News

B&N Relocating Store in Pikesville, Md.

Barnes & Noble will be moving its store in Pikesville, Md., “around the corner–and dramatically downsizing,” WMAR reported. The new space will be in the Festival at Woodholme shopping center. The current freestanding store will shut down this fall after 19 years in business.

In a recent statement, B&N expressed their genuine appreciation for the support and loyalty of their customers, as well as their enjoyment in serving this community. The newly designed store features a warm environment that encourages browsing, along with a carefully curated selection of locally tailored books by the expert booksellers of Pikesville. The bookstore’s updated layout and design, which has contributed to its success, will be showcased in their new store.

WMAR observed, “The new site seems to be significantly smaller, measuring 8,683 square feet. The existing site is described as over 24,000 square feet.”

B&N continues to operate stores in White Marsh, Bel Air, Ellicott City, and Annapolis, even though it closed its Towson store in 2017 and its Baltimore Inner Harbor location in 2020.

Rowman & Littlefield Acquires North Country Books

The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has acquired North Country Books, Utica, N.Y., which was founded in 1965 and has a focus on the Adirondacks and Upstate New York histories, folklore, biographies, children’s, photography and mysteries. It has published more than 200 titles and also distributes books and related products in New York State and northern New England.

Jake Bonar, the acquisitions editor at Prometheus Littlefield’s imprint, Littlefield’s Rowman, will now oversee the program for Books Country North. Additionally, the distribution of the published books by Books Country North will also be available through the Blue Line Book Exchange in Lake Placid, NY. The Adirondack titles will also be part of the distribution, starting with the National Book Network.

Since 2005, Rob Igoe, Jr. Has been the sole proprietor of North Country Books and has taken over from his father, Rob Igoe, Sr., Who acquired a share of ownership in 1977. Igoe expressed satisfaction with the sale and added, “Rowman & Littlefield will continue to publish new and established titles under the North Country Books brand. They plan to expand their collection of high-quality books focused on Upstate New York State.” Rob Igoe, Jr. Has been the sole owner of North Country Books since 2005, taking over from his father, Rob Igoe, Sr., Who acquired a share of ownership in 1977.

Lyons Jed, the CEO and president of Group Publishing Littlefield & Rowman, expressed his delight in building upon the extraordinary history of North Country books. He mentioned that they are pleased to be the largest independent regional publisher in the country through their division Pequot Globe Littlefield & Rowman’s. Additionally, he stated that they are excited to publish more books about the Upstate New York region and the Adirondacks, thanks to this acquisition.

Paz & Associates’ Bookstore Training: Online and In-Person Offerings

Donna Paz Kaufman and Mark Kaufman

The Group Training Bookstore Associates’ & Paz is designed to offer both in-person and online training, providing prospective bookstore owners with the necessary contacts, instructions, and detailed steps, including projections, on what they need to develop a business plan.

The Paz Group is holding a two-day program for interested people at their hybrid concept bookstore, Bistro Bookstore Song & Story, on Amelia Island, Florida. The bookstore will be opening on 24-26 August, and there is an option to stay an extra half day to learn about cafe operations in person.

Paz’s online training includes videos as well as a guide that is essential for prospective store owners planning to own a bookstore. The publication is also available in printed form.

Donna Paz Kaufman, the individual who established the Bookstore Training Group, expressed, “It is easy for many to underestimate the involvement in launching a new bookstore and being aware of the daily operations and necessary business skills. Owning a bookstore is truly a heartfelt dream.”

Associates Paz has worked with the American Booksellers Association to ensure that the newest members of the book industry acquire the required skills for a career as bookstore owners. They have worked with more than a thousand worldwide booksellers, both prospective and existing, for details, contact 904-277-2664 or visit OpeningABookstore.Com.

Obituary Note: John Merriman

John Merriman

According to an article in the New York Times, John Merriman, a history professor at Yale University, passed away on May 22 at the age of 75. Merriman dedicated the majority of his teaching career to Yale and was known for his captivating storytelling during his lectures on French and European history. As an expert in French governmental archives, Merriman extensively researched and incorporated this knowledge into his engaging books that covered topics such as anarchists, terrorists, leftists, and the lives of everyday individuals in France.

Judith Coffin, a history professor at the University of Texas, Austin, who was one of Merriman’s initial postgraduate students, expressed, “It was a sort of remarkable, organized disorder.” “You had truly achieved progress after two or three hours, and during those hours, transitioned from one topic to another, while pacing back and forth, entering with a few crumpled papers,” he had remarked.

In 2013, Ta-Nehisi Coates, the writer, depicted him in the Atlantic as a “sort of improvisational rapper” who improvised from his content—stories, quotations, and insights—and “possessed this strange talent to embody the past.” Coates viewed a few of Merriman’s pre-recorded presentations on the internet.

The Times observed that Merriman approached his writing and research of his books with a goal to avoid approaching the political and social history of 19th and 20th-century France in a similar manner. His books include “How a Paris Fin-de-Siècle Bombing Ignited the Modern Age of Terror” (2009); “The Death and Life of the Paris Commune Massacre” (2014); “The Crime Spree that Gripped Belle Époque Paris: The Ballad of Anarchist Bandits” (2017); and “The Agony of the Left Revolutionary Repression in France: The Republic’s History” (1978). He also wrote a textbook on the Modern History of Europe from the Renaissance to the Present (1996).

In 2017, Merriman was honored with the lifetime award for scholarly distinction by the American Historical Association.

In 2002, he wrote a book about the history of the village called “Time in Village French A Balazuc of Stones.” In 1987, he bought a house in the medieval village of Balazuc, located above the River Ardèche. His wife, who he lived with in North Haven, Conn., Died in 2017. Merriman’s second home was in France.

David Bell, a history professor at Princeton whom Professor Merriman hired and guided at Yale, expressed, “I believe that was the most significant book for him.” As soon as the Yale semester ended, he immediately made his way there, spent time in cafes, and engaged in conversations with individuals until late at night.

Notes

Image of the Day: Independent Celebration

At a party in New York City last week celebrating Helene Atwan, who is retiring in July as director of Beacon Press, she was joined by several other illustrious independent publishers: (from l. to r.) Ellen Adler of the New Press; Michael Reynolds of Europa Editions; Atwan; and Dan Simon of Seven Stories Press.

Bookseller Moment: MahoganyBooks

It was a celebratory weekend for Derrick and Ramunda Young, co-owners of MahoganyBooks, Washington, D.C., and National Harbor, Md., which they chronicled in a series of Instagram posts:

We cannot wait to be with you in the community during our special Juneteenth weekend, as we honor the 20 years of marriage and those who were denied the ability before us. It’s almost time, y’all!

This is Mahogany and Ramunda, Derrick. We will post official pictures of our renewal vow event on Juneteenth, but for now, we will take these pictures on our phone. What a joy to celebrate this milestone on the doorsteps of our bookstore with our friends, family, and community. Thank you for the multitude of blessings. We have been in business for 15 years and married for 20 years.

Personnel Changes at Atria

Dayna Johnson has joined Atria as the marketing manager for books. She previously spent 10 years marketing theater productions off-Broadway and Broadway in New York City.

Book Trailer of the Day: Space Story

Space Story by Fiona Ostby (West Margin Press).

Media Heat: Werner Herzog on Colbert’s Late Show

Kristen Bell, the co-author of The World Needs More Purple Schools (Random House Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780593434901), will be appearing on the Tonight Show tonight and on CBS Mornings and the View tomorrow. She will also be appearing on the View and CBS Mornings tomorrow.

Please do not sit on my bed outside of your clothes while I repeat the show “Tiny Reparations” by Phoebe Robinson, author of the book 9780593184905, priced at $27, which features essays on Drew Barrymore.

Tamron Hall reprises her interview with Gabrielle Union, the writer of “You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories” (‎published by Dey

(Worthy Books, $27, 9781546000433) Do I think of Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, author of Dreams and Caviar Wishes, as the Kelly Clarkson Show?

The Perspective: Ben Crump, writer of Open Season: Authorized Extermination of Colored Individuals (Amistad, $17.99,

9781419757679 $26, (Abrams Press) The Save: My Greatest Journey as a Barrier-Breaking Brave World Champion Goalkeeper, co-authored by Briana Scurry, is a remarkable book that explores America’s Good Morning Tomorrow.

Tamron Hall interviews Cassandra Peterson, writer of Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark (Hachette Books, $29, 9780306874352

The Lecture: David Duchovny, writer of The Reservoir (Akashic Books, $19.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert featured Werner Herzog, the writer of The Twilight World (Penguin Press, $25, 978059349026

Movies: The Spanish Love Deception

BCDF Pictures is creating for Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady. The American Housemate Trial, a follow-up, is set to debut in September. The book, which has been printed in over 25 languages, has had its movie privileges obtained by BCDF Pictures, according to Deadline. The Spanish Affection Misrepresentation by Elena Armas is currently being transformed for the cinema, with Peter Hutchings (The Hating Game) being recruited for the assignment.

Armas stated, “The readers of The Spanish Love Deception are not prepared for the Martín family!” “Trust me when I express my intense fascination with the screenplay and Peter Hutchings’s portrayal of these characters and the captivating Spanish backdrop that holds a special place in my heart. I am delighted to have BCDF Pictures collaborating on the film adaptation of The Spanish Love Deception and I am confident that they will excel in bringing Aaron and Catalina to life.”

Awards: Walter Scott, Griffin Poetry Winners

James Robertson’s novel “The Dead of News” has won the prestigious Scott Walter Prize 2022, which honors the best historical novel published in the Commonwealth or Ireland (worth approximately £25,000 or $30,600).

Yes, what we desire to be accurate and what we trust to be accurate, investigating different time periods within the fictional Glen, the setting of the novel The Dead in News by the talented James Robertson, is an excellent choice for our winning book set in Scotland. It made us feel like we were experiencing a homecoming from countries such as England, Ireland, continental Europe, the United States, China, and Malaysia, all outside of the homeland of our esteemed Sir Walter Scott, who is the namesake of our prestigious prize. This decision was made by the judges after evaluating twelve winners.

The novel fulfills the key criteria of the prize’s abundance in enduring quality and appeal, innovation, originality, and ambition, as the author assembles the cast of characters with a twinkle in his eye, but not just to enjoy the glen itself along with all its limitations, capabilities, gifts, and dangers, we hope that readers will always appreciate.

Respectively, the winners of the Canadian and international categories of the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize were Douglas Oloruntoba’s Happenstance of Junta and Sho Kearney’s The Oloruntoba’s and Sho Kearney’s Douglas. The Prize aims to raise the profile of poets and poetry in both Canada and internationally. The winner of the Prize receives $65,000 (approximately US$51,765), while the other finalists are awarded $10,000 (approximately C$7,965) each.

Book Review

Review: Cat Brushing

Jane Campbell’s book “Cat Brushing” (published by Grove Press) is priced at $26 for a hardcover edition

Octogenarian Jane Campbell may be “new” to the publishing industry, but her first book, Cat Brushing, is refreshingly accomplished. The 13 exquisitely drawn short stories in the collection are woven with wit and bold enlightenment. Each meticulously crafted gem focuses on the lives of aging women who grapple with their shrinking places in the world while coming to terms with feelings and failings, choices and losses.

The woman, who used to live her days in a care facility, now finds herself putting her foot over the line of sensuality and longing. She surprises herself with the need and longing she experiences as an adult, distanced from the self-interested children Miffy and Susan. Susan, the woman, experiences an unexpected awakening under the gentle touch of her attentive manicurist.

She settles alone in a small village when a violent storm ravages the house of her neighbor, whose deeper bond could have been imagined between two disparate souls. Throughout her life, she persists in the sense of loneliness, motherhood, affairs, and marriages, infusing the theme of “Alone Being On” into her tender story as a writerly woman.

The story, titled “A Judged Woman,” is filled with numerous reflective pleasures. The protagonist, a woman who is considered too old to live alone, moves with her younger wife and son. In the story, the pleasures reflective in the title are abundant. The woman forms a bond with her Siamese cat, and together they become companions in their shared elegance and control. The cat’s presence awakens the woman’s lost feelings of allure and enchantment, reminding her of the abundance she once possessed.

Many women with numerous stories face the surrender of their rights, respect, and desires. “The Question” portrays an older woman who is dragged back to questionable events from her past. Through the prism of retrospect, “The Kiskadee” unexpectedly brings back a fond memory of parental love during a simple lunch. “183 Minutes” illustrates the significant impact of consequential choices through a chance meeting on a train. In “Kindness,” a clever husband settles a score with his power-hungry wife, while an unsuspecting neighbor becomes a sweet taste of revenge for a long-suffering wife.

These beautifully depicted, expertly crafted tales that blend elements of sorrow, grief, imagination, and past romance are truly impactful stories. According to the protagonist of the main story, growing older is frequently portrayed as a gathering of ailments, inconveniences, and facial lines. Campbell’s unique and thought-provoking stories about later stages of life reveal unexpected fountains of knowledge and newfound freedom that are restricted by the passage of time.

Shelf Talker: Deeply resonant, eloquently rendered short stories consider women who change and grow with enlightenment in the twilight of their lives.