Sunday, March 17, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 16, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 16, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Anita de Monte Laughs Last, by Xochitl Gonzalez (signed copies)
2. The Hunter, by Tana French
3. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
4. Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange
5. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
6. The Great Divide, by Cristina Henríquez (Boswell event March 21)
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
8. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
9. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
10. Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch

Does one celebrate St Patrick's Day by reading a dystopian novel about set in Dublin about a Civil War that creates a migrant crisis? Maybe if it's the Booker winner Prophet Song. The New York Times said the critical response to the book was mixed, but I count the BookMarks annotations - 11 raves, 2 positives, one mixed, and one pan - as a positive response. It looks like the Irish Times also had a positive review (I had to search for this one, and it is subscriber only), which would add to its take.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Birding to Change the World, by Trish O'Kane (signed copies)
2. Surely You Can't Be Serious, by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abraham
3. An End to Inequality, by Jonathan Kozol
4. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger (April 4 WCW ticketed dinner - open to the public)
5. Lessons from the Heartland, by Barbara Miner
6. Little Frog's Guide to Self-Care, by Maybell Eequay
7. Wisconsin Supper Clubs, by Ron Faiola
8. Cooking in Real Life, by Lidey Heuck
9. Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney
10. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin

Highest debut this week is Jonathan Kozol's latest. From Dana Goldstein's profile in The New York Times: "Now, at 87, he has published An End to Inequality: Breaking Down the Walls of Apartheid Education in America, his 15th book — and his last, he says. It is an unapologetic cri de coeur about the shortcomings of the schools that serve poor Black and Hispanic children, and thus, the moral failure of the nation to end the inequality he has documented for decades."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Between You and Us, by Kendra Broekhuis
2. One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin
3. Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez
4. Dune, by Frank Herbert
5. A Dish Best Served Hot, by Natalie Caña
6. A Proposal They Can't Refuse, by Natalie Caña
7. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
8. Nettle and Bone, by T Kingfisher
9. The Drifter, by Nick Petrie
10. Bridge, by Ali Hazelwood

It's been a year since Nettle and Bone was released in paperback, but it's only weeks after T Kingfisher's What Feasts at Night was released, so we're still in the Kingfisher publication window. She also has a new book coming out in August, A Sorceress Comes to Call. Nettle and Bone had seven raves on BookMarks, including this Catherine Paxson on the NPR website: "This is an adult fantasy novel - all the characters are over 30 - but it reads like the fantasy novels I devoured when I was a teen, in the days of yore before YA was a thing."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Easy Walks and Paddles in Milwaukee, by Jennifer Lemke and Karen Lemke (Boswell March 27 event)
2. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollars (Boswell March 19 event)
3. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
4. Milwaukee in Stone and Clay, by Raymond Wiggers (May 10 virtual event)
5. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
6. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
7. The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine, by Michael Scott Baumann
8. The Hundred Years War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
9. The Fight for Black Empowerment in the USA, by Kareem Muhammad (Boswell March 18 event)
10. Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt with Timothy Snyder

Just published by Northern Illinois University Press, which is run as an imprint of Cornell University Press, is Milwaukee and Stone and Clay, Raymond Wiggers's follow-up to Chicago in Stone and Clay. This architectural guidebook takes a materials-based approach. Says Mayor Cavalier Johnson: "Every reader will enjoy a greater understanding and appreciation of the structures that define our city. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the author that Milwaukee City Hall is the most marvelous city hall on the planet!

Books for Kids:
1. The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
2. Eclipse, by Andy Rash
3. The Happy Book, by Andy Rash
4. Alone, by Megan E Freeman
5. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, with illustrations by Erin Kraan
6. Ferris, by Kate DiCamillo
7. Out and About, by Liza Wiemer, with illustrations by Margeaux Lucas
8. Max in the House of Spies, by Adam Gidwitz
9. Evil Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs
10. The Assignment, by Liza Wiemer

I am visiting family and two of the gifts I brought with me are in this week's top ten. My older great nephew is getting a copy of Max in the House of Spies while the younger will get Buffalo Fluffalo, which finally came back into stock after its reprint. Adam Gidwitz (#8) reviews Ferris (#6) in this week's New York Times Book Review.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 9, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 9, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Hunter, by Tana French
2. Anita de Monte Laughs Last, by Xochitl Gonzalez (register for March 13 MARN/La Revo event- almost at capacity)
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
5. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
6. After Annie, by Anna Quindlen
7. Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange
8. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
9. The Great Divide, by Cristina Henríquez (register for March 21 Boswell event)
10. A Fate Inked in Blood, by Danielle Jensen

Top debut this week is The Hunter, the "slow burn sequel to 2015's The Searcher" (Publishers Weekly). It's got four raves and four positives from BookMarks, including this from Maureen Corrigan in The Washington Post: "A glance, a grimace, a tightening of shoulders: Suspense is in the details - small details - scattered throughout Tana French’s new novel, The Hunter. These moments pile up until, in the novel’s stunning climax, the veneer of the mundane collapses, revealing the unthinkable that lies beneath."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Blues Brothers, by Daniel de Vise (register for March 20 Boswell event)
2. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
3. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
4. The House of Hidden Meanings, by RuPaul
5. Slow Productivity, by Cal Newport
6. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
7. Birding to Change the World, by Trish O'Kane (register for March 13 UEC event - almost at capacity)
8. I Must Be Dreaming, by Roz Chast
9. Grief Is for People, by Sloane Crosley
10. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl

There's no question that some signed copies helped pop The House of Hidden Meanings, a memoir (but not the first book) from RuPaul. The author talked with Tanya Mosly on Fresh Air and was profiled by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker. I have to say I was not expecting Paul to have a security compound in Wyoming.

Paperback Fiction
1. The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay (signed copies)
2. The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty (upcoming book club picks)
3. Old Babes in the Woods, by Margaret Atwood
4. Happy Place, by Emily Henry
5. Circe, by Madeline Miller
6. Goodbye Vitamin, by Rachel Khong (register for May 15 Boswell event)
7. Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert
8. Empty Theatre, by Jac Jemc
9. Bride, by Ali Hazelwood
10. Weyward, by Emilia Hart

Selling off the new paperback table after a decent run in hardcover is Empty Theatre: A Novel: Or the Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria. BookMarks gave it three raves and two positives, though three of them were trade reviews and a fourth was from 4Columns, which I had not previously come across. I read the positive review by Jeremy Lybarger and would have called it mixed. A rave comes from Katy Simpson Smith in The New York Times Book Review: "Modern and mythic, “Empty Theatre captures the outrageous taste of an era while measuring the steep costs of our dream worlds. I could pay 15 euros to see Neuschwanstein again, but I couldn’t live there. I thought this is more of a positive than a rave - this is why I hate giving my reviews rating numbers.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Complications, by Atul Gawande
2. Everything I Know About Love, by Dolly Alderton
3. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollards (register for March 19 Boswell event)
4. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
5. The Way Home, by Ben Katt
6. Have I Told You This Already?, by Lauren Graham (tickets for April 7 Pabst Theater event here)
7. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
8. Great Lakes Water Wars, by Peter Annin (register for April 10 Marquette Law School event)
9. Easy Walks and Paddles in Milwaukee, Jennifer Lemke and Karen Lemke (register for March 27 Boswell event)
10. Hollywood the Oral History, by Jeanine Basinger

Jeanine Basinger's Hollywood: An Oral History has been out in paperback since November, but this is her first appearance on the list. It was wonderful to meet her and hear her talk when she visited for a previous book. Publishers Weekly called it "a fascinating conversation about Hollywood’s magical blending of art and commerce."

Books for Kids:
1. Max in the House of Spies, by Adam Gidwitz
2. The Inquisitors, by Adam Gidwitz
3. Ferris, by Kate DiCamillo
4. Millie, by McCall Hoyle
5. Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix Up, by Melissa Thompson
6. The Prisoner's Throne V2, by Holly Black
7. Finding Bear, by Hannah Gold
8. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. The One and Only Ruby, by Katherine Applegate
10. Heroes, by Alan Gratz

Just out this week Ferris, which has two staff recs, from Jen and Tim.  Jen Steele's take: "Funny and heartwarming, these characters jumped off the page for me and captured my heart." And from Horn Book: "The limited third-person narration glimpses other lives but never dwells on them, thus leaving Ferris's honest, pre-adolescent perspective to drive the story line. As Clarisse tells Ferris, 'Every good story is a love story.' Here, DiCamillo adeptly proves this axiom."

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 2, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 2, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange
2. The Price You Pay, by Nick Petrie
3. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
4. The Book of Love, by Kelly Link
5. After Annie, by Anna Quindlen
6. The House of Flame and Shadow, by Sarah J Maas
7. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
8. Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
9. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
10. The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon

No competition for this week's top release. Tommy Orange's second novel, Wandering Stars outshines the other entries. The novel has ten raves, three positives, and a pan on BookMarks. From Ron Charles in The Washington Post: "It’s not too early to say that Orange is building a body of literature that reshapes the Native American story in the United States. Book by book, he’s correcting the dearth of Indian stories even while depicting the tragic cost of that silence. As one lost character in Wandering Stars says, 'I want to come home.' Orange is getting that place ready."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Two-Parent Privilege, by Melissa S Kearney
2. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
3. Birding to Change the World, by Trish O'Kane (March 13 UEC event)
4. Tread Loudly, by Kristine Cherek
5. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, by Tim Alberta
6. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
7. Supercommunicators, by Charles Duhigg
8. Milwaukee: A City Built on Water, by John Gurda
9. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
10. Five Ingredients Mediterranean, by Jamie Oliver

Our top debut turns out to be our upcoming program for Trish O'Kane. Birding to Change the World. No BookMarks, but I can already see a Scientific American review, as well as Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. Rob Thomas has a profile in the Cap Times: "Her new book, Birding to Change the World, weaves together the natural history of birds (she can rhapsodize in a phone interview about 'murmuration,' the almost supernatural ability of a flock of starlings to change course together mid-flight), her own personal history, and her belief that the human species could learn a lot from avian species. Our destinies are intertwined." O'Kane lived in Madison back in the aughts.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Bride, by Ali Hazelwood
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
3. Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy (Boswell book club checklist)
4. Weyward, by Emilia Hart
5. The Housemaid, by Freida McFadden
6. Dune, by Frank Herbert
7. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
8. A Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J Maas
9. Exiles, by Jane Harper
10. The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu

Cross Kate Morton and witchcraft and you have Weyward, by Emilia Hart, our top debut fiction paperback, which had two raves and a positive on BookMarks in hardcover. They kept the image and added reviews and blurbs to the cover, and why not? Sales were strong at indies and it hit The New York Times bestseller list too. From Julia Kastner at Shelf Awareness: "Emilia Hart's first novel, Weyward, glows and glimmers with hidden powers, thrills and danger, a close connection with nature and between women across time. Three distinct stories eventually link to form a larger tale about strength, resilience and love."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. We've Got to Try, by Beto O'Rourke
2. Yoke, by Jessamyn Stanley
3. Every Body Yoga, by Jessamyn Stanley
4. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollars (March 19 Boswell event)
5. Ignite Top Line Growth, by Melanie Varin
6. The Hundred Year's War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
7. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
8. Capote's Women, by Laurence Leamer
9. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
10. Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman

Jessamyn Stanley and Melissa Kearney were both at UWM last week as part of their lecture series. Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body is more of a practical book, with yoga poses and sequences, while Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance is an essay collection. From Nataya Culler in Booklist, on the latter: ".Abstract, funny, heartfelt, and inspiring, Yoke is a fundamental book for those learning to feel present in their emotions and to take up space for themselves, both on the yoga mat and off."

Books for Kids:
1. Women in Science, by Rachel Ignatofsky
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne
3. The Life I'm In, by Sharon G Flake
4. The Skin I'm In, by Sharon G Flake
5. Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park
6. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, with illustrations by Melanie Demmer
7. Max in the House of Spies, by Adam Gidwitz
8. Finally Heard, by Kelly Yang
9. The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
10. Pik and Pak Vs the Vampire Bees from Outer Space, by Lara Hau

Despite keeping my pledge to read at least one middle-grade novel per month, they don't always show up on the list, unless I happen to be doing a talk to area school librarians. It's the first week out for Max in the House of Spies, an adventure novel set in World-War-II Germany and England. I should say up front that this is the first book in either a duology or a full series. He doesn't actually get to spy until the sequel, but this setup features, per Kirkus "a truly likeable hero and clever puzzling." And from Booklist: "This heartfelt historical novel explores big questions of autonomy and allegiance with an admirable protagonist readers will respect and adore."

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 24, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 24, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Road from Belhaven, by Margot Livesey (signed copies)
2. The Price You Pay, by Nick Petrie (WFB event Feb 26)
3. The Women, by Kristen Hannah
4. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
5. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
6. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
7. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
8. True North, by Andrew J Graff
9. Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch
10. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

Since we've already covered all then titles in previous bestseller blogs, let's find another quote from one of the 2023 novels that is still selling well. From Mark Athitakis in the Los Angeles Times: "North Woods, the fifth novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason, has become one of the fall’s most acclaimed books on the strength of its innovation as a sweeping and stealthy historical saga. But it is also another tree-stuck story: Set in a patch of a Massachusetts forest, it follows the fate of multiple residents of a house across nearly three centuries. Some familiar themes of the genre apply: The tragedy of environmental devastation, the beauty of the natural landscape, nature’s stubborn capacity to endure well past human folly. But because Mason’s novel operates in such a robust variety of styles and voices, it is - perhaps more than its arboreal literary brethren - an unusually spectacular showcase of the various powerful responses that nature provokes in us, from wonderment to utter derangement."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
2. The Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
3. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl
4. Supercommunicators, by Charles Duhigg
5. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
6. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
7. My Name Is Barbra, by Barbra Streisand
8. The Art of the Grimoire, by Owen Davies
9. Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney
10. Life After Power, by Jared Cohen

Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, has a new book out this week - Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. A blurb from Adam Grant points people in the right direction. And all the advance trade reviews are positive. This from Library Journal: " A how-to-guide and useful overview for readers wanting to communicate more effectively. Along with David Brooks's recent How To Know a Person, a timely primer for creating deeper connections with others."

My friend John sent me a video of Barbra Streisand accepting the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award.   

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Drifter, by Nick Petrie
2. I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai
3. Who Moves the Dead, by T Kingfisher
4. The Shamshine Blind, by Paz Prado
5. Dune, by Frank Herbert
6. Babel, by RF Kuang
7. Chain Gang All Stars, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
8. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
9. The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon
10. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by VE Schwab

It's the first week out for I Have Some Questions for You in paperback. The book was the featured title of the 2023 Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Literary Lunch and had 14 raves and 6 positives on BookMarks. Since I find it hard to find quotes from the St Louis Post Dispatch, I can't resist using this from Jennifer Alexander: “Makkai combines skilled storytelling with abundant human insight. [I Have Some Questions for You] is so well-plotted and thought-provoking that readers may struggle with conflicting impulses to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next or to stop and think about what it all means.”

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Way Home, by Ben Katt (signed copies)
2. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollars (Boswell event March 19)
3. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
4. The Hundred Years War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
5. Murdle, by GT Karber
6. The Fight for Black Empowerment, by Kareem Muhammad (Boswell event March 18)
7. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
8. Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, by Deborah Cohen (CEA event info March 20)
9. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
10. Endurance, by Alfred Lansing

So many nonfiction paperback reprints fall flat in sales, and many don't even see the light of day. But a book like Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence has hugged the bestseller lists tight for over a year, after strong but not bestseller-blasting sales in hardcover. Here's an interview of Anna Lembke conducted by Mary Beth Maslowski in Psychiatry Advisor.

Books for Kids:
1. Just Gus, by McCall Hoyle
2. A Pack of Your Own, by Maria Nilsson Thore
3. Art Club, by Rashad Doucet
4. Slugfest, by Gordon Korman
5. Treasure Island: Runaway Gold, by Jewell Parker Rhodes
6. Forever Twelve, by Stacy McAnulty
7. Above the Trenches, by Nathan Hale
8. The Mona Lisa Vanishes, by Nicholas Day
9. Cranky, by Phuc Tran, illustrations by Pete Oswald
10. Mr S, by Monica Arnaldo

Jen and I spent a morning last week presenting kids books to area school librarians. This week's bestseller list has some of our picks. At the top is Just Gus from McCall Hoyle, part of the Best Friends Dog Tales from Shadow Mountain, which has been a Boswell bestseller for the last year. School Library Journal notes: "As a read-aloud to the canine obsessed in the early grades or just an engaging tale for dog lovers, Hoyle quietly unleashes a barking good tale. Its charm is due to Gus and to a real love of dogs." Jen also talked up the next book in the series, Millie.

A more recent pick is Art Club, a graphic novel by SCAD Professor Rashad Doucet. From Booklist: "Adults are often challenging to please, especially when they think they know what's best for you. Dale and his friends face a daunting challenge as they endeavor to convince Vice Principal Ruffin that art is as meaningful and valuable as any other profession. With the guidance of Miss Je'Nae, this misfit group collaborates to resurrect their school's art club and explore ways to make it profitable."

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 17, 2024

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 17, 2024

Hardcover Fiction: 
1. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
2. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
3. The Price You Pay V8, by Nick Petrie (Feb 22 at Elm Grove Library, Feb 26 at Whitefish Bay Library - click the link to register)
4. House of Flame and Shadow V3, by Sarah J Maas (2 editions)
5. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
6. Good Material, by Dolly Alderton
7. Iron Flame V2, by Rebecca Yarros
8. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
9. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
10. Whalefall, by Daniel Kraus (Apr 8 Boswell event)

Good Material is novelist-memoirist-relationship columnist Dolly Alderton's second novel, but her first since Everything I Know About Love exploded on TikTok. It's also a Read with Jenna pick. Four postivies on BookMarks, with several comparisons to Nick Hornby. From Booklist: "This warm and relatable novel about relationships and heartache will please Alderton's many fans."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. The Wager, by David Grann
3. The Lede, by Calvin Trillin
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. Milwaukee Rock and Roll 1950-2000 ,by David Luhrssen, Phillip Naylor, and Bruce Rogers Cole
6. Ghosts of Segregation, by Richard Frishman
7. King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
8. Eve, by Cat Bohannon
9. Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney
10. Our Ancient Faith, by Allen C Guelzo

The Lede: Dispatches from a Life in the Press, by Calvin Trillin is a collection of essays about journalism and journalists. Five raves and a positive from BookMarks. Also feels like the first book I've highlighted at the $31 price point, though I think I have previously noted $30.50 and $30.99. From Dwight Garner in The New York Times (ellipis and brackets courtesy of the publisher): "This book is buoyant and crunchy from end to end [and] contains profiles...that are acknowledged classics of the form and will be studied until A.I. makes hash out of all of us.

I had no idea that APA doesn't care whether the three dots in ellipsis have spaces or not?

Paperback Fiction:
1. Bride, by Ali Hazelwood
2. A Marvellous Light V1, by Freya Marske
3. Time to Shine, by Rachel Reid
4. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries V1, by Heather Fawcett
5. Ocean's Echo, by Everina Maxwell
6. The Women Could Fly, by Megan Giddins
7. The Wolf and the Woodsman, by Ava Reid
8. Witch's Heart, by Genevieve Gornichec
9. Exiles, by Jane Harper
10. Pedro Paramo, by Juan Rulfo

Oli got to help the folks at a UWM student group choose books for blind date with a book. I'm guessing none of the attendees read this blog, so I'm not worried about giving anything away.

In other worlds, Jane Harper's third Aaron Falk novel, Exiles, debuts in our top 10 in its second week of sales. My sister Merrill is a big fan. Four raves and two positives on BookMarks. From Sarah Weinman in The New York Times: "Falk’s investigation is a terrific one, but what makes the book memorable is Harper’s skill at plumbing personal mysteries - for instance, why a friendship has ebbed, or how not knowing the fate of a loved one affects a family."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Switch, by Jason Puskar
2. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
3. Last Call at the Hotel Imperial, by Deborah Cohen
4. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollars (Boswell March 19 event)
5. Complete Mediterranean Cookbook, by America's Test Kitchen
6. The Gardeners Guide to Prairie Plants, by Neil Diboll
7. The Power Broker, by Robert Moses
9. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer 
10. We've Got to Try, by Beto O'Rourke (MPL event Feb 23)

It's a quiet week for paperback nonfiction. We had a very nice event with UWM's Jason Puskar for The Switch: An Off and On History of Digital Humans. The program was recorded by BookTV and should air in the next few months.

Books for Kids:
1. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
2. One True Loves, by Elise Bryant
3. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
4. The Lightning Thief V1, by Rick Riordan
5. The Toni Morrison Treasury, by Toni Morrison
6. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan
7. The One and Only Ruby, by Katherine Applegate (May 15 Elmbrook event)
8. Most Ardently, by Gabe Novoa
9. Are You Big?, by Mo Willems
10. Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko

Out since fall, but still selling is A Toni Morrison Treasury, a collection of eight of her picture books in one volume, cowritten with her son Slade Morrison, including The Ant or the Grasshopper and Please, Louise.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 10, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 10, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Price You Pay, by Nick Petrie (signed copies)
2. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
3. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
4. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar (Last chance - Register for Feb 13 event)
5. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
6. The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray
7. The House of Flame and Shadow V3, by Sarah J Maas
8. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
9. Good Material, by Dolly Alderton
10. This Is the Honey, edited by Kwame Alexander

In The Women, a student joins the Army Nursing Corps during the Vietnam War. From Stephanie Merry in The Washington Post: "Why am I doing this to myself? The thought occurred to me as I reached the bottom of Page 20 in Kristin Hannah’s new novel, The Women. Barely three chapters in, and already protagonist Frankie McGrath was learning that her charming, mischievous older brother had been killed in action in Vietnam. 'Shot down … in a helicopter … No remains … all hands lost.' If you’ve read Hannah’s historical novels, you know that this development will be but one snowflake in a blizzard of tear-jerking tragedy that will inundate you over the next 450 pages."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
2. The Wager, by David Grann
3. The Little Frogs Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
4. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald, by Judith Tick 
5. Upside Down World, by Benjamin Moser
6. King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
7. Texture Over Taste, by Joshua Weissman
8. Disillusioned, by Benjamin Herold
9. Best Minds, by Jonathan Rosen
10. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin

From the impulse table comes The Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, which, per the publisher, concerns a "fashionable little frog with its mushroom hat and fabulous footwear" who "brings positivity with a dead-pan sense of humor to its many admirers on social media." We've been selling this regularly since its release last September.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
2. The Drifter, by Nick Petrie
3. Throne of Glass V1, by Sarah J Maas
4. Bride, by Ali Hazelwood
5. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
6. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna
7. Venomous Lumpsucker, by Ned Beauman
8. Babel, by RF Kuang
9. House of Earth and Blood V1, by Sarah J Maas
10. This Other Eden, by Paul Harding

This Other Eden  quietly amassed 12 raves and one mixed review on BookMarks, but didn't seem to take off until the book was shortlisted for the National Book Award and Booker Prize. From the publisher: "In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, the Honeys’ descendants and a diverse group of neighbors are desperately poor, isolated, and often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland." From Claire Messud in Harpers: "This Other Eden is beautiful and agonizing - rather like the real place that inspired it."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
2. All About Love, by bell hooks
3. The Switch, by Jason Puskar (Boswell event Feb 15 - register here)
4. Saving Time, by Jenny Odell
5. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
6. One Room Schools, by Susan Apps-Bodilly
7. Old Farm Country Cookbook, by Jerry Apps and Susan Apps-Bodilly
8. Viral Justice, by Ruha Benjamin
9. Cream City Chronicles, by John Gurda
10 Four Thousand Weeks ,by Oliver Burkeman

Just out in paperback and selling off the new paperback table is Princeton Professor Ruha Benjamin's Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, winner of the Stowe Prize from the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. From Matthew Desmond: "Wide-ranging and provocative, soaring yet grounded, Viral Justice reveals how racism poisons our bodies, communities, and institutions, but the book also chronicles inspired movements seeking repair and justice."

Books for Kids:
1. This Is a Story, by John Schu
2. Clifford's Valentine level 1 reader, by Norman Bridwell
3. Clifford Loves, by Norman Bridwell
4. This Is a School, by John Schu
5. Every Day's a Holiday, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Husna Aghiniya
6. The Skull, by Jon Klassen
7. M Is for Monster, by Talia Dutton
8. Clifford the Small Red Puppy, by Norman Bridwell
9. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
10. Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Bridwell

The fight for the top spots was between John Schu at the Wisconsin State Reading Association conference and Clifford, who appeared at Boswell and an area school. For the third consecutive year, Schu has a book coming out a month after the conference with Louder Than Hunger, which will be a March-April Indie Next Pick. On Norman Bridwell's heart-shaped board book, Clifford Loves: "Clifford the Big Red Dog loves playing outside. Clifford loves reading and swimming, too. But most importantly, Clifford loves spending time with his friends-especially Emily Elizabeth." Not too late for a V-Day gift.

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 3, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 3, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. House of Flame and Shadow V3, by Sarah J Maas
2. Northwoods, by Amy Pease (signed copies)
3. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar (Boswell event Feb 13 - register here)
4. Fury, by Alex Michaelides
5. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
6. Come and Get It, by Kiley Reid
7. Starter Villain, by John Scalzi
8. The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon
9. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
10. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect V2, by Benjamin Stevenson

A bookseller was explaining to me all the exclusive editions of House of Flame and Shadow, the third volume in Crescent City series. No fancy edge stain on our editoin, but exclusive content. I went to Target and saw four different versions of the CD of 1989 (Taylor's version). which for some reason I connect in my head. No advance reviews from the trades (no need for ARCs, but the publisher called it "stunning." Probably one of the bigger openings for the first half of 2024.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Fight Right, by Julie Schwartz Gottman and John Gottman
2. My American Dream, by Barbara Feigin
3. Atlas of the Heart, by Brené Brown
4. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
5. The Intersectional Environmentalist, by Leah Thomas
6. Wisconsin Supper Clubs 2E, by Ron Faiola
7. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, by Tim Alberta
8. All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley
9. Our Hidden Conversations, by Michele Norris
10. Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney

The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet came out in 2022 and has been selling steady since then, though this is the first time in our top 10. At the time, Nylah Burton offered a round-up of environmentally themed books in Shondaland. There are well-known titles like The Parable of the Sower and Braiding Sweetgrass and other suggestions that still might be new to readers.

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides
2. The Best That You Can Do, by Amina Gautier
3. Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy
4. Three Theban Plays, by Sophocles
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
6. Horse, by Geraldine Brooks
7. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
8. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
9. Babel, by RF Kuang
10. Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Two upcoming Boswell-run book club picks here. Trespasses is the next Lit Group pick, while Assistant to the Villain is the February Romance Book Club selection. Trespasses was shortlisted for the Woman's Prize and was a best book of the year by The Washington Post. Kevin Power in The Guardian wrote: ""Distinguished by a quality rare in fiction at any time: a sense of utter conviction. It is a story told with such compulsive attention to the textures of its world that every page feels like a moral and intellectual event."

Regarding the older titles on the list, several are student purchases for high school and college courses, while Three Theban Plays is being read by a local book club.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. My American Dream, by Barbara Feigin
2. The Hundred Years War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
3. The Switch, by Jason Puskar (Boswell event Feb 15 - register here)
4. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
5. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
6. Everything I Know About Love, by Dolly Alderton
7. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
8. All About Love, by bell hooks
9. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
10. Penny, by Karl Stevens

Barbara Sommer Feigin appeared locally for My American Dream: A Journey from Fascism to Freedom, speaking to her son Peter Feigin of the Milwaukee Bucks organization. Her memoir alternates growing up a refugee in Seattle with details of her family's escape from Nazi journal, using her father's journals as source material.

Books for Kids:
1. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
2. Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate, illustrations by Gennifer Choldenko
3. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
4. Most Ardently, by Gabe Novoa
5. The Knight Owl, by Christopher Denise
6. Who Got Game: Basketball, by Derric Barnes
7. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. The Lightning Thief V1 deluxe edition, by Rick Riordan
9. Out and About, by Liza Wiemer (Wauwatosa Library event March 5)
10. Eclipse, by Andy Rash (Solar eclipse is April 8)

The Knight Owl is a Caldecott Honor Book that also has a rec from Jen: "Superb illustrations from the author as well as a story that is sure to be a bedtime favorite!" Plus Kirkus offered: "A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn." The second book in the series, Knight Owl and Early Bird, is scheduled for this October.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 27, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 27, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Ascent, by Adam Plantinga (signed copies)
2. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar (Boswell Feb 13 event - register here)
3. Iron Flame V2, by Rebecca Yarros
4. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
5. The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray
6. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
7. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
8. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
9. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
10. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

Our top debut this week is Kaveh Akbar's Martyr!, what with a front page New York Times Book Review placement and other raves - it's the best reviewed book on LitHub's BookMarks last week. From Junot Diaz's review: "In Cyrus, Akbar has created an indelible protagonist, haunted, searching, utterly magnetic. But it speaks to Akbar’s storytelling gifts that Martyr! is both a riveting character study and piercing family saga."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Tread Loudly, by Kristine Cherek
2. Correction, by Ben Austen
3. Oath and Honor, by Liz Cheney
4. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
5. Never Enough, by Jennifer Breheny Wallace
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. The Rediscovery of America, by Ned Blackhawk
8. Eve, by Cat Bohannon
9. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
10. Wisconsin Supper Clubs, by Ron Faiola

Many 2023 titles are still dominating our list, including The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, by Ned Blackhawk. This National Book Award winner was also a Tims Top 5 book for 2023. It is also notable that Ingram is currently out of the book at all warehouses. From Kathleen DuVal in The Wall Street Journal: ""Eloquent and comprehensive. . . . By presenting post-1492 history as a series of encounters between the various peoples of the Americas and the peoples from Europe, Africa, and Asia--rather than as an account of Europe's discovery of a new world--Blackhawk provides a view of that past from multiple perspectives."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Best that You Can Do, by Amina Gautier (signed copies)
2. Horse, by Geraldine Brooks
3. Chain Gang All Stars, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
4. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
5. Pedro Paramo, by Juan Rulfo
6. Bad Cree, by Jessica Johns
7. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Satoshi Yagisawa
8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
9. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
10. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan

We are constantly being asked the question, "So when will this book be out in paperback?" and what many years ago was a sure thing - 12 months, has become much more of a guessing game. The standard for a book that did well enough to go into paperback (omitted paperback reprints are more common than they used to be for fiction) seems to be inching to eight months for several large publishers, such as Chain Gang All Stars, but a perennial bestseller will keep it going in hardcover, and while that used to be the trajectory for one title a year, it's much more common. Horse was officially in hardcover for 19 months.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. My American Dream, by Barbara Feigin (signed copies available)
2. Rescuing Our Sons, by John Duffy
3. The Hundred Year War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
4. High Risers, by Ben Austen
5. Hollywood Standard, by Christopher Riley
6. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
7. The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Nolan
8. How to Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell
9. The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine, by Michael Scott Baumann
10. The Switch, by Jason Puskar (Boswell Feb 15 event - register here)

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 leads sales for the three books on the Middle East war. It is also top 10 on the New York Times bestseller list. From David Gardner in The Financial Times: ""Rigorous and lucid . . . Rashid Khalidi, the intellectual heir to Edward Said, has written one of the great books on the Israeli-Palestinian question."

Books for Kids:
1. Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
2. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
3. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
4. Clifford the Big Red Dog board book, by Norman Bridwell (Boswell Feb 10 photo op - register)
5. What Feelings Do When No One's Looking, by Tina Oziewicz, illustrations by Aleksandra Zajac
6. Eclipse, by Andy Rash
7. Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur, by Helen Yoon
8. Rabbit Listened, by Cori Doerrfeld
9. M Is for Monster, by Talia Dutton (Boswell Feb 7 event - register here)
10. Who Got Game?: Basketball, by Derrick Barnes

The cuteness of Buffalo Fluffalo has captivated many a bookseller, including the Boswellians. From Booklist: "Wordplay, rhythm, and rhyme add greatly to the fun of sharing this picture book with children, who will enjoy chiming in on the chorus, particularly on days when they too have 'had enuffalo.' Great fun for reading aloud." Kirkus added: "Fun, silly stuffalo."