- 2021 Jan 25
Paris Store Opens for Visually Impaired
A bookstore selling only large-print books has opened in Paris.
How A Chicagoland Store Became a Hub
Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston has been open for six years and continues to win fans in its community.
Connecticut Gets a New B&N;
Barnes & Noble is opening a new location in Westport.
- 2021 Jan 22
Arkansas Gets a New Pop-up Shop
Stardust and Stories Bookstore has opened in Jonesboro. The store began as a little free library.
Rhode Island Store Closes a Storefront
Barrington Books in Barrington and Garden City, R.I., will close one of its two locations.
Sports Star Teams with Store for Club
New York Liberty forward Jocelyn Willoughby has partnered with Cafe Con Libros in Brooklyn for her new book club, Read What You Sow.
Canada Gets a New Comics Store
Conspiracy Comics has opened in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.
- 2021 Jan 21
Black Bookstore in Oklahoma May Close
Nappy Roots Bookstore, a Black-owned bookstore in Oklahoma City that has been open for two and a half years, is asking for donations to stay open.
Toronto Loses a Bookstore
Parentbooks, a bookstore catering to autistic children, is closing after 35 years in business.
135-Year-Old Store in Paris Is Closing
The Left Bank's Gilbert Jeune bookstore, founded in 1886, is closing, upsetting many in the city.
- 2021 Jan 20
From the New York Times
At the Inauguration, Amanda Gorman Wove History and the Future into a Stirring Melody.
From the New York Times
Presidential Children’s Books, Pets and All.
From the Asahi Shimbun
Japanese artist and illustrator Mitsumasa Anno, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, has died at 94.
From Oregon Live
Ursula K. Le Guin to be featured on 2021 postage stamp.
From Entertainment Weekly
Netflix teams with historian Ibram X. Kendi to adapt his acclaimed anti-racism books.
From the Moomin Blog
Tove, the first-ever bio-pic drama about Moomin creator Tove Jansson, now has a U.S. distributor.
From Deadline
Netflix Lands Adaptation of YA Graphic Novel Heartstopper
From the Wrap
Willy Wonka Prequel Set for 2023 Release at Warner Bros.
From Deadline
Elliott San Adapting Ryan Graudin YA Novel The Walled City for SK Global.
From the Guardian
Hungary orders LGBTQ publisher to print disclaimers on children's book.
From the Bookseller
Macmillan UK holds online celebration as The Gruffalo racks up 105 translations.
From BuzzFeed
Julie Murphy Is About to Take On 2021 One Book at a Time.
From 100 Scope Notes
That’s So Meta! 2021 Metafictional Children’s Books.
From BuzzFeed
40 Highly Anticipated 2012 YA Fantasy Books.
From Romper
19 Children's Books About Love for Valentine's Day.
- 2021 Jan 19
North Carolina Bookstore for Sale
Quarter Moon bookstore in Hampstead is for sale. It has been open for 25 years.
Texas Is Getting a New Bookstore
Lo St. Books is opening in Midland later this year.
A New Bookstore Opens in Georgia
The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement has opened a new justice center and bookstore.
DC Universe: From Here to Infinity
WarnerMedia’s DC Universe, formerly a streaming media platform for DC superhero films, TV shows, and other DC content, will transition into a new service on January 21, after moving all of its TV and film properties to HBO Max, another WarnerMedia platform. The service will then become DC Universe Infinite, a digital comics subscription service offering access to 25,000 back issues of DC comics series and graphic novels for a monthly fee.
NPR Offers Pandemic Webcomics
NPR highlights 11 webcomics published by the network about living through and dealing with the pandemic, from how to wear a mask, sheer personal resilency, and dealing with death by, among others, such comics artists as Malaka Gharib, Grace Farris, and Sarah Mirk.
Cool Black Comics In Virtual Harlem
The Schomburg Center's annual Black Comic Book Festival went virtual this year (Jan.13-16) and became the SchomCom Black Comic Book Festival, with four days of online panels and discussions with an extraordinary range of black comic book creators and publishers that showcase black superheroes, WOC creators, LGBTQ artists and more. All the panels have been recorded and archived so you didn't miss a thing. Go and Check out the SchomCom Black Comic Book Festival.
Inauguration Versification
Poet, activist and the first National Youth Poet Laureate, 22 year-old Amanda Gorman will also be the youngest poet to write and recite a work of poetry at a presidential inauguration when she reads her new work during the Biden and Harris Inauguration.
Word
The Millions’s Alex Dueben interviews poet, essayist and professor Joshua Bennett about his new book Owed, a collection of new poems, cultural criticism, and personal reflections, and about Bennett’s beginnings as spoken word poet performing in slam events, the influence and power of Hip-hop, becoming a father, and, the writers and Hip Hop performers that have influenced his work and his life.
- 2021 Jan 15
Connecticut Feminist Shop Hits Milestone
Bloodroot, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant and bookstore in Bridgeport, is celebrating 40 years in business.
Indiana Bookstore Struggles to Stay Open
Caveat Emptor, a used bookstore in Bloomington, open for nearly 50 years, is fighting for survival.
- 2021 Jan 14
Quirky Bookstore Opens in Washington
Bookit Nook, which opened in Poulsbo in an old barbecue restaurant, kept the drive-thru window and has a pet snake named Papaya.
Upstate New York Store Persists
Queen City Books in Buffalo continues to sell comics and has lasted more than 50 years in business.
Scottish Bookstores Deemed Essential
Bookstores in the country will be allowed to continue curbside delivery during the current lockdown.
Illinois Store Is Raising $250,000
The Book Table in Oak Park has launched a GoFundMe campaign to make ends meet and has already garnered $138,000.
- 2021 Jan 13
From Entertainment Weekly
Watch the trailer for Flora & Ulysses, based on Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal-winning book.
From PBS News Hour
Misty Copeland’s Bunheads is an ode to friendship in the dance studio.
From the Los Angeles Times
How family separation inspired a children’s book about a fearless girl.
From the Greeneville Sun
Rooting Out Racism in Children's Books.
From Electric Literature
“Please Stop Comparing Things to 1984.”
From People
Cat Stevens Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Peace Train with Kids' Book.
From Screen Rant
To All the Boys 3 Trailer Teases How Peter and Lara Jean’s Story Ends.
From Book Riot
6 Informative Books for a Queer Teenager.
From Brightly
The Power of Connection for Children with ADHD.
From Book Riot
8 Memorable Middle Grade Books About Grief.
From A Mighty Girl
The Fragility of Freedom: Books About Life Under Authoritarianism.
From Book Riot
Reading Pathways to Cassandra Clare’s Books.
From Romper
20 Children's Books to Help Celebrate Inauguration Day.
How a New York City Store Persists
The Corner Bookstore in New York City carries on after more than 40 years in business, supported by its community.
New Bookstore Coming to Maryland
Washington, D.C.–based chain Busboys and Poets plans to open a new location in Baltimore later this year.
Dutch Bookstores Want to Reopen
Bookstores in the Netherlands are asking the government to allow them to reopen.
The Bookseller of Kabul Carries On
Despite the pandemic and political strife, Shah M. Book Co. in Afghanistan has launched a successful international online business.
- 2021 Jan 12
Powell's Under Fire for Ngo Presale
Spokespeople for the store, responding to protests against a decision to offer pre-orders of conservative author Andy Ngo's forthcoming anti-antifa book, said: "We carry a lot of books we find abhorrent."
Illinois Gets a New Bookstore for Kids
Three Stories Books, a new bookstore for children, is opening in Lemont.
Manga Sales Lift Japanese Bookstores
Japanese bookstores were boosted in 2020 by strong sales of manga.
U.K. Indies Saw Sales Hike Over Holidays
Bookstores in the U.K. are reporting strong Christmas sales for 2020.
- 2021 Jan 11
From CBS Sunday Morning
CBS Sunday Morning spoke with Scholastic president and CEO Dick Robinson, as his company celebrates its 100th anniversary.
From Deadline
BCDF Pictures Acquires YA Fantasy Novel Trilogy The Girl at Midnight for TV Adaptation.
From Deadline
Ben Affleck to Direct Adaptation of Keeper of the Lost Cities for Disney.
From Variety
Netflix’s YA Franchises The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys Will End This Year.
From Black Enterprise
Denene Millner Honors the Humanity of Black Children—One Book at a Time.
From Current
Why parents are celebrating the departure of PBS’s Caillou.
From Romper
17 Children's Books About Lying to Help Your Kids Understand.
Poetry Slams Help Arizona Store Survive
The owner of Lawn Gnome Publishing, a small bookstore in Phoenix, says every day "feels like a fight."
Chicago Store Helps Families Connect
Kido, a children's store in Chicago, is promoting book reading as a way parents can broach difficult topics with kids.
Indie Stores in Ontario Survive 2020
Despite challenges, independent bookstores in Hamilton made it through last year with the help of dedicated bookworms.
- 2021 Jan 07
Florida Loses a Bookstore
Bayou City Books in Niceville is closing after 34 years in business.
Michigan Bookstore Helped by GoFundMe
The Curious Book Shop in East Lansing raised $28,000 in digital donations, helping them weather the pandemic.
California Stores Hand Deliver Orders
Bookstores in the Bay Area are once again selling books online and delivering them in person.
- 2021 Jan 06
From the Boston Globe
Pandemic helps push audience for textbook publishers into the digital age.
From the Santa Fe New Mexican
George Ancona, author of more than 100 books for children, has died at 91.
From BuzzFeed
Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra, Co-Authors of Tiny Pretty Things, Discuss the Netflix Adaptation and What's Next.
From the New York Times
Teachers on TV? Schools Try Creative Strategy to Narrow Digital Divide.
Arizona Gets a New Hispanic Bookstore
Barrio Books, a new bookstore focused on Hispanic culture, has opened in the Hotel McCoy in Tucson.
From Literary Hub
Kwame Alexander on Learning, from a Young Age, to ‘Use His Words.’
New Bookstore Is Coming to Long Island
Red Jacket Books is opening in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., this spring.
From NPR
How Children’s Books Grapple with the Native American Experience.
New Black-Owned Calif. Store to Open
Asha Grant is opening Salt Eaters Bookstore in Inglewood after raising $83,000 on GoFundMe.
From the Tucson Star
Tucson Authors, Illustrators Tap into Children.
British Columbia Loses a Bookstore
Grizzly Books & Serendipity Shop in Revelstoke, B.C., is closing after more than 20 years in business.
From NPR
Books to Share with Kids During Tough Times.
U.K. Indies Focus on Home Deliveries
The lockdown in the U.K. has forced bookstores to again move to curbside pickup, though many are moving to local home deliveries.
Waterstones Says No to Curbside Pickup
The major U.K. bookseller is opting out of the service during this round of lockdown.
From the Classroom Bookshelf
Books as Bright Spots in 2020.
- 2021 Jan 05
Arizona Bookstore Finds a New Home
Palabras Bilingual Bookstore in Phoenix has moved, and will reopen January 12.
Kiwi Bookstore Community Is Growing
In New Zealand, a new bookstore is opening every three months.
D.C. Store Confused for Congress
Capitol Hill Books in Washington, D.C., is routinely accosted by angry callers looking to speak to members of Congress.
How Two Massachusetts Stores Fight On
The 'Harvard Crimson' looks at how Harvard Book Store and Raven Used Books are coping with the pandemic.
You’re Welcome
Don’t thank me, thank Glamour.com, which has ranked and provided thoughtful and snarky commentary on every sex scene in Shonda Rhime’s runaway hit Netflix show Bridgerton.
The Beat Looks Back Over 2020
Over at The Beat, the blog of comics culture, our More To Come colleague and editor-in-chief of The Beat Heidi MacDonald, offers her annual survey of comics creators and professionals about how they handled the previous year, what they believe is the biggest story of 2020 and what they plan for 2021.
Cyber Screwup 2077
Vox takes a good long look at the disastrous release of the Cyberpunk 2077 videogame in an effort to figure out exactly what went wrong; which turns out to be pretty much everything.
Did Someone Say Free Master Work?
In honor of famed Harlem Renaissance novelist Zora Neal Hurston’s birthday on January 7 and the publication of Hitting A Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, a new collection of her previously unpublished short stories, Amistad Press is hosting a free giveaway of an audiobook download of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston’s 1937 novel (considered a master work of the Harlem Renaissance), which is narrated by the great Black actress Ruby Dee.
Writing the Pandemic
Over at The Millions’s, novelist Sonya Chung writes about living the last year under a pandemic. “Mask up. Take a breath, or two, or five. Check in with your single friends. Check in with your partnered friends. Spend your stimulus money on restaurants if you can. Don’t give away or let out your clothes yet: we’ll all find our better selves and our energy again on the other side.”
- 2021 Jan 04
From the Bookseller
Author-illustrator Anthony Browne was awarded the CBE for services to literature, in the U.K.’s annual New Year’s Honours.
From the Cut
How Author Jacqueline Woodson Gets It Done.
From the Guardian
Michael Morpurgo denies 'censoring' The Merchant of Venice in children's book.