Sunday, September 4, 2022

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 3, 2022

Here are the Boswell bestsellers for the week ending September 3, 2022

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Carrie Soto Is Back, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith
3. Fox Creek, by William Kent Krueger (Register for in-person September 17 event here)
4. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
5. Babel, by RF Kuang
6. Afterlives, by Abdulrazak Gurnah
7. Uzumaki (3 in one deluxe), by Junji Ito
8. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
9. Crossroads, by Jonathan Franzen
10. Mount Chicago, by Adam Levin

This week's NYT #1 is Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, by RF Kuang, author of The Poppy War Trilogy. From Kirkus: "Kuang draws a keen parallel between extracting knowledge and extracting resources, examining the terrible power of systems built on inequality and the uncomfortable experiences of the marginalized within those systems, whether due to race or gender. While occasionally hampered by rather self-aware critiques of colonialism, in general this is an expansive, sympathetic, and nevertheless scathing critique of Western imperialism and how individuals are forced to make their peace with the system and survive or to fight back and face the consequences."

Next week's #1 will likely be Carrie Soto Is Back, the latest from Taylor Jenkins Reid. We've had several enthusiastic reads from booksellers for this one, including Jen Steele, who writes that "Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers a gripping comeback novel with a fierce character you will be rooting for until the very last page. A must read!" The timing is also great, with Serena Williams in the news for her last match at the US Open. But maybe she'll be back too.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Constitution in Jeopardy, by Russ Feingold and Peter Prindiville
2. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
3. Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris
4, Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
5. Slenderman, by Kathleen Hale (Register for October 13 in-person event here)
6. The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times
7. What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us, by Mike Mariani (Register for September 7 virtual event here)
8. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
9. Around the World in 80 Birds, by Mike Unwin
10. Crossing the DMZ, by Dennis Darmek (Register for October 14 in-person event here)

The new appearances on this week's top ten are both event books. We sold books for The Constitution in Jeopardy (signed copies still available) last Tuesday at Marquette University Law School and this Wednesday Sally Haldorson will talk to Mike Mariani about What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us: Who We Become After Tragedy and Trauma. More about that one in tomorrow's blog.

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna (Register for September 10 virtual event here)
2. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
3. Love on the Brain, by Ali Hazelwood
4. Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
6. Shady Hollow, by Juneau Black
7. Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
8. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
9. Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara
10. The Love Songs of WEB Du Bois, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Congrats to the Berkley imprint, which sweeps this week's top 3. While The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and Love on the Brain were in last week's top 5, Book Lovers had an off week, only to rebound. It's going on four months on the bestseller list, just one reason why the paperback fiction list turns slowly, looking more like paperback nonfiction than hardcover fiction. To my thinking, it's all about the decline in budgets for paperback reprints. Note that our top 3 are all paperback originals.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Creative Care, by Anne Basting
2. Let Us Dream, by Pope Francis
3. Growing Up Little Chute, by John M Van Leshout (Register for September 21 in-person event here)
4. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
5. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, by Rebecca Donner
6. A New Handbook for a Post-Roe America, by Robin Marty
7. Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake
8. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
9. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
10. The Happiest Man on Earth, by Eddie Jaku

The Happiest Man on Earth, by Eddie Jaku, now in paperback, has a nice quote from Tattooist of Auschwitz author Heather Morris: "A beautifully told, poignant story that should become required reading. Thank you, Eddie, for sharing your story of courage, resilience, kindness and love. Your book is our tonic, our medicine, our hope for living the happiest life we can." From the publisher: "On November 9, 1938, during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Eddie was beaten by SS thugs, arrested, and sent to a concentration camp with thousands of other Jews across Germany. Every day of the next seven years of his life, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors in Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and finally on a forced death march during the Third Reich's final days." Jaku (born Jakubowicz) emigrated to Australia and died last year at the age of 101.

Books for Kids:
1. Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster, by Mo Willems
2. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Renée Graef
3. Rite of Passage, by Richard Wright
4. Final Gambit, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
5. The Summer I Turned Pretty, by Jenny Han
6. Color Monster, by Anna Llenas
7. Winnie the Pooh, by AA Milne
8. All Are Neighbors, by Alexandra Penfold, illustrations by Suzanne Kaufman
9. Lizzy and the Cloud, by Terry Fan and Eric Fan
10. Noodle and the No Bones Day, by Jonathan Graziano, with illustrations by Dan Tavis

Final Gambit is the third (and maybe final?) book in the Inheritance Games trilogy released on August 30. I use a question mark, having seen so many trilogies turn into quartets and more. The set-up, per the publisher: "To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her." It appears there were no early peeks for reviewers but I guess it wasn't needed - not only has the series sold a million copies plus, the The Inheritance Games also showed up on numerous best-of-the-year lists.

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