Grace Hagen is the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association's new executive director, effective March 10. 

Grace Hagen

Hagen became MIBA's operations manager in May 2024 and served as its interim executive director following the departure of former executive director Carrie Obry in late 2024. She is a professionally certified social justice educator, and prior to joining MIBA was director of operations and inclusion at the Novel Neighbor, St. Louis, Mo. She has also served as an operations and equity consultant, facilitator, and speaker.

The MIBA board wrote in a statement: "After a comprehensive search that produced a remarkably talented and enthusiastic group of candidates, we chose Grace not only for her commitment to our organization and its vision and mission, but also for her people-centered, genuine enthusiasm for the bookselling community.

"Her diverse skills, both technical and interpersonal, and her demonstrated ability to connect and collaborate, position her to equip our association with the tools and energy necessary to thrive in the dynamic future of bookselling."

"I am so grateful to the hiring committee, and to MIBA's board as a whole, for the diligent, thoughtful hiring process," commented Hagen. "I am excited to be in service to the work of bookselling from the first word put to page by writers all the way to the last word read by readers. I take the privilege and responsibility of stewarding MIBA's members, assets, and values seriously and joyfully, and look forward to being in partnership--being held accountable, being supported, being educated--by those who want to share in the work."

She can be reached at grace@midwestbooksellers.org.

A general-interest bookstore called page & pine is opening in Puyallup, Wash., this spring, the News Tribune reported.

Owner Emily Foster has found a space at 207 W. Stewart Ave. in downtown Puyallup and hopes to have the bookstore open in late May or early June. At opening, Foster intends to carry a wide assortment of books while leaving room for requests from community members. She plans to host author readings, book clubs, and other events.

She told the News Tribune that getting to know her customers' tastes will be one of her main goals early on. "I need to know from my community what they want on the shelves."

While Foster has no prior experience in bookselling, she has owned a small business before and has taken Professional Booksellers School classes. She has also learned a lot from other independent booksellers. Foster said they are "incredibly helpful, and they do it out of the kindness of their heart."

Foster first had the idea of opening a bookstore of her own in Puyallup in 2023, and she decided to take the leap in 2024. Her biggest motivation was community need. "I just see the need for it."

Zando has acquired Tin House. The deal includes Tin House's backlist and frontlist along with the backlist of Tin House magazine; the Tin House Workshop and podcast, Between the Covers, will remain separate. Masie Cochran, who has been with Tin House since 2011, will continue as editorial leader, while founder Win McCormack will remain chairman. Tin House's 2025 publishing program will continue as planned. In 2026, Zando will release a new slate of Tin House titles under its publishing umbrella.

"The Tin House name is synonymous with bold, trailblazing literary work," said Zando founder and CEO Molly Stern. "Our union is one of shared passion and an opportunity for growth for both publishers. With Zando’s support, Tin House will expand the scope of the opportunities it can pursue, while remaining one of the most impeccably curated literary presses in the industry."

"My dream in starting Tin House was to offer all passionate readers--not just publishing professionals or academics--access to the greatest literary voices, without pretension," McCormack said.

"Tin House has long championed talented debut writers, underrepresented voices, and stylistically daring and inventive work," said Cochran. "So it's exciting and feels like a natural fit to partner with Zando, a publisher capable of harnessing the influence of beloved, established talents while, at the same time, taking bold bets on new ones."

McCormack founded Tin House magazine in 1999 and launched Tin House Books in 2002. Stern, a former executive at Crown, launched Zando in fall 2020.

Israeli police raided Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem for the second time in a month, detaining one of its owners, Imad Muna, for several hours and confiscating about 50 books, the Guardian reported. After the first raid in February, the deputy state attorney's office had warned police they overstepped their authority.

Co-owner Morad Muna said the police "chose books by the cover, taking books that had a Palestinian flag, or just the word Palestine in the title. They were using Google Translate and took photos to send to their bosses."

After confiscating the books, the police "locked the shop and left with the key, taking Imad Muna to a nearby police station before releasing him without charge in the afternoon," the Guardian wrote, adding that when the arrests occurred last month, prosecutors had met with police officers to ensure "such incidents don't happen again," as the office of the deputy state attorney said in a letter to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel about the case.

A police spokesperson contended that they made the second raid after getting a complaint from a man who visited the bookstore on Tuesday morning and "stated that he had observed books containing inciting content."

The officers detained Imad Muna "to verify his identity and details of the store," according to their statement. "Based on the findings, a determination will be made on whether to refer the matter to the state attorney's office for further investigation into the suspected sale of inciting materials." 

Co-owner Ahmad Muna told Haaretz: "At 11:15 A.M., the police arrived at the store, and my parents were there at the time. The police asked for the business licenses and reviewed the account books. I arrived but they wouldn't let me in. They went through the books, stacked a pile of books that they took." He added that among the confiscated books were works by British artist Banksy, linguist Noam Chomsky, and historian Ilan Pappé. "After an hour, they arrested my father, told my mother to close the store, and took the key. They didn't tell us which station they were taking my father to." 

Athol Fugard, the South African playwright "whose portrayals of intimate relationships burdened by oppressive racial separatism exposed the cruel psychological torment of apartheid to an international audience," died March 8, the New York Times reported. He was 92.

Athol Fugard

Noting that over a long and productive career, Fugard "was both repelled and fueled by the bond he felt with his homeland," the Times wrote that for decades "he was considered subversive by the government; at times productions of his work, with their integrated casts, were considered illegal, and his co-workers in the theater were jailed. In 1967, after his early play The Blood Knot appeared on British television, his passport was revoked, so that for several years he could not leave the country."

Fugard spent many years abroad, including in the U.S., but could never leave South Africa for good. "I think I actually need the sustaining provocation of being in South Africa when I'm telling a South Africa story," he told the New Yorker in 1982.

Fugard's more than 30 plays were presented around the world, with six of them having appeared on Broadway. In 2011, he received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.

His early works include Boesman and Lena (1968), followed by two plays created with the Black South African actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona: Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (1972) and The Island (1973). Kani and Ntshona won Tonys for their performances when the two plays were performed in repertory on Broadway in 1974. 

In his autobiographical play "Master Harold"... and the Boys, Fugard examined the relationship between a teenage white boy and the two Black men who work for his mother in a tea shop. The Times noted that in 1982, Master Harold opened at the Yale Repertory Theater, the first of his plays to have its premiere outside South Africa. Directed by the playwright and starring Danny Glover, Zakes Mokae, and Lonny Price, it moved to Broadway for a run of nearly a year.

"There may be two or three living playwrights in the world who can write as well as Athol Fugard," Frank Rich wrote in the Times, "but I'm not sure any of them has written a recent play that can match Master Harold'... and the Boys."

In 1984, he published Notebooks 1960-1977, a collection of journal entries. He also wrote the novel Tsotsi, which would be published almost 20 years later and made into a 2005 movie that won an Oscar for best foreign language film.

Posted on Instagram by Books & Books, Coral Gables, Fla.: "Booksellers, but make it fashion. Did they match the book, or did the book match them?"

The two most popular books in February at Reading Group Choices were American Mother by Diane Foley & Colum McCann (Bloomsbury) and The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore (Flatiron).

In the Bloomsbury Children's marketing and publicity department:

Faye Bi has been promoted to senior director of publicity from director of publicity.

Lily Yengle has been promoted to marketing director from associate director of marketing.

Phoebe Dyer has been promoted to senior social media manager from social media manager.

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Rebecca Schriner has been named assistant director of publicity of PRH Christian Publishing Group, which includes WaterBrook, Multnomah, Image, and Forum, effective March 17. Schriner most recently was a publicity manager at Zondervan and earlier was a publicist at Baker Publishing Group for Bethany House and Chosen Books and got her start in publicity at Torchflame Books.

Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival by Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour (St. Martin's Press).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Brittany Maher and Cassandra Speer, authors of Ready As You Are: Discovering a Life of Abundance When You Feel Inadequate, Uncertain, and Disqualified (Thomas Nelson, $29.99, 9781400231140).

Today Show: Sahil Bloom, author of The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life (Ballantine, $30, 9780593723180).

The View: Ben Falcone, author of What's Scarier Than Thunder? (Putnam, $18.99, 9780593697009).

Tamron Hall: Nancy Reddy, author of The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom (St. Martin's Press, $28, 9781250336644).

Sherri Shepherd Show: Jamie Oliver, author of Simply Jamie: Fast & Simple Food (Flatiron, $39.99, 9781250374004).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, March 15
1 to 8 p.m. Live coverage of the 2025 Tucson Festival of Books, which takes place at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. (Re-airs Sunday at 1 a.m.)

Sunday, March 16
10 a.m. Dr. Adam Ratner, author of Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children's Health (‎Avery, $30, 9780593330869). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

1 to 8 p.m. Continuing live coverage of the Tucson Festival of Books. (Re-airs Monday at 1 a.m.)

The shortlist has been chosen for the $35,000 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize, which is sponsored by Aspen Words, a program of the Aspen Institute and honors "a work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture." The winner will be announced April 23.

The shortlist:

James by Percival Everett (Doubleday)
Before the Mango Ripens by Afabwaje Kurian (Dzanc Books)
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Knopf)
There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr. (Mariner Books)
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Avid Reader Press)

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The New Literary Project has chosen a shortlist of five finalists for the $50,000 Joyce Carol Oates Prize, which "celebrates fiction writers of consequence--short stories and/or novels--at the relative midpoint of a burgeoning career." The winner, to be named in April, will be in brief residence at the University of California, Berkeley, and in the Bay Area, including Saint Mary's College of California, in October. The finalists and their most recent publications are:

Jennine Capó Crucet, Say Hello to My Little Friend (Simon & Schuster)
Sarah Manguso, Liars (Hogarth)
Julia Phillips, Bear (Hogarth)
Morgan Talty, Fire Exit (Tin House)
Willy Vlautin, The Horse (Harper)

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, March 18:

Theft: A Novel by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Riverhead, $30, 9780593852606) is written by the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $27.99, 9781546171461) is book five in the Hunger Games series.

Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service, edited by Michael Lewis (Riverhead, $30, 9798217047802) contains essays profiling various government workers.

Heartbreaker: A Memoir by Mike Campbell and Ari Surdoval (Grand Central, $32, 9780306833199) is the memoir of a classic rock star.

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Avid Reader Press, $30, 9781668023488) looks at ways to make building new things easier.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press/S&S, $29.99, 9781668075081) is a historical horror novel about a Native American vampire.

The Paris Express: A Novel by Emma Donoghue (Summit Books/S&S, $26.99, 9781668082799) is based on the 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.

Martha Stewart's Gardening Handbook: The Essential Guide to Designing, Planting, and Growing by Martha Stewart (Harvest, $40, 9780063323285) outlines all aspects of growing and tending a garden.

The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One through the End of Life by Suzanne B. O'Brien (‎Little, Brown Spark, $29, 9780316574860) contains wisdom from a hospice nurse, death doula, and end-of-life educator.

Camila Núñez's Year of Disasters by Miriam Zoila Pérez (Page Street YA, $18.99, 9798890032195) is a young adult novel in which a concerning tarot reading becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Echo by Adam Rex (Dial, $19.99, 9780593699324) is a picture book that features a boy who thinks he wants everyone to agree with him all the time until it actually happens.

Paperbacks:
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore (HarperCollins, $18.99, 9780008713348).

Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again by Victoria Hutchins (Convergent Books, $18, 9780593735718).

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi (Orbit, $18.99, 9780316572514).

The Bane Witch: A Novel by Ava Morgyn (St. Martin's Griffin, $19, 9781250835451).

Capital's Grave: Neofeudalism and the New Class Struggle by Jodi Dean (Verso, $24.95, 9781804295199).

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
The Garden: A Novel by Nick Newman (Putnam, $29, 9780593717738). "This book is creepy. It has a ton of twists and turns. What is actually happening and what comes from the mother's twisted imagination? Should the sisters keep going the way they always have, or take a look at the outside?" --Andrea Iriarte, Molly's Bookstore, Melrose, Mass.

Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith (Bloomsbury, $28.99, 9781639733323). "Using a marriage of convenience as the framework for this layered portrait of queer love, Wolfgang-Smith's historical fiction feels timeless yet speaks perfectly to the present. Mutual Interest feels new and unexpected in the best way." --David Vogel, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Paperback
Wandering Stars: A Novel by Tommy Orange (Vintage, $18, 9780593311448). "Wandering Stars is an epic tale grounded in truth and elevated by Tommy Orange's phenomenal storytelling. He brings a gruesome slice of U.S. history to life and gives voice to a generation of Native people who live its legacy." --Claire Benedict, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vt.

Ages 4-8
Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781665938150). "Young children--and their parents--will surely relate to the absolute joy Mabel feels when it's the day the garbage truck comes to her house. A delightful story beautifully illustrated." --Vicky Titcomb, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Mass.

Ages 8-12
Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta (Random House Graphic, $21.99, 9780593569450). "Moving as a kid is always tough, but it's even more complicated when you're navigating a new language and new family dynamics. Halfway to Somewhere does such a great job honoring all the different facets of Ave's experience. Strongly recommend for classrooms!" --Milo Michels, University Book Store, Seattle, Wash.

Teen Readers
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith (HarperCollins, $19.99, 9780063372528). "I am obsessed with this book and cannot stop talking about it even weeks after reading it. Set in an alternate Victorian era England, The Rose Bargain is gripping from the very first page." --Tara Leimkuehler, Parnassus Books, Nashville, Tenn.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Readers unfamiliar with the science of fusion reactions can either wait, as this fast-developing field of energy production already dominates many discussions around climate change and the future of our planet, or read Joe Mungo Reed's moving and intelligent novel Terrestrial History, which places at its center the work of fusion scientist Hannah and the generations to follow her. No prior expertise in nuclear physics is needed, but neither does Reed (We Begin Our Ascent) dumb down the details in this richly drawn family history.

Reed uses the multivocal structure to great effect, with each chapter devoted to one of four characters living at a different point in time (and space). At first, the family connection between the characters is not clear. But readers come to understand that, in 2076, Hannah's son, Andrew, an optimistic politician who believes in the power of humanity to unite behind a common goal, and granddaughter Kenzie, also a fusion scientist, are offering competing visions for how to save the planet--or at least its people--from the certain devastations of climate change. The final member of the quartet of narrators, in 2006, is Roban, Kenzie's son and one of the First Gens born of the "Homers" who established the first colony on Mars. The sections focused on Hannah have no date at their head, but it is 2025 when she encounters the young man from the future, the one who changes everything for her.

As Reed weaves careful conversations across generations, he also bends and folds time, much like the young time traveler who visits Hannah on the beach that fateful day. The novel is a triumph of the climate fiction genre, using both the futuristic colony on Mars and the recognizable realities of our present day to ask readers to consider where they would invest their hope: on a failing Earth or a fragile Mars. Terrestrial History offers no easy solutions, however, choosing the certainty of countless uncertainties. "Maybe," Kenzie wonders, "the point is to have tried, I think? To be like the light. To try and then to turn around, knowing that this way is not the way." Perhaps readers must resign themselves to not knowing, as Andrew recognizes, "What could we have done but what we thought best at the time?"--Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Shelf Talker: A brilliant exploration of time and the possibilities inherent in any vision of the future, Terrestrial History manages to be both hopeful and devastating, a triumph of climate fiction.

One of the ongoing features at Shelf Awareness is our "Cool Idea of the Day," highlighting indie booksellers' creativity with their displays, events, promotions, community service, charity work, and much more. There are, of course, lots of cool ideas and only so much room to showcase them. 

Which brings me to today's indie adventure. I should preface this by admitting that I'm not the kind of guy who says "cool idea" much in real life, but I do appreciate the concept. Maybe my own version of cool is "good," which might sound a bit understated, but is meant to be the highest level of praise in the tradition of comedians ("That's funny.") and race horse trainers ("That's a nice horse."). 

In that spirit, here are some good ideas I noticed recently: 

More booksellers are setting aside a shopping day each week for their immunocompromised customers. Pearl Street Books in La Crosse, Wis., is introducing Mask Monday. Owner Beth Hartung told WEAU: "I thought about it. I did a little bit of research. It was an area that I never thought about before. I decided to do it on Mondays just to make it simple so people can remember. I think it feels really isolating if you can't go anywhere.... I'm a community member and that's what community members do for each other. I believe that the heart of what it means to be in a community with other people is to help each other stay safe."

And Maggie Mae's Bookshop, Gresham, Ore., posted: "We're considering a weekly masking day to support our immunocompromised community members and would love your input! Let us know which day would best serve you, your family, and neighbors who would appreciate a safely masked space."

With the tariff battles heating up internationally, Bleak House Books, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., sent "a message of solidarity and support for our friends and neighbors in Canada.... For a bookshop based in the Rochester area, we are closer to Canada than we are to, say, Manhattan. By a lot, actually. Since reopening BHB, we've had folks from Canada make the trek to our bookshop. We've also visited Canada ourselves several times.... Canadians don’t want to see their country become the 51st state, and they don’t want to become Americans. They are fine with the way things are. In fact, what they want more than anything--really, what people the world over want as well--is to be left the f*ck alone."

Douglas Skelton and Sarah Frame

Bookstore weddings and proposals have also gained in popularity, but the Scotsman reported that Sarah Frame, owner of the Book Nook in Stewarton, Scotland, added a new plot twist by "falling in love with a crime writer whom she wed in a special ceremony in her own boutique store," which was also just named Scotland's Independent Bookshop of the Year in the 2025 British Book Awards. A nice wedding gift indeed.

Highlighting and/or working with other small businesses and services in their community is a longstanding indie bookseller tradition. From WordHaven BookHouse, Sheboygan, Wis.: "This Week's Trans-Friendly Small Business Shout-out goes to Relish in Sheboygan. Jane, Sara, and their team are welcoming, kind, and so positive toward everyone who walks through their doors (and they have a ShopPup, too)! They are also one of our Satellite Partners and have been amazing to work with. Please show them some love!"

And Prologue Bookshop, Columbus, Ohio, noted: "This Must Be The Place is coming to Prologue Bookshop... to distribute naloxone and demonstrate how to properly administer in case of an emergency. @betheplace does great work in overdose prevention across the country at music festivals and locally in Franklin County, reaching people where they're at and giving them tools to save a life. We hope to see you here to help better equip our community with the knowledge and tools we need to keep looking out for each other."

French bookseller Damn Fine Bookstore in Lyon found a way to serve book and film aficionados: "Take 20 book lovers, put them in front of the movie adaptation of a book they read recently, add a bit of coffee and some delicacies and you'll obtain a fantastic amazing ciné book club! What a joy to watch a film all together and dissect the adaptation afterwards, it's the best of time."

"Books: The Greatest Show On Earth": Anderson's Bookshop and Anderson's Toyshop, Naperville, Ill., shared a video of its new storefront window displays, noting: "Step right up to a bookish spectacle at Anderson's Bookshop. Magic, wonder and stories await--come see the show!"
 
Silent book clubs are popular, as are variations on the theme like Speakeasy After Dark: "Bring your own book, buy a drink, and visit the Phoenix Books [Rutland, Vt.] pop-up, then enjoy two uninterrupted hours of reading. This event will take place at the Speakeasy Cafe... grab a drink, and join us to mingle, or grab a spot and start reading."

I love the "Meet the Press" wall at Exile in Bookville, Chicago, Ill.: "It's that time, the changing out of our Meet The Press wall. So many wonderful small and independent presses to choose from, but this is one that we've been itching to highlight for awhile."

I'm also a sucker for indie gratitude posts to delivery folks. This "Ode to UPS" from Novelette Booksellers, Nashville, Tenn. ("In the meantime here's a bad poem i wrote for our UPS guys, because I have no self control when my brain decides it's doing something stupid.") is definitely a prizewinner, ending with:

UPS you are so very dear
So please have no fear
You can just
                                                     leave
the             boxes
                                     
                                     here