To Round Up or Not to Round Up--What Books are Being Talked About in Milwaukee Media?

For the last month or so, I spent Friday or Saturday combing through television, film, and radio hits for books in the Milwaukee area, plus some of the key Wisconsin Public Radio shows with good Milwaukee penetration.

As I was keeping track of the posts, I also noticed that these posts were not among our most popular for hits (unlike, say, the regular bestseller and new and noteworthy posts) and were not being liked on Facebook, which really is our best indications of what people want. So there you have it--hard to do, hard to sell, nobody interested. Why am I doing this?

So I skipped last week and then told one of my friends, a semi-regular reader of the blog, and he said, "That's my favorite feature." Oh, come on! So how could I revamp this to make it work? For one thing, it doesn't have to be so regular. And of course, I can just do the books that I think will be of interest to our customers.

The Shepherd Express Book Preview was for Steven Pinker at Boswell on Friday, author of A Sense of Style. They also mentioned the Books and Company event for Lorna Landvik's Best to Laugh, on Wednesday, October 15.

Also reviewed:
--Three capsule reviews of books on the Mideast
--Eric Beaumont's review of Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin, by David Ritz
--David Luhrssen reviews Max Egremont's Some Desperate Glory: The First World War the Poets Knew.

Here are some of the Lake Effect guests of late:
--Monday, September 29, Betsy Woodman, author of Emeralds Included
--Tuesday, September 30, Jerome Klinkowitz, author of Frank Lloyd Wright and His Manner of Thought
-- Thursday, October 2, Ray Pamatmat, playwright of the current rep production of After All the Terrible Things I do, currently playing at the Milwaukee Rep's Steimke Theatre. It's set in a bookstore!
--Monday, October 6, what I think is a reairing of Andy Mozima's Quality Snacks short story collection.
--Tuesday, Ocrober 7, Janet Halfmann, a South Milwaukee writer who has penned 40 kids' books. Her newest is Animal Teachers.
--Wednesday, October 8, Brian Benson, author of Going Somewhere.

In Dial/Urban Milwaukee, Will Stotts, Jr's book of the week is Joshua Ferris's To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. 

In OnMilwaukee.com, Bobby Tanzilo profiles Mark Warhus, whose e-reader only novel is Temporary Saints.  
 
Kathleen Dunn guests:
--Monday, October 6, Nancy Pearl offers ten book recommendations. A few of the recommendations are here. Note if you pledge, you can get the whole list!
a. Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher
b. The Soul of Viktor Tronko, by David Quammen (Pearl is publishing this herself in her Booklust imprint for her website partner)
c. Drinking: A Love Story, by Caroline Knapp (Boswellian Anne loves this too.)
d. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer (her book club pick)
-Tuesday, October 7, Jon Katz, author of Saving Simon: How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion 

Here are a couple of Joy Cardin interviews on WPR:
--Monday, September 29, Gail Sheehy, author of Daring: My Passages
--Thursday, October 2, Diane Ackerman, author of A World Shaped by Us

And I should also note that Larry Meiller talked to Michael Largo, author of The Big Bad Book of Botany, on Friday, October 3.

 If you like this feature, show it by either liking it on Facebook or forwarding it to your friends to increase the number of hits.