Sunday, October 29, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending October 28, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending October 28, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Wellness, by Nathan Hill
2. The Exchange, by John Grisham
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett (ticketed event December 6)
4. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
5. America Fantastica, by Tim O'Brien
6. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
7. The Last Devil to Die, by Richard Osman
8. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
9. Distant Sons, by Tim Johnston
10. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride

Tim O'Brien's America Fantasica, his first novel in two decades is, per Noah Hawley in The New York Times review, "a manic road-trip-meets-crime-spree novel." One unusual blurb is from Haruki Murakami: "Tim O'Brien is the one American author whose works I look forward to the most. His new novel’s ironic depiction of a post-Iraq war, mid-COVID, and mid-Trump world is piercing and razor-sharp." BookMarks has three raves, a positive, and a mixed. Hawley liked the entertaining parts of the book; less so the satire.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Woman in Me, by Britney Spears
2. Surely You Can't Be Serious, by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abra (screening and talk at Shorewood High School auditorium on November 2 - click here to register)
3. The Soul of Civility, by Alexandra Hudson
4. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
5. The Last Supper Club, by Matthew Batt (Register for November 9 Boswell event here)
6. Prequel, by Rachel Maddow
7. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl (Register for November 20 virtual event here)
8. A Very Chinese Cookbook, by Kevin Pang and Jeffrey Pang (Register for November 28 Boswell event here)
9. The Globemakers, by Peter Bellerby
10. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger

The Woman in Me trounced all other books for media attention, including a piece in The New York Times about how she didn't do any interviews for this book. But CAA organized a series of Britney Spears drag brunches around the country, including one at the Hamburger Mary's in Milwaukee. BookMarks tallied three raves and five positives, including Leah Greenblatt's in The New York Times. She writes, on referencing the title: "Here it has the cadences and stagecraft of a country song: striving, plucky, littered with almost operatic betrayals and misfortune. It’s also a tale of qualified triumph, albeit with its own star-crossed postscript."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Rule of Thirds, by Jeanée Sacken
2. The Nix, by Nathan Hill
3. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
4. Last Summer on State Street, by Toya Wolfe
5. Liberation Day, by George Saunders
6. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
7. Iris Kelly Doesn't Date, by Ashley Herring Blake
8. The Golem of Brooklyn, by Adam Mansbach
9. The Whalebone Theatre, by Joanna Quinn
10. Woman of Light, by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date is the latest queer romance from Ashley Herring Blake concludes the Bright Falls Trilogy (Delilah Green Doesn't Care, Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail) features a romance writer and a struggling actor. Booklist notes that: "this book will delight fans of the previous books in the series and will appeal to other rom-com readers as well" while Kirkus concludes: "A treat for fake-dating fans (that's a trope) and happily-ever-after lovers alike."

Paperback Nonfiction
1. Penny, by Karl Stevens
2. Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris
3. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
4. Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris
5. The Best of Me, by David Sedaris
6. The Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
7. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, by Nick Offerman
8. Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E Gross
9. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
10. An Immense World, by Ed Yong

Penny is the graphic nonfiction book that David Sedaris is touting at his theater shows this year. As he noted, it is going over quite well. He's even got a blurb on the book: "Penny is a major literary figure - right up there with Madame Bovary." And from the publisher: "Filled with ennui, angst, and vivid dreams, Penny proves that being a cat is more profound than we once thought."

Books for Kids:
1. How to Catch a Polar Bear, by Stacy DeKeyser
2. A Rhino in Right Field, by Stacy DeKeyser
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer, by Jeff Kinney
4. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. The Cruel Prince collector's edition, by Holly Black
6. Eclipse, by Andy Rash
7. Something Someday, by Amanda Gorman, illustrations by Christian Robinson
8. Peekaboo Sun, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. New From Here, by Kelly Yang
10. Chalice of the Gods, by Rick Riordan

Something Someday, Amanda Gorman's collaboration with Christian Robinson, is a kids Indie Next Pick for September/October. School Library Journal offers: "This picture book's timely message about coming together to make a change is a perfect addition to all libraries." From Booklist: "This story would be a lovely choice for a garden or community-themed storytime and an exemplar for children's programming featuring poetry or collage."

The Halloween shopping season is as over as its going to be and its official, we had the best sales of Peekaboo Pumpkin of the 500 or so stores reporting to Edelweiss. I'd like to suggest to any store with kids books to do a display of these Peekaboo books. They are a hit!

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 21, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 21, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Brotherless Night, by VV Ganeshananthan
2. Roman Stories, by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
5. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
6. The Postcard, by Anne Berest
7. The Exchange, by John Grisham
8. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
9. Wellness, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 Boswell event)
10. Distant Sons, by Tim Johnston (Register for October 25 Boswell event)

Our first event with Tim Johnston took place during a bad snowstorm. It's unlikely this time, and we're excited that Distant Sons takes place in Wisconsin. We've had two great staff recs on the title, from Tim, who wrote "I won’t call Tim Johnston an outstanding writer of thrillers. He’s an outstanding writer. No qualifications are needed, and thriller fans reap the rewards." And from Kay: "The story slips easily between the past and present and slams into full thriller mode after a dramatic turn of events. You’ll be speed reading to the end."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Death of Public School, by Cara Fitzpatrick
2. Surely You Can't Be Serious, by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abra (Register for November 2 Boswell event)
3. Prequel, by Rachel Maddow
4. C'mon Get Happy, by David Fantle and Tom Johnson
5. The Civil War: A Concise History, by Louis P Masur
6. Enough, by Cassidy Hutchinson
7. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl (Register for November 20 virtual event)
8. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
9. The Soul of Civility, by Alexandra Hudson (Register for October 22 Boswell event-today)
10. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson

Rachel Maddow's latest book Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism,  is inspired by her podcast Ultra, and has four raves on LitHub, including from reviews from The New York Times and The Washington Post. Katherine Belew writes in the latter: "Prequel is a vivid, urgent, smart history of the years before and during World War II, when German agents, Nazi sympathizers, theocrats and others attempted to steer the United States away from fighting Germany - sometimes through isolationism, sometimes hoping the United States might align with Adolf Hitler’s Germany."

Paperback Fiction: 
1. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
2. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna
3. The Thursday Murder Club V1, by Richard Osman
4. Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney
5. A Court of Mist and Fury V2, by Sarah J Maas
6. Bunny, by Mona Awad
7. A Death in Door County V1, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 Boswell event here)
8. Big Girl, by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
9. The Anomaly, by Herve Le Tellier
10. Kingdom of Ash V7, by Sarah J Maas

I have been working with one book club off and on for over thirty years, and over the next few weeks, we should see some of my picks hit the list. Out of about 25 titles, they usually pick 6-7, with 1-2 selections coming from the members.  One title I recommended was Big Girl, by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. From my rec: "Sullivan does a great job immersing you in 1980s and 1990s New York and Philadelphia and effortlessly balances carefree moments with some very serious observations about race, gender, body image, and gentrification." The book was also shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. 

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Lincoln's Last Speech, by Louis J Masur
2. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
3. Where the Deer an the Antelope Play, by Nick Offerman
4. The Indigenous Continent, by Pekka Hämäläinen
5. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
6. The Bald Eagle, by Jack E Davis
7. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
8. Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman
9. The US Civil War: A Very Short Introduction, by Louis P Masur
10. Live and Let Live, by Evelyn M Perry

Just out for a few weeks, the paperback edition of Nick Offerman's  Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Likes to Walk Outside. From the publisher: " In 2018, Wendell Berry posed a question to Nick, a query that planted the seed of this book, sending Nick on two memorable journeys with pals - a hiking trip to Glacier National Park with his friends Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders, as well as an extended visit to his friend James Rebanks, the author of The Shepherd's Life and English Pastoral." Maybe we should be bringing this book to our Jeff Tweedy event.

Books for Kids:
1. See the Ghost, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka
2. See the Cat, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka
3. See the Dog, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka
4. Ups and Downs, by Mike Wohnoutka
5. How to Apologize, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka
6. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
7. The Wild Robot Protects, by Peter Brown
8. Ghostly Tales of Milwaukee, by Anna Lardinois
9. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan
10. When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

So much of our promotion for David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka's visit to schools and the Greendale Public Library focused on the See the Ghost series, but Mike Wohnoutka wrote and illustrated the September release Ups and Downs: A Book of Emotions. Kirkus wrote: "Children will feel reassured to have their own emotions validated, perhaps under circumstances they've experienced, and to note that the book ends happily. The soft gouache illustrations are comforting; occasional onomatopoeic words add dramatic interest to scenes." Emotion books can do very well!

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 14, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 14, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Postcard, by Anne Berest
2. Wellness, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 Boswell event)
3. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride (Kirkus Prize winner)
4. The Mysteries, by Bill Watterson and Jon Kascht
5. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead
7. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
8. The Last Devil to Die V4, by Richard Osman
9. The Oceans and the Stars, by Mark Helprin
10. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett (Tickets for December 6 event here)

Apparently retailers underestimated the appeal of Bill Watterson's very un-Calvin-and-Hobbes-ian return to publishing. Ingram is completely sold out of The Mysteries, the beautiful fable for adults he created with Jon Kascht. More from the LitHub announcement, back in February.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Soul of Civility, by Alexandra Hudson (Register for October 22 Boswell event here)
2. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
3. MCU, BY Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards
4. The Death of Public School, by Cara Fitzpatrick (Contact Marquette Law for October 20 virtual event link)
5. Enough, by Cassidy Hutchinson
6. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl (Register for November 20 virtual event here)
7. Run to Win, by Jerry Kramer with Bob Fox
8. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich
9. Be Useful, by Arnold Schwarzenegger
10. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson

Top non-event debut honors go to MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, by three writers, two of whom also host the Trial by Content podcast. From Publishers Weekly: "There's fascinating trivia on every page (for instance, Daniel Craig was a front-runner for the part of Thor), and the authors maintain an evenhanded perspective, celebrating the studio's successes while calling out its missteps, namely the MCU's lack of direction after 2019's Avengers."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Rule of Thirds V3, by Jeannée Sacken
2. Justified Malice V2, by Harry Pinkus
3. La Carte Postale, by Anne Berest
4. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
5. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews
6. A Death in Door County V1, by Annelise Ryan (Register for Boswell December 14 event)
7. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner
8. Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St John Mandel
9. Lark Ascending, by Silas House
10. The Hero of This Book, by Elizabeth McCracken

We had a nice run in hardcover (four staff recs and a wonderful event) for Silas House's Lark Ascending, a post-apocalyptic novel that traded an eerie landscape jacket in hardcover for a dog-friendly paperback pitch. The dog is a great side character, but I'm not sure I see it. I didn't know it won the Southern Book Prize - congratulations! From Kay Wosewick: "Lark grows up as climate-driven wars pit gun-toting fanatics intent on complete control against loosely formed bands of resisters. While most of Lark's early life is spent idyllically at a distance, he is finally forced to travel a long distance through war zones. Lark recounts times of bliss and harrowing moments of horror with equally affecting and lovely prose."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. 33 1/3: Madonna's Erotica, by Michael Dango
2. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
3. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
4. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
5. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
6. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
7. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
8. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
9. Holy Food, by Christina Ward
10. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe

Don't forget about Christina Ward's double-dose of programs next weekend for Holy Food. She'll be at Milwaukee Public Library's Good Hope Branch on Saturday and Lion's Tooth on Sunday, both at 2 pm.

Books for Kids:
1. This Is a Story, by John Schu, illustrations by Lauren Castillo
2. This Is a School, by John Schu, illustrations by Veronica Miller Jamison
3. Find Where the Wind Goes, by Mae Jemison
4. The Memory Thieves V2, by Dhonielle Clayton
5. The Marvellers V1, by Dhonielle Clayton
6. Eclipse, by Andy Rash
7. Mae Jemison, by Jodie Shephard
8. The Happy Book, by Andy Rash
9. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
10. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan

John Schu, former school librarian and now readng evangelist for educators, is doing a day of schools for us for his latest picture book, This Is a Story. From Publishers Weekly: "Starting in close and pulling back, this love letter to libraries foregrounds their gift for connecting each reader with just the right story."

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 7, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 7, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Wellness, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 Boswell event or 2 pm Books & Co event)
2. The Last Devil to Die V4, by Richard Osman
3. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
4. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
5. The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
6. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett (Tickets for December 6 theater event)
7. The Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
8. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
9. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
10. The Maniac, by Benjamin Labatut

From the publisher, on The Maniac: "From one of contemporary literature's most exciting new voices, a haunting story centered on the Hungarian polymath John von Neumann, tracing the impact of his singular legacy on the dreams and nightmares of the twentieth century and the nascent age of AI." Our buyer Jason Kennedy called it "compulsively readable." And BookMarks gives it six raves, nine positives, and a mixed.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Book of (More) Delights, by Ross Gay
2. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich
3. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson
4. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
5. Making It So, by Patrick Stewart
6. Lou Reed by Will Hermes
7. Eve, by Cat Bohannon
8. Going Infinite, by Michael Lewis
9. The Wager by David Grann
10. Why We Love Baseball, by Joe Posnanski

It's nice to see some new nonfiction books having an impact on our top ten. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution got a great review in The New York Times from Cindi Leive, who called it: "Part owner’s manual for the female body 'from tits to toes'; part sweeping saga of mammalian history; and part clapback against the tendency of much evolutionary thought to place men, and their furry mancestors, at the center of the action." Bohannon will be at East Troy's InkLink on October 21 for a ticketed event that includes food and drink. More info about tickets here and for those not on Facebook, contact the bookstore at inklinkbooks.com.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Sun Dog Memory, by Douglas Armstrong
2. Intermission, by Phyllis R. Dixon
3. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
4. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner
5. Hedge, by Jane DeLury
6. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by VE Schwab
7. The Aeronaut's Windlass V1, by Jim Butcher
8. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
9. Bunny, by Mona Awad
10. Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout

The Lit Group is reading Jane Delury's Hedge in December, which leads to the first of what is likely a few pops on our bestseller list. The book also has a nice review from Joan Frank in The Washington Post: "Some books enter you like a hallucinatory drug and, for a time, overtake you. You may even begin to dream about the novel you’re reading - or feel somehow that it’s dreaming you. Jane Delury’s second novel, Hedge, proves to be such a work. Like most eerily memorable books, it’s about more than itself: Describing its plot can’t quite convey its strange, lingering power. But one must start there."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
2. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
3. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
4. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
5. Holy Food, by Christina Ward
6. How We Live Is How We Die, by Pema Chödrön
7. In Defense of Witches, by Mona Chollet
8. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
9. Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest 2e, by Teresa Marrone
10. 111 Places in Milwaukee That You Must Not Miss 3e, by Michelle Madden

First week out in paperback and In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial catches the eye of enough readers to pop onto our bestseller list, helped by double-placement on the new paperback table and the seasonal witch-themed display. From Rachel Donadio in The New York Times: "In Defense of Witches demonstrates that a woman’s decision to go against the grain - especially by not having children - inevitably becomes a political act, even an act of resistance."

Books for Kids:
1. All Tide Up V7: The InvestiGators, by John Patrick Green
2. Elves Are the Worst, by Alex Willan
3. The InvestiGators V1, by John Patrick Green
4. Yetis Are the Worst, by Alex Willan
5. Eclipse, by Andy Rash
6. Unicorns are the Worst, by Alex Willan
7. Take the Plunge V2, by John Patrick Green
8. The Memory Thieves V2, by Dhonielle Clayton
9. Gertie the Darling Duck of WWII, by Shari Swanson, illustrations by Renée Graef
10. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan

I am trying to read a kids book per month and my September selection was The Marvellers, by Dhonielle Clayton, a wizarding school novel featuring Ella, a conjuror from New Orleans, who is confronted with not just prejudice but secrets and conspiracy in the world of The Marvellers. The starred School Library Journal review praise Clayton for "representing a variety of cultures, skin tones, gender identities, sexual orientations, and religious affiliations." The second book in the series, The Memory Thieves, received a "wonderful, well-developed sequel" from Kirkus while the best quote continues to be that of Rick Riordan from The Marvellers: "I want to live in this world."

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 30, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 30, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
2. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger
5. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
6. Wellness, by Nathan Hill (register for October 23 Boswell event)
7. The Last Devil to Die V4, by Richard Osman
8. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
9. The Running Grave V7, by Robert Galbraith
10. The Fragile Threads of Power V1 by VE Schwab

I am amused that when our wholesaler links to Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, it offers other translations of the book, but not all other translations, just a few. So here is the long-awaited translation of The Iliad, and being that it's also $39.95 pre-discount, there's an expectation (certainly from us) that this book will continue to sell thorugh the holidays. From the Hamilton Cain rave (per BookMarks) in The Boston Globe: " Whips and crackles beneath the familiar meter of loose iambic pentameter. Wilson tells it all in plain English, to elegant effect ... She deftly coaxes the original’s Dactylic hexameters into our own accentual tongue. We feel her joy, birthed by hard labor."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Run to Win, by Jerry Kramer with Bob Fox
2. Dream Big and Win, by Liz Elting
3. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson
4. Enough, by Cassidy Hutchinson
5. The Book of (More) Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 Boswell event)
6. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
7. The Deadline, by Jill Lepore
8. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich (Register for October 3 Boswell event)
9. The Death of Public School by Cara Fitzpatrick (Register for October 20 Marquette Law hybrid event - this will hit capacity soon)
10. Doppelganger, by Naomi Klein

There are many ways to make a bestseller. You can buy a whole bunch of books from a whole bunch of stores. You can use social media to convince your loyal fan base to buy books from stores. Or you can have a book blow up the old fashioned way, through media saturation. One book that saw a lot of attention in this last way was Michael Wolff's The Fall, which had the gift of coming out the week that Rupert Murdoch handed over the reins of Fox and News Corp to his son Lachlan. Didn't matter - we sold zero. But Enough, by Cassidy Hutchinson, the former special assistant to President Trump, struck a chord. We sold out and continued to get customer holds for the book.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Dry Land, by B Pladek
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 Boswell event)
4. A World of Curiosities V18, by Louise Penny
5. The Golden Enclaves V3 by Naomi Novik
6. The Christmas Orphans Club, by Becca Freidman
7. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
8. A Court of Wings and Ruin V3, by Sarah J Maas
9. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
10. The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler

Did a Christmas-themed novel really hit our top ten in September? Becca Freeman, author of 
The Christmas Orphans Club, is a bookfluencer and host of the Bad on Paper podcast. And while I should be too sophisticated to fall for author blurbs, I am sort of a Jennifer Close groupie, so when she says, "I'm completely in love with this book!...Becca Freeman's debut is witty, heartwarming, and hilarious and the most delightful thing you'll read all year," I feel compelled to reprint it.


Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Holy Food, by Christina Ward
2. A Different Trek, by David K Seitz
3. The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
4. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
5. Peace is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hanh
6. The Indigenous Continent, by Pekka Hämäläinen
7. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
8. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
9. The Complete Slow Cooker, by America's Test Kitchen
10. American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, by Charles Hagner

Christina Ward has a bounty's worth of events coming up for Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat - An American History . If you missed her at Boswell, she'll be at Milwaukee Public Library's Good Hope branch on October 21 and at Bay View's Lion's Tooth on October 22. Plus programs in Seattle, Portland, and Chicago. More here.

Books for Kids:
1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan
2. Gertie the Darling Duck of World War II, by Shari Swanson, illustrations by Renée Graef
3. Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Bridget George
4. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Renée Graef
5. We Are Water Protectors, by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michael Goade
6. InvestiGators: All Tide Up V7 by John Patrick Green (Register for October 1 - today's - 2pm event)
7. The Marvellers V1, by Dhonielle Clayton
8. Lulu and Rocky in Rocky Mountain National Park, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
9. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
10. Wrecker, by Carl Hiaasen

School visit season is in full swing, but one new release tops them all - The Chalice of the Gods, the latest Percy Jackson novel from Rick Riordan. I can not remember the last time a kids book had a 20+ first week with us when there was no event involved. From the publisher: "The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way."