Katelyn Cortez is the new owner of Twice Told Tales, a new and used bookstore in McPherson, Kan., that was put up for sale last month. Co-owners Libby and Ryan Monaghan made the announcement in a social media post, noting that after six years running the store, they are passing the torch to a new book-loving family: 

"Katelyn is excited to carry on the name Twice Told Tales and has big plans for the shop. She can't wait to meet all of you, our wonderful customers, and continue providing a safe, welcoming space for all kinds of people to discover new and used books and all kinds of other goodies."

Libby Monaghan's last shift at the store will be August 24. After that, there will be a brief pause to do some behind-the-scenes work to facilitate a smooth transition, with a reopening date set for September 7, when "we’ll be throwing an epic party to celebrate this new chapter (as well as Twice Told Tales' 9th Birthday)! Stay tuned for more details, and get ready for a season of fresh beginnings and endless stories," the post noted.

In July, while announcing that the bookshop was being put on the market, she had posted: "As many of you know, ever since I took over ownership of Twice Told Tales back in 2018, I have never seen this space as 'my' store, but more of Our Community's store. I just so happened to be the one tasked with minding the shop for the time being. I am looking to pass the torch to the next lucky person and I'm so curious to find out who it's going to be."

Kingdom, a store combining K-pop, romance books, and baked goods, has opened in Clemmons, N.C., the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

Located at 6000 Meadowbrook Mall Court, Suite 1, Kingdom carries some 3,900 K-pop items, including CDs, DVDs, posters, photo books, and merch, along with a selection of hundreds of romance novels separated by subgenre. The bakery side of the business, meanwhile, offers cookies, brownies, milk bread buns, chocolate-covered pretzels, and more.

The store is owned and operated by Deidre Williams, her daughters Kaitlyn Williams and Haelee Williams, and family friend Morgan Dial. Deidre Williams, who worked for more than 20 years as a baker and cake decorator at grocery store Harris Teeter, told the Journal that Dial, one of her employees at Harris Teeter, became friends with Kaitlyn through their shared love of K-pop.

They all began going to concerts together, and "it was something we all loved for a long, long time, but felt frustrated because every time we wanted to go to a physical location we had to drive to Raleigh, Durham, Cary, or to Charlotte," Williams explained. While attending a K-pop concert about two years ago, they had the idea to open a space of their own.

Kaitlyn Williams noted that she also had the same frustration with romance novels: "There are a lot of people who want to go into a store, physically pick up a book and buy it. So we were like, 'hey, let's try to offer those titles in person.'"

The store also has a community room, which the owners plan to use for things like cake-decorating classes.

Seven Stories bookstore, Shawnee, Kan., has launched a $27,000 GoFundMe campaign to save the store now that the building is being sold, KMBC reported. Fifteen-year-old owner Halley Vincent opened the shop two years ago and moved to the current space last fall. More than $12,000 has been raised thus far to help finance a move to a new space. 

"This is also a really old building," Vincent said. "In the past 82 years, it's never changed ownership until now. So that was pretty shocking.... Customers were depending on me being here longer. It was devastating. There were tears involved."

On the GoFundMe page, Vincent wrote: "Thanks to all our patrons, Seven Stories has been thriving! However, Houston, we DO have a problem.... I learned that the building Seven Stories currently calls home would be sold via text message a couple months ago. I then learned last month that it was under contract and I write this now just one day away from the closing of the sale. After 80 years of continual and stable ownership, I now find myself in the unenviable position that every business with a lease agreement fears, my store is in need to relocate."

The funding will be used for two months rent on the new space, more bookcases, electrician expenses, ceiling and flooring improvements, painting, growing/extending store inventory, printing new promo materials (business cards, bookmarks, stickers), and creating new signage for the space.

Although Vincent cannot disclose where the new location will be yet, she noted that she "will once again expand slightly to better accommodate the range of inventory people expect and love from Seven Stories. It will give more breathing room for events, book clubs, and affinity groups that meet in our store."

Indigo Bridge in Lincoln, Neb., will close permanently on August 25, KOLN reported.

The bookstore, which is located at 1624 S. 17th St. in Lincoln, sells books by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community and aimed to be an inclusive place for all.

The store first opened in Lincoln's Haymarket in 2008 and operated there until the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. It closed in 2020 before reopening as a pop-up location that ran until August 2022. In October 2022, it opened in its current location.

The Indigo Bridge team said in a Facebook post that although the storefront cannot continue, "this won't be the last you hear from us." The focus will turn to the associated nonprofit Indigo Bridge Community, with the team writing: "it is imperative to us to keep our mission alive and keep serving this amazing community however we can. We will post updates here as they come."

The team also thanked the community members that supported the store for so long. "We hope each and every member of our beautiful community understands that YOU are what made Indigo Bridge the place it has been. You have been an integral part of cultivating this diverse, fun, kind, loving, and safe space for everyone to come as they are. Please carry this energy with you to other small businesses in the Lincoln community; they rely on your support just as much as we have."

Leigh Marchant

Leigh Marchant is joining Hachette Book Group as senior v-p, chief marketing officer, effective September 23. She was most recently senior v-p, director of marketing and strategy and engagement for Random House Group. Before that, she was associate director of marketing, trade paperbacks for Random House/Spiegel & Grau/Ballantine Bantam Dell, and earlier held marketing positions at Barnes & Noble, Oxford University Press, and Perseus Books. Marchant fills the position held by Wibke Grutjen, who left the company to become senior v-p, global chief marketing and communications officer for Simon & Schuster.

At Hachette, Marchant will lead HBG's marketing strategy team, which works across 40 imprints to implement "data-driven marketing strategies and execute effective campaigns, utilizing the most advanced technology across web, e-mail, and social media," the company said. She will also collaborate closely with the sales team and publishing groups, with marketing specialists, and with international marketing teams at Hachette Livre.

Hachette Book Group deputy CEO Richard Kitson said that the marketing strategy team is "already a high achieving team, and Leigh's amazing experience and ambitious plans will help to turbo charge our marketing activities. I am very much looking forward to welcoming Leigh to HBG and can't wait to see how she helps us to drive our mission to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment, and opportunity."

Marchant said, "I'm excited to join Hachette at this pivotal moment for the company and for the publishing industry. I look forward to sharing my experience in marketing and joining the team to bring their remarkable list of books to readers everywhere."

Carmichael's Bookstore, Louisville, Ky., posted on Facebook: "Our Bardstown Road store window has looked a little different in recent weeks, and it's all to toast Wayne, our UPS driver, who just celebrated his birthday yesterday! 

"Why his own window? Co-owner Kelly says it well: 'Every day for 20 years Wayne has brought us packages at the bookstore. He puts the magazines by the magazine rack. He leaves the giant boxes of bags outside since he knows those go in the basement and that door is outside. He does it cheerfully. He asks about our kids. He makes pretty good jokes. He never complains about the heavy boxes... books are HEAVY.'

"He makes our lives a little easier and a little brighter. So, our master sign maker Seth showed him a little love this month on our window. Happy birthday, Wayne! May we all make someone's life a little easier and a little brighter."

"Just hanging out on this corner waiting for you," White Whale Books, Pittsburgh, Pa., posted on Instagram.

"Rainy days are meant for reading!!" That was the sidewalk chalkboard message in front of the Curious Quill Book Shoppe, Manheim, Pa., which noted: "We have a great new read for you to get you through a rainy weekend."

A Star Shines Through by Anna Desnitskaya (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers).

Tomorrow:
Tamron Hall repeat: Zibby Owens, author of Blank: A Novel (Little A, $16.99, 9781662516702),

Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Radhi Devlukia-Shetty, author of JoyFull: Cook Effortlessly, Eat Freely, Live Radiantly (Simon Element, $35, 9781982199722).

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.

Sunday, August 18
8 a.m. Neil Gorsuch, author of Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (‎Harper, $32, 9780063238473). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

8:55 a.m. Andrew Doyle, author of The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World (‎Constable, $19.99, 9780349135304). (Re-airs Sunday at 8:55 p.m.)

2 p.m. Frank Bruni, author of The Age of Grievance (‎Avid Reader Press, $28.99, 9781668016435).

3 p.m. Steven Herman, author of Behind the White House Curtain (The Kent State University Press, $29.95, 9781606354773).

4 p.m. Howard Mansfield, author of I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II (‎Lyons Press, $24.95, 9781493081080).

5:20 p.m. Brody Mullins, author of The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government (Simon & Schuster, $34.99, 9781982120597).

6:25 p.m. Matt Ridley, author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19 (Harper Perennial, $19.99, 9780063139138).

6:50 p.m. Nancy Pelosi, author of The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668048047).

Finalists have been selected for the 2024 Heartland Booksellers Awards, sponsored by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. Booksellers will now vote for the winners, who will be celebrated at the Heartland Fall Forum October 6-9 in Milwaukee, Wis. The finalists:

Fiction:
James by Percival Everett (Doubleday)
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf)
The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (Ecco)
The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell (W.W. Norton)

Nonfiction:
Birding to Change the World by Trish O'Kane (Ecco)
Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Ecco)
There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib (Random House)
Where Rivers Part by Kao Kalia Yang (Atria Books)

Poetry:
A Film in Which I Play Everyone by Mary Jo Bang (Graywolf Press)
I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas (Soft Skull Press)
Modern Poetry by Diane Seuss (Graywolf Press)
Organs of Little Importance by Adrienne Chung (Penguin Books)

YA/Middle Grade:
House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig (Delacorte Press)
MEXIKID by Pedro Martín (Dial)
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie (Sourcebooks Young Readers)
This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Picture Book:
Prak Fills the House by Lauren Emmons (Peachtree)
The Great Lakes by Barb Rosenstock (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
The North Wind and the Sun by Philip C. Stead (Neal Porter Books)
The Rock in My Throat by Kao Kalia Yang (Carolrhoda Books)

---

Finalists have been selected in two categories for the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, honoring "writers whose work demonstrates the power of the written word to foster peace." Winners will receive $10,000, and the first runners-up will receive $5,000. Winners and the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award will be announced in September. Winners, first runners-up, and other finalists wil be honored at an awards ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, the weekend of November 9-10.

The finalists:

Fiction:
A History of Burning by Janika Oza (Grand Central Publishing)
Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (Algonquin Books)
Profit Song by Paul Lynch (Grove Atlantic)
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer (Berkley)
The Postcard by Anne Berest (Europa Editions)
We Meant Well by Erum Shazia Hasan (ECW Press)

Nonfiction:
An Inconvenient Cop by Edmund Raymond with Jon Sternfeld (Viking)
Built From the Fire by Victor Luckerson (Random House)
All Else Failed by Dana Sachs (Bellevue Literary Press)
Red Memory by Tania Branigan (Faber)
The Talk by Darrin Bell (Holt)
Who Gets Believed? by Dina Nayeri (Catapult)

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, August 20:

By Any Other Name: A Novel by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine, $30, 9780593497210) follows a modern playwright writing about her Elizabethan ancestor and the ancestor herself.

This Is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter (Morrow, $32, 9780063336728) is the 20th thriller with Will Trent.

Tom Clancy Shadow State by M.P. Woodward (Putnam, $32, 9780593717943) is the 12th Jack Ryan Jr. thriller.

There Are Rivers in the Sky: A Novel by Elif Shafak (Knopf, $30, 9780593801710) follows characters connected by a river from Ancient Mesopotamia through the modern day.

My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows (HarperTeen, $19.99, 9780062930101) is the trio's sixth historical fantasy "remix" in the Lady Janies series.

Things That Go (A Kitty-Corn Club Book) by Shannon Hale, illus. by LeUyen Pham (Abrams Appleseed, $9.99, 9781419768811), is the duo's first board book in their glitzy, glittery Kitty-Corn series.

Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs by Luis Elizondo (Morrow, $29.99, 9780063235564) is a memoir by the former head of the Pentagon program investigating UFOs.

Preppy Kitchen Super Easy: 100 Simple and Versatile Recipes by John Kanell (Simon Element, $35, 9781668026823) is a cookbook with easy recipes.

Thruhikers: A Guide to Life on the Trail by Renee Miller and Tim Beissinger (DK, $26, 9780744094886) is a guide to hiking, camping, and backpacking.

Paperbacks:
Bridesmaid Undercover by Meghan Quinn (Bloom Books, $17.99, 9781728294391).

Sticks and Scones: A Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander (Minotaur, $9.99, 9781250326195).

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe (Berkley, $19, 9780593640081).

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

Hardcover
Banal Nightmare: A Novel by Halle Butler (Random House, $28, 9780593730355). "Banal Nightmare crackles with humanity. You may hate these feckless--at times ugly--characters, or recognize yourself in them (and still hate them). But it'll thrill you in its fearlessness. Either way, this will leave a mark on you. It blisters." --Matt Nixon, A Cappella Books, Atlanta, Ga.

Catalina: A Novel by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (One World, $28, 9780593449097). "Catalina is such a delightful book--funny and quick-witted, but also thoughtful and heart-rending. I loved Catalina's smart, singular voice. This is a perfect read for lovers of Lily King's Writers & Lovers, or fans of Sally Rooney's work." --Shannon Guinn-Collins, Bookworks, Albuquerque, N.Mex.

Paperback
Smothermoss: A Novel by Alisa Alering (Tin House Books, 9781959030584, $17.95). "Beautiful, surreal, and otherworldly, I fully fell into Alering's supernatural mystery. Their use of sound grounds the reader in Sheila and Angie's strange and difficult life on the margins of society in some of the best writing I've seen." --Amanda Scroggins, Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, Kan.

Ages 4-8
Into the Goblin Market by Vikki VanSickle, illus. by Jensine Eckwall (Tundra Books, $18.99, 9780735268562). "This is a deliciously spooky story inspired by Christina Rossetti's poem, 'The Goblin Market,' and classic fairy tales. It is perfectly matched with black and red block print-type illustrations. This will be a delight to read with children!" --Vicky Titcomb, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Mass.

Ages 10-13: An Indies Introduce Title
Breaking into Sunlight by John Cochran (Algonquin Young Readers, $17.99, 9781523527298). "This moving story of a family dealing with the complexities of addiction is told with incredible sensitivity, compassion, and hope. These wonderful young characters will stay with you long after the last page is turned." --Holly Weinkauf, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn.

Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza (Holt, $19.99, 9781250907714). "Brett's voice--wise-cracking, sensitive, emotionally raw--carries this story with a surprisingly light hand. Every page holds love. Every page is a nudge towards self-acceptance. This hero story absolutely demolished my heart." --Emmy Widener, Changing Hands, Tempe, Ariz.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

National Book Award-winning translator Bruna Dantas Lobato makes her authorial debut with Blue Light Hours, a subtle, contemplative story of a mother and daughter divided by 4,000 miles, who come together via screentime and memory. With love, care, quiet humor, and pervasive yearning, this thoughtful story explores the dilemmas of coming of age and leaving home, the tension between separation and connection.

On a full scholarship, the daughter departs her home in Natal, Brazil, "prepared to brave the world, even if it hurt me," for a liberal arts college in a remote part of Vermont, leaving behind a mother who suffers from insomnia, migraines, and depression. The daughter navigates unfamiliar culture, food, and language, while the mother observes her first Christmas alone. The daughter feels guilt, torn between two very different lives. "I stared into my green tea, wishing someone... had warned me about how hard it would be to leave, how hard to stay." Both women rely on their Skype calls: "On the shiny blue screen, there was my mother, my friend, the only person who always knew me."

This story is told in three sections, "Daughter," "Mother," and "Reunion," but "Daughter" occupies the bulk of the book, so that readers see her loneliness and her striving to make a new life work, even as she worries about what she's left behind. "Daughter" is also the only section told in first-person perspective, while "Mother" identifies that character only as "the mother," although both protagonists remain nameless. In "Reunion," the mother travels to New York City and they make Grandma's chicken soup together, "dipping pieces of bread into their old lives." A moving passage details the items in the daughter's bathroom, all the gadgets and conveniences that are unfamiliar to the mother, and the mother's brief wish for the simpler bathroom of home. "But when she turned the crystal knob on the bathroom door and saw her daughter at the end of the hallway, sifting powdered sugar on French toast with a wand, she couldn't help but take the wish back. She couldn't resist thinking that things were perfect just as they were, golden faucets and all, without any gleaming glass between them."

Blue Light Hours documents with wisdom and tenderness what is gained and lost when one leaves a home to build another, and the less universal experience of putting a 27-hour flight between mother and child. It tells painful, beautiful truths: with independence comes loneliness as well as freedom, and raising a daughter also involves losing her. Dantas Lobato's careful, lovely prose will linger long after these pages end. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: A mother and daughter separated by continents navigate distance and intimacy through the "miraculous blue light" of video calls in this haunting debut.