Sunday, September 29, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 28, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 28, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
2. Running Close to the Wind, by Alexandra Rowland
3. Aednan, by Linnea Axelsson
4. Somewhere Beyond the Sea V2, by TJ Klune
5. Snake Oil, by Kelsey Rae Dimberg
6. Playground, by Richard Powers
7. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
8. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
9. We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman
10. When I'm Dead V3, by Hannah Morrissey

It isn't even close. Sally Rooney's Intermezzo is said to be a return to form and indeed, it more than doubled first-week sales of Beautiful World, Where Are You? at Boswell. BookMarks counts 13 raves, 7 positives, 6 mixeds, and 2 pans. From Dwight Garner in The New York Times, responding to the Sally Rooney backlash in some quarters: "When I’ve replied that I admire Intermezzo almost without reservation - I fell into it like a goose-down comforter after a 15-mile hike in the sleet - the reaction has largely been disbelief. Some were as apoplectic as parrots. If I had to boil down the responses to my declarations of love to three letters, they’d be LOL. Clearly this book is going to divide people."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. An Intimate City, by Michael Kimmelman
2. Group Living and Other Recipes, by Lola Milholland
3. Frightful Folklore of North America, by Mike Bass
4. The Small and the Mighty, by Sharon McMahon
5. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
6. The Barn, by Wright Thompson
7. Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari
8. On Freedom, by Timothy Snyder
9. Something Lost, Something Gained, by Hillary Rodham Clinton
10. The Serial Killer's Apprentice, by Katherine Ramsland and Tracy Ullman

The author of Pappyland returns with another story close to (his) home, The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi. it's not on BookMarks, despite reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, BookPage, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. From Aram Goudsouzian in The Washington Post: "For Wright Thompson, the murder still matters in part because so many facts have stayed buried, and because those silences have widened the cracks in our democratic bedrock. His extraordinary new book, The Barn, is not only an intimate history of the tragedy, but also a deep meditation on Mississippi and America. It revolves around an artifact hiding in plain sight: the barn where Till was beaten and killed."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Nightmare of a Trip, by Maureen Kilmer
2. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
3. A Taste of Gold and Iron, by Alexandra Rowland
4. Empress of Salt and Fortune V1, by Nghi Vo (Boswell event October 10)
5. Not Just a Homemaker, by Paulette Brooks
6. Queen of Days, by Greta Kelly
7. Alcestis, by Katharine Beutner
8. The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston
9. Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck
10. Long Time Dead, by Samara Breger

We were one of the many stands at last Sundays' Awkward Nerd Book Fair. Illinois writer Maureen Kilmer returned to town for Nightmare of a Trip. Here's her inspriation for the book, as told to Elsie Dumpleton at The Nerd Daily: "A few years ago, my husband and I decided to take our kids on an 18 hour road trip in the name of family bonding. After a few hours in the car together, the only thing that bonded us was our desire to fly next time. There were a lot of laughs, but it wasn’t something we all wanted to experience again. The idea for Nightmare of a Trip came to me during those long hours on the road, imagining how we would handle actual horrors instead of tire problems and endless requests for snacks."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. My American Dream, by Barbara Feigin
2. Still True, by Reagan EJ Jackson
3. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
4. The Mechanic Shop Femme's Guide to Car Ownership, by Chaya Milchtein
5. Slaying the Dragon, by Ben Riggs
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. Let's Summon Demons Coloring Book, by Steven Rhodes
8. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
9. Sure I'll Join Your Cult, by Maria Bamford
10. Rand McNally Road Atlas 2025

Maria Bamford's Sure I'll Join Your Cult had six raves and two positives on BookMarks in hardcover. It pops onto our list in its second week of paperback publication. From the starred Kirkus: "Bamford creates an effective mix of introduction (or reintroduction) to a fascinating comedian, a guide to the self-help industry, and an encouragingly lighthearted, respectful assessment of mental health, reminding readers that they are not alone."

Books for Kids:
1. Weirdo, by Tony Weaver Jr
2. Grace Welcomes the Lady Next Door, by Vivian L King
3. Popcorn, by Rob Harrell
4. Wrath of the Triple Goddess V7, by Rick Riordan
5. The Impossible Escape, by Steve Sheinkin
6. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd (Boswell event October 3)
7. Daphne Draws Data, by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
8. Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, by Patrick Ness
9. Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys
10. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela T Arrhenius 

 Jason Reynolds and Jerry Craft Jr are two of the enthusiastic fans plugging the release of Weirdo, the graphic novel from Tony Weaver Jr. From Booklist: "Drawing from his real-life experience, Weaver creates an easily relatable story of overcoming obstacles and finding peace within yourself...The appealing, anime-inspired artwork perfectly captures the uplifiting tone, making great use of cartoonish expressions for big emotions and thoughtful color palettes during the depths of Tony's depressive episode."

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