Boswell events this week: Michael Koryta, Thomas Sweetser, Gregory Lee Renz at Boswell - plus registration may still be open for David Maraniss and Yossi Klein Halevi

Special Memorial Day Hours - we're open until 5 pm.

Tuesday, May 28, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Koryta, author of If She Wakes, in conversation with Nick Petrie

Michael Koryta, the author Stephen King called a master of thriller writing, chats with Milwaukee’s Nick Petrie about If She Wakes, Koryta’s electrifying new novel about two women fighting for their lives against an enigmatic killer. Cosponsored by Crimespree Magazine.

From Colette Bancroft in The Tampa Bay Times: "Imagine waking in a hospital bed, aware of what’s going on around you but unable to move or communicate in any way. Imagine you can’t even blink. Imagine you don’t know how you ended up trapped inside your own head. Terrifying, right? Now imagine that you begin to figure out what happened to you - and realize that someone is still trying to kill you."

A horrific car crash leaves Tara in a vegetative state. Or so her doctors think. Trapped in her body, she learns that someone wants her dead, but what can she do, lying in a hospital bed? Abby Kaplan, an insurance investigator, is hired to look into Tara's case. Despite the fog of her own trauma, Abby can tell Tara's car crash was no accident. When she starts asking questions, things quickly spin out of control, leaving Abby on the run and a mysterious young hit man hard on her heels. More from my Saturday post about If She Wakes.

Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of thirteen novels, most recently, How It Happened. His previous novels, including Last Words, Those Who Wish Me Dead, and So Cold the River, were New York Times notable books and nominated for numerous awards, including having won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Koryta is a former private investigator and newspaper reporter. Nick Petrie is the Milwaukee-based author of the award-winning Drifter series of thrillers, including The Drifter, winner of the ITW Thriller Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and most recently, Tear It Down.


Wednesday, May 29, 11:00 am, at Wisconsin Club’s City Club:
David Maraniss, author of A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father

This year's Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Literary Luncheon features the Pulitzer-winning journalist David Maraniss, author of the classic biography of Vince Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered. Tickets may still be available by calling (414) 286-8720.

A Good American Family is a riveting book that captures the pervasive fear and paranoia that gripped America during the Red Scare of the 50s through the chilling story of his own family's ordeal. Elliott Maraniss, David’s father, a WWII veteran who had commanded an all-black company in the Pacific, was spied on by the FBI, named as a communist by an informant, called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, fired from his newspaper job, and blacklisted for five years. Yet he never lost faith in America and emerged on the other side with his family and optimism intact. More on NPR's Morning Edition.

David Maraniss is an Associate Editor at The Washington Post and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt University. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times. Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Roberto Clemente, and a trilogy that includes RFK Book Prize-winner Once in a Great City and They Marched into Sunlight, winner of the J. Anthony Lucas Prize and Pulitzer Finalist in History.

Signed copies of A Good American Family may be available after this event.

Wednesday, May 29, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Thomas Sweetser, author of Can Francis Change the Church?: How American Catholics Are Responding to His Leadership

Jesuit Thomas Sweetser has worked for more than 35 years with Catholic faith communities on evaluation and renewal. In 2011, he set out to interview a broad range of American Catholics about their relationship with the Church. A few years into the new papacy, Sweetser asked the same people again. Had anything changed with Pope Francis? The answers are enlightening for the church's future.

Based on before/after interviews, Can Francis Change the Church? is a helpful resource for everyone concerned about the Church. The value of this book lies in the direct conversations with people from very different walks of life between 20 and 80 years old which touch on hot button questions such as hierarchy, women in the church, and sexual abuse, and offer insights into the nature of a deep desire for authentic spirituality.

Thomas P Sweetser is Founder and Director of the Parish Evaluation Project. He has taught at the Institute of Pastoral Studies, at Loyola University of Chicago, at the University of Dayton in Ohio, Boston College, University of Seattle, Retreats International, and Loyola University in New Orleans. He is author of numerous books and his articles have appeared in National Catholic Reporter, Commonwealth, and Chicago Studies, among others

Thursday, May 30, 7:00 pm, at Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshurun:
Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

Milwaukee Jewish Federation presents Yossi Klein Halevi for a dessert reception, book talk, and signing. Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Community Read. Register online to attend this free event.

Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.

Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the Wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians and into the hearts of “the enemy.” In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland, which he is now desperate to see succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.


Yossi Klein Halevi is an author and commentator on Jewish and Israeli affairs. He is a senior fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute, where he co-directs, together with Imam Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim Leadership Initiative. His book, Like Dreamers, won the 2013 Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. He lives in Jerusalem.

Friday, May 31, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Gregory Lee Renz, author of Beneath the Flames, in conversation with Liam Callanan

Gregory Lee Renz served as a firefighter for 28 years, retired as Fire Captain, and was inducted into the Police and Fire Hall of Fame. Now Renz appears at Boswell with his debut novel, a story of love, race, and life as a firefighter.

When young farmer and volunteer firefighter Mitch Garner blames himself for a fire’s tragic outcome, he becomes convinced his only hope for redemption is to journey to Milwaukee’s inner city to prove himself as a professional firefighter.

Mitch is assigned to the busiest firehouse in the heart of one of the most blighted areas of Milwaukee, and soon, he’s ready to quit. Then he meets Jasmine Richardson, a brash adolescent. Despite Jasmine’s contempt toward Mitch, her courage and devotion to her little sister inspire him to stay and dedicate himself to helping her and the neighboring children overcome the hopelessness of growing up in poverty.

More upcoming events on Boswell's upcoming events page. Why not sign up for our email newsletter?

Photo credits:
Michael Koryta - Jonathan Mehring
David Maraniss - Lucian Perkins David
Yossi Klein Halevi - Ilir Bajraktari /The Tower