Boswell bestsellers for the week ending May 17, 2025

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending May 17, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. People of Means, by Nancy Johnson
2. The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong
3. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
4. Fever Beach, by Carl Hiaasen
5. The Devil Three Times, by Rickey Fayne (Boswell May 20 event)
6. Marble Hall Murders, by Anthony Horowitz
7. The Names, by Florence Knapp
8. Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry
9. The Devils, by Joe Abercrombie
10. James, by Percival Everett

The Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong's second novel, is the latest selection of the Oprah Book Club and had a strong first week. It's got 10 raves plus a positive and mixed on BookMarks. It's nice to see a review from the Christian Science Monitor. Here's Heller McAlpin's take: "In 2019, Ocean Vuong, an award-winning Vietnamese American poet, stunned readers with his first novel. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous was a brutal and tender coming-of-age story about surviving the aftermath of political and domestic trauma, written in the form of a son’s letter to his illiterate mother. In his unremittingly gorgeous second novel, The Emperor of Gladness, Vuong again deftly walks a tightrope between despair and hope, heartache and love."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow (Turner Hall Ballroom June 4 event)
2. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
3. Artic Passages, by Kirean Mulvaney
4. The Six, by Steven Schwankert (Boswell May 29 event)
5. The Fate of the Day, by Rick Atkinson
6. Capitalism and Its Critics by John Cassidy
7. Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson (Boswell May 27 event)
8. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
9. The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad
10. Proto, by Laura Spinney

It's a lively top 10 with three upcoming events and three additional May 13 releases popping. I wouldn't expect a pop from Island Press, but Arctic Passages: Ice, Exploration, and the Battle for Power at the Top of the World is summer reading for a local school. Hasn't sold much at other stores yet, but it's got a strong buy from Ingram. From Foreword Reviews: "The Arctic's precipitous warming is studied not only for its devastating ecological implications but for global superpowers' maneuvers to capitalize on possible new trade opportunities."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
2. Late to the Search Party, by Steven Espada Dawson (signed copies)
3. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey (Boswell upcoming book clubs)
4. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
5. The Third Rule of Time Travel, by Philip Fracassi
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
8. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
9. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
10. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Three upcoming book club book selections in the top ten, being that two of our four groups met this week. The Third Rule of Time Travel is the next selection of the Science Fiction Book Club. It's a paperback original that released in March. From Publishers Weekly: "Corporate politics and experimental physics clash in this exciting sci-fi outing from Fracassi...Underlying the brisk time-caper plot is Colson's ominous warning that scientists should not play God. Sci-fi fans with a taste for noir will savor this one."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Reading for Our Lives, by Maya Payne Smart
2. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins
3. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
4. At the Edge of Empire, by Eric Hinderaker
5. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
6. Maus boxed set, by Art Spiegelman
7. The Flavor of Wisconsin, by Harva Hachten and Terese Allen
8. 111 Places in Wisconsin That You Must Not Miss, by Michelle Madden
9. When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, by Julie Satow
10. Poverty by America, by Matthew Desmond

Maya Payne Smart's Reading for Our Lives: The Urgency of Early Literacy and the Action Plan to Help Your Child has been completely updated and revised in paperback. From Michael Eric Dyson: "This is a book that every parent must read to make sure their children reach their full potential as readers and citizens of our nation."

Books for Kids: 

1. Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name, by Luvvie Ajayi Jones, illustrations by Joe Spiotto
2. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
3. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Melanie Demmer
4. The Very Last Leaf, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Jennifer Davison
5. Malcolm Lives, by Ibram X Kendi
6. Every Day's a Holiday, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Husna Aghniya
7 Dry, by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
8. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
9. Will the Pigeon Graduate?, by Mo Willems
10. Dog Man V13: Big Jim Begins, by Dav Pilkey

Dr Ibram X Kendi visited America's Black Holocaust Museum for Malcolm Lives!: The Official Biography of Malcolm X for Young Readers where he was in conversation with Maya Payne Smart (see above). From Kirkus: "Scholar and award-winning author Kendi offers a thoroughly researched biography that examines the life of the activist, intellectual, and Muslim minister." There should be some signed copies at ABHM.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending May 10, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending May 10, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
2. A Pair of Wings, by Carole Hopson
3. The World's Fair Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini
4. The Perfect Divorce, by Jeneva Rose
5. The Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
6. Beartown, by Fredrik Backman
7. The Unlucky Ones, by Hannah Morrissey
8. This Book Will Bury Me, by Ashley Winstead
9. James, by Pecival Everett
10. Shield of Sparrows, by Devney Perry

The thing you need to know about romantasy (and romance in general) is that the genre holds a lot of life lessons, most notably that today's enemy might be tomorrow's lover. Think about this the next time you go into battle. Shield of Sparrows is Entangled's lead for spring and comes complete with decorative sprayed edges (for a limited time). Said an anonymous reviewer on the Ingram order page: "The best read of 2025." The series is in development with Amazon MGM Studios.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. We Can Do Hard Things, by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle
2. The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad
3. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
4. Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson (Boswell May 27 event)
5. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
6. Big Dumb Eyes, by Nate Bargatze
7. On Call, by Anthony Fauci
8. The Next Day, by Melissa French Gates
9. Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, by Fredrik Backman
10. The Fate of the Day, by Rick Atkinson

First week out for We Can Do Hard Things from the Doyle siblings, plus Glennon's spouse Wambach. From Booklist: "The authors, who host the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, mine their audiences and friends to get a wide range of thoughts on 20 tough questions, including, Why am I like this? How do I let go? How do I do the hard thing? and What is the point?... The style is breezy, with blocks of text alternating with line drawings, quotes, and affirmations from a diverse group of thinkers. At 500 pages, it's an easy read that can be sampled depending on the reader's needs."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
2. Beartown, by Fredrik Backman
3. A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
4. Us Against You, by Fredrik Backman
5. One Golden Summer, by Carley Fortune
6. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
8. I Cheerfully Refuse, by Leif Enger
9. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
10. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang (Boswell-run book club info here)

The only new title on this list is One Golden Summer, by Carley Fortune, a paperback original. From Publishers Weekly: "The beachy latest from bestseller Fortunef ollows Alice Everly, an overworked photographer who's lost her creative spark. When her grandmother, Nan, breaks her hip, Alice hopes to cheer her up by bringing her back to her lake cottage where Alice spent one wonderful summer when she was 17...The sparks between Alice and Charlie (a neighbor) fly off the page and endearing Nan adds heart. This is a treat."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. I Live Underwater, by Max Gene Nohl
3. Pocahantas and the Powhatan Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend
4. The Wager, by David Grann
5. Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
6. Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever, by Matt Kracht
7. The Birding Dictionary, by Rosemary Mosco
8. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
9. At the Edge of Empire, by Eric Hinderaker
10. Rome and Persia, by Adrian Goldsworthy

A nice pre-pub-date pop on a formerly unpublished memoir. I Live Underwater: The Thrilling Adventures of a Record-Breaking Diver, Treasure Hunter, and Deep-Sea Explorer. From his bio: "He was a salvage diver, inventor and scuba innovator, Hollywood consultant, and world record-setting diver before his untimely death at age 47. He is widely considered to be the person who revolutionized deep sea diving." He was also Mary Nohl's brother.

Books for Kids:
1. Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name, by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
2. The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
3. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
4. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, illustrated by Melanie Demmer
5. Moving to Mars, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Erin Taylor
6. Stuck! the Story of La Brea Tar Pits, by Joyce Uglow
7. Q and U Call It Quits, by Stef Wade, illustrated by Jorge Martin
8. If I Coujld Choose a Best Day, by Charles Waters and Irene Latham, illustrated by Olivia Sua
9. Will the Pigeon Graduate?, by Mo Willems

A preorder campaign for Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name drives sales for Luvvie Ajayi Jones's picture book and her troublemaker brand (Professional Troublemaker for adults, Rising Troublemaker for teens, Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess for younger readers) is a first-day-of-school/how-to-deal-with-a-bully primer. Kirkus Reviews called it "Thoughtful guidance for youngsters processing big emotions."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending May 3, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending May 3, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry
2. Big Chief, by Jon Hickey (signed copies)
3. Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
4. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen
5. This Book Will Bury Me, by Ashley Winstead
6. How to Read a Book, by Monica Wood
7. James, by Percival Everett
8. The Paris Express, by Emma Donoghue
9. The Mighty Red, by Loiuse Erdrich
10. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman

Another self-publishing success story, in this case one that's sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Dungeon Crawler Carl came out last August, with the paperback arriving this July and several other volumes released in the meantime. The Eye of the Bedlam arrives May 13. From the publisher: "You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Medicine River, by Mary Annette Pember
2. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. Who Is Government?, edited by Michael Lewis
4. Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson (Boswell May 27 event) 

5. The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad
6. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
7. Garden to the Max, by Terese Woodard
8. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
9. The Fate of the Day, by Rick Atkinson
10. Lorne, by Susan Morrison

The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life from Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms, had a great first week. We were out for a few days. This primer on journaling includes entries from everyone from Kiese Laymon to Lena Dunham and has blurbs from Adam Grant, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Elizabeth Gilbert, who writes: "This book is not only beautiful but exceedingly helpful. I recommend it to every dreamer, with the highest respect and joy."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt (MPL event May 8)
2. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
3. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
4. The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon
5. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
6. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K Le Guin
7. Strange Pictures, by Uketsu
8 I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
9. Forth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
10. The Paris Novel, by Ruth Reichl

Uketsu appears on video in a white mask and black body stocking with the voice visually distorted. His novel Strange Pictures is a big hit in Japan and based on the Edelweiss numbers, it's doing well here too. The novel, translated by Jim Rion, is explained thusly: "Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Reading for Our Lives, by Maya Payne Smart
2. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
3. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
4. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
5. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
6. The Devil's Best Trick, by Randall Sullivan
7. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
8. The Dumb Bird's Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever, by Matt Kracht
9. Rand McNally Large Scale Road Atlas 2026
10. The Man Who Organized Nature, by Gunnar Broberg (out of stock at all Ingram wholesale warehouses!)

The Devil's Best Trick: How the Face of Evil Disappeared is from Grove, so it's got a May 20 pub date, not an on-sale date. The publisher calls Randall Sullivan's latest "part true crime story, part religious and literary history, an investigation into the nature of evil and the figure of the Devil." BookMarks offers one rave, four positives, and a big old pan from Carl Hoffman at The Washington Post whose byline notes he once lived in Indonesia. The rave is from Clancy Martin in The New York Times, who writes: "The prose has wonderful momentum even when he’s writing about arcane debates in the early Christian church. Each chapter is a turn, a surprise. The writing is never clichéd, nor is the thinking. Sullivan knows a great lede, and he’s just as good with cliffhangers."

Books for Kids:
1. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
2. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. Wil the Pigeon Graduate?, by Mo Willems
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins
5. Valiant Vel, by Jerrianne Hayslett, illustrations by Aaron Boyd
6. Hot Dog, by Doug Salati
7. The Man Who Didn't Like Animals, by Deborah Underwood, illustrations by Leuyen Pham
8. Little Bird Laila, by Kelly Yang, illustrations by Xindi Yang
9. When We Ride, by Rex Ogle
10. How to Spot a Mermaid, by Jane Yolen, illustrations by Sally Deng

Will the Pigeon Graduate? is a graduation gift book for all ages. From Kirkus: "An earnest graduation gift: sweet for lifelong fans, cheerfully encouraging for striving, future graduates. And guess who attended? Gerald the Elephant and Piggie! If you didn't hear, Union Square, formerly Sterling, was just sold by Barnes and Noble to Hachette Book Group.

I am playing with not italicizing titles. I think you can figure it out from context. We'll see if I continue with this.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 26, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 26, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry
2. James, by Percival Everett
3. Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
4. Dream Count, Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
5. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
6. We'll Prescribe You a Cat, by Syou Ishida
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt (MPL May 8 event)
8. Big Chief, by Jon Hickey (Boswell April 30 event)
9. Wedding People, by Alison Espach
10. Wide Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

Dream Count is Chimananda Ngozi Adichie's first novel since 2013's Americanah and was a #1 bestseller in the UK. It's been out since March 4. The tally on BookMarks is rather mixed - seven raves, two positives, a mixed, and two pans, the last of which you generally only see when there is some sort of backlash to the writer. One of the raves is from Ron Charles in The Washington Post: "Adichie is back to fiction with “Dream Count,” a rich, complicated book that spans continents and classes. The story jets between America and Nigeria while rotating, section by section, through the experiences of four Black women. Moving through a comedy of manners and a hall of horrors, their stories overlap and intersect in ways that suggest the vast matrix of the African diaspora."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Food for Thought, by Alton Brown
2. Accidentally on Purpose, by Kristen Kish
3. Prism, by Laura Day
4. Desperately Seeking Something, by Susan Seidelman
5. The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt
6. The World Is Your Office, by Prithwiraj Choudhury
7. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
8. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
9. Medicine River, by Mary Annette Pember (Boswell May 1 event)
10. Notes to John, by Joan Didion

Notes to John is a posthumous collection of essays - its BookMarks score is one rave, ten positive, two mixed and a pan, which I thought would, like the Adichie pans, critique the author herself, but no this one is saying that the new collection, which were summaries of psychiatric sessions, have none of the style of Didion's best work. The rave, from Publishers Weekly: "More than mere notes, Didion’s fly-on-the-wall reports recap the therapy sessions word-for-word, offering an unvarnished look into the personal life and psychology of the oft-enigmatic writer. "

Paperback Fiction:
1. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
2. Funny Story, by Emily Henry
3. Unworthy, by Agustina Bazterrica
4. Red Rising, by Pierce Brown
5. The Paris Novel, by Ruth Reichl
6. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
7. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley
8. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
9. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
10. Strange Pictures, by Uketsu

It's the first week of sale for The Paris Novel the second novel from Ruth Reichl. It was an Indie Next pick in hardcover. From a profile in Eater, on Reichl's first Paris visit: "Eating Joël Robuchon’s food for the first time and literally thinking, I’ve never had food like this before. We had French restaurants in the United States, but we didn’t have anything of that caliber here. And it was really exciting. I remember the first bite of food at Jamin, Robuchon’s first restaurant. I thought, this wasn’t made by human hands. The technique was so impressive."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins
2. No Straight Road Takes You There, by Rebecca Solnit
3. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
4. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
5. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
6. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
7. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
8. Bad Feminist anniversary edition, by Roxane Gay
9. A Book of Noises, by Caspar Henderson
10. Mutual Aid, by Dean Spade

Independent Bookstore Day was good for a lot of titles. Almost all or week's sales for I Who Have Never Known Men came on Saturday, as was the case for Rebecca Solnit's No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain, which officially publishes on May 13, but that's pub date, not laydown. The Kirkus was very enthusiastic, calling it "A buoyant, historically astute appreciation of political persistence." The Publishers Weekly appeared to find it repetitive in its thesis. Oh well. From my perspective, I applaud a white-on-yellow jacket.

Books for Kids:
1. My Return to the Walter Boys, by Ali Novak
2. Sunrise on the Reaping V5, by Suzanne Collins
3. The Deadliest Spider, by Eleanor Spicer Rice, illustrated by Max Temescu
4. The Deadliest Cat, by Eleanor Spicer Rice, illustrated by Max Temescu
5. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius
6. My Life with the Walter Boys, by Ali Novak
7. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Renée Graef
8. Paper Hearts, by Ali Novak
9. Saying Goodbye to My Best Friend Teddy, by Maureen McNally
10. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd

Ali Novak appeared at Boswell on Friday for My Return to the Walter Boys. Eleanor Spicer Rice had a virtual school visit to make up for school visits cancelled by a snow day - she was here but the kids were home. And a local program for kids books picked up a few new titles among their backlist, like

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 19, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 19, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
2. James, by Percival Everett
3. The Perfect Divorce V2, by Jeneva Rose
4. Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall
5. Dream Count, by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie
6. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
7. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen
8. Say You'll Remember Me, by Abby Jimenez
9. The Butcher's Masquerade, by Matt Dinniman
10. A Place Called Yellowstone, by Randall K Wilson

The Perfect Divorce is the follow up to The Perfect Marriage, a Booktok favorite. The sprayed edges have dripping blood own the sides. There was a limited signed editions and at least one retailer got a cover that was red instead of white. There's also a plot involved, but when it comes to thrillers, I'm not sure what counts as a spoiler, so I will just note that Karin Slaughter calls Jenva Rose's latest "a riveting he said/she said thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat right from the very first page.”

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams
2. Who Is Government?, edited by Michael Lewis
3. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
4. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
5. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
6. Raising Hare, by Chloe Dalton
7. Funny Because It's True, by Christine Wenc
8. Erasing History, by Jason Stanley
9. Memorial Days, by Geraldine Brooks
10. One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, by Omar El-Hakkad

I think I have already written up most every book here. I thought I hadn't done One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, but no, it was the highlighted book on the first week of sale. I'm also pretty sure I highlighted Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, but I'm not going to go back to last September. I should note that the author recently moved from Yale to the University of Toronto, per The Guardian.

Paperback Fiction:
1. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
2. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
3. The Unworthy, by Agustina Bazterrica
4. The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon
5. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
6. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
7. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley
8. The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, by Evie Woods
9. Tender Is the Flesh, by Agustina Bazterrica
10. The Secret War of Julia Child, by Diana R Chambers

Not only is The Unworthy selling well off our new paperback table, but Austina Bazterrica's 2020 novel, Tender Is the Flesh, hits our top 10 off of Jeremy's rec shelf. The new novel, translated from Spanish by Sarah Moses, From the starred Booklist: "Bazterrica's absorbing feminist literary horror novel...stars an unnamed narrator who documents her deplorable situation in an illicit diary as a survivor living in a converted monastery. Climate chaos and environmental deterioration coupled with lawlessness have forced many to fend for themselves." At least one of our customers bought it for the bookmark!

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
2. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
3. How Life Works, by Philip Ball
4. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
5. They Thought They Were Free, by Milton Mayer
6. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Egan
7. Mutual Aid, by Dean Spade
8. Wisconsin's Idols, by Dean Robbins (Boswell April 23 event)
9. Bisexual Men Exist, by Vaneet Mehta
10. Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

How Life Works: A User's Guide to the New Biology, has a pub date of February 25, but we didn't get our copies invoiced until March 26. I'm not sure what was going on with that. From Publishers Weekly: "Science writer Ball (Beautiful Experiments) explains how advances in biology have upended traditional understandings of how organisms develop and reproduce. The most revelatory material pushes back against the notion that DNA constitutes the blueprint for life...Provocative and profound, this has the power to change how readers understand life's most basic mechanisms.:

Books for Kids:
1. You and Me and the Land of Lost Things V1, by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Bill Hope
2. The Very Last Leaf, by Stef Wade, illustrated by Jennifer Davison
3. A Place for Pluto by Stef Wade, illustrations by Melanie Demmer
4. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan
5. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
6. The 13-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton
7. The 169-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton
8. My Return to the Walter Boys, by Ali Novak (Boswell April 25 event)
9. Chooch Helped, by Andrea L Rogers, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz 

10. Fearless V3, by Lauren Roberts

I don't think I've yet highlighted this year's Caldecott winner, Chooch Helped. From the Horn Book: "This picture book by creators who are both citizens of the Cherokee Nation highlights the joys and challenges that many older siblings face as the baby of the family grows up and begins to mimic them. Kunz's striking mixed-media art complements this loving family story."

Boswell bestseller blog, week ending April 12, 2025

Boswell bestseller blog, week ending April 12, 2025

Hardcover Fiction (and poetry, even when the poetry is on a nonfiction subject I guess):
1. Twist, by Colum McCann
2. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen
3. The Sequel, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (signed copies)
4. Homicide in the Indian Hills, by Erica Ruth Neubauer
5. Poems of Parenting, by Loryn Brantz
6. The Antidote, by Karen Russell
7. The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami
8. James, by Percival Everett
9. The Paris Express, by Emma Donoghue
10. We'll Prescribe You a Cat, by Syou Ishida

Apparently Poems of Parenting is hitting the nerve. Loryn Brantz's humorous and often insightful collection is out of stock at three of the four Ingram warehouses. Here's Brantz talking to Deepa Fernandes on NPR's Here and Now: “I didn't really think of it as a book at first. It was more like my children kind of broke me open and all these poems started pouring out,” she said. “It was like mind, body, and spirit – broke.” An early Happy Mother's Day to you!

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, by James Marten (signed copies)
2. Dear Miss Perkins, by Rebecca Brenner Graham (signed copies)
3. Who I Always Was, by Theresa Okokon (signed copies)
4. Who Is Government?, edited by Michael Lewis
5. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
6. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
7. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
8. Funny Because It's True, by Christine Wenc
9. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan
10. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins

If you've ever wondered how much a local setting affects book sales, James Marten's latest history, The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War has sold more than five times the copies of his last book that had a Boswell event, America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace. From Lawrence Mello in Library Journal: "Marten's account offers a detailed exploration of the war's long-term impact. The book's literary quality is exceptional, presenting a well-researched and engaging narrative that captivates from start to finish."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
2. The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz
3. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
4. The Familiar, by Leigh Bardugo
5. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
6. Gothikana, by RuNyx
7. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man, by Jesse Q Sutanto
8. Funny Story, by Emily Henry
9. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
10. Letter to the Luminous Deep V1, by Sylvie Cathrall

For some reason, I had not one but two discussions about dark romance in the last two weeks. I guess I could have showed them Gothikana, which hits our paperback bestseller list after a run in hardcover. From Publishers Weekly: "RuNyx balances this epic romance with danger: students at Verenmore have been dying by suicide for years, while others go missing at the school's infamous Black Ball, a fabled masquerade dance. Could Corvina be next? The author's delight in all things gothic is clear, and she leans into both the romance and the darkness. Her unflinching examination of mental health, suicide, alienation, and sexual power dynamics is especially commendable. This brazen, page-turning love story is a winner." Once we're out of signed copies, there's a new ISBN.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
3. God Human Animal Machine, by Meghan O'Gieblyn
4. On Tyranny graphic edition, by Timothy Snyder
5. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. Wisconsin Death Trip, by Michael Lesy
8. Struggle for the City, by Dreek G Handley
9. Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe
10. A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever, by Matt Kracht

From the publisher, on A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever: "The irascible unnamed narrator of The Field Guide to Dumb Birds series returns to highlight the horrific, disturbing, and annoying behavior of 50 of the worst birds around the world. First he berates them personally, then rates them scientifically, using his new Bird Universal Mathematical Modeling and Ranking system (BUMMR), which is based on his groundbreaking Framework for Universal Karmic Ratings (FUKRs)."

Books for Kids:
1. Daphne Draws Data, by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
2. You and Me and The Land of Lost Things V1 Adventures Unlimited, by Andy Griffiths, illustrations by Bill Hope
3. Sunrise on the Reaping V5, by Suzanne Collins
4. The 13-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, illustrations by Terry Denton
5. Fearless V3, by Lauren Roberts
6. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd
7. 169-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, illustrations by Terry Denton
8. The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud
9. Goodnight Moon board book, by Margareet Wise Brown, illustrations by Clement Hurd
10. My Seder Plate shaped board book, by Kristen Weber, illustrations by Yaara Cellier

We had several preorder inquiries (not just orders, but folks making sure we were getting copies) for Lauren Roberts Fearless, the latest entry in The Powerless Trilogy, a romantic fantasy about Elites and Ordinaries in the Kindom of Ilya who compete in the Purging Trials. From Publishers Weekly, which reviewed Powerless, the first book in the series: "Paedyn and Kai's alternating POVs skillfully juxtapose steamy romantic encounters with heart-pounding action and gory violence, delivering a tale of political and personal intrigue"

Boswell Book Company bestsellers, week ending April 5, 2025

Boswell Book Company bestsellers, week ending April 5, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Paris Express, by Emma Donoghue (signed copies)
2. The World's Fair Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini (signed copies)
3. Say You'll Remember Me, by Abby Jimenez
4. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen
5. James, by Percival Everett
6. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry, by Elinor Lipman (signed copies)
7. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
8. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
9. A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett
10. The Snowbirds, by Christina Clancy

Our buyer Jason and I were talking about the fantasy/mystery hybrid series like Robert Jackson Bennett's Shadow of the Leviathan series, which combines speculative worldbuilding with the procedural plotline of a thriller. He expects to see more of them. Marlene Harris reviews A Drop of Corruption in Library Journal: "This Holmes and Watson-like investigative duo are compelling to follow, and the truly epic fantasy world where the series is set, with its falling empire, corrupt politics, and magic pharmacopeia engineered from monster blood, takes the familiarity of mystery and creates a truly fantastic fever-dream of a world and a story."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
2. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
3. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
4. Miracles and Wonders, by Elaine Pagels
5. Funny Because It's True, by Christine Wenc
6. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
7. The Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
8. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El-Akkad
9. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
10. The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, by James Marten (Boswell April 8 event)

I'm proud to say that not only did Boswell once host Elaine Pagels along with the Milwaukee Public Library, but also I drove her around! Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus has received four raves, four positives, and a mixed on BookMarks. From Adam Gopnik's rave in The New Yorker: "Pagels’s larger point is that the most improbable Gospel tales serve to patch a fractured narrative - using familiar tropes and myths to smooth over inconsistencies that believers struggled with from the beginning. We repair the rips in memory’s fabric with the filler of fable. (And so, within a decade of George Washington’s death, his undocumented childhood produced the enduring myth of the chopped-down cherry tree.)"

Paperback Fiction:
1. Cemeteries and Galaxies, by John Koethe (signed copies)
2. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley

3. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
4. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
5. The Museum of Lost Quilts, by Jennifer Chiaverini
6. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
7. Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini
8. Any Trope but You, by Victoria Lavine
9. The Secret War of Julia Child, by Diana R Chambers
10. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey

This week, in between our other events, I did a book club talk at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on Kilbourn. I'm doing a fairly similar talk at the bookstore on April 17, which is open to the public - you can register here. I like to read at least one book especially for the talk, and since I've had my eye on The Secret War of Julia Child, and I know the audience there likes historicals, that was my focus title. The thing you have to remember is that because the files are not public, Chambers had to speculate on what Child's life might have been during her World War II service. Officially she was a file clerk. 

Cheryl McKeon at the Book House, an Albany-area independent, praised the book in Shelf Awareness  as "a riveting novel set in World War II's Southeast Asian theater imagines critical contributions by the United States's most unlikely intelligence officer...well-documented historical fiction that pays credit to Child's brave and clever intelligence work for the Office of Strategic Services."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
2. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
3. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
4. Mutual Aid, by Dean Spade
5. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins (Boswell April 23 event)
6. Grief Is for People, by Sloane Crosley
7. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Ferris
8. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
9. Judaism Is About Love, by Shai Held
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Madison-based Dean Robbins is a very popular author of books for kids. We've hosted Robbins at area schools for many of his titles. Now he has a book for adults - Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me. This is from Tim's staff rec: " I've watched Dean use his picture books to gracefully teach groups of young children about heroes like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. I sat with stunned admiration for his ability to explain the complex. This book is my new reason to admire Dean Robbins. It's moving, inspirational, and so much fun!"

Books for Kids:
1. Risky Game V2, by Alyson Gerber
2. Sunrise on the Reaping V5, by Suzanne Collins
3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins
4. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd
6. Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
7. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Good Night Gorilla board book, by Peggy Rathmann
9. The 13-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths (Boswell April 12 event)
10. The Deadliest Spider, by Eleanor Spicer Rice

Peekaboo Dog is the latest board book from the team of Camilla Reid and Ingela P Arrhenius. And I quote: "Peekaboo doghouse, peekaboo pup, peekaboo tail wag, peekaboo up!" We love this series, which has all the excitement of a lift-the-flap book but with a much lower chance of tearing the pages.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 30, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending March 30, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Homicide in the Indian Hills, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (signed copies)
2. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen (signed copies)
3. Tongues V1, by Anders Nilsen
4. James, by Percival Everett
5. The Paris Express, by Emma Donoghue (CelticMKE March 31 event)
6. The Antidote, by Karen Russell
7. When the Moon Hits Your Eye, by John Scalzi
8. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
9. Sons and Daughters, by Chaim Grade
10. The Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

What would happen if the moon turned to cheese? That's the premise of When the Moon Hits Your Eye, the latest from John Scalzi. From Publishers Weekly: "The narrative takes the reader on a day by day journey through this unprecedented lunar cycle, with each day focusing on the perspective of a different character. This structure provides a comprehensive view of the transformation's effects, from the expected (astronauts are disappointed that their upcoming lunar mission has been canceled) to the wildly unanticipated (including the actions of an Elon Muskesque billionaire, who seizes the moment for personal gain), while also returning to enough of the established characters to keep the potential apocalypse from feeling impersonal. Scalzi's ability to balance scathing satire with heartfelt optimism shines."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Sweet Farm, by Molly Yeh (signed copies)
2. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
3. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
4. Stargazer, by Kate Desiderio
5. Careless People, by Sarah Wynn Williams
6. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, by James Marten (Boswell April 8 event)
8. Funny Because It's True, by Christine Wenc
9. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
10. Who Is Government?, edited by Michael Lewis

Who Is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service, is a new anthology edited by Michael Lewis, with entries from Casey Cep, Sarah Vowell, W Kamau Bell, Geraldine Brooks, John Lanchester, and Dave Eggers. From Garrett M Graff in The Washington Post: "The book, an outgrowth of a project led by The Washington Post’s now-departed Opinions editor David Shipley, examines some of the remarkable people who make up the federal workforce — career civil servants who have accomplished the extraordinary in quiet ways, people whose jobs are normally buried layers below any partisan rancor.... What fills me with dread reading this book is that the next reminder we will get about the importance of government in our daily lives will come not in a laudatory, artful profile but in a crisis, when we find out that the person who should have been watching or monitoring or doing this one very specific task we’ve never thought about is no longer there."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
2. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
3. Red Rising, by Pierce Brown
4. The Portable Feminist Reader, edited by Roxane Gay (okay, maybe this is nonfiction)
5. The Parabale of the Sower, by Octavia E Butler
6. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
7. The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
8. The Husbands, by Holly Gramazio
9. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
10. Real Americans, by Rachel Khong

New in paperback is Holly Gramazio's The Husbands, which my friend Margret has convinced me to read. It's also a Read with Jenna book club pick, but in an unusual (and I think, perfectly justified) move, they didn't stamp the icon on the delightful paperback jacket. Two raves and three positives from BookMarks. I am also delighted to find a review from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette from Sharon Skeel, who compares the book to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, of all books: "Gramazio uses the attic as a device to playfully explore her very millennial protagonist’s attitude toward marriage. As each husband offends in some way, Lauren tricks him into the attic, hoping for a superior replacement. With her endless array of choices, she struggles to decide what she prizes most in a mate: Good looks? Money? Companionship?"

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Solito, by Javier Zamora
2. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
3. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
4. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond (UWM April 30 event)
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. On Tyranny graphic edition, by Timothy Snyder
8. Changing My Mind, by Julian Barnes
9. Bismarck's War, by Rachel Chrastil
10. Eve, by Cat Bohannon

Changing my Mind is a collection of essays from Julian Barnes, commissioned for a radio series and repackaged from Notting Hill Editions. I could have sworn that this came out years ago, but I fear I am confusing it with several other nonfiction collectons from the author. I also have no idea what Notting Hill Editions was, so investigations showed me it's an independent publisher that mostly does all text jackets, but they put a little design on this one, for which I'm grateful. On the plus side, they do their jackets in a lot of colors, unlike. Fitzcarraldo Editions, which is all blue on white (nonfiction) or white on blue (fiction). BookMark review archive here.

Books for Kids:
1. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
2. The Very Last Leaf, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Jennifer Davison
3. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Melanie Demmer
4. Q and U Call It Quits, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Jorge Martin
5. The 13 Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths (Boswell April 12 event)
6. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
7. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Our Infinite Fates, by Laura Steven
9. Home, by Matt de la Peña, illustrations by Loren Long
10. My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda, by Bib Dumon Tak, illustrations by Annemarie Van Haeringen and translated by Nancy Forest-Flier.

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda in translated from the Dutch, which is something I don't get to say very often on this blog. This is one of Jen's picks and its got great advance reviews as well. From the starred Booklist: "In a series of presentations that teachers will find as hilarious as their young charges will, an earthworm, a zebra, and 18 more animals deliver oral reports on - other animals...Questions and reactions to each talk from the multispecies audience add further opportunities for banter and fact-dropping so that, along with fairly substantial doses of actual natural history, receptive readers will effortlessly absorb practical advice about researching, organizing, and delivering effective oral presentations of their own."