Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Gothictown by Emily Carpenter. Set in a small Georgia town, this novel about NY transplants slowly discovering their new community is run by sociopaths is REALLY scary! But I can’t stop reading. Looking forward to a palate-cleansing romance after this one.
Listening: To neighbors chatting as they walk their dogs past my house, and to the birds who share their days with each other through song.
Watching: Ludwig, a brilliant new series on Britbox, and the final episodes of Later Daters.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: And still, unfortunately, nothing changes. It's been a weird week for me!
Listening: I have just discovered that Paul Anka covered a lot of popular music, and I'm really enjoying his versions of things like Black Hole Sun and Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Watching: Binged through The Pitt AND The Residence almost too quickly. They were both so, so good!

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Wildlife by Amanda Leduc. Hellions by Julia Elliott. My book club is dithering about its next selection, so I am picking up things sort of haphazard-fashion while I wait for them to make up their minds.
Listening: It was a podcast week, because Slightly Foxed has a new episode. What I wouldn't give for them to return to a monthly schedule. Their quarterly production timetable is killing me
Watching: Ah, The Pitt. It's been my favorite binge-watch since I can't remember when. The first time I stumbled onto MI-5, maybe. I also managed to finish Sapphire & Steel, which remained Gorgeously Creepy (capital G, capital C) right through to the cliffhanger ending. I'd love to see a remake, but really who could ever step into Joanna Lumley's lovely blue shoes?

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: Ann Cleeves' The Raging Storm (the third in her Matthew Venn series) is my book of the moment, but lately I've found myself practically evangelizing Yael van de Wouden's The Safekeep and Sylvia Townsend Warner's Summer Will Show which is making me want to reread them both.
Listening: So much Nina Simone. Especially her 1969 album, To Love Somebody.
Watching: Would I like to say I've been watching a three-hour experimental French film shot from the POV of Michel Foucault's turtleneck sweater? Well, of course. Should I admit that I am actually mostly through the second season of Xena: Warrior Princess? No! Should I split the difference and say I am rejoicing at the new season of Hacks? Bingo. I would absolutely watch that turtleneck movie though

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I am very into an anthology of horror by Daphne du Maurier right now, After Midnight. It's got several of her classic stories that I haven't read before that are amazing.
Listening: I watched some old Behind the Music episodes lately so my playlist has been very 80s heavy.
Watching: The Last of Us has started back up! So far I love it, though I do not love the direction Ellie's character is going. I'm delighted with the addition of Catherine O'Hara to the cast.

Current Newsletter: Happy National Stress Awareness Month?

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Nina Barrios, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Marcia Honeycutt Roseman, Editions Bookstore in Kannapolis, North Carolina
• Mallory Sutton, Bards Alley Bookshop in Vienna, Virginia
• Mary Salazar, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
• Janet Geddis, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
• Angelica Manglona, Buxton Books in Charleston, South Carolina
• Jamie Kovacs, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Emily Tarr, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama
• Rachel Knox, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida
• Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Izzy Bell, Birch Tree Bookstore in Leesburg, Virginia
• Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
•  Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser, Inc. in Marietta, Georgia
• Thomas Wallace, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, Tennessee
• Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Brianna Lloyd, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Rae Ann Parker, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
•  Jonathan Hawpe, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
• Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Book Buzz Feature: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
I’ve always thought that the legend of the fox is so fascinating. In Chinese literature and also Japanese and Korean legends, the fox is a shapeshifter, as you mentioned, who can turn itself into a very attractive person. And folklore is full of these stories – many of them odd figments of stories – of foxes who interact with people, often tricking them, sometimes killing them or making off with their property.

The classic fox tale is that there’s a scholar who’s studying for the imperial exams late one evening when there’s a knock at the door, and a beautiful woman appears. Later on, of course, he discovers she’s not human, which raises all sorts of questions about, what is the story really about? But when I was a child, I read lots of these stories, and I was always fascinated by the fox, by this creature. Why do they come at night? Why do they always interrupt people’s exams? (Laughter). And what lies on the other side of the door? You know, the sort of wildness and otherness – that’s really interesting.

― Yangsze Choo, Interview, NPR

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Monday’s Not Coming is a heartbreaking story of a missing teenager, a community that seems not to notice, and a best friend who will go to whatever lengths it takes to find her missing friend. Tiffany D. Jackson weaves the reader through multiple timelines with increasing tension and emotion until you reach an ending that will haunt you long after you finish the book. This is a difficult but important and timely story, highly recommended for teen and adult readers.
―Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Just started Gothictown by Emily Carpenter. Not sure if a gothic novel set in small town Georgia with hints about “darkness lurking beneath the Southern hospitality” is what my psyche needs right now, but it’s highly recommended by SIBA booksellers and they never let me down.
Listening: The time of lawn mowing and leaf blowers for tidying up lawns is upon us. Mornings, though, are like living in a bird sanctuary.
Watching: Springtime blooming in the mountains, and The Residence on Netflix. Both bring a smile.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Nothing has changed. Ask me again next week.
Listening: To the crowds singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame because baseball season is upon us!
Watching: Now that The White Lotus is over, I've started watching The Pitt and can't stop. Already halfway through! I know it's not supposed to be ER, but in my head, it's absolutely ER 2.0 with Dr. Carter.

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Wildlife by Amanda Leduc.
Listening: SP shared her James Baldwin's Home Records playlist on Spotify, so a lot of Diana Ross. From Libro.fm, To Save and Destroy: Writing as Other by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Watching: Still in The Pitt.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: Ann Cleeves' (whose Jimmy Perez novels were adapted for TV for Shetland, and the Vera Stanhope ones for Vera) A Lesson in Dying was published in 1990, but it's only now published in the US. I love the way Cleeves writes about marshes and birds, chilly rain in chilly towns, and complicated people.
Listening: A mention of James Baldwin reminded me of the James Baldwin's Home Records playlist in Spotify, based on the records he had in his house in France. I've been listening all day. Jazz, blues, R&B, disco, pop standards, divas, and gospel--spectacular.
Watching: It's not like I don't adore Parker Posey in any/everything, but Carrie Coon was the reason I kept watching The White Lotus. The season finale (about which my feelings are decidedly mixed) proved me right and earned her a permanent spot on my list of TV girlfriends. I'm tempted to make a Duke joke, but I'm trying to be a bigger person these days.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I just finished Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams and hooooo boy is it a wild ride. I wish I was surprised at the things she described but I am just disappointed.
Listening: Someone on Reddit mentioned "Tomorrow Wendy" in some weird context and now I'm on a Concrete Blonde kick.
Watching: I will talk to anyone that would like to about The White Lotus (Parker Posey + Carrie Coon 4ever!) but I've been enjoying Everybody's In LA with John Mulaney lately. That guy is just ridiculous and the guest lineup is so weird and delightful. I love it.

In the heart of Historic Downtown Powder Springs, where the charm of independently owned businesses meets the relentless pace of modern development, a beloved bookstore is fighting to preserve its place, purpose and legacy. For 25 years, The Book Worm has been a staple in the community. One of the few lasting businesses on the street.  In 2020, amid the turbulence of a global pandemic, I purchased The Book Worm in the hopes of not only keeping it in the community, but to create a place where everyone who walked in could see themselves in a book.

Growing up I was not always able to see myself in a book. I was always pointed to an “African American” section which was just a few shelves.  I remember telling myself I was going to one day own a store where not only would I be able to find books all over the store that looked like me, but everyone who walked in would feel welcomed and see themselves in a book. The Book Worm was going to be a place of refuge.  Keeping the name but rebranding to my own and building a community not only of book lovers, but a community that could learn from each other. A place where tough conversations could be had and friendships could be made.

Since taking ownership, the downtown areas has seen significant changes. Luxury apartments have been built, bringing construction disruptions that tested businesses' resilience. In the middle of trying to make it through a pandemic and then construction, I built the community I always wanted for readers.  A place for laughter, learning and friendship.  Even in the midst of the construction, in the midst of a pandemic, the small businesses tried everything we could to make it through. All of our dreams on the line. November 2024 began year five for me and in that time I've seen businesses open and those same businesses close. Challenges upon challenges, but I continued to follow God’s plan for me and work to bring the community together through literacy.  The Story Garden was soon to be born. The idea The Book Worm team had been working on for over a year would finally become a reality. So I thought.

The city announced plans for a retail space that threatens to overshadow our bookstore, both literally and figuratively.

In 2023, I envisioned a story garden—a sanctuary for outdoor reading, learning, and community gatherings. A place for not only reading, but grabbing produce and herbs along the way. I proposed using an adjacent unused green space, with the city initially signaling support by saying that a lease was being drafted and even approving a matching grant which they knew was for the garden's development. But at the beginning of 2024, those plans were upended when the city decided to develop the land themselves, incorporating some of our ideas but largely taking control away.

Undeterred, The Book Worm team embarked on creating a story garden on The Book Worm property, supported by generous customer donations and expertise from a local master gardener. However, our efforts faced another hurdle when a city staff recommendation opposed our wooden fence, citing aesthetic concerns, despite the planning and zoning department having no objections.

Now, the city seeks an easement on our property, jeopardizing the story garden by proposing a wooden deck and walls that starkly contrast with our community-focused vision. As we navigate these challenges, we remain committed to advocating for our community's needs and preserving the bookstore as a cherished local institution. Your support and voices are more crucial than ever as we continue this journey together.

Independent bookstores like The Book Worm are safe havens, and the fight to preserve them is more crucial than ever.

Sign the petition | Donate to the fight

Current Newsletter: Language at its most distilled and powerful.

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Jordan April, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Adam Fall, Underbrush Books in Rogers, Arkansas
• Leslie Logemann, Highland Books in Brevard, North Carolina
• Mandy Martin, Novel in Memphis, Tennessee
• Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Percy Castillo, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Susan Williams, M Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
• Johanna Hynes, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
• Lindsay Lynch, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
• Suzanne Lucey, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
• Lana Repic, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Krista Roach, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

Book Buzz Feature: Tilt by Emma Pattee
 live in Portland — so very close to Seattle — and like you said, everyone in the Pacific Northwest lives under the shadow of something coming that you can never really prepare for. And as a climate journalist, I was really interested in that. I was interested in the ways that we can’t get prepared. And at the time that I started writing this book, I was also pregnant. Pregnancy and having a kid is another thing that everyone tells you to get prepared for, because of how scary and unknowable it is, but the reality is that it’s completely unknowable. You cannot imagine it until you have lived through it. I think that, thematically, is what brought me to the book. What gave me the idea for the book was definitely that I was terrified of the earthquake. I was pregnant, and I could not stop thinking about the earthquake.

― Emma Pattee, Interview, Bookweb

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
I read this book years ago and still think about it all the time. For years, no one in the medical community cared where HeLa cells came from. I find it fascinating that one person (Skloot) being curious enough and determined enough can lead to such a powerful story being uncovered. Henrietta Lacks’s story matters.
―Krista Roach, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch, the latest in Raasch’s Royals and Romance series. Lots of fun, expletives, and riffs on Irish culture. Re-reading Real Life and Other Fictions by Susan Coll for my book club. I really enjoyed this quirky, poignant novel involving Mothman lore.
Listening: To the sounds of birds delighting in spring’s arrival, and to occasional rains, which we so need in western North Carolina.
Watching: Enjoying two series, Ludwig and The Residence, featuring brilliant detectives with unusual passions: one a puzzlemaster and the other a birder and both the best investigators out there, noticing things that others don’t, with little regard, or even awareness of social niceties

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Still on Oathbound and Eat the Ones You Love
Listening: Started the dramatized version of Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. The dramatized aubiobooks of the Fourth Wing series are so fun and immersive. It's truly like watching a CW show.
Watching: Only one episode left of The White Lotus!

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Wildlife by Amanda Leduc.
Listening: There has been a shift in the birds visiting the feeders lately, so my Merlin app is recording while I have my morning coffee on the back deck. Of the ten-to-fifteen different birds it claims to have identified by song, I only ever see about six or seven of them.
Watching: Back in The Pitt.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: The Antidote by Karen Russell.
Listening: So many new albums! Lucy Dacus, Japanese Breakfast, Dean Wareham, Perfume Genius. So many old albums! Talking Heads, Birds of Chicago, Mitski, Irma Thomas, Brittany Howard, Clem Snide.
Watching: This Chapel Hill grad can't help but feel a gleeful schadenfreude at Duke's pearl-clutching over this season of The White Lotus.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: I was fortunate enough to get a DRC of Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry and it's sooooo good. It has Book Lovers vibes and a fun story-within-a-story.
Listening: Lucy Dacus's full new album is out now and she's still one of my faves.
Watching: We binged all the episodes of Mid Century Modern this weekend and it was cute and fun. Think modern Golden Girls, with a trio of gay men and one of their mothers.

This week at New Voices New Rooms!

An unexpected technical delay prevented NVNR from launching conference registration on April 2nd as planned. We are working to get that resolved and will make an announcement when we are able to open the registration system. We appreciate your patience and understanding!

• Reserve your hotel room
  Room rate is $180/night. Conference Reservation link
  
  
• Apply for a travel grant (booksellers only)
  Applications are open to apply for travel grants to help defray the costs of attending the conference. Apply here
  
  
• See updates to the program at the Conference Hub on the NVNR website

Coming up this month, there is still time to sign up for the NVNR Spring Owners Strategy Session.

This will be an "Ask Me Anything" session -- owners are encouraged to come ask about any issue that is most on their mind. A bookseller's best resource is their own bookstore owner colleagues.

The event will be moderated by Kirsten Hess from Let's Play Books & The End in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and Shari Stauch from Main Street Reads in Summerville, South Carolina.

April 17 at 6:00 PM ET via Zoom
You must be an owner of a bookstore member of either SIBA or NAIBA to attend.

Register here: NAIBA | SIBA

Current Newsletter: A green and growing reading list: nature books beloved by booksellers.

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Gainesville, Florida
• Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Nancy Pierce, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia
• Su Kim, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia
• Jessica Osborne, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Alexandra Bender, Fonts Books in McLean, Virginia
• Amanda Grell, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Rachel Knox, Tombolo Books in St Petersburg, Florida
• Meghan Haile, The Lynx in Gainesville, Florida
• Mikey LaFave, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
• Joshua Lambie, Underground Books in Carrollton, Georgia
• Julie Jarema, Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Christina Tabereaux, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama
• Julia Lewis, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
• Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in Marietta, Georgia
• Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Mandolin Moore, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia

Book Buzz Feature: Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

When I first conceived of these stories, around 2016, a lot of trans writing was very sure that it had to be a specific thing: In order to capture the trans experience, we have to invent a totally new narrative for this wild and different style of life that has strange punctuation and asterisks and parentheses in it! And I was very resistant to this because I was like, I actually think that trans lives are built out of the exact same things that any other life is built out of. The emotions that are operative for a trans person are the exact same emotions that are operative for anybody else. It may be arranged slightly differently or with slightly different balances, but 99 percent of them are all the same. And so, there was a way in which I was like, You know what? I’m going to just write trans stories to show that you don’t need to invent some othering form to explain a trans life. You can explain a trans life in a teen romance. Then, I just started finding them fun.

― Torrey Peters, Interview, The Cut

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I was so happy to get this book (mostly because of how big it was), but I was even more surprised when I sat down to read it, and I was so engaged that I lost track of time, and I couldn’t put it down. It was so amazingly well written, and the characters were astoundingly well written and hilarious. I spent three solid days reading this book, and it never felt like a chore to do so. The ending was amazing, and I can’t wait to have three solid days free so that I can read the next one.
―Mandolin Moore, Story on the Square in McDonough, Georgia

Things to do / Things not to miss

1. Register for the NVNR Owners Strategy Session
April 17 at 6 PM ET/ 5 PM CT on Zoom

The April session is an "Ask Me Anything" Session. Bookstore owners will have a chance to discuss their "top of mind" issues will their colleagues.
Register here.

2. Make your plans for New Voices New Rooms
August 3-6, 2025 in Atlanta

Registration will open on April 2. Earlybird pricing is available for the month of April. Hotel reservations can be made now, and applications are open for NVNR travel grants. Visit the NVNR Conference Hub for updates.

3. Make your plans for Independent Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day is April 23, but the deadline to register to participate is March 31. Bookstores must be a member of the American Booksellers Association and SIBA to participate. Visit the IBD page for tools and resources here.

4. Nominate a bookseller (or yourself) for the SIBA Board
Be a part of the leadership team that makes SIBA, and therefore SIBA's member bookstores, a success. Nominations and criteria here.

5. Check your SIBA account for accuracy
Much of the upcoming programming in April requires current SIBA membership to participate. Registering for New Voices New Rooms, participating in Independent Bookstore Day, attending meetings with other owners, applying for grants and scholarships --- all of these require SIBA have up-to-date and accurate information about your bookstore. Take a few moments to log in to your account and check the following:

Your bookstore name
Your bookstore's complete address
Your store's phone number
Your store's primary contact name and email

Without this info, you may miss important updates from SIBA. Log in here.

Nomination deadline is May 15, 2025.

Nominations are now open for booksellers to serve on the SIBA Board. Consider someone today for a board position.  Candidates must be from a SIBA core member in good standing. Self‐nominations are encouraged, and anyone can nominate. Board terms are three years.

Serving on SIBA's Board  is both rewarding and enlightening. The Board is tasked with leading the organization under SIBA's newly revised Bylaws, with its expanded definition of core membership, updating its governance policies to be relevant with the current bookselling climate and culture, and ensuring that SIBA fulfills its primary purpose of supporting the short- and long-term viability of its core member bookstores.

SIBA functions under The Carver Method. Board members do not get paid for service but expenses incurred are generally covered by the organization. The position requires attendance at board meetings plus a Carver training session. Adequate preparation for all meetings is also required. The Board seeks persons from the core membership taking into account the following:

• Relevant Policy Governance skills (including the ability to work within group decisions, to use conceptual categories of Ends and Means, to judge performance only against previously stated expectations),
• Relevant industry skills and knowledge,
• Geography,
• Store size and business model.

SIBA’s current Board members will assess interest among potential candidates. A slate will be determined from the potential candidates by the Board of Directors and presented for vote by the membership before the fall annual meeting. 

Nominate here