What's Selling at Boswell, Week Ending July 14, 2012?

Hardcover fiction:
1. This Bright River, by Patrick Somerville
2. Gold, by Chris Cleave (event 7/16)
3. Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harknesss
4. A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin
5. Sacré Bleu, by Christopher Moore

Janet Maslin's two favorite books take the top spots this week.  I won't link to the Sunday Book review piece for Gold (being a senstive emotional guy can be tough, can't it?), though Jay Jennings in the San Francisco Chronicle notes that "at times Cleave can be as sensitive as Alice Munro in his portrayal of small human moments" $5 Pablove fundraiser tickets available here.

Hardcover nonfiction:
1. The Good Food Revolution, by Will Allen
2. Bushville Wins, by John Klima
3. Barack Obama: The Story, by David Maraniss (event 7/18)
4. The President's Club, by Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs
5. The Price of Inequality, by Joseph E. Stiglitz

Dueling Norton economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman have been steady sellers for us since their recent dual releases. Even their jackets are similar. But this week The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future takes the lead. The Guardian's Yvonne Roberts seems to enjoy how "Stiglitz methodically and lyrically (almost joyously) exposes the myths that provide justification for 'deficit fetishism' and the rule of austerity." No surprise, the Financial Times review was less positive.

Paperback fiction:
1. Pryme Knumber, by Matt Flynn
2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
3. State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett
4. Fifty Shades Darker, by E.L. James
5. The Bay of Foxes, by Sheila Kohler
6. Fifty Shades Freed, by E.L. James
7. Becoming Jane Eyre, by Sheila Kohler
8. My American Unhappiness, by Dean Bakopoulos
9. The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
10. The Devil All the Time, by Donald Ray Pollock (event 7/17)

Our paperback fictions were strong enough this week to extend the list to five; it is also the only way to get new titles on the list, what with the domination by E.L. James. We've got a lot of event authors on the list this week; if you exclude E.L. James, whom we're not hosting, though folks of course have asked, the only non-event author on the list is Julie Otsuka. We've got several book clubs hosting her including the in-store lit group on August 6. Perhaps our sales momentum will bode well for us making the cut for a future Otsuka tour.

Paperback nonfiction:
1. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, by Alexandra Fuller
2. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller
3. Tiny Beautiful Things, by Cheryl Strayed
4. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson
5. Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer

Following the success of Wild, Strayed's publisher has released Tiny Beautiful Things, her "Dear Sugar" columns from The Rumpus. No cheap add on this, both Stacie and Sharon are huge fans of the book.

Books for kids:
1. The Flavor of Wisconsin for Kids, by Terese Allen and Bobbi Malone
2. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
3. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
4. Numbers, by Thierry Laval
5. Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan

Terese Allen and Bobbi Malone are both doing events are the state for The Flavor of Wisconsin for Kids. I noticed that Malone is signing at Old World Wisconsin on August 5, while Allen will do a talk at the Eat Local Challenge at the Urban Ecology Center on Saturday, August 25, 1 pm, co-sponsored by Outpost Natural Foods.