Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez, a charming romance between two people who meet cute the night before one moves away, are unable to relocate to be near each other, so must negotiate how to be together apart. I’m rooting for them!
Listening: To heavy machinery as trucks cut down and instantly chip trees on either side of the road as part of an effort to clear power lines of tree branches post-Hurricane Helene.
Watching: Enjoying a wonderful new detective show Ludwig on Britbox. The main character, a puzzlemaster with a missing identical twin brother, is another mystery I look forward to understanding better.

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: Excited to be in the middle of Oathbound! Also still reading Eat the Ones You Love and The Radical Bookstore.
Listening: I've gotten used to the sounds of my humidifier and space heater, both of which have been necessary after my move to the north.
Watching: Soooo what did y'all think about the ending of Severance season 2? PLEASE email me about this, I would love to discuss the 40,000 questions I have and theories for season 3!

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: I've started Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Noopiming by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Wildlife by Amanda Leduc. I seem to be on a Canadian writers kick.
Listening: Catching up on Shakespeare Unlimited, the Folger Shakespeare Library's podcast. Next up is "Lauren Gunderson on the Women of Hamlet." But I've also got some Talking Heads albums in the music queue, after a conversation about brainy 80s bands made me feel nostalgic.
Watching: Movie night with SP was I Am Not a Witch, directed Rungano Nyoni, and oh it was a haunting, rebellious story. I dreamed of white ribbons tethered to strange spiky creatures lumbering slowly across an ashy-grey dry country.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: The week that won't quit just won't stop not quitting, and bedtime reading has led far too quickly to bedtime sleeping. This is no reflection on The Antidote, which is wonderful, but on my lack of fortitude.
Listening: "Superlover," a new cover by Allison Russell and Annie Lennox of Russell's beautiful song of the same name when she was with her band, Birds of Chicago. "There's no God of fire and blood. If there's a God, then God is Love."
Watching: Nicki and I watched I Am Not a Witch, from the Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni, for our latest entry in the "Sunday night adventures in watching movies at least one of us has never seen before." Filmed in Zambia, and starring the remarkable young actress Maggie Mulubwa, I Am Not a Witch is so wholly and heartbreakingly original, I'm not sure I can do it justice and I don't think I want to try.

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: A digital ARC of the upcoming Emily Henry, Great Big Beautiful Life. I'm trying to take it slow but it's hard not to devour it!
Listening: My two younger cats are play fighting today and it's making it sound like the house is about to fall down over my ears.
Watching: After the season finale of Mythic Quest, I saw a little mini spinoff called Side Quest and LOVED it. It's a fun little tie in to the main series.

ABA Publisher Survey for Bookstores
ABA has meetings with publishers to advocate on behalf of bookstores throughout the year. Once a year they have official, longer meetings with publishers and their teams, including key decision-makers. This survey is an opportunity for booksellers to help inform the agenda for those meetings. The deadline is April 7.

Applications are open for the Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize
The Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize was established in 2024 by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and bestselling author Charles Duhigg and his wife, Dr. Liz Alter, a professor of biology at California State University Monterey Bay. In 2024, five $10,000 prizes were given booksellers and comic retailers, providing emerging writer-booksellers the financial support to focus on a full-length manuscript. In 2025 two $12,500 prizes will be awarded.

Current Newsletter: Read independently! March is Indie Press Month.

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Tombolo Books in Gainesville, Florida
• Stephanie Crowe, Page & Palette in Fairhope, Alabama
• Cheryl Lindstrom, Fonts Books in McLeann, Virginia
• Caleb Masters, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
• Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Fisher Nash, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
• Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina
• Christina Henderson Harner, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama
• Rae Ann Parker, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
• Alissa Redmond, South Main Book Co. in Salisbury, North Carolina
• Jamie Fiocco, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Catherine Pabalate, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Jenny Gilroy, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Book Buzz Feature: The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry

For me, stories begin with a curiosity, a question that won’t let me go. For The Story She Left Behind, that question was: What happened to Barbara Newhall Follett and her language? I was captivated by the real-life mystery of this child prodigy who published a fantasy novel at twelve years old, invented a language, and then vanished without a trace at twenty-five. I knew I would fictionalize her so I started imagining a daughter left behind by a mother’s disappearance (the real Barbara never had a child), and a book that daughter could not decipher as it was written in her mother’s made-up language. The more I thought about it, the more I knew—this wasn’t just a story about a missing woman, it was a story about how we find ourselves in the things left behind.

― Patti Callahan Henry, Interview, Fresh Fiction

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
The Tea Dragon Society by K.O’Neill
This book is one of the most wholesome I’ve ever read. Reading it is like being wrapped in a blanket. Adorable art, whimsical writing, and a sweet story make for a cute & comforting read about friendship and finding your niche. I try to read this book AT LEAST once a year because of how heartwarming it is..
― Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

92 bookstores, or 37% of SIBA's current store members have signed up to participate in the 2025 Indie Summer Reading Guide catalog program. That represents a 24% increase from last year's participation.

Reservations are now closed, but title list is available:

See the Summer Catalog Edelweiss Collection

Downloadable marketing assets will be available to bookstores in April.

What's next?

The Indie Summer Reading Guides will ship at the end of May. Before that, though, orders will open for the Winter catalogs, which are larger and allow store imprinting. Make your plans accordingly!

The catalog program is a vital source of revenue which underwrites SIBA programming, scholarships, and educational opportunities for booksellers. Store participation is essential. If you have attended a conference, received a grant, or are one of the nearly 150 booksellers who attended a March Madness event, then you have directly benefited from the SIBA/RAMP catalog program.

NVNR Spring Owners Strategy Session
April 17 at 6:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM CT on Zoom

What issues are most on your mind right now? Come to talk to other owners about anything!

Bookstore owners will have a chance to discuss them with their colleagues at the April Owners Strategy Session hosted by New Voices New Rooms.

Meet with your fellow booksellers from SIBA and NAIBA, and share your experiences and expertise. Registration is for store owners only, and space is limited to 25.

The meeting will be moderated by Kirsten Hess, Let's Play Books & The End

Sign up here (requires log in)

Current Newsletter: Anticipating what you want to read next: booksellers on the bestsellers.

Bookstores with reviews in this week's newsletter:

• Meghan Haile, The Lynx in Gainesville, Florida
• Aimee Ahart, Birch Tree Bookstore in Leesburg, Virginia
• Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
• Rebecca Speas, One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia
• Annastasia Williams, The Bottom in Knoxville, Tennessee
• Cathy Graham, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
• Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
• Elizabeth Goodrich, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama
• Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina
• Maggie Robe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Morgan DePerno, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Baldwin Bookseller, Baldwin & Co. in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina
• Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
• Elese Stutts, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Book Buzz Feature: Akeem Keeps Bees by Kamal Bell
The farm is more than just a place to produce food. Actually, our approach switched off of food production this year and focused on the bees, because it came naturally to the students and myself. That was something that we were able to really build upon this year. In my mind, the bees can provide economic opportunities for us all. Economics is a big factor that can change things in our communities. We focused on that because we’re dealing with human lives too. I don’t want the students to get interested in the farm and then leave because they need money. This is to show them you can make that money. You don’t have to keep worrying from day to day. You can break cycles in your family.

― Kamal Bell, Interview, Edge Effects

Decide For Yourself Banned Book Feature:
Parachutes by Kelly Yang
Kelly Yang’s spectacular YA debut follows the lives of Claire, a “parachute” – the teenage daughter of a wealthy Chinese family sent to the United States to attend high school – and Dani, daughter of a first-generation Filipino immigrant. Claire and Dani become reluctant roommates, setting the stage for a novel that has it all – compelling friendships, insights into wealth and power dynamics, complicated relationships with parents, and two #metoo moments that made me feel all the things and had me rooting for Dani and Claire. I didn’t want it to end. A fantastic older YA book.
― Elese Stutts, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

NEW REVIEWS | SUBSCRIBE | SUBMIT A REVIEW | FOR PUBLISHERS

Linda-Marie Barrett / Executive Director:
Reading: Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake, a romance centering two women who confront their insecurities while they fake date (for reasons important to both) and play lead roles in a queer retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. Sweet and poignant.
Listening: To a variety of music stations on my Calm app, for flow, focus, and, yes, calm!
Watching: The newest seasons of Death in Paradise and Sweet Magnolias. Occasionally adding in an episode of Later Daters, which I often regret (anxiety-provoking!)

Candice Huber / Membership:
Reading: GUESS WHAT? I actually finished THREE books on my vacation! I finally finished Breath of the Dragon and The Bookshop, and I read Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite, a cozy mystery in space. It's a short novella, everyone is queer, and the worldbuilding is terrific!
Listening: To the sounds of birds and the wind through the trees, and the emerging of Spring.
Watching: Finished The Traitors and caught up on Severance! Now it's time to start White Lotus and Yellowjackets.

Nicki Leone / Communications:
Reading: Still with The Garden Against Time by Olivia Laing and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.
Listening: The audiobook of One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Still.
Watching: 15 minutes of news in the morning, and then 45 minutes of bird watching to recover. But I'm putting Sapphire & Steel on my watch list because a recommendation from SP is safe as houses.

SP Rankin / Website Administrator:
Reading: I'm cracking the (virtual) cover of Karen Russell's The Antidote tonight, and hoping to get carried away.
Listening: I'm still on my French radio journey, which led this week to the great P.P. Arnold's 1969 debut album, The First Lady of Immediate, and Dean Wareham's I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of LA (2021).
Watching: Sapphire & Steel, the British sci-fi series from the late 1970s, starring Joanna Lumley (yes, Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous) and David McCallum (yes, Ilya Kuryakin from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) as chilly interdimensional beings who take human form and are tasked with guarding the flow of time. A little Dr. Who, a little Avengers (Steed and Peel, not Iron Man), a lot of spooky and mysterious

Andrea Richardson / Sales:
Reading: Sarah's Pinborough's upcoming We Live Here Now. It's a spooky, haunted house twisty that I'm really enjoying.
Listening: The wind outside, telling me that it's going to be a very stormy day
Watching: I am impatiently awaiting the next episode of White Lotus. Parker Posey is true magic this season.

Booksellers who attended one of the early March Madness events at The Snail on the Wall, Plenty, Square Books, Cavalier House Books, and Page 158 Books have been enthusiastic about their experiences:

"Just the right blend of from-the-top lecture and round table conversation. Lady and Christina have tons of experience partnering with the community and the other booksellers clearly learned from them while also providing suggestions of their own."

"Plenty is doing incredible work. It was so helpful to hear what they are doing and to think about storytelling in all aspects of our work, even with displays. We loved the activity where we could play around with displays in the store and write engaging shelf talkers."

"Sue did an excellent job of getting attendee participation. Our ability to collaborate with fellow booksellers to compare experiences and customer service challenges was excellent."

"I really enjoyed this time with the other booksellers. Some great ideas were shared that we will be thinking about incorporating, and we felt like we got to know attendees better in the afternoon."

"Loved this bit the most! I got all of my questions answered and I learned a ton about how other bookstores do things. It gave me a lot of ideas, so it was successful!"

On the assumption that booksellers know their own stores and own businesses best, the focus of the March Madness Bookseller Series is bookseller-to-bookseller information sharing. Registration is still open for the upcoming March Madness events.

Register here.

MCCOY GRANT APPLICATIONS CLOSE ON 3/21

Applications for the McCoy Grant for Bookseller Writers close next week, on March 21st.

This unique opportunity offers two grants of $1,500 each to be used toward craft development (writing classes, retreats, conferences, travel), work-related materials (notebooks, laptops, software, research, etc.), childcare, bills, or any other financial obstacle.

The McCoy Grant is sponsored by SIBA with the generous support of New York Times bestselling author Sarah McCoy, who knows how much even small stipends can make in a writer's life. "If you’re a hoper, a dreamer, a story stoker opening your laptop and a 99¢ can of tuna fish on the coffee table for dinner while you do the work that really lights your fire… then you’re a kindred spirit," says McCoy. "That was me, too. Still is on many nights. You are not alone."

Read more | Apply

More financial assistance for booksellers.

The March Madness Bookseller Series is primarily a chance for booksellers to get together with their colleagues to network with each other and trade ideas and experiences. But there is also an Author Lunch at each MMBS event. It's a wonderful way to connect with an author in a setting where booksellers have time and space to have a real conversation.

There are over thirty authors appearing at the nine different MMBS events. Visit the event page to see the line up (scroll down), and take a look at the Edelweiss collection of their books.

There is still time to register!

The MMBS Authors Edelweiss Collection