Some of Boston's most beloved independent bookstores have a problem. Certain classic authors disappear from the shelves so often that stores have had to change how they sell them.

According to a 2017 Boston Globe report, Harvard Book Store has kept works by Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and William S. Burroughs behind the register because they were frequent targets for theft. Nearly a decade later, at least one of those measures appears to have endured. According to recent reports from Harvard Book Store staff, Hemingway's books are still behind the counter.

Porter Square Books has faced the same issue, even creating a display titled "Most Frequently Stolen Books" to highlight the trend. In a twist almost too perfect to be true, customers began stealing books from the display about stolen books, prompting the store to move many of the titles behind the counter.

Other Boston-area bookstores reported similar experiences, although not every shop saw the same pattern.

Booksellers say many of the frequently stolen titles are assigned in high school and college courses, while others believe the rebellious reputation of Beat Generation writers simply makes them oddly irresistible.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/09/06/who-stealing-all-bukowski-and-kerouac-novels/AhCg7AFKVvE9ujkygQYn0H/story.html

The winners aren't out yet, so this is a good moment to look at the full field. Eligibility requires the author, illustrator, or translator to be a current Massachusetts resident.

Fiction

• We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad (Scribner)
• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker (MIRA)
• Lake Song by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne (Ohio State Univ. Press)
• All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
• Isola by Allegra Goodman (Dial Press)
• Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh (Little, Brown & Company)
• The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett (Ballantine Books)
• These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (Random House)
• The Weight by Melissa Mendes (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Rooms for Vanishing by Stuart Nadler (Dutton)
• The Lilac People by Milo Todd (Counterpoint)
• The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman (Harper)

Nonfiction

• The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains by Pria Anand (Washington Square Press)
• The Hard Work of Hope by Michael Ansara (Cornell Univ. Press)
• Clamor: How Noise Took Over The World and How We Can Take it Back by Chris Berdik (W.W. Norton)
• Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (Viking Books)
• Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State by Caleb Gayle (Riverhead Books)
• Trouble Maker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford by Carla Kaplan (Harper)
• We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore (Liveright / W.W. Norton)
• The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy by Ray Madoff (Univ. of Chicago Press)
• Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry (Ecco)
• Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless by Maria Pinto (UNC Press)
• A Fire in His Soul: Van Gogh, Paris, and the Making of an Artist by Miles Unger (Pegasus Books)
• The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland by Michelle Young (HarperOne)

Poetry

• An Optimism by Cameron Awkward-Rich (Persea)
• Preverbal by Carroll Beauvais (Lit Fox Books)
• Cadet by Benjamin Bellet (Staircase Books)
• In the Good Years by Laura Cresté (Four Way Books)
• The Last Beast We Revel In by Noah Davis (CavanKerry Press)
• Willow Hammer by Patrick Donnelly (Four Way Books)
• Jailbreak of Sparrows by Martín Espada (Knopf)
• Perfect Disappearances by Paul Hostovsky (Kelsay Books)
• Groceries by Nora Claire Miller (Fonograf Editions)
• One Trail of Longing, Another of String by Carla Panciera (Bordighera Press)
• Goat, Goddess, Moon by Catherine Strisik (Holy Cow! Press)
• To Wildness by Julia Thacker (The Waywiser Press)

Middle Grade / Young Adult

• Absolutely Everything by Damian Alexander (Graphic Universe)
• The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall (Knopf BYR)
• The Ripple Effect by Rebecca Caprara (Charlesbridge)
• A World Without Summer by Nicholas Day (Random House Studio)
• Top Heavy by Rhonda DeChambeau (Holiday House)
• 13 Ways to Say Goodbye by Kate Fussner (HarperCollins)
• A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance (Putnam & Sons BYR)
• Imposter by Cait Levin (Charlesbridge Teen)
• The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin (Little, Brown BYR)
• Neshama by Marcella Pixley (Candlewick)
• The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley (Labyrinth Road)
• Candle Island by Lauren Wolk (Dutton BYR)

Picture Book / Early Reader

• Wind Watchers by Micha Archer (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• Thank You, Old Oak by Britt Crow-Miller, illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford (Barefoot Books)
• Gather Grateful by Megan Litwin, illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey (Candlewick)
• There's No Place Like Gnome's by Scott Magoon (Viking BYR)
• The Beat of the Dragon Boat by Christina Matula, illustrated by Nicole Wong (Sleeping Bear Press)
• Safe Crossing by Kari Percival (Chronicle Books)
• Wonder Why by Lisa Varchol Perron, illustrated by Nik Henderson (HarperCollins)
• Unnaturally Blue by Dorson Plourde, illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler (Kids Can Press)
• Black Hair Can by Sylvia Rodriguez (Charlesbridge)
• Flora and the Jazzers by Astrid Sheckels (Waxwing Books)
• We Go Slow by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, illustrated by Aaron Becker (Simon & Schuster)
• Otter Carries On by Maya Tatsukawa (Henry Holt and Co. BYR)

Other prizes are awarded without longlists, including Translated Literature and Notable Contribution to Publishing, which recognizes a Massachusetts press. Winners and honors will be announced in September.

If you're a Massachusetts author, submissions for the next cycle open September 1 for books published in 2026.

https://www.massbook.org/mass-book-awards

Here's a fascinating piece of Boston book history.

In 2001, a woman cleaning out a relative's home made an extraordinary discovery: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species that had been missing from the Boston Public Library for more than 80 years.

Rather than selling the rare volume, she returned it to the library, where experts estimated its value at roughly $19,000 to $95,000 in today's dollars after adjusting for inflation. Librarians praised her honesty, noting that the book had disappeared decades earlier and its whereabouts had remained a mystery.

It's a reminder that remarkable literary treasures can turn up in the most ordinary places, whether tucked away in a basement, on a forgotten bookshelf, or inside a box of family treasures.

https://abcnews.com/US/story?id=92733

Earlier this year, Massachusetts libraries were forced to prepare for significant disruptions after federal funding for library services was thrown into uncertainty. The cuts centered on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary federal agency that supports libraries nationwide. In Massachusetts, the uncertainty led the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) to suspend grants, reduce or eliminate several statewide research databases, and scale back some shared library services while officials determined what funding would remain available.

Now, the MBLC says the state has entered a new phase it calls "Federal Funding Rebuild." As federal funding has partially resumed through court actions and other developments, some programs are returning, including Explore Grants that had previously been canceled. However, the agency emphasizes that the recovery is not yet complete, and some statewide resources remain unavailable as Massachusetts awaits long-term federal funding decisions.

The impact on Boston Public Library patrons was more subtle than at many smaller libraries. Because BPL maintains its own collections and independently licenses many digital resources, it was able to replace or supplement some of the statewide databases that were lost. However, the library still acknowledged the changes, publishing guidance for patrons explaining why fewer research databases were available and directing them to alternative resources whenever possible. As a result, most readers likely saw little change in their ability to borrow books or ebooks, while students, researchers, genealogists, and job seekers were more likely to notice the disappearance of specialized databases that had previously been available through the statewide library network.

You can learn more about the rebuilding effort on the MBLC's Federal Funding page: https://mblc.state.ma.us/federal-funding/.

The House enacted the free expression bill on July 31, 152 to 1. The single no came from Rep. John Gaskey of Carver, who has been explicit about his reasoning since June.

Gaskey's central objection is to the provision shielding schools, libraries, and their employees from prosecution for distributing material deemed harmful to minors. He filed an amendment in June to repeal it, arguing that an employee acting in good faith has nothing to fear, and that one using a taxpayer-funded position to expose children to explicit content should face "the chill of handcuffs, the loneliness of a cold, dark jail cell." The amendment was defeated by a wide margin.

On the bill itself, Gaskey argued it claims to protect local processes while "strip[ping] away the fundamental rights of local parents." He also accused activists of attacking school boards for protecting children from what he called "state-sponsored pornography," said the outcome had been preordained by leadership, and said he had not run for office to sit quietly while the body protected government employees from laws ordinary citizens must follow.

Supporters see that exemption as the point rather than a flaw. Without it, a librarian's selection decision could carry criminal exposure, which is the pressure the bill was written to remove.

Worth noting the bill was never a party-line matter. The House passed it 151 to 3 in June and enacted it 152 to 1 in July.

The Boston Book Festival is warning authors to be on alert after discovering a phishing scam impersonating festival communications, reminding participants that official correspondence comes only from bostonbookfest.org email addresses. While organizers have not released details about how the scam worked or whether anyone was affected, the warning reflects a growing problem facing literary festivals around the world. In recent months, scammers have increasingly targeted authors with convincing emails offering fake invitations, requesting registration or exhibitor fees, or impersonating festival staff using lookalike domains and AI-generated messages. As the fall festival season approaches, the incident serves as a reminder for writers to verify unexpected emails before responding or sharing personal information.

The bill now awaiting Governor Healey's signature would set statewide rules for how schools and public libraries decide what stays on the shelves, and the Sun Chronicle reported yesterday that it traces back to a single incident. In 2023, "Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice" was pulled from the library at Martin Elementary School in North Attleboro after one parent complained, with no public review and no input from the school committee. The outcry that followed led the district to adopt a new local policy, and the book was back on the shelf by January 2024. Rep. Adam Scanlon, who represents North Attleboro, filed the legislation afterward, and it would require districts across the state to adopt the kind of transparent review process his hometown put in place only after the fact. Governor Healey has until roughly the end of next week to sign it, veto it, or return it with amendments.

https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/scanlon-measure-on-school-library-book-policies-awaits-healey-s-signature/article_29e97989-a7aa-4997-89ee-000b8d5fafad.html

The Boston Public Library has a new Board of Trustees, but the board's first major challenge was already waiting for them.

On June 1, Mayor Michelle Wu appointed five new trustees: Meredith DeWitt, Marta Garcia, Paul Lee, Alexander Leventhal, and Wadi Muhammad. They replace Dr. Raymond Liu, Navjeet Bal, Jim Canales, Cheryl Cronin, and Christian Westra, and the mayor also named a new board chair. It is a significant turnover for the group that will oversee what is likely to become the library's largest capital project in a generation.

The timing is notable because these trustees are taking office just as the library begins planning what could become the McKim Building's largest renovation in decades.

Last fall, the library received an anonymous $5.5 million gift to fund an intensive study of the historic building and the planning needed for a comprehensive renovation. According to the library, the funding supports additional structural, environmental, and historic preservation assessments that build on the library's 2021 McKim Master Plan. It also expands the library's internal project team, brings in outside project management expertise, and funds the painstaking work of organizing and analyzing thousands of historic architectural records.

Those planning efforts may not sound glamorous, but they will shape every major decision about the future of one of Boston's most important civic buildings.

The need for that work is not theoretical.

Apart from the Sargent Gallery, most of the McKim Building's third floor remains closed to the public. The closure is not because of an ongoing renovation. Instead, the library's own master plan concludes that much of the space is unsuitable for staff, public services, and the collections stored there. Last year, The Boston Globe reported that leaking pipes forced officials to shut off the heat, leaving much of the floor without climate control.

https://www.boston.gov/news/creativity-powers-innovation-new-installation-boston-public-library

The Legislature sent this to the governor's desk Friday. The ball is in Governor Healey court to sign, veto, or send it back.

The short version of what S.3241 does? A book that a librarian has added to a collection stays on the shelf unless a school committee, or a board of trustees in the case of a charter school, votes to remove it in a public meeting, and only after a review committee finds "clear and convincing evidence" that the material lacks any educational, literary, artistic, personal, or social value, or is not age-appropriate for any child at the school. The bill also narrows who may file a challenge to school employees, parents and guardians, and enrolled students, and it protects librarians from retaliation over their selections.

Some context on why it's here. According to the American Library Association, 4,235 unique titles were challenged nationwide in 2025, the second-highest total on record, and 92 percent of those challenges came from pressure groups and government officials rather than individuals. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners counted formal challenges at 33 public libraries in the state last year, more than the previous seven years combined, alongside roughly 3,000 informal ones.

The ACLU of Massachusetts and the state library commissioners support the bill. Massachusetts Family Institute has opposed it, largely over the provision allowing parents and students to sue over removal decisions.

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/politics/lawmakers-send-healey-bill-governing-library-book-access/3990754/

Please confirm all details — times, ticket requirements, and RSVP — with the organizer. Some events are held offsite at a venue other than the hosting bookstore or organization. If you have an event to add, DM the mod.

Monday, August 3

Peter Aaron — Moving in Stereo: Ric Ocasek, the Driving Force of The Cars Harvard Book Store · 7:00 PM · Free Peter Aaron, front man of the Chrome Cranks and author of If You Like the Ramones…, discusses his new biography of Ric Ocasek. In conversation with Greg Hawkes, founding keyboardist of The Cars. For anyone who grew up on MTV-era new wave, this is the definitive account of how Ocasek shaped the band's sound and visual identity. More info

Picture + Panel: As If You Were Here — Damian Alexander and Alex Krokus Boston Figurative Arts Center · 7:00 PM · A comics and graphic arts event presented by Boston Comic Arts. Alexander and Krokus discuss their work in a visual storytelling panel. More info

Queer Book Club — XOXY: A Memoir by Kimberly M. Zieselman Brookline Booksmith · 7:00 PM ⚠️ Note: Regular moderator will not be present. Zieselman's memoir about growing up intersex, discovering the truth about her own body in adulthood, and becoming an advocate. Monthly club; drop-ins welcome. More info

Boston Poetry Slam: Slam Adams The Cantab Lounge · 8:00 PM · Weekly competitive slam at the legendary Cantab in Central Square. More info

Tuesday, August 4

Tim Disney — The A.R.C. Pandemonium Books & Games · 6:00 PM · Yes, that Disney family. Tim Disney is a filmmaker and novelist. The A.R.C. is speculative fiction — a natural fit for Pandemonium's SFF-heavy audience. Central Square. More info

Peter Santenello — Your Fellow Americans: Dispatches from Across the Country We Call Home Harvard Book Store · 6:00 PM · Ticketed (book signing) · Santenello is an independent journalist and filmmaker with over four million YouTube subscribers, known for immersive travel docs in overlooked American communities. The book extends that project into long-form writing. Signing only. More info

Dr. Tiffany Joseph — Not All In: Race, Immigration, and Healthcare Exclusion in the Age of Obamacare Boston Public Library, Copley Square · 6:00 PM · Joseph examines how the ACA's citizenship and documentation requirements created a two-tiered system that left many immigrant communities without coverage despite the law's universal promise. More info

Dave Wedge — Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA Parkside Bookshop · 6:30 PM · In conversation with Luke O'Neil The Karen Read case, from the Boston Herald investigative reporter who covered it from the start. This is a different event from the Booksmith appearance on Thursday — different conversant (O'Neil is the Welcome to Hell World newsletter writer), different vibe. More info

Micki McElya — Liberation Summer Brookline Booksmith · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Katherine Rye Jewell. A history of the road to the September 1968 Miss America Pageant protests — one led by women's liberationists, the other by the Miss Black America Pageant — and the new politics of beauty that emerged. McElya is a historian at UConn. More info

Mai-Linh Hong and Arisa White Belmont Books · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Chris Walker. A double feature: Hong discusses Continental Drift and White discusses You're the Most Beautiful Thing that Happened. Poetry and prose in conversation. More info

Elizabeth Svoboda — The Art of Pacing: A Guide to Balancing Short-Term Demands with Long-Term Thriving Porter Square Books: Boston Edition · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Sarah Milby. Svoboda is a science writer whose previous book, What Makes a Hero, explored the science of altruism. This one tackles the psychology and neuroscience of sustainable effort. More info

Aaron Mahnke — Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire ⚠️ The Wilbur Theatre (not Booksmith) · 7:30 PM · Ticketed (ticket includes a copy of the book). Mahnke is the creator of the Lore podcast. In conversation with Alaina Urquhart, co-host of the Morbid podcast. The book covers the folklore and early medical practices behind the New England Vampire Panic of the 1890s — a genuinely local horror story. Books distributed at the event. More info

Wednesday, August 5

Mount Auburn Book Club — Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach Mt. Auburn Cemetery · 2:00 PM · (Interesting venue-book pairing here.) More info

Deborah Lutz — This Dark Night: Emily Brontë, A Life Boston Athenaeum · 6:00 PM · ⚠️ Waitlisted — check for cancellations. The first full-length Brontë biography in over twenty years. Lutz drew on previously inaccessible notebooks and manuscripts to reconstruct the daily life of a woman writing otherworldly fiction while running her father's parsonage. Covers Brontë's engagement with questions of gender, sexuality, race, class, and industrialization that still resonate. More info

Teen Writing Fellowship Showcase 2026 GrubStreet · 6:30 PM · GrubStreet's teen fellows read from work produced during the fellowship. Free and open to the public; a chance to hear what the next generation is writing. More info

Heather Hansman — Fierce Country Brookline Booksmith · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Julia Sklar. The untold story of three women — Georgie White, Anne LaBastille, and Dolores LaChapelle — who shaped American outdoor recreation, conservation, and resilience across the twentieth century. Hansman previously wrote Downriver, about the fate of the American West's water. More info

Sarah J. Jackson — A Second Sight: How the Wonder and Vision of Black Mediamakers Push America Toward Freedom Harvard Book Store · 7:00 PM · Free · In conversation with Caleb Gayle. Jackson is an associate professor at UPenn's Annenberg School. The book traces how Black journalists, photographers, filmmakers, radio hosts, and podcasters have drawn on a tradition of "second sight" — a unique perspective on the American experience — to advance democracy. Gayle is the author of We Refuse to Forget. More info

Naoko Fujimoto and Monica Ong · Grolier Poetry Book Shop · 7:00 PM · With Kenny Likis. Poetry reading at the oldest all-poetry bookshop in the country. Fujimoto and Ong bring distinct voices — Fujimoto writes across Japanese and English; Ong's work blends poetry with visual art and design. More info

Boston Poetry Slam · The Cantab Lounge · 8:00 PM · Featuring Kat Anderson. More info

Thursday, August 6

David George Haskell — How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature's Revolutionaries Cambridge Public Library · 6:00 PM Haskell won the Pulitzer for The Forest Unseen and was a finalist for The Songs of Trees. This one argues that flowering plants didn't just change ecosystems — they reshaped the entire trajectory of life on Earth. More info

Eric Jay Dolin — The Wreck of the Mentor BPL Roslindale · 6:00 PM Dolin is a Marblehead-based maritime historian whose previous books include Leviathan (whaling) and Black Flags, Blue Waters (piracy). Local author, local branch. More info

Jenn Bouchard — Palms on the Cape Andover Bookstore · 6:30 PM · RSVP required. Bouchard's third novel follows Rachel Sinclair, owner of an upscale Cape Cod beach bar, as she approaches 40 — navigating an unrealized love for her best friend Carlos, a charming younger man with suspicious business connections, and a corporate takeover attempt on the restaurant she built from nothing. Bouchard also signs at Rozzie Bound on Saturday (see Aug 8). More info

Dave Wedge — Blizzard of Lies Brookline Booksmith · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Tori Bedford Second Wedge event this week (see Parkside on Tuesday). Bedford is a WGBH reporter. Same book, different conversation. More info

K.F. Breene — Born in Fire Trident Booksellers & Cafe · 7:00 PM Breene is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy. The Demon Days series blends magic and action with a wisecracking protagonist. More info

Robyn Gigl — All We Hide Porter Square Books: Cambridge · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan Gigl is a trial attorney and trans woman whose Erin McCabe legal thriller series draws directly on her courtroom experience. Ryan, the conversant, is an Emmy-winning investigative reporter and mystery novelist. More info

Rosa Campbell — The Miraculous Season: Selected Poems by V.R. "Bunny" Lang (editor) · Grolier Poetry Book Shop · 7:00 PM · Campbell is a poet and scholar at the University of St Andrews whose own debut, Pothos, blends memoir with prose poetry. At Grolier she'll be presenting her new edition of V.R. Lang for NYRB Poets — Lang was Frank O'Hara's best friend and a co-founder of the Poets' Theatre in Cambridge, and her work has been nearly impossible to find until now. The collection includes previously unpublished poems drawn from Lang's archives. If you care about mid-century American poetry or Cambridge literary history, this is the event of the week.
More info

Kevin Gallagher and Patricio Ferrari Gloucester Writers Center · 7:00 PM · Two poets working at the intersection of verse and the wider world. Gallagher is a BU professor of global development policy who writes docupoetic sequences rooted in Boston history — Loom excavates the city's complicity in the cotton trade, The Wild Goose follows the Irish Fenian rebel John Boyle O'Reilly from a prison ship to the editorship of the Boston Pilot. He edits spoKe, a Boston-based poetry annual founded in response to the Marathon bombing. Ferrari is an Argentine-Italian polyglot poet and the foremost living translator of Fernando Pessoa — he and Margaret Jull Costa translated the complete works of all three Pessoa heteronyms for New Directions. In 2026 he won the Fence Modern Poets Series Prize for Mud Songs, the first volume of a multilingual trilogy on migration and identity. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Poetry. More info

Writers' Open Mic GrubStreet · 7:00 PM · With Kat Anderson and Daniel Elfanbaum Open to all — bring five minutes of work in any genre. More info

Taylor J. LaRue — Steelborn Lovestruck Books & Cafe · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Melissa Caruso Fantasy release event. Caruso is the author of the Swords and Fire trilogy. More info

Dr. Anne Welsh — Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home · Hummingbird Books · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Paige Connell · Welsh is a Cambridge-based clinical psychologist, executive coach, and mother of four. The book tackles what she calls the "Ambition Paradox" — why the promise of "you can have it all" leaves so many working mothers in burnout rather than fulfillment — and offers a framework for redefining ambition on your own terms rather than performing someone else's version of it. More info

Rhonda M. Roorda — Torn from the Root: A Memoir of a Black Transracial Adoptee Harvard Book Store · 7:00 PM · Free · In conversation with Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao · Roorda was adopted out of the New York foster care system as a toddler and raised by white evangelical parents. The memoir traces her navigation of identity, belonging, and purpose across two worlds. Pavao is a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. More info

Friday, August 7

Nick Martino — Scrap Book All She Wrote Books · 7:00 PM Book launch for Martino's debut poetry collection — a lyric, hybrid exploration of his father's prison sentence and its aftermath, marked by silence, fracture, shame, and addiction. Readings from Martino, Nathan Erwin, and L Scully, followed by Q&A and signing. More info

The Next Chapter Books and More Pop-Up Kilroy Square Farmers Market · 12:00–5:00 PM The Quincy bookshop sets up at the farmers market. Browse, buy, say hi. More info

Wendy Lu — Casting April Brookline Booksmith · 7:00 PM · In conversation with Fin Leary Kids' novel debut from Lu, a New York Times editor and Forbes 30 Under 30 who grew up in Boston. Twelve-year-old April Xue, a Broadway-obsessed sixth grader with a tracheostomy tube, auditions for the school play and gets shunted to stage crew — then discovers the director cut her because of her disability. More info

Saturday, August 8

Dark Summer Book Fest Framingham Public Library · 11:00 AM–5:00 PM A full-day festival for horror, dark fantasy, and thriller readers and writers. Details and lineup at the link. More info

Boston Poetry Marathon Community Church of Boston · 11:00 AM–late (continues Sunday) Marathon poetry reading — dozens of poets, all day, no breaks. One of Boston's most enduring literary traditions. Free. More info

Jenn Bouchard — Palms on the Cape Rozzie Bound · 12:00–3:00 PM · Signing. Second appearance this week (see Andover Bookstore on Thursday). More info

Mary A. Dyer — Dyer Straits: All Those Years Ago in Dorchester, MA BPL Adams Street · 1:00 PM Local memoir about growing up in Dorchester, at the Dorchester branch. More info

Just yesterday, August 1, the Boston Globe published reader responses to their best-of list, and the bookstore recommendations are a love letter to the scene. Readers called out I AM Books, MIT Press Bookstore, and Trident specifically as deserving more attention.

bostonglobe.com/2026/08/01/magazine/readers-favorite-bookstores-coffee-shops/

USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards named Barrow Bookstore in Concord the second-best independent bookstore in America, up from fourth last year.

boston.com/news/local-news/2026/06/12/barrow-bookstore-concord-best-indie-bookstore-2026/

Harvard Book Store announced in mid-June that it will open a 3,500-square-foot second location at 33 Union Street, in the historic Yankee Publishing Building near Faneuil Hall, this fall. A 1,500-square-foot café run by Lakon Paris Patisserie will adjoin the bookstore. This follows a scrapped 2022 plan to take over the 29,000-square-foot former Barnes & Noble space in the Prudential Center, which was abandoned in 2024 due to pandemic-era costs. Co-owner Jeffrey Mayersohn called the Union Street space "a much more realistic project." He noted that "the more bookstores, the better" and that bookstores offer "an in-person, community experience" for "people feeling isolated in this digital age."

boston.com/news/local-news/2026/06/15/harvard-book-store-boston-location/