Here's what's going on around Milwaukee, Boswell-wise. Please note that Boswell will be closed for browsing from 6:30 to 8 pm on Wednesday, October 3.
Monday, October 1, 7:00 PM, at UWM Student Union Wisconsin Room, 2200 E Kenwood Blvd:
A Ticketed Event with Hank Green, author of
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, in conversation with Dessa
Tickets on sale now! Join Hank Green and special guest Dessa on tour in support of Hank's debut novel
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. In this multimedia event, Hank and Dessa will talk about their books, answer audience questions, and Hank will perform live music. All tickets include an autographed copy of
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
Tickets are available at
hankgreenmke.bpt.me for $30, including all taxes and fees. ID required for meet and greet. Dessa's new book,
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love, will also be available for sale at the show. Please note there is no public signing for this event. Mr. Green will not be able to personalize, sign memorabilia, or pose for pictures.
VIP tickets are now sold out for this event.
Specially priced tickets for UWM Students, Faculty, and Staff, will go on sale at the UWM Union at the same time as general tickets, at the special price of $20 for UWM students and $27 for UWM faculty and staff, including taxes and fees. ID required. This event is cosponsored by the UWM Student Union and UWM Student Involvement. Advance ticket sales end at Noon on October 1 for this event. Walk-up tickets available.
Monday, October 1, 6:00 PM, at Milwaukee Public Library’s Loos Room at Centennial Hall, 733 N Eighth St:
John Gurda, author of
Milwaukee: A City Built on Water
Milwaukee’s preeminent historian appears with his latest book, expanding upon his popular PBS Milwaukee documentary to relate the mucky history of the waters that gave Milwaukee life. This event is free and open to the public, no registration required.
The success and survival of Milwaukee lies in the rivers that meander through its streets and the great lake at its shore. The area’s earliest inhabitants recognized the value of an abundant, clean water supply for food and transportation. Settlers, shipbuilders, and city leaders used the same waters to travel greater distances, power million-dollar industries, and even have a bit of fun.
John Gurda is a Milwaukee-born writer who has been studying his hometown since 1972. He is the author of 21 books, including
Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods and
Cream City Chronicles. The Making of Milwaukee was adapted into a public television series.
Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 PM, at Boswell:
Epic Reads Meet-Up, featuring Kendare Blake, author of
Two Dark Reigns: Three Dark Crowns #3, Mackenzi Lee, author of
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Elana K. Arnold, author of
Damsel, Claire Legrand, author of
Sawkill Girls, and Anna Godbersen, author of
When We Caught Fire
Epic Reads and Boswell invite readers of all ages to join a round-table to strike up conversation with authors (including Anna Godbersen, at left) who will gab about their books and other fan favorites. A purchase of any of the authors new books is required to participate (and you can bring books from home!).
Tickets are $21 for the meet-up and include one of the five featured titles and chance to meet with each author in small groups, VIP style. Tickets available at
epicreadsmke.bpt.me. Afterwards, at 8 pm or a bit before, the store will open for a public signing. Recommended for adults and teens 14 and up.
Kendare Blake is the author of the #1
New York Times bestselling
Three Dark Crowns series,
Anna Dressed in Blood, and the
Goddess Wars trilogy.
In Two Dark Reigns, the third book in the series, a queen that has long been dead makes a chilling return to Fennbirn Island.
Mackenzi Lee is the author of
This Monstrous Thing and
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. She has an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults. In
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Lee’s highly anticipated sequel, Felicity Montague must use all her womanly wits and wiles to achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor, even if she has to turn to a life of crime to do it.
Elana K. Arnold is the author of critically acclaimed and award winning young adult novels and children’s books, including
What Girls Are Made Of, a National Book Award Finalist. In
Damsel, when the king dies, his son must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been. But not all is as it seems, and there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows.
Claire Legrand is the author of
Furyborn, the first book in the
Empirium Trilogy, and several other titles, including the Edgar Award-nominated
Some Kind of Happiness. In
Sawkill Girls, girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight, until three girls take on an insidious monster in this frightening teen horror novel.
Anna Godbersen is the author of the
Luxe series.
When We Caught Fire is a lush, romantic, soapy YA standalone that tells the story of the love triangle that started Chicago’s infamous Great Fire, one that will literally set the city ablaze, and change the lives of three childhood friends forever.
Wednesday, October 3, 5:00 light refreshments and cash bar, 6:00 pm talk, at Discovery World:
Peter Annin, author of
Great Lakes Water Wars, revised edition.
Come celebrate the tenth anniversary of the historic Great Lakes Compact with the launch of the second edition of Peter Annin’s definitive
The Great Lakes Water Wars, which includes new chapters on Waukesha, Foxconn, and the massive Chicago diversion.
Books will be available for purchase and Peter Annin will be available to sign copies.
Please RSVP for this event.
Author Peter Annin is the director of the Northland College Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation.
Sponsored by Northland College, the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation, the Joyce Foundation, and Discovery World.
Friday, October 5, 7:00 PM, at Boswell:
James Mustich, author of
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life Changing List, in conversation with WUWM Lake Effect's Mitch Teich
For 20 years, James Mustich compiled the eagerly awaited mail-order catalog,
A Common Reader. Now, he brings his love of literature to Boswell for a special celebration of books! Mustich will chat with noted book lover and WUWM’s
Lake Effect Executive Producer and host, Mitch Teich.
Please register for this free event at
1000booksmke.bpt.me.
Because this book is so special, and because we know it will lead to many more book purchases for many of you,
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is discounted 20% off its list price. Not only that, but 10 folks who register and attend will win a $5 Boswell gift card to give your literary bucket list a jump start!
Encompassing fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, Mustich’s selections move across cultures and through time to present an eclectic collection of titles, each described with the special enthusiasm readers summon when recommending a book to a friend. Established classics like Austen and Tolstoy are joined by new and unexpected choices like Citizen and Friday Night Lights. The result is a treasury of essential reading for expansive tastes.
James Mustich worked as an independent bookseller in New York's Briarcliff Manor and spent many years as a publishing executive. Mitch Teich is Executive Producer of Milwaukee Public Radio's
Lake Effect.
Jim Higgins offers "Seven Reasons to Read
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die" in Sunday's
Journal Sentinel.
Monday, October 8, 6:30 PM, at Todd Wehr MSOE Conference Center, 1047 N Broadway:
Issa Kohler-Hausmann, author of
Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing
This year’s Frank P Zeidler Memorial Lecture features Milwaukee native Issa Kohler-Hausmann, now Associate Professor of Law and Sociology at Yale University, and her new book,
Misdemeanorland.
Kohler-Hausmann will discuss her new book and the broad implications of her research of ‘broken windows’ policing and the criminal justice system in New York City and then participate in a panel discussion, with panelists including Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Alma Center Founder Terri Strodthoff.
Drawing on three years of fieldwork in and out of the courtroom, in-depth interviews, and analysis of trends in arrests and dispositions of misdemeanors going back three decades, Kohler-Hausmann argues that lower courts have largely abandoned the adjudicative model of criminal law administration in which questions of factual guilt and legal punishment drive case outcomes. Revealing and innovative,
Misdemeanorland shows how the lower reaches of our criminal justice system operate as a form of social control and surveillance, often without adjudicating cases or imposing formal punishment.
Former Milwaukeean Issa Kohler-Hausmann is Associate Professor of Law and Sociology at Yale University.
More at Boswell's
upcoming events page.
Several years ago we created a special toddler tee featuring one of the illustrations of renowned local artist and bookseller Aaron Boyd, author of Luigi and the Barefoot Races and Calling the Water Drum. Ever since then, we've had on our checklist to make our basic tee available for little kids too.*
I went out on a limb this time as we needed to buy the colors in 50-bag lots, which led to an increased buy over previous tote purchases to get the assortment we wanted. I am tired of having a tote in one color. Note that we similarly moved to multi-color tees, and event our mugs come in four colors, with four more on order. Yes, we're out of both blue and teal. Can you see a trend here?
Issa Kohler-Hausmann, author of 
Laini Taylor, author of 
Milwaukee Opera Theatre presents
Jon Agee, author of 
Kate Moore, author of 
Carol Anderson, author of 
A Judy Moody Tea Party with Megan McDonald, author of 
Diana Butler Bass, author of 
Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson, author and illustrator of
