Winter Institute 2023 officially ended last night in Seattle, Wash., a striking testament to the power of in-person meetings--many people were seeing each other in real life for the first time in at least three years. There was more than the usual amount of hugging and catching up and celebrating the kind of community that is limited in Zoomland. Many people commented on how important serendipity is at such meetings--making unexpected connections that wouldn't have been made otherwise. Kudos to the ABA for running a smooth show and bringing so many book people back together!

There were some 1,500 people in attendance, including more than 900 booksellers, a record number. (In early years, the Winter Institute had a cap of 500, which was slowly but steadily increased.) The booksellers represent 470 stores in the U.S., including mobile, online only and pop-ups besides bricks-and-mortar locations. There were 435 first-time attendees. The international contingent was about 20, down from the 2020 Winter Institute of about 70, and included representatives from Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Programming ranged from traditional nuts-and-bolts topics to the wave of book bannings, the importance of diversity and representation, managing one's mental and physical wellness, and how to deal with the constantly changing challenges of the current times. As CEO Allison Hill put it recently, this year's Winter Institute programming "reflects a different world than the one we were in the last time we met in-person--sessions on conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques, creating connections and bridging divides during turbulent times, closing the gap between good intentions and real change, and how indie bookstores can fight back against Amazon and grow online sales are all signs of the times and designed to help stores thrive in a new era."

Best Wi souvenir: the Independent Publishers Caucus party featured two tattoo artists, and a number of booksellers got new bookish ink.

ABA director of education Kim Hooyboer added that "bookselling in 2023 requires advanced strategic thinking, a keen sense of customer behavior, strong financial literacy, proficiency in e-commerce, digital media analytics, personnel development, community outreach, and, above all, a passion for the written word. The program we've developed for Winter Institute 2023 reflects this new landscape and provides critical professional development for the next generation of independent booksellers."

As always, we tip our hat to Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books bookstores in southern Florida, and an attendee this year, who as ABA president nearly 20 years ago came up with the idea of the Winter Institute.

Winter Institute will be held next year in Cincinnati, Ohio, which would have been the host for Wi2022 had the pandemic not made an in-person meeting at that time impossible.

Shelf Awareness will have more coverage of Winter Institute 2023 in upcoming issues.

During the ABA Community Forum, discussion covered a range of topics, including book bannings, publishers selling directly to consumers, how to fight Amazon, the importance of reporting sales to ABACUS and promoting the adoption of Batch by more publishers and booksellers.

Immediately following the Community Forum, in what has become an annual tradition, BIPOC booksellers gathered for a group photo.

Southern booksellers: Doug Robinson from Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, Ga., visited with bookstore trainers Mark Kaufman and Donna Paz Kaufman, owners of Story and Song Bookstore, Amelia Island, Fla.

Tin House Books publisher Craig Popelars with Jane Wong, author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City; Johanna Albrecht from McIntryre's Books in Pittsboro, N.C.; and Tin House publicist Jae Nichelle.

Binc played its annual fundraising game Head or Tails, and David Wolff from Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minn., won $500. Binc raised $7,380 through the sale of blinky bicycle pins during Wi. And at the Shelf Awareness party at Elliott Bay Book Company Sunday evening, 20% of purchases went to Binc, raising another $1,200. Pictured: Megan Petrie and Matthew Gildea from Binc sponsor Arcadia Publishing; Binc's Kathy Bartson; Wolff; Binc's Pam French; Katie Parry, Arcadia.

Josh Spencer and Jenna Hipp Spencer, owners of the Last Bookstore and Lost Books in Los Angeles, Calif., opened Skull-Face Bookstore at 1148 Bethel St., in Honolulu, Hawaii, in December. Honolulu magazine reported that "while their California shops cater to a broad audience, [Josh] Spencer decided that if he was going to open a bookstore back in his home state (he grew up as a surfer-skater kid in Hawai'i Kai), it might as well be a true reflection of his own unique tastes, as niche as they may be."

Every book in the shop is hand-picked by Spencer, who said, "There seemed to be a void on the island for the kinds of things that I personally love--darker, weirder, more action-oriented stuff, everything from punk rock to ancient Roman and Greek history to science fiction. It's kind of a mash-up of nerdy stuff and really hip stuff."

They discovered the location while home visiting friends and family. Spending some time in Downtown-Chinatown, they "found themselves falling for the neighborhood's somewhat gritty-but-authentic vibe and strong sense of community," Honolulu noted. 

"It just feels real and organic," Spencer said. "It has history behind it and kind of a rough edge to it, which goes well with our personalities and what we like. There's a lot of cool people down here--we were talking to the other shop owners and it seemed like everybody knew each other and was looking out for each other."

Of the bookstore's interior, Spencer said he "wanted it to be overstimulation with a maximalist feel to it. I covered the walls with things that meant something to me--shows I'd watch, movies I love, bands that I liked. I also wanted to make it feel like somebody's bedroom in a way and cover it with posters and artwork, and have these really cool blankets. I wanted it to feel like home to people that are into this stuff.... We'd like people to explore and wander around. There's something new around every corner. That's the way books are--when you're reading, you don't know where it's gonna take you. A bookstore should mimic that too."

Spencer added that since the shop opened, "everybody that comes in is like, how did you know? We needed this! How do you carry all these books that we like? Everybody seems super-stoked and really appreciative. I was surprised because I didn't know if anybody else liked the kind of stuff I like too, but it seems like there's a large amount of people that do."

Bards Alley Bookshop, Vienna, Va., is currently undergoing interior renovations. The bookstore previously featured a cafe and wine bar that has been shut down since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Bards Alley is transforming the space into a new children's area, which will include a platform/stage area for the kids (and to host store events), as well as all new shelving to better show off picture books and offer more options for early readers.

"We have also been able to donate the granite counters from the cafe and a few other items to the local Habitat for Humanity chapter," said general manager Mallory Sutton. "We've also taken down a wall to make the store feel more open and hopefully make browsing a bit easier overall. We are building a new receiving room/office space to make receiving and storing overstock more manageable, as that was previously done at the cafe counter."

Plans call for the addition of some new display tables. All of the bookshop's sections have been moved around, increasing and re-organizing the Classics and Current Events sections. Bards Alley will also bring in more vendors for a larger stationery & gifts area. 

"We've been open this whole time (with limited hours) to take orders and showcase new releases," Sutton added. "Response has been amazing from our community so far, and everyone is very, very excited for the 'grand reopening!' We're hoping to return to normal operation hours on Tuesday, February 28."

On March 1, Barnes & Noble will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting for its new bookstore at 128 South West Shore Blvd. in Tampa, Fla., less than two miles from its previous, larger location on Dale Mabry Highway. 

Noting that it had been in the Dale Mabry location for 29 years, B&N said the company is "pleased to be able to remain in the South Tampa community. Much has changed in that time, but the core of good bookselling remains."

The Book Haus in New Braunfels, Tex., will close permanently on March 31, Community Impact reported.

Owner Sabrina Caldwell plans to start a liquidation sale on Monday, February 20, that will run until the bookshop's final day of business. The inventory consists of mainly of used books with a selection of new titles; Caldwell has stopped accepting books for store credit, and is encouraging customers to use their store credit or gift certificates as soon as possible.

"We want to thank all of you for the love and support that so many have shown the store and us over the last five years," Caldwell wrote in a Facebook post. "We will miss seeing our regulars and meeting new customers."

Caldwell noted that while it no longer makes financial sense to run a bricks-and-mortar store, she plans on "still being around the community doing pop-ups and planning events."

(photo: Kristin Jelstrup)

Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass., hosted a launch party for The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America by Christopher Gorham (Kensington Books), about the remarkable life of the late politician Anna Rosenberg. Pictured: (l. to r.) author Christopher Gorham; WBUR All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins; and Rosenberg's grandson, Tom Rosenberg.
 

BookPeople, Austin, Tex., shared a photo of the shop's interstellar book display, noting: "Every so often, you need a book that will take you somewhere else. This display is all about stories that transport you to new worlds! How beautiful is that sign, though???"

"JUST ANOTHER CUTIE DAY IN CUTIE WORLD LOL!!!!!! Novelette Booksellers, Nashville, Tenn., posted on Instagram. "This weather is insane so our door's open and the vibes are, as I said, cute."

Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?: Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag by Craig Seligman (PublicAffairs).

Tomorrow:
CBS Saturday Morning: Rupert Holmes, author of Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide (Avid Reader Press, $28, 9781451648218).

Universal International Studios and Australian indie Matchbox Pictures are developing a TV adaptation of Adrian McKinty's novel The Island. Deadline reported that McKinty, Shane Salerno and the Story Factory are executive producers, and the team is now seeking an American or Australian writer for the project.

"The Island is the story of an underestimated person who maybe doesn't get a lot of respect but who rises to the occasion and shows everyone what ordinary people are capable of in extremis," said McKinty. "Really tough and shocking things happen in the book, but what shines through for me are Heather's smarts, strength and tenacity--she's a tribute to the strong women who raised and continue to inspire me."

Kelsey Balance, UIS senior v-p of scripted programming, praised McKinty for "writing compelling and complex character journeys. The Island has the right combination of what we're looking for in a global story. It is relatable and rich from a character perspective with an amazing Outback backdrop so we immediately jumped in and picked it up."

Winners were announced for the Parliamentary Book Awards, as voted for by MPs and members of the House of Lords. Launched in 2016 by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association, the awards are curated by bookshops and voted for by parliamentarians "to champion the best political writing in the U.K. and to recognize the important link between the worlds of politics and publishing." This year's winning titles are:

Political book by a non-parliamentarian: The Fall of Boris Johnson: The Full Story by Sebastian Payne 
Biography memoir or autobiography: What Are You Doing Here?: My Autobiography by Baroness Floella Benjamin 
Nonfiction book by a parliamentarian: In The Shadows: The Extraordinary Men and Women of the Intelligence Corps by Michael Ashcroft

BA managing director Meryl Halls said: "A tumultuous year in Westminster politics has produced an eclectic set of winning titles; from describing the extraordinary men and women who served in the Intelligence Corps, to a brilliant portrayal of the very public psychodrama of the Boris Johnson years. And I'm delighted so see Baroness Benjamin winning with her autobiography which is also very much the story of Black Britain from the 1960s to more recent times."

PA CEO Dan Conway commented: "These books demonstrate the breadth of political writing in the U.K. and shed light on some of the most important moments and issues in recent history. The link between publishing and politics is longstanding and we are delighted to once again welcome parliamentarians, authors, publishers, and booksellers to the Houses of Parliament to celebrate these important works."

photo: Sylvie Rosokoff

Asale Angel-Ajani is the author of a nonfiction book, Strange Trade, about drug traffickers imprisoned in Italy, and is a professor at the City College of New York (CUNY) where she serves as director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program. Her first novel, A Country You Can Leave (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, February 21, 2023), follows the turbulent relationship of a biracial Black teen and her ferocious Russian mother, struggling to survive in the California desert. Angel-Ajani lives, writes and works in New York City.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

A Country You Can Leave is about a mother--a Russian immigrant--and her biracial Black daughter living on the edge of society, trying to find love and acceptance.

On your nightstand now:

I can no longer keep books on my nightstand. It was too much pressure. Really. The books on my nightstand became like a chorus of nagging aunties whenever I added a new friend to the pile, leaving my old friends unfinished. So I now carry my books around with me everywhere. I have three with me now.

Wanda Coleman's The Riot Inside Me is a collection of essays and some poetry, and I am being transported back in time reading about her perspective as a Black woman in California in the 1970s. She has some very pointed writing about success and being on the margins of the Black literati of the '70s and '80s especially.

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector is a gorgeous slim novel that will likely make my all-time greatest list. For me, it's a writer's novel and completely untethered to the demands of anything outside of the story. It's not as free form as some of her other work, but it feels more visceral. I find myself reading and rereading lines and saying, "Damn" out loud nearly every time.

I am also reading the reprint of Claudia Tate's Black Women Writers at Work, a collection of in-depth and smart interviews with Black women writers like Toni Cade Bambara, Alexis De Veaux and Gayl Jones, among others. Since I am writing another book right now, I like to read this when I take a break. Sometimes the interviews are like eavesdropping on a conversation happening at the kitchen table, other times the interviews are master classes in the role of the novel in Black liberation movements.

Favorite book when you were a child:

My mother was an enormous reader, so I was a kid who grew up in the library. Of course, inevitably, we would accumulate too many late fees, so we would buy books from yard or garage sales. I bought my first book in a series--the whole set--for 25 cents at the Rose Bowl Swap Meet. It was The Adventures of the Great Brain by John Dennis Fitzgerald. I loved that this kid, Tom, was always scheming and dreaming up some plan to make money or get something for free but he was kind, too. I was really into it. I didn't know it at the time, but the book probably spoke to me because though demographically, I was not a young white settler boy living in rural Utah during the mid 1800s, the book dealt with being a minority and having to confront injustice in a very closed community.

Your top five authors:

James Baldwin, Anna Akhmatova, Gayl Jones, Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison. This is a rotating list, of course.

Book you've faked reading:

I'm a public reader. Subway. Buses. Airplanes. Restaurants. I am not ashamed to admit that I have faked reading many a book with complicated or otherwise seductive titles, it's kind of a birthright, given my graduate degrees. Without question I have faked reading anything by Jean Baudrillard, and Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I've also been thumbing my way through the 700 pages of Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre for a couple of decades.

Book you're an evangelist for:

I have two books that I swoon and cry over to anyone who will listen. The first is Loukoum: The "Little Prince" of Belleville by Calixthe Beyala, translated by Marjolijn de Jager. It's a story about a seven-year-old Malian boy living in a Paris banlieue with his father and his two wives. It's a slim book, beautifully written, about class, race and male privilege in an immigrant community.

The second book is The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. It is the perfect kind of book. It's gripping and original and tinged with a bit of mystery and a bit of a love story.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Too many books were bought for the cover. See my nightstand.

But also, many of the books I bought because they looked beautiful also thwart the negative connotation about "buying books" based on the cover. A book I bought based on a beautiful cover that was also very good and totally engrossing was Xochitl Gonzalez's novel Olga Dies Dreaming.

Book you hid from your parents:

I think I hid a lot of books from my mother, mostly, because any new book I got, my mother read first. She said it was because she wanted to see if they were appropriate, but I think it was because my mother would just tear through books when she wasn't working. She was always looking for something new to read. So, mostly, I hid books so that I could have the pleasure of reading them first. There were a few books that she censored though--Deenie by Judy Blume, another flea market find, and some book that I found in the literal gutter outside of my elementary school. I can't remember the title and that is likely because my twin sister and I (upon seeing how graphic and smutty the book was) decided to make a book jacket for it out of construction paper. We thought we weren't being obvious at all.

Book that changed your life:

I was given a seventh grade reading assignment and we had to pick a book off a long list to read and write about. I brought the list to my mother because she had huge stacks of books around the house, mostly from the bargain bins and yard sales, and a few (strategically) never returned books from the local library. My mother pointed to the list, saying she had a copy of Wuthering Heights in her room. She even let me go in to get it. This was a huge deal. My mother's room was off limits. I found the book, started reading it and was bored. Then I saw a Black woman on the cover of a book. I picked it up and began reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Even now, when I think about that book, I get emotional. The clearest memory of my life was the day I found that book. It was the first time I felt a small piece of understanding myself. Up to that point, I had not read anything that, though different, resembled my upbringing as a Black girl in rural California.

Favorite line from a book:

"Who hasn't ever wondered: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?" --from The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

"Ci sono notti/ che non/ accadono mai." --Alda Merini, Selected Poems. [There are nights that never happen]

Five books you'll never part with:

Eva's Man by Gayl Jones
In the Vortex of the Cyclone, Selected Poems by Excilia Saldaña, translated by Flora González Mandri and Rosamond Rosenmeier
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist by Breyten Breytenbach
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

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

It's hard to choose one book, but maybe Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston or Sula by Toni Morrison.

A world crumbles, and practically everything that can go wrong does so in Community Board, a bittersweet, laugh-out-loud novel by Tara Conklin whose cleverness will warm the hearts of readers.

When 29-year-old Darcy Clipper's husband announces that he's leaving her for his skydiving instructor, Darcy is left stunned, bereft and aimless. She is granted a sabbatical from her job as an actuary near Boston and heads to her old hometown of Murbridge, Mass. However, when she arrives at her parents' house, she discovers that carefree Mom and Dad have set off to Arizona--on a trial run at a retirement community--without even telling her.

Left to her own devices--nourished by her parents' stash of canned goods and entertained by old National Geographic magazines--Darcy hunkers down, nursing her wounds as she cloisters herself for weeks inside their home. She begins communicating with "Fred," a beloved but now "absent fern" plant, as she philosophizes about life and love--and peruses anonymous posts on the virtual community bulletin board. When a good-natured, however nosy neighbor starts leaving cookies for Darcy in Tupperware containers she wants back and then a potbellied pig, a pet gone AWOL, shows up in Darcy's backyard, she starts to emerge from her self-imposed isolation. Then Darcy ultimately loses her job and answers an ad to become a trampoline tester. She's soon launched into the community--interacting with a host of townsfolk, most of whom are as quirky as she--and suddenly finds herself bouncing back into a whole new life.

Conklin has shown tremendous range in the empathies of her fiction. In The House Girl, she unraveled a mystery surrounding the fate of an enslaved girl who may have served as inspiration for acclaimed works of art. The Last Romantics delved into family dynamics after a young father dies and leaves behind a grief-stricken wife and four teenaged siblings. Community Board is a crafty send-up about one woman struggling to come to terms with--and rebuild--her battered self-esteem over four seasons in the changing landscape of a small town. Darcy may seem a poor soul, but her sharp, bright, enlightened mind--and her snarky, lovably endearing narrative voice, supplemented with zany e-mails and community posts--will easily win the affection of readers rooting wholeheartedly for her reinvention. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Shelf-Talker: A jilted wife receives a comical reinvention story when she returns to her old hometown and becomes swept up in madcap, small-town adventures.

What happens in Seattle doesn't necessarily stay in Seattle. Indie booksellers gathering for Winter Institute have been sharing highlights on social media. Here's a sampling:

pages: a bookstore, Manhattan Beach, Calif.: "Book people are the best people and after a two year hiatus the band is back together. It's such a treat to reconnect and celebrate, authors, books and our shared love of what we do."

Island Books, Mercer Island, Wash.: "Some fun pictures from the bookstore tour yesterday! A big thank you to everyone who came to visit our store. We had a lovely time chatting and a blast preparing for your arrival."

Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport, N.Y.: "We spend the week going to education sessions and discussions, and meeting with publishers and their reps to learn about new titles to carry in the store. We learn how to keep improving the store and how to better serve our community. It's also a great time to finally connect in person with our bookseller friends from around the country!"

McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, Mich.: "Who needs Emily in Paris when you can have Zach, Katie and Maris in SEATTLE?! Journey with us this week as the three of us take on and explore Seattle while attending the American Booksellers Association's annual 18th Winter Institute." (Day 2, Day 3, Day 4) 

The Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop, Auckland, New Zealand: "While summer seems to have reached us at last in Auckland, my intrepid sister has flown to cold Seattle to go to Winter Institute.... Mary and Carrie... are representing the Booksellers NZ Board--and hopefully getting lots of new ideas and inspiration to share with us."

Turning Page Bookshop, Goose Creek, S.C.: "Book Nerd all the way."

The Bluestocking Bookshop, Holland, Mich.: "I was talking to fellow #Michigan booksellers from @booksandmortar (hey, Maggie!) and Rose came rushing up to drag me away. And this happened. We talked to Maia Kobabe about #PatmosLibrary while watching @ajwhiteauthor talk about #TheSpiritBaresItsTeeth and now Rose can not. stop. smiling. I love my job."

Read It Again, Suwanee, Ga.: "Hey all! Kim here. This week my husband and I are in Seattle for #winterinstitute.... Book people are my favorite people, and I especially love booksellers. I've talked to booksellers from around the country and we all face the same day to day challenges."

Highland Books, Brevard, N.C.: "Winter Institute is basically bookseller heaven."

Island Books, Middletown, R.I.: "Finally, we meet! Laurie of Island Books (Mercer Island [Wash.]) and Laurie of Island Books (Rhode Island)!! There have been some cross country customer mix ups over the years! So fun to have booksellers from the whole country visit."

Portkey Books, Safety Harbor, Fla.: "Scenes from Seattle trip Day 2, Hanging with my Homies, and by homies I mean other booksellers."

Kindred Stories, Houston, Tex.: "Chanecka and Terri are in Seattle (in the snow!) for the @americanbooksellers Winter Institute! We're meeting publishers, authors, other booksellers, and learning lots with the hopes of becoming a better and more sustainable bookstore for our Houston community!"

MacArthur Books, Carmel, Ind.: "Do you ever ask a bookseller how they find the books that they stock in the store? This is called Rep Picks, and it's a fixture of every bookseller meeting. 87 tables of booksellers, each hosting a publisher talking about 12 new books. Lather, rinse repeat six times today, six times tomorrow."

Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Mo.: "Some bookseller reunions are literally making us cry. It is hard to explain how much we mean to each other in this weird and special industry. Love ya, Jayne."

Main Point Books, Wayne, Pa.: "Many of us are at #wi2023 in Seattle, a bookseller conference. We had lots of fun on the bookstore tours and are finding inspiration for our expanded space. We have also made new friends and Cathy saw an old friend @tomnissley who owns a great bookstore in Seattle @phinneybooks." 

The Book & Cover, Chattanooga, Tenn.: "Books Are Magic! And so are bookseller conferences. Look who we got to meet (@emmastraub)! We were as cool about this as you might expect. We shocked both Emma and ourselves with how not cool."

Avid Bookshop, Athens, Ga.: "It's our favorite time of year to be professional booksellers! The @americanbooksellers is hosting #WinterInstitute in Seattle this week. Here's our business owner/founder Janet with one of Rachel's favorite authors, Claire Fuller!"

Broadway Books, Portland, Ore.: "Last night while celebrating WW Norton's 100th birthday we met some of our bookstore heroes from Parnassus Books in Nashville: Lindsay, Elyse, and Sarah. Yay for Winter Institute!"

The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn, Glen Ellyn, Ill.: "Our own @suejustbooks meeting our fabulous fellow booksellers from @parnassusbooks (their lay down Tuesday is must-see)."

Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn.: "The Laydown Diaries: We have part of our team reporting in from Seattle this morning! Elyse, Lindsay, and Sarah are representing Parnassus Books at the ABA's Winter Institute, but they found some time to still report back to us about new books and upcoming events."

Run for Cover Bookstore, San Diego, Calif.: "Another excellent day at Winter Institute. The sessions are good and informative but the best part is seeing colleagues and making new friends, sharing a meal and a drink and exchanging ideas. My mind is buzzing with new projects! Also hanging out with the international delegation was so much fun! Thank you."

Wild Geese Bookshop, Franklin, Ind.: "Heading back to Indiana from a book conference and thinking about how we can keep moving forward as a business and hopefully inspire others along the way. There are so many people and so much work that goes in to every book we get to read. Creativity, particularly in a climate of constant critics, is a courageous act. We are happy that we get to help share stories."