“Grand merci” translates to “big thanks.” So, you see, gratitude brings the meaning to our name.

Yet, it’s so easy to neglect gratitude when the world seems broken. Let’s look to those everyday occurrences where we can find gratitude in our lives and in the world around us. I have an abundance of gratitude to share with you.

I am grateful that Gramercy Books has brought joy to this community, and I give big thanks to my Gramercy Books colleagues. Besides me, a group of ten keep Gramercy Books open seven days a week and are responsible for making our bookshop a welcoming space for community, conversation, inspiration, and discovery. Thank you, John, Debbie, Natalie, Nikki, Daniel, Jill, Katie, Jillian, Zoe, and Katelyn! Gratitude goes to our wonderful customers—your frequent visits and feedback have been a source of pride and delight for all of us. And aren’t we all so happy to have Wally as our bookstore mascot? Just petting him makes us smile!

I am grateful for these dozen wonderful novels, among the many I’ve read during this calendar year that have moved, enlightened, or delighted me:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, This is Happiness by Niall Williams, Lucky Dogs by Helen Schulman, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, The Postcard by Anne Berest, Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro, and Distant Sons by Tim Johnston.

Thanks to my writer friends, and others, who have supported me in my effort to bring Bessie out in the world this fall: Lou Bayard, Jennifer Chiaverini, Fiona Davis, Lucinda Dyer, Sherrie Flick, Kristin Harmel, Libby Jordan, Julia Keller, Pamela Klinger-Horn, Pat Losinski, Lee Martin, Helen Schulman, Lisa Scottoline, Caitlin Hamilton Summie, Brooke Warner, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, and Lauren Wise. And thanks to the many readers who have added Bessie among their TBR selections!

Thanks to my bookseller peers and libraries who have invited me to share Bessie with their communities: Books & Books (FL), Book Passage (CA), Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry (OH), Penguin Bookshop (PA), Schuler Books (MI), Shakespeare & Co. (NY), Story and Song (FL), Cuyahoga County Library, East Hampton Library, Bexley Public Library, and to many others who have made a space on their shelves for my novels. Thank you to the wonderful JCCs and Jewish Book Fairs who have invited me to share Bessie with their audiences.

And, last but not least, my heartfelt thanks to the very important others for whom I am grateful every single day—my amazing family and my family of friends, near and far. You mean so much to me!

Happy Thanksgiving and big thanks! Grand Merci!

Written by Linda Kass

About the author: I began my career as a magazine writer and correspondent for regional and national publications and am now an assistant editor for Narrative, an online literary magazine. My debut novel, Tasa’s Song, was inspired by my mother’s early life in eastern Poland during the Second World War. My second historical novel, A Ritchie Boy, was inspired by my immigrant father's role as a military intelligence office in World War II. My third novel, Bessie, a fictional portrait of Bess Myerson's early life, was released in September of 2023. I am also the proud owner of Gramercy Books, serving all of central Ohio!

Learn more about me on my personal website.