Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 23, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 23, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger (signed copies)
2. The Last Devil to Die V4, by Richard Osman
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. Dead Eleven, by Jimmy Juliano
5. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
6. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
7. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
8. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
9. The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
10. Holly, by Stephen King

Today's top debut is Richard Osman's fourth mystery in the Thursday Murder Club series. The Last Devil to Die has four raves and a positive, but of those five reviews are British and one is from Air Mail, which I had never heard of before. It's a mobile first, subscription based newsletter from Graydon Carter and Allesandra Stanley that started in 2019. Where have I been? From the Jenny Colgan review: "Overall, the real strength of these books is that they are genuinely funny. It is a truism that people who aren’t funny think that writing funny books is easy. To wear it as lightly as Osman does is a gift; these books read like champagne."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Book of (More) Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 Boswell event)
2. Never Givin' Up, by Kurt Dietrich (signed copies)
3. Elon Musk, by Walter Isaacson
4. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
5. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich (Register for October 3 Boswell event)
6. Of Time and Turtles, by Sy Montgomery
7. Astor, by Anderson Cooper
8. The Death of Public Schools, by Cara Fitzpatrick (Register for October 20 Marquette Law event)
9. Slaying the Dragon, by Ben Riggs
10. Sure I'll Join Your Cult, by Maria Bamford

We got a nice first week pop in sale on Ross Gay's The Book of (More) Delights, a combination of pre-orders and some sales as part of a special program we're doing. We're all looking forward to our October 4 event. In the non-event category, we had a nice first week pop for Sy Montgomery's Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell. From Kirkus: "Melding science and memoir, naturalist Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus, The Hummingbirds' Gift, and other celebrated nature books, shares her experiences as a volunteer at the Turtle Rescue League, in Massachusetts, where, along with wildlife artist Patterson, she worked laboriously to care for 'the most imperiled major group of animals on earth.'" 

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Artful Bargain, by Audrey Lynden
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (signed copies)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 Boswell event)
4. Murder at the Mena House, by Erica Ruth Neubauer
5. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner
6. Blood to Rubies, by Deborah Hufford
7. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
8. The Ninth Metal V1, by Benjamin Percy
9. A Court of Thorn and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
10. Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune

It's the second week out for Godkiller in paperback, and Hannah Kaner's series debut was helped by a featured staff-rec spot at our booth for The Awkward Nerd Book Fair last Sunday. We have several fans on staff. From Jen Steele: "Hannah Kaner has created a fantastical world full of wild gods, political intrigue, and danger around every corner. Can a godkiller, a knight, and a young noble girl with a god of white lies entwined within her soul work together, let alone trust each other?" And From Charlie Jane Anders in The Washington Post: "Kaner writes action that’s both fun and intelligible - no mean feat - while keeping the story moving forward nicely. If The Last of Us didn’t slake your thirst for stories of a grizzled fighter taking a tough kid on the road, then Godkiller should be your jam."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Let's Summon Demons, by Steven Rhodes
2. Holy Food, by Christina Ward (Register for September 29 Boswell event)
3. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
4. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
5. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
6. A Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
7. Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E Gross
8. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
9. Hollywood Standard, by Christopher Riley
10. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros

Local author and publisher Christina Ward is doing a number of events in Milwaukee and across the country (Quimby's in Chicago, Book Larder in Seattle, among others) for Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat - An American History. From Tea Krulos in Milwaukee Magazine: "Each chapter of Holy Food discusses the history of various religious food rules on what can go into your mouth and when. The book serves as a guide of religious development in this country... What makes Holy Food a unique reading experience is the collection of recipes – over 75 of them – found at the end of each chapter and adapted from Ward’s extensive collection of religious-themed cookbooks."

Books for Kids:
1. Autumn Peltier Water Warrior, by Carole Lindstrom, illustrations by Bridget George
2. The Ghost Book, by Remy Lai
3. Pawcasso, by Remy Lai
4. Fly on the Wall, by Remy Lai
5. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
6. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
7. The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
8. The Tale of Despereaux deluxe anniversary edition, by Kate DiCamillo
9. Nimona, by ND Stevenson
10. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, by Deya Muniz

Our public kids events are back, with the best schedule since before COVID, but we continue to also bring authors to schools without a public component. Often the issue is that the publisher uses the public event time to get the author to the next city for schools - there's a lot of evening travel. Remy Lai was here last week, as you can tell from our bestseller list. Her newest is The Ghost Book - here's the publisher's take: "July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren't real. So she pretends they don't exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it's Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world."

From the starred Booklist: "Lai is a master of middle-grade sensibilities, mixing pus-spurting tumors with slapstick and genuine concerns about friendship and family. Her artwork elevates each scene to its fullest potential as wacky and disgusting ghosts float through panels (and walls and floors), their luminous forms lighter than the saturated physical world, and the friends discover how their fates are deeply entwined. An unforgettable adventure full of surprises, laughs, ghosts, and dumplings."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 16, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 16, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
2. The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
3. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
6. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
7. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
8. Holly, by Stephen King
9. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
10. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

Top fiction debut goes to Lauren Groff's latest, The Vaster Wilds. It's the #1 Indie Next Pick for September and has eight raves, three positives, two mixed, and two pans. That said, I would have rated the Ron Charles review in The Washington Post more mixed than pan. One rave from Judith Shulevitz in The Atlantic: "Groff’s fiction is usually identified as ecological and feminist, which it certainly is, but it is theological too. Lately, the religion has come out into the open. Groff’s previous novel, Matrix, centered on a historical figure, the 12th-century French poet Marie de France, imagining her as a lesbian abbess and visionary, a proto-feminist of sorts. In The Vaster Wilds, Groff all but asserts fealty to God - her god, the god of nature, who dwells everywhere and in everything."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. England's Jews, by John Tolan
3. Elon Musk, by Walter Isaacson
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. How Far to the Promised Land, by Esau McCaulley
6. The World Central Kitchen, by Jose Andrés
7. Never Givin' Up, by Kurt Dietrich (Register for September 23 East Library event)
8. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
9. The Death of Public School, by Cara Fitzpatrick (Register for October 20 Marquette Law School event)
10. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich (Register for October 3 Boswell event)

The highest profile release of the week is surely Walter Isaacson's Elon Musk, despite not making too much of a splash at Boswell. The big question when I see the BookMarks roundup is whether critics are reviewing the book or the subject. The book has three positives, three mixed, and two pans to date, and reading the reviews, I think it's hard to separate the two.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Code Name Sapphire, by Pam Jenoff
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 Boswell event)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 virtual event)
4. The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff
5. The Woman with the Blue Star, by Pam Jenoff
6. Something More Than Night, by Kim Newman (Upcoming Boswell-run book clubs here)
7. Carte Postale, by Anne Berest (Register for October 12 Boswell event here)
8. Nona the Ninth V3 Locked Tomb, by Tasmyn Muir
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
10. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner

Nona the Ninth, the third volume in the Locked Room series, hits the top 10 in its first week out in paperback. In hardcover, it was a Hugo and Locust Award nominee. From Oli Schmitz: "Where many dystopian and sci-fi books fail when it comes to a 'how we got here' storyline, Muir handles it as expertly as the character dynamics and truly, perfectly unhinged humor. Now is the perfect time to dive into The Locked Tomb series!"

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Invitation to Impact, by Wendy Steele
2. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
3. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
4. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe
5. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. One Hundred Saturdays, by Michael Frank
8. The Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
9. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
10. The Book of Delight, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 Boswell event here)

First week on sale for One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World, which hit the equivalent list in hardcover last year. The book had four raves and two positives on BookMarks, including a rave from Helen McAlpin which helped it become one of the Wall Street Journal's top ten books of 2022. She wrote: "In relaying her life story, Mr. Frank has pulled off something special: One Hundred Saturdays is a sobering yet heartening book about how friendship, remembrance, and being heard can help assuage profound dislocation and loss. It is also a reminder that the ability to listen thoughtfully is a rare and significant gift."

Books for Kids: 

1. The Secret Letters V1 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
2. The Ghostly Photos V2 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
3. Legendborn V1, by Tracy Deonn
4. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. The Dreamatics, by Michelle Cuevas
6. Miles Morales Suspended, by Jason Reynolds
7. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
8. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
9. Hooky V3, by Miriam Bonastre Tur
10. See the Cat, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka (Register for October 19 Greenfield Library event)

While I didn't get to see Margaret Peterson Haddix on her recent visit to Milwaukee, I have escorted her to schools on previous visits, so I know what a treat it was for the kids she visited. From the starred School Library Journal for The Secret Letters: "Two sets of friends, separated by 50 years, are the heart of an engrossing -historical fiction and mystery tale [that] seamlessly integrates the history of the modern women's rights movement into the character-driven narrative. Master storyteller Haddix is in top form, weaving a complex tapestry of different genres, time lines, and generations of characters in a can't-put-it-down novel. VERDICT A winning start to a new series and a first purchase for all middle grade collections."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 9, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 9, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
2. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
3. Killingly, by Katharine Beutner
4. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
5. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
8. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
9. Crook Manifesto V2, by Colson Whitehead
10. The Postcard, by Anne Berest (Register for October 12 event)

It's the first week out for Zadie Smith's The Fraud, but she just couldn't outpace The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which increased sales 50% over last week. Fraud was the best-reviewed book on BookMarks last week (with 16 raves out of 27 documented reviews). From Ron Charles in The Washington Post: "As ever, Smith continually works against expectations. Although The Fraud lacks the dazzling energy of her celebrated debut, White Teeth, it excels at sleight of hand. The syncopated arrangement of these short chapters jumps back and forth in time, placing Ainsworth’s youthful popularity in contrast to his later years of panicked self-doubt. But the focus remains on the mysterious Eliza Touchet - so externally polite, so internally acute - struggling till the end of her life to divine what to believe when the human condition is essentially fraudulent."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. Don't Panic Pantry Cookbook, by Noah Galuten
3. The Great Escape, by Saket Soni
4. Owner of a Lonely Heart, by Beth Nguyen
5. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
6. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman
7. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
8. King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
9. The Water, by David Grann
10. Sure I'll Join Your Cult, by Maria Bamford

It's the first week out for Maria Bamford's Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere, which has a suitably self-explanatory subtitle. Bamford is well-known for her stand-up specials, and I particularly enjoyed the first season of her Lady Dynamite series. She has six raves and positive on BookMarks including Zack Ruskin in The Washington Post: "Bamford has created a work destined to shine much-needed light on mental illness. Illuminating those serious moments with humor is her true triumph."  Bamford also has many blurbs from fellow celebs like Rachel Bloom, Nick Kroll, and, Tig Notaro.

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 event)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 event)
4. Alcestis, by Katharine Beutner
5. Big Swiss, by Jen Bergin
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. A Court of Silver Flames V5, by Sarah J Maas
8. A Throne of Glass V1, by Sarah J Maas
9. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna
10. The Things We Left Behind, by Lucy Score

It's a six-month hardcover-to-paperback release for Big Swiss, the novel from Jen Bergin, which I'm a little surprised about, because the hardcover was still selling steadily for us. I know we had at least one read on the book, but I can't find a rec on our web page. Be right back. Ah, the rec card is from the now missed bookseller-turned-teller Parker, who wrote that "Big Swiss is a big win. I loved this oddball book. Recommended for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh." Eight raves and six positives on BookMarks. From Sandra Newman at The Guardian: "A fluffy sex comedy with a dark underbelly. In fact, its dark underbelly has a darker underbelly, which is then startlingly fluffy. There are multiple trauma plotlines."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
3. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
4. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
5. Seeing Red, by Michael John Witgen
6. The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
7. How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith
8. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
9. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 event)
10. All About Love, by bell hooks

Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America is nonreturnable if a bookstore buys through Ingram, but our sales, are not a school order, but are individual sales. This reprint, which was returnable in hardcover but then was short discount (don't ask!) got a good Publishers Weekly write up: "Historian (Michael John) Witgen, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe (and now a Professor at Columbia University), examines in this searing account the 'massive transfer of wealth from Native peoples to white American settlers' that occurred in the Northwest Territory in the 19th century...Witgen's incisive and deeply researched study lays bare the mechanisms of this historical land grab." I should also note it is a Pulitzer Prize finalist!

Books for Kids:
1. Mona Lisa Vanishes, by Nicholas Day
2. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. See the Ghost, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka (Register for October 19 Greenfield event)
4. This Winter, by Alice Oseman
5. Hooky V3, by Miriam Bonastre Tur
6. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
7. Mexikid, by Pedro Martín
8. Ghost Book, by Remy Lai
9. Heartstopper V2, by Alice Oseman
10. A Super Scary Halloween V8, by Ben Clanton

Our kids buyer Jen hasn't written a rec for Mexikid, but when I told her it made our bestseller list, she told me some great stories and noted that she better write something up right away. This graphic memoir is about the family trip back to Mexico to pick up Abuelito. From Booklist: "Martín packs each page with self-deprecating observations about himself and his family, and while they're nearly all wry, they're also touched with genuine affection. His bright and colorful artwork is also a sheer delight: while mythologizing his abuelito, he switches to a classic superhero-comic art style, complete with benday dots, while more somber scenes are rendered in a softer palette and line quality. There's much to savor here, from the thoughtful exploration of bicultural identity to the good-natured snarky teasing of siblings to pivotal moments of growth amid guileless kidhood. It's a tightrope balancing act of antic humor and genuine pathos, and Martín pulls it off with tremendous flair."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 2, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 2, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
2. The English Experience, by Julie Schumacher
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim
8. Canary Girls, by Jennifer Chiaverini
9. Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead
10. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

The GMA book club pick for September, Happiness Falls, is the follow-up to Angie Kim's Edgar-Award-winning Miracle Creek. From the starred Booklist: "In Kim's latest, Adam Parson goes missing, leaving behind his wife and children, including 15-year-old Eugene, who has autism and a rare genetic disorder called mosaic Angelman syndrome and is nonverbal. Narrated by hyperanalytical 20-year-old Mia, Eugene's sister, Happiness Falls follows this biracial Korean American family - mother, Eugene, and Mia's twin, John - as they try to figure out what happened to Adam."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1 What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman

(Register for September 6 virtual)
2. Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
3. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Egan
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. France on Trial, by Julian Jackson
8. Tasting History, by Max Miller with Ann Volkwein
9. The Wager, by David Grann
10. Never Givin' Up: The Life and Music of Al Jarreau, by Kurt Dietrich (Register for September 23 East Library Event)

Jane and Rachel R. are already big fans of The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession so what's another reader (we have at least one more on staff, maybe two, so I would be either #4 or #5?) Sometimes it can make a big difference, especially when we know other stores are selling a book well (it was July's #1 Indie Next Pick) and our sales are maybe not what they could be. The key is that while we have the book officially sectioned in true crime (which is a fair designation), I think the art people are the true market for that (museum goers, docents, collectors, and just all-around fans). That this twenty-something unemployed Alsatian could have stolen $2 billion of art with just his girlfriend as his accomplice is stunning. It's all in the book!

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 event)
2. All This Could Be Different (Register for September 20 event)
3. Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher
4. The Nix, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 event)
5. Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon
8. Tatami Galaxy, by Tomihiko Morimi, translated by Emily Balistrieri
9. The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
10. Legends and Lattes, by Travis Baldree

More on Tatami Galaxy, in which, per the publisher, "An unfulfilled college student hurtles through four parallel realities to explore the what-might've-been and the what-should-never-be." The novel is the basis for a popular anime series. From Publishers Weekly: "Morimi's delightful campus novel follows the quixotic adventures of an unnamed student dreaming of the perfect college experience... Objects of repetition include castella cakes, fish burgers, a luxury scrub brush, and the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In their recurrence, Morimi instills comfort in the familiarity of his hero's routine. Light and sweet in its confection, this satisfies like a spongy piece of castella." Visit the updated Boswell-run book club page here for our latest discussion books.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
2. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
3. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 event here)
4. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
5. When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
8. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
9. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
10. The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants, by Neil Diboll

First week out! The blockbuster hardcover bestseller An Immense World had a paperback delay, but not the 18 month cycle that we sometimes see for fiction titles. The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer on the staff of The Atlantic also received the George Polk Award for science reporting, per the publisher. The updated bio should also note that he won the Carnegie Medal (or as I like to call it, the Newberry for adults) for this book.

Books for Kids:
1. Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret
2. The Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis
3. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
4. The Egypt Game, by ilpha Keatley Snyder
5. The Gold Cadillac, by Mildred Taylor
6. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Patterson
7. This Winter, by Alice Oseman
8. How to Catch a Polar Bear, by Stacy DeKeyser (Register for October 24 Wauwatosa Library event)
9. Hello Wisconsin, by Martha Day Zschock
10. Rite of Passage, by Richard Wright

So you might notice that Scholastic's This Winter had a bestselling week, even though it was originally a street-smart title for September 5. That's a little insider talk. Scholastic waived the on-sale date requirement for the pending UPS strike, which (fortunately for us and bookstores and publishing) didn't happen. With Heartstoppers now a hit show on Netflix, demand for this novella that takes place during volume four of this series is high.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 26, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 26, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
2. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
3. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
4. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
5. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
6. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
7. Somebody's Fool, by Richard Russo
8. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
9. Whalefall, by Daniel Kraus
10. Yellowface, by RF Kuang

In celebration of the MTV Books imprint not making as much sense with Simon and Schuster being sold by Paramount to private investment firm KKR, their Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, hits our top ten in its third week. From the starred Booklist: "Prolific, best-selling (he also cowrote the screenplay for The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Doro) Kraus presents a moving character study disguised as a riveting, cinematic survival thriller. Jay is a high-school senior dealing not only with the loss of his local-hero and diving-legend father, Mitt, but also his unresolved anger with their complicated relationship."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
2. Necessary Trouble, by Drew Gilpin Faust
3. The Wager, by David Grann
4. Is Math Real?, by Eugenia Cheng
5. Underworld, by Susan Casey
6. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman 
7. England's Jews, by John Tolan 
8. Magnolia Table V3, by Joanna Gaines
9. Wisconsin Supper Clubs: Another Round, by Ron Faiola 
10. Cosmic Scholar, by John Szwed

Just out this week, former Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust's Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury, is out of stock at all Ingram warehouses. Checking in at BookMarks, they rate the book two raves and four positives, though I should note the raves are from trade publications Shelf Awareness and Publishers Weekly. From the latter: "Faust pulls off a brilliant synthesis, grounding the macro stresses of the period in her quest to distance herself from her culture of origin and sharpen her political sensibilities." And yes, that means that with Cosmic Scholar, we have two FSG books in our top 10.

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Death in Door Country, by Annelise Ryan  (click here to register for Ryan's Boswell event for the follow-up book to this title - Thurs, Dec 14)
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews 
3. Bride of the Tornado, by James Kennedy
4. The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty
5. Shady Hollow, by Juneau Black 
6. The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides
7. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
8. Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston
9. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, by Satoshi Yagisawa
10. Lark Ascending, by Silas House

Also out of stock at all Ingram warehouses is Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa. Four positives and a mixed (Los Angeles Times), but these Japanese novels are, from my perspective, more likely to break out from social media. From Shelf Awareness: "Originally published in Japan in 2010 and adapted into a film the same year, Yagisawa's comforting, quotidian international bestseller arrives in a welcome translation by Eric Ozawa; perhaps ironically, Ozawa is a New York University professor who's also a Granta-level literary author. Here, Yagisawa's effortless, unembellished prose ensures a leisurely read, although not without the occasional, realistic reminders of entrenched sexism, privileged posturing, and mental health challenges."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
2. All About Love, by bell hooks
3. The Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
4. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
5. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
6. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
7. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
8. Milwaukee Bucket List 2e, by Barbara Ali
9. Don't Trust Your Gut, by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
10. Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris 

So many nonfiction books in hardcover crash in paperback, but when something takes off, either nationally (All About Love, The Body Keeps the Score) or locally (The Philosophy of Walking, A Year in the Woods), they can keep on selling off our front tables for a long time. Since the paperback release, Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life, has two recs, from Kay and me, plus apparently an intriguing premise for browsers. Now published in Persian, per the Tehran Times. I like the Iranian jacket!

Books for Kids:
1. Out and About, by Liza Wiemer, illustrations by Margeaux Lucas
2. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. Ghost Book, by Remy Lai
4. Pawcasso, by Remy Lai
5. Bluey: Pool, from Penguin Random House
6. Wombat, by Philip Bunting
7. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
8. Peekaboo Apple, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. Peekaboo House, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
10. The Crayons Go Back to School, by Drew Daywalt, illustrations by Oliver Jeffers

I guess this is the way things are supposed to work. At Children's Institute, the bookseller gathering that was in Milwaukee this past June, booksellers were treated to many, many presentations by folks from the sales and marketing departments. I took to a picture book called Wombat, by Philip Bunting, and it became part of my presentation for our recent Educators Night. Considering how many freebies we had for teachers, I think it's doubly impressive that the book made our weekly bestseller list. Trust Kirkus, when the reviewer says, "Readers will go batty for this one."

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending August 19, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending August 19, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
2. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
3. The English Experience, by Julie Schumacher (Register for August 30 Boswell event)
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. No Strangers Here V1, by Carlene O'Connor
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
8. Good Night Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea
9. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
10. Murder at an Irish Bakery V6, by Carlene O'Connor
11. Crook Manifesto V2, by Colson Whitehead
12. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
13. Canary Girls, by Jennifer Chiaverini
14. Mister Magic by Kiersten White
15. Dead Eleven, by Jimmy Juliano

Aside from The English Experience, which is getting plenty of love from our event marketing (and staff recs from Rachel C. and me), the top debut is down at 14 on a particularly vibrant hardcover fiction list. Mister Magic, like Dead Eleven just below it, is playing to horror nostalgic with its story about the supernatural secrets of a cult classic children's show. Regular virtual event viewers might remember that White was the conversation partner for Chuck Wendig a couple of years ago. Starred Booklist: "Savvy readers will devour the subtext and ponder philosophical questions about reality."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman (Register for September 6 virtual event)
2. The Wager, by David Grann
3. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
4. The French Art of Living Well, by Cathy Yandell
5. Beyond the Story, by BTS and Myeongseok Kang
6. Freedom's Dominion, by Jefferson Cowie
7. The Book of Nature, by Barbara Mahany
8. Congratulations, The Best is Over, by R. Eric Thomas
9. Pulling the Chariot of the Sun, by Shane McCrae
10. Sit in the Sun, by Jon M. Sweeney

It's two weeks in a row for a pretty quiet hardcover nonfiction list. I can't remember this list not dominating or at least equal to fiction in quite a long time. Is it price increases? Releases that are not capturing the imaginations of our customers? Or is it just the summer of fiction, as one pundit noted. Among the first timers are Freedom's Dominion, by Jefferson Cowie, which came out last November and has some nice reviews, including this from Kirkus: "A broad-ranging history of resistance to the federal government, especially in matters of civil rights reforms... Toward the end of a lucid narrative that spans three centuries, the author argues that the federal government has been an unreliable ally and sometimes an open enemy of the rights of non-White people. Even so, without federal power, as current events richly suggest, even those tenuous rights would almost certainly be diminished or eliminated."

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for August 23 WFB Library event)
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 Boswell event)
3. The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty
4. Bride of the Tornado, by James Kennedy (Register for August 22 Boswell event)
5. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
6. Murder in an Irish Village V1, by Carlene O'Connor
7. A Court of Mist and Fury V2, by Sarah J. Maas
8. The Nix, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 Boswell event here)
9. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
10. Search, by Michelle Huneven

We find that publishers don't tour paperback fiction reprints too much anymore, but somehow four of our top ten are connected to upcoming programs, and three more are for books that were featured at previous programs. Annelise Ryan and James Kennedy are in driving distance - much thanks to them for the commute. The Nix is selling because we're reading it for Lit Group in conjunction for the tour of Wellness, his next hardcover. But Sarah Thankam Mathews's All This Could Be Different is on a short but real tour for the paperback. We had a wonderful virtual for the hardcover, and it was perfect for our Rose Petranech Lecture series (which is usually not a lecture - it just sounds better that way).

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Kodachrome Milwaukee, by Adam Levin
2. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
3. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
4. Slenderman, by Kathleen Hale
5. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
6. Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E. Gross
7. Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris (Tickets for October 25 theater event)
8. Quarterlife, by Satya Doyle Byock
9. Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman
10. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence​ has been on this list for multiple weeks now (last highlighted in May), which makes me think if I paid attention, I would spot it on The New York Times. Nope, not there, at least this week! Only three reviews in BookMarks too, though all were good, also too complicated for pull quotes. How about this blurb from Lori Gottlieb: "Anna Lembke deeply understands an experience I hear about often in the therapy room at the nexus between our modern addictions and our primal brains. Her stories of guiding people to find a healthy balance between pleasure and pain have the power to transform your life."

Books for Kids:
1. Spin to Survive: Deadly Jungle, by Emily Hawkins
2. Out and About, by Liza Wiemer, illustrations by Margeaux Lucas (The event is today at 2 at Friendship Cafe -registration requested)
3. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P. Arrhenius
4. Bluey: Camping, from Penguin Random House
5. Gertie the Darling Duck of World War II, by Shari Swanson, illustrations by Renée Graef
6. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P. Arrhenius
7. Bluey: Pool, from Penguin Random House
8. Spin to Survive: Frozen Mountains, by Emily Hawkins
9. Goddesses and Heroines, by Jean Menzies
10. One of Us Is Back, by Karen M. McManus

We hosted Karen McManus back in the day of One of Us Is Lying, though we had no idea it would become a phenomenon, with a series on Peacock. The latest, One of Us is Back, has been out for several weeks. Publishers Weekly has this to say: "Someone from the Bayview Crew's past has resurfaced to finish what they started in this electrifying mystery, the third installment in McManus's One of Us Is Lying series... Bombshell reveals unfurl alongside reflections on honesty, empathy, and cycles of violence, resulting in a soulful, high-stakes thrill ride."

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending August 12, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending August 12, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Canary Girls, by Jennifer Chiaverini
2. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
3. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
6. Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead
7. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
8. Somebody's Fool, by Richard Russo
9. Mrs. Porter Calling, by AJ Pearce (Register for virtual August 24 event)
10. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride's latest novel, has one rave from Boswell (via Tim) and 11 more on LitHub's BookMarks. Here's Ron Charles in The Washington Post: "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store confirms the abiding strength of McBride’s vernacular narrative. With his eccentric, larger-than-life characters and outrageous scenes of spliced tragedy and comedy, 'Dickensian' is not too grand a description for his novels, but the term is ultimately too condescending and too Anglican. The melodrama that McBride spins is wholly his own, steeped in our country’s complex racial tensions and alliances. Surely, the time is not too far distant when we’ll refer to other writers’ hypnotically entertaining stories as McBridean."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, by Taylor Kay Phillips
2. The French Art of Living Well, by Cathy Yandell
3. Outlive, by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
4. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman (Register for September 6 virtual event)
5. Stay True, by Hua Hsu

Hey, I guess summer isn't hardcover nonfiction season. Just wait until October! Jennifer Ackerman's What an Owl Knows jumped back into the national top 10. I don't know why, but I also saw that Ingram reordered close to 1500 copies. I didn't find anything that would have caused the sales pop on my key word seach. If you know, let me know!

Paperback Fiction:
1. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 Boswell event)
2. When the Hibiscus Falls, by M Evelina Galang
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for August 23 WFB library event)
4. The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
5. Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
8. Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney
9. The Nix, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 Boswell event)
10. Circe, by Madeline Miller

After noticing that we were #4 on Edelweiss in sales, I wondered why the Western region was selling The Swimmers so much better than the rest of the country. It turns out that Julie Otsuka's lastest novel is the 2023 Seattle Reads selection for the Seattle Public Library. Maybe folks from Milwaukie, Oregon were ordering it from us? But no, that would have been if it were Portland Reads. The Swimmers is our September Lit Group selection, only with Labor Day and all, we're meeting on August 28. Here are all our Boswell-run book club selections.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
2. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
3. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
4. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
5. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. The Philoosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
8. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
9. Our Town, by Cynthia Carr
10. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

It's not common to have five events in a week in August, and it's even more unusual for all five of them to make solid sales showings. Imagine if we'd gotten on the Ann Patchett tour!

The America's Black Holocaust Museum is reading Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town, and the Hidden History of White America by Cynthia Carr for their recurring book club. Carr, who wrote for The Village Voice for many years, chronicled the 1930 lynching of three men in Marion, Indiana. One of them, James Cameron, survived, and as you know he founded the original ABHM.

Books for Kids:
1. Dolly Parton's Billy the Kid Makes it Big, written with Erica S Perl and illustrated by Haley MacKenzie
2. Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
3. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustred by Ingela P Arrhenius
4. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
5. Gertie the Darling Duck of World War II, by Shari Swanson, illustrated by Renee Graef
6. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Renee Graef
7. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Peekaboo Sun, by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. One of Us Is Back, by Karen McManus
10. Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur, by Helen Yoon

Here's how our rep sold in Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur: it's a story that subtly explores problem-solving, logic, and basic pet care. Hey, it worked! We're #2 in the country on Edelweiss. From Booklist: "The clever premise is carried out with heaps of humor and cheer, and the mixed-media illustrations are expressive and comical, including delightful spreads that appear to be the child's crayoned diagrams. A sweetly satisfying story with lots of laughs."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 5, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 5, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
2. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
3. Hang the Moon, by Jeannette Walls
4. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
5. Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead
6. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
7. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
8. Babel, by RF Kuang
9. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
10. All the Sinners Bleed, by SA Cosby

No competition this week. It may be August but the first bestseller of fall is here with Tom Lake. Reviews are superb and with the added bonus of being a Reese's Book Club pick, maybe we'll get a #1 debut on The New York Times. Patchett's not coming to Boswell this time, but we did get a nice shout out on The New York Times podcast. From Helen McAlpin at The Wall Street Joural: "...The result is a master class in narrative - and parental! - control. Ms. Patchett glides easily between past and present, manipulating the rate and timing of the release of key information for maximum effect - such as one character’s identity, and news of another’s untimely demise."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Good Life, by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
2. The French Art of Living Well, by Cathy Yandell (Register for August 11 Boswell event)
3. A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, by Taylor Kay Phillips (Register for August 9 Boswell event)
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. The Heat Will Kill You First, by Jeff Goodell
6. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman (Register for September 6 virtual event)
7. Building, by Mark Ellison
8. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
9. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
10. Baking Yesteryear, by B Dylan Hollis

Around since May is Building: A Carpenter's Notes on Life and the Art of Good Work by Mark Ellison, who was profiled back in a 2020 issue of The New Yorker as New York's best carpenter - that might have led to this book. We gifted a copy to our wonderful carpenter, who I won't mention by name, because it's hard enough to get an appointment.

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for August 23 WFB library event)
2. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
3. Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini (Register for August 9 Tosa library event)
4. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
5. Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney
6. The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave
7. Red White and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston
8. The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang
9. Too Late, by Colleen Hoover
10. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 Boswell event)

Second week out for The Genesis of Misery is Neon Yang's first week in our top 10. From the publisher: "An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy, Neon Yang's debut novel The Genesis of Misery is full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs." From Oli's staff rec: "A tale of divine messages, faith, war, void-madness, and gemstone battle mechs will keep you on your toes."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Joy Ride, by Kristen Jokinen
2. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
3. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky (Register for August 10 Boswell event)
4. America Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
5. Kodachrome Milwaukee, by Adam Levin
6. Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green
7. Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E Gross
8. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
9. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
10. Slenderman, by Kathleen Hale

Shortlisted for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, plus a New York Times Editor's Choice, Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage came out in paperback in May and continues to sell off Parker's rec shelf. From Ed Yong: "Through her seamless storytelling and meticulous research, Rachel Gross shows how long we have misunderstood the bodies of half the people who have ever lived, how much we still have to learn, and how wondrous and rewarding that quest can be. Vagina Obscura is science writing at its finest--revelatory, wry, consequential, necessary, and incredibly hard to put down." I wrote this up once before, but I think every book in our paperback nonfiction top 10 has been highlighted here already.

Books for Kids:
1. The Skull, by John Klassen
2. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. Nimona, by ND Stevenson
4. When You Can Swim, by Jack Wong
5. Hippos Go Berserk, by Sandra Boynton
6. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renee Graef
7. Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, by Dav Pilkey
8. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers
9. The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, by Garth Nix
10. How to Count to One, by Caspar Salmon

After Workman became part of Hachette, the Sandra Boynton library consolidated at Simon and Schuster as Boynton Bookworks. For Hippos Go Berserk, we are stocking both the classic board book and the deluxe anniversary picture book edition. We sold out of both this week, so I don't know the difference. As a person who gave the "Hippo Birdy Two Ewes" card more than a few times in my younger days, you would think I would know these things.