Sunday, May 22, 2022

Boswell bestsellers, week ending May 21, 2022

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending May 21, 2022

Hardcover Fiction:
1. This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub (Tickets for May 26 in-person event here)
2. Home Body, by Rupi Kaur
3. The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
4. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt (Register for July 11 virtual event here)
5. The World of Pondside, by Mary Helen Stefaniak
6. Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St John Mandel
7. Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
8. The Sun and Her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur
9. Something Wilder, by Christina Lauren
10. All the Secrets of the World, by Steve Almond (Register for May 23 event here)

This week's top non-event debut is Something Wilder, by Christina Lauren, named "the reigning romance queens" by PopSugar, which is my site of choice for finding out if there are new Oreo cookie flavors. Jodi Picoult says, "Something Wilder is exactly what we all need right now…a true escape within the pages of a book, filled with adventure, rekindled romance, and second chances. Trust me, you’ll want to go along for the ride with Lily and Leo.”

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Moonshot, by Albert Bourla
2. Parent Nation, by Dana Suskind
3. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
4. River of the Gods, by Candice Millard
5. Mean Baby, by Selma Blair
6. Salad Freak, by Jess Damuck
7. The Midwest Survival Guide, by Charlie Berens
8. Salt Fat Acid Heat, by Samin Nosrat
9. Who Killed Jane Stanford, by Richard White
10. His Name Is George Floyd, by Robert Samuels

The highest ranking new release in hardcover nonfiction is River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard. While we don't have a read yet, Jason has told me that he will be finished soon - one of his favorite nonfiction authors! From Edward Dolnick in The New York Times: "River of the Gods is a lean, fast-paced account of the almost absurdly dangerous quest by those two friends turned enemies, Richard Burton and John Speke, to solve the geographic riddle of their era. The two men had set out, in 1857, to find the source of the Nile. Candice Millard, formerly a National Geographic writer and editor and the author of a gripping book about Teddy Roosevelt’s adventures in South America, has here plunged into another tale of exploration at the edge of disaster."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Home Body, by Rupi Kaur
2. The Sun and Her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur
3. Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
4. Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles
5. The Kingmaker's Redemption, by Harry Pinkus (Register for July 6 in-person event here)
6. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
7. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
8. Klara and the Sun, by Steven Rowley
9. The Guncle, by Steven Rowley
10. The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon

We sold books at two theater programs within a week of each other. People seemed particularly excited to see hardcover editions of the Rupi Kaur poetry books because most retailers only focused on the paperback. For Amor Towles, the surprise was definitely that we sold more copies of Rules of Civility than we did of A Gentleman in Moscow or The Lincoln Highway. We've got some signed hardcover copies of Lincoln and Gentleman, but no signed Kaur.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Invisible Child, by Andea Elliot
2. Cain's Jawbone, by Edward Powys Mathers
3. Robert's Rules of Order, by Henry M Robert
4. The Fiber Fueled Cookbook, by Will Bulsiewicz
5. The Copenhagen Trilogy, by Tove Ditlevsen, translated by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldman

Congratulations to Andrea Elliott, who received the Pulitzer Prize for Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City. From the starred Booklist review: "With compelling storytelling, Elliot dives deep into the history of social welfare, keeping everything focused on how political decisions directly affect families like Dasani's: statistics and policies become personal; child protection agencies emerge as horrific entities. Yet kind, honest people do emerge, and family bonds persevere. This important book packs a real gut punch."

Books for Kids:
1. A Land of Permanent Goodbyes, by Atia Abawi
2. Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn
3. Bitter, by Awaeke Emezi
4. Nothing Burns as Bright as You, by Ashley Woodfolk
5. Grown, by Tiffany D Jackson
6. The Sound of Stars, by Alechia Dow
7. Heartstoppers V1, by Alice Oseman
8. Heartstoppers V4, by Alice Oseman
9. The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, by MacBarnett and Shawn Harris (Register for May 26 virtual event here)
10. Concrete Rose, by Angie Thomas

Ashley Woodfolk has already won raves from Angie Thomas, Kwame Alexander, Becky Albertalli, Nicola Yoon, and Nic Stone for Nothing Burns as Bright as You. Advance reviews from the trades were also great. From Publishers Weekly: "In a tautly written, fast-moving novel in verse that captures the unbalanced experience of an all-consuming love, two unnamed queer Black teen girls move rapidly from strangerhood into a protective best friendship before becoming dysfunctional lovers and mutually destructive partners in crime."

Over at the Journal Sentinel, Jim Higgins offers a summer reading list. It's one of the rituals of summer!

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