My Library Shelf, a new and used bookstore with an all-ages, general-interest inventory, will open this weekend in Coleman, Mich., the Midland Daily News reported.

Located at 5474 N. Coleman Rd., the store carries books at a variety of price points meant to be accessible to all. In addition to books, there is a small coffee bar as well as a lounge area where customers can sit and read.

Owner Calvin Martin has a grand opening celebration planned for Saturday, June 1, that will include free coffee, food, a 10% off sale, and a gift for shoppers who spend more than $10. The shop will be open Tuesday through Saturday each week.

Martin and his wife moved to Coleman about three years ago. Both book lovers, they started selling used books at sales in the area. Then they chose to open a store of their own.

"It kind of started as a hobby--buying used books to resell at occasional book sales throughout the year," Martin told the Daily News. "Eventually we just grew until we had enough that we decided we would open up a full-time bookstore."

Sandbar Books in Islamorada, Fla., will close permanently at the end of this month, the Keys Weekly reported.

"It has been a good run and I can't extend my appreciation enough to all of my great booksellers, local authors, and loyal patrons that have supported us from the beginning," owner Becky Washam wrote in a message to customers. "The Florida Keys are so full and enriched by our wonderful people and amazing history. Thank you for letting me and Sandbar Books add a small paragraph to that story."

Washam and her husband moved to the Florida Keys in November 2020. Earlier that year, Hooked on Books in Islamorada closed, leaving that part of the Keys without an independent bookstore. The closure "left a hole in our community," Washam told Shelf Awareness, and in 2022 she opened Sandbar Books to fill that void.

She attributed the closure to the economy and bad timing, telling the Keys Weekly: "I've talked to other shop owners, several of them, and everybody is hurting right now. Everything is so much more expensive, people just don't have as much disposable income and it affects us all. It's not just retail. It affects everybody here that depends on tourist dollars."

Washam began a full liquidation sale on May 4, with all merchandise 40%-60% off and all fixtures and furniture also available for purchase. And while her bookstore is closing, Washam is also the owner of a boutique called Islamorada Mercantile, which will remain open for business.

Sue Fleming, v-p and executive director of corporate marketing at Simon & Schuster, is retiring this summer. August 15 will be her last day with the company.

Sue Fleming

Fleming joined S&S in 1980 while still in college. She was an assistant to the ad/promo director before becoming part of the original Summit Books. After a stint away from S&S, she rejoined the company in 1991 as director of publicity for Fireside Touchstone Books. After that she became v-p, marketing director for the Adult Division, and eventually joined S&S's digital team. She assumed her current role in 2018.

"Throughout that time," wrote Adam Rothberg, senior v-p, corporate communications, "and regardless of role or title, she has been at the forefront of many initiatives that have formed the backbone of our digital marketing, and spearheaded projects that put us squarely on the cutting edge, showcasing our ability to use digital technology and methods to highlight our content and reach new audiences."

He continued: "If you have a complex, multi-faceted project that involves cross-disciplinary teams and an extremely long list of tasks to be tracked and completed on the path to launch and beyond, then Sue is the exact right person for the job. She has a deep understanding of the many systems that undergird our digital presence, their intricacies and how they are interrelated, and is able to marry that understanding and know-how to the consumer-facing marketing that helps to sell our books to readers. Anyone who has worked with her knows she's a consummate teammate, quick to raise her hand to help, and willing to roll up her sleeves and make a contribution, no matter the scale or challenging nature of the project. In short, she gets things done."

Barnes & Noble will open a new store in Issaquah, Wash., later this year. 

Per the Issaquah Reporter, the new store will reside in a 25,000-square-foot space in the Issaquah Commons shopping center that previously housed a Bed Bath & Beyond. It will feature B&N's new store design and a cafe.

B&N had a store in Issaquah that was in business for some 25 years. It closed in 2020 after its lease expired.

The company expects the new location to be open by October or November.

Katey Howes

Katey Howes, the picture book author and poet, died unexpectedly of natural causes on May 20, at her home. She was 47.

Howes's books for children include Woven of the World (2023), A Poem Grows Inside You (2022), Rissy No Kissies (2021), Be a Maker (2019), Magnolia Mudd and the Super Jumptastic Launcher Deluxe (2018), and Grandmother Thorn (2017), as well as the forthcoming books The Reindeer Remainders (Sourcebooks, July), Where the Deer Slip Through (2025), and Take It Apart (to be determined). Howes was also a frequent contributor to parenting, literacy, and STEAM websites, including Nerdy Book Club, KidLit411, STEAM-powered Family, and Imagination Soup. She was an active and beloved member of the children's literary community.

A former physical therapist, Howes was passionate about raising kids who love to read, and about helping kids recognize that they are makers, inventors, and creators. She is survived by her husband and three children.

Hart Hanson (l.), creator and showrunner of the hit TV series Bones, celebrated the release of his mystery The Seminarian (Blackstone) at The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. The event was hosted by Gregg Podolski, whose debut spy thriller, The Recruiter, will be released by Blackstone on July 23.

"It's a beautiful day for reading," the Green Dragon Bookshop, Fort Dodge, Iowa, posted on Instagram.

At the HarperCollins sales team:

Kathy Faber, v-p of independent sales and wholesale, will take on additional responsibilities for managing the company's reps in the indie channel and take the lead on children's titles with indies.

Wendy Ceballos has been promoted to director of independent sales and retail marketing and will take the lead on adult and Harlequin titles with indies.

Kelly Roberts has been promoted to v-p, deputy director of sales, a newly created role. She will now manage the national accounts and independent sales channels in addition to her current duties.

Andy LeCount, v-p of national accounts, will expand his oversight to include the wholesale channel for the trade list.

Kristine Macrides has been promoted to senior director of divisional sales and sales planning, a newly created role.

Jen Wygand has been promoted to director of national accounts and brand management for the children's division.

Mama's Chicken and Dumplings by Dionna L. Mann (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House).

Tomorrow:
Jennifer Hudson Show: Sarah Jakes Roberts, author of Power Moves: Ignite Your Confidence and Become a Force (Thomas Nelson, $29.99, 9780785291909).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser, authors of What a Fool Believes: A Memoir (Dey Street Books, $32, 9780063357563).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Sunday, June 2
8 a.m. Fareed Zakaria, author of Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present (W.W. Norton, $29.99, 9780393239232). (Re-airs Sunday at 8 p.m.)

9:05 a.m. David Masciotra, author of Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy (Melville House, $28.99, 9781685890896), at Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Chicago, Ill. (Re-airs Sunday at 9:05 p.m.)

10 a.m. Mike Hixenbaugh, author of They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms (Mariner, $32.50, 9780063307247). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

1:55 p.m. Angela Zhang, author of High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy (Oxford University Press, $34.95, 9780197682258).

3:30 p.m. Dr. Uché Blackstock, author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine (Viking, $28, 9780593491287), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

5 p.m. Simon & Schuster's centennial celebration featuring Hillary Clinton, Jerry Seinfeld, Charlamagne tha God, Brad Thor, Stephen King, Judy Blume, John Irving, and other authors.

The Commonwealth Foundation announced regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth. Regional winners each receive £2,500 (about $3,190) and the overall winner, who will be named June 26, gets £5,000 (about $6,380). This year's regional honorees:

Africa: "Dite" by Reena Ushan Rungoo (Mauritius)
Asia: "Aishwarya Rai" by Sanjana Thakur (India)
Canada & Europe: "What Burns" by Julie Bouchard, translated by Arielle Aaronson (Canada)
Caribbean: "The Devil's Son" by Portia Subran (Trinidad and Tobago)
Pacific: "A River Then the Road" by Pip Robertson (Aotearoa New Zealand)

Chair of judges Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi said: "The short story form has neither the luxury of time nor the comfort of space. It is an impatient form; it does not dance around. The punch of a good short story leaves you breathless. As the judging panel, we enjoyed, sorrowed, celebrated and eventually agreed that these stories came up on top of the different regions."

The five regional winning stories will be published online by the literary magazine Granta in the run-up to the announcement of the overall winner. 

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The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh (Roaring Brook Press) has won the $10,000 New-York Historical Society's Children's History Book Prize, given to "the best American history book for middle readers ages 9–12, fiction or nonfiction."

The Society commented: "Set in alternating timelines that connect the present day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, The Lost Year tells the story of a young boy living through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as he starts to unravel a secret family history: the Holodomor, the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, which the Soviet government covered up for decades. Inspired by Marsh's own family history, the book is a story of family, survival, and sacrifice."

Society president and CEO Dr. Louise Mirrer added: "Katherine Marsh masterfully intertwines the past and the present in The Lost Year, evoking emotions and surprises. The richly depicted characters and the incorporation of Katherine's family's history leave readers yearning to know more about the time period and how the famine was depicted in the news and history books."

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, June 4:

Farewell, Amethystine by Walter Mosley (Mulholland Books, $30, 9780316491112) is the 16th mystery with Detective Easy Rawlins.

What This Comedian Said Will Shock You by Bill Maher (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668051351) is based on editorial segments of the author's TV show.

Entrances and Exits by Michael Richards (Permuted Press, $35, 9781637589137) includes a foreword by Jerry Seinfeld.

When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff (Avid Reader Press, $32.49, 9781668027813) recounts the largest amphibious invasion in history.

The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America by Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer (Flatiron, $32.99, 9781250881397) chronicles the Christian conspiracy to destroy women's reproductive rights.

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga Press, $29.99, 9781534437708) concludes the Between Earth and Sky fantasy trilogy.

One Deadly Eye: A Doc Ford Novel by Randy Wayne White (Hanover Square Press, $28.99, 9781335013606) continues a thriller series set on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom, $28.99, 9781250290281) is sci-fi about a domesticated robot gone rogue.

Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom, $29.99, 9781250333551) is book three in the Alchemical Journeys fantasy series.

The Road to the Country: A Novel by Chigozie Obioma (Hogarth, $29, 9780593596975) follows a university student trying to save his brother during Nigeria's civil war.

Roswell Johnson Saves the World by Chris Colfer (Little, Brown, $18.99 9780316515047) is the bestselling author and actor's first sci-fi work, featuring a boy who works with aliens to save Earth.

Gorgeously Me! by Jonathan Van Ness, illus. by Kamala Nair (Flamingo, $19.99, 9780593622841) is the Queer Eye star's first picture book for young readers.

Birds Aren't Real: The True Story of Mass Avian Murder and the Largest Surveillance Campaign in U.S. History by Peter McIndoe and Connor Gaydos (St. Martin's Press, $29, 9781250288899) expands a parody conspiracy theory begun on the internet.

The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets by Thomas R. Cech (W.W. Norton, $28.99, 9781324050681) explores RNA and the uses of CRISPR gene editing and mRNA vaccines.

Paperbacks:
Fondant Fumble: Cupcake Bakery Mystery Book 16 by Jenn McKinlay (Berkley, $9.99, 9780593549148).

Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison (Crown, $18, 9780593735152).

A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories by Tommy Orange, Ali Smith, et al. (Catapult, $16.95, 9781646222636).

Seven Summer Weekends by Jane L. Rosen (Berkley, $19, 9780593640913).

The Queen of Poisons: The Marlow Murder Club Book 3 by Robert Thorogood (Poisoned Pen Press, $16.99, 9781728284477).

Fate of the Sun King by Nisha J. Tuli (Forever, $18.99, 9781538767672).

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
Whale Fall: A Novel by Elizabeth O'Connor (Pantheon, $27, 9780593700914). "A debut and a paean to the forgotten cultures on the British Isles. An intelligent yet innocent protagonist is confronted with ethnographers from the mainland, as class, gender, and education meet, while the prose mirrors island life." --Richard Dixon, Politics and Prose, Washington, D.C.

How to Read a Book: A Novel by Monica Wood (Mariner, $28, 9780063243675). "A charming novel about the power of books to heal, connect, and teach. A prison inmate, her reading group teacher, and the man damaged by the inmate's crime are drawn together by their love of reading and their need for human connection." --Susan Taylor, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

Paperback
The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller (Quirk Books, $16.99, 9781683694076). "A gruesome, campy book that plays on the beautiful and messy dynamics of queer community, the seedy claws of rainbow capitalism, and every zombie killing method ever fantasized. The Z Word will leave you laughing between every shocked gasp!" --Skye Euryale, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ages 4 to 8
Being Home by Traci Sorell, illus. by Michaela Goade (Kokila, $18.99, 9781984816030). "Traci Sorell's musical words paired with Michaela Goade's incredible illustrations are magic. I especially love how the illustrations are partly from the young girl in the story's imagination. Beautiful, lyrical, breathtaking." --Madison Duckworth, Saltwater Bookshop, Kingston, Wash.

Ages 9 to 12
The Things We Miss by Leah Stecher (Bloomsbury, $17.99, 9781547613021). "Remember 7th grade? The body changes, cliques, first fight with your BFF, and P.E. What would you do if all those uncomfortable moments could just be skipped? The Things We Miss is a time travel coming-of-age story that reminds us what it means to be present." --Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver, Bookseller, Savannah, Ga.

Teen Readers
The Ballad of Darcy and Russell by Morgan Matson (Simon & Schuster, $19.99, 9781481499019). "Morgan Matson is a master of fitting so much story into such a short period of time. I fell in love with Darcy and Russell over the course of their one exciting night. Matson continues to be one of my favorite YA authors." --Aedan Richter, Nowhere Bookshop, San Antonio, Tex.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

In her juicy 13th historical novel, Scandalous Women, Gill Paul (A Beautiful Rival) delves into the lives of bestselling authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann, both of whom received scathing criticism for writing frankly about sex and celebrating women's pleasure. Paul explores the highs and lows of both authors' careers, and weaves their stories together via Nancy White, a fictional editor who introduces them to each other.

Scandalous Women opens in 1965, as Jacqueline awaits news about the manuscript for her debut novel, Valley of the Dolls. Paul highlights Jacqueline's supportive relationship with her husband, Irving; her affection for her pampered poodle, Josephine; and her constant worry for her son with autism. Paul makes no secret of the fact that Jacqueline herself used the pills she wrote about in Valley of the Dolls, including "uppers" such as "dexies" (Dexedrine) and depressants such as sleeping pills, to cope with medical issues, emotional stress, and the pressures of fame.

Meanwhile, across the pond, young mother Jackie Collins is struggling with her husband's manic depression and its effects on their family life. Paul chronicles the end of their marriage, Jackie's subsequent decision to try writing fiction, and the success of her first novel, The World Is Full of Married Men. Paul shifts between the two authors' perspectives and that of Nancy, a naïve young Smith graduate who harbors ambitions for a publishing career. Nancy, stuck doing menial tasks for the condescending male editors at publishing house Bernard Geis, urges her superiors to publish Valley of the Dolls and is later responsible for bringing Jackie's books to the U.S. Jacqueline takes Nancy under her wing, giving her fashion and romantic advice, but also modeling for her a new kind of womanhood: bold, intelligent, and unafraid of female desire both in and out of the bedroom.

Although Paul spends considerable time on the sexist backlash both authors received after publishing their novels, she emphasizes her three protagonists' chutzpah, courage, and plain old grit. Despite cruel criticism from the male media machine, both women sold millions of books to a readership that hungered for their stories. Both Jackie and Jacqueline deal with illness and other personal issues as they continue to write racy, riveting bestsellers, and Nancy must navigate a delicate family situation as well as her complicated romantic life. But all three women, like the two authors' protagonists, ultimately believe they have a right to create their own lives and live them without apology. Scandalous Women raises a double-strength martini--with a twist--to their efforts to do just that. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Gill Paul's juicy 13th novel dishes on the lives of provocative novelists Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann, and imagines the friendship they might have had.