Amy Einhorn (photo: Alexander Blaise)

Amy Einhorn, who has been president and publisher of Henry Holt since 2019, is joining the Crown Publishing Group at Penguin Random House as senior v-p, publisher, Crown Fiction, effective October 2.

In a memo to staff, Crown president David Drake said that Einhorn's "mandate will be to build an impactful fiction program comprised of approximately 20 titles published each year, extending the tradition of critical and commercial success that Crown established over the past decade with such notable publications as Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, The Martian by Andy Weir, and Conversations with Friends and Normal People by Sally Rooney." Earlier this year, Crown, which recently focused on nonfiction, was separated from Random House (they had been merged in 2018).

Before becoming head of Holt, Einhorn was executive v-p and publisher at Flatiron Books for five years. (Both are part of Macmillan.) Before that, she was head of Amy Einhorn Books at PRH, making her move to Crown a homecoming of sorts.

Drake added: "Over the course of her career, Amy's exceptional editorial taste and astute commercial instincts have helped shape the modern fiction market.... Amy has time and again displayed an unparalleled talent for discovering new voices and for molding literary talent.... I am confident that with her superlative energy, creativity, and drive, Amy will re-establish a vibrant fiction program at Crown, one that will serve as a cornerstone of our division's long-term growth strategy."

Among the titles Einhorn has edited are Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Apples Never Fall; Chris Whitaker's We Begin at the End; Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is; Min Jin Lee's Free Food for Millionaires; Yangsze Choo's The Night Tiger; and Sarah Blake's The Postmistress and The Guest Book.

Einhorn's last day at Holt will be September 8. In a memo to staff, Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged said that "over the course of her nine-plus years with Macmillan, Amy took special pride in mentoring the next generation of publishing's best. We wish her continued success as she begins the next phase of her distinguished publishing career."

The company is looking for a new publisher for Holt, and in the meantime publisher-at-large Jamie Raab will head Holt.

Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vt., which suffered extensive damage in early July when floodwaters swept through the capital city, will reopen Friday, September 1. In a blog post, Bear Pond noted: "After 52 days of flood, mud, reconstruction, restocking, reshelving and redecorating, we are finally ready to reopen to the public!... We couldn't be more excited and we know you are too. We're looking forward to seeing you all in person and talking about books again instead of construction projects!

"We still have some inventory to get in and finishing touches to put on the store, so we ask for some leeway as we get fully up and running. We'd rather be reopen than perfect!"

Bear Pond also expressed appreciation "all of you for being so supportive during this whole ordeal. The donations, purchases, encouragement, cookie deliveries, and stories about what Bear Pond Books means to you were what kept us going through the hard times. You made us feel like reopening was the right decision and the only decision every step of the way. We could not have done it without you!"

In the first quarter ended July 1, revenue at Indigo Books & Music fell 12%, to C$179.2 million (about US$132.2 million) and the net loss was C$28.5 million (US$21 million) compared to a net loss of C$25.4 million (US$ million).

The company said sales were "negatively affected by the carryover impacts of the ransomware attack that occurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Inventory replenishment capabilities were challenged as a result of the attack, which impacted the assortment available in both the retail and online sales channels for the quarter. Furthermore, the ransomware attack impacted Indigo's search engine optimization, which led to a weaker online presence and a decrease in online traffic." (Still, Indigo "generated some recovery in sales momentum" during the quarter with the sales decline improving each month.)

In addition, sales were affected by "a challenging macro-economic environment, which led to softened demand both in stores and online. Customers demonstrated increased price sensitivity, noted through positive responses to promotions and a lift of sales during promotional periods."

CEO Peter Ruis commented: "This quarter continued to be challenged by the impacts of the ransomware attack, and diminished consumer confidence due to the current macro-economic environment. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to delivering exceptional value to our customers and driving sustainable growth. We are excited to share that we recently launched our re-imagined website and are eager to provide customers with a much improved online shopping experience."

Following an expansion and name change, NewSouth Bookstore in Montgomery, Ala., has further expansions planned for the next year, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

This spring, owners Suzanne La Rosa and Randall Williams changed the store's name from Read Herring back to NewSouth Bookstore and, after selling their publishing company, NewSouth Books, to the University of Georgia Press, expanded the new and used bookstore into the space that they previously used for the publishing house.

The extra space has allowed for a new section meant for young readers and more breathing room for the store's other sections. NewSouth carries a wide assortment of fiction and nonfiction along with poetry and drama. There are plenty of books pertaining to topics like the civil rights movement, Southern history, and Native American history, and there is a section featuring banned and challenged titles.

In the coming months, the bookstore will expand into an adjacent space currently being used by a clothing and gift store called AfriAmeri, which will be moving to a larger location. Williams and La Rosa expect to use that additional space for hosting events. There is also room for growth in the building's basement and second floor.

"The store is about half of the space that it will be in a year or so," Williams told the Advertiser.

La Rosa noted that when they were still running the publishing company, they operated the bookstore "with only modest effort," and while they did get bookstore customers, the business was clearly a publisher first and bookstore second. But now that they've sold NewSouth Books, they can focus all of their attention on the bookstore.

"We want this to become a hub for conversation, for people to meet," added La Rosa.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the nonprofit organization that owns Colonial Williamsburg, Va., and operates it as a living museum, is opening a bookstore Friday in Merchants Square, the Daily Press reported.

The bookstore will carry around 50 titles published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation pertaining to subjects like the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, historical cookbooks, and even stories of hauntings in Colonial Williamsburg, as well as books from other publishers focused on early American history.

Aramark, the museum's retail partner, will operate the store. It will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with hours to change seasonally.

"Just another (late summer) day at the office!" BookHampton, East Hampton, N.Y., posted on Facebook yesterday.

"New Release Tuesdays wouldn't happen without Michael our USPS mail carrier, Kevin and friends from UPS and FedEx, and so many more helpful folks! Thank you!," Maria's Bookshop, Durango, Colo., posted on Instagram Monday, adding: "Stay tuned tomorrow for what fresh goodies they've brought through our doors!"

At the Feminist Press:

Lucia Brown has been promoted to director of community engagement. She has been with the press for nine years.

Nadine Santoro has been promoted to publicity and events coordinator. She has been with the press for two years.

Rachel Gilman has joined the press as sales and marketing coordinator. She was most recently marketing and sales associate at Grove Atlantic.

Dasher Can't Wait for Christmas by Matt Tavares (Candlewick Press).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Jeff Allen, author of Are We There Yet?: My Journey from a Messed Up to Meaningful Life (Salem Books, $24.99, 9781684514823).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, September 2
2:50 p.m. David Waldstreicher, author of The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence (‎Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30, 9780809098248), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

7 p.m. David Grann, author of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (Doubleday, $30, 9780385534260). (Re-airs Sunday at 7 a.m.)

Sunday, September 3
8 a.m. Mattie Kahn, author of Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions (Viking, $29, 9780593299067). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

8:55 a.m. Carol Roth, author of You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back (Broadside, $32, 9780063304932). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:55 p.m.)

11 a.m. Ulbe Bosma, author of The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years (Belknap Press, $35, 9780674279391). (Re-airs Sunday at 11 p.m.)

12 p.m. Live In-Depth q&a with Mary Eberstadt, author of Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited (‎Ignatius Press, $19.95, 9781621646129). (Re-airs Monday at 12 a.m.)

4 p.m. Rainer Zitelmann, author of In Defense of Capitalism (Republic Book Publishers, $30, 9781645720737).

4:25 p.m. M.E. O'Brien, author of Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care (‎Pluto Press, $22.95, 9780745343822), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

5:30 p.m. Santi Elijah Holley, author of An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created (Mariner, $32.50, 9780358588764).

6:20 p.m. Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better (Metropolitan, $31.99, 9781250266774).

Finalists for the $50,000, 10th annual 2023 Kirkus Prize have been selected. Three winners will be announced at the Kirkus Prize ceremony on October 11.

The finalists:

Fiction:
Witness by Jamel Brinkley (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link (Random House)
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead)
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (Scribner)

Nonfiction:
Red Memory: The Afterlives of China's Cultural Revolution by Tania Branigan (Norton)
Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century by Jennifer Homans (Random House)
How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind by Clancy Martin (Pantheon)
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair (Simon & Schuster)
Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" by Héctor Tobar (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (Simon & Schuster)

Young Readers' Literature:
Picture Books:
Together We Swim by Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (Chronicle Books)
João by a Thread by Roger Mello, translated by Daniel Hahn (Elsewhere Editions)

Middle Grade:
Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Union Square Kids)
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen (Candlewick)

Young Adult:
America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History by Ariel Aberg-Riger (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch (Little Island)

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, September 5:

The Fraud: A Novel by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press, $29, 9780525558965) is historical fiction based on the 1873 Tichborne Trial in England.

Payback in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel by J.D. Robb (St. Martin's Press, $30, 9781250284099) is book 57 in the In Death mystery series.

Holly by Stephen King (Scribner, $30, 9781668016138) is a new mystery with returning King character Holly Gibney.

The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson (Viking, $29, 9780593297315) is the 19th mystery with Walt Longmire.

Not Forever, But for Now by Chuck Palahniuk (Simon & Schuster, $26.99, 9781668021415) follows a family of professional killers in the Welsh countryside.

Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford (Gallery, $28.99, 9781982168568) is the memoir of a stand-up comedian.

Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry by Adrian Goldsworthy (Basic Books, $35, 9781541619968) unearths centuries of conflict between two ancient powers.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids, $18.99, 9781454952770) is the ninth picture book featuring the insistent and sometimes irascible Pigeon.

Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Lost Christmas! by Alastair Heim, illus. by Aristides Ruiz (Random House, $19.99, 9780593563168) is a sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! written and illustrated in the style of Dr. Seuss.

Paperbacks:
The Suicide Museum: A Novel by Ariel Dorfman (Other Press, $21.99, 9781635423891).

Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score (Bloom Books, $18.99, 9781728276120).

The River Runs South: A Novel by Audrey Ingram (Alcove Press, $18.99, 9781639104574).

Human Design: The Revolutionary System That Shows You Who You Came Here to Be by Jenna Zoe (Hay House, $19.99, 9781401971199).

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
Prophet: A Novel by Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald (Grove Press, $29, 9780802162021). "Prophet hooked me with its uncanny Twin Peaks x Twilight Zone mise-en-scène. This page-turning thriller is deceptively fun despite a deadly serious, thought-provoking core. I was delighted by the sly pop culture nostalgia!" --Amanda Qassar, Warwick's, La Jolla, Calif.

Mister Magic: A Novel by Kiersten White (Del Rey, $28, 9780593359266). "This is my favorite book I've read this year. I love how the book plays with the idea of collective nostalgia, and how insidious things can be passed off as wholesome. A haunting, creepy, and propulsive read!" --Ann Branson, Beach Books, Seaside, Ore.

Paperback
The Forest Brims Over: A Novel by Maru Ayase, trans. by Haydn Trowell (Counterpoint, $16.95, 9781640095373). "In an act of resistance towards her husband's exploitation, Rui eats a bowl of seeds that sprout from her body. The Forest Brims Over is a surreal unfolding of a marriage exploring how gender affects our relationships with others and ourselves." --Andrew King, Secret Garden Bookshop, Seattle, Wash.

For Ages 3 to 7
Rosie Runs by Marika Maijala, trans. by Mia Spangenberg (Elsewhere Editions, $19.95, 9781953861603). "A captivating tale of freedom for a racing dog named Rosie, told with beautiful rhythm and perfect read-aloud pacing for toddlers and early elementary listeners alike. Fluid illustrations invite the viewer to run right beside Rosie." --Julie Rowan-Zoch, Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins, Colo.

For Ages 8 to 12
Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen (Heartdrum, $15.99, 9780062983589). "Mia's feeling of not fitting in is intensified by her descent from not one, but two marginalized communities. Her journey into her Muscogee heritage means taking risks and learning from her mistakes. A brilliant coming-of-age story." --Keith Glaeske, East City Bookshop, Washington, D.C.

For Teen Readers
Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings (Wednesday Books, $24, 978125084706). "Tilly in Technicolor is a love letter to neurodivergent readers. It's a disaster-cute, stuck-with-you romance that will melt your heart. Mazey Eddings' writing is hilarious, heartfelt, and guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, and swoon." --Becky Martone, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Conn.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Julia returns the timelessly relevant world of 1984 to readers' attentions with a female protagonist more clever and feeling, and perhaps more cynical, than George Orwell's Winston Smith ever was.

Sandra Newman's retelling matches closely Orwell's familiar and disquieting original. Big Brother is the leader of the nation of Oceania, at war with Eastasia (or was it Eurasia?). Telescreens squawking nonstop propaganda constantly observe every move of the Citizens of Airstrip One, formerly London. Where Orwell offered Julia as colleague, lover, and co-conspirator to his antihero, Winston Smith, here Julia Worthing gets a backstory.

She grew up in Semi-Autonomous Zone 5, previously Kent; had her first affair with a Party member at the age of 14; and won a Hero of the Socialist Family badge for denouncing her mother (a more complex story than it immediately sounds). As an adult, Julia works in the Ministry of Truth's Fiction Department as a mechanic, repairing and maintaining the machines that design plots for the mind-controlling entertainment of the masses. "She was perpetually fascinated by the plot machinery," Newman writes, but "about the books that were the end result, she knew little and cared less."

Julia lives a straightforward, self-serving life, outwardly obedient to Party regulations and a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, but is secretly involved in a number of minor sexual affairs, trading in black-market goods for the simple pleasures of real chocolate. Though fond of Winston in some ways, she has no illusions about the possibilities their narrow world allows them and lives mostly at peace within her limits. Newman's version does not differ from Orwell's in these particulars, but it does expand Julia considerably, and appealingly, as a character increasingly wrestling with not only the contradictions between lived experience and the Party's narrative but also questions of right and wrong. "Anything was possible when one was never told the truth."

Newman (The Country of Ice Cream Star) offers a tragic and harrowing story in lovely, evocative prose, revealing all the ugliness and beautiful possibility of a world hopelessly scarred by hate and manipulation and yet, somehow, still capable of hope. Julia is double-, triple-, and quadruple-crossed: "All was false. It was known to be false, but everyone lied about the lies, until no one knew where the lies began and ended." Electrically memorable, Julia is as startling and incendiary as 1984 ever was, with dark humor and pathos commenting on perennially timely questions. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: This feminist retelling of Orwell's 1984 brings the original's philosophies, wit, and horror to modern readers with a strikingly reinvented protagonist.