North Figueroa Bookshop is opening today at 6040 North Figueroa St., in the heart of the historic Highland Park neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, Calif. The bookstore is a joint venture of Los Angeles independent book publishers Unnamed Press and Rare Bird. A launch party is scheduled for Saturday, November 12, featuring games, music, prizes, special discounts and tasty treats. 

The two publishers, which have been collaborating on book projects in recent years, decided to create the new space with the aim of embracing indie publishers across the country and helping to engage them with readers in Southern California. 

Joining in the launch are founding publisher partners Grove Atlantic and MCD Books, both of which are in New York and will be represented on a more interactive level in Southern California through joint events, marketing and unified independent presence. "Together with Grove Atlantic, MCD, Rare Bird, and Unnamed's imprint partner Ze Books, we'll seek to create a vehicle for literary collaboration with other presses from coast to coast. (Not to mention, we have a bookshelf ladder.)," North Fig noted.

The new bookshop will feature "the publisher  brands we love, and the small presses everyone should know about--not just new releases, but the back catalog of titles that keep publishers going," according to North Fig, which added: "It's difficult to express the gratitude we have to all of our friends and supporters. This space is especially for you--whether you live in L.A. or are just passing through--and we hope you will consider it a literary home for years to come." North Fig's website is still in the process of being completed, but its Bookshop page is operational. 

The store manager is Mads Gobbo, a writer, illustrator and bookseller living in Los Angeles. She has served as events manager at Skylight Books, the store artist at the Booksmith and inventory coordinator at Printed Matter Inc. In 2022, Gobbo co-founded Hand Follows Eye Studios, a mobile arts education business with a queer and feminist focus. 

The future home of Big Hill Books.

Beth Thompson is planning to open Big Hill Books next summer at 405 Penn Ave. So., in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minn., where she anticipates the shop becoming part of a bustling neighborhood business community. The store will sell new titles for all ages and offer a large inventory of home & garden and gifts merchandise. 

Noting that she had emancipated herself from corporate America during last year's Great Resignation, Thompson said, "It was one of those unexpected 'when a door closes, a window opens' kind of opportunities. I could have ridden off into the retirement sunset. But that just wasn't for me."

The bookstore's events calendar is still in the planning phases, but Thompson said she expects it to reflect the progressive passions of Bryn Mawr and surrounding neighborhoods, including social justice, environmental, racial and cultural diversity topics. The shop's gardening and botanical aesthetic stems from the neighborhood's residents and surroundings. Bryn Mawr, widely known for its beautiful residential and public gardens, is also home to many master gardeners, as well as Theodore Wirth Park and Bassett Creek. 

"Any successful bookseller knows the sweet spot for an indie bookstore is to reflect the community in which it exists. That's something Amazon and Barnes & Noble will never offer," Thompson noted, adding that Bryn Mawr's population is expected to increase by 25% in the next three years with the development of new multi-unit and retirement housing.

Thompson is already making plans for Phase 2 of Big Hill Books, which will involve building out the property's lower level to sell used books and provide a community meeting space for remote workers, active civic groups, nonprofit organizations, book clubs and more.

Urban Reads Bookstore, Baltimore, Md., is now also the home of My Mama's Vegan, which is operating a café inside of the bookstore. Baltimore Fishbowl reported that when owner Debonette Wyatt "learned about an available café space inside Urban Reads Bookstore, she asked the bookstore's owner Tia Hamilton if her vegan food business could fill the spot."

"The location was perfect," Wyatt said. "The inside is warm and inviting. Tia and I are also on the same page about a lot of things." My Mama's Vegan previously offered carry-out at 2915 Greenmount Ave., just south of its new location, but Wyatt said she "decided to switch things up a little to do more of a cafe/bistro. This will allow us to be more intimate with our guests as well as have some flexibility with our menu."

Hamilton noted that she opened her bookstore partly as a venue to publish and sell her magazine, State Vs Us, which "highlights high-profile cases, wrongful convictions, and success stories of formerly incarcerated individuals.... We are also the hub for prison and local authors."

In addition to the magazine, Urban Reads sells books, CBD products, soaps, sage, candles and more, Fishbowl wrote, adding that the shop also provides faxing, copying and notary services, and hosts events. Wyatt and Hamilton have hosted community events in the past, and are looking forward to doing more together and having a greater impact.

Diane Emerson, executive director of Waverly Main Street, said the collaboration between the two Black woman-owned businesses is cause for celebration: "You now can experience the best of both worlds: enjoying some crafted meals from My Mama's Vegan and wander through the rest of Urban Reads to pick a book. Now, you can stay a while, eat, read, and learn about all of the great things happening in and around the city of Baltimore. As a Black woman leading a nonprofit, it's important to me to make sure our minority businesses succeed."

The Publishers Association, Booksellers Association and Association of Author's Agents are collaborating on the development of OpenBooks, a series of free, accessible online events primarily targeting young talent from underrepresented backgrounds. 

OpenBooks will launch to the trade November 18, with an event on the subject of future talent during the Bookseller's FutureBook Conference. The initiative will launch to young people across the U.K. in February 2023, via a hub at www.publishers.org.uk/openbooks with a series of virtual live events and panels, plus short video content, focusing on inspiring and connecting to their interests, creative skills and passions.

Aimed primarily at 14- to 19-year-olds from underrepresented backgrounds, OpenBooks will showcase a range of book-related career options across publishing, bookselling, literary agenting and beyond. Drawing in a range of inspiring speakers, events will be curated to bring insights into the book industry, demystifying career options, identifying routes in and positioning the book industry alongside other creative industries such as film, TV and music. Events will be open to all and freely available to watch online at any time, reducing barriers to accessibility, including travel and cost. 

The initiative will be promoted via U.K. schools and education settings, community groups, youth organizations, bookshops and other networks, as well as directly to young people online. OpenBooks is in consultation with industry partners and groups to ensure that a variety of needs and community priorities are taken into consideration. The initiative is intended to help remove barriers, increase transparency and demystify an industry that is often perceived to be inaccessible--contributing to building a workforce that better reflects society, addressing issues of equality and inclusion. 
 
"This is the first initiative of its kind that spans the whole book trade, and the PA is delighted to be working with the BA and AAA in order to reach out to the next generation of talent," said Rebecca Smart, co-CEO of DK and a PA council member. "We know the industry is still too opaque and we are ambitious about changing that via OpenBooks."

BA managing director Meryl Halls added that the organization "is delighted to be working with our industry partners on this ground-breaking event. We know that bookselling is often the primary route in to the book industry, and bookselling can act as the training ground for booksellers, publishers and even authors. We know that booksellers make the best publishers, and booksellers themselves are community-builders, curators and enthusiasts for books of all types; we're passionately committed to diversifying bookselling, and to making bookshops welcoming beacons to all who might want to enter the book trade. What better place to love books? So we are foursquare behind this project and excited to see the next generation of booksellers coming through."

AAA president Catherine Clarke commented: "OpenBooks is a brilliant collaborative project which springs from the recognition across our vibrant book industry that a huge number of talented young people from all backgrounds don't know about it or feel excluded from it. With enthusiastic and generous support from many book trade bodies, and the Arts Council, OpenBooks aims to change that, and the AAA is proud to be a founding member of this initiative."
 
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FEP Board 2022-2024: (l.-r.) Sakari Laiho, Jessica Sänger, Ricardo Franco Levi, Sonia Draga, Catherine Blache, Phaedon Kidoniatis

The Federation of European Publishers has elected Ricardo Franco Levi, president of the Italian Publishers Association, as its new president. FEP members also voted for the new board for the 2022-2024 term. Sonia Draga, current president of the Polish Chamber of Books and president of the Eponym publishing house, was elected vice-president, becoming the first woman to hold that position and, according to FEP statutes, the future president in 2024.  

Phaedon Kidoniatis, representative of the Cooperation of Greek Publishers' Associations and founder of Eurasia Publications, is treasurer. Catherine Blache (Syndicat National de l'Édition, France), Sakari Laiho (Suomen Kustannusyhdistys, Finland) and Jessica Sänger (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany) were elected as board members.

FEP incoming president Levi said that "following Peter Kraus vom Cleff's and previous presidents' steps, I will commit to strengthen the representation of publishers at European level. I will bring my European experience and I look forward to continue having the voice of my fellow publishers heard and listened to by politicians and commission's officials. Books and reading are absolutely indispensable to our European democracy, and we must make sure that the EU and our national governments recognize the importance of our sector and support us through positive policies. During my Presidency, I will also pursue Peter's endeavor to help our Ukrainian colleagues to remain a viable sector in a more than challenging and dramatic situation."

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Bookseller moment: Posted on Instagram by Analog Books, Lethbridge, Alb., Canada: "So where would you rather be? Out (in the cold) or inside the cozy, inviting bookstore? We think the choice is simple." --Robert Gray

The Barnes & Noble store on the Lindenwood University campus in St. Charles, Mo., is moving next month, the LindenLink reported.

The store will close in its current location on November 14 and reopen in its new home on November 28. It will reside in the Spellmann Building, which is in a more central location on campus, and the bookstore will span two floors in the building.

The University's leadership team first considered moving the bookstore last year. The bookstore's old building will now be home to the Reserve Officer Training Corps and Public Safety.

Amy E. Casey (The Sturgeon's Heart, Gibson House, 2022) and Melissa Gorzelanczyk (Arrows, Delacorte, 2016) headlined a well-received talk on writing and publishing at WordHaven BookHouse, in Sheboygan, Wis., last week.

Indie booksellers were getting out the vote on social media yesterday. Here's a sampling:

Listen to the hat: Inkwood Books

Inkwood Books, Haddonfield, N.J.: "Listen to the hat!  Please go vote today if you haven't already."

Rudolph Girls Books, Westminster, Md.: "Voting and books sound like an excellent combo for today!"

Let's Play Books Bookstore, Emmaus, Pa.: "Voting is a right, but it is also a duty! Your vote counts. Every vote makes a difference!"

Room of One's Own, Madison, Wis.: "Brb gotta go vote for abortions and weed. it'll take 7 minutes. bring a book. flirt with a qt in line. it's the Least We Can Do moment of the season!"

Gibson's Bookstore, Concord, N.H.: "Distract yourself from Election Day Anxieties with new books! Take advantage of our Election Day Sale today. If you vote, you save. 25% off nearly everything in-store and online! (Use code IVOTED online)."

All hands on deck at Subterranean Books.

Subterranean Books, St. Louis, Mo.: "Election Day has arrived and polls close at 7 p.m. Our booksellers here at Subby have exercised our right to vote and we hope you do too!"

Fact and Fiction Books, Missoula, Mont.: "Hey, after you go vote (GO VOTE!), come down to the store to treat yourself to one or two of this week's new books! (Cookies not included)"

The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Mass.: "Please remember to get out and vote today. And if you're still feeling civic-minded after doing so, don't forget that we're always collecting food for the Acton Food Pantry."

Foggy Pine Books, Boone, N.C.: "Foggy Pine Books will be closing early TODAY, November 8th, so our staff can go vote!... If you haven't already, this is a great chance for you to go and vote as well!"

At the Open Book

The Open Book, Warrenton, Va.: "We're here all day as you head off to the polls."

White Whale Bookstore, Pittsburgh, Pa.: "Once more, for those in the back: don't be a [clown]; show up and VOTE today! (Throwback to last election--I'm bringing my kids and voting this afternoon.) Your voice matters!"

The Little BOHO Bookshop, Bayonne, N.J.: "ELECTION DAY ~ The polls are open, get out and vote!!"

Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pa.: "If you don't want to read our weekly newsletter, at least promise us you will head out and vote today!"

The Book and Cover, Chattanooga, Tenn.: "Elections are determined by the folks who show up. Today, curious readers, we are giving you 15% off your book purchase if you voted. Go vote! And then come by and show us your sticker or your time-stamped selfie."

"It's been an eventful morning. We welcomed our new sign that will welcome you on your next visit to our Ann Arbor store!" posted Schuler Books, which also operates stores in Grand Rapids and Okemos, Mich., as well as an upcoming location in West Bloomfield.

Schuler purchased the former Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor in 2014 and renamed the store last summer because, the company explained, it "has been a member of the Schuler Books family in everything but name." 

Columbia University Press will distribute Floating Opera Press, effective November 21.

Floating Opera Press, Berlin, Germany, was founded in 2017 by Aaron Bogart as a publisher of artists' books and has since added contemporary criticism. Floating Opera aims to release three to six titles a year.

Among the press's titles are the pocket-sized Critic's Essay Series, whose entries include Queer Formalism: The Return by William J. Simmons, as well as Karen Archey's After Institutions. Floating Opera Press will continue the series with forthcoming titles, including Perpetual Slavery by Ciarán Finlayson, a reworking of an earlier essay on artists Ralph Lemon, Cameron Rowland, and the afterlife of slavery.

The Choice: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book 3 by Nora Roberts (St. Martin's Press).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Mariah Carey, co-author of The Christmas Princess (Holt, $18.99, 9781250837110).

Good Morning America: Corey Yeager, author of How Am I Doing? 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself (Harper Celebrate, $22.99, 9781400236763).

Rachael Ray: Michael Starr, author of Don Rickles: The Merchant of Venom (Citadel, $27, 9780806541723).

Drew Barrymore Show: Joanna Gaines, author of The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters (Harper Select, $31.99, 9781400333875).

The Talk: Justin Baldoni, author of Boys Will Be Human: A Get-Real Gut-Check Guide to Becoming the Strongest, Kindest, Bravest Person You Can Be (HarperCollins, $14.99, 9780063067189).

Watch What Happens Live: Omar Epps, co-author of Nubia: The Awakening (Delacorte Press, $19.99, 9780593428641).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: George Saunders, author of Liberation Day: Stories (Random House, $28, 9780525509592).

Lin-Manuel Miranda will have a key guest-starring role on Disney+'s upcoming series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on Rick Riordan's bestselling book series. Deadline reported that Miranda, who, along with his son, is a fan of the Percy Jackson books, "will play Hermes, the messenger god who looks out for travelers and thieves, and is a bit of a trickster himself." 

In addition to series regulars Walter Scobell, Aryan Simhadri, Leah Sava Jeffries and Charlie Bushnell, Miranda joins previously announced guest stars Megan Mullally, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Timm Sharp, Dior Goodjohn, Olivea Morton, Adam Copeland, Suzanne Cryer and Jessica Parker Kennedy.

Riordan and Jon Steinberg wrote the pilot, and James Bobin directs. Steinberg will oversee the series with his producing partner Dan Shotz. The project is currently in production in Vancouver and is expected to premiere exclusively on Disney+ in 2024.

The World Fantasy Awards were presented during the 2022 World Fantasy Convention, held November 3-6 in New Orleans, La.

Life Achievement: Samuel R. Delany and Terri Windling
Best Novel: The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (Orbit)
Best Novella: "And What Can We Offer You Tonight" by Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
Best Short Fiction: "(emet)" by Lauren Ring (F&SF, 7-8/21)
Best Anthology: The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (2021) edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Jembefola)
Best Collection: Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan by Usman T. Malik (Kitab)
Best Artist: Tran Nguyen
Special Award, Professional: Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, for Monstress Volume Six: The Vow (Image)
Special Award, Non-Professional: Tonia Ransom, for Nightlight: A Horror Fiction Podcast

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Finalists for the 2022 Golden Poppy Book Awards, celebrating "the best of the best from California authors and illustrators" and sponsored by the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, have been announced. The 68 finalists in 13 categories can be seen here.

Voting for the Golden Poppy Awards will take place January 9-23 and winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on February 9.

photo: Cassidy Kristiansen

Fatimah Asghar's first book of poems, If They Come for Us, explored themes of orphaning, family, the violence of the 1947 Partition of South Asia, the legacy of colonization and shifting identity. With Safia Elhillo they co-edited Halal If You Hear Me, an anthology for Muslim people who are also women, trans, gender non-conforming and/or queer. Asghar is the writer and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls, a web series in development with HBO that highlights friendship among women of color. Asghar wrote and directed two short films, Got Game and Retrieval, in which they also starred. Their debut novel, When We Were Sisters (One World/Random House, October 18, 2022), follows three Muslim American sisters who, after their parents die, are left to raise one another in a country with systems that were not designed for them.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

When We Were Sisters is a lyrical novel about orphaning, siblinghood and the small and large traumas that keep us apart from each other.

On your nightstand now:

I'm currently reading Undrowned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs and The Spirit of Intimacy by Sobonfu Somé, and I just finished Customs by Solmaz Sharif. This week two amazing books also just dropped: Safia Elhillo's Girls that Never Die and Fariha Róisín's Who Is Wellness For?

Favorite book when you were a child:

I really loved Harry Potter. Getting lost in magic and fantasy was so important to me, especially because Harry was an orphan. It's really unfortunate now, seeing J.K. Rowling being anti-trans and that feeling of seeing someone you admired as a child be so awful to an entire group of people. I also loved Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. I remember reading that book and being, like, wow, I didn't know a single book could make me feel so many feelings.

Your top five authors:

This is an impossible question because I don't really have just five. But I know that I'll read anything by Ross Gay. I love Arundhati Roy and The God of Small Things; I return to that book often. I also love Justin Torres and We the Animals. I absolutely love everything by Toni Morrison--I can get so lost in her worlds, and she always teaches me so much about humanity and tenderness. And Lucille Clifton, I return to her so often.

Book you've faked reading:

Unfortunately, a lot. I don't have a really strong background in what folks would consider "the classics," white canonical literature. So when folks often talk about Fitzgerald or Mark Twain or Jane Austen, I'm always, like, yeah, sure. And it's weird because I know I've read parts of them, and there are so many movies I've seen that are based on their work, so I feel like I know them without knowing them.

Book you're an evangelist for:

How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong. I love this book so much, and I feel like it articulates so many truths about community and intimacy and the need for each other that I know so deeply. I think as our world is growing increasingly disconnected, there are so many people who hunger deeply for belonging and community and care. I think this is a really important book in charting out paths towards that.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Too Much Midnight by Krista Franklin! I didn't buy this for just the cover: Krista is an unreal poet and her ability with words is masterful, but Krista is also a collage artist and a visual artist and has designed the cover for many books. So buying this book was special, because it meant getting her words and owning a piece of her visual art.

Book you hid from your parents:

Me and my friends used to pass around The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah, and trust that book was hidden from all of my family.

Book that changed your life:

So many of them. I sometimes get afraid of picking up books because I know how transformative they can be, how they can change your life. Books are portals, and when a book hits you at the right moment it really can take you on an entirely separate path. I think of Ilya Kaminsky's Dancing in Odessa, Mahmoud Darwish's Journal of an Ordinary Grief and Kamau Brathwaite's Trench Town Rock. Also, historical tips: The Other Side of Silence by Urvashi Butalia and Midnight's Furies by Nisid Hajari--both books that talk about Partition.

Favorite line from a book:

I can't give you a favorite line from a book ever, but I can give you my favorite line from the book I am reading right now, which is: "It makes me think about who benefited all this time from the conspiracy to pretend I didn't exist. And then later the lie that the only real part of me was the part they could sell." --Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals.

Five books you'll never part with:

Seam by Tarfia Faizullah. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The Black Maria by Aracelis Girmay. All About Love by bell hooks. Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha.

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

Honestly, I think Jazz by Toni Morrison. I remember reading Jazz and it hitting so deep in me, and it was also really reflective of a deeply personal and deeply hidden thing that I was going through at the same time. And the book just cut so close. I read it and then kind of put it away and haven't revisited it since because of the unearthing it did in me. But part of me is still there, in that time that I first read it, soaking in every word.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson tells her young adult audience that "caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance." But Wilkerson adroitly illuminates the whole auditorium by turning three intense spotlights on "the chilling... officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany," "the lingering, millennia-long caste system of India" and "the unspoken, race-based" system in the United States. This in-depth exploration pulls ugly secrets out of the shadows and gives name and shape to the "caste pyramid." Wilkerson's adaptation of her bestselling adult book brings this weighty subject to an accessible level for teen readers.

Wilkerson's stunning writing about social constructs that have demonized segments of society throughout history exposes both heartbreaking horrors and inspiring hope. She engages readers when describing how members of the dominant caste can distance and dehumanize those in the subjugated group and when recounting a Brahmin's rejection of his privileged position. Wilkerson additionally emphasizes that castes are detrimental to all individuals, not only the subordinate group. By focusing on enlightenment rather than blame, Wilkerson's text is likely to spark a desire for change instead of a defense against perceived accusations.

This adaptation provides a level of accessibility for young adults without compromising content. Wilkerson undoubtedly respects her readers and provides them a level of authenticity and honesty that reflects this esteem. She explains, "It turns out that everyone benefits when society meets the needs of the disadvantaged," then outlines how they can be a part of the solution: "in a world without caste, we would all be invested in the well-being of others... and recognize that we are in need of one another more than we have been led to believe."

While this edition has been designed for young readers, adults who may have been hesitant to tackle the 500+ pages of the original should also find this version approachable and engrossing. And hopefully teens and adults alike will line up at midnight for this one because as Wilkerson explains, "A world without caste would set everyone free." --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Shelf Talker: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson's groundbreaking work is enlighteningly and accessibly adapted for young adult readers.

The following were the most popular book club books during October based on votes from book club readers in more than 82,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:

1. Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel by Bonnie Garmus (Doubleday)
2. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Berkley)
3. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles (Viking)
4. Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco)
5. The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave (Simon & Schuster)
6. Verity by Colleen Hoover (Grand Central)
7. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig (Viking)
8. Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine Books)
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Washington Square Press)
10. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria)

Rising Stars:

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell: A Novel by Robert Dugoni (Lake Union)
Mad Honey: A Novel by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (Ballantine Books)