The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's fall conference, held October 4-7, in Denver, Colo., drew 404 attendees, including 201 booksellers from 12 states across the region. About 50 of the booksellers were first-time attendees. Some 61 authors were featured at the event.

Education sessions focused on a range of topics, including sidelines, authorless events, handselling, merchandising--and improving e-mail marketing, which was led by Shelf Awareness's very own Neil Strandberg.

FallCon kicked off with the Children's Authors & Illustrators Keynote Breakfast. Pictured: (l.-r.) Violet Lemay (Alithia Ramirez Was an Artist), Carl Hiaasen (Wrecker), Andrea Wang (Summer at Squee), W. Bruce Cameron (Zeus: Water Rescue), Michael Datcher & Frank Morrison (Harlem at Four), and Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet).

The show floor kept vendors and booksellers busy.

MPIBA executive director Heather Duncan with Kelsey Black, owner of the Book Burrow in Pflugerville, Tex. Black is one of the first two recipients of the Joyce Meskis Excellence in Bookselling Scholarship. (The other is Cori Cusker, book buyer at Brightside Bookshop in Flagstaff, Ariz.)

An Ask an Expert education session with presenters Shelbee King (manager, Best of Books, Edmond, Okla.) and MPIBA board president Stephanie Schindhelm (Boulder Book Store, Boulder, Colo.).

Some of the hardworking FallCon volunteers, holding books featured in the MPIBA Holiday Gift Guide.

Last month, mam's books, a new indie bookstore located at 608 Maynard Ave. S in the Chinatown-International District of Seattle, Wash., celebrated its soft opening with a launch party. The Seattle Times reported that the opening of mam's books "feels especially noteworthy. On its cheerful website, mam's claims to be the only Asian American bookstore in the Pacific Northwest, and it is the first free-standing independent bookstore to open in the CID in decades. The shop is expressly dedicated to serving the community at a time when the CID is engaged in a civic conversation about its uncertain future."

Owner Sokha Danh's family arrived in the U.S. as refugees from Cambodia in 1988, first living in Louisiana before moving to Washington State. "I'm very lucky to have grown up in a family that really cherished education," he said, citing library books as a key factor in his youth, though "I remember going to Barnes & Noble and not being able to afford anything.... Growing up, I saw a lot of inequities, and so I've always been a big believer in the underdog." 

Danh worked at the Seattle CID Preservation and Development Authority, where he "had the special privilege of getting to know Donnie Chin and Uncle Bob [Santos]. I saw all the greats of the Asian American community doing what they do to make sure it stayed a special neighborhood." After moving over to the City of Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods, he felt that he still needed to do more.

"I think it's upon us as the next generation of Asian Americans to create spaces that are relevant for us," said Dahn, who eventually decided that he wanted to open a bookstore where the community can "talk about important issues, explore new ideas and maybe revisit old ones, and create a joyful place in the neighborhood."

He found the 1,000-square-foot space, painted it with bright colors and named it mam's books after his father, the Times noted, adding that the shop "carries literary fiction and nonfiction by Asian American authors in multiple languages, along with a section of CID history books and a wide selection of young adult and children's books. To encourage people to hang out, snacks and nonalcoholic drinks are for sale."

Mam's books is part of a "wave of new community activism street-level, supportive, and interested in preserving the CID's storied past while also building a future that embraces everything that makes the neighborhood special," the Times wrote.

"I really don't feel like this space is mine," Danh said. "It belongs to the community."

Australian bookstore chain QBD Books is opening in the location of the former Dymocks store in Sydney's Broadway Shopping Centre, with a grand opening celebration scheduled for November 13. Author and TV presenter Sarah Di Lorenzo will perform an official ribbon-cutting alongside QBD Books CEO Nick Croydon and QBD Books national manager Gary Parker-Shirley.

"We're proud to be a flagbearer for bricks and mortar bookstores, and in many locations, such as Broadway, we've been able to come in and ensure books have a continued presence in the community," said Croydon. "Broadway is an exciting location for us because of its proximity to some of Australia's best universities--including the University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney--and the avid readers amongst their student and lecturer populations."

Croydon added a note of caution, however: "At the same time, there's no question that traditional bookstores are facing challenges, and the figures show that in the last 10 years nearly half of all stores have closed--in 2013 there were 2,879 bookstores nationally, whereas today we only have 1,473. For us, when we bought QBD in October 2016, the company had a network of 55 stores, and I'm proud to say that in the last seven years we've been able to grow that figure to 86 stores, as we continue on our mission to reach 100 stores."

He also highlighted that further investment in QBD bookstores nationally, with another opening planned in Melbourne before the end of the year, along with expansion and refurbishment of stores across the QBD network.

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British booksellers Diss Publishing Bookshop and Hungerford Bookshop were shortlisted in the Romantic Bookseller of the Year category for the 2023 Romantic Novelists Association Industry Awards, which "celebrate the hard work and talent of any person, group or organization who has championed the broad genre of romantic fiction in a positive way." Winners in 10 categories will be named November 13 during the RNA's Winter Party and Industry Awards ceremony in London. Check out the complete 2023 shortlists here.

Laura James, the RNA Industry Awards organizer, commented: "For the past five years as Industry Awards organizer, I've witnessed many changes in the world, including the role of social media within the publishing industry, but the passion for romantic fiction remains. It grows stronger by the letter; by the chapter; by each book. In both self-published and traditionally published novels, industry professionals work together to produce quality happy ever afters, from writers to editors, cover designers and publishers, book bloggers, reviewers and social media experts, narrators, agents, booksellers and librarians. The RNA Industry Awards are our way of thanking and celebrating the hard-working industry professionals. Congratulations to all our finalists."

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Assouline's new flagship store in That Concept Store in Mall of Emirates, Dubai, UAE, "is sure to be exciting news for bookworms and collectors alike," the National reported, adding that the new store "includes a wall of bookshelves displaying their intricately crafted books, aiming to inspire visitors about how they can incorporate book displays and collecting into their spaces."

Noting that there are "a lot of stories to be told from the Middle East," Alex Assouline, COO, brand and strategy, said, "It's an ever-growing region, fast-paced, but also one that has a lot of heritage. There are not a lot of people worldwide who don't know about that. So, we're here to work with every government or country to shine lights on specific topics that are important and deserve their own publication.... It's been very exciting and inspiring as well because there's so much to cover and there's so much to learn from in this region. These doors are starting to open and I want to be able to tell these stories as well, because each country has its own, interesting factors."

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Anne Martelle has been re-elected president of Syndicat de la librairie française (SLF). The European & International Booksellers Federations Newsflash reported that Martelle, owner and manager of the Martelle bookshop in Amiens, has held the position since 2020 and will now serve a new three-year term.

In addition, Alexandra Charroin-Spangenberg, manager of the Paris bookshop in Saint-Etienne, and Amanda Spiegel, manager of the Folies d'Encre bookshop in Montreuil, assume the roles of v-ps of the SLF. --Robert Gray

Writers among the 20 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants, $800,000 paid out over five years to "talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction." The writers include:

Ada Limón, "a poet heightening our attention to the wonders of the natural world and our connections with one another. Across six books of poetry, she melds close observations with a direct tone that resonates powerfully with a wide readership. She constructs rhythmically intricate lines with pared-down, conversational language and approaches each new work as an opportunity to forge a confiding intimacy with her reader."

Manuel Muñoz, "a fiction writer rendering with empathy and vivid detail the multifaceted lives of Mexican American communities in California's Central Valley. He roots his stories in the landscape and culture of his upbringing in a Chicano family of farmworkers who made their living in the fields that feed the rest of the country. Muñoz's nuanced depictions of this world are populated by mothers and sons, U.S.-born citizens and immigrants from Mexico, young gay men, and teenage parents."

Imani Perry, "an interdisciplinary scholar and writer giving fresh context to African American social conditions and experiences along dimensions of race, gender, and politics. Her nuanced and provocative reflections on historical and contemporary life span a wide range of genres and disciplines. Drawing from law, literature, history, philosophy, and popular culture, Perry explores how Black Americans--and often Black women in particular--have resisted, survived, and nonetheless thrived by forging singular paths in the face of oppression and injustice. Her insightful connections between individual experiences, complex social obstacles, and emergent cultural expressions infuse her scholarship with an authenticity and sense of discovery that appeals to broad audiences."

"The 2023 MacArthur Fellows are applying individual creativity with global perspective, centering connections across generations and communities," said Marlies Carruth, director, MacArthur Fellows. "They forge stunning forms of artistic expression from ancestral and regional traditions, heighten our attention to the natural world, improve how we process massive flows of information for the common good, and deepen understanding of systems shaping our environment."

Eve Bunting (photo: Christine Bunting)

Eve Bunting, the author of more than 250 books for young people whose career spanned 50 years, died October 1. She was 94. Bunting's works ranged from charming, rhyming animal stories and Irish folk tales to more serious titles focused on socially conscious topics such as homelessness, displacement, and environmental concerns. Many have been translated into multiple languages. Her latest work, Alligators, Alligators (2023) was published this past August.
 
As a picture book author, Bunting worked with many gifted illustrators. Her first book, The Two Giants (1971), was illustrated Eric Von Schmidt, and over the years she collaborated with many other illustrators, including Jan Brett, Lauren Castillo, David Diaz, Ronald Himler, Emily Arnold McCully, Wendell Minor, Barry Moser, Sergio Ruzzier, Chris Soentpiet, and David Wiesner. 

Born in Northern Ireland in 1928, Bunting was frequently asked as a child to give oral recitals of verse and biblical writing, which developed a sense of language and rhyme that sustained her through the many talks, addresses, and readings she gave at conferences and libraries throughout her career and in the writing courses she taught. 

In 1958, she moved with her husband and three children to California, where she began her writing career in her 40s after participating in a local community college writing course. 

She was an active member of several professional writing groups, including her beloved "Lunch Bunch" in Southern California. For years, she was on the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators board of advisors. Her literary papers and books are archived at the Kerlan Children's Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota.

Her many honors include the Kerlan Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Western Writers of America Award, the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award, and a PEN Los Angeles Center Special Achievement Award for her contribution to children's literature. 

In addition, she was presented with the SCBWI's Golden Kite Award for One More Flight (1976), the Edgar Award for best juvenile mystery for Coffin on a Case (1991), and the Regina Medal in 1997 from the Catholic Library Association. Bunting is also author of the Caldecott Medal-winning Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz (1994). A PBS production, Reading Rainbow: The Wall, inspired by Bunting's book The Wall (1990) and presented by LeVar Burton, was a Peabody Award winner. 

"Through these books and many more, Eve captivated readers with gentle, emotionally honest stories that reflected her warmth, humor, and deep respect for young people. Many of them are now considered classics," said her publisher, HarperCollins Children's Books, adding: "Eve had a full and happy life filled with love and many personal achievements, and she leaves behind joyous and loving memories for her family, and a legacy of wonderful books for all children to enjoy. Her writing and spirit will live on with each new generation of young readers."

Local booksellers and reps gathered to celebrate legendary PRH reps Bridget Piekarz (front, second from left) and Brian Wilson (front, third from left) at The Bookstall in Winnetka, Ill., hosted by Stephanie Hochschild of the Bookstall, Suzy Takacs of The Bookcellar (Chicago), and PRH. Both Brian and Bridget, retiring on November 6, worked for PRH in its various versions for more than 30 years. (photo: Roger Hochschild)

"It's a beautiful autumn day," From My Shelf Books & Gifts, Wellsboro, Pa., posted on Facebook, along with a photo of the shop's chalkboard message/rescue plea: "Help! Booksellers trapped inside on beautiful day. Please come buy all the books so we can escape."

At Macmillan Children's Publishing Group:

Bess Braswell has been named v-p, associate publisher, effective October 16. Most recently, Braswell was senior publishing director of the middle grade/YA imprint Inkyard Press and spearheaded the relaunch of adult romance imprint Canary Street Press. She has a 15-year career in marketing at Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins.

Tatiana Merced-Zarou has been promoted from associate publicist to publicist.

Kelsey Marrujo has been promoted from assistant director, publicity to director, publicity.

Katie Quinn has been promoted from senior manager, marketing to associate director, marketing.

Naheid Shahsamand has been promoted from marketing assistant to marketing associate.

Megan McDonald has been promoted from marketing assistant to marketing associate.

Lonely Bird by Ruth Whiting (Candlewick Press).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: JJ Johnson, co-author of The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table (Flatiron, $34.99, 9781250809100).

A video has been released featuring highlights from the new British musical The Little Big Things, based on the 2017 memoir by Henry Fraser, "an athlete who was paralyzed from the shoulders down in an accident at 17, and who turned to visual art to cope," Playbill reported. 
  
The world premiere of the production, which officially opened at London's @SohoPlace September 14, has been extended through March 2, 2024. The run was originally scheduled through November 25.

The cast, led by Ed Larkin and Jonny Amies as Man and Boy Henry Fraser respectively, includes Linzi Hateley, Alasdair Harvey, Jordan Benjamin, Rebecca Bowden, Jamie Chatterton, Tom Oliver, Malinda Parris, Cleve September, and Amy Trigg. Featuring music by Nick Butcher, lyrics by Butcher and Tom Ling, and a book by Joe White, the musical is directed by Luke Sheppard.

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo won the £2,000 (about $2,455) Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, which honors a novel, of any genre with "brilliant characterization and a distinctive voice that is confidently written and assuredly realized," for her debut, When We Were Birds, a mythic love story set in Trinidad and Tobago. The judges praised the novel as "radiant and powerful." In addition to the cash prize, the winner receives a handmade glass bell.

David Headley, co-founder and managing director of Goldsboro Books, and founder of the prize, said: "I don't think our judging table has ever been so lively before this year. The shortlist was so incredibly strong, and there was a strong advocate for each book. However, I distinctly remember there being a collective sigh of admiration when we came to discussing When We Were Birds, and from the conversation that followed, it was crystal clear that Ayanna's debut was the undeniable winner of this year's Award.... Her talent and personality shine through on the pages."

photo: Chloe Briggs

Kate Briggs is a writer and translator who lives in the Netherlands. This Little Art, a narrative essay on the practice of translation, was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2017 and won a Windham-Campbell Prize for nonfiction. Her debut novel, The Long Form (out now from Dorothy, a publishing project), features a woman, Helen, and her newborn as Helen contemplates the ideas of Henry Fielding, E.M. Forster, Gertrude Stein, and others, and their ideas as they relate to time.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

The Long Form is an idiosyncratic, nonprescriptive manual for novel-writing and art-making, disguised as a novel about motherhood--and the reverse is also true!

On your nightstand now:

Happily, my nightstand is a big folding table, which provides lots of support for lots of books. Right now, these include: Heat Wave by Penelope Lively (I'm halfway through); The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, translated by Edward G. Seidensticker (just finished); and Chroma by Derek Jarman (just started--so far, I've only read Ali Smith's beautiful introduction). Waiting for me: Group Works: Art, Politics, and Collective Ambivalence by Ethan Philbrick and At the Full and Change of the Moon by Dionne Brand.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Probably Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, then all five subsequent volumes. I would read and reread Anne of the Island, imagining the home that Anne and her best friend set up together. I can no longer remember the name of the friend, but the cottage was called Patty's Place, and there were two porcelain dogs on either side of the fireplace, named Gog and Magog.

Book you've faked reading:

I bluffed quite a lot during my 20s. I was studying for a Ph.D., and the people I hung around at that time had a habit of talking about books in ways that made it feel like a combat sport or a shaming sport. I don't ever want to feel that way again or make anyone else suffer as I did, so let's just say: I am vastly underread in many areas, including literature and philosophy, and I'm completely cool with it.  

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Saddest Thing Is That I Have Had to Use Words: A Madeline Gins Reader, edited by Lucy Ives and published in 2020 by Siglio Press. Gins (1941-2014) was a poet, philosopher, architect, essayist, and artist. Since being introduced to her work a few years ago, I've recommended this book to so many students and so many friends. The cover copy describes Gins's writing as deeply attuned to the "energized, collaborative space between reader and page"--and that's exactly it. I need only let the pages of this collection fall open to feel newly in love with the potentials of that space.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Actually, my youngest son, Sammy, recently chose The Makioka Sisters for me on the basis of the cover. We were in a bookshop at the start of the summer, and I was complaining that I wanted, but couldn't seem to find, something "substantial." He picked up The Makioka Sisters, partly because it looked thick enough to do the job, but mostly because he thought I'd like the cover, which I do: it's the beautiful Vintage Classics edition. I bought it and found it utterly compelling but also very challenging--it really made me rethink my own narrative expectations, because they kept getting thwarted or redirected. I won't reveal it here but: the ending? That last line?!

Book you hid from your parents:

Forever by Judy Blume, the contraband copy circulating the hallways of Frome Community College in the early '90s. Like many girls my age, I was immensely grateful for it and for all of Blume's books.

Book that changed your life:

Honestly, I feel like books are constantly changing my life, in small ways or in major ways. It's why I read. That said, there was a big moment of revelation, which I wrote about very briefly in This Little Art. I was 11 years old. It was the long summer holidays, there was no TV where we were staying, and I had run out of all the children's books my mum had packed for me. So she gave me an old hardback copy of Jane Eyre to read, with no picture on the cover, printed in intimidatingly small print. It didn't look interesting in any way. And yet I started it and was immediately absorbed. That was a precious, privileged, life-changing lesson: it made me unafraid of intimidating-looking, "difficult" books--and of reading in general. Since then, I've always felt there's at least a chance a book will be for me (too).

Favorite line from a book:

Because it's so hard to land on just one, I'll offer my favorite line from a book I'm currently reading (not from the pile on my nightstand but from the different pile on my desk). It's my favorite because it's funny and provocative and potentially even instructive; because it comes from the poet, artist, and publisher Ian Hamilton Finlay, whose work I love; and, finally, because I found it quoted in The Small Press Model by Simon Cutts (Uniformbooks, 2023), a profoundly inspiring book about a life devoted to poetry and to making books. "The proper subjects for poetry are;/ the Seasons, the Affections, Fishing Boats,/ Inland Waterways, Non-Alcoholic Beverages,/ Certain Flowers, Certain Trees./ Improper Subjects are;/ Sex, Drugs, War and Self."

Five books you'll never part with:

Two years ago, I lost about 40 boxes of treasured, mostly secondhand books, because the storage unit where they were being safely (?) stored flooded. It was devastating. But I learned then that it is possible to be parted from books--among the reasons why I love books as a medium are that they are relatively cheap and exist in multiple and, therefore, can be slowly replaced. That said, these weren't damaged, and I'm immensely grateful for it.

Meg and Mog by Jan Pieńkowski and Helen Nicoll, because it's a board book that my sister and I read as children and we then both read to our children, so it connects me to them and to her. I love the illustrations. It still makes me laugh that the four witches that get changed into mice are called Jess, Bess, Tess and... Cress.  

George Eliot's Middlemarch, my mum's copy from when she was a student, with her notes in the margin.

The Nice and the Good, which my friend Moosje knows is my favorite Iris Murdoch novel, and that is why she bought me a first edition (the cover only slightly torn) via her amazing online secondhand bookshop, called and so on books.

Then I have a small collection of signed copies of books by writers I deeply admire, including Kathryn Scanlan's Kick the Latch, Preti Taneja's Aftermath, and Yasmine Seale's and Robin Moger's Agitated Air: Poems After Ibn Arabi. I'd find it hard to let go of any of them.

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

Either Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea quartet or Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Cazalet Chronicles. I read the latter for the first time during the pandemic and gave daily thanks that such immersive joy exists.

A 10-year-old girl speaks openly to the sea in this stunning translation from the Spanish by Lourdes Heuer (author of Esme's Birthday Conga Line) of Secrets We Tell the Sea, the Mexican award-winning middle-grade novel by Martha Riva Palacio Obón (Buenas noches, Laika). It is an exquisite portrait of friendship, loss, healing, and the untamable forces of childhood inquisitiveness, individuality, and insightfulness.

Sofía knows everyone was a mermaid before birth--that's why she's always spoken to the sea, though they've never met. They finally do when Sofía is sent by her mom to live in the coastal town of Bahía where her mom's boyfriend can no longer look at or touch Sofía like a barracuda. But she must instead live with "a full-blown sea dragon" (her grandmother) and face "the nightmare that is switching schools." In class, she meets Luisa, who has "something aquatic about her," with skin "spotted like a jaguar's" due to vitiligo, and who asks strange questions like "Do you speak submarine?" Just like that, Sofía is friends with another mermaid, their bond unbreakable as they swim all day, "comparing whose hands had wrinkled more," speaking to the sea through Luisa's spotted conch "shellphone," and reading science texts. Then the sea betrays Sofía, and she stops talking to it. She finds herself at war, her grief manifesting as storms, typhoons, and hurricanes, and she doesn't know how to stop it.

This profound work of magical realism overlays a girl's real world with the splendors and perils of the sea. Sofía, through Obón's shimmering prose, adopts an oceanic outlook on life: "plastic bags trapped in airstreams" are "floating jellyfish," her judgmental classmates "packed sardines," her myriad emotions "swarming crabs." To her, the sea smells like "swallowing the whole sun through your nose" and the sound in a seashell is "a humpback whale's song as it guides its pod through algae pastures and phosphorescent plankton clouds." Her probing questions ("What was stopping [the barracuda] from biting her mother?") and striking musings ("Perhaps we all sometimes feel like the last of our kind") tie to that with which she struggles: her mother's choices, her own tendency to stand out as strange. The third-person point of view occasionally dips into other characters' minds with grace, maintaining nautical metaphors to keep the story's mesmerizing spell alive. Secrets We Tell the Sea is a resplendent portrayal of the power of perspective. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer

Shelf Talker: An admirably steadfast 10-year-old girl who views her world via oceanic metaphors copes with loss in this joyous and achingly sorrowful middle-grade novel about the power of perspective.

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

1. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
2. Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score
3. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
4. Twisted Games by Ana Huang
5. Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
6. Hooked by Emily McIntire
7. A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole
8. King of Pride by Ana Huang
9. King of Wrath by Ana Huang
10. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]