Showing posts with label The Wise Man's Fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Wise Man's Fear. Show all posts

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Bestsellers Have Tiger Fever, plus Bezmozgis, Bismarck, and Rothfuss in the Journal Sentinel and New York Times

Some bestseller fun, starting with hardcover fiction
1. The Tiger's Wife, by Téa Obreht. I'm not going to link every book but you get the idea.  This will lead you over to our website for purchase.
2. The Land of Painted Caves, by Jean Auel
3. The Troubled Man, by Henning Mankell (the last Walldender?)
4. Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss (see below for more Rothfuss)
5. We The Drowned, by Casten Jensen (author event on May 5, 7 pm)
That's three weeks in a row for The Tiger's Wife, which probably doesn't have quite as good placement in mass merchandisers as Jean Auel.

Hardcover nonfiction:
1. Beyond DiMaggio, by Lawrence Baldassaro
2. The Bedwetter, by Sarah Silverman
3. The Pope's War, by Matthew Fox
4. The Social Animal, by David Brooks
5. The Corporate Lattice, by Catherine Benko and Molly Anderson
A very event-driven top five (and no, we didn't have an event with David Brooks). It was interesting how different the crowds were at our women's leadership and spirituality and aging conference.  One was way more into books and bookstores than the other.  Can you guess which?

Paperback fiction:
1. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese
2. The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford
4. Separate Kingdoms, by Valerie Laken
5. Jane Austen, by Charlotte Brontë (Couture Classics Edition)
The film opened at the Downer, and we have several different editions available, including the tie-in.  Folks, however, seem most drawn to the Couture Classics edition with cover art by Ruben Toledo. Here's a recent event/discussion wrap up.

Children's Books (events included, bulk sale excluded)
1. I Am a Bunny, by Ole Risom, with illustrations by Richard Scarry
2. Ollie's Easter Eggs, by Oliver Dunrea
3. When I Grow Up, by Al Yankovic
4. Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad, by Jacky Davis
5. Cuddle Up, Goodnight, by Kate Cleminson
Happy Easter!  And happy ladybug table, which gives Jacky Davis three nice places in the store to sell books (we also have a floor display and a Boswell's best slot.)

Today's Journal Sentinel has a review from Mike Fischer for The Free World, by David Bezmozgis.  It's one of those novels I was supposed to read ahead of time!  Fischer sort of liked it. There is also a commissioned piece on Patrick Rothfuss on the development of The Kingfisher Chronicles. New writers can take solace that he had trouble finding an agent.

Front page of the New York Times Book Review is Jonathan Steinberg's Bismarck: A Life.  Now that you are only allowed to jump to a certain amount of New York Times articles without paying, you should be more cautious about your browsing!  I have a home subscription, but I've been too lazy to find my account information from the last paywall.  But that said, there is also a review of The Free World by one of the New York Times's favorite regular reviewers, Liesl Schillinger.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Patrick Rothfuss Craziness and How Milwaukee Can Politefully Request a Stop on the Tour

In between stints at our various events around town, I was able to tabulate and send out our weekly bestsellers. Hardcover nonfiction first:

1. Chinaberry Sidewalks, by Rodney Crowell
2. Life, on the Line, by Grant Achatz and Nick Koikonas
3. Swimming in the Daylight, by Lisa Paul
4. Getting Naked, by Patrick Lencioni
5. A Widow's Story, by Joyce Carol Oates

Paul had a breakout session at the UWM writing confererence. One day I will have my camera at the same time I am writing the blog and will include pictures...I think I have at least one good one of the Rodney Crowell concert.

Our big fiction story is Patrick Rothfuss's long-awaited follow-up to The Name of the Wind, the second entry in The Kingkiller Chronicles. And we didn't even get signed copies yet. I think we are getting some. Please request signed copy of The Wise Man's Fear if you order and we'll try to fulfill.
In addition to a lot of single copy sales, I helped someone carry out a carton. I'm sure this is the case for many bookstores (indie, chain, virtual, departmental--next to the cell phone cases make a left when you get to pet food*), but as the author lives not too far away, it might be moreso.

1. The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss
2. The Fates will Find Their Way, by Hannah Pittard
3. The Paris Wife, by Paul McLain
4. Three Stages of Amazement, by Carol Edgarian
5. Room, by Emma Donoghue

I figured Rothfuss was appearing at a nearby chain store, but was surprised to discover that, at least according to his website, there is no Milwaukee appearance scheduled. He seems to be using MTV's Eventful website to gauge interest. If I were you and wanted a local event, I'd probably take a look at our numbers, which lag other markets. It's not that you don't love him, it's that you haven't told him you love him. I'm not really up for shilling for this site, but you do what you gotta do. Here's the link.**

For those who aren't about to link, I salute you, and present you the tour as set so far.

Seattle, Washington
March 1, 7 pm
University Bookstore
4326 University Way NE
(206) 634-3400

Portland/Beaverton, Oregon
March 2, 7 pm
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Boulevard
(503) 228-4651

San Francisco (two events)
March 3, 7 pm
SF in SF Reading Series
The Variety Theater
But tickets for this seem to be at or near sell-out. Correction: It is sold out!

March 3, Midnight
Borderlands Cafe
870 Valencia Street
Which is also in San Francisco
(415) 824-8203

Huntington Beach/Los Angeles, California
March 4, 7 pm
Barnes Noble (plus &)
7881 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach
(714) 897-8781

San Diego, California
March 5, 2 pm
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore
7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
858) 268-4747

Houston, Texas
March 6, 2 pm
Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet Street
(713) 524-8597

Madison, Wisconsin
March 8, 7 pm
Barnes & Noble
7433 Mineral Point Road
(608) 827-0809

Oak Brook/Chicago, Illinois
March 9, 7 pm
Borders Books & Music
1500 16th Street, Oak Brook
(630) 574-0800

Beavercreek/Dayton, Ohio
March 10, 7 pm
Books & Company
4453 Walnut Street, Beavercreek
(937) 429-2169

Lexington, Kentucky
March 11, 7 pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
(859) 273-2911

Saint Louis, Missouri
March 12 at 7 pm
Left Banks Books
321 N. 10th Street
(314) 367-6731

Washington DC
March 14, 12 Noon
What If Reading Series
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
(202) 707-6809
No bookstore selling at this event--bring your own book!

Bailey's Crossroads/Washington, DC
March 14, 7:30 pm
Borders Books & Music
5871 Crossroads Center Way, Bailey's Crossroads
(703) 998-0404

Brooklyn, New York
March, 7 pm
Barnes & Noble
267 7th Avenue, Park Slope
(718) 832-9066

Boston, Massachusetts
March 16, 6 pm
Northeastern University Bookstore
Snell Library
360 Huntington Avenue, 4 Eli Hall
(617) 373-2350
If you are going, Mr. Rothfuss would like you to RSVP on his Facebook page.

*I am not necessarily disparaging this. In the old days, I liked nothing more than to find a book department in an old department store. I am more bored by sameness.

**For years, Christopher Moore told us that he was cautious about visiting Milwaukee because he didn't see a strength of fans in the market. Now he has come several times.