Monday Event Post--Michael Ennis, Emma Straub, Nick Bruel, Len Zubrensky and Gary N. Guten, UWM Student Faculty Reading, Grant Petersen, and Penny Marshall.

Monday, September 17, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Ennis, author of The Malice of Fortune.

“The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis is a tightly crafted murder mystery set in the early 16th Century Italian Renaissance of Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli. It calls to mind nothing so much as Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, a comparison to which it holds up nicely. Who better than Da Vinci to bring a nascent scientific mind to an otherwise bewildering set of clues ... who better than Machiavelli to navigate the convoluted intrigues of a corrupt political system that has everything to do with the mystery and its solution.

"United by the main character, a more or less retired high-class and well-educated courtesan (or "honest whore" as she styles herself) who happens to have been the lover of Pope's murdered son and the mother of his (the pope's) grandson. This will appeal to mystery buffs and fans of historical fiction alike.”
--Conrad, Boswell Book Company

Read my blog post about The Malice of Fortune.

Tuesday, September 18, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Emma Straub, author of Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures.

“Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures begins in Door County, Wisconsin in 1920. Elsa Emerson is the youngest of three daughters, and her parents run a playhouse. She dreams of becoming a movie actress, and she marries and runs away to Los Angeles while still very young. She is discovered and becomes a star named Laura Lamont.

"The atmosphere of old Hollywood is certainly intoxicating, but I didn't really appreciate Laura until things started to go south for her. Then, the reader learns what strength Laura possesses, and can appreciate her as a person, and not just a glamorous actress.”
Sharon Boswell Book Company

Read my blog post about Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures

Wednesday, September 19, 6:30 pm, at Greenfield Public Library
Nick Bruel, author and illustrator of Bad Kitty for President.
Event location: 5310 West Layton Avenue, Greenfield 53220

The votes are in--it's a Bad Kitty landslide! It's time to elect a new president of the Neighborhood Cat Coalition! Who will win the election? The candidate chosen by the kitties on the right side of the street or the candidate chosen by the kitties on the left side of the street? When election time rolls around, one candidate (guess who?) will discover that she never bothered to register to vote and the entire election will be decided by a surprise, last minute absentee ballot sent by Old Kitty.

I know we promised that Bad Kitty would also attending, but we've just learned that BK got sick and won't be attending.

Thursday, September 20, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Len Zubrensky and Gary N. Guten, authors of How to Live Almost Forever.

“There are two ways to age: successfully or unsuccessfully. This is a book for those of us who wish to age successfully. It provides a clear pathway to better health and fitness as we face the inevitable march of time that rudely impacts our bodies and minds. After all, growing old is not for sissies. We need all the help we can get. This book is help coming to the rescue.” — T. Michael Bolger, JD, President Emeritus, The Medical College of Wisconsin

Dr. Guten and Mr. Zubrensky will be speaking at this event.

Friday, September 21, 7 pm, at Boswell:
UWM Student/Faculty Reading.

Featured reader is poet Rebecca Dunham.

Saturday, September 22, 2 pm, at Boswell:
Grant Petersen, author of Just Ride.
This talk will be followed by a casual bike ride with Grant and Mel, one of several of our bicycling booksellers.

Grant Petersen raced for six years, worked at a major international bike maker as a designer and marketer, and eventually opened his own shop: Rivendell, in Walnut Creek, CA. His new book, Just Ride, aims to remind us that “Your bike is a toy. Have fun with it.” Prefaced with such memorable titles as “Ride like a fairy, not an ox” and “Saddles don’t cause impotence,” his reminder comes in the form of 89 pithy mini-essays that cover technique, gear, attire, safety, health, maintenance, and more.

Dave Eggers wrote in his recent New York Times review that “Grant Petersen’s Just Ride is a wonderfully sane, down to earth and frequently funny guide to riding, maintaining, fixing and enjoying your bicycle. That so much common sense will be considered revelatory, even revolutionary, is a testament to how loony the bike world has become.”

Saturday, September 22, 4 pm, at City Hall (where every Laverne and Shirley episode started):
Penny Marshall, author of My Mother was Nuts.
Event location: 200 East Wells Street, Milwaukee 53202
This is part of the Doors Open Milwaukee event.
It's free, but Marshall is only signing books, which we will have for sale.

Kirkus calls Penny Marshall’s new memoir “bold and irrespressibly sassy.” It goes on sale tomorrow.

I might do another post talking about how and why I wound up agreeing to co-sponsor an event for a book published by Amazon, but I simply don’t have enough space here. What I can say is that for a retailer, it’s even hard to use the trailer, because while it’s hilarious, it only shows a link to Amazon. But at least at this point (in the future, who knows?) Amazon still would like a retail partner for an event of this sort. Enjoy the trailer, but don’t let it hypnotize you—you can still buy My Mother was Nuts from us.


If only they didn’t have Amazon all over this, I think a lot more people would link to this. I can’t figure out why this ad is so hard sell. Would Scribner or Viking or Crown have more than one call to buy in an ad, even in jest?