What We Talked About on the Kathleen Dunn Show Yesterday, December 15, 2014

Here are the books we talked about on Kathleen Dunn's Wisconsin Public Radio show on Monday, December 15.

Organize a clutter issue in a new way with:
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

A fellow who has has stuff together:
You are Here and An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield
Hey, we still have signed copies of both.

The book that is "the book" for just about every independent bookstore:
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
Scribner has been publishing Anthony Doerr for 13 years!

War fiction has a lot of resonance.
Redeployment, by Phil Klay
What seemed like very good reviews turned out to be amazing reviews as the book shows up on so-many best-of lists.

About a part of war we Americans know less about:
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Richard Flanagan
Autralian POWs in Japan during World War II

Despite a hgh-profile bad review from Michiko Kakutani
Bark, by Lorrie Moore
It turns out to be on a lot of best-of lists for 2014.

From the "curious" section of our holiday newsletter:
1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop, by John Lloyd
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe
American Cornball: A Laffopedic Guide to the Formerly Funny, by Christopher Miller

Nancy, a caller, recommends: 
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
Thwarted desires, identity, and family dynamics.

As I was talking about this book, I realized that the family dynamic is similar to that of Mark Slouka's Brewster. The favored child has died and a remaining sibling can't live up to the ghost.

 For music fans, from a caller:
On the Road with Janis Joplin, by John Byrne Cooke

And if you like your music history in fictional form:
A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James

Two celebrities battle it out:
Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham
Yes Please, by Amy Poehler
Seriously, pick up both of them in the store, one in each hand.

Kathleen recommends:
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns
She says it should go on best-of lists.

The history books people are buying:
The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown
Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Film uncovers a new set of readers, due to their massive reach, compared to books. We just don't have the resources, and I'm not talking about Boswell, but all of publishing and book selling.

The two books you should buy if your person likes these:
Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free, by Héctor Tobar
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans, by Gary Krist

What's the death and aging trend all about?
Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, by Roz Chast
Let me Be Frank with You?, by Richard Ford

From Sue in Madison:
Lila, by Marilynne Robinson
She went back and reread Gilead and Home. Now go back and read Housekeeping.

It's won the battle of the Iowa novels with Robinson's Lila edging out Jane Smiley's Some Luck, but Smiley has an ace up her sleeve as the next part of the series comes out in 2015.

On extinction, Kathleen Dunn recommends:
Dodging Extinction: Power, Food, Money, and the Future of Life on Earth, by Anthony  Barnosky
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert

From a listener:
Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year, by Robert Michael Pyle
Continues the theme of species and possible extinction.  Note: like a number of these titles recommended by listeners, this book would not come in time for Chirstmas if ordered from us.

From the newsletter:
This is the World, by M. Sasek

Very Complicated Plots:
The Illusion of Separateness, by Simon Van Booy
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel

Not Enough Plot:
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, by Joshua Ferris
All My Puny Sorrows, by Miriam Toews
It sure doesn't matter. It just makes it a little more difficult to hand-sell.

Mary in Eau Claire:
Black Dog, by Stephen Booth
This is the first in a series

Daniel's thriller to buy this fall, based on Carole Barrowman's recommendation:
I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes

The historical to read--lots of research, very juicy, for fans of Mr. Selfridge:
What the Lady Wants, by Renée Rosen

A caller plugs his funny book from 2000:
The Non Production Consolidation Operation, by John Rosa

Kathleen Dunn recommends:
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, by Michael Lewis

One more children book that author Lisa Moser and I recommend:
The Farmer and the Clown, by Marla Frazee

One caveat for this time of year. Just because the Boswell inventory page says we have it doesn't mean we do. Books that are on hold for other customers are included in that total, and sometimes, books just can't be found in the system or there was some sort of inventory glitch. So to make sure, either call us at (414) 332-1181 or email us at info@boswellbooks.com and we can put the book on hold for you. Obviously this is not an issue when the inventory says 20, but if there are less than five, it could be good advice.