The Well Red Damsel, a romance bookshop, will host a grand opening celebration on June 21 for the store's bricks-and-mortar location at 6429 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa, Wis. The festivities will include giveaways, treats, and collaborations with other small businesses.

The Well Red Damsel's future home

Founder Natasha Meyer, who launched the Well Red Damsel as a pop-up in Milwaukee last year, said the bookstore is "bringing our cozy, curated romance collection to a permanent home. The Well Red Damsel is a woman- and queer-owned bookstore celebrating love in all its forms--from spicy contemporary reads to cozy fantasy."

Meyer, a local entrepreneur and lifelong romance reader, added that the bookshop's mission is to create a welcoming, judgment-free space for romance lovers of all kinds with its curated collection of romance novels and bookish merchandise in a permanent location. Meyer noted that the shop "aims to redefine what it means to be a 'damsel,' not distressed, but empowered. With cozy vibes, community events, and a focus on inclusivity, the store is poised to become a haven for readers and romantics alike."

"Romance readers are often dismissed or judged, but our stories are powerful--they're about hope, connection, and the kind of joy we all deserve. This store is my love letter to the genre and the people who love it," said Meyer.

Kindred Stories, an all-ages bookstore with an emphasis on Black authors and stories, is moving to a new home in Houston, Tex., Community Impact reported.

Kindred Stories' future home.

The bookstore, which debuted as an online store in summer 2021, will be moving from its original location at 2304 Stuart St. to a larger space just down the street, in the Eldorado Ballroom at 2310 Elgin St. The Stuart St. location closed May 4. Kindred Stories will open on a limited basis in its new home on May 10.

In an announcement posted on Instagram, the Kindred Stories team noted that almost immediately after opening, they realized they needed a larger space. "Being open six days a week and hosting hundreds of events," the team wrote, "we are so proud of the ways we maximized our small space and beautiful Reading Garden, but alas, it's time to move on and we couldn't be more ready."

Build Coffee, a cafe, bookstore, and community space in Chicago, Ill., is under new ownership and will change its name to Build Coffee and Books, Block Club Chicago reported.

New owners Eve L. Ewing, trina reynolds-tyler, and Andrea Faye Hart will take over officially in June. Ewing is an author, poet, and professor at University of Chicago; reynolds-tyler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and data director of the Invisible Institute; and Hart is an organizer and co-founder of City Bureau.

The trio will be volunteer owners and do not have any major changes planned for Build. The name change is meant to highlight its selection of books and zines, which focus primarily on "social justice, local political issues, and community organizing," noted Block Club. Ewing also hopes to host most literary events at Build.

"We don't plan to radically change it," reynolds-tyler told Block Club. "We're purchasing the shop because we want it to live. We are just excited to fortify all of those systems that currently exist and be expansive in that, but [be] really true to the mission of Build Coffee and Books."

"All three of us have so much respect for the space, and we’re all in different ways working really hard to build community in Chicago and beyond," said Ewing.

As a volunteer owner, Hart said she feels "really excited about what [it means] to lead in that way, to set Build up in that way, and to be an example for how [to] run a business ethically and equitably in a way that is politically and community-oriented."

Build debuted as a coffee stand in the 61st St. Farmers Market in 2016. In 2017, it opened inside the incubator Experimental Station, after co-founders Hannah Nyhart and Bea Malsky raised around $17,000 through a Kickstarter campaign. Last year Nyhart and Malsky announced that Build was for sale.

Australia was one of many countries where bookstores participated in the Global Book Crawl from April 21-27 to "unite independent bookshops worldwide in a celebration of local literature, community, and culture." Books+Publishing reported that overall, booksellers deemed the event a "success," with Letita Davy, manager of Sydney's Gleebooks, saying: "We had people from all over Sydney visiting us with their Global Book Crawl passports ready to be stamped. Significantly, we saw lots of new faces, with many participants visiting our Dulwich Hill bookshop for the very first time. Some people were attempting to visit all 15 Sydney bookshops over the week, which just goes to show how passionate Australian readers are about books and bookshops."

Alison Rogers of Readers Retreat in Port Stephens noted: "As a small business on a peninsula, it was great to strengthen the connections between myself and the other larger bookshops that have been established for a lot longer.... Combined with the super-dooper tourism season we experienced with the two long weekends, I had my biggest trading days since Christmas and a large increase in social media followers.'

Jing Xuan Teo, co-founder of Amplify Bookstore in Melbourne, commented: "The book crawl was huge! It was so lovely to see the book community show up and supporting local bookstores. There were also quite a lot of tourists who participated, which was such a good way to see the city."

Readings chair Mark Rubbo said many of the Readings stores reported large numbers participating: "Our preliminary results for Melbourne are that around 1,500 people completed the book crawl; that means 1,500 people made the effort to visit the 12 participating bookshops in Melbourne."

As for the possibility of a Global Book Crawl 2026, Davy said, "The collaboration across Sydney bookshops to make this event happen was inspiring--and I think this is just the beginning."

---

On April 22 in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro hosted the opening ceremony for its year as the UNESCO World Book Capital City, succeeding Strasbourg, France, the International Publishers Association reported. Held at the Carlos Gomes Theater, the event was attended by authorities, UNESCO representatives, and prominent figures of Brazilian culture.

At the ceremony, Dante Cid, president of the Sindicato Nacional does Editores de Livros (National Union of Book Publishers), said, "The opening of Rio World Book Capital marks a new chapter for Brazil--a chapter that celebrates the book as a bridge, as a seed and as a meeting. At SNEL, we reaffirm our commitment to a plural, accessible and lively publishing industry. Our work begins when a book meets a reader, anywhere: at school, on the street, in the library or in the heart of a new idea. May this year be of fertile encounters, transformative readings and words that lead us to a fairer, more critical and more sensitive society."

In a social media post, Hubert Alquéres (curator of the Jabuti Award and president of the Paulista Academy of Education) and Sevani Matos (president of the Brazilian Book Chamber) commented: "The former capital of the country also stands out for the vigor of its popular and community libraries, spread over several regions of the city. These spaces play an essential role in the democratization of access to books, promoting cultural activities, meetings with authors and reading mediation actions that contribute to the formation of critical and socially engaged readers. Alongside them, the classic bookstores of Rio de Janeiro--such as Argumento, Travessa and Blooks--resist with vitality, which have reinvented themselves as vibrant cultural poles, meeting points for intellectuals, artists and lovers of literature. These are places that keep the city's literary tradition alive, reaffirming its commitment to reading and thinking." --Robert Gray

Stuck Up and Stupid by Angourie Rice and Kate Rice (Candlewick) is the Summer YA pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "In this modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Aussie teen Lily must confront her feelings about Hollywood heartthrob Dorian Khan. As summer unfolds and their paths keep colliding, Lily begins to question whether first impressions can really tell the whole story. Set between the beaches of Australia and the glitz of Hollywood, Stuck Up and Stupid is the ultimate summer escape."

Reese wrote: "This sharp, hilarious, and heartfelt novel is giving major Austen vibes with a fresh twist--and we're obsessed."

Independent Publishers Group has added seven publishers:

Elizabeth & Minnie Publishing, Los Angeles, Calif., which is dedicated to identifying and amplifying underrepresented voices, with a particular focus on women's stories. With roots in the entertainment industry, the company focuses on works with potential for adaptation, including film, television, and other experiential formats. Founders are Jeanell English and Tanya Sam. (Worldwide distribution effective June 1.)

Black Panel Press, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, a publisher of international graphic literature. They publish primarily one-shot graphic novels for mature audiences with a focus on biography and history. (Worldwide distribution, effective June 1.)

Shaherazad Shelves, New York, N.Y., which publishes Muslim books for adults and children, primarily fiction. Founded in 2021 by two sisters, Shaherazad Shelves aims to diversify bookshelves all over the world and dismantle the barriers of traditional publishing for low-income, immigrant, or religious minorities. (Worldwide distribution, effective July 1.)

Top Five Books, Oak Park, Ill., which was founded in 2008 with the mission of bringing exceptional fiction and nonfiction to discerning readers. Its current focus has been editions of classic public domain titles. Top Five also has a partnership with OA+D Archives, publishing titles about Frank Lloyd Wright and other architecture books. (Worldwide distribution, effective August 1.)

Type Eighteen Books, established in 2023 as a publisher of fiction that demonstrates a love of language, empathy, and a striving for understanding--great stories by unforgettable voices. Type Eighteen Books is also a home for stories neglected by traditional publishers due to experimental form or intent. (Distribution in the U.S. and Canada, effective September 1.)

Anjana Publishing, Hong Kong, a children's publisher of ancient and modern stories, whether tales of Hindu Gods and festivals or the mortals who overcome cancer and chronic pain. (Distribution in the U.S. and Canada, effective January 1.)

American Mythology, an intellectual property development company that specializes in company-owned, co-owned, and creator-owned comic books and other media. Key titles involve Return of the Living Dead, Zorro, Casper, Three Stooges, Pink Panther, and other classic comics. (Worldwide digital distribution, effective June 1.)

The Casey's Cases series by Kay Healy (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House). The first title, Casey's Cases: The Mysterious New Girl, is on sale now, and Casey's Cases: Everything Is Terrible will be released on September 30.

Today:
Fresh Air: Amanda Hess, author of Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age (Doubleday, $29, 9780385549738).

Tomorrow:
Today: Caroline A. Wanga, author of I'm Highly Percent Sure (Amistad, $24.99, 9780063360389).

Also on Today: Suzy Welch, author of Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career (Harper Business, $32, 9780063418608).

The View: Isabel Allende, author of My Name Is Emilia del Valle: A Novel (Ballantine, $30, 9780593975091).

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, May 10
3:05 p.m. Thomas R. Flagel, author of War, Memory, and the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion (‎The Kent State University Press, $42, 9781606353714).

7 p.m. Thomas Maier, author of The Invisible Spy: Churchill's Rockefeller Center Spy Ring and America’s First Secret Agent of World War II (‎Hanover Square Press, $32.99, 9781335000606).

Sunday, May 11
8 a.m. Frank Lavin, author of Inside the Reagan White House: A Front-Row Seat to Presidential Leadership with Lessons for Today (Post Hill Press, $30, 9798888456941). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9 a.m. Leah Sottile, author of Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age (Grand Central, $30, 9781538742600). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

10 a.m. Sophie Gilbert, author of Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves (Penguin Press, $30, 9780593656297). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

2 p.m. Kathleen deLaski, author of Who Needs College Anymore?: Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won't Matter (Harvard Education Press, $34, 9781682539521), at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.

3:05 p.m. Dr. Robert C. Smith, author of Has Medicine Lost Its Mind?: Why Our Mental Health System Is Failing Us and What Should Be Done to Cure It (Prometheus, $28.95, 9781493087655).

4:10 p.m. Adam Gussow, author of My Family and I: A Mississippi Memoir (Emancipation Books, $32, 9798888457658), at Off Square Books in Oxford, Miss.

7 p.m. Kimberly Heckler, author of A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer (‎Lyons Press, $34.95, 9781493086085).

The Griffin Poetry Prize has named Margaret Atwood as the 2025 recipient of the Lifetime Recognition Award, given to international artists working in poetry.

Atwood will be in conversation with Carolyn Forché at the 2025 Griffin Poetry Prize Readings on June 4 in Toronto, an event that will feature the announcement of the international Griffin Poetry Prize winner, as well as readings by the 2025 shortlisted poets--Aaron Coleman, Durs Grünbein, Brian Henry, Karen Leeder, Carl Phillips, and Diane Seuss--and the Canadian First Book Prize winner, to be named May 21. 

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, May 13:

The Emperor of Gladness: A Novel by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press, $30, 9780593831878) follows a teenager and elderly widow who connect after a near suicide attempt.

Fever Beach: A Novel by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, $30, 9780593320945) is a humorous Floridian romp with a cast of eccentric characters.

Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up by Dave Barry (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668021781) is the memoir of the acclaimed humorist.

Anima Rising by Christopher Moore (Morrow, $30, 9780062434159) is a humorous fantasy starring Gustav Klimt in 1911 Vienna.

Marble Hall Murders: A Novel by Anthony Horowitz (Harper, $31, 9780063305700) is the third mystery featuring detective Atticus Pünd and editor Susan Ryeland.

Life and Art: Essays by Richard Russo (Knopf, $28, 9780593802168) contains 12 new essays from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press, $45, 9780525561729) is a comprehensive biography of Samuel Clemens.

The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America by Mark Whitaker (Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 9781668033296) coincides with the 100th anniversary of the civil rights leader's birth.

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global by Laura Spinney (Bloomsbury, $29.99, 9781639732586) explores the common ancestor to half the world's languages, Proto-Indo-European.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (Tor, $29.99, 9781250880055) begins a new action fantasy series.

All Ears by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster, $17.99, 9781665956482) is the ninth novel in the middle-grade FunJungle series, this time about a missing elephant.

The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin (Little, Brown, $18.99, 9780316478328) is a middle-grade novel built out of Chinese folklore in which a girl must open a spirit portal.

Paperbacks:
No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books, $16.95, 9798888903636).

Maine Characters: A Novel by Hannah Orenstein (Dutton, $19, 9780593851555).

Dream On, Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake (Berkley, $19, 9780593815991).

Dancing with Muddy: Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and My Lucky Life In and Out of the Blues by Jerry Portnoy (Chicago Review Press, $19.99, 9780897334587).

Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam (Tor, $18.99, 9781250369246).

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

Hardcover
Hot Air: A Novel by Marcy Dermansky (Knopf, $27, 9780593320907). "Hot Air is a delicious read--smart, funny, quirky, and unpredictable. While you're gobbling up the plot, it sneakily brings up issues of class, parenting, and marriage. Take it with you on spring break--it'll be right at home poolside with you." --Kathryn Counsell, Watchung Booksellers, Montclair, N.J.

I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney (Zibby Publishing, $27.99, 9798989923014). "John Kenney's coming-of-age novel is the story of an obituary writer who accidentally publishes his own obituary, one inebriated night--but he's not dead. Readers will laugh out loud, cry, and love each and every character." --Eve Taben, Elm Street Books, New Canaan, Conn.

Paperback
Miss Morgan's Book Brigade: A Novel by Janet Skeslien Charles (Atria, $18.99, 9781668008997). "As a female Army combat veteran, I know all too well how women's contributions get forgotten. Follow 'Kit' Carson as she and women from all walks of life bring hope and books to families devastated by the German occupation of France in World War I." --Casey Luke, The Book Shoppe, Boone, Iowa

Ages 4-8
Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas by Eliza Kinkz (Kokila, $18.99, 9780593700235). "Mistaco by Eliza Kinkz is a unique take on making mistakes--a funny picture book for reading aloud and one that independent readers will truly enjoy, with bold illustrations and relatable characters in Izzy and her big, loving family." --Stephanie Ledyard, Interabang Books, Dallas, Texas

Ages 8-12: An Indies Introduce Title
The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu (Quill Tree Books, $19.99, 9780063326958). "Follow young basketball champion Derrick Chan as he spends the summer with his grandmother and journeys to discover a whole new understanding of self. This exploration of family, culture, and identity is unique and powerful. This book is right on time." --Jonathan Pope, Prologue Bookshop, Columbus, Ohio

Teen Readers: An Indies Introduce Title
All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9781665952651). "All the Noise at Once is a captivating read about Aiden, a Black, autistic teen, his love of football, his struggle with identity, and his fight against injustice after a jarring experience with the police. I was cheering Aiden on to the very end." --Kalli King, Rediscovered Books, Boise, Idaho

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Kelly Ramsey's is a memoir of wildland firefighting and gender, but also of trauma, family, and navigating love and life at any age.

Ramsey's expertly structured narrative shifts in both place and time, beginning with a hazardous fire event in her firefighting career, then moving to where she started that career (the Klamath River and its surrounds in Northern California), then a Kentucky childhood and her parents' story. She paints a portrait of her mother that is a masterclass in the single-paragraph capsule profile. "Raised in a home where someone might vacuum a spill from the front lawn, my mom grew into an inquisitive, determined woman who was in the right almost as often as she believed she was." Ramsey's father was an alcoholic, eventually homeless and lost, whose absence caused the grief she may have been fighting along with the extreme challenges of becoming a wildland firefighter and other, still more self-destructive behaviors. This introspection occurs in flashbacks and fragments alongside the main timeline in which Ramsey, in her late 30s and after a wildly varied life, joined the Rowdy River Hotshots.

Hotshots live in barracks or on the road, sleeping on the ground as often as not, packed into a crew transport with their firefighting gear, working shifts that sometimes stretch to 24 hours in tremendously hazardous conditions. They hand-dig firebreak lines, run chainsaws and carry swamp brush, and hike vertiginous slopes under loads that can exceed 70 pounds, often amid active fire. The only woman on the crew her first season (and the first in nearly a decade), Ramsey was also one of the smallest and one of the oldest. She and "the boys" wrestled individually and collectively with how to treat her difference while integrating her into a crew that was necessarily tightknit: they relied on each other for survival.

Showcasing lovely writing and storytelling, Wildfire Days contains just enough firefighting and fire suppression policy history to contextualize Ramsey's personal journeys. Ramsey is far from a saintly character, and she portrays her own less flattering moments clearly: worrying over her tendency to smile and people-please; her fear that she aligned herself with her male fellows in singling out the next woman to join the crew. This honesty is refreshing. Not a hero, Ramsey lets readers see her earnest and imperfect strivings. Her growth by the memoir's end is ongoing, but impressive. "Here was the secret I kept stumbling upon: that our deepest wounds were the fertile soil of our growth. New life tended to spring from bitterest ash." Tense action, fraught self-examination, pain, triumph, and romance make Wildfire Days propulsive and unforgettable. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Shelf Talker: This beautifully crafted memoir features both dramatic action and deep soul-searching by a woman on an elite wildland firefighting crew.

Although the world of books evokes certain images--the right book, a cozy armchair, a cup of tea, the perfect reading lamp, walls of bookshelves, a sleeping cat on your lap, maybe even a fireplace--it's a numbers game as well as a letters game. And while the reader in me loves idyllic bookish imagery, the bookseller in me still loves stats. 

BookNet Canada has just released The Canadian Book Consumer Study 2024, which shares information gleaned from its consumer surveying, including book buying and book borrowing behaviors, preferred formats, how consumers become aware of the books they buy, and where they are likely to purchase them. 

Last year, BookNet Canada conducted surveys in March, June, September, and December among 4,212 adult, English-speaking Canadians, of whom 2,045 were book buyers.

Among Canadians surveyed for this study, 49% bought new books and 27%
borrowed books from the library in 2024, in a given month. They purchased an average of 3.6 new books a month--two print books, one e-book, and 0.5 audiobooks. 

Compared to all Canadians, book buyers and borrowers were more likely to:

• live in a city or urban area--51% of buyers and 50% of borrowers vs. 48% of all Canadians
• have a college or university degree--51% of buyers and 52% of borrowers
  vs. 49% of all Canadians
• have a graduate or professional degree--26% of buyers and 26% of
  borrowers vs. 19% of all Canadians
• be employed full time--49% of buyers and 41% of borrowers vs. 35% of all Canadians

Long before the threat of tariffs became headline news, respondents to the Canadian Book Consumer Study were conscious of the impact of rising book prices. In 2024, 53% of Canadians buying new books spent between C$1 (about US$.73) and C$49 (about US$35.55) on books in a given month, down from 59% of new book buyers in 2023. Nearly half of Canadians buying new books rated their value for money as excellent (47%), while 38% rated it as good, 13% as fair, and 2% as poor.  

The study found that most Canadian book buyers visited a bookstore between one and four times in a given month in 2024 (58% of online book buyers and 62% of in-person book buyers), with 79% exploring a bookstore online and 71% in-person. 

The primary reasons book buyers visited bookstores in-person were to browse books to pass time (30%), to browse (for) book deals/sales (25%), to browse displays and shelves for books to buy (25%), to browse new releases (25%), and to buy a gift (17%).

In 2024, 54% of all book purchases made by the survey respondents were online, compared to 46% in-person. As has been the case in previous years, consumers who bought books online first found them by searching for a particular title (39%), while those who bought books in-person first saw them on a main shelf (53%). 

The top reasons Canadian book buyers purchased their books at a specific location in 2024 were that it was a convenient place to shop (39%), the book(s) were in stock/available immediately (29%), there was a good price/offer/promo (28%), and a good selection of books were on offer (24%)

While 39% of Canadian book buyers had planned to buy a particular book at a specific time, 25% had planned to buy a particular book, but not necessarily at that specific time, 18% were not planning to buy a book at that specific time and made an impulse purchase, and 16% were planning to buy a book at that specific time, but not a particular book.

Similar to past years, the majority of purchases were of print books (49% paperback, 26% hardcover), followed by e-books (15%) and audiobooks 6%). When asked about their format preferences, most respondents chose print books (70%) over e-books (17%) or audiobooks (8%). 

In 2024, Canadian book buyers who bought books instead of borrowing them did so because they wanted to be able to reread it whenever they want, as much as they want (14%), wanted it right away (14%), and wanted to own it for their display, collection, or archive (11%).

They became aware of the books they purchased by reading other books by the same author/illustrator (20%), from a recommendation or review (19%), or by browsing or searching online or in-person (19%). 

The top reasons buyers decided to purchase a book in 2024 were an interest in the book's subject (29%); the description of the book (20%); they liked the series (16%); or a recommendation or review (16%). 

Most of the respondents bought books for themselves (86%), for someone else either as a gift (12%) or "just because" (2%), with 60% of those who bought books for others getting them for children and 40% for other adults. 

Other ways they acquired books in 2024:

• 32% borrowed books from the public library
• 26% bought books secondhand
• 27% received books as a gift
• 24% received books for free (including free downloads)
• 18% borrowed books from someone they know

Okay, now that you've gotten your morning dose of nutritional stats, go find that cozy chair and read.