White Rose Books & More hosted a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting earlier this month for the new bookshop located at 113 Broadway in Kissimmee, Fla. The store was founded by former Osceola County school media specialists Erin Decker and Tania Galiñanes, who left the field of education due to the increasing restrictions placed on their profession by local government and parent organizations. 

White Rose co-owners Tania Galiñanes (l.) and Erin Decker.

The co-owners noted that the "woman-, Latina-, and LGBTQ+-owned business strives to be a safe space, where all are welcome.... The name was inspired by the youth resistance movement group in 1940s Nazi Germany bearing the same name. With book bans in the state of Florida rising at an unprecedented rate, we are honored to be borrowing this name and carrying books that have been banned in schools and libraries throughout the state."

In a Washington Post article last weekend headlined "The librarian who couldn't take it anymore," Galiñanes addressed the reasons for her decision to leave her job, noting the ongoing series of unreasonable, often absurd, demands being put on people in her profession: "Tania could feel something shifting inside her 21st-century media center. The relationships between students and books, and parents and libraries, and teachers and the books they taught, and librarians and the job they did--all of it was changing in a place she thought had been designed to stay the same. A library was a room with shelves and books. A library was a place to read.... Now the library, or at least this library, was a place where a librarian was about to leave."

Earlier, she had discussed the possibility of leaving her profession with Decker, another librarian, who worked at a middle school and had the idea to open an independent bookstore. When a crystal shop in downtown Kissimmee said it was closing, they put in an application for the lease. 

They left their jobs on the same day. Decker said, "I didn't cry until I turned my keys in." 

"They gave me a card and flowers, and that's when I cried," Galiñanes replied.

"They would sit in the store they had just leased, the crystal shop in Kissimmee that was becoming a bookstore," the Post wrote. "There were no books yet on the shelves, but there would be soon. Every book they could afford. Any book at all."

On Sunday, White Rose Books & More posted on Facebook: "The response to the Washington Post article coming out yesterday online and this morning in the Sunday paper has been overwhelmingly positive. We are trying our best to reply to every e-mail, message, comment etc. on every single platform we have been discovered on. The messages have touched us, made Tania cry, and just reinforced that where we drew the line in the sand and moved on to do something new, was the right thing for us."

The future Beach Read Bookshop.

The Tiniest Bookshop, which opened in late summer at 300 West River Street, Savannah, Ga., will soon have a second store, Beach Read Bookshop, on nearby Tybee Island. "It all started with a bus full of books," Connect Savannah reported. About two years ago, owner Kaitlynn Perry converted a school bus into a bookstore and drove it around Savannah and Tybee Island. It was originally intended as a side project, but quickly evolved.

A history lover, Perry had moved to Savannah to study archeology at Georgia Southern University and worked for a few years as an archeologist, but her plans changed when the Books Bus started taking center stage. 

"Last year, I was about to start applying to Ph.D. programs and I reevaluated my life a little bit and I realized I didn't really want to be in academia for the rest of my life, and the Books Bus was going so well. So, I decided to just drop everything and focus everything into that and see what happened," she said. 

The 150-square-foot Tiniest Bookshop was born, and Perry's next project, Beach Read Bookshop, is set to launch in another tiny space at 1213 Hwy. 80 E on Tybee Island later this month. 

"I'm very passionate about giving back and I'm also queer and disabled owned and operated and I like to make sure that my bases are a safe place for the LGBT community and I want to give back as much as I can."

Noting that "her efforts are far-reaching and support a variety of causes in our community that go well beyond the four walls of her bookshop," Connect Savannah wrote she also "enjoys bringing more literacy to the community and said it can influence every other aspect of one's life."

Perry added: "It is tied to absolutely everything and so the support of literacy in the community and having a place where people can come in that are independently owned bookstores, and they can get recommendations and they can have that community support, I think is so important." 

Barnes & Noble will open its new bookstore in the Highlands of Flower Mound, at 6101 Long Prairie Rd., Flower Mound, Tex., this Wednesday, November 15, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and signing by author Julia Heaberlin. B&N had had a location in the center but closed it.

"When our previous lease ended earlier this year, we committed to finding a new home here in Flower Mound," B&N CEO James Daunt said. "Now we will open the doors to this beautiful new space just in time for the height of holiday shopping. We are very pleased to remain in the Highlands, and even more excited to do so in such a stunning new bookstore."

Store manager Lisa Bianchi, who has been with B&N 17 years, said, "Our longtime customers have been anxiously awaiting our grand opening all summer."

The company noted that five more B&N bookstores are launching next week, for a total of 11 new locations opening during November.

Bob Contant at St. Mark's Bookshop's 25th anniversary party in 2002.

Very sad news: Bob Contant, co-founder and longtime owner of St. Mark's Bookshop in New York City, died November 6 of cardiac arrest after a short bout with Covid.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., Contant grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. After attending the University of Rochester and then the University of Maryland, Contant worked at the Washington Public Library. Upon moving to Cambridge, Mass., he worked at two of Harvard's libraries and then at several Harvard Square bookstores during their heyday, including as manager of Paperback Booksmith. He came to New York in 1972 and was manager of the old 8th Street Bookshop in Greenwich Village. In 1977, Contant with others working at East Side Books--Terry McCoy, Peter Dargis, and Tom Evans--decided to open their own store at 13 St. Mark's Place in the East Village.

St. Mark's Bookshop moved to a larger location, at 12 St. Mark’s Place, in 1987 and then in 1993 to a new development by Cooper Union at 31 Third Avenue. The store built on its strength in poetry, critical studies, small press literature, and art. But after many years, with a change of board, the school shifted its approach to the bookstore and offered no help when, in the wake of the financial crisis, St. Mark's had trouble paying its $20,000-a-month rent. St. Mark's was supported by friends and customers in a local campaign, but Cooper Union would not back down, and in 2014, St. Mark’s moved to 136 E. Third St., which had a much lower rent but no foot traffic. The store closed in 2016.

Principal buyer as well as owner, Contant was beloved by fellow booksellers, sales reps, and publishers. Chris Kerr of Parson Weems remembered Contant as "a fabulous story-teller with a long list of grateful authors, including Sam Shepherd [Contant was best man for the playwright Walter Hadler at his and Shepherd's double wedding] and Patti Smith. He and St. Mark's last co-owner, Terry McCoy, attracted a long list of gifted booksellers, many of whom were scholars and published authors. It was the only store I ever called on that sold as many copies of new poetry, and critical theory, as bestsellers. After J.D. Salinger's death, the store sold 200 copies of Nine Stories in the first week of the announcement."

Retired rep Adena Siegel remembered Contant as "a passionate bookseller, principled, enthusiastic, so knowledgeable. Sales calls were exhilarating because of Bob's tremendous appreciation for university press books and understanding of how they are published. He was quick to applaud smart moves and generous with advice. He loved art and nature, had a beautiful baritone speaking voice, and often wore a pocket square. He will be so missed."

Carl Lennertz called Contant "one of the greats."

Contant is survived by his third wife, writer Marilyn Berkman--they were together for 45 years--a daughter from his first marriage and two grandchildren, and a sister and two nephews.

Even after the bookshop closed, Berkman said, Contant kept up his great interest in books, writers, and New York cultural scenes, and always eager to add to his wide knowledge and appreciation. The last books on his nightstand were new ones on T.S. Eliot and Harry Smith.

A recent event at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove, Los Angeles, Calif., featured this "family of authors": Joshua B. Drummond and his parents, Betty K. Bynum and Warren Drummond, all published by Dreamtitle Publishing. Joshua is the author, with his mom, of I'm a Brilliant Little Black Boy!; Betty is the author of I'm a Pretty Little Black Girl! and I'm a Pretty Little Latina!; and Warren is the author of A Hard Day's Work: Storyboards and Stories of 12 Select Films & Television Shows (with a foreword by Ron Howard). Bynum reports that the event was "a huge success," so much so that the store is planning another event for Dreamtitle's books in February. Pictured: Joshua B. Drummond and Betty K. Bynum.

Staff changes are afoot in the marketing department at Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C. As she prepares to leave the store at the end of the year, P&P's outgoing marketing director Wendy Wasserman (left) hands the job over to Glory Edim (aka bookstagrammer @wellreadblackgirl).

"We have a little competition going for November and December!" Neighborly Books, Maryville, Tenn., posted on Instagram. "You may have noticed our cozy window with a beautiful chair loaned by our friends at Bill Cox Furniture. Each week (on Friday) we will change the window slightly to represent the sitting room of a famous author or character from literature.

• write down your guess and add it to the jar.
• we will randomly select a winner each Friday from the correct guesses.
• the winner of the week will receive a $10 gift certificate to the store.
• one guess per customer per week please

The first window is ready to go!"

Bel Banta has joined the Harper publicity department as senior publicist. She formerly worked at Viking and will be a published writer in June 2024 when Celadon Books releases her first novel, Honey.

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At Chronicle Books:

Alex Astras, has joined the company as associate manager, institutional and independent trade marketing.

Bora Kim has been promoted to associate sales manager, national specialty.

We Are the Crisis by Cadwell Turnbull (Blackstone Publishing).

Today:
Good Morning America: Jonathan Karl, author of Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party (Dutton, $32, 9780593473986). He will also appear tomorrow on the View.

CBS Mornings: Mitch Albom, author of The Little Liar: A Novel (Harper, $26.99, 9780062406651). He will also appear tomorrow on the Today Show.

Today Show: Jenny and Dave Marrs, authors of House + Love = Home: Creating Warm, Intentional Spaces for a Beautiful Life (Convergent, $30, 9780593444337).

Drew Barrymore Show: Hilary Duff, author of My Little Sweet Boy (Random House Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593300756).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Barbra Streisand, author of My Name Is Barbra (Viking, $47, 9780525429524).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Jada Pinkett Smith, author of Worthy (Dey Street Books, $32, 9780063320680).

Today Show: Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, author of The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are (One World, $26.99, 9780593446928).

Good Morning America: Earl "E-40" Stevens, co-author of Snoop Dogg Presents Goon with the Spoon (Chronicle, $24.95, 9781797213712).

The Talk: Courtney B. Vance and Robin L. Smith, authors of The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power (Balance, $30, 9781538725139).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Rachel Maddow, author of Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism (Crown, $32, 9780593444511).

Montreal's KOTV and Endemol Shine North America will develop Andrée A. Michaud's novel Boundary as a thriller series called Boundary Pond. Deadline reported that Louis Choquette (19-2, Mafiosa) is involved as showrunner and director, with William S. Messier writing the first two scripts and a series bible. 

Boundary was originally published in 2014 and has received awards such as author Michaud's second Governor General's Award for Fiction. KOTV's Louis-Philippe Drolet and Endemol Shine North America's Sharon Levy and Lisa Fahrenholt serve as executive producers. 

"I am thrilled to partner up with Endemol Shine North America to bring the amazing novel Boundary to life in a very organic partnership between our two companies, as Boundary Pond unfolds on the Canadian-U.S. border, and I can't wait to bring it to market," said Mia Desroches, v-p of international sales at KOTV. "This unique and captivating crime thriller will showcase both man's worst and most beautiful natures." 

Choquette added: "Unlike in most Nordic Noirs, where nature's cold and remote hostility dictates the tone, it's the warmth and familiarity of Boundary Pond's selling that makes it so treacherous--a play on contrasts between the idyllic cottage life and the more terrifying wilderness all around. It's a crime thriller where the woods, whether with their warm memories or with their haunting presence, play a crucial part in how the story unfolds."

The Women's National Book Association has chosen 20 titles for its 2023 Great Group Reads selections.

The 2023 Great Group Reads:
American Gospel by Miah Jeffra (Black Lawrence Press)
Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood (Godine Nonpareil)
Atomic Family by Ciera Horton McElroy (Blair)
A Boob's Life by Leslie Lehr (Pegasus Books)
A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani (MCD)
Go As a River by Shelley Read (Spiegel & Grau)
Holler, Child: Stories by LaToya Watkins (Tiny Reparations Books)
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari (John Scognamiglio Books)
Lookout by Christine Byl (A Strange Object)
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong (Tin House)
Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn (Forge)
The Museum of Failures by Thifty Umrigar (Algonquin)
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry (Atria Books)
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of the Family Farm by David Mas Masumoto (Red Hen Press)
Stealing by Margaret Verble (Mariner)
A Stone Is Most Precious Where It Belongs by Gulchehra Hoja (Hachette Books)
They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey (Anchor)
We Meant Well by Erum Shazia Hasan (ECW)
You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg (Counterpoint Press)

Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Viking) has won the $10,000 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which honors "the best of book-length writing set in the world of horse racing," whether fiction or nonfiction. Organizers praised "the beautifully imagined tale of legendary 19th century racehorse and sire Lexington, and a young, enslaved groom who loved him. The story weaves back and forth through time and space, from the pre-Civil War antebellum South to modern day New York and Washington, D.C."

The two finalists, who each won $1,000, were Kathryn Scanlan, for the novel Kick the Latch (New Directions), and Mary Perdue, for her biography Landaluce: The Story of Seattle Slew's First Champion (University Press of Kentucky).

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Courting India: Seventeenth-Century England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire by Nandini Das (Pegasus) has won the £25,000 (about $30,560) 2023 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.

Organizers said that Das "presents an important new perspective on the origins of empire through the story of the arrival of the first English ambassador in India, Sir Thomas Roe, in the early 17th century.

"The book recasts the story of Britain and India, moving us beyond a Eurocentric telling with an even-handed, entertaining tale of the encounter of two cultures and the ambitions, misunderstandings and prejudices that came to the fore. In this genuinely ground-breaking work, Indian-raised Das challenges our understanding of this pivotal pre-colonial period. Drawing on a rich variety of sources--literature, the memoirs of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the journals and correspondence of Sir Thomas Roe, plus the archives of the East India Company--Das invites the reader to get to grips with the making of history, and its narration from both perspectives."

In her outstanding debut novel, The Storm We Made, Malaysian American author Vanessa Chan depicts a wartime that is both extraordinary and quotidian at once. Her storytelling is crisp and bracing, without overlooking the profound complexities of events leading up to the Japanese occupation, as the novel explores every which way that the lives of one family in Kuala Lumpur are upended in the aftermath.

It's 1945, and the consequences of Cecily Alcantara's private choices are being borne out on a terribly global scale. But, worst of all, her son, Abel, has gone missing, on his 15th birthday. "And as the waxy birthday candle melted into Abel's dry birthday cake, Cecily knew." He's one in a string of disappearances--all teenage boys, all part of the smothering presence of the Japanese forces that replaced the British colonizers, who had occupied Malaya before them. All the result of an affair that Cecily had begun in 1934 with Shigeru Fujiwara, a Japanese spy.

Chan showcases dazzling stylistic flair as she alternates between timelines, blending thematic touches of thrilling spy craft and domestic drama within the outlines of this spellbinding historical novel. At times, The Storm We Made can even be brutal, considering how the "Japanese occupiers killed more people in three years than the British colonizers had in fifty." Abel is subjected to horrific abuse in captivity, and Cecily's daughters, Jujube and Jasmin, become targets for the cruel demands of drunk soldiers.

And although Cecily blames herself for how unfortunately these events transpire, Chan makes clear the hope of prosperity that this unhappy housewife foresaw when she first entangled herself in Fujiwara's web of deceit and empty promises. "From the beginning, Cecily and Fujiwara had talked about a world in which Asians could determine their own future, a world in which one's status in society did not mean calculating how many points of separation there were between them and a white person." In alliance with Germany and Italy, Japan "vowed to free Asia from the scourge of the British." How could she have predicted there were forms of oppression worse than she'd already known?

Profound in its empathy and devastating in its consequences, The Storm We Made considers the deeply personal implications of a world at war, and makes Vanessa Chan's first novel an unforgettable glimpse at how extraordinary times fall upon ordinary people. --Dave Wheeler, associate editor, Shelf Awareness

Shelf Talker: With dazzling flair, Vanessa Chan delivers a heart-stopping wartime novel in which one woman feels the weight of the world bearing down on her.