Bound Booksellers, a woman-owned boutique bookstore offering a curated collection of books, gifts, and stationery, will host a grand opening celebration this coming Saturday, July 18, in its new location at 158 Front St., Suite 106, Franklin, Tenn., after 10 years in Westhaven, the Williamson County Source reported. The move was first announced in April.

The store did have to deal with a water line bursting at the new space earlier this month, causing some flooding. Although a soft opening was delayed by the water damage, "we have plenty of people helping us clean up, organize, and restock our new physical location in @thefactoryatfranklin. And the books we lost will be able to be replaced (which also means double royalties for the authors, since we had to buy them twice, so a slight silver lining?)," the bookshop posted on Instagram. The grand opening is still on schedule. 

"I'm thrilled to be bringing Bound Booksellers to The Factory," said owner Sarah Brown. "I am passionate about engaging with our community and providing a welcoming, cozy space to gather. Our new location in such a vibrant, thriving space means we'll be able to reach even more readers than before!"

Our Town Books in Jacksonville, Ill., is relocating to 74 E. Central Park Plaza due to extensive water damage at its nearby downtown space. The Journal-Courier reported that owner Khristina Helmich "had been weighing the idea of expanding the store since taking it over in 2023, owing to the fact that it hosts multiple book clubs and community events. Within the past year, however, water damage from severe weather events helped solidify her choice."

Volunteers help with Our Town Books' move.

"Books and water don't mix," she said, adding that water leaking into the building from storms has caused about $1,000 worth of merchandise to be damaged in 2026 alone.

"We have literally sat here and watched the rain pour in through the windows," Helmich said. "Same thing in the back, where our storage room is (and) where we keep all of our inventory and extra things. We have literally watched it pour in on the walls."

Once set up in the new building, Our Town Books will continue running as normal after giving itself a week or two off to get things set up, with any new additions to the space most likely waiting until around January, the Journal-Courier noted.

Helmich noted that while she loved the bookstore's existing location and tried to make it work, moving to the new space will allow the store to "not just continue the business that we have, but make it better," including hosting more community events. "I think it's due, moving into a different space."

Our Town Books recently hosted a Book Brigade event to help with the move, posting on Instagram: "I don't even know how to express how thankful and relieved and happy we were to see all of you this morning. Our community (including other store owners!) showed up for us and moved ALL of our books in less than an hour! Then several of you stuck around to help us move all the furniture! We are just so insanely thankful. We can't wait to open the new store with all of you and today helped us so much! Thank YOU thank YOU, THANK YOU!!"

Hollow Oak Books & Goods will open this fall in Johns Creek, Ga., in the upcoming Medley mixed-use development, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported, adding that with "many people craving offline experiences as technology creeps into more corners of everyday life, there is a demand for businesses and spaces that promote analog activities like reading and in-person opportunities to connect."

"It's becoming more and more obvious as AI explodes and social media is ubiquitous," Hollow Oak owner Katie Bossie said. "There's a natural swing of the pendulum happening for a lot of people. More and more, we have to put conscious effort into engaging with long-form content like books, letting ourselves engage in activities where we're not distracted constantly with devices, retraining our brains."

Hollow Oak's name was inspired by the Nancy Drew novel The Message in the Hollow Oak. In addition to books, the store will sell stationery, art and artisan wares, and home goods. Bossie is also planning classes, craft nights, and game nights. Bossie noted that the goal of her business is to get people "stepping away from the screen and settling back into real life." 

She spent the past 10 years of her career in software sales, but told the Atlanta Business Chronicle that opening a bookstore had been on her mind for a while, shaped by a lifelong love of reading and a passion for discovering local businesses and community spaces. Visiting local shops and bookstores while on vacations with her husband also played a role in her decision. "The best books I've ever read have been placed into my hands by a bookseller," she said.

Hollow Oak is scheduled to open October 29, and Bossie noted that Johns Creek "has been somewhat underserved for an experiential, thoughtfully curated retail experience," she said, adding that she believes the change from software sales to opening a business a logical one: "It's that same mindset, that same level of accountability and ownership, that same level of thrill where you're responsible for your own destiny. You can make it be what you want. In that way, that was a delightful discovery."

Bossie told The Creek magazine that "Hollow Oak is a love letter to analog living--a counterbalance to the very digital age we are living in. We hope the shop will serve as a kind of sanctuary, allowing folks to get lost in the art, stories, craft and workmanship that represent the best of who we are as human beings."

Congratulations to Shelf Awareness co-founder and publisher emerita Jenn Risko, who has joined Book Advisors as a partner and will advise publishers on divestitures, acquisitions, and strategy.

Jenn Risko

For nearly 20 years at Shelf Awareness, she led the development of products that connected publishers, booksellers, and readers, and under her business leadership, the Shelf enjoyed sequential sales and profit growth. Before co-founding Shelf Awareness, she helped the National Academies launch a trade imprint, managed the trade business for Rand McNally, and led sales for Pacific Pipeline. In the course of her 30-year career, which began with her first job as a bookseller in her hometown of Westfield, N.J., she has had the pleasure of working with hundreds of people across the book industry.

David Lamb, principal in Book Advisors, said, "Jenn joins us at a pivotal time, as we're seeing more transaction activity in trade publishing than at any point since my partner Susan Reich and I founded Book Advisors in 2016. Jenn brings a vast and complementary network and her expertise is already proving itself in several of our sell-side mandates."

Jenn said, "It is almost miraculous to me that I get to continue doing one of my favorite things on a whole new level: learning everything I can about publishers and helping them with their dreams and worries. My experience with the Shelf was a life-changing journey, and I'm thrilled I get to go on this new adventure with people I've known and trusted for years: David and Susan, and my friend and their frequent collaborator Kuo-Yu Liang of Ku Worldwide LLC."

Books & Mortar in Grand Rapids, Mich., will close permanently next month, WZZM13 reported. 

In an announcement posted to Facebook, owner Jenny Kinne wrote that although she still believed in the "mission and work of Books & Mortar," she was "completely burned out." She explained: "For years, I've worked a full-time job while supporting this bookstore and becoming a mom. I am deeply exhausted, and as much as I wish I had the energy to give this place the love and care it needs to thrive, I don’t right now." 

The store's last regular day in business will be August 1, with Kinne planning a celebration of the bookstore on August 8. After August 8, some portions of Books & Mortar's online store will still be maintained, and some of the store's book clubs may continue at new venues.

"I know how much this place has meant to so many of you, and I am deeply sorry that I can't keep holding it," Kinne wrote. "My hope is that by letting this chapter end, I make room for new creativity, new gathering spaces, and new possibilities. Maybe Books & Mortar can emerge in another form someday, or maybe new endeavors will open in ways none of us can yet imagine."

Books & Mortar was founded in 2016 by Jonathan Shotwell and Christopher Roe. Kinne bought the bookstore two years later after working there as a bookseller. In 2021, she purchased a building and moved the store across the street, doubling its space.

"Thank you for making this dream real," Kinne continued. "Little Jenny, who dreamed of owning a bookstore, is heartbroken to close this chapter and overflowing with gratitude for everyone who made it possible."

Shahrnush Parsipur, "the celebrated Iranian writer whose subversive works of feminist fiction saw her repeatedly imprisoned" under the Shah as well as the Islamic Republic, died July 3, the Guardian reported. She was 80. Parsipur "excoriated the country's patriarchal culture" in novels like Women Without Men and Touba and the Meaning of Night. In 2026, a translation of Women Without Men from Persian to English by Faridoun Farrokh was published in the U.K. and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.

"Shahrnush's legacy in literary history can't really be compared to anyone else's," said her U.K. publisher Denise Rose Hansen. "Her singular vision and incredible courage have been, and will continue to be, a guiding star for so many people. Being in touch with her just a few days ago, she was as she always was: generous, warm, forthright, quick, brilliant. She will be profoundly missed."

Born in Tehran, Parsipur studied sociology at the University of Tehran. Her first novel, The Dog and the Long Winter (1974), is about a young Iranian woman introduced to activism via her brother and his friends. Parsipur "was first imprisoned after resigning from her job as a producer on an Iranian state TV program over the execution of two poets by Savak, the Iranian secret police," the Guardian noted. 

She was later imprisoned during the 1980s for four years and seven months without being formally charged, and wrote about her experience in Prison Memoir, which will be published in English for the first time in 2027. Her historical novel Touba and the Meaning of Night set the life story of one woman against an ever-changing 20th-century Iran. The novel will be published in English translation in 2028. Her other books include The Blue Reason, Shiva, Trial Offer, and Tea Ceremony in the Presence of the Wolf.

Women Without Men (1989) is set in Tehran during the 1953 coup d'état, and links the stories of five women who seek freedom from patriarchal oppression in a garden. A film adaptation directed by Shirin Neshat was released in 2009. The Guardian noted that the novel "became an underground success in Iran; soon, the wife of an Islamic Republic official came across it, and Parsipur was imprisoned again, this time over her depiction of women's sexuality. From 1994 onwards, Parsipur lived in political exile in the U.S."

"The women of Iran have changed so much, so many without hijab," she said in an interview with the Guardian earlier this year. "They don't care what the Islamic Republic thinks." Iran's women "will cause the fall of the Islamic Republic."

Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., shared some bookseller-inspired moments from this summer's FIFA Men's World Cup, including "display book jumping off the shelf even though nobody touched it."

"Day 1 of Finn's Summer Shred: A Tragedy in Three Poses," From My Shelf Books & Gifts in Wellsboro, Pa., posted on Instagram. "Finn has officially decided it's time to get back into shape. Naturally, he enlisted his favorite 'Tall Cat' (what he calls humans, because honestly, we're just oversized, less-furred versions of them) to be his personal trainer. So far, Kasey's form is immaculate. Finn's form is mostly... 'Downward Facing Loaf.' 

"He's currently holding a pose he likes to call The Disgruntled Slinky, and he's 100% sure he's burning calories just by staring at the mat with intense judgement. Hey, every fitness journey starts somewhere, right? Namaste in bed tomorrow, though."

Abigail Jordon has been promoted to publicist at Scholastic. Previously she was associate publicist.

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Emma Desserault has joined Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing as publicity assistant.

Away to See: Martha's Vineyard by Paul Norwood and Liz Norwood (The Collective Book Studio).

Today:
Here & Now: Sigrid Nunez, author of It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories (Riverhead, $30, 9798217179152).

Tomorrow:
Today: Martha Stewart, author of The Martha Way: Essential Principles for Mastering Home and Living (Harvest, $37.50, 9780063323308).

Tamron Hall repeat: Amanda McCracken, author of When Longing Becomes Your Lover (Worthy Books, $29, 9781546008538).

Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age) "is poised to succeed America's Dad Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon," Deadline reported, adding that Spector "is in negotiations to headline" Netflix's series adaptation of Dan Brown's latest novel, The Secret of Secrets. Rebecca Hall (The Town) is also in talks to co-star. Filming is scheduled to begin this fall in Prague.

In The Secret of Secrets, "symbologist Robert Langdon (Spector) races against ancient forces and time to rescue his girlfriend, missing scientist Katherine Solomon (Hall), and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity's understanding of the mind," Deadline wrote.

Brown and Carlton Cuse are co-creators and executive producers of the as yet untitled project, with Cuse serving as writer and showrunner. Emma Forman of Cuse's Genre-Arts also exec produces.

The winner of this year's CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) is John Agard for his collection The Poetry World of John Agard, illustrated by Shirley Hottier. Presented annually in the U.K., the prize "encourages and celebrates outstanding poetry published for children." The winner receives £1,000 (about $1,335), a trophy, and opportunities to engage in ongoing publicity. 

Agard won the CLiPPA with his wife Grace Nichols in 2003 with Under the Moon and Over the Sea and again in 2009 with The Young Inferno, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. He was on the shortlist in 2025 with Wise Up! Wise Down. This third win is unprecedented in the award's history.

Chair of judges Nicola Davies, said: "The first time I saw John Agard perform his work, over thirty years ago, I knew at once he was the most extraordinary artist. His poems gleam with human warmth and sunshine, but like all bright lights they cast important shadows, and illuminate things we have not noticed before. You can carry John's words in your head and your heart and warm your soul on them forever. His book The Poetry World of John Agard will invite new generations of readers into his wonderful universe and I'm delighted that it is this year's CLiPPA winner."

Jonathan Douglas, CEO of the National Literacy Trust, CLPE's parent organization, commented: "John Agard's poetry welcomes young readers to the magic and mystery of words, and his flamboyant, exuberant performances, whether live or on film, have turned countless numbers of children into poetry lovers."

"Writing has defined me.... It's the lens through which I examine my presence in the world," opens Story Telling: A Writing Life. Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits; My Name Is Emilia del Valle) has written roughly 30 books in her career and is read in more than 40 languages, but Story Telling is a singular addition to her oeuvre. Both a memoir and meditation on her writing life, the 11-part work outlines how she approaches her novels, her techniques, and the lessons she has learned about writing as she has navigates it from start to finish.

Story Telling, importantly, is neither a how-to guide nor lessons on how to create a bestselling novel. Rather, Allende is considering the power of words in society and as connections between people. The work is split into 10 chapters and an epilogue, each introduced with a quote from another respected author. Every chapter reads like a master class on studying one aspect of her writing--if not the writing--process, demonstrating again and again the intimate care that goes into crafting a story. Wisdom on learning, on editing, and even on being willing to discard precious words abounds.

Story Telling is an impassioned defense of the labor and the art of writing, of recording the world as it could be as well as the horrors with it. Allende discusses how research underpins fiction, as it did over the course of writing about a slave revolt in Haiti for Island Beneath the Sea. She examines how words have connected her to her family in ways that eventually became woven into her novels, such as how correspondence with her mother has provided details and ideas for future stories. She also looks at how writing has made her an observer of the world and called her to scrutinize it closely from many angles.

As Allende contemplates the steps that make up her methods, she formulates from self-observation a philosophy on attention, research, plot, character development, and what it means to build the world anew through literary construction. She writes: "Stories play a fundamental role in our lives and in society. They shape our reality, they define us as individuals: who we are, what we do, how we relate to each other, the ideas we have of ourselves and that others have of us." --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Shelf Talker: Globally renowned author Isabel Allende meditates on her writing life, and in doing so, dispenses advice for those who want to consider how and why they write.