The 51st annual fall conference of the New England Independent Booksellers Association, held in Newton, Mass., concluded last Friday with the third of three busy, lively days of panels, keynotes, trade show, author appearances, rep picks, parties, the association annual meeting, and a banquet dinner celebrating the winners of the New England Book Awards. Altogether some 325 booksellers and 63 exhibitors (including 200 staffers) attended. In addition, 91 authors were on hand, making total attendance more than 600, up from last year's 507.

The conference moved from its longtime location in Providence, R.I., after losing its dates at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Many compared the new setting, the Boston Marriott Newton, with an M.C. Escher print because of its unusual labyrinthine structure (the main floor was the fourth floor, for example), but once attendees figured it out, most were happy with it, particularly the lakeside setting and huge outdoor tent where some events were held. For the NEIBA staff, having the fall conference in a new location was a greater challenge than going to the same spot again, but the show ran smoothly and successfully.

At the NEIBA annual meeting, Emily Russo, co-owner of Print: A Bookstore, Portland, Maine, whose term as NEIBA president ended after the annual meeting, acknowledged that "the 2020s continue to challenge us and don't show many signs of letting up." The challenges include ongoing book bannings; the election year; rising rents, book costs, and credit card fees; wars; climate change; increasing authoritarianism worldwide; disease; and more. "It is not easy," she said.

But Russo had good news about the association: it added 23 new member stores in the past year on top of the 18 in the past fiscal year. Since the last fall conference, NEIBA has facilitated programs and events that have included virtual and in-person meetings, education, forums, and office hours, and issued holiday catalog and summer reading campaigns. The Spring Forum, she said, "has become a highlight of our year."

In her report, NEIBA executive director Beth Ineson noted that the association has had several "spendy years," in part because of its wonderful 50th anniversary celebration last year, higher conference costs, a full summer reading catalog, retreats, increased programming, and more. She emphasized that "we're spending money that we have" and the association's balance sheet is in "excellent shape."

Still, there are ongoing budget pressures from lower holiday catalog income and the costs of conferences (nearly double pre-pandemic costs for space and food). Going over budget, however intentionally, Ineson continued, is "not sustainable, so we're going to need to figure out a way to move forward" and keep the association's high level of service to members while staying within budget.

Among "irons in the fire" for this fiscal year, Ineson said, NEIBA plans to create a bookstore roadmap for New England like the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association's bookstore map, which it hopes will be done in time for next year's Independent Bookstore Day. In addition, the board has approved an investment in HR education for members ("HR feels like it's a pain point for everyone") that will include ongoing training resources.

Among changes on the board and staff, Evelyn Maguire joined NEIBA as marketing coordinator; Ineson called her "a joy to work with" and praised her for her work helping put the show together.

On the NEIBA board, Kelsy April, formerly of Bank Square Books, Mystic, Conn., became a Norton rep earlier this year and left the board. She was replaced by Ryan Clark from Gibson's Bookstore, Concord, N.H., who was elected to a full term on her own.

In addition, Hannah Harlow, co-owner of the Bookshop of Beverly Farms, Beverly, Mass., and Steve Iwanski, owner of Charter Books, Newport, R.I., were elected to the board.

Besides Emily Russo, Meghan Hayden, owner of River Bend Bookshop, Glastonbury and West Hartford, Conn., and NEIBA treasurer and clerk, is leaving the board. With those changes, Liz Whitelam, owner of Whitelam Books, Reading, Mass., has become president. Sam Kaas, co-owner of the Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, Vt., becomes secretary and treasurer. David Sandberg, co-owner of Porter Square Books, Cambridge and Boston, Mass., continues as vice-president.

Next year's NEIBA fall conference will be held September 9-11 in Manchester, N.H., where this year's first-class Spring Forum took place. --John Mutter

Pictures from NEIBA's 51st fall conference:

Talk about confidence! The Public Speaking for the Socially Anxious panelists: (from l.) Sam Kaas, the Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, Vt.; Casey W. Robinson, the Silver Unicorn, Acton, Mass., and winner of the New England Picture Book Award for Small Things Mended; Hannah Harlow, Bookshop of Beverly Farms, Beverly, Mass.; and Sanj Kharbanda, Beacon Press.

The owners roundtable participants.

Photo: Chris Kerr

Greetings on the show floor: (from l.) Maria Loftus, Inner Traditions/Bear & Co.; Emma Nichols, the Norwich Bookstore, Norwich, Vt.; and Rachel Kanter, who is opening the romance bookstore and café Lovestruck Books in Cambridge, Mass., in November.

Photo: Chris Kerr

Kari Meutsch and Kristian Preylowski, owners of the Yankee Bookshop, Woodstock, Vt.

Photo: Erika Mantz

Dinner with Binc: (from l.) John Mutter, Shelf Awareness; Coco Zephir, Phoenix Books, Burlington, Vt., and one of the winners of Binc's Macmillan scholarship; Richard Hunt, KEENAdventure; Pam French, Binc; Travis Bryant, KEENAdventure.

Broadside Bookshop, Northampton, Mass., which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this coming Saturday, September 21, has added two people to its ownership team. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that Ted Clements and colleague Roz Kreshak-Hayden are buying into the business and will eventually share an equal part with Clements's father, Bill Clements, and fellow owners Nancy Felton and Roxie Mack, who took over the store in 2001 after the death of founder Bruce MacMillan.

"I grew up here, and my dad is one of the other owners. I grew up reading in the kid section over there when I was 5 or 6," said Ted Clements, pointing to a part of the store at 247 Main St. "The ice cream place was next door. This place has been part of my whole life.... Growing up hanging out here every day after school, and I grew a love of reading from that."

Kreshak-Hayden, who has worked at Broadside for four years, called the change "unique for handing down a business," mirroring the process by which the founder had left the store with his employees. She described MacMillan as "the soul of the store" and "a very beloved figure in the community."

"One of our best qualities is a kind of timelessness," she added. "Longtime customers know that there are elements of Broadside that are consistently the same and it is some of those idiosyncrasies that make us such a beloved institution in town. No matter the upheaval in the outside world, we want people to know they can walk into Broadside and find the same cozy, little shop packed to the brim with books and curiosities.... We recently had a customer visit the store who grew up in Northampton and hadn't been back in 20 years. They immediately remarked that the store had the same wonderful 'bookstore smell' she remembered from browsing the store as a little kid. That's the kind of ineffable Broadside magic that stands the test of time."

Blue Apple Books, an all-ages, general-interest bookstore and benefit corporation, is opening this week in Madison, Ala., the Madison Record reported.

Store owner Robin Dauma, who previously worked as an educator for close to 30 years, will hold a ribbon cutting for the bookstore on Wednesday, September 18. Alongside books, the store carries stationery and literary-themed gifts, and there is a small events space that community members can rent.

Dauma noted that her event plans include crafts workshops, author signings, poetry readings, and storytimes. She expects event programming to be in full-swing by mid-October.

"A locally owned, independent bookstore can meet a need in the community that no other entity can," Dauma told the Madison Record. "Like many forms of art, reading good books brings a universal sense of awe, unity, and empathy that can transcend differences."

Located at 14 Main St. in downtown Madison, the store incorporates a space that previously belonged to South & Pine, a home decor and gifts store that Dauma bought in July. Blue Apple Books will continue to feature South & Pine products as well as the work of local artists and artisans.

Dauma said she's long dreamed of having a bookstore of her own, and her love for indie bookstores like Square Books in Oxford, Miss., helped inspire that dream. The bookstore's name, she explained, comes from a phrase she used to use with her students. "Biting blue apples," she said, meant trying something new and stepping out of one's comfort zone.

Mattel Creations has added Isabel Allende to its Barbie Inspiring Women Series. The company "proudly honors author and activist Isabel Allende. Now one of the most widely read writers in the world, Isabel Allende first began raising her powerful voice while in exile from a military coup in her home country of Chile. She began a letter, that would become a book, that would become a lifetime of telling the stories of women and girls."

The doll costs $35 and will be available to the public later in October. For ordering information, click here.

In other Allende news, Ballantine is publishing the author's next novel, My Name Is Emilia del Valle, on May 6, 2025, which, the publisher says, "follows the story of a woman much like Isabel herself and what her Barbie represents--an impassioned female writer breaking barriers, challenging gender norms, and being a voice for the voiceless. Set in the late 1800s, Emilia starts out writing under a man's pen name, but she goes on to reclaim her given name and go on a life-changing voyage from San Francisco to Chile to cover a brewing civil war. There, she falls in love, reconnects with her estranged father, and finds herself in the literal trenches of war and political danger. And ultimately, she discovers her roots and rises to her destiny."

"Life is an adventure... be sure to pack enough books" was the sidewalk chalkboard message in front of Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, Minn., which shared "making of" pics on Facebook, noting: "The adventures of making a sign... and a few titles to inspire your own adventures!"

Posted on Facebook by the Stacks Bookstore, Savannah, Ga.: "Hey neighbors, Cindy here. I just wanted to take a minute to gush about The Stacks staff. Sometimes folks are surprised to learn that there are only three of us at The Stacks. It's nice to be small enough that we can ge two know you, and you us when you come in. It also means that we're basically constantly running to be able to do all the events and things that we do here. I'm so lucky to have two talented and wonderful staff members, who are the real reason we can do them all. These folks love what they do and they KNOW good books, but most importantly--they know the positive power stories can have in a community and are committed to bringing that to Savannah."

Halima, Superhero Princess by Emily Joof, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Floris Books).

Today:
Good Morning America: Eve, author of Who's That Girl?: A Memoir (Hanover Square Press, $29.99, 9781335081155). She will also appear tomorrow on Tamron Hall.

Today Show: Connie Chung, author of Connie: A Memoir (Grand Central, $32.50, 9781538766989).

CBS Mornings: Wilmer Valderrama, author of An American Story: Everyone's Invited (Harper Select, $29.99, 9781400336579). He will also appear on Live with Kelly and Mark.

Drew Barrymore Show: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, co-author of The Accomplice: A Novel (Amistad, $27.99, 9780063312906).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George, authors of Good Lookin' Cookin': A Year of Meals--A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food (Ten Speed Press, $35, 9781984863164). They will also appear on the View.

Today Show: Josh Gad, author of PictureFace Lizzy (Putnam, $19.99, 9780593463123). He will also appear on Live with Kelly and Mark.

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Francis S. Collins, author of The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316576307).

At last night's Emmy Awards celebration, book-related productions had their moments of glory, with Shogun, adapted from James Clavell's 1975 bestselling novel, leading the way with four major category wins. Bookish Emmys went to:

Shogun, based on James Clavell's novel: Drama series; lead actress in a drama series (Anna Sawai); lead actor in a drama series (Hiroyuki Sanada); directing for a drama series (Frederick E.O. Toye)

The Morning Show, based on Brian Stelter's nonfiction book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV: Supporting actor in a drama series (Billy Crudup)

Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley: Directing for a limited series, anthology or movie (Steven Zaillian)

Slow Horses, based on Mick Herron's Slough House spy novel series: Writing for a drama series (Will Smith)

The National Book Foundation released longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards last week, ending with the fiction category on Friday. Finalists will be announced October 1, and winners named November 20 at the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony. This year's longlisted fiction titles are:

Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda (W.W. Norton)
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf)
The Most by Jessica Anthony (Little, Brown)
Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (One World/PRH)
James by Percival Everett (Doubleday)
All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead)
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Scribner)
My Friends by Hisham Matar (Random House) 
Yr Dead by Sam Sax (McSweeney's) 
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (Morrow)

With The City and Its Uncertain Walls (translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel), Haruki Murakami returns to a world first created more than 40 years ago in a novella of the same title. That walled city will also be familiar to fans of the author's Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World, but prior familiarity is not required to appreciate the mesmerizing new fiction from the gifted and enigmatic Murakami (First Person Singular; IQ84; Wind/Pinball).

Part One opens as the young narrator describes walking barefoot with his girlfriend at the edge of a shallow riverbed, addressing the girl directly: "At that time neither you nor I had names.... The two of us sat there, side by side, on the riverbank of a nameless world." All of Part One uses this second-person address, the girl a constant presence in the story even as the narrator describes the way she one day disappears, leaving him confused and bereft. He goes on to college, gets a job, and maintains a comfortable existence into middle age. But the memory of the girl and the high-walled city they imagined together haunts him until the day he finds himself outside the wall, giving the Gatekeeper permission to remove his shadow and wound his eyes, allowing him to enter the city to work as a Dream Reader.

Part One bounces between two worlds--the reality of the narrator's youth, when he and the girl exchange letters and fall in love; and the time when the much older narrator lives in the walled city. The rest of the book plays similarly with questions of reality and its construction: "Different versions of reality mixed together, different choices became intertwined, out of which a composite reality--or what we come to understand as reality--took shape." Ultimately, the narrator agrees with the statement, "Real or fake, that doesn't really matter. Facts and the truth are two different things."

Murakami tracks the novel's evolution in an afterword, explaining that he began reworking the story just as the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns rolled across the globe. His isolation during that time "might be significant," Murakami writes. "Or maybe not. But I think they must mean something. I feel it in my bones." This confident ambiguity infuses each of the three distinct yet connected sections of The City and Its Uncertain Walls, evoking an uncanny, dreamlike state. For those willing to engage the ambiguities, Murakami's latest will not disappoint. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Shelf Talker: Haruki Murakami's The City and Its Uncertain Walls employs a languid tone and dream-like exploration of memory and the paths taken in life, asking readers to consider what is real.