Boswell bestsellers, week ending November 2, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending November 2, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Mighty Red, by Louise Erdrich (a few signed copies left)
2. The Grey Wolf V19, by Louise Penny
3. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
4. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
5. The Blue Hour, by Paula Hawkins
6. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
7. Playground, by Richard Powers
8. Like Mother, Like Mother, by Susan Rieger (OFS lunch event November 12)
9. Fear the Flame, by Olivia Rose Darling
10. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley

I'm not sure I would have released The Blue Hour on the same day as The Grey Wolf, but I can't argue that it doesn't make a nice color palette. Sales for the latest Louise Penny are down for us from the 2022 release - I don't know how that bodes and whether that is national. Lesa Holstine says in Library Journal: "It's a frightening novel of duality, of good versus evil, with an allegorical tale for today's world, as only Penny can write." And be prepared, as the story ends on a cliffhanger.

As for The Blue Hour, Kirkus writes: "Hawkins keeps her cast tight, her wild setting ominous, and her plot moving fast. This propulsive thriller twists into the dark and bloody underbelly of the world of fine art." It's also got a staff rec from Kim.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Classic German Cooking, by Luisa Weiss (signed copies)
2. Moments of Happiness, by Mike Leckrone and Doug Moe (signed copies)
3. Kingdom of the Poor, by Charles Strobel with Katie Seigenthaler (Boswell November 18 event)
4. An Unfinished Love Story, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (signed copies)
5. Unlocking the Heart, by James Crews (signed copies)
6. Classic German Baking, by Luisa Weiss
7. 50 Years of Happy Days, by Bryan Levant and Fred Fox (signed copies)
8. Be Ready When Luck Happens, by Ina Garten
9. John Lewis, by David Greenberg
10. On Freedom, by Timothy Snyder

Needless to say, with all these signed copies offered, we had a busy week with hardcover nonfiction events. There were lots of highlights from this week's programs, but I particularly enjoyed selling books at the German dinner for Luisa Weiss. Several attendees already had her Classic German Baking, and for those who did not, we sold copies of this backlist title quickly, as they make a nice set together. That means the bestselling non-event book in the category is David Greenberg's John Lewis. 

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Waters, by Bonnie Jo Campbell (signed paperbacks)
2. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
3. Ancient Light, by Kimberly Blaeser
4. Signs of the Imminent Apocalypse, by Heidi Bell (signed copies)
5. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
6. Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich
7. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
8. The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich
9. Mistborn V1, by Brandon Sanderson
10. The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters

The Berry Pickers, just out in paperback this week, is the Boswell Lit Group selection for February 2025. It is also the winner of the Carnegie Medal (awarded by the American Library Association) and the Barnes and Nobel Discovery Prize. The book had four raves, two positives, and mixed in BookMarks. From Marion Winik in The Washington Post: "The Berry Pickers is not meant to be a mystery. The strength of Amanda Peters’s novel lies in its understanding of how trauma spreads through a life and a family, and its depiction of the challenges facing Indigenous people."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Paris Lost and Found, by Scott Dominic Carpenter (signed copies)
2. Mechanic Shop Femme's Guide to Car Ownership, by Chaya M Milchtein (also signed copies)
3. Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
4. My Berlin Kitchen, by Luisa Weiss
5. No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
6. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
7. Assyria, by Eckart Frahm
8. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
9. The Hundred Years War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
10. Pig Years, by Ellyn Gaydos

Hey, it's a new book that's not event related! Pig Years has only been out for two weeks in paperback. It had four raves and three positives in BookMarks. From Library Journal: "An ode to pig farming that waxes poetic in its simple majesty; readers will revel in the beautiful imagery and lyricism of this tribute to farm life in Vermont and upstate New York. Husbandry is portrayed with the rhythmic storytelling of Gaydos's masterful, rapturously refreshing, and immersive writing: a delicate balance between the graceful beauty and cruel reality of farm life, loss and abundance, longing and belonging."

Books for Kids

1. We Are Big Time, by Hena Khan, illustrations by Safiya Zerrougui
2. Let It Glow, by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy
3. Big, by Vashti Harrison
4. How Many Squirrels Are in the World, by Ben "Mister G" Gundersheimer, illustrations by Marcos Almada Rivero
5. Señorita Mariposa, by Ben "Mister G" Gundersheimer, illustrations by Marcos Almada Rivero
6. Lilah Tov Good Night, by Ben "Mister G" Gundersheimer, illustrations by Noar Lee Naggan
7. The Leadership Journey, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
8. Cece Loves Science and Adventure, by Kimberly Derting, illustrations by Vashti Harrison
9. Hot Mess, by Jeff Kinney (Riverside Theater event today)
10. Hello Star, by Stephanie Licanovic, illustrations by Vashti Harrison

Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy were in Milwaukee to visit three area schools. Let It Glow is about two girls who swap homes for the holidays. From Booklist: " Aviva and Holly, two 12-year-old girls, discover that they are identical twins. Each was adopted; their parents weren't ever told that their daughter had a twin. When both girls volunteer to help with a December holiday pageant, they meet by chance - leading to many questions and an immediate bond...Meyer, who usually writes for teens, and Levy, who writes middle-grade fiction, offer a lively, engaging narrative. 

Speaking of schools, Mister G (Ben Gundersheimer) visited an area school this week. his How Many Squirrels Are in the World? released in 2023. Like many of his books, they are based on songs from his albums. This book is a counting primer. Per Kirkus: "A modest neighborhood adventure offers some upbeat one-to-20 counting practice. (squirrel facts)." I have never really seen this parenthetical end to a Kirkus review. Perhaps they are mimicking a 1970s song title.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 26, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 26, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
2. Absolution, by Jeff VanderMeer
3. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
4. The Mighty Red, by Louise Erdrich (UWM October 28 event)
5. Karla's Choice, by Nick Harkaway
6. James, by Percival Everett
7. We'll Prescribe You a Cat, by Syou Ishida
8. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
9. The Empusium, by Olga Tokarczyuk
10. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore

Absolution is a coda to the Southern Reach trilogy that has gotten six raves and two positive reviews on BookMarks. It's a little confusing to me, because I still associate the title with Alice McDermott's last novel, which comes out in paperback this Tuesday. Jess Keiser's review in The Washington Post puts the series in the context of Burke's Law of Horror Fiction: "Against all odds, Absolution is, in large part, just as good as the first three novels. It works for the same reason the others did. It manages, once again, to find that rare balance between revealing (the task of the novel) and revealing too much (the danger horror must avoid). Even when it threatens to settle down into the established pattern of its predecessors, it veers, in its final third, into something entirely more alien and alienating." I have no idea why this theory is so named, but it led me to read more about the old Gene Barry TV series.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. An Unfinished Love Story, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Today, at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center)
2. The Message, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3. Band People, by Franz Nicolay
4. Frightful Folklore of North America, by Mike Bass
5. Why I Cook, by Tom Colicchio
6. Be Ready When Luck Happens, by Ina Garten
7. Well Plated Every Day, by Erin Clarke
8. One Life, by Barbara Winton
9. Patriot, by Alexei Navalny
10. Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches, by Matty Matheson

The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Patriot debuts to five raves and a positive on BookMarks. From Luke Harding in The Guardian: "This is a brave and brilliant book, a luminous account of Navalny’s life and dark times. It is a challenge from beyond the grave to Russia’s murder-addicted rulers. You can hear his voice in the deft translation by Arch Tait and Stephen Dalziel: sharp, playful and lacking in self-pity. Nothing crushes him. Up until the end – his final 'polar' entry is on 17 January 2024 – he radiates indomitable good humour."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Crescent Moon Tearoom, by Stacy Sivinski (signed copies)
2. Big Girl, by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (also)
3. Sorcery and Small Magics, by Maiga Doocy
4. After World, by Debbie Urbanski
5. Austerlitz, by WG Sebald
6. The Future, by Naomi Alderman
7. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q Sutanto
8. The Marlow Murder Club V1, by Robert Thorogood
9. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
10. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Four reads for Maiga Doocy's Sorcery and Small Magics, though one of our booksellers is now at an area library, where they are probably building up the customer holds. Booklist labels it "queer cozy fantasy," while Jenny Chou's rec explains the subcategorization as "not-so-dark Dark Academia." I am paraphrasing. And Publishers Weekly explains the plot set-up: "Doocy's enchanting debut brings readers into a world where magic is divided between those who can write spells and those who can cast them. The disreputable and chaos-prone Leovander Loveage falls into the former category. When he's paired with the grumpy, prim-and-proper spellcaster Sebastian Grimm in one of their classes at the Fount, a school for magic users, both men strain at the partnership. A collision on the way to class mixes Leo's spells with more advanced materials from the Fount library and results in Sebastian performing an unknown spell on Leo."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Being Henry, by Henry Winkler
2. The Flesh and the Fruit, by Vanya Leilani
3. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
4. The Dictionary People, by Sarah Ogilvie
5. How to Piss Off Men, by Kyle Prue
6. Paris Lost and Found, by Scott Dominic Carpenter (Boswell October 30 event)
7. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
8. Unruly, by David Mitchell
9. The Future Is Disabled, by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
10. Malört, by Josh Noel

First week out for The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary, which had nine raves and two positives on BookMarks. From Michael Dirda's Washington Post review: "Again and again, The Dictionary People emphatically demonstrates that even seemingly dry-as-dust scholars weren’t that at all. Joseph Wright started work as a donkey-boy in a quarry at age 6 and didn’t learn to read until he was 15. Yet he ended his life as professor of comparative philology at Oxford and author of a multivolume dictionary of English dialects."

Books for Kids:
1. Big, by Vashti Harrison
2. I Want to Read All the Books, by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
3. My First Book of Fancy Letters, by Jessica Hische (signed copies)
4. Brownie the War Dog, by Kelly Nelson, illustrated by Aaron Boyd
5. Sora's Seashells, by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Stella Lim
6. The Paper Kingdom, by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Pascal Campion
7. Hot Mess, by Jeff Kinney (Riverside event November 3)
8. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd
9. The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown
10. Garbage Crew to the Rescue, by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by AG Ford


Both Vashti Harrison and Debbie Ridpath Ohi were in town this week for school visits. We've already written about Big, so let's take a moment for I Want to Read All the Books. From Children's Book Watch: “A charming celebration of the delight and value of reading, I Want To Read All The Books ...is an especially and unreservedly recommended pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community/public library picture book collections for children’s ages 4-8." Debbie Ridpath Ohi's illustrations have appeared in books by Judy Blume, Linda Sue Park, and Michael Ian Black (or as he is referred to on Another Period, Peepers).

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!

Boswell bestsellers, for the week ending October 12, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, for the week ending October 12, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. City in Glass, by Nghi Vo (signed copies)
2. Playground, by Richard Powers
3. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
4. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
5. The Empusium, by Olga Tokarczuk
6. True North, by Andrew J Graff
7. All Fours, by Miranda July
8. Somewhere Beyond the Sea V2, by TJ Klune
9. James, by Percival Everett
10.The Mighty Red, by Louise Erdrich (UWM ticketed event October 28)

 
Don't be fooled! The Empusium shows up from our wholesaler as a Fitzcarralrdo edition, but it's for other territories. Our edition comes from Riverhead, annd has an actual cover image instead of being all type. The latest in English from the Nobel winner has eight raves, six positives, a mixed, and a pan. From Hari Kunzro in The New York Times Book Review: "The extreme misogyny of the guesthouse gentlemen runs like a vein of poison through...Olga Tokarczuk’s deft and disturbing new novel. In Antonia Lloyd-Jones’s crisp translation, Tokarczuk tells a folk horror story with a deceptively light and knowing tone."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Coming Golden Age, by David Jeremiah
2. Teaching the Invisible Race, by Tony Delarosa
3. The Message, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
4. Be Ready When Luck Happens, by Ina Garten
5. The Defectors, by Paola Ramos
6. Moments of Happiness, by Mike Leckrone and Doug Moe (Boswell event October 29)
7. John Lewis, by David Greenberg
8. Where Rivers Part, by Kao Kalia Lang (Simulcast event October 17 - in person at capacity)
9. Capital, by Karl Marx
10. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson

I guess there are other John Lewis bios, either out already or forthcoming, so the publisher made sure to differentiate John Lewis: A Life, by David Greenberg, to buyers: "David Greenberg interviewed Lewis three times, twice in his last months as he reflected on his life. He interviewed approximately 275 people who knew Lewis, and he had access to never-before-used FBI files, among many other sources." There are four raves and a positive at LitHub. Tim's a fan - he highlighted passages for several of us to read.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Close Call, by Kim Suhr (signed copies)
2. Austerlitz, by WG Sebald
3. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
4. Demon Copperfield, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The House of Doors, by Tan Twan Eng
6. Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands V2, by Heather Fawcett
7. The Lightest Object in the Universe, by Kimi Eisele
8. The Booklover's Library, by Madeline Martin
9. The Postcard, by Anne Berest
10. Goodnight Tokyo, by Atsuhiro Yoshida

The Lightest Object in the Universe came out in paperback in 2020, and that was not a good time for paperback reprint sales at Boswell as in-person browsing is really important for that category. Kay's making up for it with her staff rec - we've sold more copies this year than we did for the hardcover and the first four years of paperback sale combined. From Publishers Weekly: "A near-future apocalypse forms the backdrop for an intense, moving romance in Eisele’s smart debut." Too bad it's slightly short discount (there's a POD surcharge) at Ingram, making it too-short-for-trade at some bookstores.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. How Civil Wars Start, by Barbara F Walter
2. Assyria, by Eckart Fram
3. The Sisterhood, by Liza Mundy
4. The Book of More Delights, by Ross Gay
5. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. We Had Fun and Nobody Died, by Amy T Waldman and Peter Jest
8. At the Lake, by Jim Landwehr
9. The Rediscovery of America, by Ned Blackhawk
10. Grief Is a Sneaky Bitch, by Lisa Keefauver

Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire has no LitHub feature, but the book was well-reviewed, including this from Kyle Harper in The Wall Street Journal: " Though the imposing civilization of ancient Assyria has receded from the foreground of collective memory, it has never completely succumbed to time. Eckart Frahm’s Assyria is a sweeping, delightfully readable effort to remind us of Assyria’s place in history.

Books for Kids:
1. The Yellow Bus, by Loren Long
2. The Last Dragon on Mars, by Scott Reintgen
3. Big, by Vashti Harrison
4. The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown
5. Everything We Never Had, by Randy Ribay
6. We Are Big Time, by Hena Khan, illustrations by Safiya Zerrougui
7. The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Boswell October 18 event)
8. Pizza for Birds, by Bob Shea
9. Spooky Lakes, by Geo Rutherford (Boswell October 19 event)
10. The Big Cheese, by Jory John, illustrations by Pete Oswald

The Wild Robot is a hit film! The Rotten Tomatoes score is 98%. To put that in perspective, the new Joker movie is at 33% and just had the largest drop in second-week sales of any comic book movie ever. The book got great reviews too - Kirkus called it "thought-provoking and charming." Looks like #4 in the series is scheduled for next summer.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 5, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending October 5, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. A Kid from Marlboro Road, by Edward Burns (signed copies)
2. The City in Glass, by Nghi Vo (Boswell October 10 event)
3. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
4. Candy and Crow V3, by Kevin Hearne (signed copies)
5. The Mighty Red, by Louise Erdrich (UWM October 28 ticketed event)
6. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
7. We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman
8. Playground, by Richard Powers
9. Somewhere Beyond the Sea V2, by TJ Klune
10. The Drowned V6, by John Banville

Whereas John Banville at one time wrote his crime fiction under the name Benjamin Black, the latest Detective Inspector Spofford installment, The Drowned, is under the Banville name. Depending on how you organize the series, it's either #6 or #4. From Kirkus: "As for the mystery at the heart of the book: Banville remains a master of suspense; it's not easy to stop turning the pages until the novel's genuinely surprising end. This is yet another fine thriller from an author at the top of his game. Excellent writing and a clever plot make this one stand out."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Message, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
2. Be Ready When the Luck Happens, by Ina Garten
3. Revenge of the Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
4. Defectors, by Paola Ramos
5. Abortion, by Jessica Valenti
6. Does This Taste Funny, by Stephen Colbert and Evie M Colbert
7. The Barn, by Wright Thompson
8. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
9. Connie, by Connie Chung
10. Upworthy Good People, by Gabriel Reilich

Top debut this week is The Message, the latest from Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose Between the World and Me never went into paperback, and if it ever does, it will likely be the same price as the hardcover. The book has four raves, a positive, a mixed, and a pan on BookMarks.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Ink and Sigil V1, by Kevin Hearne
2. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
3. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
4. Cascade Failure, by LM Sagas
5. The Boyfriend, by Frieda McFadden
6. Hampton Heights, by Dan Kois
7. Paper and Blood V2, by Kevin Hearne
8. Close Call, by Kim Suhr (Boswell October 9 event)
9. Austerlitz, by WG Sebald
10. Mistborn V1, by Brandon Sanderson

What do you know? North Woods is an acclaimed literary novel that is released in paperback 12 months after the hardcover. It feels like it's so uncommon nowadays - everything seems to be either faster or much slower. Or not at all. It was on the ten-best list of both The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Brian Friel: Beginnings, by Kelly Matthews
2. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
3. How Not to Be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg (UWM October 16 event)
4. Random Acts of Medicine, by Anupam B Jena and Christopher Worsham
5. Unruly, by David Mitchell
6. Master Slave Husband Wife, by Ilyon Woo
7. Trail of the Lost, by Andrea Lankford
8. Time's Echo, by Jeremy Eichler
9. Solito, by Javier Zamora
10. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel

I continue to champion Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health, but sometimes my talks land better than others. Something I said this week hit the nail on the head, but will I remember whatever it was the next time I am speaking? Probably not. It's got blurbs from Steven Leavitt and Cass Sunstein.

Books for Kids:
1. The Last Dragon on Mars, by Scott Reintgen
2. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd (signed copies)
3. The World Is Awaiting You, by Marianne Richmond, illustrations by Sally Garland
4. Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, by Patrick Ness, illustrations by Tim Miller
5. Everything We Never Had, by Randy Ribay (signed copies)
6. A Magic Fierce and Bright, by Hemant Nayak (signed copies)
7. The Wrath of the Triple Goddess V7, by Rick Riordan
8. The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown
9. Spooky Lakes, by Geo Rutherford (Boswell October 19 event)
10. Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell

We had several authors visiting schools this week. Scott Reintgen, author of The Last Dragon on Mars, is best known for YA, but as much as we're seeing YA writers writing adult fiction, Reintgen is one of three sets of authors we worked with (the others are Patrick Ness and Ruta Sepetys) who moved to middle grade, despite a softening of book sales in that age level. The one thing you can do with the 8-12s - have a successful school visit. 

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."

Boswell Bestsellers for the week ending September 21, 2024

Boswell Bestsellers for the week ending September 21, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Somewhere Beyond the Sea V2, by TJ Klune
2. Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner
3. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
4. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
5. We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman

6. James, by Percival Everett
7. Death at the Sign of the Rook V6, by Kate Atkinson

8. Famiaris, by David Wroblewski
9. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
10. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach

Richard Osman, author of The Thursday Murder Club and sequels, debuts a new series with We Solve Murders, featuring a father-daughter team. Seven raves and a positive in BookMarks. From Kirkus: "As in Osman's other series, they cross paths with a variety of people - including drug-dealing politicians, customs agents, and social media influencers - who may or may not be inclined to help them, and watching the unlikely threesome charm each other and (almost) everyone they meet is a delight. The mystery isn't all that mysterious, but Osman fans will be glad to hop on that private jet and go along for the ride."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Say It Well, by Terry Szuplat
2. Risk and Returns, by Wilbur Ross
3. Frightful Folklore of North America, by Mike Bass 
4. Bone of the Bone, by Sarah Smarsh
5. On Freedom, by Timothy Snyder

6. Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari
7. Something Lost, Something Gained, by Hillary Rodham Clinton
8. Want, by Gillian Anderson
9. Does This Taste Funny?, by Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert
10. What If We Get It Right?, by Ayana Johnson

Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous, is a collection of confessions from women around the world, perhaps akin to the Post Secret phenomenon, but actually inspired by the 1973 bestseller My Secret Garden, from Nancy Friday. One rave, two positive, and one mixed on BookMarks. From Kimberly Harrington in The Washington Post: "You might have the same question I did: Would a book loosely patterned on an erotic bestseller published 50 years ago feel relevant in an age when every manner of sexual imagery and performance, real-life hookups and kink are available in the palm of our hands (so to speak) with a swipe, tap or text? The answer is a definitive yes."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Hampton Heights, by Dan Kois
2. The Booklover's Library, by Madeline Martin
3. Monarch, by Emily Jon Tobias 

4. A Bit Much, by Lyndsay Rush
5. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton
8. Weyward, by Emilia Hart
9. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
10. The Red House Mystery, AA Milne

From the Vertigo imprint of Pushkin Press comes a reissue of a AA Milne's The Red House Mystery, named one of the “20 Best Classic Murder Mystery Books of All Time" by Town and Country, or so says the publisher marketing. It was published in 1922 (so yes, public domain). For more background, read the Wikipedia page.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. For Times Such as These, by Ariana Katz and Jessica Rosenberg
3. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
4. We Had Fun and Nobody Died, by Amy T Waldman and Peter Jest
5. When Crack Was King, by Donovan X Ramsey
6. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
7. Doppelganger, by Naomi Klein
8. Trail of the Lost, by Andrea Lankford
9. Unmask Alice, by Rick Emerson
10. Eve Bites Back, by Anna Beer

National Book Award longlisted title When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era has already done a lot better in paperback than it did in hardcover, which you can't say for a lot of nonfiction nowadays. Three raves and a positive from Bookmarks. From Ilana Masad on the NPR website: "An excellent work of people-first journalism, When Crack Was King offers not only a vivid and frank history, but points to the way communities tend to save themselves even as they're being actively targeted by state policy and violence."

Books for Kids:
1. We Are Big Time, by Hena Khan, illustrations by Safiya Zerrougui
2. Popcorn, by Rob Harrell
3. Wink, by Rob Harrell
4. How to Lead a Life of Crime, by Kristin Miller
5. Shot Clock, by Caron Butler, illustrations by Justin A Reynolds
6. Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson
7. When Pigs Fly V1, by Rob Harrell
8. Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell
9. Behind My Doors, by Hena Khan
10. Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, by Patrick Ness (Boswell event September 24)

While Hena Khan officially visited Milwaukee for We Are Big Time, inspired by the winning female basketball team of Salaam Academy, her picture book
Behind My Doors: The Story of the World's Oldest Library is also a 2024 release. From
Kirkus: "The story of the Al-Qarawiyyin Library in Fez, Morocco, narrated by the building itself...Khan's first-person prose imbues the subject with both intimacy and a sense of majesty; readers will come away awed at the role of libraries as repositories of knowledge. A moving tribute to a cultural treasure."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 14, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 14, 2024

Hardcover Fiction:
1. By Any Other Name, by Jodi Picoult (signed copies)
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
3. James, by Percival Everett
4. Somewhere Beyond the Sea V2, by TJ Klune
5. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
6. Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner
7. The Devil Raises His Own, by Scott Phillips (signed copies)
8. Colored Television, by Danzy Senna
9. Spirit Crossing V20, by William Kent Krueger
10. Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty

Wow, this is the first really competitive week for hardcover fiction new releases in a long time, but none of them hit #1, outflanked by our Jodi Picoult event for By Any Other Name, to say nothing Shelby Van Pelt selling out copies as her conversation partner. The top debut is Somewhere Beyond the Sea, the latest from TJ Klune, a writer so popular even his reissued backlist is selling in bestseller numbers. It's got yellow sprayed edges, which means that the standard image we pick up from the publisher is 3D to show it off. From Library Journal: "The follow-up to The House in the Cerulean Sea is another heart-wrenching tale of being perceived as different, finding acceptance, and having a place in the world."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Experiencing the American Dream, by Mark Matson
2. The Rediscovery of America, by Ned Blackhawk
3. Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
4. Bone of the Bone, by Sarah Smarsh (Boswell September 19 event)
5. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
6. What's Next, by Melissa Fitzgerald
7. Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari
8. Autocracy Inc, by Anne Applebaum
9. The Dane County Farmers Market Cookbook, by Terese Allen
10. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin

Top debut with traditional sales is Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, one of many titles about AI coming out this fall. I even read one, just not this one. Yuval Noah Harari, author of the Sapiens phenomenon, has gotten mixed reviews per BookMarks. Dennis Duncan writes in The New York Times: "After a lot of time, we have arrived at a loose proof of what we hopefully felt already: Systems that are self-correcting - because they promote conversation and mutuality - are preferable to those that offer only blind, disenfranchised subservience."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult
2. 19 Minutes, by Jodi Picoult
3. Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams, by Karen Hawkins 

6. Whalefall, by Daniel Kraus
7. Some Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh
8. My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante
9. Weyward, by Emilia Hart
10. Pay the Piper, by George A Romero and Daniel Kraus

I used the British pop chart model of only including the top 3 backlist titles on the list, avoiding flashbacks of the old New York Times list with seven Garfield titles. Had I not, we would feature eight Jodi Picoult titles. But then I wouldn't be able to note that the paperback release of Whalefall coincides with another Kraus new release, as he completes the second unfinished manuscript of classic filmmaker George A Romero. Pay the Piper got a negative Publishers Weekly, contrasted with upbeat reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, to say nothing of enthusiastic blurbs from contemporary horror greats Paul Tremblay, Grady Hendrix, Tananarive Due, and Joe Hill. From Booklist: "The pervasive unease and steady pacing will lead readers eagerly to the book's final third, where it all breaks wide open, violently revealing the epic root of the terror."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
2. American Whitelash, by Wesley Lowery
3. As Long as Grass Grows, by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
4. River Profiles, by Pete Hill
5. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. Murdle, by GT Karber
8. Frightful Folklore of North America, by Mike Bass (Boswell September 18 event)
9. How to Listen, by Thich Nhat Hanh
10. Awakening the Heart, by Thich Nhat Hanh

Our top debut from individual sales this week is the latest pull-out from the late Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Listen. Years ago we pulled out this series from Parallax Press and had a little chair on a table inspired by the How to Sit entry. Over half a million Mindfulness Essentials books have been sold since 2015, all illustrated by Jason DeAntonis.

Books for Kids:
1. Shot Clock V1, by Caron Butler and Justin A Reynolds
2. Clutch Time V2, by Caron Butler and Justin A Reynolds
3. The Yellow Bus, by Loren Long
4. Popcorn, by Rob Harrell (Shorewood Library event September 20)
5. Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell
6. Running in Flip Flops from the End of the World, by Justin A Reynolds
7. We Are Big Time, by Hena Khan (Milwaukee Public Library event today, 2 pm)
8. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
10. Everything We Never Had, by Randy Ribay (Wauwatosa Library event October 2)

Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell's detour into classic kids fantasy has been a huge success in the UK (it was the Waterstone's Book of the Year for 2023), and now it's published Stateside. Kirkus: "An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters." Publishers Weekly: "A boy with an affinity for animals, a girl who can fly when the wind blows, and a secreted-away world in need of saving propel this realms-roving dazzler, a trilogy opener from Rundell" School Library Journal: "A quintessential fantasy that will delight readers of all ages who can handle intense storylines." And I think, despite the 2D cover, that sprayed edges are involved.