What's Going on at Boswell This Week April 30-May 5, 2012

Tonight (Monday, April 30) at 6:30 pm, we're heading over to the Shorewood Public Library for Michael Buckley, author of the Sisters Grimm and N.E.R.D.S. series. The 9th Sisters Grimm, The Council of Mirrors, has just been released. In it, Sabrina and Daphne face off against the Master, and the future of Ferryport Landing is at stake. Mr. Buckley will also talk about the N.E.R.D.S. series, and could even preview the 4th installment coming in September, The Villain Virus. It's all happening on 3920 North Murray Avenue, just south of Capitol Drive.

On Tuesday, May 1, 7 pm, we're back at Boswell for the launch of Kentucky Derby Dreams: The Making of Thoroughbred Champions. Author Susan Nusser, who teaches at Carroll University, offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of America's biggest breeding operations, Taylor Made Farms. Published to coincide with racing season, Nusser's book is already winning raves, and who better to judge a horse book than the Louisville Courier Journal. The reviewer notes "Susan Nusser writes of various foalings with all the tension of a John Grisham thriller, alternating heart-tugging reality with medical minutae. She is a gifted storyteller, and the human and animal players in these dramas become friends for whom the reader genuinely feels elation and concern." Join us tomorrow.

Zipping from Carroll to Marquette, we're hosting historian Andrew Kahrl on Wednesday, May 2, 7 pm, for his new book, The Land Was Ours: African American Beaches from Jim Crow to the Sunbelt South. Henry Louis Gates called this "a careful, rich, and provocative book that contributes significantly to our understanding of race in twentieth-century America." Kahrl discusses recent developments, such as the decision to start charging admission at Detroit's Belle Isle Park, on the Harvard University Press blog.

Baseball historian Paul Dickson appears at Boswell on Thursday, May 3, 7 pm, for his new biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. Veeck might be best known as the owner of the Chicago White Sox, but around these parts, it's important to note that his first team was a little minor league operation known as The Milwaukee Brewers. The Chicago Sun Times called Dickson's biography a "comprehensive, steady and spirited work." And of course interest in the biography is driving sales of the acclaimed memoir Veeck as in Wreck. I noticed the book had sold out at both our wholesalers.

Back in 2009, we hosted an evening that pitted the best of the undergraduates in the creative writing programs at UWM and Marquette in a read off. This year we've decided to increase the stakes. On Friday, May 4, 7 pm, undergraduates from UWM, Marquette, Cardinal Stritch, and Carroll will come together to read from their work. It's a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and we're looking forward to a fun evening.

On Saturday, May 5, we're at the Milwaukee Public Market at 11 am, for a demo with Jenny Lewis for her book, Midwest Sweet Baking History: Delectable Classics Around Lake Michigan. This culinary history looks at the entrepreneurial stories that led to some of our most iconic foods. It includes what is thought to be the original brownie recipe, developed by the Palmer House. The Chicago publication Elm Leaves notes that "for foodies and those with no interest in the kitchen, the book presents an intriguing array of immigrant and entrepreneurial stories."

The Milwaukee Public Market is located at 400 North Water Street. Validated parking is available. Also note that while time limits are enforced, metered parking is free on Saturdays downtown and in the Third Ward. While you're there, pick up your own sweet treats at C. Adams Bakery. The Boswellians swear by the cake bites!