Monday, March 28, 2011

Bestsellers, Plus Josh Alan Friedman Tonight (3/28)

Let’s get right to the bestsellers. Alas, adding photos is suddenly destroying my formatting, so I'm going to skip on jacket candy for this post.

Hardcover fiction:
1. The Tiger’s Wife, by Tèa Obreht
2. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
3. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, By Alexander McCall Smith
4. Drawing Conclusions, by Donna Leon
5. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
Another big pop in sales for Obreht, dwarfing her challengers.

Hardcover nonfiction:
1. Wine Bar Food, by Tony and Cathy Mantuano*
2. Life on the Line, by Grant Achatz
3. Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton
4. The Physics of the Future, by Michio Kaku
5. The Information, by James Gleick
Food, science, and food science dominate this list.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese
2. The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
3. A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
4. Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon
5. Every Last One, by Anna Quindlen
# 3 Egan wins the NBCC prize after losing the NBA to #4 Gordon. Event-heavy

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Bizarre Truth, by Andrew Zimmern*
2. Tattoos on the Heart, by Gregory Boyle
3. Life in Year One, by Scott Korb
4. The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten Free, by Anne Byrn
5. The Immomrtal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot *Our two headliners at the Wisconsin Restaurant Show.

Kids Books
1. Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad, by Jacky Davis
2. Danger Box, by Blue Baillett
3. Little White Rabbit, by Kevin Henkes
4. I am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore
5. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
I think this is dystopian Lore’s first appearance. The Ladybug Girl has a display at the front register, and is featured on our ladybug table.

Tonight we're hosting Josh Alan Friedman, author of Black Cracker, from Wyatt Doyle Books. I mention the publisher as Mr. Doyle and I have emailed each other back and forth a bit and feel like I know him.

Black Cracker is a memoir of growing up on Long Island, being white Jewish kid attending a predominantly African American school. He's a blues musician with the writing gene implanted--his father is acclaimed writer Bruce Jay Friedman. Friedman has already had customers coming in from his recent interview on Lake Effect. You can listen to it here.

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