Saturday, April 27, 2024

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending April 27, 2024

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending April 27, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Funny Story, by Emily Henry
2. The Familiar, by Leigh Bardugo
3. Pay Dirt, by Sara Paretsky (signed copies)
4. James, by Percival Everett
5. The Girl from the Red Rose Motel, by Susan Beckham Zurenda
6. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
7. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
8. The Paris Novel, by Ruth Reichl
9. I Cheerfully Refuse, by Leif Enger
10. Wandering Stars, by Tommy Orange

It's not much of a contest this week - Emily Harry blows out the competition with Funny Story, her latest novel. From Booklist: "With her latest impeccably written rom-com, literary supernova Henry continues to gracefully dispense wit, whimsy, and wisdom in equal amounts. Fans of opposites-attract love stories will revel in the buoyant banter and swoonworthy romantic moments, not to mention Henry's delightful pairing of a precision-driven children's librarian and a jack-of-all-trades winery employee who could give Matthew McConaughey lessons in chill."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, by Douglas Brunt
2. Somehow, by Anne Lamott
3. There's Always This Year, by Hanif Abdurrqib
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. Plantyou Scrappy Cooking, by Carleigh Bodrug
6. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl
7. Puerto Rico, by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo (Boswell May 8 event)
8. The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt
9. Supercommunicators, by Charles Duhigg
10. False White Gospel, by Jim Wallis

Second week on for Anne Lamott's Somehow: Thoughts on Love - last week she was #11. Reviews on BookMarks are all over the place - but there are three raves and two positives. One rave is from Meredith Maran in The Washington Post: "No matter a Lamott book’s title, no matter the theme of the yarns that burst from its pages like clowns from a circus car, its message is the same irresistible combo of love, hope, faith and laughter."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Relative Strangers, by AH Kim
2. Just for the Summer, by Abby Jimenez
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan
4. This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub
5. A Stroke of the Pen, by Terry Pratchett (IBD exclusive)
6. The Trackers, by Charles Frazier
7. Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton
8. Weyward, by Emilia Hart
9. The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, by Claire Swinarski
10. The Postcard, by Anne Berest

I think this is the first placement for Charles Frazier's The Trackers since its March 26 paperback release. Let me check. Yes, that's the case and I don't know why this week's sales were substantially higher than the first four weeks. There are fans like Rob Merrill of Associated Press, who wrote: "The narrator, Val, has journeyed from Virginia to Wyoming in 1937 to paint a mural in a post office as part of the Works Progress Administration, one of FDR’s projects to employ artists in the wake of the Great Depression. His local hosts are a wealthy rancher, John Long, and his wife, Eve. Long aspires to the U.S. Senate and Eve, before she met him, rode the rails as a transient and sang in a swing band. The book’s plot accelerates when Eve disappears and Long enlists Val to find out where she went and why...Frazier deftly blends an historical perspective throughout his fictional tale."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Beyond Ethnic Loneliness, by Prasanta Verma (signed copies)
2. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
3. A Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, by Matt Kracht (IBD exclusive)
4. Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan
5. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
6. Master Slave Husband Wife, by Ilyon Woo
7. Wisconsin for Kennedy, by BJ Hollars
8. Milwaukee in Stone and Clay, by Raymond Wiggers (Virtual May 10 event)
9. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, by Bettany Hughes
10. Sweet Wild and Vicious, by Jim Higgins (Boswell May 9 event)

We had a nice first week pop on The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: An Extraordinary New Journey Through History's Greatest Treasures, by Bettany Hughes. It seems like a paperback reprint, but no, it's an original! Kirkus called it "a captivating journey with an erudite guide." And here's a nice blurb from Simon Sebag Montefiore: "A lively exploration of the ancient world, this fascinating book is brimming with stories of people and places, all told with Bettany's natural sense of wonder and adventure."

Books for Kids:
1. Big, by Vashti Harrison
2. The Bard and the Book, by Ann Bausum
3. Little Dreamers, by Vashti Harrison 
4. Dog Man V12: The Scarlet Shredder, by Dav Pilkey
5. Lights Out, by Jessica Stremer
6. Little Leaders, by Vashti Harrison
7. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
8. Very Good Hats, by Emma Straub, illustrations by Blanca Gomez
9. Stuck, by Oliver Jeffers
10. Great Carrier Reef, by Jessica Stremer, illustrations by Gordy Wright

Jenny brought Ann Bausum to several schools for The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion. It was a hit! Kirkus writes: "An introduction to the most important book in the history of theater. Bausum focuses on the miracle that so many of Shakespeare's brilliant plays were preserved and explores how that came to happen." The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books praised it as "lively," while the starred Booklist praised it as "a beautiful, well-researched book exploring an intriguing subject."

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