In her first public comments since Indigo Books & Music went private May 31, founder and CEO Heather Reisman said that the company had had "four tough years" because of her "wrong decision" to step back for a while and the Covid epidemic, which together cost Indigo C$280 million (about US$205.2 million). Speaking during a live taping of the podcast Big Shot as part of Startupfest, an annual gathering of entrepreneurs and investors in Montreal, she also said she wants to return Indigo to its "core values.... I have to bring the company back to who we were. We got a little bit lost for two years." Her comments were reported by the Canadian Press News.

Heather Reisman

In September 2022, Reisman became executive chair of Indigo, and Peter Ruis was promoted to her former position of CEO. Reisman officially retired in August 2023, but Ruis resigned a month later, and Reisman returned as CEO. Also in 2023, the company also suffered a debilitating ransomware attack in February that knocked out systems and its website, and in June four board members resigned. Sales plummeted during Covid.

On the podcast, Reisman explained that the pandemic cost the company C$160 million (US$117.25 million) in cash, and her "two-year misstep" cost another C$120 million (US$87.9 million). "That's a lot of money for any retail company," she said. "And it basically cleaned the cash off my balance sheet."

The Canadian Press News reported that Reisman also indicated that she's interested in the connection between reading and brain development "in a world where attention spans have declined." She wants Canadian children to be the most literate in the world, and she is interested in the application of artificial intelligence to book curation.

At Murder by the Book, Beryl left a shredded awning.

Indie booksellers in Houston, Tex., are still dealing with the aftereffects of Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall last Monday, July 8. Several bookstores posted updates on social media, including:

Blue Willow Bookshop (posted July 12): "Tonight, the lights came back on. Yes, we are tearing up. This week was the longest that we have ever had to close the bookshop. Longer than Ike, or even Harvey. In fact, we have been closed more days this month than we've been open. Needless to say, we miss y'all. Come by tomorrow and see us, friends. Finally, thank you for all of your kind messages, comments, and posts. We love y'all, and we can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!... Here are some moments in the bookshop from our week without power. The lights may not have been on, but our staff was firing up the fans and lanterns to keep things running behind the scenes."

Brazos Bookstore (July 8): "We have the all clear at Brazos, while Bissonnet still needs a good sweeping we have power and WiFi. We hope all of our friends and neighbors in the community are safe--you are welcome to ride out the power outage with us tomorrow once we are able to more safely move about. We have plenty of outlets and some questionable internet speeds, but we'll be here."

Katy Budget Books (July 9): "Our power came back on mid-morning, and we're so excited to be open our normal hours today so you can come pick up some new entertainment! You can also just come hang in the AC and talk books with our booksellers and neighbors if you haven't had power restored yet. We're looking forward to serving you again, Katy!"

Murder by the Book (July 9): "Well, here we are again... cleaning up after a hurricane. Remind me why we live in Houston? Beryl was something special, and we've never had so much wind damage at the bookstore as this particular lady brought our way--notice the former awning hanging in shreds. That being said, the store had minimal water damage, and most importantly, we have power and Internet, so we're opening at noon today and ready to sell some books! We're also very grateful for the minimal damage, all things considered. For those in the Houston area, if you're without power, we'll have a cool space, free refreshments and plenty of power strips for device charging from 12-4 today. Please don't hesitate to stop by!"

Basket Books & Art (July 11): "We are here, powering up and cooling down. We have an abundance of new material to peruse, power outlets all are welcome to use, and, something like a magazine rack (ref. slide 4.) Come on over and post up."

Kaboom Books (July 11): "We're open noon-6 daily now that we have electricity."

Barnes & Noble has pushed back the opening date for its new store in Chicago, Ill., Block Club Chicago reported.

Located in the historic Noel State Bank Building in the city's Wicker Park neighborhood, the new store was slated to open on July 31. B&N announced last week that the new opening date is September 4.

Simon Vodopianoff, B&N's director of store planning, said: "We are sorry to disappoint our customers with the delayed opening of the Wicker Park store. We are working with the city to ensure the correct preservation of the iconic historic elements of the building and look forward to opening our doors on September 4."

Earlier this year, B&N opened a new store in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, at 651 W. Diversey Parkway.

Following the integration of the adult and children's marketing teams last year, Abrams has restructured its marketing department, establishing "specialized vertical teams tasked with executing performance-based marketing initiatives and spearheading revenue-driving efforts."

President and CEO Mary McAveney said, "At Abrams, we are laser-focused on fortifying our marketing capabilities and resources to ensure our books fly off the shelves. In today's dynamic landscape, marketing must be agile, proactive, and data driven. This strategic shift reflects our commitment to delivering measurable results that translate to significant sales growth."

Among related moves:

Kim Lauber, v-p, marketing, is leading the restructuring and continues to head the marketing team.

Borana Greku has been promoted to associate director, integrated marketing, and will lead a newly formed team that will set the overall strategy for marketing campaigns across the adult and children's lists. As part of title strategy, this team is responsible for advertising as well as retail marketing and promotion with a focus on ROI analysis. Two staff members will be joining the integrated marketing team. 

Working in tandem with integrated marketing is associate director Trish McNamara O'Neill, who now oversees digital strategy & consumer engagement. This newly formed team is focused on setting digital, social media, and brand/licensor strategies, in addition to overseeing the company's Amazon, D2C, and e-commerce efforts.

Xander Hollenbeck has been promoted to associate creative director, marketing design, and Christian Westermann is joining the Abrams sales team as senior manager, indie & Ingram sales and retail marketing. Westermann will lead day-to-day relationships with the company's commission sales rep groups, the ABA and regional trade associations, Bookshop.org, and Ingram.

Dr. Ruth at BookExpo in 2018    (via)

Ruth Westheimer, "the grandmotherly psychologist who as 'Dr. Ruth' became America's best-known sex counselor with her frank, funny radio and television programs," died July 12, the New York Times reported. She was 96. Westheimer was in her 50s when she began answering listeners' mailed-in questions about sex and relationships on WYNY's Sexually Speaking, a 15-minute segment heard after midnight on Sundays. The show was such a hit that she quickly became a national media celebrity and a one-woman business conglomerate.

In addition to her widespread media celebrity, especially in the 1980s, Westheimer published more than two dozen books on sexuality, including Dr. Ruth's Guide to Good Sex (1983), First Love: A Young People's Guide to Sexual Information (with Nathan Kravetz, 1985), Dr. Ruth's Guide for Married Lovers (1986), Sex and Morality: Who Is Teaching Our Sex Standards (with Louis Lieberman, 1988), Dr. Ruth Talks to Kids (1993), and Who Am I? Where Did I Come From? (2001). Her other books include All in a Lifetime: An Autobiography (1988) and Conquering the Rapids of Life: Making the Most of Midlife Opportunities (with Pierre A. Lehu, 2003). 

In her memoir Musically Speaking: A Life Through Song (2003), she described in great detail the band concerts, folk tunes, and popular songs she had known as a happy young child in Frankfurt, Germany. The Times noted that although she was tone-deaf and not much of a music lover, "she came to realize rather late in life that these vivid recollections probably took the place of the family history she would have heard if her family life had not ended abruptly at age 10. 'The melodies and the words of the songs I knew provide a link with the past forever,' she wrote."

When people wondered at her ebullience, she said, "the answer I always gave was that the warmth and security of my early childhood socialization had a remarkable power and influence.... But now I have realized that there is another part to the answer. And that is music."

Westheimer was born Karola Ruth Siegel in Wiesenfeld, Germany in 1928, the only child of an Orthodox Jewish couple. Her father was a notions wholesaler in Frankfurt, and together with her parents and grandmother, she lived a comfortable life largely shielded from the reality that Germany was becoming ever more perilous for Jews, the Times noted, adding: "When the Nazis took her father away in 1938, her mother and grandmother managed to get her included in a group of children sent to a school in the Swiss mountains. There, she later recalled, she was educated only through the eighth grade and served for all practical purposes as a housekeeper for the Swiss children. She never saw her family again; they were all presumed murdered at Auschwitz."

At the height of her popularity, Westheimer had syndicated live call-in shows on radio and television, wrote a column for Playgirl magazine, lent her name to a board game and its computer version, and began publishing guidebooks on sexuality. College campus speaking appearances alone brought in a substantial income, and she appeared in ads for cars, soft drinks, shampoo, typewriters, and condoms.

Columnist William E. Geist, who visited her for a New York Times Magazine article in 1985, observed that "she looks for all the world as though she is about to tell us in her cheery Mittel-European accent how to make a nice apple strudel.... But when she opens her mouth it's Code-Blue-in-the-family-room all across the country. She sends forth on radio and television the most explicit insert-tab-A-into-slot-B instruction in sexual manipulation, stimulation and satisfaction."

In November 2023, Dr. Westheimer was named New York State's first honorary "ambassador to loneliness" by Governor Kathy Hochul. In that position, Westheimer would "help New Yorkers of all ages address the growing issue of social isolation, which is associated with multiple physical and mental health issues," the governor said in a statement.

Dr. Ruth made the most of her attendance at old ABA, BookExpo, and Frankfurt shows, and many book world veterans have amusing stories about her cheerful, resolute ways of promoting her books and being in the spotlight. We'll miss you, Dr. Ruth.

The Lynx Books, Gainesville, Fla., shared a photo of the bookshop's Olympic-themed display on Facebook, noting: "Go Olympics! Do the sports! (Are we book people doing this right?) Just kidding, we found our foray into a love of sports through books (like we usually do)! Check out our Paris Olympics display in store or shop with us online at TheLynxBooks.com."

"If you're like Mr. BooBoo and feel like it's just too hot to do anything, this is your reminder that reading a book takes about as much energy as scrolling social media," Logos Bookstore in New York City posted on Facebook. 

Michael Tolchinsky has joined Open Road Integrated Media as marketing analytics coordinator.

The Healing Trauma Workbook for Asian Americans: Heal from Racism, Build Resilience, and Find Strength in Your Identity by Helen H. Hsu (New Harbinger).

Today:
CBS Mornings: Jasmin Graham, author of Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist (Pantheon, $28, 9780593685259).

Today Show: RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, authors of JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography (Gallery Books, $30.99, 9781668018514).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Deborah Harkness, author of The Black Bird Oracle: A Novel (Ballantine, $32, 9780593724774).

Today Show: Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Meet Me in the Middle: A VeeFriends Book (HarperCollins, $19.99, 9780063320291).

Tamron Hall repeat: Arlan Hamilton, author of Your First Million: Why You Don't Have to Be Born into a Legacy of Wealth to Leave One Behind (Little, Brown Spark, $29, 9780316507967).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Ramin Setoodeh, author of Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass (Harper, $32, 9780063139909).

Netflix has released a teaser trailer for The Perfect Couple, a limited series based on Elin Hilderbrand's 2018 novel, IndieWire reported. The project stars Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Meghann Fahy, Eve Hewson, Dakota Fanning, Ishaan Khatter, Billy Howle, and Jack Reynor. The Perfect Couple will premiere September 5 on the streamer.

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Passion Pictures will be adapting the children's books by author Rachel Bright and illustrator Jim Field into animated TV projects. Deadline reported that the production company has secured the exclusive option from publisher Hachette for half-hour specials that could include The Lion Inside, The Koala Who Could, The Squirrels Who Squabbled, The Way Home for Wolf, The Whale Who Wanted More, and The Gecko and the Echo.
 
"The creative vision Passion Pictures have for adapting our books to the screen is beyond anything I could have imagined," said Bright. "Both Jim and I feel like it's a perfect-fit homecoming for our stories and that Passion understand the very soul of them."

Village Books and Paper Dreams, Bellingham and Lynden, Wash., has announced this year's winners of the Village Books Literary Citizenship Award, which the store founded last year. The award honors people who have "demonstrated a commitment to engage with the literary community with the intent of giving as much, if not more, than they receive." Each winner receives $1,000 and is inducted into the Village Books Literary Citizen Hall of Fame, which will be on permanent display in Village Books, Fairhaven.

The 2024 recipients are:

Linda Quinby Lambert, writer, journalist, librarian, community builder, who has been library director for both Whatcom Community College and La Conner Swinomish Library, a member of Red Wheelbarrow Writers, two book clubs, and two critique groups. Her work has appeared in anthologies, including Whatcom Writes annual publications, the Salish Current, I Sing the Salmon Home, and she is co-editor of 52 Women of Whatcom. Linda helped found both Whatcom Reads and the Chuckanut Writers Conference.

Seán Dwyer, writer, editor, teacher, mentor, who writes nonfiction and fiction and is a Spanish professor in the Modern and Classical Languages & Literatures department at Western Washington University. He's given much to the community of writers through the Red Wheelbarrow Writers Group, as the president of Whatcom Writers and Publishers, regular contributions to anthologies, and as the host of Village Books' Open Mics. He has branched out into boutique publishing, and authors on his list have won multiple awards.

David Beaumier, writer, editor, coach, and mentor whose work has appeared in Eastern Washington University's Inroads, Western Washington University's Suffix, Whatcom Writes, and HamLit. He's worked as the assistant publishing director at Village Books and is the project manager for the Writers' Corner Anthologies as well as the communications and marketing manager for Chanticleer Book Reviews.

In the very first pages of Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood, and Freedom, Pam Houston (Deep Creek, Contents May Have Shifted) writes, "A book's first purpose is to lead its writer into a place much more emotionally complicated, much more fraught, more entangled, more layered, more confusing than she had expected.... That's how she knows she is doing it right." If we apply this definition of "doing it right" to the experience of the reader as well as the writer, it's abundantly clear that Without Exception is done right. Over the course of 60 "mini-chapters," Houston collects "facts and impressions in and around the subject of abortion," weaving the political history of reproductive freedoms in the United States with her personal experiences with abortion in a collection that is as appropriately tangled, layered, and complex as the issues she is writing about.

Houston outlines the short-lived history of abortion rights in the United States, lasting a mere "forty-nine years, five months, and two days" between the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973 and its eventual fall with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022--a span of time that almost perfectly aligned with the span of Houston's own "reproductive life." She details the abortion landscape while Roe stood as U.S. law (a time during which the number of abortions performed annually did not increase, as detractors warned it would), and a post-Dobbs world. With sharp and lyrical prose, she illuminates data around the shrinking number of states where abortion is a protected and legal right, as well as the disproportionate impact this lack of availability has on people of color, low-income families, and individuals that hold other marginalized and intersecting identities. Without Exception is rife with facts but a far cry from a dry history of abortion rights; each element of this broader political and cultural history is important, relevant, and necessary for understanding the context of each of Houston's three abortions and her commitment to remain childless by choice.

This mix of the personal and the political is where Without Exception truly shines, as Houston writes with candor and urgency about her experience of abuse, abortion, and the freedom to choose her own path in life. "Feminism is every woman's right to her own story," reads the entirety of chapter 24, and this is Houston's: a timeless story of self-determination inextricably intertwined with a political moment in time, a personal reckoning that lays bare the heart of the fight for reproductive justice, and an urgent and heartfelt reminder to give and receive love and mercy to each other--and to ourselves. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: A moving collection of essays weaves the political history of reproductive rights in the United States together with the author's personal abortion experience.