Sunday, June 6, 2021

Boswell bestsellers, week ending June 5, 2021

Here are the Boswell bestsellers for the week ending June 5, 2021

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
2. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
3. The Bombay Prince, by Sujata Massey (Register for June 17 event here)
4. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
5. While Justice Sleeps, by Stacey Abrams
6. The Guncle, by Steven Rowley
7. The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris
8. The Chosen and the Beautiful, by Nghi Vo (Register for June 14 event here)
9. Double Blind, by Edward St Aubyn
10. The Five Wounds, by Kirstin Valdez Quade

The Other Black Girl is the selection for at least three book clubs - Good Morning America, Esquire, and Read with Marie Claire. It's an Indie Bound pick, with Kirsten Wilson from Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama calling it "A literary fiction tale with a side of suspense, this expertly woven critique on society is bound to keep readers on the edge of their seats.” It's also got 10 Rave reviews from Bookmarks (of 12 total), with Alicia Rancilio of Associated Press noting "Dalila Harris’s book peels back the curtain on recent efforts of corporate America to embrace diversity, but also shows the weaknesses behind its intentions."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Belonging, by Kathryn Jacob, Sue Unerman, Mark Edwards
2. Daughters of Kobani, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
3. Shape, by Jordan Ellenberg
4. Somebody's Daughter, by Ashley C Ford
5. How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith
6. Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green
7. Premonition, by Michael Lewis
8. After the Fall, by Ben Rhodes
9. Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson
10. The Bomber Mafia, by Malcolm Gladwell

Ashley C Ford is the podcast host of The Chronicles of Now and Lovecraft Country Radio. Her memoir, first week out, has 7 rave reviews on Book Marks, including Natatchi Onwuamaegbu's in The Boston Globe, where the critic wrote: "Somebody’s Daughter left me struggling to breathe - I found that holding my breath held back the tears that kept coming and coming and coming." Ford spoke to Scott Simon on NPR's Weekend Edition.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu
2. One Last Stop, by Casey McQuiston
3. The Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri
4. Circe, by Madeline Miller
5. Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
6. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
7. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
8. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
9. The Weaver's Revenge, by Kathleen Ernst
10. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
11. Foundryside, by Robert Jackson Bennett
12. Bone Broth, by Lyndsey Ellis (Register for June 10 event here)

It took a year to break out Red, White, and Royal Blue, but the first week of Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop is an instant bestseller. It's an Indie Bound pick, with Cori Cusker of Bright Side Bookshop of Flagstaff saying "What a magical and creative tale, an addictive read that I did not want to put down" and it's got a staff rec from Boswellian Margaret Kennedy too: "Filled with witty dialogue, beautifully detailed scenes, and music that will have you dancing on the table, Casey McQuiston once again gives us a couple to root for and a book to read again and again."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Spirit Run, by Noe Alvarez
2. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
3. Healing Conversations, by Nance Guilmartin
4. Drawing Lesson, by Mark Crilley
5. ABA Field Guide to Birds of Wisconsin, by Charles Hagner
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. How Not to Be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg
8. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan
9. There's a Revolution Outside, My Love, edited by Tracy K Smith and John Freeman
10. God of Love, Mirabai Starr

There's a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis is an anthology of essays from Lithub on race and justice from former Poet Laureate Tracy K Smith and Knopf Executive Editor. Smith spoke to Ari Shapiro on NPR's All Things Considered, and noted: "We wanted to think about diversity in lots of different ways. And because racial justice is a big part of the vocabulary of this time, we wanted to center the voices of Black writers and writers of color. But we were also thinking about geographic diversity because America is huge, and we lived through this crisis differently depending on where we were. And there's also a desire to think toward different issues. And so you know, policing and incarceration are policy issues that live here alongside other questions that ask us to think more internally or interiorly. And that felt important to coming to this moment and its many crises from different kinds of depths, if you will."

Books for Kids:
1. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade/Melanie Demmer
2. Children Just Like Me, from DK
3. The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer L Holm
4. The Land of Permanent Goodbyes, by Atia Abawi
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book, by Eric Carle
6. Firekeeper's Daughter, by Angeline Boulley (Register for June 29 event here)
7. Lucky Girl, by Jamie Pacton
8. Because of Mr Terupt, by Rob Buyea
9. Instructions for Dancing, by Nicola Yoon
10. Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon is out this week and it's an Indie Next pick from Stefani Kelley of the Book Nook of Brenham, Texas, which is halfway between Auston and Houston. She writes: "Evie is still dealing with her parents' divorce when she gains the ability to see a vision of a couple's romantic future together when they kiss: from the meet-cute all the way to the end (and it seems like there's always an end). Bitter about both developments in her life, she meets a handsome young man named X who becomes her ballroom dancing partner. But should she fall for him, knowing there's probably inevitable heartache? I laughed, I cried, I rooted for Evie and X to make it work.” Yoon talks to Jeff Glor on CBS News This Morning about the book.

In the Journal Sentinel, Jim Higgins discusses Bone Broth, the new novel from Lyndsey Ellis, published by the local Hidden Timbers Press. Ellis will talk to Dasha Kelly Hamilton, who is helping start a Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate competition. More here.

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