In response to questions and comments at the Community Forum during Winter Institute last Wednesday, the American Booksellers Association board sent a letter to members in a special edition of Bookselling This Week, committing itself to "working on the big issues we heard expressed at this year's forum: clear responses, improved communication, and increased transparency."

Addressing the most contentious issue at this year's and last year's Community Forum--the war in Gaza--the board wrote:

"During this year's forum the issue of the ABA's response to Palestine was once again raised. In particular, members asked ABA to stand with authors and bookstores who have experienced silencing, cancellations, and hate. We agree.

"The ABA Board, along with the staff of American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) and ABA, condemns all attacks on bookstores, in particular the targeting of bookstores who have chosen to highlight Palestinian books and authors in their stores. Each bookstore's curation is their own expression of their freedom of speech, and verbal attacks, demands to carry or not carry certain titles, and threats to stores are not acceptable.

"ABA, through ABFE, has supported and will continue to directly support booksellers who need support during times of persecution, harassment, curation challenges, and other attacks on booksellers and stores. ABFE is an arm of ABA, and their statements and work are the statements and work of ABA."

The board also touched on transparency, particularly about compensation for Winter Institute speakers and panelists, brought up by one person at the Community Forum. The board wrote, "ABA's policies on compensation have evolved in the interest of equity and accessibility in recent years. 'Are bookseller panelists and speakers paid for their time and expertise?' was included in the Wi2025 FAQ. While the staff does their part in managing the logistics of future conferences, the ABA Board will keep transparency in mind as a guiding principle for how we communicate to you, our members."

The board noted many positive comments, writing, "We also heard many wonderful things at the Community Forum and at our Board Office Hours: praise for the IGNITE pre-conference and the feelings of joy and connectedness that many felt (along with specific suggestions for how to evolve and improve on this first year); ideas for future education and policy advocacy; gratitude for structure of the conference including the longer breaks between sessions; and even love for the hotel food! We spoke to members over many hours across the conference about local issues facing their stores, from climate change closures to book bans to dealing with contractors. We heard ideas about integrating and streamlining our technologies, and thoughts about how to bring folks back offline and into our physical stores. This feedback has been passed along to the ABA staff with the information or expertise to answer them, and many of the topics will be incorporated into the Board's future discussions on policies and priorities."

Kendra DuBois has purchased Front Street Books, Alpine, Tex., from longtime owner Anne Calaway. The Big Bend Sentinel reported that the new owner already feels at home in the bookstore, "partially since she's served as its bookkeeper for several years, but also because she's been browsing its shelves since her youth."

"We've been shopping at the bookstore since I was in high school," DuBois said. "It's definitely something that was a big part of my life, especially in discovering the outside world. Because I was born here and raised here, which is a really cool thing, but it can be pretty isolating. In finding Front Street Books, anything you wanted to read, you could find it."

When Calaway told DuBois that she wanted to step back from the operation, DuBois made an offer and, along with her husband, Jonathan DuBois, purchased the store. "One of the things that was very important to me was just to keep that feeling of the store going," she said. "I want other people to have that same experience, to have a place that, you know, if you want to read a certain book about caterpillars, if we don't have it, we can find it."

Calaway bought the store, which opened about three decades ago, in 2018 from Jean Hardy-Pittman. DuBois noted that Calaway "has done a wonderful job of keeping the store cool and interesting with all the literary events and people coming in. The authors that she brings in are really fun, and they have such varied interests and topics that they write on. So many of them are engaging and interesting to talk to."

For her part, Calaway said she sold the bookstore because it was time for a new generation of ownership: "I just didn't want to see it close, though. And when Kendra started working for me, within a week or two, I knew that she would be a good fit for this. The same staff will stay in place, and it will continue. It will only get better with Kendra."

In addition to expanded hours, the new additions will include some marketing initiatives, like free books for kids on their birthday and a loyalty program. 

Lost & Bound Books, which launched as a pop-up bookshop last summer inside an  antiques booth in Tazewell, Tenn., is moving to Oklahoma City, Okla., and will open a bricks-and-mortar bookstore and soda bar in April at 1805 S. Morgan Road, KLAW reported. The store has launched a $3,500 Kickstarter to help fund the relocation.

Lex Boxey

Lost & Bound "has already gained an Oklahoma following after announcing its store opening in Oklahoma City. In the comments on the store's various posts about opening in Oklahoma City, many Oklahomans have commented stating their enthusiasm for the store to open," KLAW noted.

The new Lost and Bound Books will feature new books, apparel, home goods, and more, owner Lex Boxey noted on the bookstore's website, adding: "We will also have a soda bar so you can enjoy a Dirty Dr. Pepper while you shop! We hope to be a community hub for events and gatherings, where people can connect over a good book. We can't wait for all to come, and appreciate you all coming on this journey with us!"

Books and Secrets, a bookstore and champagne bar, is in development in Palm Springs, Calif., the Palm Springs Desert Sun reported.

The bookstore is planned for 2481 N. Palm Canyon Dr., a building that has been vacant for many years. It will feature a hidden room containing a 10-seat champagne bar, accessible through a bookshelf.

While co-owners Athalie and Adnan LaPamuk don't have a timetable for opening, their plans were recently approved by the Palm Springs Planning Department. The couple also owns Ice Cream & Shop(pe), located on the same street.

"The idea is that you come and buy your books, and through a bookshelf there is a little portal to a very small champagne bar," Athalie LaPamuk told the planning commission last week, per the Desert Sun. "Why? Because I love to read and I also love champagne. So it’s just a combination of the things that I’m super passionate about."

Pierre Joris, a poet and translator "who tackled some of the 20th century's most difficult verse, rendering into English the complex work of the German-Romanian poet Paul Celan," died February 27, the New York Times reported. He was 78.

Although he wrote dozens of volumes of his own poetry and prose, much of his life's work was spent grappling with the poetry of Celan. In 2014, Joris told the New York State Writers Institute that a public reading of Celan's "Death Fugue" was "an epiphany" for him as a 15-year-old high school student in his native Luxembourg.

"My hair stood on end," he recalled. His translation of the poem begins:

Black milk of morning, we drink you at dusktime
we drink you at noontime and dawntime we drink you at night
we drink and we drink

"Death Fugue" was an early work of Celan, however, and it was "the enigmatic poetry of his final years" that Joris was determined to take on, the Times noted, adding: "In eight books of translations published over more than 50 years, Joris sought to render in English Celan's experiment with language: to transmit what can't be rendered in words--the Holocaust and its many aftermaths, physical and psychological--by creating an open-ended poetry of multiple possible meanings."

"He did the impossible, because it is impossible to translate Celan," poet Andrei Codrescu said in an interview.

Joris's Celan translations include the books The Collected Earlier Poetry; Memory Rose into Threshold Speech; Breathturn into Timestead; Paul Celan: Selections; and Lightduress by Paul Celan. Among Joris's own books are Poasis: Selected Poems 1986-1999; A Nomad Poetics; and Barzakh: Poems 2000-2012. He also edited anthologies, including the two-volume Poems for the Millennium: The University of California Book of Modern and Postmodern Poetry, with Jerome Rothenberg.

Asked to explain why he was drawn to translating, Joris told Arabic Literature in 2011: "Because, by accident of birth, I was blessed or damned with a batch of different languages and a perverse pleasure of pitting them and their different musics against each other."

Rizzoli Bookstore, New York City, hosted Jessie Kanelos Weiner (left), author of Thinking in Watercolor: A Daily Practice to Unlock Your Creativity & Discover Your Inner Artist (Artisan Books), in conversation with author and illustrator Julia Rothman.

Mara Anastas, who has held senior publishing roles at Open Road Integrated Media, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins, has founded Muse Media, a consulting firm dedicated to "helping literary stakeholders maximize brand value, expand audiences, and secure sustainable revenue growth in an evolving marketplace."

Muse Media will partner with publishers, literary agencies, and estates to craft strategies that amplify the impact of authors and legacy works. By combining data-driven insights with creative marketing, licensing opportunities, and content monetization models, Muse Media intends to empower clients to thrive as the industry shifts from AI-driven trends to immersive storytelling and direct-to-consumer engagement.

"The literary world is at a crossroads," Anastas said. "Audiences crave connection, and legacy brands hold immense untapped potential. Muse Media exists to help stakeholders reimagine what's possible, whether revitalizing classic works, launching new voices, or leveraging digital platforms to turn stories into enduring cultural touchstones."

For more information, visit Muse Media's website or e-mail Mara Anastas.

Hachette Book Group will sell and distribute Grupo Anaya titles in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada, starting this spring.

The third-largest publisher in Spain and part of Hachette Livre, Grupo Anaya has distributed its Spanish-language e-books in North America through Hachette Book Group since 2014. The initial list will consist of about 80 titles, mostly adult fiction from bestselling authors such as Michael Connelly, Ali Hazelwood, Tana French, and Javier Guerrero Gimeno. Grupo Anaya imprints include Alianza, Cátedra, Larousse, AdN, Contraluz, and Faeris.

Todd McGarity, Hachette Book Group's v-p of corporate business development & strategy, said, "HBG is thrilled to be able to help bring these Spanish-language titles in print format to North American readers. We know that there is a great demand for Spanish-language titles, and in some cases HBG is publishing these same titles in English. Collaborating with Grupo Anaya in this manner means more diverse voices will be heard, and we'll be able to expand the audience of readers that we reach."

Grupo Anaya added, "We are happy to announce the distribution of our titles in the U.S. by HBG. This is great news for all Spanish readers that will be able to enjoy bestselling titles and authors from our catalogue."

At Scribner:

Maya Rutherford is joining Scribner as v-p of publicity, effective March 17. She was previously senior director of publicity at HarperCollins.

Brian Belfiglio has left the company. He was v-p, director of publicity & marketing. The company said, "We are grateful to him for his years of service at the company and in particular his many contributions."

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At Workman Publishing:

Cindy Lee is promoted to marketing director for Workman, Artisan, and Black Dog & Leventhal. Previously, she was assistant director of marketing & visual content.

Amy Michelson is promoted to assistant director of marketing for Workman, Artisan, and Black Dog & Leventhal. Previously, she was senior manager, marketing.

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At Grand Central and Forever:

Estefania Acquaviva is promoted to senior publicist at Grand Central.

Estelle Hallick has been promoted to senior director, marketing & publicity at Grand Central's Forever imprint.

Carolina Martin has been promoted to senior digital marketing manager at Grand Central's Forever imprint.

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Angie Tally is joining Simon & Schuster's independent sales team as field account manager, Southeast, effective March 10. She joins S&S after 21 years at The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, N.C., where she was the children's department manager, buyer, and author event coordinator.

Caterpillar Chryzzle by Andrew Bond and illustrated by Julie Völk (NorthSouth Books).

Clémence Poésy (The Essex Serpent, Genius) has been cast opposite leads Callum Turner and Briana Middleton in Neuromancer, Apple TV+'s 10-episode series based on William Gibson's classic sci-fi novel, Deadline reported. Created for television by Graham Roland and J.D. Dillard, Neuromancer's cast also includes Mark Strong and Joseph Lee.

A co-production between Skydance Television, Anonymous Content and Apple Studios, Neuromancer is also produced by Drake's DreamCrew Entertainment. Roland will serve as showrunner and Dillard is directing the pilot episode.

The project is executive produced by Roland and Dillard, alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell for Skydance Television; Anonymous Content; Drake, Adel "Future" Nur, and Jason Shrier for DreamCrew Entertainment; Zack Hayden; and Gibson.

The longlist has been chosen for the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which honors works by women and non-binary writers published in the U.S. and Canada. The shortlist will be announced April 3 and the winner on May 1. The winner receives $150,000 and a five-night stay at Fogo Island Inn; the four finalists receive $12,500 each. See the 15-book longlist here.

Jury chair Diana Abu-Jaber said, "Each of these works is extraordinary and original, showing us the path forward, out of suppression, into humanity and liberation."

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A five-book shortlist has been released for the C$50,000 (about US$34,885) Lionel Gelber Prize, which recognizes "the world's best book on international affairs published in English." The winner will be named March 19, and take part in a hybrid event hosted by the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy on April 9. This year's Lionel Gelber finalists are:

Dollars and Dominion: U.S. Bankers and the Making of a Superpower by Mary Bridges 
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll
The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War by Tim Cook
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement by Benjamin Nathans 
To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power by Sergey Radchenko 

"The jury has chosen five exceptional books that explore history in ways that are critical to our understanding of current geopolitics," said Judith Gelber, chair of the Lionel Gelber Prize board. "These authors have each revealed new ways to think about the intersection of economics, foreign policy and international cooperation."

photo: Meg Antkowiak

Ande Pliego began writing stories when she discovered she could wield her overactive imagination for good. A lover of stories with teeth, she writes books involving mind games, dark humor, general murder and mayhem, and, most importantly, finding the hope in the dark. You Are Fatally Invited (Bantam, February 11, 2025) is her debut novel, a twisty locked-room mystery centering on a thriller writers' retreat gone lethal.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

You Are Fatally Invited follows a writers' retreat for thriller authors, and the event coordinator who realizes she's not the only one with dark intentions.

On your nightstand now:

As I'm deep in the revision cave--as in, way deep in there, what-year-is-it in there--my nightstand (and e-reader) overfloweth. For physical copies, I have All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (which I have heard nothing but rave reviews of), the recently released satirical rom-com Unromance by my incredible agent sibling Erin Connor, and an early copy of Kate Alice Marshall's forthcoming thriller, A Killing Cold.

On my e-reader, my current emotional support books are early copies of the thrilling fantasy heist To Steal from Thieves by M.K. Lobb, the delightfully fractured Alice in Wonderland-inspired fantasy House of Hearts by Skyla Arndt, and Saltwater by Katy Hays, who wrote the fantastic literary thriller The Cloisters.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Reading the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien at 12 years old ignited an obsession known to alarm adults, perhaps for good reason--I might have translated Journey's "Faithfully" into Sindarin (that's Elvish. I was a fun child). Eragon by Christopher Paolini was the first contemporary fantasy I read, and gifted me my ongoing obsession with dragons.

Your top five authors:

This question is designed to root out the weak, I see. Tana French never misses the mark with her literary thrillers; I'm constantly dissecting her prose and the way she spins dialogue. I haven't read everything Stephen King has written, but he gave me a love for stories with teeth, and so many of my favorites lurk among his backlist, including The Institute, Under the Dome, and 11/22/63. With every thriller, Lucy Foley masterfully weaves such complex, rich plots together into one tight, incredibly satisfying mystery. Holly Black writes the layered, angsty characters and brilliantly crafted plots I can't get enough of in YA. And Adrienne Young's novels always have such heart paired with fascinating concepts, stretching your mind and soul in tandem.

See, I'm not weak. I can totally keep the list to five authors. I didn't even mention Patrick Ness, whose books The Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls, and The Rest of Us Just Live Here have socked me hard in the feels.

Book you've faked reading:

I can already hear the gasps, but The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; I'm just not riveted by miserable people having affairs!

Book you're an evangelist for:

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young. It is the perfect blend of small-town thriller, magical realism, angsty romance, stunning prose, and spooky atmosphere. The only book I've read similar to it is Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead, a Southern gothic spin on all of the above. Both books burrowed deep into my soul and have grown their roots around my heart.

(If you saw me sneak in a second book--no, you didn't.)

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (the Illumicrate edition). What can I say, I'm absolutely powerless in the face of sprayed edges and foiled hardcovers.

Book you hid from your parents:

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Supremacy. As a very young fan of the movies, I got ahold of a paperback and squirreled it away in my nightstand drawer for months.

Book that changed your life:

Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy. It has one of the best renditions of friendship and character arcs in literature.

Favorite line from a book:

"Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you." --The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The story is revenge at its finest.

Five books you'll never part with:

The Likeness by Tana French is, in my opinion, the crowning jewel of dark academia, with a character-driven mystery and delicious prose to savor. Under the Dome by Stephen King is a masterclass in mind games and character. The YA fantasy novel Caraval by Stephanie Garber (any of her books, really) is my go-to reread anytime I need to truly escape from the real world for a while. Leigh Bardugo's fantasy heist book Six of Crows altered my brain chemistry, and is peak fantasy for me. And last, The Nature of Disappearing, Kimi Cunningham Grant's stunningly crafted survival thriller.

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

It's a tossup between Alex Michaelides's The Silent Patient and Alice Feeney's Rock, Paper, Scissors. Both had brilliant plot twists that got me oh so good.

Books you are looking forward to in 2025:

A Rather Peculiar Poisoning by Chrystal Schleyer (Park Row, September 2) is a deliciously written, suspenseful historical mystery; the Fourth Wing/Mad Max mashup Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge (FSG, July 8); Autumn Krause's political intrigue fantasy Grave Flowers (Peachtree Teen, September 2); Kelly Andrew's latest YA horror novel I Am Made of Death (just released by Scholastic); Adrienne Young's adult fantasy debut Fallen City (Saturday Books, November 4); and, of course, the next Riley Sager thriller, With a Vengeance (Dutton, June 10).

A stray cat brings together five lonely strangers in the cozy, introspective, slice-of-life novel Cat's People by Tanya Guerrero (Adrift), a middle-grade author making her adult debut.

Cat is no pampered indoor pet. He's lived his life on the streets of Brooklyn and learned to avoid most people. He reveals himself only to a trusted few, those with "kind eyes, soft voices, and hearts that weren't completely made of stone." Career barista Núria has a big heart for stray cats and is struggling with pressure from her mother to find a husband and settle down. Bodega owner Bong has fallen into a lonely life since his wife died. Friendly neighborhood mailman Omar isn't sure what his next step in life should be. New-in-town grocery clerk Lily has an elder half-sister who doesn't know she exists, and she has no idea how to approach her. Bestselling author Collin has a staggering case of writer's block and is too shy and socially awkward to approach the attractive barista who feeds a stray cat near his house. With a few happy coincidences and some creative interference from Cat, connections, flirtations, and friendships begin to grow among the little cadre of strangers. Cat himself remains at a remove from his human supporters, but as he becomes more invested in their lives, he may have to accept that humans can be friends, and that friendship can be a home.

Guerrero spins a web of unexpected yet logical connections between people who need community. Lily, who has lost her father, is drawn to kind, paternal Bong who has also lost his family. Collin lives a quiet, uninspired life and yearns for the warmth and vibrancy Núria embodies. The romantic subplot between them has an adorable epistolary twist that underscores the wistful loneliness they both feel. Each of the five main players finds not what they need but who--the support and confidence that comes only from the presence of trusted friends. The emotional interiority of the characters brings color and depth to their everyday personal struggles. Chapters told from Cat's point of view add a lighthearted touch and an unexpected element of growth and change for his character. While it includes some darker elements, including an attempted sexual assault, Cat's People is an overall sweet scoop of whimsy for readers who love feline friends, underdog protagonists, and the joys of found family. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Shelf Talker: Five strangers form an unlikely community around a street cat in this sweet, introspective slice of life novel.