your parents:

The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts, which I stole off the shelf in my dad's study. I never read the book. I just liked the title.

Book that changed your life:

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I read it early in high school, and I was amazed that a novel could be funny as hell and sad as hell at the same time.

Favorite line from a book:

From the novel Stoner by John Williams:

"In his extreme youth [William] Stoner had thought of love as an absolute state of being to which, if one were lucky, one might find access; in his maturity he had decided it was the heaven of a false religion, toward which one ought to gaze with an amused disbelief, a gently familiar contempt, and an embarrassed nostalgia. Now in his middle age he began to know that it was neither a state of grace nor an illusion; he saw it as a human act of becoming, a condition that was invented and modified moment by moment and day by day, by the will and the intelligence and the heart."

Five books you'll never part with:

In addition to the ones cited above, let's go with:

Towelhead by Alicia Erian
The Lover by Marguerite Duras
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Father's Day by Matthew Zapruder
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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

I'll go with The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, because it has such a delicious twist at the end.

Whether purchasing your new novel, All the Secrets of the World, from an indie bookstore is actually tax-deductible:

Possibly.

Kapaemahu began as an animated short film that garnered international recognition. The award-winning production team of Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson now sets their script onto the page, resulting in a spectacular picture book featuring stills from animation director Daniel Sousa's moving images. The story here has been waiting for reclamation for centuries.

"Long ago," four Tahitians arrived in Hawaii, settling in Waikiki. "The visitors were tall and deep in voice yet gentle and soft-spoken." Most importantly, "They were not male; they were not female. They were mahu--a mixture of both in mind, heart, and spirit." Their leader was the titular Kapaemahu; each member of the quartet was skilled "in the science of healing." In gratitude, the people erected a monument of "four great boulders" into which "the healers began to transfer their powers." Then the mahu disappeared. Eventually, "everything changed." Wordlessly, hauntingly, Sousa shows how Christianity took hold, foreign soldiers took charge, progress eventually brought high rises and tourists. And "the stones of Kapaemahu were forgotten, even buried under a bowling alley." The stones were finally recovered, but not their history: "the fact that the healers were mahu has been erased."

The book, like the film, is bilingual, with the film's Olelo Niihau language followed by an English translation that differs slightly from the animated subtitles. Olelo Niihau, Wong-Kalu explains, is "the only form of Hawaiian that has been continuously spoken since prior to the arrival of foreigners." Wong-Kalu, who is "Kanaka--a native person descended from the original inhabitants of the islands of Hawaii," rightfully insists, "We need to be active participants in telling our own stories in our own way." She adds, "I am also mahu, which like many Indigenous third-gender identities, was once respected but is now more often a target for hatred and discrimination." Co-creators Hamer and Wilson offer hope: "We are especially excited about bringing this story to the next generation, who often have an easier time than their parents in accepting that not everybody is the same."

Sousa's full-page bleeds and saturated palette of predominantly deep earth colors display potent images that can't--won't--be contained. Light heightens Sousa's superb imagery: glowing golds underscore gentle strength; soft, wispy white captures healing energy; fiery reds display the mahus' tenacious fortitude. Power continues to flow through transparent prose and magnificent visuals, gifting audiences with ancient insights celebrating acceptance and inspiring strength. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

Shelf Talker: A lauded animated short film about powerful ancient third-gender healers in Hawaii gets transformed into a glorious picture book reclamation.