Event alert - Michelle Gallen, author of Big Girl, Small Town, in conversation with Jim Higgins

We just have one event this week, but it's a great one - Michelle Gallen will be in conversation, live from Dublin, with Journal Sentinel Book and Arts Editor Jim Higgins for Big Girl, Small Town on Tuesday, December 29, 2 pm Central (that's 8 pm Dublin time). Her book was published in December and has been a big hit at Boswell. In fact, we've run out of books - we have more on order from the publisher and wholesaler. But that's no reason not to attend virtually - you can register for the Zoom webinar right here.  Cohosted by CelticMKE.

Big Girl, Small Town was published by Algonquin on December 1. That's not always an auspicious time for literary fiction - by then, many reviewers are already turning to year-end compilations, so late great reviews wind up bumping year-end hosannas until the following year. That was the case for Perumal Murugan's The Story of a Goat (December 10, 2019 release date), which wound up on New York Times critic Perul Seghal's top books of 2020. 

Here's what Ron Charles wrote in The Washington Post when he reviewed Gallen's debut: "This year’s publishing season is over. The important, noisy novels have all been released. The prizes have been awarded. The list of Best Books for 2020 has been posted. But hold the door! Make room for this late arrival from Dublin: an immensely lovable debut novel by Michelle Gallen called Big Girl, Small Town." As you can gather from this intro, he really liked it. Maybe it will be in Charles's top ten of 2021.

Jim Higgins of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is also a fan, and that's what led to this event. He mentioned enjoying it, and then we got a sneak preview that the book would land on his editor's choice for the year. I wondered if he'd be up for an afternoon of conversation. And he was! We went through the proper publishing channels to set things up.

Here's what Higgins wrote in his end-of-year writeup: "Bright, earthy and funny, Majella works in a chip shop in a Northern Ireland border town, copes with her alcoholic ma and watches Dallas DVDs to relax. She's also on the autism spectrum, constantly analyzing the people around her to know how to respond. The star of Gallen's novel is my most unforgettable fictional character of 2020."

Our event is free and co-hosted by CelticMKE. Want a wee taste of what's to come? Here's Michelle Gallen with her sampling of Irish slang. More when Gallen speaks to Jim Higgins about Big Girl, Small Town on Tuesday, December 29, 2 pm CST. 

Boswell bestsellers, week ending December 26, 2020

Boswell bestsellers, week ending December 26, 2020

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
2. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar
3. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
4. Deacon King Kong, by James McBride
5. Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno Garcia
6. The Searcher, by Tana French
7. A Deadly Education, by Naomi Novik
8. The Second Home, by Christina Clancy
9. Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman
10. Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi
11. The Children's Bible, by Lydia Millett
12. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by V.E. Schwab
13. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
14. Perestroika in Paris, by Jane Smiley
16. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

I looked at Lydia Millet's sales since we've been open and none of her titles (she's fairly prolific, with a book every two years or so) even hit the upper single digits. So The Children's Bible is practically the definition of a breakout, helped by 10-best status on The New York Times. Here's Kay's rec: "Millet gathers a large group of old friends and their children for an extended summer vacation in a ginormous rented house. The children, largely teens, are more or less forgotten by their drunken, self-absorbed parents. The kids, embarrassed - even horrified - by their parents’ behaviors, actively disown them and take charge of their own vacation. A gigantic, climate-change-driven storm takes them all by surprise, causes significant destruction, and widens the wedge between adults and kids. Without giving away more of the story, Millet suggests the younger generation has the drive, but perhaps not all the tools, to save themselves, and even their disdained parents..."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
2. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Wintering, by Katherine May
4. Bag Man, by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz
5. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle
6. The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson
7. The Naturalist: A Graphic Adaptation, by Edward O. Wilson
8. Humans, by Brandon Stanton
9. Dessert Person, by Claire Saffitz
10. What It's Like to Be a Bird, by David Sibley
11. Pappyland, by Wright Thompson
12. Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald
13. The King of Confidence, by Miles Harvey
14. Modern Comfort Food, by Ina Garten
15. Is This Anything, by Jerry Seinfeld

I've noted that while it's been a great year for books, there have been some holes. There doesn't seem to be a sports book that crossed over to our audience, and while there were lots of hit cookbooks, the only food narrative that really worked for us was Pappyland, and I couldn't get into it, despite me enthusiastically pushing a craft beer book several years ago. It felt like we were a little short of big histories and biographies. Though we did nicely with The Year 1000 (a top five for Conrad, though I don't have a rec to share), being #2 on Edelweiss for the country suggested it didn't work elsewhere. I also noted that our huge success with The King of Confidence was duplicated, but it was all in the Midwest (once again, using the Edelweiss peer sales as a guide). The rest of the country took this as a regional book - too bad for them!

Paperback Fiction:
1. Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart
2. Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen (Register for December 29 event here)
3. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
4. Through This Door, edited by Peggy Rozga and Angela Trudell Vasquez
5. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
6. Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu
7. Home Body, by Rupi Kaur
8. Circe, by Madeline Miller
9. Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
10. Devotions, by Mary Oliver

If you'd ask me in 2000 what I thought a paperback bestseller list would look like twenty years in the future at my theoretical bookstore, would I have said poetry and prize-winners? I think not. Even the books that flirt with genre like Interior Chinatown (a Jason rec: "Delivers several knock-out punches at our society and culture") and The Water Dancer are not exactly what you'd call escapist. More of that on the hardcover list!

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Walking Milwaukee, by Royal Brevvaxling and Molly Snyder
2. American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, by Charles Hagner
3. Classic Restaurants of Milwaukee, by Jennifer Billock
4. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
5. Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe
6. The Ungrateful Refugee, by Dina Nayeri
7. Sapiens: A Graphic History, by Yuval Noah Harari
8. What's Your Enneatype, by Liz Carver
9. 111 Places in Milwaukee You Must Not Miss, by Michelle Madden 

10. The Seine, by Elaine Sciolino

The second half of the holiday season has a closer-to-average bestseller list with 4 of the 10 books in this category being regional. A late entry was Classic Restaurants of Milwaukee by Jennifer Billock, who had her launch with Historic Milwaukee. Now-gone gems like Oriental Drugs and the Public Natatorium (closed in 1985 - just missed it and the dolphin shows!?) mix with staples like Solly's. What about Frenchys? How about Sally's? And what of the German staples, Karl Ratzsch and John Ernst?You'll have to read the book to find out.

Books for Kids
1. Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen
2. If You Come to Earth, by Sophie Blackall
3. Bunheads, by Misty Copeland and Setor Fladzigbey
4. Atlas of Record Breaking Adventures, by Lucy Letherland
5. Cozy, by Jan Brett
6. The One and Only Bob, by Katherine Applegate
7. No Reading Allowed by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
8. Cat Kid Comic Club, by Dav Pilkey
9. Bad Guys V1, by Aaron Blabey
10. Mysteries of the Universe, by DK/Will Gater
11. Legendborn, by Tracey Deonn
12. Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger
13. Elevator Bird, by Sarah Williamson
14. The Deep End, by Jeff Kinney
15. The Snowy Day board book, by Ezra Jack Keats

In the YA world, two staff favorites have nice showings in the week before Christmas, Elatsoe from Amie and Legendborn from Jenny. I was aware of Jenny's top 5, but it was only when I read her rec card that I learned that Tracy Deonn's debut is her top pick. Her review: "Sixteen-year-old Bree enrolls in the Early College program at the University of North Carolina after the sudden and devastating loss of her mother. During Bree’s first week on campus, a Shadowborn demon attacks her, throwing Bree into the world of the Legendborn, a secret society of students made up of descendants from King Arthur and his Round Table." Read the rest of the review here.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending December 19, 2020 - the almost no links edition

Boswell Bestsellers for the wek ending December 19, 2020 - almost no links edition

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell (#11 Edelweiss, but #1 in the Midwest)
2. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
3. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar (#1 Edelweiss)
4. The Searcher, by Tana French
5. Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline
6. Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno Garcia
7. Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman
8. Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
9. Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (#1 on Edelweiss)
10. The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter
11. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
12. Oona Out of Order, by Margarita Montimore (#1! see below)
13. The Talented Miss Farwell, by Emily Gray Tedrowe (Register for January 5 event here)
14. Crooked Hallelujah, by Kelli Jo Ford (#1 Edelweiss) 

15. The Second Home, by Christina Clancy

Jenny's favorite book of the year is Oona Out of Order, the novel about the woman who lives her years in random order, and though I haven't read it, I've just bought my second copy, once again as a gift. We both noticed that we have the #1 indie sales on the Edelweiss inventory sharing site. We're tied - help us solidify our first place run. From Mary Cadeen in USA Today: "Montimore proves an adept storyteller. Oona is a good balance between serious and silly. There are laughs, to be sure, but the author captures the essence of Kenzie's 19-year-old self in an older body without making the story slapstick. With its countless epiphanies and surprises, Oona proves difficult to put down."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
2. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Modern Comfort Food, by Ina Garten (the best sales for us of her last six books)
4. What It's Like to Be a Bird, by David Sibley
5. The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson
6. The 99% Invisible City, by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt
7. Ottolenghi Flavor, by Yotam Ottolenghi
8. The Best of Me, by David Sedaris
9. Humans, by Brandon Stanton
10. Songteller, by Dolly Parton
11. The Well-Plated Cookbook, by Erin Clarke (signed copies available again - #1 Edelweiss)
12. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle
13. Solutions and Other Problems, by Allie Brosh
14. The King of Confidence, by Miles Harvey (#2 Edelweiss)
15. Dirt, by Bill Buford (#4 Edelweiss)

Just finished The 99% Invisible City, which might be meant for browsing, but I tend to read these kind of books cover to cover. My rec: "Here’s proof positive that you don’t have to be obsessed with a podcast to enjoy the spinoff book. Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlsedt’s 99% Invisible has been around for ten years, but I never heard of it. This very enjoyable book (one of my customers described it as upscale bathroom reading) looks at everything from left turns to squirrels to uncomfortable benches to brick veneers. Alas, it’s not an urban planning podcast – this is just the first topic they decided to cover. Mars’s show reminds me a bit of Wisconsin Public Radio’s To the Best of Our Knowledge, as hosted by Rod Serling. As an aside, the publisher chose to give a different ISBN inventory code to the signed (well, initialed) edition, even putting it on the bellyband. Sometimes we have a different ordering ISBN but the book itself has the same identifying code, to make reordering easier when the signed copies run out. But in this case, the sales are separate, maybe not on national bestseller lists, but on the Edelweiss industry peer sharing site. Some stores (like Boswell) override to the unsigned IBN, but other stores clearly don’t. But to you, that’s invisible!"

Paperback Fiction:
1. Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen (register for December 29 event here)
2. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
3. Home Body, by Rupi Kaur
4. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stewart
6. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
7. Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
8. Devotions, by Mary Oliver
9. Best American Short Stories 2020, edited by Curtis Sittenfeld
10. Circe, by Madeline Miller

Jim Higgins naming Big Girl, Small Town as one of his top ten books of 2020, combined with an upcoming event, got Gellen's novel to #1. I finished it last week and wrote my staff rec this morning. "It’s just a few years after The Troubles have wound down with the peace agreement, but it’s still not a good idea for Protestants to cross to the Catholic part of town after dark. For Majella O’Neill, it’s personal – her uncle and now her grandma has been murdered, her uncle has disappeared, and her ma’s a bit of a mess. Majella, a big woman whose comfortable in her body, works the night shift in chip shop, with the story written diary style, over the course of a week. Big Girl, Small Town is more of a character novel , so not much happens , but Majella’s presence explodes over the pages. She’s on the spectrum but keenly observant and also very funny. I’m not always crazy about reading stories in dialect, but Irish slang is fascinating, plus I didn’t really know until now that battered and fried sausage was a thing. What have I been missing? And until you read Big Girl, Small Town, I can say the same for you."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Walking Milwaukee, by Royal Brevvaxling and Molly Snyder
2. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. ABA Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, by Charles Hagner
4. The Seine, by Elaine Sciolino
5. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
6. Wow, No Thank You, by Samantha Irby
7. Vegetarian Flavors with Alamelu, by Alamelu Vairavan
8. The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris
9. Save Me the Plums, by Ruth Reichl
10. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara

If you look at the nonfiction paperback list and the advice list of The New York Times, only two books here cross over, Braiding Sweetgrass and The Truths We Hold. That said, Wow, No Thank You did hit #1 on the nonfiction paperback list on publication and was just named one of critic Parul Sehgal's ten best books of 2020 in The New York Times. From her review: "Life has never been better to Samantha Irby. Can she still be funny? It’s a gentler kind of humor we encounter here. The drama of publishing a book or pitching a show to Netflix executives (so many chairs in the room!) can’t compete with the rawness and surreal scatological pageantry of the earlier essays. Nor must it."

Books for Kids:
1. Wishes and Wellingtons, by Julie Berry
2. Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen (#1 Edelweiss)
3. No Reading Allowed, by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
4. Scritch Scratch, by Lindsay Currie
5. Riding Chance, by Christine Kendall
6. Cat Kid Comic Club, by Dav Pilkey
7. Sun Flower Lion, by Kevin Henkes (#1 Edelweiss)
8. Fifty Adventures in the Fifty States, by Kate Siber (#2 Edelweiss)
9. The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom, by Colleen AF Venable and Lian Cho (#1 Edelweiss)
10. Snow Birds, by Kirsten Hall and Jenni Desmond
11. Every Night Is Pizza Night, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Gianna Ruggiero
12. Everybody's Tree, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef
13. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls V1, by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo 1

14. All Because You Matter, by Tami Charles

While we've noticed some books have cut back on having us do virtual school events, Sourcebooks has been full steam ahead, and that led to them having three of our top four books in sales this week. Scritch Scratch is a older (10+) middle grade novel of the parnormal in Chicago. Who is this Mary Downing Hahn that everyone references in their reviews? I'm intrigued. Kirkus writes "Mary Downing Hahn fans will enjoy this just-right blend of history and spooky." And Booklist wrote: "The author of The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street ventures into Mary Downing Hahn territory with a mildly eerie tale that is as much about building trust and new friendships as it is about figuring out what a soaked, importunate ghost wants."

Visit our website for more info, but alas, our order buttons are down until Christmas. Like many indie bookstores, moving half our business online has stretched us to the limit. Thank you for your patience and good humor.

Book recommendations on WUWM's Lake Effect

 

With Lake Effect on December hiatus, you're probably hungry for our daily Milwaukee talk show fix. If you didn't hear my segment on books aired in early December, you can listen to it here.

Here are the books I mention.

Thinking Inside the Box, by Adrienne Raphel

The Coyotes of Carthage, by Steven Wright

Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell

The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett

the flu book I was describing was The Great Influenza, by John Barry

Hench, by Natalie Zina Walschots

Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake, with illustrations by Jon Klassen

The Breaker, by Nick Petrie (on sale January 12)

Rhythm of War, by Brandon Sanderson

The sequel to Murder at the Mean House is Murder at Wedgefield Manor, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (on sale March 30)

Everywhere You Don't Belong, by Gabriel Bump

We Ride Upon Sticks, by Quan Barry

The next to the next to the last week of pre-holiday sales - Boswell bestsellers for the week ending December 12, 2020

The next to the next to the last week of pre-holiday sales - Boswell bestsellers for the week ending December 12, 2020

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell (watch video)
2. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
3. The Searcher, by Tana French
4. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar (watch this video)
5. Deacon King Kong, by James McBride
6. The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
7. Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline
8. The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter
9. Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Morena Garcia
10. The Paris Hours, by Alex George (watch this video)
11. Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman
12. Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam
13. Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
14. Writers and Lovers, by Lily King
15. The Coyotes of Carthage, by Steven Wright

I've read half (8) of this week's top 15 and I would say there are at least three more books I wish I had read. Only four titles match the New York Times bestsellers for this week, five if you include Mackesy's book, which the NYT files with miscellaneous. The others are The Vanishing Half, The Searcher, Anxious People, and Ready Player Two. An additional four titles are on the American Booksellers Association indie bestseller list - Hamnet, Deacon King Kong, The Cold Millions, and Mexican Gothic. On their list, Mackesy's book is nonfiction. I guess I'm going to have to look at that thing again. 

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
2. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
3. What It's Like to Be a Bird, by David Sibley
4. Post Corona, by Scott Galloway
5. Bag Man, by Rachel Maddow
6. The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson
7. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle
8. Dessert Person, by Claire Saffitz
9. Modern Comfort Food, by Ina Garton
10. Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald
11. Rise, by Marcus Samuelsson
12. Humans, by Brandon Stanton
13. His Truth Is Marching On, by Jon Meacham
14. Superman's Not Coming, by Erin Brockovich (Register for December 16 event here)
15. Songteller, by Dolly Parton

On this list, we have six titles overlapping with NYT nonfiction - A Promised Land, Caste, The Splendid and the Vile, Untamed (yes, we have the special tip-in edition), Humans, and Songteller with the two cookbooks on miscellaneous - Modern Comfort Food and Dessert Person (Publishers Weekly gave Dessert Person a starred review), plus Mackesy. And Post Corona's on the business list. The ABA list also has What It's Like to Be a Bird. We'd be selling A Wealth of Pigeons, but since we don't expect copies before the holidays, we're not longer pre-selling it. Take out the event book and you have Bag Man and His Truth Is Marching on.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Through This Door, edited by Peggy Rozga and Angela Trudell Vasquez
2. Aimless Love, by Billy Collins
3. Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart
4. Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu
5. Devotions, by Mary Oliver
6. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
7. Big Girl, Small Town (Register for December 29 event here)
8. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
9. The Story of a Goat, by Perumal Murugan
10. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

When one looks at holiday trends, one might not immediately think poetry for Christmas, but three of our top 10 fit in that category, with Rupi Kaur bubbling under. I'm guessing Aimless Love was for a book club, but Through This Door was just reviewed in the Journal Sentinel by Jim Higgins and I should note that up until right now, the book wasn't available for ordering through our website. That said, we may run out of stock shortly.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2. The Seine, by Elaine Sciolino
3. Life in Short, by Dasha Kelly Hamilton
4. The Rise of Wolf 8, by Rick McIntyre
5. Walking Milwaukee, by Royal Brevvaxling and Molly Snyder
6. The Yellow House, by Sarah Broom
7. Emergent Strategy, by Adrienne Brown
8. White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo
9. The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
10. Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe

After six years, Braiding Sweetgrass hits #1 on a particularly busy week, no less. New on the list is Life in Short, the new collection of Dashnettes from Dasha Kelly Hamilton. Published by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, this book also straddles the lists, being sort of poetry (fiction) and sort of inspiration (nonfiction). As was the case above, I've just added this to our website so the book can be ordered here. When we do this ourselves, you don't get inventory levels. Right now we have a few left!

Books for Kids:
1. The Very Last Leaf, by Stef Wade and Jennifer Davidson (Watch this video)
2. Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen (Watch this video)
3. Elevator Bird, by Sarah Williamson
4. Sun Flower Lion, by Kevin Henkes
5. No Reading Allowed, by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
6. Every Night Is Pizza Night, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Gianna Ruggiero
7. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade and Melanie Demmer
8. Bunheads, by Misty Copeland and Setor Fladzigbey
9. Snow Birds, by Kirsten Hall and Jenni Desmond
10. Everybody's Tree, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef
11. Paper Peek Animals, by Chihiro Takeuchi
12. The Snowy Day board book, by Ezra Jack Keats
13. 50 Adventures in 50 States, by Kate Siber
14. What We'll Build, by Oliver Jeffers
15. Dress Coded, by Carrie Firestone

What do our top five books (and #10) all have in common? They all did virtual school events with us, even during the Christmas season. If you're a publisher, you probably didn't send us too many authors for schools in the winter due to weather. But with virtual events, here's your chance to beat testing season. The latest is Elevator Bird, who did her first of two school visits on Friday, following a nice public event the week before. We just got our bookplates, but I'm guessing they will go fast. I really like the Richard Scarry-like page where Williamson explains what all the characters do at the hotel.

As I have mentioned in a few talks, this was not a great year for innovative board books, but we do like Paper Peek Animals, a hidden-picture book with some die-cut action too.

At the Journal Sentinel, here are Jim Higgins's top ten books of 2020:
--Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen (Register for December 29 event here)
--Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse
--Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, by Kathleen Rooney (Watch Rooney's event here)
--Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar (Watch Akhtar's event here)
--The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix
--Network Effect, by Martha Wells
--The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw
--The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman
--Unconquerable Sun, by Kate Elliott
--Warhol, by Blake Gopknik 

This list appears to be in alphabetical order. We just got in more stock of Big Girl, Small Town.

Here are Carole E. Barrowman's top 10 books of 2020.
--Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Watch Cosby's event with Barrowman here)
--And Now She's Gone, by Rachel Howzell
--Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen
--The Ninja's Blade, by Tori Eldridge
--Out of Time, by David Klass
--Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha
--A Song for Dark Times, by Ian Rankin
--The King's Justice, by Susan Elia MacNeal
--Survivor Song, by Paul Tremblay
--Catherine House, by Elizabeth Thomas

This list is not in alpha order, so it might be ranked. Barrowman told me that Blacktop Wasteland really his her #1 pick. 

Here's what's selling at Boswell for the week ending December 5, 2020

Here's what's selling at Boswell for the week ending December 5, 2020

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
2. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
3. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
4. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar
5. Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
6. Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline
7. Deacon King Kong, by James McBride
8. Murder at the Mena House, by Erica Ruth Neubauer
9. The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter
10. Writers and Lovers, by Lily King (Register for December 9 event here)
11. The Searcher, by Tana French
12. Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
13. Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno Garcia
14. The Knockout Queen, by Rufi Thorpe
15. Perestroika in Paris, by Jane Smiley

My reason for featuring 15 titles are twofold. As you probably guessed from how folks by for the holidays compounded with how folks buy online, our hardcover bestseller sales far outpace paperbacks. Not only do paperbacks not get media attention, but they rarely come out before the hardcover has run its course - in the old days, a paperback might be release while the hardcover was still selling strong. But you also have to go all the way to #15 to find a new title, Jane Smiley's Perestroika in Paris. As one amateur critic said to me: "It's Smiley's take on The Boy, The Mole...only with an Eiffel Tower." Reviews are great - Helen McAlpin on the NPR website called it a "delightful heartwarming tale."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
2. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Modern Comfort Food, by Ina Garten
4. A Wealth of Pigeons, by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss
5. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle
6. What It's Like to Be a Bird, by David Sibley
7. The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson
8. Songteller, by Dolly Parton
9. Ottolenghi Flavor, by Yotam Ottolenghi
10. The Well Plated Cookbook, by Erin Clarke
11. The King of Confidence, by Miles Harvey
12. Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald
13. Salt Fat Acid Heat, by Samin Nosrat
14. Hidden Valley Road, by Robert Kolker
15. Let Us Dream, by Pope Francis

I'm not exactly sure why, but Ina Garten's last two books, Cook Like a Pro and Cooking for Jeffrey, saw sales downturns, and I wondered if this was it for her. But no, Modern Comfort Food has already almost doubled sales of her two releases and is closing in on 2012's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. It might be the way folks order online (zeroing in on key titles instead of browsing) or it may be that Garten is, per Sophie Hanscombe in Financial Times, "Comfort Food Provider-in-Chief." And apparently many of us need that. 

Paperback Fiction:
1. Devotions, by Mary Oliver
2. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
3. Home Body, by Rupi Kaur
4. The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
5. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
6. Still Life, by Louise Penny
7. This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger
8. Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, by Kathleen Rooney
9. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
10. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead

We thought we'd see a lot of Intstagram poets break out in the wake of Rupi Kaur, but in the end, nobody really duplicated her success, though we had a few lesser pops. CBC's Tom Power notes on their arts show q, which airs on Wisconsin Public Radio: Kaur says while writing Home Body, the pressure to follow the success of her hit debut Milk and Honey resulted in impostor syndrome — an overwhelming belief of inadequacy that often occurs among artists and high achievers who begin to fear being exposed as a fraud.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Classic Restaurants of Milwaukee, by Jennifer Billock
2. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom
4. Burnout, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
5. Walking Milwaukee, by Royal Brevvaxling and Molly Snyder
6. Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin, by Anna Lardinois
7. The Seine, by Elaine Sciolino (Register for December 10 event here)
8. Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, by Charles Hagner
9. Fading Ads of Milwaukee, by Adam Levin
10. Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Seems like old times! We haven't had a regional-focused top 10 paperback nonfiction in months, but this week's top ten is half Milwaukee and Wisconsin books. The big breakout is Classic Restaurants of Milwaukee, which had its debut at a Milwaukee County Historical Society event.

Books for Kids:
1. The Assignment, by Liza Wiemer
2. Everybody's Tree, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef
3. Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen
4. Sun Flower Lion, by Kevin Henkes
5. Elevator Bird, by Sarah Williamson
6. The Snowy Day board book, by Ezra Jack Keats
7. Dear Justyce, by Nic Stone
8. Cat Kid Comic Club, by Dav Pilkey
9. Grime and Punishment, by Dav Pilkey
10. Mysteries of the Universe, by DK, with text by Will Gater
11. Every Night Is Pizza Night, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Gianna Ruggiero
12. What We'll Build, by Oliver Jeffers
13. If You Come to Earth, by Sophie Blackall
14. No Reading Allowed, by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter 

15. The Deep End, by Jeff Kinney

Today was kids event week, with three programs in five days. But one non-event book that had a nice week is a picture book that Amie featured in our holiday gift guide and I just presented at the Friends at the Shorewood Public Library book talk, though those sales have been logged yet. Every Night Is Pizza Night, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, with illustrations by Gianna Ruggiero is about Pipo, who loves pizza, only to discover that other foods are equally delicious. Lopez-Alt is known for his food writing, notably in The Food Lab. Do they give Beard Awards for picture books? Kirkus Reviews called it "a delightful culinary ode to the multicultural world we live in." It's also part of the busy, busy picture book trend, with the main narrative accompanied by lots of asides.

Over at the Journal Sentinel, Jim Higgins profiles Through This Door, a collection of poems from Wisconsin's poet laureates, assembled by Margaret Rozga and Angela C. Trudell Vasquez.

Boswell events for this week - Jim Terry, Sarah Williamson, Rufi Thorpe, Barbara Joosse, Kevin Henkes, plus a book talk

Here are this week's Boswell virtual events.

Monday, November 30, 7 pm
Jim Terry, author of Come Home, Indio: A Memoir
in conversation with Daniel Goldin

Boswell Book Company and Lion’s Tooth present an evening with graphic memoirist Terry for a conversation about his honest, charming book which chronicles his attempts to fit in with the Ho-Chunk community of his Native American family in Wisconsin and his schoolmates in the Chicago suburbs. Register for this Zoom event here.

Jim Terry, born in California and raised in the Chicago suburbs, is a prolific comic book artist who has worked on such comics as The Crow: Skinning the Wolves, Sundowners, and Vampirella. He travels the ComicCon circuit and has also created custome comics on his own. His mother was a Native American from the Ho-Chunk nation of Wisconsin, and his father was an Irish American jazz musician from Chicago. 

In Come Home, Indio, we are invited to walk through his life as he struggles to find security and comfort in an often hostile environment. Terry tries in vain to fit in and eventually turns to alcohol to provide an escape from increasing loneliness and alienation. Terry also shares with the reader in exquisite detail the process by which he finds hope and gets sober, as well as the powerful experience of finding something to believe in and to belong to at the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock.

I'm excited to talk to Terry about his new book. We'll have a wide-ranging conversation on finding identity and your place in the world, with a lot of stops along the way - horror movies, Star Wars, Will Eisner, and books that shaped him, including Flowers for Algernon and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Tuesday, December 1, 5:30 pm
Sarah Williamson, author of Elevator Bird
with Daniel Goldin and Katie Kiekhaefer

Boswell Book Company and Whitefish Bay Public Library present an event with Milwaukee native Sarah Williams, author of several other books for kids and frequent contributor to The New York Times, who will chat about her quirky picture book about kindness, friendship, and a team coming together to make one bird's dream come true. This evening event is kid-friendly, the book is fun for all ages, and so this event will be perfect for families. Register for this Zoom event here.

Williamson is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books and her work has also appeared in The New York Times. In her latest, it takes a strong team to keep the Hotel running smoothly, and Elevator Bird is at the center of it all. Elevator Bird makes everyone’s day brighter. So when he confesses to his friend Mousie that he’s always longed for a room with a view, Mousie springs into action. All his friends at the Hotel hatch a marvelous plan to make sure Elevator Bird has the nest he deserves in this charming tale of friends working together to make a dream come true.

From School Library Journal’s starred review: “There are giggle-inducing asides, details to pore over, and clues to each worker’s personality in vivid details. Just as every job matters at the hotel, every animal has a part to play in this sweet story about showing up for a friend. A beyond charming story about kindness and friendship, sure to bring a smile to the face of every reader.”

We've been working with Sarah Williamson for a long time, trying to come up with a public event or school visit or both. Our new virtual schedule helped this come together. Williamson will also be visiting Cumberland Elementary School in Whiteifsh Bay, which Williamson attended!

Wednesday, December 2, 7 pm 

Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen 

in conversation with Chris Lee

We're so excited to bring you an evening with Rufi Thorpe, also author of The Girls of Corona del Mar (long-listed for the Dylan Thomas and Flaherty-Dunnan Prizes) and Dear Fang, with Love. Thorpe will be in conversation with Chris Lee, who recently named The Knockout Queen his #1 book of 2020. KOQ has many fans, including Jane Hamilton, who originally put the book on our radar. Register here for this event.

With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Thorpe has created a tragic, unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection. 

Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore⁠ - beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael⁠⁠ - with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing⁠ - lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems. And so a unique friendship is born.

Thursday, December 3, 10 am
Barbara Joosse, author of Everybody’s Tree
a school-style presentation plus conversation with Jenny Chou

Boswell hosts a morning event with beloved Wisconsin author of books for children. This kid-friendly event will feature Joosse in a virtual setting much like one of our popular author school visits, but it’s open to the public – so while it’s perfect for schools and educators, it’s also a dream event for parents and home-schoolers, too. Joosse will chat with Boswellian Jenny Chou. Register here for this event.

In Everybody’s Tree, Joosse offers up the story of a spruce tree, from the time it is planted in a tree farm to the holiday season when it becomes the centerpiece of a city's holiday celebration. Over the course of eighty years, a spruce tree grows along with the little boy who first selected it at a tree farm. As the tree grows from sapling to magnificent evergreen, the child becomes a father and grandfather. Now at the end of its life, the glorious tree is chosen to be the centerpiece of a city's holiday celebration. The tree journeys from rural countryside to big city center, where everyone, young and old, comes together to celebrate a tree for all.

Barbara Joosse's books for children include the Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee and also such other cities as Detroit, Nashville, and Indianapolis. Joosse's written more books than I can list here, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Mama Do You Love Me.

Friday, December 4, 3 pm
Kevin Henkes, author of Sun Flower Lion
in conversation with Jane Hamilton

Boswell Book Company and InkLink Books of East Troy presents a special event with Kevin Henkes in conversation with Wisconsin author Jane Hamilton. Click right here to register for this event, broadcast via Zoom. Please note that both Boswell and InkLink will have a limited number of signed copies of Sun Flower Lion and the also just-released Lilly and Friends. Register for this event here.

Madison’s Kevin Henkes is author and illustrator of more than fifty critically acclaimed and award-winning books and the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. He has received multiple Caldecott and Geisel Honors as well as two Newbery Honors for novels. Most recently, he is the author of In the Middle of Fall, A Parade of Elephants, and Sweeping Up the Heart. Jane Hamilton is author of the novels such as The Excellent Lombards, and A Map of the World. I have read all seven of them.

Here's a little more about Sun Flower Lion. On a warm morning, a little lion sleeps under a sun that shines so brightly, it looks like a flower. He dreams the flower is as big as the sun. He dreams the flower is a cookie. He lets his imagination soar. With three visual motifs, three colors, and fewer than 200 words, renowned Caldecott Medalist and #1 New York Times bestseller Kevin Henkes cracks open the wide world and the youngest child’s endless imagination. This irresistible picture book is a must-have for every reader and every family. And don't forget about Lilly and Friends, all your favorites in one bound hardcover!

Saturday, December 5, 11 am
Daniel Goldin’s Holiday Book Talk for the Friends of the Shorewood Public Library

Join the Friends of Shorewood Public Library and Boswell Book Company's proprietor Daniel Goldin for a presentation on the best books to look for during the holiday season. Known for giving interesting and varied suggestions, perfect for discerning readers, Daniel will present book suggestions that make perfect gifts for adults, kids, and even yourself. This talk will be presented via Zoom. Click here to join - no registration for this one.

More on the Boswell upcoming page.

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending November 28, 2020

Bestsellers for the week ending November 28, 2020

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar
2. Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline
3. The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
4. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
5. Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
6. The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter
7. Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi
8. The Searcher, by Tana French
9. Writers and Lovers, by Lily King (Register for December 9 event here)
10. Crooked Hallelujah, by Kelli Jo Ford

It's a rare thing when publishers release a high profile book the week of Thanksgiving, but Ready Player Two, the sequel to, wait for it, Ready Player One, came out this past Tuesday. We didn't make the cut for a virtual visit, but we still remember fondly when we had 40 people (doesn't seem like much now, but it was substantially larger than his visits before and after) for Ernest Cline's hardcover tour, which he drove to in his DeLorean.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
2. The Well Plated Cookbook, by Erin Clarke
3. A Wealth of Pigeons, by Steve Martin and Harry Bliss
4. The Best of Me, by David Sedaris
5. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle
6. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
7. Stuff You Should Know, by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant
8. Modern Comfort Food, by Ina Garten
9. Dolly Parton: Songteller, by Dolly Parton
10. His Truth is Marching On, by Jon Meacham

Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things, proves that even in the age of the internet, there is always room for a reference book, as long as its main aim is browsing, and not actually looking for something. But really, the real trend is that its based on a podcast, and along with its cousin, the web series, and their less-hip uncle, the blog (though this podcast has been around from 2008, which seems like a long time to me), if I can't figure out why we're selling something really well, that's probably the origin. They have a Wikipedia entry.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Watch with Me, by Wendell Berry
2. Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart
3. Where We Come From, by Oscar Cásares (Register for December 8 event here)
4. The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
6. The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
7. Poems 1962-2012, by Louise Glück
8. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
9. Recursion, by Blake Crouch
10. The World that We Knew, by Alice Hoffman


With so many paperbacks being postponed, I was kind of surprised to see The Water Dancer get released last week. I had been hoping to do this for the Daniel Lit book club, but first I have to check if I have competition from Jen, who probably would also find Ta Nehisi-Coates's novel on her shortlist. If you need refreshing, here's Helen Habila's review in The Guardian. And look at that, there's also a Wikipedia entry. Nowadays does a book lack credibility without one? Another tidbit of note - usually you see more bursts on the paperback jacket then for the hardcover, but in this case, the Oprah seal was removed, at least on the image that is being shared with us.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Ballad of an American, by Sharon Rudahl
2. White Kids, by Margaret Hagerman
3. American Birding Association Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, edited by Charles Hagner
4. The Library Book, by Susan Orlean
5. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
6. Rise of Wolf 8, by Rick McIntyre
7. The Seine, by Elaine Scioline (Register for December 10 event here)
8. Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris
9. The Pocket Pema Chodron, by Pema Chodron
10. Shade, by Pete Souza

It reached it's #1 slot through a special order, but since it's relatively new, and that's something I can't say about most of our top 10, I thought I'd highlight Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson, written and illustrated by Sharon Rudahl. The background on this book is interesting - it was published by Rutgers on commemoration of the centennial of Robeson's graduation from the school (which was in 1919, not 1920, but no matter).

Books for Kids:
1. No Reading Allowed, by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
2. Skunk and Badger, by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen
3. The True Definition of Neva Beane, by Christine Kendall
4. If You Come to Earth, by Sophie Blackall
5. Everybody's Tree, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef (Register for December 3 event here)
6. Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Park
7. Bunheads, by Misty Copeland and Setor Gladzigbey
8. Elevator Bird, by Sarah Williamson (Register for December 1 event here)
9. Cozy, by Jan Brett
10. The Deep End, by Jeff Kinney

A holiday pick that came out in September is Sophie Blackall's If You Come to Earth, a letter to visitors from other planets that focuses on our "need to care for The Earth and each other." It just made Time magazine's top 10 childrens and YA books of 2020. It was also included in Dave Eggers's roundup in The New York Times, along with another Boswell favorite, You Matter.

Over at the Journal Sentinel, Jim Higgins's holiday gift guide appears in today's print edition. Up next, the Higgins editor's choice.

Boswell events - two graphic memoirs and a book about Thanksgiving - Merrill Markoe, Denise Kiernan, Jim Terry

Tuesday, November 24, 7 pm
Merrill Markoe, author of We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe
in conversation with Mimi Pond for a virtual event

Merrill Markoe, the multiple Emmy-winning writer of Late Show with David Letterman joins us for a conversation with fellow graphic memoirist Mimi Pond about We Saw Scenery. Markoe also won a Writer's Guild award for her writing/performing work on HBO's Not Necessarily the News. In addition to her other books, her cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker. Register here for this event. Ask for your signed bookplate.

Markoe unearths her treasured diaries, long kept under lock and key, to illustrate the hilarious story of her preteen and teen years and how she came to realize that her secret power was her humor. Wielding her layered and comically absurd style, Markoe takes readers back through her time as a Girl Scout, where she learned that “scouting” was really more about learning housewifery skills, to her earliest crushes on uniquely awful boys and her growing obsession with television.

Perfect for fans of Roz Chast, Allie Brosh, and Lynda Barry, We Saw Scenery is a laugh-out-loud story of a girl growing up, told from the perspective of the woman she became, and it will speak to all who wanted to understand themselves in the midst of their own maturing. The Washington Post writes that Markoe "taps into not only the challenges of a girl growing up in the 1960s, but also Markoe’s special ability to use traditions and American consumerist culture as fuel for her absurdist humor."

Wednesday, November 25, 2 pm
Denise Kiernan, author of We Gather Together: A Nation Divided, a President in Turmoil, and a Historic Campaign to Embrace Gratitude and Grace 

In conversation with Joseph D'Agnese for a virtual event

Join us for a special pre-Thanksgiving Holiday event featuring Denise Kiernan, the author of The Girls of Atomic City and The Last Castle, which was the subject of a sold-out event at the Pabst Mansion. She'll be in conversation with her sometimes collaborator and always husband Joseph D'Agnese for a chat about her brand new book, which offers a new way to look at and understand American history through the story of giving thanks. Register for the event here. Ask for your signed bookplate. 

From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, Kiernan brings us a biography of an idea: gratitude, as a compelling human instinct and a global concept, more than just a mere holiday. Spanning centuries, We Gather Together is anchored amid the strife of the Civil War, and driven by the fascinating story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a widowed mother with no formal schooling who became one of the 19th century’s most influential tastemakers and who campaigned for decades to make real an annual day of thanks. Check out the custom Zoomsgiving Zoom backgrounds over on Kiernan's website page, a Guide to Zoomsgiving

From Brenda Wineapple in her Wall Street Journal review: "Sarah Hale had died in 1879 at 90; she didn’t live to see her dream of a national holiday enshrined in law. Doubtless, though, she’d have been thrilled by Ms. Kiernan’s tribute to her and thanksgivings, great and small, religious and secular, civic and personal. For she would understand that whether this year’s Thanksgiving takes place in person with family or in front of a computer, gratitude can surely bring grace, even in troubled times."

Monday, November 30, 7 pm
Jim Terry, author of Come Home, Indio: A Memoir
a virtual event

Boswell Book Company and Lion’s Tooth present an evening with graphic memoirist Jim Terry for a conversation about his honest book which chronicles his attempts to fit in with the Ho-Chunk community of his Native American family in Wisconsin and his schoolmates in the Chicago suburbs. Terry's comic book work has been seen in The Crow: Skinning the Wolves, Sundowners, and Vampriella. Register here for this event. Ask for your signed bookplate, while supplies last. Copies also available at Lion's Tooth.

Jim Terry grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. His mother was a Native American from the Ho-Chunk nation of Wisconsin, and his father was an Irish American jazz musician from Chicago. In his memoir, we are invited to walk through his life as he struggles to find security and comfort in an often hostile environment. Terry tries in vain to fit in and eventually turns to alcohol to provide an escape from increasing loneliness and alienation. Terry also shares with the reader in exquisite detail the process by which he finds hope and gets sober, as well as the powerful experience of finding something to believe in and to belong to at the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock.

From Booklist's starred review: "The art serves the story incredibly well; nuanced and skillfully drawn, the expressive illustrations are very high contrast and so heavily inked they can feel oppressive at times, effectively heightening the deep emotional current throughout. While the panels are frequently tight and cramped early in the story, the final chapters are far more expansive and imbued with possibility. An exceptionally well-told story with no easy answers but an ending that will inspire." Listen to Jim Terry to talk to Alison Stewart on WNYC's All of It show.

More on the Boswell Books upcoming event page

Photo credit of Denise Kiernan is Mallory Cash.