Specialty Bookselling

Based on four weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America. Past Category Bestseller lists are available at http://www.bookweb.org/read/5677. Attention Media: Please contact Kristen Gilligan at kristen@bookweb.org for reprint guidelines for your newspaper or magazine.

The month of April always strikes an emotional chord. It's been taunted as the "cruellest month," flattered as the gentle lamb, and endured as that necessary soaker before the beautiful blooms of May can appear. Lyricists have extolled the romance of April in Paris. But Chaucer saw the sweet showers of April as a most propitious time to embark on a journey of discovery.

Sex, drugs, and other "problems of the month" persist as subjects of Young Adult books, but, according to booksellers who recently spoke to BTW, the YA field is growing more fantasy titles, getting more fuzzy about labeling, and appealing to more adults. "It's gotten edgier," said Valerie Lewis, co-owner of 24-year-old Hicklebee's in San Jose, California. "The line between adults and young adults is thinner than ever."

Thursday, May 29, at BookExpo America will be replete with activities of interest to children's booksellers, beginning with the annual meeting of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC). Registration and box-lunch pick up will begin at 11:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. All those pre-registered for the meeting can pick up a free box lunch.

Based on the last four weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America.

Ingram Book Group has collaborated with OurSelves, a new newsletter and Web site (www.ourselves.com) aimed at women between the ages of 45 and 65, to develop a merchandising program to reach women baby boomers, a demographic group of significant book buyers.

Finalists for the 15th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, honoring "the best and the brightest" in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered publishing, have been announced by the Lambda Literary Foundation. The finalists in 20 categories were chosen after a rigorous selection process. Awards will be presented at a gala banquet at BookExpo America in Los Angeles, May 29, 2003.

Based on the last four weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America.

Based on the last four weeks of sales from over 350 independent bookstores across America. Thanks to all the stores that report, the expanded electronic reporting options including BookScan, and the software our team here has built to sort and slice a ton of data according to BISAC categories, here is the latest subject category list.

Another well-known New York City independent bookstore is looking for a last-minute reprieve. Just two weeks after announcing that her store was up for sale, Bluestockings Women's Bookstore owner Kathryn Welsh told BTW that the store would close at the end of February unless a buyer materializes before then. The news comes less than a week after Deacon Maccubbin announced he had purchased the landmark gay and lesbian bookstore Oscar Wilde Bookshop, just prior to the store's scheduled closing.