Tyler and Stefani Miller are the new owners of Riverwalk Books in Chelan, Wash., "ushering in a new era while honoring the bookstore's deep local roots," the Lake Chelan Mirror reported. The bookstore was founded in the 1990s by Libby Manthe, who died several years ago. Her husband, Bob Manthe, continued running the store, with Stefani Miller managing day-to-day operations.

"My wife, Stefani, has actually been managing the store for almost four years," said Tyler Miller. "And I had worked here as a teenager, years and years ago. We're book people--book lovers, big readers, of course. I've always been interested in owning a bookstore and being able to put it together and do it the way you'd like to."

The Millers took ownership just days before Fourth of July weekend, but "the store is well-established. It has a long history and a good reputation," Tyler said. "People come here every year while on vacation, so we haven't had to worry about finding customers. That's been really encouraging."

Bob Manthe said it felt like the right moment to pass the torch: "Stefani worked for me for a while and she knows the store. She has a passion for books.... Our family's been doing this for a long time, and we thought it was the right time with the right person to take it over and follow the tradition of what my wife, Libby, had started."

Noting that they have no plans to drastically change the store, Tyler Miller said, "We're not going to renovate or refashion it into something totally new. It's a bookstore--we're going to have all kinds of books in here, just like before. We are moving some things around to make space for more inventory, but the core of what makes it special isn't changing."

He added: "We want families to feel like this is a fun, welcoming place--a spot where kids of all ages can hang out, read, or just explore.... I hope people feel a lot of excitement when they come in--enthusiasm to see a lot of books on the shelves again. We really hope that families feel like this is a really fun and cozy environment where kids of all ages can come and hang out."

Following a dispute with the store's landlord related to a broken air conditioning system, the Best Bookstore in Palm Springs is moving to a new location in Palm Springs, Calif., the Palm Springs Post reported.

Store owners Paul Bradley Carr and Sarah Lacy have found a new space with the help of other business owners and community members. While they have not officially announced the new location's address, they did note that it is only about a block away from the current space and has affordable rent and working AC.

The bookstore has until August 10 to leave its current space. In the meantime, Lacy and Carr are running a "buy two, get one free" sale on all inventory and are raising funds to help with the move. Donors who contribute more than $100 will get a limited-edition T-shirt as well as a 10% discount while wearing said shirt, and donors who contribute $1,000 or more will be included on a mural the owners are designing for the new space, along with a lifetime 10% off discount.

The bookstore's air conditioning failed over Fourth of July weekend, and when store owners Carr and Lacy reached out to their landlord about getting the unit repaired, the landlord refused. The bookstore was left without AC in an area that routinely sees triple-digit heat in the summer. Although the landlord has since offered to pay 50% of the repair costs, Carr and Lacy are instead taking them up on a different offer--to leave their lease early. 

After sharing their story about the broken AC, Carr told the Palm Springs Post, "people flooded in. People posting online--can we contact the landlords on your behalf? We've had people come in and say, 'I want to buy a $500 gift card just to help you guys.' "

The Best Bookstore in Palm Springs opened in late 2022.

Shelf Love DSM, a romance-focused bookstore in Des Moines, Iowa, will have its grand opening on Saturday, July 26, Axios reported. 

Sarah Gardner-Bergan

The bookstore, located at 2326 University Ave. in the city's Dogtown neighborhood, will carry a wide variety of romance titles from both traditionally published and independent authors. Owner Sarah Gardner-Bergan plans to host author readings along with events like book bedazzling and bookmark decorating.

Gardner-Bergan began her bookselling career by selling book box subscriptions. From there, she started hosting romance-focused conventions and, seeing the success of other romance bookstores, decided to launch one of her own. 

Earlier this spring, Gardner-Bergan launched a Kickstarter campaign to help open the store. It raised $7,441, well above its goal of $2,500.

The opening festivities will begin on July 26 with a ribbon cutting, followed by an afternoon of author signings, with more signings to follow on Sunday. All attendees will receive a ticket for a prize raffle, and additional tickets will be given for every $10 spent. All purchases will come with a Shelf Love sticker and bookmark swag pack.

At Arcadia Publishing, Matthew Gildea is retiring as chief operating officer, and Melody Beacher is the new COO.

Beacher was formerly CEO of DataSpring, an IT consulting company Arcadia has used in various capacities for more than a decade. Before that, she was IT director at the College of Charleston and v-p of information systems at C&S Wholesale Grocers.

Matthew Gildea

Gildea joined Arcadia in 2019 as business development manager. In 2021, he became COO. Before that, he was book team business director at Joseph-Beth Booksellers and earlier held executive positions at Hastings Entertainment, Borders Group, and several independent bookstores, including Chapter Two.

Gildea was also a board member of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) from 2013 to 2023 and was president from 2020 to 2022.

Arcadia CEO Brittain Phillips said that Gildea's six years at Arcadia "have been filled with notable achievements and consequential moments, and Matthew has played a pivotal role throughout. Under Matthew's leadership, we've seen significant strides in every major operational area, and he's partnered with employees spanning imprints and departments to make Arcadia a better publisher and a stronger business, far beyond his remit...

"He cares deeply about his employees, and although he expects the best, he always puts them in a position to succeed. And not just for the short term; Matthew's always looking ahead, thinking about the long-term development of his people, coming up with opportunities to challenge, motivate, and elevate them. He's relentless about it, and thank goodness."

Phillips called Beacher "a strategic thinker, an adept manager, and a dedicated colleague. Those characteristics--along with her deep experience and her familiarity with Arcadia's business--will serve Melody well in the COO position."

HarperCollins is acquiring the manga publishing operations in France and Germany of global anime company Crunchyroll. The transaction should close this year, subject to regulatory approval.

The publishing operations team will be led by Hideki Iyama-Desseigne, who will report to Chantal Restivo-Alessi, CEO of international foreign language publishing at HarperCollins, and day-to-day operations will be supported by HarperCollins France and Germany.

HarperCollins president and CEO Brian Murray said, "We are thrilled to expand our manga portfolio in Europe, building on our already successful Japanese business. As the only major western publisher operating in Japan, this acquisition strengthens our expertise and capabilities in this fast-growing category. This is a significant step toward broadening the HarperCollins manga program around the world, not only in Europe, but the English language markets as well."

Restivo-Alessi added, "We look forward to welcoming and investing in the French and German publishing teams and their business, and to enhancing our relationships with Japanese manga publishers."

Andrea Gibson, "a master of spoken-word poetry who cultivated legions of admirers with intensely personal, often political works exploring gender, love and a personal four-year fight with terminal ovarian cancer," died July 14, the New York Times reported. They were 49. Gibson "was among the leading voices in a resurgence of spoken-word, or slam, poetry in the mid-2000s, centered in cafes and on college campuses around the country."

Andrea Gibson

They published seven books, primarily poetry, along with seven albums, all while touring. Despite chronic stage fright, Gibson performed shows as long as 90 minutes. From their poem "Ode to the Public Panic Attack": 

To step towards the terror.

Its promised jaw.

To scrape your boots on the welcome mat.

To tell yourself fear

Is the seat of fearlessness.

Even when you're falling through the ice that is never

Been weakness. That is the bravest thing I have ever done in my life.

The documentary film Come See Me in the Good Light (2025), directed by Ryan White, focused on Gibson and their wife, Megan Falley, during Gibson's struggle with cancer. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year and won the Festival Favorite Award.

"Poetry and art in general can be this amazing connective tool," Gibson told Westword in 2023. "It engenders empathy. And sometimes I can forget this, but adding beauty to the world is a thing unto itself. We were born astonished. We should never grow out of our astonishment."

Gibson's books include Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns (2008), The Madness Vase (2012), Pansy (2015), Take Me With You (2018), Lord of the Butterflies (2018), How Poetry Can Change Your Heart (with Megan Falley, 2019), and You Better Be Lightning (2021).

Recalling earlier developing their own gender and sexual identity, mostly in secret, Gibson wrote in Out magazine in 2017: "I had a solid idea of what I would lose if I came out and I knew it would be excruciating, but not more excruciating than losing myself. So after a long time of mastering how to leave the pronouns out of all my love poems--I finally started telling people about the softness of my love's face."

In 2021, Gibson received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer and began chemotherapy. In their 2023 poem "In the chemo room, I wear mittens made of ice so I don't lose my fingernails. But I took a risk today to write this down," they wrote:

Jenny says when people ask if she's out of the woods,
she tells them she'll never be out of the woods,

says there is something lovely about the woods.
I know how to build a survival shelter

from fallen tree branches, packed mud,
and pulled moss. I could survive forever

on death alone. Wasn't it death that taught me 
to stop measuring my life span by length,

but by width? 

In 2023, Colorado Governor Jared Polis named Gibson the state's poet laureate. Colorado Public Radio noted that Gibson "wrote that they were initially worried about accepting the post because their health would limit their ability to do in-person events, and afraid they might not live through their two-year term. But they decided to take the role in part to open up possibilities for more chronically ill and disabled poets."

They observed: "I've been very public about my cancer journey, not because I want people to know that I'm mortal, but because I so badly want others to know that they are. Knowing that I could die any day saved my life. Understanding, really understanding the brevity of this existence, has given me more gratitude, awe, and joy than I thought would be possible for me in this lifetime. I wish that joy for everyone. (Minus the cancer.)."

Birdhouse Books and Gifts in Austin, Tex., hosted a sold-out Scholastic Summer of Baby-sitters Club event with graphic novelist Gabriela Epstein (Claudia and the New Girl; Good-Bye Stacey, Good-Bye). Epstein gave a presentation full of stories about adapting Ann M. Martin's novels, and led a live drawing demo where she taught the kids how to draw Claudia. The kids also made friendship bracelets and had a dance party, and Birdhouse Books raffled off two Summer of BSC beach towels.

Posted on Facebook by Tome Books & Novelteas, Cincinnati, Ohio: "A bookstore is more than just a place to buy books, it's a space to slow down, connect, and feel inspired by the creations of others. Come by today to grab a new read, hang out with a friend, or just sit and enjoy the quiet magic of being surrounded by stories."

"Are you having a good day?" Moonstruck Market bookshop in Melbourne, Fla., asked this question on the shop's sidewalk chalkboard, followed by two possible answers and one solution: "Treat yourself to a new book!"

Simon & Schuster will distribute the trade publications of Dynamite Entertainment in the book market worldwide. Dynamite Entertainment's distribution in the "direct market" of specialty comic retailers will continue to be handled by Lunar Distribution, Universal Distribution, and Diamond UK. A longtime comic book publisher, Dynamite is expanding its line with more prose, children's, and instructional books.

Nick Barrucci, CEO and publisher of Dynamite, said, "We've recently celebrated 20 years of publishing at Dynamite, and this industry poses unique challenges at times, though such moments also can serve as great opportunities. Partnering with Simon & Schuster is exciting and key for our business, to make sure that our books continue to get into as many hands as possible. With our deep range of titles, including hits like The Boys, Red Sonja, Vampirella, Project Superpowers, James Bond, our ever-expanding partnerships with both Disney (DuckTales, Lilo & Stitch, Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Warner Bros. Discovery (ThunderCats, The Wizard of Oz, The Powerpuff Girls), and many others. The timing could not be better as we are expanding our line with children's titles such as Nickelodeon's PAW Patrol, Blue's Clues & You!, USPS' Mr. ZIP and more, with high profile instructional books to be announced. We expect the strength of our new releases and backlist to continue to grow in the marketplace, and allying with Simon & Schuster will help both parties, as well as retailers and the wider publishing industry."

Michael Perlman, senior v-p, Simon & Schuster Publishing Services, said, "Dynamite Entertainment is one of the most dynamic publishers of comics and graphic novels, and we are thrilled to welcome them to our family of client publishers. We look forward to working with them to expand the reach of their tremendous list into the worldwide book market."

Bella Gibb has been hired as a publicity and marketing assistant at Page One Media. Most recently she was the director of TEDxNorthwesternU and the production assistant for artists Eve Sussman and Simon Lee.

Today:
Fresh Air: Michael Grynbaum, author of Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668003916).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Zarna Garg, author of This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir (Ballantine, $30, 9780593975022).

Today: Sharon Malone, author of Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy (Crown, $30, 9780593593868).

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, July 19
4 p.m. Claire Hoffman, author of Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $32, 9780374601713).

Sunday, July 20
8 a.m. Isabel Allende, author of My Name Is Emilia del Valle: A Novel (Ballantine, $30, 9780593975091). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9:05 a.m. Agustín Fuentes, author of Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary (‎Princeton University Press, $24.95, 9780691249414), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass. (Re-airs Sunday at 9:05 p.m.)

10:18 a.m. John Tamny, author of Deficit Delusion: Why Everything Left, Right, and Supply-Side Tells You About the National Debt Is Wrong (Regnery, $32.99, 9781510784857).

2 p.m. Paul Hawken, author of Carbon: The Book of Life (‎Viking, $28, 9780525427445).

3:15 p.m. Quinn Slobodian, author of Hayek's Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right (Zone Books, $29.95, 9781890951917), at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

7:35 p.m. Martin Dugard, author of Taking Midway: Naval Warfare, Secret Codes, and the Battle that Turned the Tide of World War II (‎Dutton, $32, 9780593473245).

Ursula Krechel has won the €50,000 (about $58,000) Georg Büchner Prize, awarded annually by the German Academy for Language and Literature to authors "writing in the German language whose work is considered especially meritorious and who have made a significant contribution to contemporary German culture."

The jury said that with her poems, plays, radio dramas, novels, and essays, Krechel "counters the devastation of German history and the rigidity of the present with the power of her literature."

One of Germany's most prestigious literary awards, the prize is named in honor of the author of the influential German play, Woyzeck.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, July 22:

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova (Del Rey, $32.99, 9780593726341) is the first entry in a new romantasy series.

The List by Steve Berry (Grand Central, $29, 9781538770870) is a thriller set in a small Georgia town owned by a malicious paper mill company.

The Last Wizards' Ball by Charlaine Harris (S&S/Saga Press, $27.99, 9781668038123) is the sixth and final installment in the Gunnie Rose fantasy series.

Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar: A Novel by Katie Yee (S&S/Summit Books, $26.99, 9781668084212) follows a woman who finds out her husband is cheating and she has cancer.

Not Quite Dead Yet: A Novel by Holly Jackson (Bantam, $28, 9780593977057) is a thriller about a woman who has a week to discover the perpetrator of her imminently fatal head injury.

Recess by Lane Smith (Abrams, $19.99, 9781419776892) is a picture book with the aim of creating high energy, extremely entertaining read-alouds.

Schoolbot 9000: A Graphic Novel by Sam Hepburn (Dial, $14.99, 9780593699423) is a middle-grade graphic novel in which all the teachers at one school have been replaced with robots.

Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch (Random House, $32, 9780593242766) covers the necessity of shade in urban planning.

The Boys in the Light: An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival, Faith, and Brotherhood by Nina Willner (Dutton, $35, 9780593471272) chronicles a meeting between American soldiers and Holocaust survivors during World War II.

Sharing in the Groove: The Untold Story of the '90s Jam Band Explosion and the Scene That Followed by Mike Ayers (St. Martin's Press, $31, 9781250287458) is an oral history of bands like Phish, Dave Matthews, Blues Traveler, and others.

The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne by Chris Sweeney (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668025840) is a biography of the world's first forensic ornithologist.

Paperbacks:
Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls Book 5) by Catherine Cowles (Sourcebooks Casablanca, $18.99, 9781464241635).

The Sandy Page Bookshop: A Novel by Hannah McKinnon (Atria/Emily Bestler, $18.99, 9781668025215).

The Stone Door by Leonora Carrington (NYRB Classics, $15.95, 9781681378947).

The Red Letter by Daniel G. Miller (Poisoned Pen Press, $17.99, 9781464246395).

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

Hardcover
Sunny Side Up: A Novel by Katie Sturino (Celadon Books, $28, 9781250344205). "Very rarely do we ever fit into a mold. This book completely forges a new path in accepting yourself and others for who we are. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and this is just what the doctor ordered!" --Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, N.C.

The Girls Who Grew Big: A Novel by Leila Mottley (Knopf, $28, 9780593801123). "Just as she did in Nightcrawling, Leila Mottley gives voice and understanding to parts of life that our culture often tells us to ignore. The book is full of life and heart and hope." --Beth Black, The Bookworm of Omaha, Omaha, Neb.

Paperback
The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer (Zibby Publishing, $17.99, 9781958506431). "The Undercurrent is an impressive literary work of fiction that pulls the reader in and never lets them go. Two families grapple with the disappearance of a young girl in their neighborhood, leading them to an unimaginable truth. Intelligent, gripping, and beautifully written!" --Kathy Mailloux, East City Bookshop, Washington, D.C.

Ages 3-6
Zebra and Yak: The Backwards Alphabet Book by Paul Friedrich (Putnam Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9798217002108). "Zebra and Yak are running through the alphabet backwards trying to find Apple, who never showed up. Watch out for that slithery Snake--and what's with all the violins? Have a zany time with this alphabet book that both kids and parents can enjoy!" --Amy Lane, Bards Alley, Vienna, Va.

Ages 8-12
On Guard!: A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel by Cassidy Wasserman (Random House Graphic, $21.99, 9780593649985). "A story about a middle schooler who discovers fencing for the first time! It helps her make friends, gain confidence, and helps with her mental health while struggling with her parent's divorce. Kids navigating big feelings will feel seen in this." --Meghan Bousquet, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, Mass.

Ages 14+ (An Indies Introduce Title)
Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones (Feiwel & Friends, $19.99, 9781250290229). "Magical, mysterious, and queer--some of my favorite words all in one place! Arcana: The Lost Heirs, with its beautiful and fluid illustrations, is full of cryptic clues, secret histories, and found family." --Heather Albinson, Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, Minn.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Danish novelist and poet Olga Ravn hauntingly combines Nordic folklore and historical sources to fiercely reimagine the experiences and tribulations of a 17th-century noblewoman accused of witchcraft in The Wax Child. She reunites with award-winning translator Martin Aitken after her 2021 International Booker Prize shortlisted novel, The Employees.

The titular wax child is "shaped in beeswax... made like a doll the size of a human forearm" by Christenze Kruckow in Nakkebølle on the Danish island of Funen. It is held in her right arm for 40 weeks like "a proper child," then christened under the still darkness of night. As Ravn's narrative opens, Christenze is dead, but the abandoned wax child insists on bearing witness to its mistress's horrific demise: "Now I speak again to the soil that covers my face."

Christenze, born noble but impoverished, works at Nakkebølle Manor as a servant, while also befriending the Manor's young wife, Anne, whose newborn children do not survive. After losing 15 infants over 12 years, Anne "cast her gaze at Christenze," who remains unmarried at 36, "ruddy-cheeked" and "preferring to horse-ride on her own and drink red wine and read letters well into the night." By May 1615, Anne has convinced others that Christenze "is behind it all," this murder of all her babies, prompting her husband to request "a thing-witness, an assembly of eight good men to be convened... to initiate proceedings against [Christenze] with the charge that she did harm by means of witchcraft." Leaving behind a written reply to this "mendacious accusation," Christenze flees to northern Aalborg in 1616, a "city of hate." First she meets Maren and is "enchanted by the forbidden love of a woman." Maren introduces her to the others--Mette, Sidsel, Bodil, Dorte--a collective of strong wives who sow and spin the flax, who clean and pickle the herring. Among them, too, is Elisabeth, who is abused by her pastor husband and who eventually betrays these women to her jealous husband's machinations.

Ravn first acknowledged these women on stage in her 2023 theater production, HEX, at the Royal Danish Theatre. "This novel builds on that play, dialoguing with the script I wrote for it." Her author's note illuminates fascinating historical provenance, the "letters, ledgers, court documents and theological texts" associated with Danish witch trials recorded between 1596 and 1621. The "spells" recorded throughout are also borrowed, from "so-called black books, grimoires and other such works." Four centuries later, Ravn enthrallingly immortalizes those long-silenced voices. --Terry Hong

Shelf Talker: In The Wax Child, novelist and poet Olga Ravn turns 17th-century terrifying Danish women's history into a sublime novel of struggle and resilience.

How do you adapt a graphic novel into an audiobook? It has been done before, of course, but I was never tempted to listen to one.... until now. 

Earlier this spring, I read, reread, and loved Alison Bechdel's latest book, Spent (HarperCollins), a sharply observed and amusing portrayal of a cartoonist (named Alison Bechdel) whose life in Vermont is complicated as well as enhanced by interactions with her partner, Holly, and found family (many of them transplants from "out of state").  

Although I've lived in upstate New York for 15 years, I'm a Vermont native who spent my first six decades watching the state change dramatically (for better or worse, depending on your perspective, though I happen to fall in the "for better" category) with the ever-changing influx of what we once called "flatlanders." 

When I learned there would be a full voice cast Spent audiobook (HarperAudio) releasing this month, I wasn't sure how that would work, but the preview sample I received was promising. Now I've heard the full version, then listened again while following along with my hardcover copy. Both experiences can be summed up in my two-word review: highly recommended. 

So, back to my first question: How do you adapt a graphic novel into an audiobook? Who better to ask than Bechdel, beginning with a question about her initial goals and concerns for the project. 

"Well, first I had to ask myself, why would anyone buy an audiobook of a graphic novel?" she said. "For many graphic novels, an audiobook just wouldn't work. I've had people interested for some time in creating an audiobook of my graphic memoir Fun Home, for example, and I keep saying no. It's not like you can just extract the text--the drawings are integral to how the story is told. But that being said, Fun Home is very essayistic, it tells a very internal story through first person narration. Whereas Spent has lots of dialogue among the characters and a familiar dramatic structure that proceeds via scenes. And this kind of story lends itself much better to an audio adaptation."
 
To create an audio version of a visual reading experience, Bechdel noted that she "started playing around with the text, and it took a little while to get the hang of it but eventually I realized that I could use sound effects in much the same way that the graphic novel had used images. I'm used to working in that hybrid way, so I just had to start thinking in terms of sounds instead of drawings."

Alison Bechdel (photo: Elena Siebert)

Casting the roles presented another challenge. Early versions featured Jenn Colella as Alison, but other cast members weren't quite what Bechdel was looking for. "As recording got underway, I could see that some of the readers weren't really getting the lesbian voice down," she recalled. "I found it hard to describe to the producers what I meant by this--and I hate stereotyping. Is there such a thing as a lesbian voice? Do I have a lesbian voice? I feel like my voice is pretty generically feminine, but in general, I think straight women tend to modulate their voices a lot, certainly more than straight men do. Like, there's more up and down, while men stay within a flatter range. I would go so far as to say that some gay men speak with more modulation, and some lesbians speak with less. (Think Jane Lynch as the coach in Glee.) 

"So, some of the women readers for Spent were just sounding too straight! At that point, Harper agreed to bring in some ringers--my partner Holly actually read for the character based on her. And Ali Liebegott, who's a writer and standup comic and wrote for Transparent (and also played this great character on the show, Tiffany the security guard, a butch dyke who rides around in a golf cart) came on board and read for the character Lois. That added a whole new dimension to the project."
 
When I mentioned that I'd also listened to Spent while following along in the book, melding two different reading experiences, Bechdel observed: "I actually have a fantasy that people might do that--it's just a fantasy, of course--who has that kind of time or money? But in recent years, if I find a book I really like, I will often get the audiobook, too, and toggle back and forth between the versions. If people do that with Spent, they will be rewarded, because each version has something that the other one doesn't. The audiobook has a fair number of extra lines, so it's a slightly expanded version of the story, with a few more details and jokes."

Vermont changed a lot during the 60 years I lived there as the son and grandson of marble quarry/mill workers. Bechdel has been a Vermonter since the 1990s, and I wondered what her first impressions had been and whether they had altered with time. 

"It's startling to realize that I've been living in Vermont for 35 years, much longer than I've lived anywhere else," she said. "The big thing for me when I came here in 1991 was finding a place that was rural, yet felt safe to me as one of those counterculture flatlanders. There were lots of lovely rural places, but very few where I would have felt welcome as an out lesbian. But Vermont was used to all kinds of oddballs inhabiting its hollows and hills, and I fit right in here. There's been so much development over these three decades, though, so the rural character is beginning to shift a bit, at least in the area around Burlington where I live." 

Spend a little time in Bechdel's corner of the state with a graphic novel audiobook that definitely has this Vermont native's stamp of approval.