People

In the debut memoir Bulletproof Vest: The Ballad of an Outlaw and His Daughter, “Maria Venegas tells the story of her complicated relationship with her estranged father with an honesty and tough vulnerability that is compelling and moving,” said Adrian Newell of Warwick’s in La Jolla, California.

Livia Blackburne is the author of Midnight Thief (Disney-Hyperion), a Summer/Fall New Voices pick for young adults, which Emily Ring of Inklings Bookshop called “tightly written, with a perfect mix of romance, peril, and mystery.”

Smith Henderson is the author of Fourth of July Creek, a featured title in the Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce promotion. Stephanie Crowe of Page & Palette said Henderson’s novel is powerful and disturbing.

Paul Edward Kozlowski, a well-liked and respected figure in the book business, died on June 25 at the age of 60.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is touring to promote her new book, Hard Choices, has visited independent bookstores spanning the length of the country over the past few weeks.

Chris F. Westbury is the author of The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (Counterpoint), a featured title in the Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce promotion.

Changing Hands welcomed the public through the doors of its new location in Phoenix, Arizona, with a soft-opening celebration on May 30. The nearly 5,000-square-foot bookstore features dark walls and shelving, concrete floors, and exposed ceiling ducts, as well as First Draft, a 30-seat beer, wine, and coffee bar.

Books & Books Westhampton Beach to sell at summer event series; Vermont Bookshop welcomes Jenny Lyons; Page & Palette educates community about buying local; Oblong Books keeps it local

S.E. Grove is the author of The Glass Sentence (Viking), a summer/fall 2014 New Voices selection and a Summer 2014 Kids’ Indie Next List pick. 

Valeria Luiselli is the author of Faces in the Crowd, a Spring 2014 Indies Introduce pick. 

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Stacy Mitchell talks to BTW about the organization’s achievements over the past 40 years, the localism movement, and the growing trend toward independently owned retail.

Rachel Weaver is the author of Point of Direction (Ig Publishing), a Spring 2014 Indies Introduce and May 2014 Indie Next List pick.

Bestselling author Carl Hiaasen is now on the roster of breakfast speakers who will be autographing exclusively for ABA member booksellers in the Indie Bookseller Lounge at BEA.

Rebecca Petruck is the author of Steering Toward Normal, a spring 2014 New Voices selection for middle grade readers and a Kids’ Indie Next List pick.

The results of balloting by the bookstore members of the American Booksellers Association to elect three directors to serve three-year terms on the ABA Board (2014–2017) are now official.