Monday's Over the Top Event Post--Happy Anniversary to Us.

Alas, our website is currently down and so we are not able to link to titles or Anne Lamott tickets. I will update this page with links as soon as I can. Tickets to Lamott are still available in person or by phone, at 414-332-1181.

Tuesday, April 2, 7 pm, co-sponsored by Alliance Française Milwaukee:
Cara Black, author of Murder Below Montparnasse.

"A long-lost Modigliani portrait, a grieving brother's blood vendetta, a Soviet secret that's been buried for 80 years--Parisian private investigator Aimee Leduc's current case is her most exciting one yet. When Aimee's long-term partner and best friend Rene leaves their detective agency for a new job in Silicon Valley, Aimee knows she can handle the extra workload. At least, that what she tells herself. Repeatedly. But all bets are off when Yuri Volodya, a mysterious old Russian man, hires Aimee to protect a painting.

By the time she gets to his Montparnasse atelier, the precious painting has already been stolen, leaving Aimee smelling a rat. The next day, Yuri is found tortured to death in his kitchen. To top it all off, it looks like Aimee isn't the only one looking for the painting. Some very dangerous people are threatening her and her coworkers, and witnesses are dropping like flies. Now Aimee has to find the painting, stop her attackers, and figure out what her long-missing mother, who is on Interpol's most wanted list, has to do with all this--fingers crossed she wasn't Yuri's murderer, despite clues pointing in that direction."

Come in and enter our Aimee Leduc Paris giveaway, sponsored by Soho Press.

Boswellian Anne said that the Cara Black novels are always fun and Murder Below Montparnasse is no exception. And here's Tom Nolan's roundup of European mysteries in The Wall Street Journal.

Alan Furst, author of Night Soldiers and many other wonderful European-based novels of historical intrigue, praised Cara Black's work as "Transcendently, seductively, irresistibly French."

Wednesday, April 3, 2 pm:
Come join us for the first round of birthday/anniversary cupcakes from Milwaukee Cupcake Company. Included are this week's flavors, including what I remember to be a strawberry, chocolate blueberry, and Jamaican ginger.

Wednesday, April 3, 7 pm, at Boswell, our 4th birthday/anniversary celebration!
Danielle Trussoni, author of Angelopolis.

Wisconsin-bred Danielle Trussoni returns to Milwaukee for Angelopolis, the follow-up for her bestselling novel, Angelology.  We're celebrating with mini-cupcakes, some angel-themed.

"Conceived against an astonishing fresh tableau of history and science, Angelopolis plumbs Russia's imperial past, modern genetics, and ancient depictions of that most potent angelic appearance--the Annunciation of Gabriel--in a high-octane tale of abduction, treasure seeking, and divine warfare as the fate of humanity once again hangs in the balance.

" A decade has passed since Verlaine saw Evangeline alight from the Brooklyn Bridge, the sight of her new wings a betrayal that haunts him still. Now an elite angel hunter for the Society of Angelology, he pursues his mission with single-minded devotion: to capture, imprison, and eliminate her kind. But when Evangeline suddenly appears on a twilit Paris street, Verlaine finds her nature to be unlike any of the other creatures he so mercilessly pursues, casting him into a spiral of doubt and confusion that only grows when she is abducted before his eyes by a creature who has topped the society's most-wanted list for more than a century. The ensuing chase drives Verlaine and his fellow angelologists from the shadows of the Eiffel Tower to the palaces of St. Petersburg and deep into the provinces of Siberia and the Black Sea coast, where the truth of Evangeline's origins--as well as forces that could restore or annihilate them all--lie in wait."

Bobby Tanzilo caught up with Trussoni for OnMilwaukee.com. Here's a short teaser:

OnMilwaukee.com: Can you tell me a bit about what made you decide to do a sequel to Angelology.

Danielle Trussoni: I didn't plan for this to be a series when I began to write Angelology. But when I'd finished, I realized that there was more to the story than what I'd originally believed. Also, I had so much fun writing Angelology that I wanted to keep going. So Angelopolis grew out of a need to continue...

Read the rest here.

Wednesday, April 3, 7 pm, at the Lynden Sculpture Garden,
2145 West Brown Deer Road:
a ticketed event with Jessica Hagy, author of How to be Interesting (in Ten Simple Steps). Tickets for this event are $15, and include admission to the grounds, a copy of How to Be Interesting (in Ten Simple Steps), wine and refreshments. Register here.

Thursday, April 4, 7:30 am, at Open MiKE,
161 W. Grand Avenue, second floor:
a pre-registered event with Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting (in Ten Simple Steps)
Register for this event here.

"Are you boring? Are you stuck in a rut? Do you need new stories to tell? If yes, then pick up Jessica Hagy's How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps). Inside you'll find encouragement and explanations on how to be a brighter you. Each tip comes with a handy diagram that will motivate you to change your routine and try something new"
--Hannah Johnson-Breimeir, Boswell Book Company

Want a little more preview? You really need to take a look at this combination inspiration/evolution/entrepreneurship/networking/purpose-driven guide. Here's Hagy's TED talk in Columbus.



Thursday, April 4, 6:30 pm, at Greenfield Public Library,
5310 W Layton Ave  Greenfield, WI 53220:
Teen Reads Night!

Alas, Alyson Noel has a family emergency and is now unable to be part of teen reads night. That said, C.C. Hunter and Rainbow Rowell will still be there for a great event.


C.C. Hunter, author of Shadow Falls #4: Whispers at Moonrise.
Shadow Falls is the bestselling series about Kyle Galen, who faces expected (and also unexpected) struggles when she attends a camp for supernatural teens.

Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor and Park.
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this stunning debut tells the story of two star-crossed misfits falling in love for the first time. John Green said in The New York Times Book Review, "Eleanor and Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."

Boswellian Amie said that she loved the characters in Eleanor and Park. Two misfits finding each other in the midst of all that great eighties music was fabulous.

And also on Thursday, April 4, 7:30 pm, at the UWM Hefter Center, 3271 N. Lake Drive:
Arthur Sze, author of The Ginkgo Light and other books of poetry.

Earlier this year, UWM hosted Beau Boudreaux, reading. Now it's time for the Boudreaux Reading.

Arthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American. His poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and have been translated into Albanian, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Romanian, and Turkish. Sze is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lannon Literary Award.

Friday, April 5, 4 pm, at Elm Grove Public Library,
13600 Juneau Blvd, Elm Grove, WI 53122:
Brandon Mull, author of  Beyonders Volume 3: Chasing the Prophecy, as well as the Candy Shop War and Fablehaven series.

Jason and Rachel were not born in Lyrian. They did not grow up in Lyrian. But after all of the battles and losses, the triumphs and adventures, and most of all, the friendships fought in this fantastical world, Lyrian has become home to them in a way they never cough have imagined. And so, armed now with the prophecy of a dying oracle, they have gone on their separate quests--each surrounded by brave and powerful allies--knowing that the chance for success is slim. But Jason and Rachel are ready at last to become the heroes Lyrian needs, no matter the cost.

Friday, April 5, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Dean Strang, author of Worse than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror

In 1917 a bomb exploded in a Milwaukee police station, killing nine officers and a civilian. Those responsible never were apprehended, but police, press, and public all assumed that the perpetrators were Italian. Days later, eleven alleged Italian anarchists went to trial on unrelated charges involving a fracas that had occurred two months before. Against the backdrop of World War I, and amidst a prevailing hatred and fear of radical immigrants, the Italians had an unfair trial. The specter of the larger, uncharged crime of the bombing haunted the proceedings and assured convictions of all eleven. Although Clarence Darrow led an appeal that gained freedom for most of the convicted, the celebrated lawyer's methods themselves were deeply suspect. The entire case left a dark, if hidden, stain on American justice.

Largely overlooked for almost a century, the compelling story of this case emerges vividly in this meticulously researched book by Dean A. Strang. In its focus on a moment when patriotism, nativism, and terror swept the nation, Worse than the Devil exposes broad concerns that persist even today as the United States continues to struggle with administering criminal justice to newcomers and outsiders.

Dean Strang, a Milwaukee-area native, is a criminal defense lawyer in Madison, Wisconsin, and an adjunct professor at the law schools of the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University.

Saturday, April 6, 10:30 am, at Shorewood Village Center, 3920 N. Murray,
co-sponsored by the Shorewood Historical Society and the Friends of the Shorewood Public Library:

Jerry Apps, author of Garden Wisdom, Rural Wisdom, Limping Through Life: A Farm Boy's Polio Memoir,  and more.

Jerry Apps has a been a rural Wisconsin historian and environmental writer for more than 40 years. He is also a wonderful story teller and inspirational speaker.

About his most recent novel, Tamarack River Ghost, Booklist praised it as "A masterfully crafted story that vibrantly captures weighty issues of environmental protection, family farming, and contemporary communications."

Saturday, April 6, 7 pm, at Boswell:
a ticketed event with Anne Lamott, author Some Assembly Required: A Journal of my Son's First Son, plus Help, Thanks, Wow, Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, and More.

Tickets are still available for this event. $15 gets you admission to Boswell to see Lamott (the store closes early at 5:30 for non attendees this Saturday) and a paperback copy of Some Assembly Required. On the night of the event only, you also have the option of a $10 Boswell gift card.

The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune says that Some Assemply Required "Highlights the trademark humor we've come to expect from Lamott, with laugh-out-loud one-liners that are both self-deprecating and wise ... a welcome addition in the larger Gospel of Lamott "

For a preview, here's Anne Lamott talking with Cheryl Strayed.



Sunday, April 7, 1 pm, at Boswell Write In, with a 3 pm Open Mic, sponsored by UWM's Furrow Magazine.

What's a write in? It's where a bunch of introverted writer types get together and write their hearts out. The UWM Creative Writing students will offer prompts every once in a while for anyone who gets stumped. It's free and open to all. 

More on the Furrow website.