The Well Red Damsel, a pop-up romance bookstore selling new and used titles, has been making appearances in and around Milwaukee, Wis., since its debut last fall, Milwaukee magazine reported.

Natasha Meyer

The store did its first appearance in November 2024, at a wine bar in Wauwatosa, Wis., just outside of Milwaukee. Owner Natasha Meyer made some 300 sales in the span of three hours, and she has gone on to take the pop-up to bars, breweries, coffee shops, and fitness studios.

Upcoming appearances include a Valentine's Day flea market and a hockey romance night in partnership with the Milwaukee Admirals, an American Hockey League team and affiliate of the Nashville Predators. The hockey romance-themed pop-up will appear at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on February 28. Meyers also plans to create a Well Red Damsel book club.

Meyer told Milwaukee magazine that she strives to have a diverse selection of titles, with some of her bestselling books being "queer romance books and books by Indigenous and people of color."

She said plans to open a bricks-and-mortar store eventually, and she chose to start with a pop-up because "it felt like something I could take action and do now. With a bricks-and-mortar store, it would take several years to get it to fruition."

Fireside Books & More opened recently at 2421 Broadway St. in Redwood City, Calif. Its first weekend "was packed with locals interested in the new storefront in the vibrant downtown," the Palo Alto Daily Journal reported, adding that a week before the new bookshop launched, owners Andrew Johnson and Taylor Kubota got married surrounded by empty bookshelves filled with personal mementos. 

A day later, about 9,000 books were delivered, and the newlyweds have spent what might be considered their honeymoon in the shop, a fact they said feels like an apt reflection of the "the life we want to live." 

"It all fit together," Johnson said. "It's about betting on the right things--betting on community and betting on the person that I love and getting our life in order with our values. Marrying Taylor and opening a bookstore, those things weren't unrelated.... It's about living the kind of life that we want to live. That life is rooted in our community, that life is local, that life is about sharing our love and our passion with people." 

Early support from the community has been strong. "We think the way that this community came out for us during opening weekend and throughout this whole process, we think we'll have a chance to be here for a while," Johnson said. "We are over the moon with our opening weekend." 

The shop's name is an homage to a bookstore Johnson frequented while growing up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The "interior is quaint, but has still made room for two red vintage seats with swans etched in the legs, placed in the style of conversation chairs with a chess board table in between. A children's dedicated space is also set up in the back of the store," the Daily Journal noted.

"We really do want it to be a place where people can feel like they can take a break and relax whether that's coming here after school or while waiting for the train," said Kubota. "We hope it's cozy, relaxing, welcoming." 

In addition to books, the shop's 2,104-square-foot space also features cards, stickers, gifts and goods by local makers, such as birdhouses by LeighLee's Garden, and prints and jewelry by Wandergrove, RWC Pulse wrote.

For now, Johnson is essentially the sole staff member, having left his career in the medical technology industry. Kubota works at Stanford University, but will be spending plenty of her free time helping at the store as well. 

Entangled Publishing, which publishes Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series, is launching two YA imprints: Mischief Books and Mayhem Books, offering "stories that align with varying levels of maturity, ensuring that every teen finds their perfect literary match," the company said.

Liz Pelletier

"In the last few years, I've seen a dramatic shift in the Young Adult market, with YA titles being sold more to adults and leaving teens looking for content that was truly crafted with them in mind--especially for those young readers moving up from Middle Grade fiction," said Liz Pelletier, CEO and publisher of Entangled. "Teens develop at different paces, and their reading choices should reflect that."

Created for teens who aren't quite ready for New Adult fiction, Mayhem Books (aimed at ages 16-plus) "won't shy away from bold themes and situations more mature teens want to explore," the publisher noted, with each book jacket branded with a Mature 16+ warning label as well as including a content note for parents and teens. Mischief Books (ages 13-plus) will make its debut in 2026 and offer "tales to guide, entertain, and inspire as today's teens come of age in an increasingly uncertain world.... without the inclusion of overly mature or potentially distressing content."

"We can't forget the importance of providing the right books for younger teen readers, too. My goal is to have separate shelves for General YA, Mature YA, and New Adult," said Justine Bylo, associate publisher at Entangled. "We want Mischief and Mayhem to grow with teens through bold storytelling and untamed imagination." 

The first titles from Mayhem Books will release in fall 2025: A Stage Set for Villains by debut author Shannon J. Spann and Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova. Additional Mayhem authors with upcoming books include Nisha J. Tuli, Jess Lourey, Monica Murphy, and Katherine Quinn.

"Life is fast-paced for many of us, but those late teen years are like a rocket ship toward adulthood," Bylo added. "I'm excited that, with Mayhem Books, we've created a safe space, especially for those mature teen readers right as the world is opening up wide in front of them. The possibilities are truly boundless."

Louisa Earls

Louisa Earls, manager at Books Upstairs in Dublin, Ireland, has been awarded the O'Brien Press Bookseller of the Year Award, which recognizes an individual bookseller's contribution to the trade, the Bookseller reported. Winners receive a certificate and a bronze trophy known as "The Elements," created by the Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie.

Earls's father, Maurice, founded Books Upstairs in 1978, and she joined the business in 2015, when it moved to its current location on D'Olier Street after 27 years on College Green. "She reinvented the shop, expanding its stock and events programme, and building the shop's digital presence," the Bookseller noted.

"There's always a warm welcome to readers, authors and publishers in Books Upstairs," said Ivan O'Brien, managing director of the O'Brien Press, "and the tone there comes from the top. Louisa has a quiet authority driven by a real passion for books and reading, and she's hugely knowledgeable and experienced. She has taken over the running of a family business in the best way--respecting Maurice's unique bookselling heritage and constantly finding ways to innovate."

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Heinz J. Ostermann

German bookseller Heinz J. Ostermann, owner of Leporello bookstore in Berlin, won the Lutherpreis (Luther Prize), "which is granted by Germany's 16 Luther Cities to individuals who demonstrate civil courage in the face of adversity," the European & International Booksellers Federation's Newsflash reported.

Ostermann "has been at the forefront of several initiatives that promote democratic values and combat right-wing populism and racism, making him and his bookstore the target of several attacks. These challenges did not deter Ostermann from continuing his efforts," Newsflash noted. 

Ostermann said "giving up would have meant that the right had achieved its goal of intimidating and silencing me." 

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Cool idea of the day: Noting that it loves "sharing examples of indie booksellers going above and beyond for their customers in creative ways," the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association featured "Suggestive Night" events hosted by Good Dog Books in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

"At these events, readers are invited to pitch a favorite book to others in attendance. Each person has 2-3 minutes to try to convince others that the book they brought should be their next read.... Once everyone has made their pitch, attendees vote on what book sounded the most interesting. The event includes prizes, snacks, and tea, and attendees leave with a list of all the books discussed."

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Summer Christmas party Down Under: Wardini Books, Havelock North, New Zealand, posted February 1 on Facebook : "We had our Christmas Party last night! (If you've ever worked in retail you will understand the timing). It was a 1970s disco themed murder mystery party that revealed some nifty acting and detective skills. Our Max created an amazing feast (no photos sadly, but you'd only be jealous) and the most amazing cocktails.... Suppose we'd better take the tree down now but no worries--soon be Christmas!" --Robert Gray

Hugh Holland

Photographer Hugh Holland, best known for documenting the rise of California's skateboard culture in the 1970s, died February 1 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Born in Oklahoma in 1942, Holland moved to California in the late '60s. There he began delving into photography and exploring street photography. "His ability to embed himself in skateboarding culture and his unfailing photographic instinct allowed him to create exhilarating photos that capture the joy and style of the era," his publisher Chronicle Books noted.

His photographs were collected in three books: Locals Only (2012), Silver. Skate. Seventies. (2019), and Last Days of Summer (2024).

Emily Ritter has launched Emily Ritter Digital Marketing. Most recently she was director of brand development for Sarah J. Maas, and prior to that, assistant director of digital marketing at Simon & Schuster.

Theodore's Books, Oyster Bay, N.Y., "has a new seating area. Looking for a cozy spot to enjoy the first few pages of your next read? Need a calm corner to sip your coffee and get some work done? Or maybe a place to relax while your companion browses endlessly? We've got you covered! Come check out our new seating area and explore some other exciting changes we've made at the store!"

"If this is how you feel lately, we gotchu. Come in for a book, a quiet moment, or Scarlet pets." That was the sidewalk chalkboard message in front of Friendly City Books, Columbus, Miss., which noted: "Hey y'all, how you doing? If you need a break from *gestures* everything, feel free to pop in at FCB. You can browse, chat, or just take a quiet moment to yourself. And if Scarlet is here, you can get puppy therapy! Point is, we're here to do what we can in these trying times. It may be a drop in the global bucket, but still. We gotchu."

The One Who Loves You: A Memoir of Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World by Shannon Luders-Manuel (Chicago Review Press).

Today:
All Things Considered: Charlotte Wood, author of Stone Yard Devotional: A Novel (Riverhead Books, $28, 9798217047352).

Tomorrow:
Kelly Clarkson Show: Naomi Watts, author of Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause (Crown, $29, 9780593729038).

Amy Adams (Nightbitch, American Hustle) will star in and executive produce the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, based on John D. MacDonald's novel The Executioners, Deadline reported. The book was previously adapted into a 1962 film directed by J. Lee Thompson from storyboards devised by original director Alfred Hitchcock and was the basis for the 1991 remake directed by Martin Scorsese.

The 10-episode series comes from Nick Antosca, Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. Javier Bardem will co-star and exec produce. It is produced by Universal Content Productions, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Amblin Television. Alex Hedlund executive produces alongside Antosca for Eat the Cat; and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey are executive producers alongside Spielberg for Amblin Television. 

A shortlist has been released for the Athenaeum Literary Award, which recognizes "books of outstanding literary merit by Philadelphia area authors, as well as books whose subject matter focuses on the city of Philadelphia through its Literary Award." The winners, who will be named April 7, receive $1,000 and an invitation to give a public lecture. This year's shortlisted titles are:

Fiction
Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Hogarth Press)
The Last Dekrepitzer by Howard Langer (Cresheim Press)  
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books)   

Nonfiction
William Bartram's Visual Wonders: The Drawings of an American Naturalist by Elizabeth Athens (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery by Annie Liontas (Simon & Schuster) 
To the Success of our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement by Benjamin Nathans (Princeton University Press)

photo: J. Houston

Linda H. Codega is a trans, nonbinary author and journalist living in the hills of the San Gabriel mountains and making a living sucking blood in Southern California (working as a writer's assistant on Interview with the Vampire). They were raised southern by the grace of God, and their debut novel, Motheater (Erewhon Books, January 21, 2025), is a nuanced queer fantasy set in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.

Handsell readers your book:

Two women--a miner and the witch she finds in a river--take a stand against extractive industries in the Appalachian mountains in order to keep their communities safe.

On your nightstand now:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I got a copy from the Octavia Lab at the Los Angeles Central Library after playing a game based on Butler's duology, and I'm looking forward to a reread. Now, even more so in the wake of the devastating L.A. fires that have surrounded me for the last two weeks. Also: Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North, An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson, Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White, Babel by R.F. Kuang, which I want to read before Katabasis comes out, and (digitally, at least) Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, a short story collection edited by Lee Mandelo that I have not stopped rereading since I got my hands on it.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Starting when I was very young, I think I read every single book of Brian Jacques's Redwall series. The Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce was my favorite as a teen.

Your top five authors:

Virginia Woolf and bell hooks were formative authors for me in learning the craft of writing and understanding its role in people's lives; Samuel R. Delany for his pioneering work in SFF and the embrace of queerness as inherent themes in his work; Martha Wells for a dozen reasons, only half of which are Murderbot-related. And, just as a general top five--fanfic authors. I think they count.

Book you've faked reading:

In a deep, recognized irony... Babel by R.F. Kuang. I promise I'll read this eventually; please don't hurt me.

Book you're an evangelist for:

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. You could not pay me to stop talking about this book.

Book you hid from your parents:

If anything, my parents had to hide books from me.

Book that changed your life:

In 2019, Nightboat Books published a second edition of Larry Mitchell's queer verse poetry/queer manifesto The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions. I was questioning my gender at the time, and reading this book helped me accept--and even love--being trans, nonbinary, and queer.

Five books you'll never part with:

I'm not a sentimental person--I've given away favorite books before, and I'll do it again! But there are a few physical books that I really truly love.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. I have read this book three times in the past year, and I have a very special, beat-up copy that I will never relinquish.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf. A gender-bender classic.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. He wanted to sign the cover, so now I have an ARC with a dinosaur screaming on the front.

The Eagle by Rosemary Sutcliff. For totally inane fandom reasons, I love this book. My best friend got me a special edition and I will never lend it out. (I do have a movie poster cover version that I will HAPPILY let others borrow.)

Orbital Blues by Sam Sleney and Zachary Cox. It's not a book, but a tabletop roleplaying game. I have some incredible memories playing Orbital Blues with my friends, and my copy of this game will not leave my home.

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

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Science fiction for the science-fiction fan. A masterpiece. I wish I didn't know anything and could go back again.

Also, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I read this at a point in my life where I was starting to fall out of love with reading, and this book reminded me why I wanted to be a writer.

Forget the lions and tigers and bears. Brooke Hartman (All Aboard the Alaska Train) will have readers gasping "oh my" over owls and otters and frogs in her nonfiction picture book Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead. The title is slightly misleading since not every creature described is capable of hurting humans, but they do all have some kind of killer instinct. Illustrator María García enhances the cuteness of each deadly critter with her adorably cartoonish art. The dichotomy of "cute, cuddly face[s]" on lethal predators makes for a fascinating read.

Hartman's array of creatures spans the animal kingdom: insects, mammals, fish, reptiles. And each subject includes a rating on two scales: an "aww-dorable level" and an "aaaah!-some level" (though there's no indication how the ratings are determined). Readers learn each animal's scientific name, size, habitat, favorite food, and conservation status in a text box that is followed by a humorous, pun-filled description of its deadly nature. For example, slow lorises, when faced with a predator, "will lick a gland on their upper arm that contains toxins, then lick those toxins all over their body, resulting in POISONOUS FUR and a venomous bite.... Their toxin is... strong enough to make your skin rot like a zombie! If you were bitten, it would really be horror­-fying." Every page is packed with fascinating details that animal lovers will devour, like the fact that sea bunnies are covered in papillae, "which are sensory organs like the taste buds on your tongue. That means sea bunnies are constantly tasting the water around them to see if it contains something yummy."

Accompanying all the playfully intriguing information is García's sweetly cute Photoshop artwork in predominantly pastel colors. Starry eyes and innocent smiles adorn the faces on each species' first page, but the second page reveals more of their killer emotions: snarls and teeth and mischievous eyes. The end of the book includes photographs of all the subjects so readers can see the actual animal and judge its cuteness based on their newfound knowledge of the killer nature within.

Cute Animals That Could Kill You Dead is entertaining and informative, giving young animal lovers and future biologists plenty to explore. While older readers may find some of the wordplay groan-worthy, the target audience will likely indulge in giggles and belly laughs. After all, who could resist grinning when reading about the hedgehog: "We do the hoggy-pokey and we stick our prickles out... that's what it's all about!" Hartman and García have produced a book that makes learning about killers a delight. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Shelf Talker: The deadly behaviors of some of the planet's cutest creatures make for captivating and funny reading in this beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book.