The Wandering Soul, which was founded by Dani Johnson nearly three years ago at 142 E. State St. in Sharon, Pa., "as a cozy shop showcasing local artists--with just a small shelf of books--has transformed into something much bigger: a fully realized independent bookstore rooted in community, creativity and connection," the Business Journal reported. 

The shop is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, August 22, to celebrate the relaunch with exclusive deals, a "bring a book, take a book" swap, and complimentary coffee and cookies.

"When I opened the Wandering Soul, I started as a shop with local art... and some books," Johnson said. "Now I can finally say I'm a bookstore, with more than 2,500 titles on the shelves."

Johnson's path to bookstore ownership "has been anything but conventional," the Business Journal noted. She left high school before graduating, later earning her GED at 21 and a bachelor's degree from Penn State Shenango at 28. She has worked as a server, bartender, caregiver, dog groomer, case manager, social media assistant, and business liaison--"roles that taught her adaptability and connection."

To reach her business goals, Johnson received support from organizations including the city of Sharon, Shenango LaunchBox, Sharon Economic Development Grant Committee, Sharon Community Development Corp., and the Small Business Development Center at Gannon University.

"We are excited to collaborate with Dani and other regional economic development agencies to help strengthen and grow her business," said Tom Roberts, project coordinator for Shenango LaunchBox. "She brings great energy and joy to the downtown community, and it will be exciting to see her dreams take flight."

Johnson added: "This space is about community. It's about joy, safety and walking into a place where something speaks to you--whether it's a story, a piece of art or just a quiet moment."

In an Instagram post announcing the ribbon-cutting, Johnson wrote: "This isn't just a relaunch--it's a celebration of growth, community, and the dream of a little girl who always wanted her own bookstore. Come see how far we've come."

Flor. Coffee + Books, a Buenos Aires-inspired cafe and bookshop, is hosting its grand opening celebration today, August 22, at 1220 31st St. NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Co-owners Florencia Agrazo and Marco Ferrario had a soft-opening last week

During the pandemic, Agrazo began gratitude journaling to help deal with anxiety. Washingtonian reported that "she and the practice bloomed--she even published her own series of gratitude journals." Nearly five years later, Flor. Coffee + Books is the physical manifestation of those habits. "The idea is to build a space where people can stop the rushing, so that they can be present," Agrazo said

The second-floor bookshop is stocked with English- and Spanish-language volumes about mental health, healthy cooking, and gratitude. There is also a "gratitude machine," a ticket dispenser that Agrazo has filled with prompts like, "Recall a song or piece of art that uplifts you." Couch and table seating are also offered.

"We want people to feel that they are entering a friend's living room, their grandma's house," Agrazo said. "And to connect with this quiet environment where they can almost take their shoes off."

The food menu, developed by chef Jovana Urriola, features American classics like sandwiches and breakfast bowls, with dressings and sauces inflected with Agrazo's Argentinian heritage. An array of Argentinian pastries are also on offer.

HarperCollins plans to build "a state-of-the-art supply chain logistics facility" in Brownsburg, Ind., an Indianapolis suburb. Scheduled to open in 2028, the 1.6-million-square-foot warehouse will use "the most advanced technology available to improve efficiency, enhance fulfillment accuracy, reduce waste, and increase visibility and control over the supply chain."

The company said it will draw on "valuable insights" from the Robroyston warehouse in Glasgow, Scotland, that it recently opened. The new Indiana facility will have the capacity to ship more than 300 million books annually, and will allow for continued growth and future acquisitions.

President and CEO Brian Murray stated, "HarperCollins has experienced significant transformation and growth over the last 15 years, and now is the time to expand our North American footprint. This state-of-the-art facility is an investment in our authors, our customers, and the future of our business, positioning us for growth."

Unlike the other big five U.S. publishers, who in recent years have invested heavily in their warehouses and expanded distribution services divisions, for 15 years HarperCollins has outsourced its distribution and logistics, consolidating the number of warehouses used from five to one. But in that same time, HarperCollins's revenue has nearly doubled, in part with the acquisitions of Thomas Nelson, Harlequin, and HMH Media.

The facility is expected to create more than 400 supply-chain logistics jobs and an additional 375 jobs during the construction phase.

Brownsburg Town Council president Travis Tschaenn said, "HarperCollins's investment in our community will bring new, exciting employment opportunities and helps establish Brownsburg as an ideal location for business growth at the international level."

Denmark plans to abolish the value-added tax on books in effort to get more people reading. The Guardian reported that, at 25%, the country's tax rate on books is the highest in the world, a policy the government believes is contributing to a growing "reading crisis." 

By comparison, VAT on books is 14% in Finland, 6% in Sweden, and zero in Norway. Sweden reduced its VAT on books in 2001, "resulting in a rise in book sales, but analysis found they were bought by existing readers," the Guardian noted. Other Nordic countries also charge a standard rate of 25% VAT, but it does not apply to books.

Culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said the government would propose in its budget bill that the tax on books be removed, a decision that is expected to cost 330 million kroner (about $51 million) a year. 

"This is something that I, as minister of culture, have worked for, because I believe that we must put everything at stake if we are to end the reading crisis that has unfortunately been spreading in recent years," he told the Ritzau news agency. "I am incredibly proud. It is not every day that one succeeds in convincing colleagues that such massive money should be spent on investing in the consumption and culture of the Danes."

He added: "It is also about getting literature out there. That is why we have already allocated money for strengthened cooperation between the country's public libraries and schools, so that more children can be introduced to good literature."

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Waterstones is opening 10 new stores per year in the U.K. and is "considering new kinds of locations, from inside department stores to parts of the country where it is less well known, such as Northern Ireland and Scotland," the Guardian reported, adding that the chain "is enjoying strong sales as younger adults embrace reading as an escape from their screens and as online competition eases."

"People have come back to reading and buying books in bookshops as we have made a place which is an enjoyable and effective way to buy books," said CEO James Daunt of the retailer, which operates 320 U.K. bookshops, owns the Foyles, Hatchards and Blackwell's names, and whose parent group also owns Barnes & Noble.

Waterstones' sales revenues are up 5%, about half of which is due to higher prices with the rest a result of selling "lots and lots of books," Daunt noted, adding that social media is influencing younger adults to buy books. 

"They want to do something not staring at a screen and relatively inexpensive, and once people start collecting books they just buy more," Daunt says. "BookTok is an easy label to put on it, but this is about people wanting to read and talk about books."

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Congratulations to Flying Books in Toronto, Ont., Canada, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month. Quill & Quire reported that founder and publishing industry veteran Martha Sharpe "credits the growth of her business over the last 10 years--from one table-top bookshelf in a downtown Toronto store to a two-storefront retail operation, publishing house, writing school, and mentorship program--to a very simple choice she continues to make: not saying no."

In 2015, Sharpe began her journey to bring books to more downtown spaces by building a bookshelf in the Weekend Variety, an art and gift shop owned by the late gallerist Katharine Mulherin,. 

"An opportunity presents itself and you can say, in that moment, no--or you can say, well, hold on, maybe, and then you just keep going and you keep not saying no, and that's what happened. Maybe the biggest risk ever was building a shelf in the house I was renting, and saying, 'I'm going to do this,' " Sharpe said, adding: "That's the thing about a 10th anniversary, or any anniversary: it lets you pause, and go, wow. This is here because you guys keep coming here, and it definitely wouldn't be here if it weren't for that." --Robert Gray

Bookshop.org and Two Trees Press, publisher of Among Friends: An Illustrated Oral History of American Book Publishing and Bookselling in the 20th Century, have partnered to make a donation to support the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

"We are happy to support Binc's mission with a $5,000 gift," said Buz Teacher, publisher of Two Trees Press. "Binc is the only nonprofit in the country dedicated to assisting booksellers and comic shop employees in need."

Binc CEO Pam French commented: "At its core Binc is about book people caring for book people and this generous donation from our partners is a great example of that in action. Thank you Bookshop.org and Two Trees Press; we truly couldn't do what we do without you."

Two Trees Press was founded in 2022 with a focus on 20th-century American book publishing and bookselling. Among Friends was released in 2023 as a limited edition, and a new trade paperback edition is in the works.

Starling Lawrence with Michael Lewis at Norton’s centenary celebration in 2023.  (credit: Hechler Photography)

Starling Lawrence, longtime editor at W.W. Norton & Company, died yesterday after a short illness. He was 82.

Lawrence edited "scores of era-defining books in his 55-year career" at Norton, the company wrote. He began as an assistant to Evan Thomas and only a decade later was elected a vice-president and director. In 1989, he was named executive editor of the trade department. He became editor-in-chief in 1993 and vice-chairman in 2000. He was editor-at-large at his death, most recently working on books by David Ignatius, Michael Lewis, and David McCloskey.

"It is impossible to overstate the effect Star Lawrence has had on Norton," chairman and president Julia Reidhead said. "His taste was as confident and true as his spirit, and he transformed our list with some of the greatest writers of our time. And beyond this, through gestures both large and small, he wove generations of his Norton colleagues into a family."

"Unlike traditional Norton editors, who tended to hit the book equivalent of singles, Star would swing for the fences and aim at home runs," said Don Lamm, former chairman and president.

"Starling Lawrence was not only the most successful trade editor in the 100-year history of our firm, as editor-in-chief he led the trade department in a period of unparalleled growth," said Drake McFeely, former chairman and president. "Until Star took charge, the trade department enjoyed the occasional bestseller. In the Lawrence era, the department came to depend upon its regular bestsellers and they, in turn, lifted the rest of the distinguished list."

Lawrence had what the company called "an unmatched impact on the trade list, shaping its character with culturally important books that sold millions of copies. Lawrence discovered future bestsellers in unlikely places: the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts, the dusty top shelf of an agent's bookcase, and in proposals rejected by the rest of the industry."

His major nonfiction bestsellers include Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me; Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street; and Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, which he acquired for $35,000 after reading Junger's Outside magazine article about the devastating North Atlantic storm. "He saw something really crucial to the ease of reading that book," said Junger, who credited Lawrence in the New York Times for helping him blend the narrative's multiple storylines.

He acquired Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker and went on to edit 17 books by Lewis, including Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, and Going Infinite. The two first met in 1987 to talk about Lewis's idea of writing a history of Wall Street. The publisher said: "At the time, the young writer imagined a tame book; the result was far from the idea he first proposed. Lewis recalled, 'Between the time Star bought Liar's Poker and the time I finished it, he'd teased out of me a memoir of my time at Salomon Brothers that scandalized Wall Street and made me persona non grata there for nearly a decade.' "

On the fiction side, Lawrence acquired U.S. rights to Patrick O'Brian's 21-volume Aubrey-Maturin series, better known by the first title in the series, Master and Commander. He learned of the books when he borrowed two of the titles "from a London agent's bookshelf for his flight back to New York," Norton wrote.

Other authors Lawrence published include Susan Wise Bauer, Vincent Bugliosi, Nicole Krauss, Mary S. Lovell, Robert McCrum, Michael Ondaatje, Graham Robb, Mary Lee Settle, Victoria Shorr, Ali Soufan, Ian W. Toll, and A.N. Wilson.

In his early years as an assistant in charge of reading the slush pile, Lawrence found, as he later recounted, "a first novel, The Lasko Tangent, by Richard North Patterson, who went on to write many legal bestsellers; a first novel by James Grady, Six Days of the Condor, which was the basis of a film starring Robert Redford called Three Days of the Condor; and a very lively and useful guide to personal finance by a rising star in the Princeton economics department, Burton Malkiel. It was called A Random Walk Down Wall Street; it is now a backlist staple of both our trade and college departments."

In his 50s, he began writing, and published four works of fiction: a story collection called Legacies and the novels Montenegro, The Thief of Words, and The Lightning Keeper.

Brendan Curry, director of the trade group said, "As an editor, Star stood alone. In a business consumed by fads and fashions, he dedicated himself to what, as he said, was 'on the page.' As a colleague, he was as likely to drop a clutch of kale from his garden on your desk as he was to drop a manuscript.

"He couldn't care less who your parents were or where (or whether) you went to school. He wanted to know what you thought about the world and what books you wanted to see in it. And if by chance you passed the conference room at the right moment, you would be summoned to sit while he made you a tomato-and-cucumber sandwich. He was the rarest combination of exacting taste and enormous generosity, and I will miss him."

Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C., hosted its third Community Teach-in, on "The Role of the States in Preserving and Advancing U.S. Democracy," with Maryland Governor Wes Moore (author of The Other Wes Moore, Five Days, et al.). The talk was moderated by co-owner Lissa Muscatine, and more than 400 community members attended. As the leader of a state deeply affected by the Trump administration's firings, budget cuts, and policy changes, Moore talked about what he and other state officials around the country are doing to protect constituents and preserve U.S. democracy.

A recording of the event (which was livestreamed) is on the bookstore's YouTube. (photo: MDGovpics)

The New Romantics romance bookstore, Orlando, Fla., shared a fun video portraying the occasional customer misunderstandings about the concept of preordering, noting: "All jokes--but little reminder to check out preorder release dates before placing orders! We have over 700 books on our website available for preorder now!!"

"We love teachers!" Roebling Books & Coffee, with locations in Covington, Newport, and Dayton, Ky., noted in posting a photo of the outdoor community board in Newport, which "features some outstanding teachers! Please share a teacher's name that made an impact on your life. To show our appreciation, all teachers and librarians receive 15% off all purchases. Just show your ID at checkout and we'll take care of you!"

Posted on Instagram by Tome Books & Novelteas, Cincinnati, Ohio: "We just want to take a moment to say thank you. Every visit, every kind word, every book you take home, it all means the world to us. None of this would be possible without the amazing support of our community. We've got so many exciting new things coming your way, and we're already getting started on our fall décor... it's going to be nothing short of magical. From Autumn and I, thank you for making this little bookstore dream a reality."

Josh Holloway (Duster, Lost) will star in an MPI Original Films adaptation of William R. Forstchen's bestselling novel One Second After. Deadline reported that Holloway will play John Matherson, a college professor and former military officer who must protect his community after an electromagnetic pulse attack cripples the nation. 

Veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director Scott Rogers (Tron: Ares, John Wick: Chapter 4) will direct the film, which is a co-production of MPI Original Films and Startling Inc. with filming set to begin in Sofia, Bulgaria next month. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the script. 

A shortlist has been released for the 2025 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, which celebrates "compelling storytelling with brilliant characterization and a distinct voice," and is presented annually to "novels that combine immersive narratives, vivid settings, and unforgettable characters." The winner receives both £2,000 (about $2,680) and an engraved glass bell. This year's shortlisted titles are:

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks 
James by Percival Everett 
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey 
A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike 
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak 
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker 

Goldsboro Books managing director David Headley said: "Each year, the Glass Bell Award reminds us of the extraordinary breadth of talent in contemporary fiction, and this year's shortlist is no exception. These six books are wildly different in style, scope and setting, yet they all share that rare magic--the ability to completely transport a reader. From the first page to the last, they demand to be read, remembered and shared, and I'm thrilled to celebrate such bold and brilliant storytelling."

photo: Jessica Fakes

Fadi Zaghmout is a Jordanian author and activist who writes bold, thought-provoking fiction and champions sexual freedoms and body rights. His novels include The Bride of Amman, the futuristic Heaven on Earth trilogy, and Laila. Zaghmout's work has been translated into English, French, and Italian. His latest novel, The Man of Middling Height (Syracuse University Press, August 15, 2025), translated from the Arabic by Wasan Abdelhaq, centers on a romance between a short dressmaker and her client who is of middle height and therefore shunned by society.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

Short. Tall. What about in-between? This daring novel flips gender and identity debates into a world ruled by height. A must-read social commentary.

On your nightstand now:

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I have to say, the last one is my favorite. World War II has always fascinated me, and I'm deeply impressed by Anthony's masterful prose. I'm in love with his language--his words, his sentences, and the emotional depth of the story as a whole.

Favorite book when you were a child:

It's probably Animal Farm by George Orwell. We were assigned to read it in high school, and it's stayed with me ever since. Its layers of meaning and sharp political allegory left a lasting impression.

Your top five authors:

Ken Follett, Dan Brown, Alaa Al Aswany, Nawal El Saadawi, and Fil Inocencio Jr.

Book you've faked reading:

It would be a book written by someone I know--someone excited to share it with me and eager for my feedback. I give it a try, but I can't seem to make it to the end. So I fake it, carefully choosing my words to avoid hurting their feelings.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine is smart, witty, and deeply scientific. It shatters myths about testosterone and challenges outdated ideas about gender roles with solid research.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro drew me in with its beautiful cover and moved me with its heartfelt story. I love Ishiguro's writing style and have a soft spot for future-set narratives. Klara herself is an endearing, lovable character who kept me turning the pages to the very end.

Book you hid from your parents:

I don't remember ever hiding books from my parents, but I do recall feeling shy about reading a section in a popular magazine where people asked questions about sex and sexuality.

Book that changed your life:

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. I read it when I was feeling stuck and unsatisfied at work. It taught me to be courageous, step out of my comfort zone, and keep searching for my "cheese."

Favorite line from a book:

"But death for most of us is not that way. Like my father's, it takes place quietly, in the knowledge that life has been worth living and that we have been loved. I'd like to die in a chair reading a book, but one thing I know is that I really don't want to be asleep. In case I miss what may just be life's most wonderful experience." --from The Seven Ages of Death by Richard Shepherd

Five books you'll never part with:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley sparked my love for visionary literature. It fueled my fascination with imagining the future and inspired me to write my own sci-fi trilogy, Heaven on Earth.

1984 by George Orwell is one of my all-time favorite books. Growing up in a region ruled by authoritarian regimes, its themes hit close to home. Even today, it gives me chills--especially seeing how we're normalizing surveillance for children through in-home cameras.

The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter is a radical feminist masterpiece that directly inspired me to write Laila. I was captivated by how karma catches up with the misogynist protagonist, forcing him to live in a female body. Carter's imagination and critique of gender are brilliant.

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi was a turning point in my early 20s when I first read it in Arabic. It helped shape my feminist consciousness and my stance against the injustices women face. I reread it in English two years ago and was just as deeply moved. El Saadawi remains a personal role model.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides opened my eyes to the world of intersex individuals and introduced me to Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. It sparked a deep curiosity in me about how human sex develops, and pushed me to explore the complexities beyond the binary.

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

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is probably my all-time favorite. I've read it multiple times, watched the film twice, and even chose it as the focus of my MA dissertation.

The drug Sand can perfect everything; it is the secret to how Alchemists have been able to run society from the shadows, unnoticed by most normal people. Ari and Sam, however, are not most people, though neither of them knows their potential when they're singled out and plucked from obscurity by competing Alchemist factions, Grand Central and Lumines, in Marie Lu's adult fantasy debut, Red City. Ari is taken from his family in Surat, India, as a child, with no idea what the Lumines plan for him, or what he will eventually become. He takes secret classes after the normal school where he befriends Sam. Sam, however, finds her own way to Grand Central as she tries to make life better for herself and for her mother, who raised her alone after a tragic accident. Though they're friends at school, neither Ari nor Sam understand how this shadowy world will change their lives and what roles they'll play in the endless quest driven by power, ambition, and the desire to control Angel City.

But Sam and Ari increasingly wonder: If everything is capable of being perfected, of being transformed into something better, will any experience or prize ever be enough? When Sam and Ari reconnect in adulthood, each with distinctly different Alchemist skills, they find themselves on opposite sides of a city primed for war, with no end in sight of the escalation to the skirmishes between the syndicates Grand Central and Lumines to control the Sand market. Lu's captivating worldbuilding taps into the questions she had while being raised by immigrant parents of what can be lost to ambition. She probes the dark underbelly of a glittering system of power that can offer so much promise with the same hands that also extend incalculable violence. Her characters embody a rich tapestry of human experience, of human nature, of the choices one might make when they think they have no other option, but also, of the choices that will be made not to lose control or become vulnerable.

Red City's alternate Los Angeles becomes the perfect backdrop for this twisted world to unfold, picking at the monstrousness and cruelty that underlies one's brightest possibilities, including those of apprentices Ari and Sam, those who shape them, the mother who could not protect her daughter, and the doctor who contemplates the price of causing harm in the name of medical progress. Lu essentially offers readers the chance to contemplate what they themselves might do for power, if they knew the costs--and whether they would ever decide to walk away. Red City is an enthralling first installment of the New Alchemists series, sure to leave readers clamoring for more. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Marie Lu stuns with this dark contemporary fantasy that probes the true cost of perfection.