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!

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