Six Authors Coming to Boswell Featured in April Indie Next--Aleksandar Hemon, Edward Kelsey Moore, Willliam Kent Krueger, Christina Schwarz, Kate Atkinson, Fiona Maazel.

As you may have read, each month we change update our Indiebound case with the Indie Next list of bookseller recs around the country. Mel makes up the shelf talkers each month and we keep approximately two months worth of recs in the case. The case is pretty well shopped, and it's a great idea for a bookstore watching their inventory costs, as most of the books are faced out for us, and while I know some books cherry pick the list, it makes sense to us to carry everything.

Another thing we do is customize the fliers we give out by adding a label indicating if we're hosting one or two of the authrors featured that month. If we don't have an author, I'll usually pick one book out of the twenty that we're really excited about and include one of our own quotes. But next month we don't have to worry about not hosting any authors who made the list, as we're hosting six of them.

Here's our lineup, with recommendations from booksellers:

Thursday, March 21, 7 pm, at Boswell:
The Book of My Lives (Farrar Straus and Giroux), by Aleksander Hemon
“ Fans of Hemon’s fiction will recognize some of the characters and places depicted in this collection of essays, as well as Hemon’s distinctive wit and dark humor. From his mischievous childhood in Bosnia, the early hints of ethnic tensions, and the full-blown civil war that sent his family into exile, to his difficult adjustment to life in Chicago, his failed first marriage, his happy second one, and the devastating illness of his baby daughter, Hemon’s essays are frank and powerful.” —Laurie Greer, Politics & Prose Books and Coffee Shop, Washington, DC

Wednesday, March 27, 7 pm, at Boswell:
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat (Knopf), a novel by Edward Kelsey Moore
“Immerse yourself in the ’60s and the lives of a trio of black women who lived a portion of their days at Earl’s Diner, sharing stories, expressing both joy and sadness, talking about their loves and their pain. This is not an homage to African-American life as much as it is a revelation regarding the lives of these women and their neighborhood in an Indiana town. Sometimes the everyday people around us turn out to be the true heroes. Enjoy!” —Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA

Monday, April 8, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Ordinary Grace (Atria), a novel by William Kent Krueger
“Death visits small-town New Bremen, Minnesota, in 1961 and particularly touches 13-year-old Frank Drum and his family. Frank, his Methodist minister father, his “fed up with God” mother, his Julliard-bound older sister, and his inseparable, perceptive, but stuttering 10-year-old brother endure a summer of repeated tragedy that tests their faith and their relationships, both within their family and within the community. Krueger, the author of Cork O’Connor series, expertly weaves this tale of mystery as he always does, but also illuminates characters as never before. I can’t wait to share this amazing book.” —William Bauer, Redbery Books, Cable, WI

Tuesday, April 9, 7 pm, at Boswell, co-sponsored with Paperwork:
The Edge of the Earth (Atria), a novel by Christina Schwarz
“In 1897, 19-year-old Trudy Schroeder, inquisitive, opinionated, and ‘her own woman,’ alienates her family by marrying Osker Swann and traveling from her comfortable home in Wisconsin to the desolate coast of central California. The couple begins life as tenders of the Point Lucia lighthouse, trapped between the ocean and the wilderness bordering Big Sur. With vivid descriptions of time and place, this is an unforgettably magical tale of self-transformation and longtime secrets hidden among the ‘morro’ rocks. A mesmerizing read!” —Carol Hicks, Bookshelf at Hooligan Rocks, Truckee, CA

Friday, April 19, 6:30 pm, at the Milwaukee Public Market, as part of Fill the Shelves with the Milwaukee Public Library and the Katie Gingrass Gallery:
#1 Pick: Life After Life (Reagan Arthur), a novel by Kate Atkinson
“Life After Life is both an engaging puzzle and a meticulously detailed historical novel that spans the two World Wars. With the introduction of Ursula Todd, a woman who lives her life over and over, Atkinson plays with second chances and alternate histories, and poses endless, fascinating questions: What would the world be like if we could start over when things went terribly awry? Could our decisions, big and small, avert wars? Make us happier? Stop death in its tracks? Life After Life is simply a terrific novel, rich with history and possibility, that will leave the reader pondering long after the final page.” —Kat Bailey, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

Wednesday, April 24, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Woke Up Lonely (Graywolf), a novel by Fiona Maazel
“Woke Up Lonely is a wild thing of genius, so funny and so smart. Maazel presents us with a warped mirror of our country and the time we live in. The Helix, a cult of the lonely, and its founder, Thurlow Dan, along with his ex-wife, Esme, and their daughter, Ida, head a superb cast of characters. The story unfolds in a winding, fun-house fashion, sporting locales from Washington, D.C. to North Korea to Cincinnati. I envy those who are about to read this truly one-of-a-kind work of fiction.” —Cody Morrison, Square Books, Oxford, MS

There's 14 more recommendations where that came from and at least three more authors featured on the new in paperback (Anne Lamott on April 6, Jess Walter on May 6, Alex Grecian on May 29). It's almost like you can download the flier in lieu of our events calendar, but on the other hand, there are lots of good authors that don't make the list too.   Check out our upcoming events page.

I've read three of the books so far and I'm hoping to finish at least one more (if not all three). I've also been to three of the bookstores listed, and hope to at least get to the one in Wisconsin someday. Maybe one day when I fulfill my dream to go to Duluth!