1. A Very Inconvenient Scandal, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
2. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett (Tickets for December 6 event)
3. Iron Flame V2, by Rebecca Yarros
4. System Collapse V8, by Martha Wells
5. Swimming with Ghosts, by Michelle Brafman
6. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
7. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
8. The Door-to-Door Bookstore, by Carsten Henn. translated by Melody Shaw
9. The Secret Book of Flora Lea, by Patti Callahan Henry (Register for November 21 virtual event)
10. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
11. The Narrow Road Between Desires, by Patrick Rothfuss
12. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
Jason generally has a quirky-sweet story as one of his holiday picks, slotted on the back cover of our holiday newsletter. The books can be varied, but one thing they almost always have in common is that they are books in translation. Japanese, French, and at least once, Icelandic. Carsten Henn's The Door-to-Door Bookstore is a German bestseller, and is about an older man whose job hand-delivering books to customers is complicated by the interest of a young girl. Also his job is in peril. No BookMarks posting yet, but Der Spiegel's reviewer called it "The feel-good novel for all book lovers," while Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (it's a newspaper) called it "a warm-hearted story without kitsch with lovingly described protagonists. The right book for a dark rainy day, which immediately becomes a little brighter when you read it."
1. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich
2. The Messy Truth, by Alli Webb
3. Misfit, by Gary Gulman
4. It's Not You, It's Capitalism, by Malaika Jabali
5. Teaching the Invisible Race, by Tony DelaRosa
6. The Globemakers, by Peter Bellerby
7. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
8. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl (Register for November 20 virtual event)
9. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
10. The Wager, by David Grann
11. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
12. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
I did two book talks today - it's a nice way to figure out what hand-selling works and what falls flat. One book that is working is The Globemakers: The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft, by Peter Bellerby, a Tim rec that is also featured in our holiday gift guide. We generally do very well with map books and this is a different take - one person's attempt to make a handmade globe. From Publishers Weekly: "While this sometimes reads as an extended advertisement for the author's business, readers will be fascinated by Bellerby's reverential and sometimes existential musings , which are enriched by stunning photos of the globemaking process. It's a fascinating deep dive into an arcane art."
1. Tandem, by Andy Mozina
2. The Neorealist in Winter, by Salvatore Pane
3. Twilight Falls V4, by Juneau Black
4. Ex-Wife, by Ursula Parrott
5. The Good Son, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
6. Last Summer on State Street, by Toya Wolfe
7. Dearborn, by Ghassan Zeineddine
8. The Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
9. The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
10. The Whalebone Theatre, by Joanna Quinn
One suspects the massive sales at some stores for Ex-Wife might be from McNally Jackson, who are also the publisher of McNally Editions. But I am proud to say we are the #1 store in both the Great Lakes and Midwest regions for Edelweiss. Ursula Parrott's first novel was brought to my attention with the biography Becoming the Ex-Wife, and it comes with a swell backstory that helps sell the book. For a republication, McNally Editions did a spectacular job on press, with seven BookMarks reviews, including three raves and three positives. But perhaps the publisher says it best: "An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife is the story of a divorce and its aftermath that scandalized the Jazz Age - and still resonates today."
1. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
3. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, by Nick Offerman
4. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
5. Kodachrome Milwaukee, by Adam Levin
6. How We Live Is How We Die, by Pema Chödrön
Sadly, I supersized the hardcover lists because the books in the teens were outselling the bottom half of our paperback nonfiction list by more than two-to-one. I probably should have brought copies of Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Likes to Walk Outside with us to the Pabst last weekend - I only learned after the fact that Nick Offerman's latest chronicles a journey to Glacier National Park with Jeff Tweedy.
1. Death's Door, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
2. Mine, by Candace Fleming, illustrations by Eric Rohmann
3. Oh No, by Candace Fleming, illustrations by Eric Rohmann
4. Red and Green, by Lois Ehlert
5. The Eyes and the Impossible (McSweeney's edition), by Dave Eggers
6. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, by Mo Willems
7. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan
8. Dasher Can't Wait for Christmas, by Matt Tavares
9. Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
10. The Snowy Day board book, by Ezra Jack Keats
Guess what holiday is coming? Topping the Christmas titles is Lois Ehlert's posthumous Red & Green, a classic Ehlert-style take on The Night Before Christmas. Booklist called it "A playful picture book that offers a familiar Christmas story and striking, distinctive art." The Milwaukee Art Museum is celebrating Ehlert with a series of story times and a talk that already happened. I'm sure most of you knew about it. More here.
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