Jasmine Settles

Cafe Noir, an online bookstore focused on books by Black authors, queer authors and authors of color, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help open a bricks-and-mortar location in Memphis, Tenn., Commercial Appeal reported.

Owner Jasmine Settles, who launched the store's online shop in January 2021, is looking to raise $100,000 by July 3. The money will go toward securing a physical space, building out the bookstore and cafe, acquiring inventory and hiring staff. In addition to stocking new and used books for all ages, branded merchandise and other nonbook items, Settles plans to serve coffee, tea, beer, wine and a variety of healthy food options.

She told Commercial Appeal that she wants the store to be "somewhere where folks can come and feel welcome," and "maybe enjoy a great cup of coffee or get the newest release or join us in an author talk, an author event, things of that nature."

Settles described her main goal as "push[ing] literacy in our community." She has already worked with Memphis Teacher Residency, Memphis Education Fund, LITE Memphis, Theatre Memphis and other community organizations, and she plans to continue and expand that work once she has a physical space. She also intends to host plenty of events with local authors

A Memphis native, Settles left to go to college and returned for a graduate program at the University of Memphis. She'd been thinking of opening a bookstore for a while, and during her last year in grad school she saw how communities and businesses were gathering online because of pandemic restrictions. It inspired her to take the plunge and open her bookstore. Her business and its following has grown steadily since.

"I just want to be able to offer these multitudes of experiences and multitude of authors and multitude of works to folks who might not be introduced to these works," she said. "Our school systems only can do so much when it comes to educating, so why not be able to give a more diverse look into the world that's around us?"

Storied Owl Books, St. Paul, Minn., which opened in 2019, will be closing at the end of June. In a letter to friends and supporters, co-owners Amy Turany and Marcus Mayer wrote: "Our original plan was to create a business we could grow with through the years, and imagined Storied Owl being the hub for other ventures to stem from. But we've had other opportunities present themselves, and our plans will now be taking us out of Minnesota in the next couple of years. In order to prepare for this big move, closing the store is the next right step for us.

"We've loved being your neighborhood bookshop these last three years. If we've learned anything during this time of Covid, it's that life is unpredictable and if there are dreams to pursue, it's important to do just that. Creating Storied Owl Books and getting to share that with all of you has been a pleasure.... Thank you all for your support and friendship. It's been wonderful getting to know so many of you, and to share our love of stories. "

Kent Watson

Kent Watson has been named executive director of Small Press Distribution, Berkeley, Calif., which distributes nearly 400 smaller independent publishers that specialize in literary and activist publishing. Watson served as executive director of PubWest from 2007 to 2020 and, as the organization said, has "book industry experience in nonprofit leadership and management, high-level negotiations, advertising sales and sponsorships, branding and marketing, financial management, independent publishers' bookselling, buying, book distribution/wholesaling, small-to medium-sized press publishing, textbook and magazine publishing, acquisitions, and academic teaching."

Small Press Distribution board president Alan Bernheimer added that Watson's "wealth of experience in all aspects of the book business, together with his management skills, equip him to lead SPD forward in fulfilling its mission. I also want to thank interim executive director Cindy Myers for guiding the organization and staff so effectively this past year."

Watson said, "I am thrilled to join SPD, an organization that is dedicated to helping bring underrepresented literary communities to market. I will work tirelessly to expand the services and reach for the nearly 400 SPD publishers whose books connect writers and readers beyond the mainstream."

Barnes & Noble will close its store at 106th Avenue in Bellevue, Wash., after 29 years in business, and plans to relocate the store about 3.5 miles away, next to Old Navy in the Crossroads Shopping Center, at 15600 NE 8th Street. 425 Business reported that the "new bookstore plans to offer a fresh new design and layout that has been trialed successfully in its most recent store openings." In preparation for the move, the bookstore will close its 106th Ave. location in September. 

Clarence Hogeterp

Bookseller Clarence Hogeterp, owner of Redux Books, Grand Rapids, Mich., died June 3 from injuries sustained in a biking accident. He was 76. A post on the shop's Facebook page shared news of the tragedy: "It is with shock and dismay that we report the tragic death of store owner Clarence Hogeterp on Friday, June 3. Clarence was biking with a good friend during a noon hour break from work and a mile from home, Clarence was involved in an accident. The facts are not difficult to understand; the meaning is beyond belief. Our hearts are broken."

Redux Books was "known for its collection of rare and out-of-print books," Fox17 reported. The store is temporarily closed, but will reopen at a later date. 

Hogeterp opened Redux Books in 2001 after retiring from a career in insurance and financial planning, the Grand Rapids Press reported, adding that he "worked in the bookstore alongside his daughter, who shared a love for books just as he did."

Patricia Hogeterp, his wife, said, "He got his dream in life. I supported him completely. We did that store and never turned back, never blinked an eye." She added that she will miss their conversations about books, among other things. "We would sit around the dinner table every night and talk for an hour. He loved his book stories, loved working with his children and he was deeply loved by a lot of people."

Books & Mortar, another Grand Rapids bookstore, posted a tribute to Hogeterp on Facebook: "We are devastated to learn about the passing of Clarence, owner and operator of Redux Books. As booksellers, we always love wandering Clarence's aisles and asking him questions about niche literature. His knowledge of and passion for books was inspiring. Our thoughts are with his family and community today. News of store reopening should be coming soon, and we will be sure to share out when we know more. It is so important for the book community of GR to stick together and support one another! Let's send all of our support Redux's way."

As part of Pride Month celebrations at Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y., chalk artist/bookseller Kira's chalkboard sign ("Take pride in what you read") welcomes browsers to peruse the window display of timely titles.

Posted on Instagram by Wild Geese Bookshop, Franklin, Ind.: "Open door days."

In the Penguin Random House Publisher Services national accounts department:

Patrick Guaschino has been promoted to associate director, retail sales. He joined PRH in 2011 as sales assistant for the PRHPS national accounts team, where he supported reps selling to Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Baker & Taylor, Ingram and the warehouse clubs. In 2013, he was promoted to associate national account manager, calling on Books-A-Million and Hastings before moving to the Amazon team in 2018. He has been responsible for the graphic novel, gaming, and genre fiction publishers.

Jon Chung has been named to the newly created position of sales analyst, PRHPS, and will work closely with the national accounts team to identify sales and market share opportunities, track trends, forecast sales and inventory needs, and more. He worked with the clubs most recently and B&T, B&N College and Amazon prior to that.

Good Night, Little Bookstore by Amy Cherrix, illustrated by E.B. Goodale (Candlewick Press).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Jenna Guarneri, author of You Need PR: An Approachable Guide to Public Relations for Early-Stage Companies (Inc. Original, $18.95, 9781639090044).

Also on GMA: Brad Meltzer, author of I Am Dolly Parton (Ordinary People Change the World) (Rocky Pond Books, $15.99, 9780593405925).

All Things Considered: Keri Blakinger, author of Corrections in Ink: A Memoir (St. Martin's Press, $28.99, 9781250272850).

The View: Ryan O'Connell, author of Just by Looking at Him: A Novel (Atria, $27, 9781982178581).

Hulu has picked up Tiny Beautiful Things, based on Cheryl Strayed's book, to series. Deadline reported that Kathryn Hahn (Wandavision) will star in the half-hour comedy from ABC Signature and Hello Sunshine. Liz Tigelaar (Little Fires Everywhere) is creator and executive producer of the series. Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Lauren Neustadter, Stacey Silverman and Jayme Lemons executive produce, along with Strayed and Hahn. Eight episodes are planned.

"As we emerge from a pandemic during which stories like those told in Tiny Beautiful Things helped us feel a sense of community and camaraderie at a moment we most needed it, this is a prescient story to be able to tell at this moment in time and we're grateful to be able to tell it," said Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment.

Tigelaar added: "It has been such an honor to work with Cheryl Strayed, a writer who has had such a profound impact on my life, and, along with an amazing writing staff, adapt her book into series. Just like Dear Sugar, the advice column she helmed, Cheryl brings compassion, wisdom, humor and love to everything she does, and this show is no different. I'm so grateful to Hello Sunshine and Jaywalker, who entrusted me to tell this story. And I'm beyond thrilled to be working with Kathryn Hahn, whose gift is imbuing the fierce, complicated characters she portrays with humor, honesty, and vulnerability.... This project feels like coming home."

Julia Parry has won the £10,000 (about $12,500) 2022 RSL Christopher Bland Prize for The Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth Bowen. The Prize honors "a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over."

Chair of judges David Baddiel said, "As a fan of Elizabeth Bowen, who is a much overlooked mid-20th Century writer, my eye was drawn to The Shadowy Third by Julia Parry early on. It's a book about marriage, infidelity, men and women, the complexity of love, and letters. It's non-fiction, but is in its own way as thrilling and insightful on these subjects as one of Bowen's great novels."

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The Mark Twain House & Museum unveiled a longlist for the $25,000 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, which "honors a work of fiction from the previous calendar that speaks with an 'American Voice' about American experiences." The winner will be named in early October and the award conferred November 4 at the American Voice Award Banquet. This year's longlisted titles are:

100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
American Estrangement by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
The Days of Afrekete by Asali Solomon
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
Trashlands by Alison Stine
Virtue by Hermione Hoby
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

Outwardly, they look like any other family: four kids spread across three households (which include two couples, one single mom) coming together for Sunday dinners, birthdays and holidays. But in Eleanor Brown's insightful third novel, Any Other Family, the dynamics are unconventional and complicated. The kids (a tween, seven-year-old twins and a not-quite-one-year-old) are biological siblings, adopted by three previously unconnected families. The parents--especially Tabitha, former event planner and now mom to the twins--work hard to make sure their kids feel loved and can sustain deep relationships with one another. But on their first-ever group vacation in Aspen, their bonds will be tested as long-simmering secrets and new challenges rise to the surface.

Brown (The Light of Paris) unspools the story through multiple perspectives, switching between Tabitha, who orchestrated the vacation and is determined to make it fabulous; Ginger, the introverted single mother who is wary of forced closeness; and Elizabeth, who desperately wanted a child but is finding motherhood with a new baby miserable. Although Tabitha's husband, Perry, and Elizabeth's husband, John, play important supporting roles in the family, Brown's keen eye is focused on the women: their individual struggles, the complex dynamic among them and the ways they all must balance their fierce love for their children with the family baggage they each carry.

Brown's characters, especially Elizabeth, are open about the challenges of motherhood: the constant worry about getting it right, the new tasks and roles to navigate, the bone-deep weariness. But they are also open about the joys: Ginger savors her bond with tween Phoebe, who calls her "Marmee"; Tabitha delights in the twins' robust physicality and their sheer energetic exuberance. All three mothers appreciate the strange gifts of this family, even while they sometimes wish they could escape from it. 

As Brown writes in her author's note, adoption is a huge, multilayered subject, and this one slice, focused narrowly on several families dealing with domestic, open adoptions, leaves out many of the larger forces affecting adoptive families. But her characters wrestle convincingly and compassionately with the challenges of their particular experience. Among these: the social energy it takes to maintain any large family, especially an unconventional one; the older children's questions about why their birth mother, Brianna, didn't feel she could parent them; and the ways they all struggle to balance setting boundaries and asking for what they need.

Thoughtful, compelling and ultimately hopeful, Any Other Family asks hard and necessary questions about adoption, privilege and what truly makes a family. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Eleanor Brown's insightful third novel explores the loving but complicated dynamics of an unconventional adoptive family.

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. Don't Let Me Fall by Kelsie Rae
2. The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout
3. How Much I Want by Marie Force
4. Tiger's Daughter (Shifters Unbound Book 14) by Jennifer Ashley
5. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter
6. Dirty Minds (A J.J. Graves Mystery Book 13) by Liliana Hart
7. Beqoming by Azrya Bequer and Benjamin Bequer
8. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
9. Order of the Blade Boxed Set by Stephanie Rowe
10. Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]