Binding Agents, a culinary bookstore featuring cookbooks and food-related literature for all ages, is coming to Philadelphia, Pa., this fall, and owner Catie Gainor has launched an Indiegogo campaign in advance of the store's opening.

The campaign has a fundraising goal of $30,000, which Gainor will put to use primarily filling out the bookstore's opening inventory. So far, Gainor has raised just shy of $16,500 and has roughly three weeks to go. The campaign's backer perks include stickers, store-branded merchandise, a meal plan custom made by Gainor, and the opportunity to curate a window display once the shop opens.

Binding Agents is located at 908 Christian St., in Philadelphia's 9th St. Italian Market, which Gainor described as "South Philly's culinary epicenter." Gainor has purchased the building and invested extensively in modernizing and renovating it; she plans to be there "for the long haul."

Alongside cookbooks, there will be culinary memoirs and food-related fiction for children and adults, as well as gifts, utensils, and cookware. Gainor plans to host cookbook clubs and other events that help connect customers with "cooks, authors, and the likeminded people who are and love both."

Prior to founding Binding Agents, Gainor worked in hospitality, retail, event production, the arts, and PR/communications, and she described herself as an enthusiastic home cook and avid reader. Like many lifelong readers, she said, "I'd imagined having my own bookstore on and off since I was a kid. I never took the idea seriously until the thought of a shop with a culinary focus a couple years ago."

Gainor realized it was something she wanted in her city after visiting and following other cookbook shops around the country. It immediately felt "like something Philly, an amazing food town at the height of its powers, needs." Gainor remarked that the city has been without a dedicated cookbook store since 2017, when the Cook Book Stall in Reading Terminal Market closed. She added that in many ways the shop is also a tribute to her mother, who passed away in 2021 and was a "consummate hostess and great cook."

In advance of the store's October opening, Gainor held a preview event over the weekend during the Philly Bookstore Crawl. The event featured snacks, drinks, and bingo cards to be used when the bookstore fully opens. Customers will be able to submit each bingo they get for a chance to win prizes and discounts.

Jan's, a new and used bookstore in Beaverton, Ore., will move out of its current home while owner Lori Carroll looks for a new, more affordable space, the Forest Grove News-Times reported. To help support the bookstore during the transition, Carroll has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $20,000; so far it has brought in just over $13,500.

Jan's will leave its current location at the end of this month.

Carroll explained that the store's rent, which was increased significantly last year, has become untenable, and she has decided to not renew the lease. The bookstore must move out by August 31, and while Carroll searches for a suitable new home, the bookstore's inventory and fixtures will either go into storage or be moved into Arcade Book Exchange in Hillsboro, Ore., a used bookstore that Carroll took over in July.

"We tried, and we're just not making it," Carroll told the News-Times. "So rather than bury ourselves and have to close, we're gonna move and try to get a space that's more affordable for the store."

Jan's will remain distinct from Arcade Book Exchange, with Carroll noting that the option gives her more flexibility in making sure she finds the ideal space. She said: "If I didn't have that option, I'd be more likely to just shoehorn into a spot. But I have the opportunity to give the store space to find the perfect spot."

Carroll, the third owner in the bookstore's 43-year history, said that while she hoped Jan's will remain in Beaverton, she is looking in other nearby communities, including Tigard.

Barnes & Noble will open new stores tomorrow, Wednesday, August 28, in Syracuse, N.Y., and Santa Monica, Calif.

The Syracuse store resides in the Destiny USA shopping center at 9868 Destiny USA Drive, and occupies a space that formerly belonged to a Banana Republic store. It will officially open to the public at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Santa Monica store, meanwhile, is located on the city's Third Street Promenade at 1318 3rd St., in a space that once belonged to iconic independent bookstore Midnight Special. The store will open at 10 a.m. Wednesday with a ribbon cutting and signing featuring author Olivie Blake. The opening marks the return of B&N to the Third Street Promenade; B&N's previous location there closed in 2018.

The Syracuse and Santa Monica stores are among the four new B&Ns to open this month. The company plans to open more than 50 this year.

British children's book author John Yeoman, who was praised by his publishers for his "impish humor" and the "combination of silliness, magic and fable" in his works, died July 8, the Bookseller reported. He was 89. Yeoman's collaboration with illustrator Quentin Blake continued for more than 60 years. A Drink of Water (1960) was their first book together, Meet the Family (2022) their final one, and Quentin Blake's Magical Tales (2010) their bestselling title.   

A tribute post on Blake's Facebook page noted: "John and Quentin worked together on more than 30 books.... The two first met at Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School in the 1940s, and remained close friends ever since."

Jane Winterbottom of Walker Books UK said Yeoman's "impish humor and his playful language were infectious, never more so than in his Old Mother Hubbard's Dog books published by Walker in the 1980s and still in print today. His witty texts were the perfect channel for Quentin Blake's riotous illustrations and will continue to be enjoyed by future generations. We mourn the loss of a unique writer."

Farshore's Tiffany Leeson noted that a 2017 exhibition at the House of Illustration, Quentin Blake and John Yeoman: 50 Years of Children's Books, "is without question one of the most extraordinary exhibitions I've ever been to. Thank goodness for their enduring friendship and collaborations through the years. The combination of silliness, magic and fable in John's incredible stories have captivated children for over half a century. John's passing is a huge loss to the world of children's books and we will be forever grateful for the stories he's given us." 

Roger Thorp at Thames & Hudson commented: "We at Thames & Hudson have been lucky enough to be able to republish two wonderful publications by John and Quentin: The Boy Who Sprouted Antlers and their very first collaboration, A Drink of Water. It has been a privilege and a huge pleasure to publish with such a remarkable writer."

Charlie Sheppard at Andersen Press said: "John was a wonderfully inventive, comic writer who changed the perception of how picture books can entertain children and families. We are proud to have published some of his classic collaborations with Quentin Blake--which remain in print for a new generation of children to love."

Yeoman's agent, Caradoc King of United Agents, said: "To have represented John Yeoman, sometimes individually and most often through his professional partnership with Quentin Blake, for most his professional life at both A.P. Watt and United Agents has been an exceptional and hugely enjoyable experience. He was a brilliant children's storyteller."

Amy Tan shared her new book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles (Knopf)--a nature journal she wrote and illustrated--at an event to benefit Sausalito Books by the Bay's nonprofit, Literacy by the Bay. Tan, who lives in Sausalito, was joined in conversation by Jack Dumbacher, chief ornithologist at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco; artist Tiffany Bozic, who most recently illustrated Sy Montgomery's Brave Baby Hummingbird; and Sausalito Books by the Bay owner Cheryl Popp. More than 100 patrons enjoyed a wine-tasting and an elegant tea party at a private residence in addition to the special presentation. Pictured: (from left) Tiffany Bozic, Jack Dumbacher, Cheryl Popp, Amy Tan.

Posted on Facebook by Octavia Books, New Orleans, La.: "The bookstore at night."

At Scholastic:

Caroline Noll has been promoted to national account manager. Previously she was sales associate for national accounts.

Sydney Niegos is being promoted to associate marketing manager. She was previously a sales coordinator for the field sales team.

Hello Baby, Goodbye Intrusive Thoughts: Stop the Spiral of Anxiety and OCD to Reclaim Wellness on Your Motherhood Journey by Jenny Yip (New Harbinger Publications).

Today:
Here & Now: Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America (Bloomsbury Publishing, $29.99, 9781639733538).

Tomorrow:
Today Show: Sara Szal Gottfried, author of The Autoimmune Cure: Healing the Trauma and Other Triggers That Have Turned Your Body Against You (Harvest, $29.99, 9780063265202).

Drew Barrymore Show repeat: Julia Fox, author of Down the Drain (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668011508).

CBS Sunday Morning took what it called a "diversion" to look at "a town books put on the map": Hobart, N.Y., where in one block there are seven bookstores. Set in the northern Catskills, Hobart Book Village's inspiration was Hay-on-Wye, the famous Welsh book town. The piece notes the variety of store specialties--New York history, cooking, mysteries, travel, antiquarian, etc.--and the founding of events like the Hobart Festival of Women Writers.

Among the interviewees is Don Dales, who in the early 2000s began buying buildings in downtown Hobart and establishing bookstores. The area is a place where "writers and readers now make pilgrimages," in part "for what the town represents."

Universal International Studios and Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door will develop a TV series based on Matt Dinniman's novel Dungeon Crawler Carl. Deadline reported that the indie novel "has sold more than a million copies, initially having been self-published as an e-book and audiobook. Five sequels have followed, and Dinniman has raised major sums on Kickstarter to publish special editions."

The author recently signed a publishing deal with Penguin Random House and a hardcover version of the book releases today. Chris Yost (Thor: Ragnarok, The Mandalorian) is set to adapt the novel for TV. 

"I'm excited to share this crazy story with a much wider audience," said Dinniman. "I think it's found a great home at Fuzzy Door and Universal International Studios." 

Describing the author as "a world builder with a truly original voice," Kelsey Balance, senior v-p, global scripted series at UIS, said, "Dungeon Crawler Carl has captured the enthusiasm of fans across the world. We cannot wait to dive into this world with Matt, our partners at Fuzzy Door and the brilliant Chris Yost to bring this universe to the screen." 

"Matt captures genre bending at its best with his laugh-out-loud and emotionally gut-wrenching characters," added Fuzzy Door president Erica Huggins. "That, coupled with the semi-grounded but unique sci-fi world Dungeon Crawler Carl takes place in, makes for an ideal Fuzzy Door project."

The shortlist for the 2024 Readings New Australian Fiction Prize has been announced. The winner in this category--as well as in YA and children's book categories--will be named October 22. The three category winners each receive A$5,000 (about US$3,390), with A$1,000 (about US$675) going to the winner of the Gab Williams Prize, recognizing the contribution of Australian YA authors and honoring former prize manager and YA author Gabrielle Williams, who died in 2023. This year's shortlisted titles are:

Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh
Ghost Cities by Siang Lu
No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton
Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt
The Opposite of Success by Eleanor Elliott Thomas 
But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu 

In Jade Beer's fourth novel, The Memory Dress, a very special gown brings together themes of love, loss, and the complexities of friendship. Told in the alternating voices of Jayne and Meredith, neighbors in a posh Bath apartment building, Beer's narrative examines the limits of memory, the challenges of loving someone with an incurable illness, and the unexpected ways community can emerge.

Quiet and introverted, Jayne is content living on her own: walking dogs for company and distraction, working part-time at a florist's shop. But an unexpected encounter with her downstairs neighbor, Meredith, piques Jayne's curiosity and leaves her both intrigued and worried. Meredith is pleasant, but she seems lonely and confused, wondering where her husband, William, has disappeared to. When Jayne sees the chaos in Meredith's apartment, she grows even more concerned. But when she spots a sumptuous pink silk dress tossed over a chair in Meredith's bedroom--a couture creation worn by Princess Diana--Jayne becomes determined to uncover some answers about Meredith, the gown, and the connection between the two.

Beer (The Last Dress from Paris) stitches her story together with alternating threads. One is an account of Meredith's career working for London designer Catherine Walker in the 1980s. She chronicles Meredith's work on a number of Diana's gowns; her courtship with her colleague and eventual husband, William; and the joy and heartbreak of raising their daughter, Fiona. In 2018, as Jayne tries to piece together Meredith's story, she is aided by Meredith's "memory room," a collection of photos and clippings arranged meticulously by William, which helps Meredith fill in some of the gaps in her memory--but not all of them. Beer draws on real-life details of Diana's wardrobe to create the backdrop of Meredith's personal and professional adventures, and aid in Jayne's scavenger hunt.

As Jayne searches for William, probes Meredith's memory for the missing stories, and enlists her neighbors to help Meredith navigate the details of daily life, she slowly emerges from her shell of isolation. Gradually, Jayne begins to bond with her neighbors, and even to open her heart to Jake, who lives in the apartment's refurbished carriage house and seems eager for Jayne's companionship. Although they don't always agree on how to help Meredith, these friends become just as intrigued by the dress as Jayne is. Beer sensitively explores the challenges of mental illness, the gifts (and the limits) of community, and the power of emotional bonds to change a person's life. The Memory Dress is a tribute to unlikely friendships, enduring love, and the history contained in every stitch of an exquisitely crafted garment. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Jade Beer's fourth novel pays tribute to unlikely friendships, haute couture, and the enduring power of love.

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
2. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
3. King of Wrath by Ana Huang
4. Twisted Games by Ana Huang
5. If We Ever Meet Again by Ana Huang
6. Catch the Sun by Jennifer Hartmann
7. Twisted Hate by Ana Huang
8. The Inmate by Freida McFadden
9. A Thousand Broken Pieces by Tillie Cole
10. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]