Bookends & Beginnings will open a pop-up used bookstore in a vacant storefront just down the street from its 1620 Orrington Ave. shop in downtown Evanston, Ill. Called Middles Used Books--"because we already have the book 'ends' and the 'beginnings' "--it is set to launch in early October at 1630 Orrington Ave., Evanston RoundTable reported.

Owner Nina Barrett said the addition is a way for the bookstore to expand its capacity for the underserved used book market: "This is going to give us a greater ability to accept and carry used stock, and fill a void in downtown Evanston." 

Bookends & Beginnings has been offering book trade-ins for years, and when it moved to Orrington Ave. in 2023, the store dedicated a room to used books, but the demand is high for a larger space.

"People bring us a household full of books if they're downsizing, or maybe they've lost a relative who had a big collection of books," Barrett noted. "Unfortunately, there's a very small percentage of that we can take because we just don't have room for it." 

The expansion coincides with the hiring of Jessica Fisher, the store's used book buyer. "Jessica came to us at just the right time," Barrett said. "She has the experience we were looking for, and it's great that she'll have all this new space to play with."

Bookends & Beginnings won't pay cash for books, but will offer trade credit that can be used on purchases. Books can be donated, too. The store is especially looking for "larger, single-subject collections, e.g., history, art, cooking, etc."

Barrett added, "We're piloting the concept to see if it has legs. I think since Market Fresh Books closed [in 2019], there's been an unmet need. A lot of students shopped there, and people went there looking for bargains.... There's been a void in downtown Evanston since they went away, and we hope this will help to fill it. Of course it's not the whole focus of what we do, but if we can make it work, I think it will be great for downtown Evanston to have used books again."

Arts & Letters Bookstore, which launched in 2019 in Granbury, Tex., will host a grand opening celebration October 5 for its second location, in Weatherford. The new space is located in a restored 1908 building just off the city's historic square at 124 York Ave., and features new releases, bestsellers, stationery, children's books, greeting cards, toys, games, and more. 

Owner Roxanne Laney told Hood County News that five months after she opened the original bookstore, "we had to close because of Covid, and that was kind of a struggle because we really hadn't established ourselves. When we reopened, business was pretty slow most of that year because people just didn't know what was up, and it was really hard to stay open--but we managed."

Despite the challenges, Laney and her team adapted their business model, cultivated a loyal customer base, and ultimately created a community hub that celebrates the joy of reading. After experimenting with various strategies during the pandemic, she experienced a pivotal moment when she spoke with a fellow bookstore owner from Colorado that essentially transformed her business model.

Laney started focusing on managing her inventory, rather than just revenue. She also realized that much of her stock was tied up in unsold books, which limited her ability to invest in new titles. Another revelation was being advised that face-outs sell more books, she recalled. "I can't believe the difference in our sales."

With improvements in place, Laney said she felt it was the right time to open a second location, as she can spread overhead costs across two stores and work toward profitability. After contemplating locations in Stephenville and Fort Worth, Laney fell in love with the charm and potential of the building in Weatherford, which has recently undergone extensive renovations.

"It is so nice," she said, noting that she is particularly excited about the unusual personality the Weatherford store will bring. "I did some research. We live on the tourist business here, and I don't think Weatherford is the tourist town that Granbury is, but Parker County is way bigger than Hood County by like 100,000 people or more. I just thought, 'Well, that might be enough to sustain it.' "

There has been a good response to the new store thus far. "People come in all day long wanting to know about opening," she said. "I've even had people call this store and say, 'Hey, I heard this. I just wanted to tell somebody, because I'm so happy,' but I think that's good. We're a team, and we have different personalities to accommodate, and I think the new store (will have) a different set of personalities, so it'll look a little different, and I think that's exciting.... I have five years of experience now, and I've had help from peers. We kind of know what to do, and I think it'll be exciting to see if we can do better in a new location."

During #BannedBooksWeek, indie booksellers nationwide are posting photos, book picks, and opinions on their social media channels, celebrating and sharing vital information in a variety of creative ways. We highlighted some on Wednesday. Here's another sampling:  

Story & Song Bookstore Bistro, Fernandina Beach, Fla.: "It's Banned Book Week. Are you reading a banned book? Yesterday, it was a packed house! We were blown away by the power of the table reading of the play The Sledding Hill. All ages were present and sharing their voice on this topic. Thank you to all who came, those who presented.... It enlightened and inspired us all! Come join us this week in the store to discuss our f'read'om to read."

Interabang Books, Dallas, Tex.: "As an independent bookstore, we have the privilege of providing a truly unique experience, and to curate books that reflect the fabric of our community. You won't find a display of popular banned books, though many exist on our shelves. To ban one book is to risk silencing them all. We consider every title in our store an invaluable part of our mission, right there in the 'interabang' name: to encourage the search for knowledge and provide the excitement of discovery, for everyone."

Yellow Bird Books, Aurora, Ill.: "Celebrate Banned Books Week with Yellow Bird Books!"

Lift Bridge Book Shop, Brockport, N.Y.: "It's Banned Books Week. Pop in the store to take a closer look at our display! (and maybe give a nice book a loving home) Find out which books have been challenged for 'satanic talking animals,' 'banning books within a book,' 'espousing a poor philosophy of life,' and 'just being a bad book.' Have any of your favorite books have been considered 'controversial?' "

Wildflower Bookshop, Grand Rapids, Minn.: "Caution Banned Books Week is here! What banned books are your favorite? September's reading challenge is read a banned book! Stop in before the end of the month to grab your book."

The Squirrel and Acorn Bookshop, State College, Pa.: "Just a small sample on display for Banned Books Week. These books are frequently banned or challenged in schools and libraries."

The Brewster Book Store, Brewster, Mass.: "Did you know that Banned Books Week was launched the same year that Brewster Book Store was founded? We opened in 1982, the very same year that our country began to see a rise in book challenges and the very same year Banned Books Week was established as a response."

The Pile Bookstore, Berwyn, Ill.: "Have you shopped our banned books sale? Taken home a blind date with a banned book? Joined our Banned Books Book Club? We have a number of ways for you to experience these stories that are being challenged around the country--and we're always happy to talk about them with you!"

Bookish Modesto, Modesto, Calif.: "This week, we stand up for the freedom to read and celebrate the powerful stories that challenge the status quo!... Let’s take this opportunity to discuss the impact of censorship and champion the voices that inspire us to think critically about our world."

Abalabix Books, Crystal Lake, Ill.: "It's Banned Books Week so we had George pick out some of his favorites. Reading banned books sparks understanding, compassion and empathy. And they educate you while also being entertaining!"

Three Bells Books, Mason City, Iowa: "It's national Banned Books Week this week but you may have noticed we're observing all month long with our biggest September display shown here. There are such gems on these shelves, from classics all the way up to recent rom coms, all of which have been challenged/banned from time to time by one entity or another."

McLean and Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, Mich.: "McLean and Eakin Booksellers will ALWAYS support MORE ideas, never fewer. We believe every reader deserves to see themselves on the page. We PROUDLY sell and ENCOURAGE the reading of BANNED BOOKS. "

Jeffrey Mathews has been appointed executive v-p, chief growth officer, a newly created position, at Scholastic. He rejoined Scholastic two years ago as executive v-p, corporate development and investor relations.

Jeffrey Mathews

With this appointment, his responsibilities include refining and implementing Scholastic's long-term growth strategy in partnership with leaders across the business. He will continue to lead the company's corporate development and investor relations functions, as well as Scholastic's cross-company corporate sustainability and impact program.

Mathews has more than 30 years of experience in strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and investor relations. He has been managing partner at Gagnier Communications, a strategic financial communications and investor relations agency, and a strategy consultant at the Monitor Company (now Deloitte Monitor). During his earlier stint at Scholastic, he was v-p, corporate strategy, business development & investor relations.

Mathews said, "The need for trusted books, media and learning materials that entertain, engage and educate kids has never been more pressing--and Scholastic is uniquely positioned to grow by meeting this need. I have always been excited by the chance to move from strategy to execution, but especially now with the advantages of Scholastic's unmatched strengths and purpose."

Scholastic president and CEO Peter Warwick commented: "Since he returned to Scholastic, Jeff's deep industry and investor perspectives, as well as his commitment to Scholastic's mission and people, have been invaluable in reorienting the company toward growth. He has also played a pivotal role in creating and implementing our strategy to unlock the potential of Scholastic's trusted brand, beloved content and unique channels. We are already making substantial progress toward our goals of creating long-term value and impact, and I'm thrilled to now have Jeff leading the development and implementation of growth initiatives across Scholastic, working closely with our other strong leaders."

Parable, a family-owned bookstore, plant shop, and community space in the McKinley neighborhood of Tacoma, Wash., will close October 31. The News Tribune reported that the store had "attracted a following and reputation as a space that celebrated local artists and makers. The Black-, women- and queer-owned store held regular book clubs, markets, queer line dancing, open mics, workshops and pop-ups." The shop was launched in 2021 by co-owners LaKecia Farmer, Le'Ecia Farmer, and cousin Deatria "DeeDee" Williams.

In a recent social media post, Parable's owners wrote: "With full hearts, we share the bittersweet news that we are closing shop. This decision wasn’t easy but is the best for our family. Over the years we have experienced great joys and accomplishments but also heartache, family loss, and struggle. There are no words for how meaningful it’s been to witness the way that our community came together to lift up our work, and the heart and sweat put in by people like you has sustained and nurtured Parable. But the grief our family is holding and subsequent loss of capacity took a toll. Our building managers have informed us that our building is changing ownership, so we saw it as the right moment to transition our business.

"Parable has always been more than a business. In this space we built community and watched beautiful networks form for Tacoma as a whole. It’s been an honor to hold the space for so many inspiring community members to gather, celebrate our brilliance, care for each other and just be joyful together. With that in mind, we are trusting that the seeds we’ve planted (with your help) these past four years will continue to bear fruit--this is just the beginning.... We are merely closing this chapter of Parable for now."

Last April, Parable had launched a $31,000 GoFundMe campaign to keep the business open. It raised more than $25,000. At the time, LaKecia Farmer told the News Tribune that business had slowed since January, the workload was becoming unsustainable for the family and Parable did not have the funding to expand. Farmer said the family knew opening a business during the pandemic and social unrest was risky, but they had moved forward with a mission to serve the greater community and carry on the legacy for their children. 

Shelf Awareness for Readers, our weekly consumer-facing publication featuring adult and children's book reviews, author interviews, backlist recommendations, and fun news items, is being published today. Starred review highlights include Richard Powers's Playground, in which a tiny French Polynesian island becomes the grand setting for the endeavors of a scientist, an artist, a billionaire, and a writer; Question 7, an "astonishing and uncategorizable" memoir by Richard Flanagan; and Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau, a history for teen readers about the voting process in the United States. In The Writer's Life, Rachel Weiss's Group Chat author Lauren Appelbaum describes how she channeled her fandom of Bridget Jones's Diary and Pride & Prejudice into the hilarious story of a carefree millennial discovering her direction in life with the much-needed help of her friends. Plus, rediscover late thriller author Nelson DeMille, who "wrote about airline hijackings, nuclear threats, wartime massacres and psychotic hostage-takers" in some two dozen novels.

Today's issue of Shelf Awareness for Readers is going to 635,000 customers of more than 250 independent bookstores. Stores interested in learning more can contact our partnership program team via e-mail. To see today's issue, click here.

Emilia Hart (in blue dress), author of Weyward, visited with booksellers in Durham, N.C., on pre-tour for The Sirens (St. Martin's, March 4, 2025). (photo: Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, N.C.)

Posted on Facebook by Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt.: "Fall has arrived at Northshire."

Posted by Back Again Bookshop, Myrtle Beach, S.C.: "I wanted to unpack the box and put the books on the shelves. However, Caramel had other plans for it this afternoon." 

Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Co., Milwaukee, Wis., shared his "Best of Milwaukee" picks with Milwaukee magazine, noting: "Many bookstores feature signage that says, 'Eat, sleep, read,' and that pretty much defines me--if you just add 'walk,' as that's the other thing I do with my free time. On my days off, if the weather is right, there is nothing that pleases me so much as a long walk, and if I can read while I am walking, so much the better. (For those who are concerned, I do stop reading when I cross streets.) This used to be considered an oddity, but now it's just an analog version of walking while scrolling your phone.

"I could mention a few of my favorite places to walk, but there are a number of books at Boswell that have covered this. Instead, I would like to mention some of my favorite things to eat in the Milwaukee area, the treats that keep me going. Sadly, almost 40 years of eating in Milwaukee has left me nostalgic for things that are gone, such as the Heineman's lush torte cake, the inch-high chocolate cookie from Oakland Café, and the turkey club sandwich from Oriental Drugs. Fortunately, though, I have found other foods to fill the snack-filled hole in my heart."

The Knitting Witch by Norma Kassirer, illustrated by Mark Richardson (The Collective Book Studio).

Idris Elba (Hijack, Luther) will star in and executive produce a TV series adaptation of Chinua Achebe's award-winning 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. Variety reported that the project is in development at the studio A24, though no writer is attached yet, nor is it currently set up at a streaming service or network. 

Elba is exec producing along with Gina Carter under their 22Summers production banner. David Oyelowo and Amanda N'Duka will executive produce via Yoruba Saxon. Ben Forkner, Dayo Ogunyemi, and Achebe Masterworks also serve as executive producers.

Tina Shah won Hachette's Mo Siewcharran Prize for The Treaties We Break, the Bookseller reported. The award, named in memory of Nielsen BookData's former director of marketing and communications, was launched in 2019 and "aims to shine a light on unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic backgrounds." This year, the prize was hosted by Hodderscape and focused on under-represented writers in the fantasy genre. It is sponsored by John Seaton, Siewcharran's husband and co-founder of the award, and Nielsen BookData. 

Judge Edwina de Charnacé said: "From a heart-fluttering enemies to lovers arc, to strong female leads and a diverse cast of fleshed-out characters, without forgetting its reimaginings of classic themes that will recall Romeo and Juliet and the Trojan War, The Treaties We Break is a fine example of how fantasy, injected with humor and pathos, can ambitiously tackle the question of who and what we fight for, and why."

The winner receives £2,500 (about $3,355), along with a letter from a Hodderscape editor giving feedback on their entry and a follow-up online mentoring session. They will also have introductory meetings with at least two literary agents, an introductory session with the Hodder & Stoughton rights team, meetings with the Hodder & Stoughton marketing and publicity teams, and a ticket to London Book Fair 2025. The winner’s entry will be taken to a Hodder & Stoughton acquisitions meeting and considered for publication.

The first and second runners-up were Deity of a Drowning Realm by K. Andrea White and Modern Day Dragons by Ana Sun. White receives £1,500 (about $2,010), a detailed letter from a Hodderscape editor giving feedback on their entry, and a hamper of Hodderscape books. Sun gets £750 (about $1,005) and a hamper of Hodderscape books.

photo: Ashwini Bhat

Forrest Gander, born in the Mojave Desert, lives in California. He is a translator/poet with degrees in geology and literature, and has been a signal voice for environmental poetics. His book of poetry Be With won the Pulitzer Prize, and his book Core Samples from the World was a finalist for the Pulitzer and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Mojave Ghost: a Novel-Poem (New Directions, October 1, 2024) is his long poem on the desert.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

Following the deaths of my wife and mother, I began to walk the 800-mile San Andreas Fault toward the desert town of my birth.

On your nightstand now:

Don Mee Choi's intensely riveting, genre-defying Mirror Nation. Katie Peterson's mysterious, soul-thurifying Fog and Smoke. Paul Yamazaki's avuncular recorded talks on his role at City Lights Bookstore, Reading the Room. And Farnoosh Fathi's delightfully methamphetaminate Granny Cloud.

Favorite book when you were a child:

There was never just one. I loved and read to my sister A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. And I still have both my illustrated 1959 edition of the international Stories That Never Grow Old by Watty Piper and Legends of Charlemagne by Thomas Bulfinch and illustrated (inciting my first erotic fixation) by N.C. Wyeth.

Your top five authors:

The truth is that many of my favorite authors are alive now, and it would be agonizing to try to winnow out five. So I'm going to list only the dead. Even that would be a rotating list. Here's who comes to mind most immediately today--five writers whose entire bodies of work I know well and my favorites of their books.

George Oppen, Of Being Numerous
Clarice Lispector, The Passion According to G.H.  
C.D. Wright, One With Others
Kamau Brathwaite, Trench Town Rock
Inger Christensen, Alphabet

Book you've faked reading:

Ulysses by James Joyce. I can quote the opening sentence, and I've several times started the book. But I never read the whole thing.

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Poetics of a Wall Projection by Jan Turnovsky. A virtually unread, hard to find, absolutely fascinating, philosophical, and playful take on an architectural motif in a house that Wittgenstein designed. My son, Brecht, turned me onto this one.

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Musical Brain by César Aira. Rodrigo Corral is my favorite book cover artist. His designs usually make subtle, but intuitively profound links to the books. This one is unusually showy but dazzling. Impossible not to notice.

Book you hid from your parents:

Well, it was "parent" singular. And my mom loved literature. I never had to hide a book under my bed.

Book that changed your life:

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. I told myself I'd be willing to cut off an arm to write just the first 10 pages. I still would.

Favorite line from a book:

A favorite last line, from James Joyce's The Dead: "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

And a favorite opening line (which I love most in Spanish) from Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo: "Vine a Comala porque me dijeron que acá vivía mi padre, un tal Pedro Páramo."

Five books you'll never part with:

A first edition of Cathay by Ezra Pound signed to his college professor
The first edition of George Oppen's Primitive
Crib Death by Frank Stanford
First edition of La Noche by Jaime Sáenz
C.D. Wright's Translations of the Gospel Back into Tongues (written at the start of our relationship--and then all the rest of her books)

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

Raúl Zurita's Purgatory
Lorine Niedecker's My Life by Water 
Ben Ratliff's Coltrane: The Story of a Sound
Kim Hyesoon's Autobiography of Death
Frank Stanford's The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You

One must visit Callum Robinson's website to assess his manifest talent as a woodworker, but on the evidence of his passionate, insightful memoir, Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman, he has built the foundation for a successful second career as a writer.

Along with his wife, Marisa, a "disillusioned architectural designer" and teacher, Robinson owned a woodworking business located in the hills near Edinburgh. Ingrained describes the crisis they endured after 10 years of operation when a commercial client suddenly cancelled a large project and they found themselves devoid of work, "unhappily floundering in the hottest of water."

At first, they desperately cast about for any jobs that would keep money flowing. When that effort proved fruitless, Callum and Marisa gambled on a storefront in the small town of Linlithgow to display their wares, hoping the move would generate business from passersby and word of mouth. Ingrained describes in intimate detail the highs and lows of that venture into retail commerce and the unexpected discoveries about business and the life it yielded.

Robinson deepens the account of his and Marisa's tenacious battle to save "the business we have fought to build together" with glimpses of the episodes that led him to a life in woodworking. Among them are the story of the decision he made at age 19, aimless after finishing school and working briefly as a barman, to join his father's business--a woodworking shop that specialized in kitchens. After five years he had learned not only the rudiments of his craft, but also a devotion to fine workmanship. That training allowed him to land a woodworking job in New Zealand at the end of a period of foreign travel, and when he returned to Scotland it was as someone committed to a career fashioning elegant wood pieces.

Those who look at furniture as nothing more than dead trees transformed into utilitarian objects should be disabused of that perception by Robinson's prose. He eloquently conveys his deeply personal attachment to hardwoods like the "rich, golden" oak, "ghostly, almost luminescent" sycamore, and, above all, the elm--the "tenacious swaggering dandy of the forest"--that he and his employees shape into exquisite pieces. His pride in crafting them involves an attention to detail that would impress Steve Jobs. For Robinson, fashioning tables and desks by hand is the calling of a lifetime, not merely a job.

Anyone who enjoyed Tracy Kidder's House or Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft will admire this book as much as they might one of Callum Robinson's lovingly-crafted products. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Woodworker Callum Robinson devotes his charming memoir to the pleasures and pains of making things by hand.

Earlier this month, a somewhat notable date passed by without fanfare: September 12 marked the 20th anniversary of my first post on a new blog called Fresh Eyes: A Bookseller's Journal.

Back then, I'd hoped to explore the book business from the perspective of a frontline bookseller. That initial post would eventually (June 2006, to be precise) grow up to become this weekly Shelf Awareness column, though I sure as hell didn't know that when I started. 

In olden times, there weren't as many blogs around, especially in the book world. I had been a bookseller at that point for 12 years, and was fascinated by what a business consultant/customer called "the last three feet," that mysterious point of contact when a product or service transfers from a business to its customer. Frontline booksellers were one of those points of contact. I just wanted to write about them, about us. Here's what I said initially:

"It would be tempting to begin a journal like this on a day that might serve as an official portal into the bookselling world--the first day of the year, for example, with the journal reaching its climactic finish during the mad holiday season. But bookselling isn't a dramatic profession. Often people who envy booksellers do so because they imagine some idyllic little bookshop myth, where the bookseller reads peacefully at a counter, his well-fed cat sleeping near his elbow, and when the little bell over the door rings, announcing a customer's arrival, he looks up casually from his book and welcomes the newcomer to biblioparadise.

"I haven't had many days like that. I love bookselling, but part of that love is not unlike the day to day reality of any relationship. There are moments of wonder, moments of pleasure, moments of surprise, moments of joy, and these are all balanced with moments of melancholy, anger, boredom, and frustration. Like life.

"In a way, this blog will be a kind of travel journal. Reading is as much a journey as any package tour European vacation--six hundred pages in six days; if it's Tuesday, this must be Chapter 12. Thoreau once wrote that he could travel the world without leaving Concord. Or something like that. Sam Hamill's The Essential Bashō is an excellent collection of writing by the 17th century Japanese poet, whose Narrow Road to the Interior is a template for travel writing.

" 'Nothing's worth noting that is not seen with fresh eyes,' Bashō observed..... His writing blends the random observations, poetry, and sharp imagery he captured on his travels through Japan with the twin lenses of his heart and mind. He collected experiences and strung them together like prayer beads. Fresh eyes. Let's begin the trip."

In the early blog posts, I wrote about topics like Decoding Customer Requests ("a daily task, a Holmesian moment in which clues are presented and deductions made, elementary and otherwise"), Discovering Books ("every reader 'discovers' books, but a bookseller gets to do this before the publication date, thanks to the never-cresting wave of Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) that flood our buyers’ offices on a daily basis"), and For Writers: The Fine Art of Choosing a Bookseller ("That point of contact, of course, is in the casual yet pointed conversations between booksellers and readers on the sales floor. These foot soldiers are often overlooked when writers wonder why their books seem to get lost in the biblioshuffle.").

Time passed. A couple of years later, as my work at Shelf Awareness expanded, the Fresh Eyes blog drifted away quietly. During the winter of 2007, I revisited the blog's origin story in one of the final posts, noting that "its modest mission has altered over that brief time, but one aspect that hasn't changed is the original wellspring, the journals and poetry of Bashō. Publishing industry headlines are still rife with closing indie bookstores and evolving technology that may threaten the very existence of 'fiber-based' texts. Should we be afraid, like medieval peasants terrified by the prospect of what army or disease might be coming over the hill to annihilate their village next?

"I don't think that way. It is, as it always has been, the end of some worlds and the beginning of other worlds. The peasants adapt to survive. So do the artists. And sometimes death is an illusion anyway. Bashō, for instance, still lives, more than three centuries after his death....

"I'm a reader. I look ahead with faith. I look back with gratitude. This blog has been, as it was intended to be, a travel journal of one bookseller's trip. I'm not a fan of itineraries, however, so even though there has been an unavoidable chronology here (today's entry is posted today, etc.), the illusion of time moving forward breaks down regularly. Memory often plays a role, and memory is a sieve. I've been looking for signs of what books mean and why we value them, not just timelines of progress and destruction."

Bashō wrote, “A lifetime adrift in a boat or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” And so, happy 20th blog birthday to the late Fresh Eyes: a Bookseller's Journal. I began with just one question--What am I thinking?--to which there have been, and continue to be, an ever-changing series of momentary answers.