1. Under Story, by Chloe Benjamin (Boswell September 8 event)
2. The Disappearers, by Marlon James
3. The Three Graces of Pearl Street, by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins
4. The Knave and the Moon V2, by Rachel Gilling
5. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
6. The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
7. Land, by Maggie O'Farrell
8. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
9. Big Little Truths, by Liane Moriarty
10. A Trade of Blood, by Robert Jackson Bennett
Our two biggest debuts this week come from the Penguin division of Pengun Random House with Chloe Benjamin's Under Story coming from Putnam (8 years after The Immortalists) and Marlon James's The Disappearers from Riverhead. Both authors used to live in the Midwest (Benjamin in Madison and James in the Twin Cities) but now are on the coasts, one on each. And I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out the Dwight Garner spectacular review of The Disappearers in The New York Times: "Why not just say it? With this novel about gay experience and murderous homophobia in Jamaica and elsewhere during the 1980s and ’90s, James has written a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.
1. The Origin of a Leader, by Curtis Manfredo
2. The Green and Gold Standard, by Thomas M Nelson
3. Holding It Together, by Jessica Calarco
4. Everyday Eats, by Alex Snodgrass
5. Regime Change, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
6. Biological War, by Annie Jacobsen
7. American Scoundrel, by Kai Bird
8. Hiroshima 815, by Kiyoshi Tanimoto
9. This Is the Plan, by Ben Wikler
10. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee/Ann Christenson
New this week is American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump, the latest biography from Kai Bird, the coauthor of American Prometheus, the inspiration for the film Oppenheimer. The book got seven raves and two mixed revies, with one of them from the Wall Street Journal, which would makes sense, except their book reviews tend to be pretty independent of the editorial page. Jennifer Szalai in the New York Times is one of the ravers, noting: "Bird calls him (Cohn) 'the ghoul of our nightmares, a man whose personal immorality planted the seeds of America’s descent into the political folly of the 21st century.' A Prometheus steals fire for humanity; a scoundrel takes everyone for a ride."
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus (Boswell-run book clubs)
3. James, by Percival Everett
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman
5. Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher
6. Lonesome Dove V1, by Larry McMurtry
7. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
8. The Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
9. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
10. The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett
Nothing new on this list, so I will shout out the Lit Group that met this past weekend for Audition. Opinions were all over the place, which made for a great discussion. I may have to pick some less popular books to get the attendance down, but I don't think Lonesome Dove (October) or Angel Down (December) will do the trick.
1. Stone Age Astronaut, by Liam Callanan (Boswell September 17 event)
2. How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein
3. Kitchen Confidential, annotated edition, by Anthony Bourdain
4. A Flower Traveled in My Blood, by Haley Cohen Gilliland
5. Friends with Words, by Martha Barnette
6. Poetry Unbound, by Pádraig Ó Tuama (poetry is dealer's choice for categorization)
7. Lambeau Ladies, by Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic (Boswell September 27 event)
8. Fall of Civilizations, by Paul Cooper
9. What If We Get It Right, by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
I miss listening to A Way with Words on WHAD on air. I know I could still access the podcast, but I am still a "I will listen to it if it happens to be on" kind of person. Glad to see we are selling Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland off our new paperback table. I might be the next customer for it. From Publishers Weekly: "With a conversational tone and an infectious sense of curiosity, Barnette makes a strong case for the mundane magic of words. It's a joyful account that will delight fans of Lynne Truss." Remember that one?
1. That You Are Here Is No Small Thing, Traci Todd and Vashti Harrison
2. The Neverfear V3, by Katherine Rundell
3. The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan, by Jasmine Warga
4. City Spies V1, by James Ponti
5. A Rover's Story, by Jasmine Warga
6. A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, by Jasmine Warga
7. Penguin Picnic, by Liam Frances Walsh
8. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef
9. The Amazing Generation, by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price
10. Elf Dog and Owl Head, by MT Anderson
Katherine Rundell's The Neverfear, the latest in The Impossible Creatures series, is our top non-event debut, and has been the case in the last few years, one book is not enough for her. Her nonfiction book for adults, Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise, is also getting a lot of attention. Kirkus called her latest kids book "brilliant," as well as describing the book as "perfectly paced, mythology laced tale of action, adventure, and heart."
