Bestsellers, Achatz, Silverman, Lamott, Brooks, and a Little Stressing Out

I'm not used to having a 12-hour day on a Sunday, but when you have an event with Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas for Life, on the Line on a Sunday night, that's what happens.

The idea of doing it when most chefs are off has seemed to be a good move (that was John Wise's idea, not mine) and tickets are selling briskly, I had to learn how to process tix on our website, but since we're only hours away, that option is now closed. At this point, we're selling tix at the door. And after 6 pm, only the Starbucks door will be open.

We have a few more events with tickets:

March 27, Sarah Silverman at the Riverside:
We are the designated bookseller for the show, and will have available the paperback of The Bedwetter.

$32.50 gets you...a lot of laughs. Buy tix here.

Say hi to us in the lobby.

April 12, Anne Lamott at Alverno College:
For the paperback of Imperfect Birds.
$16 gets you a signed copy of the paperback plus a wonderful Lamott-style talk. A $10 gift card is available as an alternative.
Buy tix on the Alverno website. Our info should be up shortly. There is a ticketing fee per order at Alverno Presents.

May 12, Geraldine Brooks at Boswell:
For the new novel, Caleb's Crossing. I'm reading it now!
$5 gets you...an amazing event and light refreshments from Beans and Barley. The book is extra.

And now, on with the bestsellers:
fiction hardcover
1. Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss

2. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

3. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson

4. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain

5. The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht*

6. Swamplandia, by Karen Russell

7. Scared Stiff, by Annelise Ryan

8. Sing You Home, by Jodi Picout

9. Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy
10. When the Killing's Done, by T.C. Boyle

nonfiction hardcover

1. A Chance to Make History, by Wendy Kopp
2. The Crossley ID Guide, by Richard Crossley
3. Life, on the Line, by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas

4. A Widow's Story, by Joyce Carol Oates**

5. The Social Animal, by David Brooks

6. Cleopatra, by Stacy Schiff

7. The Information, by James Glieck

8. Swimming in the Daylight, by Lisa Paul

9. How to Write a Sentence, by Stanley Fish
10. At Home, by Bill Bryson

*The Tiger's Wife got dual raves of Michiko Kakukani in the daily New York Times and a front-page review from Liesl Schillinger in The New York Times Book Review. Plus Mike Fischer's review last week in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Today he ponders the wonder that is Jasper Fforde in One of Our Thursdays is Missing. It's a literary joy ride!

**When I spoke to Kathleen Dunn on Wisconsin Public Radio last Monday, she promised a great interview with Joyce Carol Oates for A Widow's Story. Apparently she kept her promise; folks have been coming in since raving about their talk. Listen here.

Regarding the stressing out, it's not worth talking about here!