The town of Perry, N.Y., is currently without a bookstore, and residents Meghan and Rick Hauser are looking for an experienced bookseller to set up, open, manage, and operate a bookstore in downtown Perry.

Perry, N.Y., is searching for a bookstore to fill this space.

The Hausers, who have lived in Perry since 1996, are looking for a partner to help them finalize their business plan and assist in renovations and ordering, with a planned opening date of April 1, 2025. They can supply a 2,500-square-foot space that housed Burlingham Books and later the Biblio-Tech Café from 2006 until 2023, and they and other community investors can finance the opening as required. Once they find the right bookseller, they are looking to structure a long-term agreement that transfers ownership of the bookstore over time.

"We believe that a successful bookstore is key to downtown Perry’s well-being and important for the village’s continued path forward," the Hausers wrote. "Perry was home to just such a store for many years until the owner’s health failed. The location is now vacant."

Located in Western New York, not far from Buffalo and Rochester, Perry has a population of 6,000 and sees many seasonal visitors thanks to Letchworth State Park and Silver Lake. The Hausers described Perry as being in the midst of a revitalization, noting that 35 new businesses have opened in downtown Perry in the past 15 years. It also received $10 million through New York State's Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

They called Perry "primed for community investment models," and said a community-supported bookstore "using some broad-based strategy that gets buy-in and a sense of mission, ownership, and collective destiny is a natural. We can lead the local effort and put the pieces together, develop a business plan, help coordinate funding, even oversee and support with events and marketing, but we need to find and attract a key partner for whom this is an amazing opportunity."

Rick Hauser is an architect and the mayor of Perry. Meghan Hauser is a recently retired dairy farmer. They have been deeply involved in Perry's revitalization for years. Said Meghan Hauser: "We, together with many energized local citizens, continue to work on the Perry Project to make our village a place where people want to live, to work, and to enjoy life."

Interested parties can reach Meghan Hauser via e-mail.

Ambivert Books, a bookstore specializing in Spanish-language titles, debuted last weekend at the Northwest Arkansas Book Fest in Fayetteville, Ark., Axios reported.

Brittany Johnson

Owner Brittany Johnson carries Spanish-language books for all ages and skill levels, from people learning Spanish to native speakers. Individual titles are available, as are subscriptions and themed book packages; Johnson also runs a number of book clubs. For now, Ambivert will operate as an online store and pop-up, though Johnson hopes to open a bricks-and-mortar store eventually. 

Johnson, who has a bachelor's degree in Spanish, told Axios that when looking for Spanish books to read, she would often find books that were translated from English into Spanish. With Ambivert, she wants to highlight books originally written in Spanish.

Amanda D'Acierno, who joined Random House in 2003 and has headed Penguin Random House audio publishing for many years, has been named president, Penguin Random House Audio, global, a newly created position. She will also join the Penguin Random House global executive committee.

Amanda D'Acierno

D'Acierno has been "a longtime advocate for the power of the spoken word and the audiobook format, has been doing this work incredibly well on an informal basis for many years and is widely recognized in the industry and among our PRH colleagues for her depth of expertise in audio," PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya said in a letter to staff making the announcement. He called audio "a key strategic area of our Penguin Random House business globally and... a significant part of our growth in recent years." He expects that "the audio business will continue to grow and evolve in many of the countries where we operate, driven by the shifting retail landscape and consumer reading preferences, as well as by technological developments such as AI."

Among her duties, D'Acierno will seek to expand PRH audio publishing worldwide, increase the catalog across all genres and for all ages, and continue to invest in in-house recording studios around the world. "She will foster closer collaboration across all PRH Audio groups globally, acting in a pivotal advisory role to local teams across territories and continuing our successful relationships with our global retail partners at Audible, Apple, OverDrive, Google, and Spotify, among others," Malaviya added.

Most recently president and publisher, Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, D'Acierno's 27-year publishing career began as a bookseller in Houston, Tex. She then moved to New York City and was community relations manager at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square and then director of publicity at Phaidon Press before joining Random House in 2003.

Christopher Wilson, a British author and journalist who published many novels, died August 9. He was 74. The Bookseller reported that his work has been translated into several languages, adapted for the stage, and twice shortlisted for the Whitbread Fiction Prize as well as longlisted for the HWA Crown Awards. Wilson's most recent books were Hurdy Gurdy and The Zoo. Earlier novels include The Ballad of Lee Cotton, The Wurd, and Gallimauf's Gospel, Baa, Blueglass, Mischief, Fou, and Nookie.

Wilson published a Ph.D. thesis on the psychology of humor at the London School of Economics, worked widely as a research psychologist and semiotic consultant, and lectured for 10 years at Goldsmiths, University of London. He taught creative writing in prisons, at universities, and for the Arvon Foundation.  

Jonny Geller, his literary agent, said: "Chris was a wonderful talent with a body of work that spanned more than three decades. His novels are unexpected, funny, unique, warm and clever--like the man. His books will last for many years to come. He will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege of working with him."

Louisa Joyner, associate publisher for fiction at Faber, added: "Chris Wilson was a joy to publish. A truly gifted satirist, his writing pierced egos with a generosity that made his portraits all the more devastating. He has been with me since the start of my life at Faber, and I feel truly honored to have been his editor."

"We couldn't resist capturing this moment with bookseller Ian and Puff, our beloved bearded dragon," Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, Middletown, Conn., posted on Facebook. "Look at their big smiles! Come on in and snap your own pics--don't forget to share your favorite shots of our store with us!"

At Sourcebooks:

Jolene Barto has joined the company as e-book marketing manager.

Hartley Christensen has joined the company as marketing associate. [Editor's note: she was formerly sales and marketing assistant at Shelf Awareness; we miss her and wish her best of luck!]

Harper Stewart has joined the company as children's book publishing assistant.

Letty Mundt has been promoted to associate publishing coordinator at Sourcebooks.

The Couples Skills Workbook: Manage Conflict, Increase Trust & Intimacy & Build a Better Relationship by Betsy Chung (New Harbinger Publications).

Today:
NPR's Here & Now: Nate Silver, author of On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything (Penguin Press, $35, 9781594204128).

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, August 24
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Live coverage of the 2024 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Highlights include:

• 9:30 a.m. A discussion on exploration with Amanda Bellows, author of The Explorers: A New History of America in Ten Expeditions, and Hampton Sides, author of The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.
• 10:30 a.m. Doris Kearns Goodwin, author, most recently, of An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, takes live call-in questions.
• 10:50 a.m. A discussion on resistance movements with Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, and Tiya Miles, author of Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People.
• 11:50 a.m. Yuval Levin, author of American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation--and Could Again, takes live call-in questions.
• 12:10 p.m. A discussion on Native Americans with Ned Blackhawk, author of The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, and Kathleen DuVal, author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.
• 1:10 p.m. Stuart E. Eizenstat, author of The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements that Changed the World, takes live call-in questions.
• 1:30 p.m. Erik Larson, author of The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, discusses the Civil War.
• 2:15 p.m. An interview with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
• 2:50 p.m. A discussion on misinformation with Annalee Newitz, author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, and Peter Pomerantsev, author of How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler.
• 3:50 p.m. Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial, takes live call-in questions.
• 4:10 p.m. Marie Arana, author of LatinoLand: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority, discusses Latinos in America.
• 4:55 p.m. Laura Beers, author of Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century, discusses George Orwell.
• 6:50 p.m. A discussion on politicians and writing with Carlos Lozada, author of The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians, and Jeffrey Rosen, author of The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America.

Sunday, August 25
8 a.m. Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World (‎Doubleday, $27, 9780385549936). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

2 p.m. Hannah Ritchie, author of Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet (Little, Brown Spark, $30, 9780316536752).

3:15 p.m. Clayton Page Aldern, author of The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains (Dutton, $30, 9780593472743).

4:15 p.m. Sean Carroll, author of Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe (Dutton, $26, 9780593186602).

5:20 p.m. Daniela Rus, author of The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 9781324050230).

Stacy Gregg's Nine Girls won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award at the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults ceremony in Wellington. She also took the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. The category winners each receive NZ$7,500 (about US$4,620), excepting the NZ$2,500 (about $1,540) first book award.

Convenor of judges Maia Bennett said, "After careful deliberation, both judging panels came to a unanimous decision on a book that not only exemplifies the highest standards, but that we believe will make a lasting contribution to Aotearoa's national literature for children and young adults; and as such, deserves the accolade of supreme winner." The other category winners were:

Picture Book: Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai by Michaela Keeble and Kerehi Grace, illustrated by Tokerau Brown
YA Fiction: Catch a Falling Star by Eileen Merriman 
Elsie Locke Award for Nonfiction: Ultrawild: An Audacious Plan to Rewild Every City on Earth by Steve Mushin 
Russell Clark Award for Illustration: Gavin Bishop for Patu: The New Zealand Wars 
Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award: Nani Jo me ngā Mokopuna Porohīanga by Moira Wairama, illustrated by Margaret Tolland. 
NZSA Best First Book Award: Tsunami by Ned Wenlock

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, August 27:

That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones (Bloomsbury, $29.99, 9781639733538) is the memoir of a Louisiana librarian who stood up against book banning.

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur, $29, 9781250836847) is the 11th mystery with Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope.

An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton (Blackstone, $26.99, 9781982627492) is the third Nick Mason thriller.

Our Shouts Echo by Jade Aida (Disney Hyperion, $18.99, 9781368090117) is the 2024 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award winner's sophomore YA work, about a teen building a doomsday shelter.  

Use Your Voice by Alice Paul Tapper, illus. by Fanny Liem (Penguin Workshop, $18.99, 9780593752142) is a picture book that fictionalizes the young woman's struggle to get a life-saving diagnosis.

I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine by Daniel J. Levitin (W.W. Norton, $32.50, 9781324036180) is a neuroscientist's exploration of the healing power of music.

Puppy Kindergarten: The New Science of Raising a Great Dog by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods (Random House, $29, 9780593231326) looks inside Duke University's puppy cognition research program.

All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life by David Bentley Hart (Yale University Press, $32.50, 9780300254723) explores consciousness in the form of a Platonic dialogue.

Paperbacks:
Daydream: A Novel by Hannah Grace (Atria, $19.99, 9781668026250).

It All Makes Sense Now: Embrace Your ADHD Brain to Live a Creative and Colorful Life by Meredith Carder (Hay House, $18.99, 9781401977030).

The Ultimate Plant-Based Cookbook: 100 Nourishing Recipes for Every Meal by Sarah Cobacho (Page Street, $23.99, 9798890039866).

Truly Madly Magically by Hazel Beck (Graydon House, $18.99, 9781525804731).

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

Hardcover
The Lost Story: A Novel by Meg Shaffer (Ballantine, $29, 9780593598870). "Can you feel nostalgic about a book you just read? Apparently yes, if it reminds you of when you were a child who believed in magic. Like any fairy tale, there is darkness, but only enough to make the light more brilliant." --Laura Kendall, Second Flight Books, Lafayette, Ind.

Nicked: A Novel by M.T. Anderson (Pantheon, $28, 9780593701607). "A truly immersive, boisterous, playful, and earnest heist story from so far in the past it becomes magical. With a writing style as elusive as the plot twists, a colorful cast of thieves and priests, and a breathless romance, it's not one to miss." --Bridget Fenner, BookPeople, Austin, Tex.

Paperback: An Indies Introduce Title
The Truth According to Ember: A Novel by Danica Nava (Berkley, $19, 9780593642603). "Ember is tired of her dead-end job, of being broke, and never getting ahead as a Chickasaw woman. So, she lies. As these lies pile up, how can Ember be real? Emotional, witty, and tender, this debut Native rom-com is a perfect workplace romance!" --Coco Zephir, Phoenix Books, Essex Junction, Vt.

Ages 4-8
The First Week of School by Drew Beckmeyer (Atheneum, $18.99, 9781665940429). "Beckmeyer exquisitely balances The First Week of School's simultaneous narratives, making a reading experience rich in humor, character engagement, and surprises. This story cannot be praised too highly or visited too often." --Kenny Brechner, Devaney, Doak & Garrett Booksellers, Farmington, Maine

Ages 8-12
Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic by Sangu Mandanna, illus. by Pablo Ballesteros (Viking, $22.99, 9780593464472). "This graphic novel is a true winner from Mandanna, a must-read for those who love cozy fantasy, great characters, and/or for kids who are having a tough time adjusting to a new school or environment. I can't wait for Jupiter and her story to release to the masses!" --Hannah Kerbs, Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn.

Teen Readers
Brownstone by Samuel Teer, illus. by Mar Julia (Versify, $18.99, 9780358394747). "This was such a beautiful, bittersweet graphic novel. Samuel Teer and Mar Julia ripped my heart out and put it back together with this story of a daughter not knowing who her family is and spending a summer learning and growing." --Sarah Dimaria, Cavalier House Books, Denham Springs, La.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

These days, Dorothy Parker is better known for her quick wit and the barbs she would dispense as a member of the famed Algonquin Round Table than for her poems, stories, or other work, especially her years spent writing for Hollywood movies. This era of Parker's life is detailed in Gail Crowther's highly accessible biography Dorothy Parker in Hollywood. Casual fans of the literary icon might not know she won an Oscar for her work on the screenplay for A Star Is Born or the extent to which she loathed her time writing for the silver screen. In fact, Crowther's book acknowledges the many unknowns concerning Parker's life, whether due to paltry archival evidence, studio refusals to credit their writers, or even to Parker's own elusiveness. But Crowther insists the uncertainty is all part of the story, calling it "classic Parker. Both there and not there, both famous and hidden, both forgotten and remembered, both known and unknowable."

Crowther frequently provides a contemporary gloss, distinguishing between the conventions of the era and the norms accepted by today's readers. In this way, she is able to address Parker's life through a feminist lens, scrutinizing her choices while never fully condemning her missteps. Parker undeniably drank too much, was highly critical (even of her friends and husband), and said or did things that would be intolerable today. But she also offered an unusually high level of self-deprecation, condemning herself as often or more than others. Even the better-known aspects of Parker's life, such as the FBI investigation into her possible Communist ties, are given depth and texture here, showing her as the complex and passionate activist she was.

Regarding the writer's countless moves (she had multiple homes in Hollywood, New York, and Pennsylvania), Crowther attributes Parker's restlessness to being a woman outside of her time. She argues, "All too often, women who refuse to conform must live and die with this temporal displacement." And Parker certainly refused to conform, even to her own literary standards, which she felt were compromised by the movie industry and its promise of financial stability. Crowther explains that Parker saw screenwriting as a waste and hated "using time and energy and skill on something one didn't necessarily choose or value. The hook, of course, was always money, and lots of it, but then this tension between creative freedom and earning a living is one that writers have always faced, and still do." Though her story was rarely if ever a happy one, Parker continues to fascinate, and Crowther's biography is a welcome addition to the effort to understand such a complicated woman. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Shelf Talker: Biographer Gail Crowther offers an insightful look at the ever-fascinating Dorothy Parker, particularly the years she spent in and out of Hollywood as a screenwriter.