Little Blue Pigeon will open on April 1 in Denver, Colo., Mile High CRE reported. Located at 1413 Larimer St., Suite 100, in Denver's Larimer Square, Little Blue Pigeon will carry a curated selection of general-interest books for all ages. The opening inventory will consist of around 4,000 titles, and event plans include storytime sessions, author talks, artisan pop-ups, and much more. 

Prior to founding Little Blue Pigeon, owner Paige Dungan had a career in book marketing for more than 20 years. She is also the author of a children's book. 

"I’ve built my career around launching, positioning and championing authors and literary voices," Dungan told Mile High CRE. "The Little Blue Pigeon is a natural extension of that work--a move from promoting books to creating a permanent physical platform for them--and I couldn’t be more excited to launch this store."

A major part of Little Blue Pigeon's mission is the program Book Forward. Each month, the store will donate one book to a local literacy organization for every five books sold. The partner organization will change monthly, with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit BookGive set to be the first.

"The beneficiary rotates monthly to support a broad spectrum of literacy initiatives across the city," Dungan explained. "The idea is that when our shelves thrive, we can also help the community thrive."

Dungan will celebrate the bookstore's opening with an event on Saturday, April 25. Festivities will include snacks, a children's scavenger hunt, and more.

Semicolon Books will open in Bethlehem, Pa., this spring, 69 News reported. The general-interest, all-ages bookstore will be located at 559 Main St., Suite 007, in downtown Bethlehem. Coffee and tea will be available, and there will be a lounge nook where customers can relax and read.

Co-owners and married couple Charles Debski and Udval Yun are aiming for a late March or early April opening. Prior to opening Semicolon Books, they lived in New York City and both worked corporate jobs. Books proved to be an escape from their high-pressure jobs and they sought out bookstores as places of refuge. After moving to Bethlehem, the pair decided to open a bookstore of their own. 

Debski told 69 News that they "always liked the atmosphere that a bookstore brings to a community, especially a neighborhood bookstore. It’s cozy, brings people together and is a place where people can relax. That’s also where we drew our name from with the semicolon because in a sentence, a semicolon is a pause in a sentence and not necessarily the end of a sentence. So, we thought all of that came together in what reading really meant for us."

The Yellow House in Tiverton, R.I., is adding a new bar and cafe, FUN107 reported. The bar and cafe, called the Corner Bar, will feature beer, wine, nonalcoholic beverages, and an assortment of pre-made snacks. It will occupy the bookstore's back room and officially open April 9. Hours will expand over the summer, with cocktail and food pop-ups planned.

"We opened the store at the end of November 2024," owner Jai-Lee Egna told FUN107. "We've envisioned the bar space since prior to opening the shop so it is exciting to have it finally be realized. We believe every town should have a bookshop and we wanted to create a space for neighbors and community to meet, connect, and learn." 

The Yellow House is located at 3842 Main Rd., in the historic Benjamin F. Seabury House.

A new leadership team has been named for the Feminist Press at the City University of New York, with Dr. Norrell Edwards stepping into the role of chair of the board of directors and Caro Llewellyn joining the organization as executive director. The changes were effective on March 16.

Edwards and Llewellyn "will guide the independent nonprofit publisher into its next phase--expanding the reach of feminist literature, deepening its commitment to diverse voices, and strengthening its role as a platform for writers whose work challenges injustice and reimagines the possibilities of publishing," the Feminist Press noted.

"As chair of the Feminist Press board, I am honored to follow in the trailblazing footsteps of those who have insisted that women's voices will not be dismissed, erased, footnoted, censored, or silenced," said Edwards. "I first encountered the press when I read All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave, the landmark anthology of Black feminist studies published in 1982. Feminism isn't just some 'ism' applicable only within the academy; feminism is about lived realities. As a scholar, activist, and mother, I know firsthand the importance of feminist writing that speaks to everyday women fighting against oppression, gives voice to the unheard, and imagines new possibilities for the future. I am eager to continue that work. Especially now, we desperately need champions for voices and perspectives in danger of being silenced--and Feminist Press is that champion."

Llewellyn has directed major literary festivals around the world and worked with influential writers. She previously served as director of the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature.

"It is a privilege to join Feminist Press at such a pivotal moment," said Llewellyn. "For five and a half decades, the press has opened space for writers whose work reshapes how we understand power, identity, and possibility. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Edwards, the remarkable staff, and the board of directors to build new pathways for feminist writing. I'm excited to lead the team in championing bold voices, expanding global literary exchange, and ensuring that transformative stories continue to reach readers and spark conversation in the years ahead."

Hong Kong bookseller Pong Yat-ming, founder of Book Punch bookstore in Sham Shui Po, and three staff members were arrested for selling a biography of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee‑ying, and other publications, the South China Morning Post reported. They face accusations of selling seditious publications and breaching the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

Pong Yat-ming, Book Punch owner

National Security Department officers seized books, including the Jimmy Lai biography The Troublemaker, written by Mark Clifford, a former independent non-executive director of Next Digital, the jailed tycoon's company and parent of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, SCMP wrote. Lai is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of three charges, including conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials. Officials have also ordered three companies linked to Apple Daily removed from the city's companies registry. 

Police did not confirm the arrests, saying only that they "will take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law," the Associated Press reported. The bookstore did not immediately comment, but remained closed on Wednesday, with a notice outside its door saying: "Taking a day off due to an unexpected situation. Sorry for any inconvenience." On Monday, Hong Kong authorities had "amended the implementation rules to the 2020 security law, signaling efforts to step up its national security crackdown." 

In a statement, Jessica Sänger, chair of the International Publishers Association's Freedom to Publish Committee, said: "Publishers need booksellers for their works to reach their readers. Their work is essential for the trinity of freedoms--the freedom of expression, the freedom to publish and the freedom to read--to be secured in practice. We back the EIBF's support for the booksellers at Book Punch whose detention illustrates how Hong Kong's book sector has changed. It is another shocking reminder of our 2018 Prix Voltaire laureate, Gui Minhai, the Swedish / Hong Kong publisher and bookseller who remains in prison for his work promoting the trinity of freedoms." 

Fabian Paagman European & International Booksellers Federation, commented: "Booksellers play a vital role in society by making diverse ideas, perspectives, and debates accessible to the public. Their freedom to curate and offer a wide range of literature is essential to fostering a vibrant cultural landscape and an informed, curious society. The arrest of booksellers for simply providing access to knowledge and literature is an unacceptable attack on intellectual freedom. The EIBF stands firmly with all those who defend the right to read, publish, and sell books without fear of repression."

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Sean Toal has stepped down as CEO at TG Jones, with Alex Willson succeeding him in the role, the Bookseller reported. TG Jones is the rebranded name for all 480 of WH Smith's high street stores that were sold to investment company Modella Capital in March 2025.

Under Modella, the business was led by Toal, previously CEO of its high-street business. The company filed the termination of his appointment on March 16. His successor, Willson, is the former CEO of Hobbycraft. Robert Unworth has joined the company as COO. 

A spokesperson for TG Jones told the Bookseller: "The economic conditions for all retail businesses are tough. The combination of cost inflation, weak consumer confidence and adverse Government fiscal policies puts significant pressure on all retailers. Against this backdrop, the management of TG Jones is working hard to turn around this important retail business, and they are drawing on the best available advice in doing so. TG Jones' management and Modella Capital are committed to building a sustainable future for this important U.K. business."

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Malaysian bookseller SBC Books & Stationery Sdn Bhd in Johor Bahru, a family-owned bookstore that has operated for 68 years, was destroyed by fire earlier this week. Bernama reported that third-generation owner Kader Mohideen Basheer Ahmed said the incident not only wiped out the family business, but also destroyed memories built over decades.

Noting that the fire razed almost the entire premises and its stock, he added: "This shop is not just a place of business, but where my siblings and I grew up. We used to live upstairs while the bookstore operated below. It has not only affected our business, but also destroyed our memories here.... I have yet to explain the situation to my mother, who is over 80 years old. She has been told it was a small fire, as I do not want to worry her. We accept this incident as a test and will focus on rebuilding, although it will take time." 

The application window for Scholastic's Diversity and Inclusion Bookseller Scholarship, which helps two booksellers from underrepresented communities attend Children's Institute, is closing soon.

Scholarship winners will be chosen at random and receive free registration for CI, which will be held June 26-29 in Schaumburg, Ill.; complimentary hotel accommodation; and reimbursement for travel expenses up to $2,500. Applications are open to booksellers who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ and whose stores are American Booksellers Association members.

Applications are open until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on March 31. Booksellers can find more information and apply here.

Artist/author Daniel Arsham returned to his alma mater, Cooper Union in New York City, to discuss his new book Future Relic: Failures, Disasters, Detours, and How I Made a Career as an Artist (Authors Equity) with James Frey (Next to Heaven, Authors Equity). Their wide-ranging conversation covered the artistic process and the business side of the arts. Strand Bookstore was on site with signed books available for purchase. Photo: Madeline McIntosh

Congratulations to the Underground Bookshop in Carrollton, Ga., which recently "celebrated 15 years of this little magical hobbit hole bookstore!" the bookseller posted on Facebook, adding: "From 2011-2026 we have had many wonderful customers, employees, owners, and bookish fun! Thank you to Josh and Megan for making Underground what it is today. Thank you to Anna for continuing the legacy and taking over ownership. Most importantly, a huge thank you to YOU GUYS for keeping literacy alive in our little downtown area. Cheers to many more years of books, community, and reading. And here's to 15 more years of The Underground Bookshop!"

"March into Spring with a good book." That was the seasonally optimistic sidewalk chalkboard message recently in front of Wonderland Books in Bethesda, Md. 

Simon & Schuster will sell and distribute Bedford Square Publishers in the U.S., Canada, and the Open Market beginning April 1.

Founded in 2022, Bedford Square Publishers publishes fiction and nonfiction. Its prize-winning fiction catalogue features crime and thrillers, espionage, and suspense under the No Exit Press imprint as well as book club favourites and romance. In nonfiction, Bedford Square publishes gift books, memoirs, wellness titles, and works on history and big ideas.

At the Tor Publishing Group:

Emily Mlynek has been promoted to senior director of marketing.

Becky Yeager has been promoted to associate director, ad/promo and marketing.

Tyrinne Lewishas been promoted to senior marketing manager.

Tiana Tolbert has been promoted to senior social media manager.

Samantha Friedlander has been promoted to associate marketing manager.

Lizzy Hosty has been promoted to associate manager, publishing strategy.

Alexa Best has been promoted to publishing strategy associate.

Primal Fear, the 1993 novel by William Diehl that was adapted into a 1996 movie starring Richard Gere and Ed Norton, is being developed for the stage by Bill Kenwright Ltd., Deadline reported. The show is aiming for a 2027 launch in London's West End and ideally a subsequent run on Broadway. 

Bill Kenwright Ltd. struck the deal with literary manager-producer Ken Atchity, representing the literary estate of author Diehl. Atchity will serve as executive producer along with Diehl literary estate managing partner Michael A. Simpson.

"Primal Fear is one of the great legal thrillers of our time, with all the ingredients to be a major theatrical event," said David Gilbery, CEO of the Bill Kenwright Group, calling the work "a gripping, brilliantly constructed story with real depth and a great twist. At the heart of it is the extraordinary character of Aaron Stampler--memorably brought to life by Ed Norton in the film adaptation. I can't wait for audiences to experience this story for the first time on stage."

Hulu is developing the legal drama Opposing Counsel, based on Sheldon Siegel's book series, from Lauren Fields (The Flash), Morgan Faust (The Company You Keep, DC's Legends of Tomorrow) and Rideback, Deadline reported. Fields and Faust executive produce along with Jonathan Gabay, Jonathan Elrich, and Michael LoFaso for Rideback.

Written by Fields and Faust, Opposing Counsel is set in San Francisco and "centers on newly elected District Attorney Rosie Fernandez and her ex-priest-turned-defense-attorney husband Mike Daley as they navigate their marriage living on opposite sides of the law. Mike, Rosie and their teams of richly drawn colleagues regularly face off in court as they each fight for what they believe is right in an unpredictable legal climate."

A longlist has been released for the 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize. Judges Andrea Cote, Luke Hathaway, and Major Jackson each read 461 books of poetry, including 34 translations from 19 languages, submitted by 219 publishers from 42 different countries. 

The shortlist will be revealed April 22 and a winner named June 3 at the Griffin Poetry Prize Readings in Toronto. The winner receives C$130,000 (about US$93,995), while the other shortlisted authors each get C$10,000 (about US$7,230). Check out this year's longlisted titles here.

photo: Steven Weinberg

Casey Scieszka is a born-and-raised Brooklynite who's lived in Beijing, San Francisco, Fez, and Timbuktu. In 2013, she opened the Spruceton Inn: A Catskills Bed & Bar, which runs an annual artist residency hosting painters, authors, and Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalists. She's the author of The Fountain (Harper, March 17, 2026), a propulsive novel in which Vera, forever 26 and able to heal from any wound, returns to the Catskills to undo her immortality.

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:

A secretly 214-year-old "young" woman returns home to figure out what did this to her so she can reverse it and finally die.

On your nightstand now:

Gotta have a mix to cover different moods!

Short stories? Ghostroots by 'Pemi Aguda.

Lyrical and epic? The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers.

Heart needs a warm cup of tea? A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna.

Plus three galleys you should also stack on your nightstand once they're out:

Retro by Jessica Goldstein because I have the honor of blurbing this hilarious read about an America where the rich can time travel just for touristic funsies.

American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald, in which he follows the footsteps of Johnny Appleseed and you're right there with him walking, pondering, and cracking up.

The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza, which is going to be your fun summer read: '90s Paris and Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, who took his at-the-time-of-his-death-worthless paintings and made him famous.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Am I allowed to say The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by my dad, Jon Scieszka (with illustrations by Lane Smith)?

Close second: The Giver by Lois Lowry for showing me from an early age that all of society's rules--even the most "sacred" and seemingly unchangeable ones--are completely made up despite their power and can therefore be changed.

Your top five authors:

Impossible question! My husband, Steven Weinberg? I cannot wait for his epic, fully illustrated how-to: The Fly Fishing Book: An Artful Guide to Angling (Odd Dot, May 2026). It's gorgeous and funny and anybody who has fished or wants to needs a copy.

Okay, how about this--whenever I hear one of these authors has a new book, I always give a happy squeal and preorder immediately:

Samantha Irby (Wow, No Thank You). Can't read her books in public because I will be crying laughing and creating a scene.

Olga Ravn is the queen of odd premises. Think: a report interviewing mutinous robots on a spaceship (The Employees) or a tale from the point of view of a witch's wax doll in 1600s Denmark (The Wax Child).

Jason (aka John Arne Sæterøy), the Norwegian graphic novelist (I Killed Adolf Hitler), tells stunning, deep stories with dog people--yes, you read that right--in surreal situations and I cannot get enough.

George Saunders (Tenth of December) is the king of making the bizarre accessible and his execution is so warm. I subscribe to his Substack so I've seen a little bit of the enormous work that goes into making his prose feel so effortless.

Book you've faked reading:

I haven't faked reading something since I was a kid pretending to "read" a picture book that I'd actually just memorized the words to, haha.

But I am guilty of "faking enthusiasm for" or more precisely "cloaking any disappointment in" a book publicly because I refuse to be negative about a book to any kind of large audience, especially online where it lives forever and can make its way to the author. (Unless it's hateful, then get it outta here!) Because no book is supposed to please everyone! It's why "If you like So-and-So and This Kind of Style/Subject" is a more helpful rec than "I loved it."

Book you're an evangelist for:

Open Throat by Henry Hoke. It's a slim, hilarious, thought-provoking novel told from the point of view of a mountain lion who lives under the Hollywood sign. It'll get anyone out of a reading slump!

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Houseguest by Amparo Dávila (translated by Matthew Gleeson and Audrey Harris). That green and pink! That perfect chair! Luckily the inside is just as striking.

Book you hid from your parents:

My parents were both big read-whatever-you-like parents, so I don't remember ever hiding any books. However I do remember reading a stack of Mary Higgins Clark mysteries I picked up at a drugstore in Florida one spring break when I was 12 and having horrible nightmares and thinking, I'm not going to tell my parents because they'll tell me to stop and I'm too addicted to put these down.

Book that changed your life:

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, 5th grade English class. Its examination of "Would you choose to live forever?" fascinated me for so long I literally had to write my own grown-up version just to get these questions out of my head! I'm not even kidding. There is no The Fountain without Tuck Everlasting.

Favorite line from a book:

"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." I think about it every time I'm shopping alone.

Five books you'll never part with:

My original copy of William Golding's Lord of the Flies from middle school. I love seeing the earnest ballpoint pen marginalia, like "Man Vs. Nature." I was lucky enough to have the not-yet-an-author-at-the-time Sarah Shun-lien Bynum as my teacher and it was one of those moments where I felt a door to a new wing in the house of my reading brain open because of her.

My copy of The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver I dragged around West Africa. It's about an American missionary family in 1960s Belgian Congo and while it's a completely different time and country, I connected with it deeply while on the road. Its spine is repaired with packing tape and there's still sand from the Sahara stuck in it.

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. I've bought and given away and rebought it for my own shelf more times than I can count because it should be required reading for any artistically inclined parent. (A mother puts her art aside to parent a toddler and... turns into a feral dog at night?? Brilliant.)

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer, which I picked up when I first decided I wanted to open a hotel. I use its wisdom every day at my place, the Spruceton Inn.

My galley of The Fountain. It was such a moment to see my name and "a novel" on the cover of a physical book for the first time; I don't want to ever forget that surge of joy.

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

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I don't want to say anything other than: that reveal! Oh my gosh. Don't read the back! Just dig in. You will be rewarded.

Five "difficult" books that are worth it:

Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann is 1,000 pages of a single sentence of interior monologue from a mom in Ohio. Let it flow over you--it is ultimately a masterpiece.

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue imagines the meeting of Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma, and while names and initial dynamics might be a little hard to follow, persevere! My favorite last chapter of a book maybe ever.

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti is 60,000 words taken from 600,000 words of 10 years of diaries with each sentence arranged in alphabetical order. Bananas! Feels like poetry, like your actual memory where time and people are sliding all over the place all at once.

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley is about the death by suicide of her mentor and dear friend so yes, it's dark, but oh it is also so full of love and light and even laughter. She reads the audiobook, which is a real treat.

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow is an epic doorstop of a book, but you will ultimately come out understanding that humanity has not been on an inevitable march to capitalism and broken democracies, and that most importantly, this means changing how we organize ourselves--even radically so--is very possible.

In Memory House, a posthumous novel by Elaine Kraf (1936-2013), a novelist enters a commune for failed artists. Magical realism and metafiction coalesce in another of this unsung genius's typically weird explorations of memory, creativity, and sexuality.

Marlane Frack is apprehensive as she sets out for Memory House, a retreat with a no-creation policy and an entry prerequisite of faking one's death. When Marlane asks chauffeur Solomon Ito, a film director (and Memory House resident), what state their destination is in, he jokingly replies, "A state of perpetual lethargy." "Expect confusion," he additionally instructs--which turns out to be good advice.

A ritualized welcome involves communal chanting of "These are not our best years!" Marlane soon recognizes poet Nadia Lagoon, a friend from her 20s in Provincetown; and composer Garreth Styne. She's troubled by recurring hallucinations that her mentally ill husband, Lenny, is there. Doctor Amazing promises to restore her creativity via "rejuvenation of memory," which unearths recollections of childhood molestation. Adding to the supporting cast are Dr. Mervin Fisher, a "crackpot" dentist; and Ivan Birch, a retired judge who wears women's lingerie. "Sexual obsessions flourish in a place like this," Garreth warns Marlane. Sol and Dr. Fisher proposition her before she and Garreth begin a romance. Oddest of all, though, is the arrival of Marlane's father--whom she believed dead of prostate cancer.

"This place is stranger than my weirdest novel," Marlane remarks. "If I don't leave soon, I'll have a breakdown." Kraf (Find Him!; The Princess of 72nd Street) often features mental institutions and, in her introduction, Lauren Oyler theorizes that Memory House is "an artist residency inside a mental hospital." ("If this isn't a lunatic asylum... ?" Garreth exclaims at one point.) Flashbacks and fantasies are delivered in italics; former lovers and artistic endeavors (including ballet) drift through. It all appears to add up to a metaphorical journey, with a symbolic death and rebirth for those departing to reenter Society.

Readers familiar with Kraf get the fun of looking out for Easter eggs from her previous work (e.g., Ferdinand the circus performer from I Am Clarence). It's both meta and tongue-in-cheek when Marlane sees a sign for "The Clown's Dominion" and observes, "It reads like something I could have written in a novel."

Kraf left behind several rejected manuscripts; Marlane, her autobiographical stand-in, feels she is passé due to changing literary tastes. Happily, Kraf's work is now being rediscovered. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: In this posthumous novel by an unsung genius, a novelist who fears her creativity has dried up moves into a retreat where the subconscious seems to take over and produce many a strange occurrence.