When was the last time you picked up a book?

Thrills from Stephen King, laughs from Amy Schumer and wizardry from J.K. Rowling.

At 78, the multimillion-selling author has begun a new career, opening her own bookshop – and joining a business sector that’s flourishing again in the US. She might be a beloved and bestselling author of classic children’s books from Forever to Blubber, but Judy Blume says she wakes up every day “and I look to the sky, and I say, ‘whoever’s up there, I thank you for not having to write today’.”

Are you someone who refuses to believe the theory that “print is dead”? Who always makes room in a suitcase for a paperback? Who finds it easy to spend more time at a charmingly ramshackle bookstore than a crowded tourist attraction? You're not alone. The organizers of Independent Bookstore Day celebrate book havens and book lovers everywhere each spring, and what better way to mark the occasion than to seek out an indie book shop on your next trip?

Look for new books by Moby, Lincoln & Child, and Joe Hill.

Look for a new biography of Paul McCartney, plus Don DeLillo's latest.

Look for a new book about Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

On the high streets of small towns, the success stories are Primark, Greggs, Wilko, Poundland and variety shops like Tiger. Card and gift emporiums are ubiquitous. In this unpropitious climate, Waterstones is holding out with almost 300 shops, recovering – according to the figures – from near failure four years ago. By Alice Spawls. (Apr. 6)

Protecting Books and Witholding Affection for Centuries. By Jason Diamond.

For seven years, Brazenhead Books operated out of an apartment at 235 East Eighty-fourth Street. It was, strictly speaking, illegal, and because it was illegal it had to be secret. When the notice of eviction came, the whole dynamic changed. All at once, Brazenhead was on borrowed time, and minor celebrities began showing up. By Brian Patrick Eha. (Aug. 6)

George Whitman opened the legendary bookshop now known as Shakespeare and Company in the shadow of Notre Dame in Paris in 1951, and having spent all his money on the shop he slept on a pullout couch among the books... By Harriet Alida Lye.

Griffin and Sabine are back after 25 years, plus Harlan Coben has a new thriller.

On Monday, February 29, a judge in Monroe County, Alabama sealed Harper Lee’s will from public view. The motion was filed by the Birmingham law firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, which was acting on behalf of Tonja Carter, Lee’s lawyer and the executor of her estate. The decision to seal the will became public last Friday, and it was immediately controversial. This has been true of every legal move involving Lee...

Amazon will open its second physical bookstore in a San Diego mall, opposite an Apple store and next to a Tesla store, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune. Signage erected outside the location says the bookstore is arriving "this summer," confirming rumors of the new location sparked by job listings spotted in February. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed news of the store's opening to the Tribune, saying it was currently...

Look for new books by John Feinstein, Shirley MacLaine and Clive Cussler.

Look for new books by Kate Hudson, William Shatner and Sue Klebold.

September 2014: Yoshiyuki Morioka, a bookseller who had been running a store in Tokyo, Japan for 10 years, had a curious thought. Lots of customers, it seemed, dropped in during book launches and other events to buy the same title; others often appeared overwhelmed by all the extra variety. So why not start a bookstore that only sold one book at a time?

A novel about painter Georgia O'Keeffe; Eurythmics' Dave Stewart pens a memoir.

E-books may be convenient and cheap, but they aren't displacing paper just yet, at least in the hearts and minds of college kids.

Look for Melanie Benjamin's new novel about Truman Capote and Babe Paley.