Sunday, October 20, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 19, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 19, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
2. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley
3. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
4. Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner
5. James, by Percival Everett
6. The City in Glass, by Ngi Vo
7. By Any Other Name, by Jodi Picoult
8. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
9. Playground, by Richard Powers
10. Into the Uncut Glass, by Trevor Noah, illustrations by Sabina Hahn

I get how there's an argument about whether comic strips, poetry, and myth books are fiction or nonfiction, but under the subject of why The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse is not categorized as fiction on the bestseller lists (it is in ours, when I remember), we now get to see where Into the Uncut Grass, Trevor Noah's collaboration with Sabina Hahn, lands. To make things more confusing, Noah has called it a children's book, but it's definitely been packaged and promoted as an adult (or at least all-ages) title. He talks to Zack Ruskin at The Washington Post about his inspirations, from The Wind in the Willows to Calvin and Hobbes.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Why I Cook, by Tom Colicchio
2. Well Plated Every Day, by Erin Clarke
3. The Message, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
4. War, by Bob Woodward
5. Where Rivers Part, by Kao Kalia Yang
6. Moments of Happiness, by Mike Leckrone with Doug Moe (Boswell event October 29)
7. The Craft of Cooking, by Tom Colicchio
8. Be Ready When Luck Happens, by Ina Garten
9. Frightful Folklore of North America, by Mike Bass
10. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay

You know it's fourth quarter when the cookbooks start to hit the list in mulitples. We had two big food events this week with Why I Cook and Well Plated Every Day. There are signed copies for each. I should note that we almost had four food events this week - one had to cancel, while the other looked at our schedule and said, that's too many cooks! Chris forwarded me the famous Adult Swim short to emphasize the point. In non-food news, the top debut was Bob Woodward's War. Not the kind of opening numbers we saw with, say, Fear, the first book on Trump (multiples higher), but still respectable. Three positive reviews on LitHub.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Long Time Dead, by Samara Berger
3. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
4. Black Sheep, by Rachel Harrison
5. The Booklover's Library, by Madeline Martin
6. Circe, by Madeline Miller
7. The Crescent Moon Tearoom, by Stacy Sivinski
8. Starter Villain, by John Calzi
9. The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean
10. North Woods, by Daniel Mason

Out since August in paperback is Black Sheep, by Rachel Harrison, a horror novel (named a New York Times best horror novel of the year) about a woman who returns to her estranged cultish family for a wedding. Is it a gesture of reconciliation or a trap? From Tegan Beese at Library Journal: "A razor-sharp voice full of wit and humor, along with some edge-of-your-seat moments, will have readers clamoring for more."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Think Like a Chef, by Tom Colicchio
2. Shape, by Jordan Ellenberg
3. How Not to Be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg
4. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
5. Typhoid Mary, by Anthony Bourdain
6. We Had Fun and Nobody Died, by Amy T Waldman and Peter Jest
7. The Rediscovery of America, by Ned Blackhawk
8. The Latecomer, by Kao Kalia Yang
9. The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine, by Michael Scott-Baumann
10.Struggle for the City, by Derek G Handley (Boswell November 19 event)



Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical
,
is an Anthony Bourdain book from 2001 that was repackaged for release this week (first time in paperback?) and sold off our front table immediately. From a 2019 essay by Tim Carman in The Washington Post: "The historical volume was an odd, unlikely follow-up to (Kitchen) Confidential, a book that knocked the fairy dust from our eyes and provided a sobering, if skewed, look at the restaurant industry. The memoir would spend weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in summer 2000. Published the following year by Bloomsbury USA as part of its Urban Historical series, Typhoid Mary is the orphan in Bourdain’s literary canon, mostly abandoned by those who argue over his best books."

Books for Kids:
1. The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (signed copies available)
2. Pizza for Birds, by Bob Shea
3. Spooky Lakes, by Geo Rutherford
4. Construction Site: Garbarage Crew to the Rescue, by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrations by Ag Ford
5. Chez Bob, by Bob Shea
6. Daphne Draws Data, by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
7. Construction Site: Taking Flight, by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrations by Ag Ford
8. I Want to Read All the Books, by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
9. I'm Worried, by Michael Ian Black, illustrations by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
10. Everything We Never Had, by Randy Ribay

Sherri Duskey Rinker's Construction Site series continues with Garbage Crew to the Rescue. She recently visited area schools to talk about her book. Did you know that every book (there are nine) in the series (in the traditional picture book format, so not board books) has hit the New York Times bestseller list? As publisher noted, kids love garbage trucks!

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