Getting ready for the holidays at the Well-Read Moose in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

For the past six years, starting with the pandemic, problems with the book supply chain during the holiday season have occurred regularly, with varying degrees of severity and with many causes. No wonder then that many booksellers have become nervous about being able to obtain the books they need when they need them during the holiday season--and this year there are additional factors stoking fears.

American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill outlined some of those factors for booksellers recently in Bookselling This Week: "As you all have already experienced, this final stretch of the year promises to be a challenging one for the supply chain. There are many reasons for this: difficulty hiring warehouse workers due to the labor shortage, ICE in communities, Amazon's relentless hiring machine; the closing of a major U.S. book component printer that many publishers depended on; the new Canadian tariffs (paper is harder and slower to source, extra steps at customs slow things down, timely reprints become impossible); shipping challenges and changes due to rising fuel prices caused by the U.S.-Iran war; and the first full season without Baker & Taylor, meaning Ingram will be carrying a full load of libraries and bookstores for the first time. This perfect storm will rival 2020's supply chain disruption."

The ABA is taking steps to help booksellers, she noted. Because ordering early and in large quantities can be challenging for stores' cash flow, the ABA is offering advice to booksellers with cash flow problems. The association has also launched "a campaign to get customers shopping early" and has "created a recipient card for you to offer your customers when their gift won't arrive in time." The ABA is also "pitching media stories throughout the season" and using social media to get the message out.

Hill remains optimistic, writing, "Despite these significant concerns and the planning and pivoting they will require, this can still be a great holiday season. You have one more day for shipping and shopping because Thanksgiving falls a day earlier and Christmas a day later. Hanukkah is December 4-12 this year, which is good timing for retail sales. In a tough economy, books can be an affordable gift. And most importantly, what you all have to offer is what people are hungry for right now--connection, gathering, tradition, meaning, community, customer service. This is the recipe for a great holiday season, and you all know this recipe by heart."

For its part, Ingram has been working hard to prepare for the holiday season. "We've spent the last year making investments in the entire network--in people, technology, processes, and warehouses, and those investments are coming to fruition now," Phil Ollila, Ingram Content Group's chief content officer, told Shelf Awareness. "Holiday seasons are rarely perfect, but we feel like we're in a great position for this year."

Those measures include responding to Baker & Taylor's collapse a year ago and the resulting surge at Ingram in library business by expanding the professional staff in library operations, which includes more salespeople, catalogers, library processing, etc. By contrast, in past years, especially last year when many libraries across the country turned to Ingram to replace B&T, "we used whatever labor we could to help keep up with the volume." This year's improved library operations "take the pressure" off Ingram's trade wholesaling operations.

The company recently opened print-on-demand operations in its Roseburg, Ore., distribution center, "bringing eight million additional titles west of the Rocky Mountains," Ollila said. Ingram now has national POD coverage, and its POD operations manage all book components, including covers, paper, etc. "The POD system is working the way it should, which is filling inventory if there happen to be out of stocks in other parts of the supply chain," he added.

And, several times, Ollila emphasized the importance of booksellers ordering early.

'A Fortress of Boxes in Our Cramped Office'
Booksellers contacted last week by Shelf Awareness report some problems already, leading them to order in higher quantities than at this time in past years. As Alsace Walentine of Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, Fla., said, "We had already seen some unexpected delays in early fall and had heard from some of our publishers that reprints could easily take 4-6 weeks, if not longer, so we took advantage of many promotions from publishers (extra discount, delayed billing). We've been ordering some must-have books in carton quantities and have created a fortress of boxes in our cramped office."

Likewise, Hannah Harlow of the Bookshop of Beverly Farms, Beverly, Mass., has seen some of the reprints this fall "take a really long time to come back into print," she reported. The delays have been attributed to shortages at printers and long lines, which "seems legitimate and unfortunate." Harlow has been stocking up and is currently carrying "13% more inventory than I was a year ago at the same time. I don't love that." She described ordering big early as "taking wild stabs in the dark," and said she knows "I'm going to guess wrong in a few cases."

Harlow added that the store is buying in a "more title-specific way." Her team is "looking at our staff picks," and she is "asking our booksellers to think about what they're going to want to handsell as their favorite reads of the year." The staff is also tracking awards and seeing which titles are on multiple longlists.

John Cavalier of Cavalier House Books, with stores in Baton Rouge and Denham Springs, La., said he's expecting "a pretty good season" and that the store's "strategy is variety" so that "if we don't have X, we have Y and Z."

John Evans of Camino Books, Del Mar, Calif., said that since the pandemic, "shipping from the Big Five publishers has gotten slower" and "the incidents of damaged books have increased." He also complained of multiple, simultaneous shipments of just one book in a carton.

Noting that some publishers have warned about reprint and warehouse picking delays, Walentine at Tombolo said, "My plea to publishers is to give indie booksellers some information when bottlenecks are beginning so that we can take care of our customers. Bad news is manageable; no news is worse." --John Mutter and Alex Mutter

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Riverhead Books) won the £50,000 (about $67,195) 2026 Booker Prize.  At 81, Harrison becomes the oldest author to win in the history of the preeminent fiction prize, with a writing career spanning 60 years.

Chair of judges Mary Beard said the panel "spent a whole day debating the six remarkable novels on this year's shortlist, before agreeing unanimously to award the 2026 prize to The End of Everything by M. John Harrison. It's a book that turns you upside down, raises a wry smile--and surprisingly, given the subject matter, leaves you with a twinge of optimism.... This is the politics of now seen through the lens of the future."

Gaby Wood, CEO of the Booker Prize Foundation, commented: "Many past Booker Prize authors have borrowed facets of science fiction in their work, but M. John Harrison is the first Booker winner to have emerged from the bona fide SF world. He is a genuinely original thinker, a genre-defying writer who takes ideas seriously.  

M. John Harrison (photo: Hugo Glendinning)

"The End of Everything is a novel that knows everything about the novel form, and exactly what it's doing when it breaks it.... It's a realist book about a strange world, populated by desperate, unmoored characters. This is a historic win, for a writer whose decades of work are lightly worn on every page."

Booker organizers described the winning book as "a destabilizing and satirical dystopian novel  that follows a beachcomber and his pistol-toting aunt as they eke out an existence together on a near-future Kent coast. Writing in short, filmic chapters, Harrison both leans on conventional literary forms and upends them, probing the limits of human understanding and letting the reader fill in the gaps."

Harrison's other books include  Climbers, which won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature in 1989;  Nova Swing, which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2007; The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, which won the 2020 Goldsmiths Prize for innovation in fiction; and story collections You Should Come with Me Now and Settling the World.  

Beginning next year, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance will return to hosting separate regional conferences. 

From 2020 to 2026, the two associations joined forces to put on the New Voices New Rooms conference, and though the most recent NVNR show in Baltimore, Md., "drew record attendance and overwhelmingly positive feedback," attendees "incurred the highest historical costs, with event and travel costs skyrocketing," the organizers noted. By once again holding their own conferences, SIBA and NAIBA will be able to increase accessibility by making travel costs more manageable for their respective members.

While the shared conference will no longer be held, NAIBA and SIBA plan to continue partnering under the NVNR label. Linda-Marie Barrett, SIBA's executive director, explained: "We want to support the community we've built with future opportunities to share resources and inspire innovations. The NVNR identity is not going away. SIBA and NAIBA are looking forward to partnering for future in-person and virtual events, including uniting on advocacy around book bans and AI."

"Our shared mission is always serving the booksellers," said NAIBA executive director Liz Hottel. "Both associations are energized about possibilities for future collaborations as well as the chance for growth this move offers our booksellers and our individual associations."

More information about the associations' 2027 conferences will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Hardback Books, focusing on science fiction and fantasy titles, hosted its grand opening on Halloween, October 31, at 325 E. 31st St., Suite 104, in Kansas City, Mo. The debut came "after months of anticipation" in Midtown, "an area with a growing reputation as a must-visit for book lovers and avid readers," the Star reported. 
 
"It was great. It was super busy, very chaotic, but it was great," said owner Timothy Finley. "Our shelves were pretty bare afterward, which is what we're doing today, recovering from that, and we just got this shipment in to kind of get back to where we were at with inventory."

The opening featured live music, story time, and a raffle. Finley added that a line of people was waiting when he unlocked the door at 10 a.m. "At 11:30 people really started pouring in," he said. Multiple times "the line stretched all the way back to a bookshelf filled with science fiction titles in a nook at the back of the store.... I had high hopes, but it very much surpassed even what I was expecting." 

Opening a bookstore stocked with sci-fi and fantasy selections had always been Finley's dream, the Star noted. Hardback Books, it continued, is "bathed in sunlight from its oversized windows, has dark brown standalone shelves throughout the space and large leather couches in front of a custom mural to create a space for people to sit with their books and connect."

"I really want this to be a spot where people can grab a book and hang out for a little bit," said Finley, who noted that early next year he hopes to use the space to host author events and other initiatives to bring people, especially the science fiction readers, together. "I very much want to be part of the neighborhood, and like interacting with others within the community, having events here and stuff like that with other businesses. The thing I love about books is like the community aspect of it, bringing people together."

Jack Countryman, publisher, author, and founder of JCountryman Gift Books, "whose remarkable career helped shape the Christian publishing industry and brought biblical encouragement to millions of readers around the world," has died, according to HarperCollins Christian Publishing and its subsidiary, Thomas Nelson.

Jack Countryman

Countryman's publishing career began in 1982 at the kitchen table of his home, where he and his wife, Marsha, created God's Promises for Your Every Need. That first book laid the foundation for JCountryman Gift Books, which helped pioneer the inspirational gift book category, selling more than 30 million books and writing some 100 titles. 

In 1994, he joined Thomas Nelson, where he helped develop and publish works by influential Christian voices. His honors include the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Jordon Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He retired as publisher emeritus of Thomas Nelson Gift in 2024.

"Few people have made such a huge impact in Christian publishing as Jack Countryman," said HCCP CEO Mark Schoenwald. "He has been a tremendous visionary, leader, and publisher. Jack led the way to create the category of inspirational gift books. It has truly been a privilege to know and work with him."

Laura Minchew, senior v-p and group publisher of the Children's and Gift Book Group at HCCP, called Countryman "a brilliant mentor and cherished friend. His deep faith, passion for publishing, love of life, and wonderful sense of humor left a lasting impression on me and so many others who had the privilege of working alongside him." 

For Countryman, publishing was not just about selling books. As he once encouraged fellow publishers: "If you want to make a difference, create books that will touch lives and change lives. You may never know the impact you could have on someone through this good work." 

Sally Bradshaw

Congratulations to Midtown Reader & Piebrary in Tallahassee, Fla., which celebrated its 10th anniversary last Saturday, November 7. The bookstore noted: "Our day was full of fun: we kicked it off with a Kidtown story time with baby chicks from Greenfire Farms, hosted a signing with several Florida State University Creative Writing Program authors, did bookish henna tattoos, and ended the day with live music. We can't wait for many more years of books, pie, and community!"

On social media, owner Sally Bradshaw reflected on the past decade, and the day after the celebration Midtown Reader posted: "What a way to celebrate 10 years! Thank you to everyone who came out yesterday to celebrate a decade of Midtown Reader with us! From baby chicks and birthday storytime to local authors, free henna, and live music, our birthday was filled with so many special moments. The biggest thank you to our readers and Tallahassee community for making the last 10 years so special. We can't wait for many more years of books, pie, and community!"

Ingram's Consortium Book Sales & Distribution has added six new publishers:

Effective January 2, 2027:

Afterlife Press, which explores the history of tattooing while spotlighting the practitioners of the craft. Afterlife aims to honor both the legacy and future of tattooing, exploring the massive changes the artform has undergone in its transition from underground tradition to global phenomenon. Titles in its debut season with Consortium include Hoyer by Timothy Hoyer and LÓNGS by André Malcolm.

Write Bloody Publishing, a nonprofit poetry press in Los Angeles, which believes great poetry makes people slow down and take notice, and that authors should make a living doing what they love. It emphasizes mandated touring, fair royalties, and poems in books with matte covers and cream paper that feel great to hold. Forthcoming releases include Rituals for Undoing by Emily Mundy and How to Pull Apart the Earth, 2nd edition by Karla Cordero.

Effective February 1, 2027:

BluPetal Books, the book publishing arm of BluPetal Media, a digital media company focused on manga, anime, and other Asian content, with an emphasis on the Boys' Love, Girls' Love, Shoujo, and Josei genres. Its mission is to celebrate the passionate audience for these stories through publishing, streaming, merchandise, events, and more. Forthcoming releases include Let Me Fix You by Sakura Kurihara, Animate International's Mask Danshi: This Shouldn't Lead to Love by Mitsuru Sangō, and Last Heaven by Masashi Kumamoto.

Effective March 1, 2027:

Emergence Press, the publishing imprint of Emergence Institute, which publishes Emergence Magazine's annual print edition, featuring essays, interviews, poems, artwork, and photo essays. Emergence also publishes practice books and select titles that explore the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Releases from Emergence Press include Seeds & Structures and Requiem, Invitation, and Celebration: A Collection of Seasonal Practices. 

Joining Consortium as imprints distributed via Global Book Sales:

Loft Publications, which specializes in architecture, design, and visual culture publishing, with an emphasis on innovative, design-focused content.

Saint Lucy Books, an art publisher dedicated to producing visually compelling and accessible books that celebrate artists, artistic practice, and contemporary culture.

Fabled Bookshop in Waco, Tex., posted a photo of one of the shop's holiday sales floor displays, noting: "Celebrate the friends who make life a whole lot sweeter with our Friendsgiving display, filled with stories of connection, belonging, and the people who shape us."

After more than 25 years in publishing, most recently in Penguin Random House's library marketing department, Kelly Coyle is now collaborating with Insight to Market, LLC as lead library and retail growth consultant. Coyle also continues to own and run the Little Point Bookshop, Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.

Today:
Fresh Air: Mona Chalabi, author of Ten Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are (Random House, $30, 9780593243671).

Tomorrow:
The View: Rachel Maddow, author of Department of Fate: The Promise, the Power, and the Collapse of America's Most Consequential Institution (Crown, $35, 9780593444542). 

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Dustin Hoffman, author of Look at Me (Simon Six, $35, 9781668200698).

Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton) and Bill Nighy (About Time) will star in Dominic Cooke's (On Chesil Beach) love story Insomniac City about writer and photographer Bill Hayes and neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, Deadline reported.

Co-written and adapted by Hayes and Cooke from Hayes's 2017 memoir, the story "follows Hayes as he arrives in New York City from San Francisco in the wake of a devastating loss. As he begins to rebuild his life, he falls unexpectedly in love with both the city and Oliver Sacks, whose writing and groundbreaking work in neurology made him one of the most distinctive voices in modern medicine."

Cooke said: "Insomniac City is a rare story that feels both profoundly intimate and epic in scope. It is a story that celebrates second chances in life; a portrait of two people finding each other at an unexpected moment in their lives. It is also a love letter to New York City itself, a place of endless possibility, reinvention and connection. Bill Hayes's memoir captures the fragile beauty of love in the face of mortality, and I am honored to bring that story to the screen alongside our extraordinary actors, Jonathan Bailey, Bill Nighy and our producing team."

Winners have been selected for the 2026 Christy Awards, honoring excellence in Christian fiction and sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

South of Somewhere by T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers) won the overall Christy award--the Christy Book of the Year Award--as well as the general fiction category. The other winners:

The Amplify Award for Christian Fiction: The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller (Thomas Nelson Fiction)
Contemporary Romance: Kate Landry Has a Plan by Rebekah Millet (Bethany House / Baker Publishing Group)
First Novel: The Lawyer and the Laundress by Christine Hill Suntz (Tyndale House Publishers)
Historical: Splendor of the Land by Connilyn Cossette (Bethany House / Baker Publishing Group)
Historical Romance: Belle of Chatham by Laura Frantz (Revell / Baker Publishing Group)
Mystery / Suspense / Thriller: Final Approach by Lynette Eason (Bethany House / Baker Publishing Group)
Short Form: A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer (Tyndale House Publishers)
Speculative: Of Dawn and Embers by Gillian Bronte Adams (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Young Adult: Illuminary by Chawna Schroeder (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)

Matt Baca's stark, lyrical debut novel, All These Deep Arroyos, explores race, justice, and the complicated bonds of family through the lives of twin brothers Robin and Cruz, who grow up in the high desert of rural New Mexico. Baca's narrative traces the brothers' parallel but different upbringings and the choices they make as young men, as well as a disastrous incident that leads to Robin's imprisonment for one of Cruz's schemes. Seven years later, an insider in the judge's chambers is trying to free Robin from prison, but Robin has no idea who it is or if their efforts will be successful.

Baca draws sharp contrasts between the boys' childhoods: Robin's peaceful life with his steady, loving abuelos in their tiny casita on the edge of the desert, feeding cows and tending corn with his grandfather, and Cruz's far less stable existence with their alcoholic parents in southern Colorado, filled with drinking and drama. Both boys occasionally travel between the two places; Cruz learns early on to live by his wits, while Robin prefers open spaces and hard work. Baca's story also shifts back and forth in time, from the boys' early years to their high school days to their drastically diverging paths as young adults. Baca sensitively portrays the effects of nature and nurture on two young men who love each other deeply but vary radically in temperament and ambition. The novel's unnamed narrator--the person who fights for Robin to be released--describes their lives with the precision of an eyewitness, chronicling their teenage mischief, their deviating plans for their futures, and their grief, especially Robin's, at the loss of their grandparents.

When Robin falls in love with Cristina, a brilliant Laguna Pueblo girl determined to build a scientific career, he starts to dream of a life for himself to match hers. Cruz, meanwhile, is more interested in schemes with an edge of danger and the promise of quick returns. Robin resists his brother's lifestyle for a time, but eventually he agrees to help Cruz move some boxes of (ostensibly) insulin across the country. When the trip goes badly and Cruz disappears, it is Robin who takes the fall and Robin who must cling to the dream of another life outside of prison--and the even fainter chance of release.

All These Deep Arroyos charts the quiet desperation and fierce hope of people shaped by the harsh, beautiful landscape they call home. It considers the ways a person's past actions--even those they may not remember--can have powerful effects on the present and future. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Matt Baca's stark, lyrical debut novel chronicles the intertwined but radically different lives of twin brothers from rural New Mexico and the choices that affect both their fates.