Rendering of the soon-to-open Wonderland Bookshop.

Wonderland Bookshop will open in early October at 4001 N. Downer Avenue in Shorewood, Wis. Milwaukee magazine reported that while owner and bibliophile Courtney Hyzer "never planned--until recently--on opening a bookshop four blocks from her home," she "is sure this is her dream job and the perfect next chapter."

"I've always been a huge reader. One of my favorite things to do is visit independent bookshops," she said, noting that while her kids are now older, reading them stories at night was often the highlight of her day, and curating their storybook collection a close second. "I was searching for a way to bottle up that feeling."

Wonderland Bookshop will feature board books and picture books for children, series for middle-grade readers, and titles marketed to young adults. Nonfiction and fiction works for adults will also be on offer. The shop's small event space will be used for for literary-themed tea parties, showers, and birthday parties.

With a background in event planning, Hyzer said she partnered with graphic designer Courtney Rathmann of Rathmann Design Co. on the bookshop's branding to introduce an "inspiring, whimsical and magical" aesthetic. "I always knew I wanted to be in Shorewood... [and create] a magical place for my children," she said.

Regarding the store's name, Hyzer noted: "Shorewood was originally known as having a succession of amusement parks along the Milwaukee River in the early 1900s. One of them was (called) Wonderland Amusement Park. It's about bringing the whimsy back."

Printed Matter, the New York City bookstore that specializes in artists' books, will close its St. Mark's Place store in October, while the bookseller's main location in Chelsea will remain open. Printed Matter/St. Mark's had launched as a second location in 2018, in the Swiss Institute's new space on St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue.

In an Instagram Post, Printed Matter wrote: "We are saddened to announce the closing of Printed Matter/St. Mark's, our East Village bookstore that has operated at the corner of St. Mark's Place and 2nd Avenue over the last six years. The last day the storefront will be open to the public is October 13, 2024.

"The bookstore came into existence in 2018 as the result of a rare and wonderful collaboration with Swiss Institute, and we thank them for their incredible hospitality and partnership that made the storefront possible.

"The St Mark's space has been a remarkable site for experimentation, maintaining a specialty focus on the East Village neighborhood and its history as a home for avant garde art and countercultural publications, offering a selection of independently-published books by artists, zines, prints, and historical material. The location oversaw a full calendar of programs, window installations and workshops, including four editions of the East Village Zine Fair, a joyous and wildly successful outdoor zine fair organized in collaboration with 8-Ball Community. We are grateful to the many Printed Matter staff members who have contributed so much energy and talent to all that the space undertook!"

Barnes & Noble will host grand-opening celebrations tomorrow, Wednesday, September 4, for three new bookstores, in Franklin, Tenn., Las Vegas, Nev., and Doylestown, Pa. They are among 10 bookstores the company has scheduled to launch in September.
 
The Franklin store is located in the Cool Springs Galleria at 1800 Galleria Blvd. B&N noted: "We jumped at the opportunity to open a new Barnes & Noble in Cool Springs Galleria. 16 years after opening our last Barnes & Noble in this area, we're glad to offer book buyers an additional location that is conveniently situated in a popular shopping center, thoughtfully curated and beautifully remodeled."

B&N's new Las Vegas store is in the Town Square at 6671 Las Vegas Blvd. South, where author Katherine Applegate will cut the ribbon and sign copies of her book Willodeen (Square Fish/Macmillan). 

The Doylestown bookstore is located at 1745 S. Easton Rd. B&N said it has also been 16 years since the company launched a new bookshop in this area.

Thomas Willshire has been named executive director of the American University in Cairo Press, effective September 1. He has more than 30 years of academic and trade publishing experience, having worked most recently at Cambridge University Press, as well as Oxford University Press, Continuum International Publishing, Random House, and HarperCollins. He began his career in bookselling in Milwaukee and Chicago before joining Barnes & Noble's buying team at its New York headquarters.

Willshire will work from the Cairo office. AUC Press also has offices in New York and is distributed, outside Egypt, by IPS/Two Rivers (in North America) and by IPS UK (in the U.K., Europe, and the rest of the world). The AUC Press also operates bookstores in Egypt. It also sponsors the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, which supports contemporary Arab literature in translation (see this year's shortlist below).

Word Play Books, Wardenville, W.Va., and Loyalty Bookstores, Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md., have won $250 grants from Parson Weems Publisher Services, the independent publishers rep group, given in honor of Linda Cannon, a rep with Parson Weems from 2003 until her death in 2019.

"Linda loved being a book sales rep and the business of publishing," Parson Weems said. "She truly enjoyed working with publishers, authors and, most of all, with her booksellers across the territory." In 2017, she received the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's inaugural Kristin Keith Sales Rep of the Year Award.

Word Play Books is using its $250 grant, as co-owner Marlene England wrote in its application, "to support the work of our nonprofit, WordPlay Connects, which provides children in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands region with free books and the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators. So far this year, we've put more than 1,600 books in kids' hands--at no cost to families or schools. And since our nonprofit launched in 2022, we've donated more than 8,500 books to young West Virginians in the five-county region surrounding our bookstore in Wardensville. The $250 grant would help us purchase more books to give away this summer and fall at community events, including our new Tunes & Tales family concert series that features free music and free children's books. Access to books is extremely limited in our rural area--often there is only one public library to serve an entire county, and some libraries in elementary schools are being eliminated or staffed part-time by volunteers. Making it possible for kids to create home libraries from books they choose will boost literacy, as well as academic success and personal well-being."

Accepting for Loyalty Bookstores, co-owner Christine Bollow wrote that its grant will be used for "the inaugural Liwanag Filipino Lit Fest in D.C. this fall, which will be hosted by Loyalty Bookstores and is being planned by Loyalty/Christine, along with fellow queer Filipino community leaders and organizations in the D.C. area. Despite being the fourth-largest immigrant group in the U.S., Filipino authors, and Filipino creators in general, are vastly underrepresented in the literary scene and in the media at large. In partnership with our sister festival in California hosted by Bel Canto Books, our aim is to shine a lot on Filipino literature and provide a platform to champion FilAm authors. This grant will enable us to further our community outreach and strengthen relationships with Filipino American readers in the D.C. area."

Congratulations to the Town Book Store, Westfield, N.J., which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, starting tomorrow, September 4. For the entire month, patrons who spend $90 or more will receive a TBS tote bag or mug for free, while supplies last. On Thursday, September 5, the first of a series of celebratory events takes place: a "Book Lovers Mixer," from 6 to 7:30 p.m., which is open to the public, with local business owners especially encouraged to attend. Refreshments and plenty of bookish conversation will be served.

Other events this month include local author readings and signings featuring Joshua Suri (pen name: Emilio Cot), author of Hillcrest: Stories from the Edge of Paterson, and Liz Alterman, author of The House on Cold Creek Lane.

The store is also partnering with the Wallitsch Art Gallery to host a poetry event and open house on September 29. Art by Shirley Wallitsch is on display and for sale at the bookstore.

Owner Lisa Schwartz bought the Town Book Store in April after working there since 2019. "When the opportunity to buy the store presented itself, I didn't hesitate, and now we are deep in the planning stages to honor the nine decades that the store has anchored the Westfield community," she said. "We're really proud and ready to party! Watch our Instagram for details."

She noted that customers can expect the same level of personal service that the store has always provided: book recommendations from knowledgeable booksellers, gift wrapping, special orders, gift certificates, and book club incentives. She added, "I'm not here to reinvent the wheel, but I might rotate the tires a bit."

The Town Book Store was started by Ester Nichols and Matilda McLean on September 4, 1934, and has had eight owners.

Dan Christiaens

Dan Christiaens, longtime sales rep in the western U.S., has retired after nearly 30 years of book slinging for Norton and after nearly 50 years in the book business. He started his first bookstore job in 1975, and for years considered bookselling to be his "bartending" job while trying to make it as an actor. But then bookselling won the day, and as he puts it, "acting became my sales technique." Norton hired him in 1996, and since then he has worked with independent bookstores in every state in the West.

Christiaens says he loved his time in the trenches with "the most passionate, funny, cheerful, and energetic people in the world for these many years and will miss being the 'Norton Authority,' " a role he now hands to his successor, Jill Owens-Leigh, who joins the company from Powell's Books in Portland, Ore. In post-retirement, he plans to do acting again, as well as work the floor in a bookstore somewhere and volunteer in the National Parks.

There will be two celebrations of Dan Christiaens and his career. The first will be in Seattle, Wash., at Ravenna Third Place, on Monday, September 16, 6-8 p.m. The other will be at the Tin House in Portland, Ore., the night before the PNBA Trade Show, on Saturday, September 28, with time to be announced.

He can be reached via e-mail.

Oriel Voegele has joined Hachette Audio as publicity and marketing coordinator. She attended NYU's Summer Publishing Institute in 2023 and began her publishing career at Basic Books as publicity assistant.

The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life by Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Allison Gilbert, and Pierre Lehu (Rodale Books). This is the late Dr. Ruth's last book.

Today:
CBS Mornings: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, author of Lovely One: A Memoir (Random House, $35, 9780593729908). She will also appear today on the Today Show and Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and tomorrow on the View.

Also on CBS Mornings: Max Greenfield, author of Good Night Thoughts (Putnam Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 9780593697894). He will appear today on Live with Kelly and Mark, too.

Also on CBS Mornings: Katie Ledecky, author of Just Add Water: My Swimming Life (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668060209).

Good Morning America: RoseMarie Terenzio, co-author of JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography (Gallery Books, $30.99, 9781668018514).

Also on GMA: Tamron Hall and Lish Steiling, authors of A Confident Cook: Recipes for Joyous, No-Pressure Fun in the Kitchen (Hyperion Avenue, $35, 9781368104043).

Fresh Air: Danzy Senna, author of Colored Television: A Novel (Riverhead, $29, 9780593544372).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Molly Fletcher, author of Dynamic Drive: The Purpose-Fueled Formula for Sustainable Success (Hachette Go, $30, 9780306834196).

Today Show: Brad Thor, author of Shadow of Doubt: A Thriller (Atria/Emily Bestler, $29.99, 9781982182236).

Drew Barrymore Show: Sara Jane Ho, author of Mind Your Manners: How to Be Your Best Self in Any Situation (Hachette Go, $30, 9780306832833).

Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, co-author of The Accomplice: A Novel (Amistad, $27.99, 9780063312906).

Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick movie franchise, plans to develop author Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger novels for TV. Deadline reported that Stahelski, who acquired rights to the book series through his 87Eleven Entertainment production company, was known for his stunt work on The Matrix franchise and original The Crow before he moved to directing.

"I really loved reading the Joe Ledger series," he said. "It's an all-time epic action series with intrigue, suspense and such engaging characters. As I read it, I could see the immediate cinematic potential."

Maberry commented: "Chad's career, both behind and in front of the camera, pretty much defines the kinds of things I love to watch. The Matrix, The Crow, John Wick--and so many others are solidly in my wheelhouse. And we're both lifelong martial artists as well as professional pop-culture geeks. When we sat down for the first time to discuss Joe Ledger, it was clear that he not only read the books but deeply and empathetically understood the characters. I don't think I've ever met someone in Hollywood whose mind runs along tracks this similar to my own. He's also a visionary and a hell of a lot of fun. This is what they mean when they talk about 'Hollywood magic.' "

The American University in Cairo Press has released a shortlist for the $5,000 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, which supports contemporary Arabic literature in translation. In addition to a cash prize, the winning work earns translation and publication throughout the English-speaking world. The winner will be named December 11, the birthday of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. This year's shortlisted titles are: 

The Sky Is Smoking Cigarettes (al-Sama' tudakhin al-saga'ir) by Wajdi al-Ahdal (Yemen)
The Glass Woman (al-Sayyida al-zujajiya) by Amr El-Adly (Egypt)
The Scribe: Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (al-Warraq Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi) by Hisham Eid (Egypt)
My Name Is Zayzafun (Ismi Zayzafun) by Sausan Jamil Hasan (Syria)
House of the Judge: The Journey of Qassim bin Yunis (Bayt al-qadi: masirat Qasim bin Yunis) by Mahmoud Adel Taha (Egypt)
Muted Microphone (Micrufun katim sawt) by Mohammed Tarazi (Lebanon).

Set My Heart on Fire is a raw and unrelenting coming-of-age story published in English for the first time, 38 years after the death of its author, Japanese writer and actress Izumi Suzuki. Now perhaps best known for her science fiction short stories, Suzuki blazes new emotional territory in this semi-autobiographical, instant cult classic.

Viscerally translated by Helen O'Horan, Set My Heart on Fire follows its narrator, also named Izumi, through Tokyo's 1970s underground psychedelic-rock scene. As Izumi navigates the fractured landscape of music, drugs, and men, she forms more memorable relationships with her friend Etsuko, as well as the disarmingly quiet and sincere musician Joel. Yet as Izumi sinks deeper into the hallucinatory intensity of her sexual liaisons, she finds herself drifting away from the people she most loved and toward a life poised more precariously on the edge.

The episodes throughout Izumi's life are rendered as unsparingly as they are tenderly in Suzuki's hands. In the descriptions of Izumi's sexual encounters, intimate moments become as much character revelations as they are physical acts: where one man "kept asking the same question. As if he was taking care and being gentle." She observes, "No matter how pretty a pretty boy is, he'll still grovel and beg to a woman." Yet another "moved violently. It seemed like he wanted to get it over with quickly.... This was probably the first time I'd been so utterly at the mercy of a man." Izumi's journey down the rabbit hole of sex, drugs, and rock and roll proves to be less the corruption of an innocent girl than the assured decision making of a woman eager to learn who she might really be through transgression. But just as Izumi learns more about herself with each affair, she also compiles more data on how to read men--their insecurities, their obsessions, the performances they, too, put on.

By the time Izumi encounters the crescendo of the man who is to be her husband, his bravado is more of a whimper than a bang. Yet perhaps it is that very confidence of having it all figured out that proves to be both Izumi's and the people in her orbit's weakness. Even the most jaded in Set My Heart on Fire reverberate with more profound resonance than any of the music that weaves its way into their lives. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor

Shelf Talker: Set My Heart on Fire is a captivating example of Izumi Suzuki's virtuosic control of language and insight into the heart of gendered power dynamics.

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

1. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
2. 7th Circle by Tate James
3. Bridesmaid Undercover by Meghan Quinn
4. Kingmakers: Year One by Sophie Lark
5. Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
6. The Inmate by Freida McFadden
7. Wild Love by Elsie Silver
8. If We Ever Meet Again by Ana Huang
9. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
10. The Bonus by TL Swan

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]