Trident Booksellers & Cafe in Boston, Mass., is expanding in conjunction with its 40th anniversary.

It has taken over the entire second floor of its building at 338 Newbury St., with the front half of the second floor offering additional space for new books, remainders, and a variety of gifts and games. The back half of the second floor is now the Stacks, an event space that will host author readings and book clubs as well as private events.

On October 5, Trident will celebrate its 40th anniversary with an event held in the Stacks called Past, Present & Future. The event will include refreshments, displays of artifacts and memorabilia from throughout Trident's history, complimentary psychic readings, free books and other prizes, 40th anniversary merchandise, and special offers on booking the Stacks.

"We are excited to unveil this new chapter for the Trident," said co-owner Courtney Flynn. "Our goal has always been to create a space where people feel welcome to explore, connect, and celebrate. This expansion allows us to offer even more to our community while honoring the unique legacy that the Trident has built over the past 40 years."

The bookstore was founded in 1984 by Bernie and Gail Flynn.

MahoganyBooks closed its bookstore at the Anacostia Arts Center in Washington, D.C., on August 31, due to what co-founders Derrick and Ramunda Young described as "the changing landscape, the development they're going to be doing there." The Youngs are currently looking for a new location. They also operate a second store at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., which launched in 2021.

In an Instagram Live post, Derrick Young said, "We opened up our very first store seven years ago now, in 2017, on Black Friday, in the Anacostia Arts Center in Southeast D.C. We've had an incredible, incredible amount of history we've made there. We're the first bookstore to open up in over 20 years there. And we've done a number of great things, hosted a lot of great events, great book clubs. However, due to some changes happening with the arts center in 2025, we have officially ceased operations at our Anacostia store.... We are, however, in the process of looking for a new location. We've been working with brokers for the last eight months or so."

Ramunda Young added: "We're also listening to our customers. The community that we're in we love. We were there intentionally to be in Anacostia, but we've heard time and time again that parking is a concern. People can't just pop in there and get their book when they need to. And so those things we've taken into consideration. Also in the center, there was a thriving ecospace for Black businesses. There's only a couple of businesses left, so it really hasn’t become that destination for so many of our customers and we really want that for the people who come and shop with us all the time."

Noting that their National Harbor store is about six miles away and is thriving, Young said that as they explore possible new locations for the former Anacostia shop, "we want to find that very special spot. It's very intentional for us. There's a lot of people saying, 'Come to our development, come to our shopping center,' and it's been great to hear that from the people that our brokers have been bringing to us. But it has to be a space that really feels cohesive with who we are and it has to be accessible with transportation, accessible for parking. Those things mean something to us. It's not just hopping where the brassiest, glassiest location might be, but a place that feels in synergy with who we are." 

MahoganyBooks will continue to use the Arts Center for its Black Books Matter book club and selected events while the center is still open. Meanwhile, the search for a new space continues. "We really wanted to be intentional, and move with intention," Ramunda Young noted. "We want to land in a place that fits with us and who we are."

Stuart Applebaum, the longtime publicity, PR, and corporate communications pro at Penguin Random House and predecessor companies, is retiring after a 52-year career, the last 10 of which he has been emeritus executive v-p, corporate communications, at PRH.

(Photo: Michael Lionstar)

In a letter to staff about Applebaum's retirement, PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya and executive v-p, director of communications and social responsibility, Claire von Schilling noted that Applebaum, who has worked at Knopf, Bantam Books, Bantam Doubleday Dell, Random House, and Penguin Random House, is "Bertelsmann's longest-tenured employee in North America." His job titles have included publicity assistant, book publicist, Bantam publicity and public relations director, company spokesperson, chief communications officer, v-p, senior vice president, and executive v-p.

They continued: "His legacy is not just attributable to his longevity but to his profound impact on our publishing programs and operations, our colleagues, and our trade community worldwide. Stuart has supported several generations of authors, publishers, and journalists by communicating our company's daily news and aggregated history--and helping us make both in the process."

Applebaum made the decision to retire at the beginning of the year, but has kept it secret until now. He said, "Next week, I celebrate my diamond birthday. I feel fine, and I am still performing at my peak, full tilt, full time, Monday to Sunday. But it's time."

He plans to give more attention to the Stuart S. Applebaum Giving Foundation, which he founded 22 years ago, to provide donations to library, book, arts, health, and Judaic organizations.

Among the many milestones during his career:

• In 1975, as a Bantam publicist, he put together the intensive publication launch and movie tie-in book tours for Peter Benchley's publishing phenomenon, the Jaws paperback that sold more than 10 million copies.
• He helped persuade Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca to write his wildly popular autobiography.
• He helped make Yeager: An Autobiography a million-copy bestseller and establish Bantam's hardcover imprint.
• He has had a 50-year relationship with Louis L'Amour as the author's book publicist and a continuing publishing collaboration with the L'Amour family for the more than three decades since L'Amour's death.
• He also led media campaigns for Maya Angelou, Barbara Cartland, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Frederick Forsyth, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Robert Ludlum, Gore Vidal, Tom Robbins, Judith Krantz, Nora Ephron, Jerzy Kosiński, Jonathan Kellerman, and dozens of other Bantam authors.
• In his role in corporate communications, he led the English-language communications plan to announce Bertelsmann's purchases of Doubleday in 1986, the formation of Bantam Doubleday Dell the next year, and the purchase of Random House in 1998. In 2012, during Hurricane Sandy, he stayed at his office desk for 32 hours to spread the word about the Penguin and Random House merger.

"Through it all," Malaviya and von Schilling wrote, "Stuart has always and immediately been available for every kind of comms topic time and again with his signature clarity, vigor, common sense, thick skin, and rare ability to see around corners.

"It has been reassuring, especially when we have a high-stakes issue, to know that Stuart can advise us and help solve it. But his contributions to our community go beyond communications. He also has been an incredible mentor to countless individuals over the years, including former assistants of his who went on to be publicity executives across the industry. At Penguin Random House, we will continue to lean on the deep bench of talent that he has inspired and nurtured....

"Your 52-year legacy, Mr. Applebaum, to our company, our authors and our readers, and to our publishing community, is unmatched. Thank you."

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Some of us at Shelf Awareness have known and worked with Stuart for all of our careers in the book world and, like his colleagues at PRH, send our thanks, too, for all his help in informing us about some of the major stories of the day. We hope he continues to be involved in the book world and continues to send his thoughtful, amusing, and prescient observations and comments.

The Crafty Reader, a new and used bookstore also offering handmade, locally-sourced craft goods, opened for business in Milford, Del., on August 30, the Delaware Business Times reported.

The 500-square-foot store is one of several businesses located inside of the historic Penney Square building in downtown Milford. It combines owner Kori Lewandowski's passions for both books and crafts, and fulfills her long-held dream of opening a bookstore.

The store's opening drew an enthusiastic response, with customers forming a line outside the store 30 minutes before the official opening.

"To be honest, I think I kind of went a little bit numb, a little bit in shock," Lewandowski told the Delaware Business Times. "I did not expect a line to start at 10:30 a.m. I never could have imagined that that could have happened, but I had hoped. And then that very first day that I opened, there wasn't a moment until the last 15 minutes of the day when I didn't have at least one person in the store."

Lewandowski added that she's had a steady flow of customers in the week following the opening, and she looks forward to developing the store in the months to come.

The Australian Publishers Association has released its inaugural Sustainability Survey, designed to help improve the environmental sustainability of the book industry. The APA noted that more than half of the publishers who responded have appointed a person or team to lead their company's sustainability agenda, and over a quarter are setting targets to reduce energy, waste and plastic consumption, as well as to increase recycling. "Unsurprisingly, given the complexity of the process, just 19% of respondents are currently calculating carbon emission for their Australian operations," the APA wrote. 

The Sustainability Survey found that:

• 56% of respondents have a person or team with direct responsibility for their company's sustainability agenda.
• More than a quarter are setting targets to reduce energy (30%), waste (26%), and plastic consumption (26%), as well as increase recycling (30%).
• 19% are calculating carbon emissions for their Australian operations.
• 44% are collecting environmental data from suppliers.
• 56% require suppliers to have accreditation.
• 33% use 100% FSC or recycled paper and cardboard for book printing, while a further 22% use 100% FSC or recycled paper but not cardboard.

The survey also investigated the use of plastic (laminated covers, foil, spot varnishes, glitter) in book production; transportation, returns and pulping; and the use of hard copy promotional material.

The APA's Sustainability Working Group identified five key areas from the survey where publishers could be taking action immediately: 

1. Nominate and appropriately resource a staff member or a team in your organization to be responsible for sustainability.
2. Set up office recycling for paper, glass, soft and hard plastic, metal, batteries, and e-waste.
3. Commit to 100% FSC or recycled stock for paper and cardboard in book printing.
4. Reduce or eliminate the use of glitter and foil in book printing.
5. Only supply printed proof copies and point of sale materials to booksellers that have specifically ordered them. 

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BookNet Canada examined how the Canadian English-language book market has performed in the first half of 2024, using the latest data from SalesData, LibraryData, and the Canadian Book Consumer survey. 

SalesData figures showed that print unit sales for the first six months of 2024 were down 2% over the same period in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, for the entire English-language Canadian trade print book market tracked by BNC SalesData, 20,772,885 units were sold at a value of C$477 million (about US$352 million).

Print books comprised 83% (48% paperback, 25% hardcover) of all book purchases by Canadian book buyers during the first and second quarters of 2024. Digital book purchases increased 6% from year to year.

According to the consumer survey, Canadian book buyers have been buying more self-help titles this year, with the category comprising 22% of nonfiction purchases, up from 17% in 2023. In addition, interest in fantasy novels and thrillers has grown, with each category now accounting for 19% of all fiction purchases in the first half of 2024.

Regarding physical versus online shopping, the survey found that purchasing behavior of Canadian book buyers has remained relatively flat compared to 2023.

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Country Living magazine showcased "10 independent bookshops to visit in the U.K.," noting that "the season of cozying up with a book is fast approaching, so there's no better time to celebrate the U.K.'s best independent bookshops--or perhaps discover a new favorite spot. Whether you're after a nature book to help you feel connected with the outdoors, some slow living inspiration or just a browse, there's no denying the simple pleasure of a meander around a well-curated bookshop." --Robert Gray

At a WORD event in Brooklyn, N.Y., Moon Unit Zappa, author of Earth to Moon: A Memoir (Dey Street Books), was in conversation with Molly Jong-Fast (l.).

Oprah Winfrey has chosen Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Random House) as the latest Oprah's Book Club Pick, the Associated Press reported, adding that this is the second time Winfrey has chosen a book by Strout, whose Olive, Again was a 2019 selection.

"Elizabeth Strout welcomes us home again, back to the small town where we witness the interconnection of all the characters we've ever loved in her previous novels," Winfrey said. "It's a beautiful read reminding us that there is extraordinary love in ordinary actions."

"The first time Oprah called me was extraordinary," Strout recalled. "The second time she called me was absolutely astonishing! Two times she has chosen a book of mine for her book club and I am so humbled that even though I supposedly 'use words' there are almost no words I have to say how grateful I am to her. She has done an amazing job to help people of this world discover and read books; to me Oprah is a rock star."

Posted on Facebook by Cupboard Maker Books, Enola, Pa.: "It's with great sadness that we announce the passing of Creamsicle, our first Bookstore Cat. For his own safety, we had to move Creamy from the store to our house in 2014. He kept trying to follow Jason to work and would sneak out of the bookstore, making it to the side of the highway looking for his Dad. Creamsicle was known as The Shoulder Cat to many of his fans. He lived his best life at the house all the way to age 22. Rest in Peace Creamsicle 2002-2024."

Posted by Basket Books & Art, Houston, Tex.: "Doors open, hello September, come on through!"

Stop Walking on Eggshells for Partners: What to Do When Your Partner Has Borderline or Narcissistic Personality by Randi Kreger and Bill Eddy (New Harbinger Publications).

Today:
Fresh Air: Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, authors of Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter (Penguin Press, $32, 9780593656136).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Carlos Whittaker, author of Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 9781400246465).

Also on GMA: Laura Dave, author of The Night We Lost Him: A Novel (S&S/Marysue Rucci, $28.99, 9781668002933).

Tamron Hall: Attica Locke, author of Guide Me Home: A Highway 59 Novel (Mulholland, $29, 9780316494618).

Also on Tamron Hall: Chloe Gong, author of Vilest Things: A Novel (S&S/Saga Press, $28.99, 9781668000267).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Evie McGee Colbert, co-author, with Stephen Colbert, of Does This Taste Funny?: Recipes Our Family Loves (Celadon, $35, 9781250859990).

Griffin Dunne (After Hours) has been cast in a supporting role for Darren Aronofsky's Sony crime thriller Caught Stealing, which is based on the books by Charlie Huston, who adapted the screenplay, Deadline reported.

Starring Austin Butler as a burned-out former baseball player who is "unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of 1990s New York City," the project's cast also includes Zoë Kravitz, Regina King, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Will Brill, and Bad Bunny," Deadline noted. Aronofsky's Protozoa is producing.

This week the National Book Foundation is releasing longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards. Finalists will be announced October 1, and winners named November 20 at the National Book Awards Ceremony. This year's longlisted titles in the Young People's Literature and and Translated Literature categories are:

Young People's Literature
Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole (Labyrinth Road/PRH) 
Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan (Nancy Paulsen Books/PRH)
Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza (Henry Holt & Co.)  
The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (Kokila/PRH) 
Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)
The Unboxing of a Black Girl by Angela Shanté (Page Street Publishing)
Free Period by Ali Terese (Scholastic Press)
Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)

Translated Literature
The Tale of a Wall: Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom by Nasser Abu Srour, translated from the Arabic by Luke Leafgren (Other Press)
The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated from the Arabic by Ranya Abdelrahma & Sawad Hussain (Restless Books)
Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, translated from the Swedish by Saskia Vogel (Knopf) 
On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle, translated from the Danish by Barbara J. Haveland (New Directions)
Woodworm by Layla Martínez, translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes & Annie McDermott (Two Lines Press)
The Villain's Dance by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated from the French by Roland Glasser (Deep Vellum)
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, translated from the Spanish by Heather Cleary (Scribner)
The Abyss by Fernando Vallejo, translated from the Spanish by Yvette Siegert (New Directions)
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from the Mandarin Chinese by Lin King (Graywolf Press)
Where the Wind Calls Home by Samar Yazbek, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (World Editions)

Jessica Elisheva Emerson lives with her husband and children in the Sonoran Desert, even as she dreams of living among the lakes in Canada. Her stories and poems have been published in numerous journals, and she's a produced playwright. Her debut novel, Olive Days (Counterpoint, September 10, 2024), is a smoldering story of a young mother whose quest for authenticity erupts in a passionate affair.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

There's a wife swap in the Orthodox Jewish community within 15 pages... the obsessive love affair and identity crisis that follows is (sad) icing on the cake.

On your nightstand now:

Benediction by Kent Haruf (because his breathtaking novel Plainsong taught me so much about good writing); A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (because by teaching about good writing he's also teaching about life, plus you get to read all those classic Russian stories); Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (the only reason I haven't read it yet is because one of my kids snatched it up immediately when I brought it home, and so it's mid-pile); Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (because he's a groundbreaking author and I am obsessed with stories about identity); Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass (although I don't dip into many memoirs, this one I had to read); The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff (haven't started, cannot wait, her Matrix is one of the best stories about women and leadership that I've ever read); and a huge book of Louise Glück poems (because, like the rest of us, I'm still very much mourning her).

Favorite book when you were a child:

Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I am a total Joan Aiken acolyte. She is a brilliant and unflinching feminist, and her books are impossible to put down. This is a story about two girls saving scores of other girls, against all odds and with steep stakes. Look up how to make a posset before you start reading it.

Your top five authors:

John Williams: I'm one of those writers who thinks everyone should read Stoner, again and again and again as long as their tear ducts hold up.

Nicole Krauss: beginning with utter captivation at The History of Love.

George Saunders: since CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, I'm also a fan of him as a person, a generous teacher, and a Luddite.

Judy Blume: without our patron saint Judy, I never would have written a book.

August Wilson: I had to include a playwright because I'm so enamored with the form, and I think I've both read and seen more August Wilson plays than any other single playwright. They're quintessentially American stories.

Book you've faked reading:

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The movie Sleepers came out when I was in high school; everyone was obsessed with it, and The Count of Monte Cristo was referenced throughout the movie. I always had a nose in a book and people assumed I'd read it, and instead of being normal and, you know, reading it, I just pretended. And then I sort of forgot I hadn't read it, and just included it in my mental inventory of read books.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. This book of short stories will stay with me forever. I read it quickly and then again, slowly, haunted and uplifted, gutted and elated. I have given it as a gift so many times.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Piglet by Lottie Hazell. Holy shit, the painting of that very delicious and very non-kosher cheeseburger. But then, of course, I read and loved it. Also My Name Is Barbra, just so I could look at Barbra Streisand's gorgeous face. I have not gotten around to finishing that one yet.

Book you hid from your parents:

My parents were so, so generous, they let me read anything I picked off their shelves. I did, however, once seal an annotated copy of Camus's The Fall into plastic and bury it in my parents' garden, seeding some spider plants above it. I guess it was for posterity? Post-apocalypse? I was just an angsty teen? I was certainly intoxicated when I did it and promptly forgot. When my mother accidentally dug up the copy two decades later--significantly decayed but not so decayed they couldn't read my unpleasantly precocious and navel-gazey notes--I was appropriately horrified.

Book that changed your life:

My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. This masterpiece helped me understand my own artistic inclinations, and upon many (many) rereads also imbued in me a love of vividly actualized characters and settings in fiction, something I hope readers experience with Olive Days.

Favorite line from a book:

"And in this self-expression I put all the thoughts I had about her, I released the anger she made me feel, my amorous way of thinking about her, my determination to exist for her, the desire for me to be me, and for her to be her, and the love for myself that I put in my love for her--all the things that could be said only in that conch shell wound into a spiral." --Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics, from The Spiral, told in first-person perspective of a marine gastropod mollusk named Qfwfq.

Five books you'll never part with:

The Riverside Shakespeare: because sometimes you need Cymbeline on a random weekday.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: the single best book I've read in my adult life.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon: my husband and I bought two copies because we couldn't wait for the other to finish it, and then--because we were on a road trip--he read a third of it out loud to me because I couldn't stand him getting too far ahead.

We Don't Live Here Anymore by Andre Dubus: I write about adultery so I also read about adultery. I will never be able to shake the scenes from this book, and I wouldn't want to.

Tenth of December by George Saunders: it's funny because George Saunders teaches a masterclass in short story writing in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, but in this book he demonstrates it. I don't even know what adjectives to use to get across the urgency of reading this book.

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

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. The sensation of reading this book was so unique. I hated when the POV shifted, and became immediately obsessed with each new POV. It's funny, it flows, it's incredibly stylish but not in a distracting way, and it contains some of the most distinct characters and struggles in recent memory. Plus, it's nearly 600 pages and I read it in a couple of sittings. I would like that feeling back again.

Best school book fair purchase ever:

On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt. I'd never read a fantasy book before, and for years after I bought this book on a whim at a seventh-grade book fair, I reread it annually. It's still a great comfort on a sick day or during a particularly cold winter.

Readers who loved Christopher Denise's Knight Owl, which received a Caldecott Honor and was Denise's first picture book as both author and illustrator, will be thrilled to know that the titular pint-size hero is back--and he's got company.

In the first book, Owl saw his fervent wish to join the Knight Night Watch become a reality, and he used his courage and wit to outsmart a dragon. Owl faces an even more formidable foe in this follow-up: Early Bird, his "BIGGEST fan." Early Bird wants to be a Knight Owl, but Owl's nocturnal schedule proves an immediate obstacle. When Early Bird is ready to start her day, Owl is ready for bed, and when it's time to patrol the castle at night, Early Bird can't seem to stay awake. Tension between the two comes to a head and Owl tells Early Bird, "PLEASE GO AWAY!" She does. For entirely too long. Owl, worried about Early Bird, sets off into the dark, cold forest to find her and stumbles onto something much worse.

Young readers with little siblings will recognize Early Bird's personality immediately, and Denise finds plenty of humor in her character. The first time readers meet the plucky youngster, Denise accentuates her wide eyes and large, round cheeks. The next time readers see her, she's peeking over the top of Owl's sleeping form in an image many parents of young children will find familiar. The text of much of her dialogue is styled in varying sizes, a clever visualization of the "great deal of noise" she makes (and a hint for adults reading aloud to adjust performances accordingly).

As he did in Knight Owl, Denise skillfully employs a palette of warm golds and deep, occasionally chilling blues. He expertly alternates between charming vignettes (as when Early Bird stays "very busy and very noisy all day long" by banging her drum and admiring her knightly reflection in a mirror), single-page illustrations framed by generous white space, and cinematic, full-bleed spreads. It's difficult to live up to Knight Owl's near perfection--the third act's pacing here is rushed and the book's focus is somewhat divided--but most readers will be too busy giggling, gasping, and cheering to notice. --Stephanie Appell

Shelf Talker: Caldecott Honor author-illustrator Christopher Denise replicates the plucky charm of Knight Owl in this follow-up that sees Owl confront his most formidable foe yet.