Sunday, October 23, 2022

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending October 22, 2022

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending October 22, 2022

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Signal Fires, by Dani Shapiro (Register for October 27 event here)
2. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
3. Liberation Day, by George Saunders
4. Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout
5. The Last Chairlift, by John Irving
6. Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng
7. Babel, by RF Kuang
8. Ithaca, by Claire North
9. The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty
10. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

In any other parallel universe, I would have expected Demon Copperhead to be our #1 debut for the week, but I should note that George Saunders's Liberation Day was at Barbara Kingsolver's heels. But in this universe, we had a very nice first week pop for one of my favorite books of 2022, Signal Fires, even though Dani Shapiro's event is not until next week. There are some amazing events coming up (John Green, Jamie Lee Curtis are two of the conversation partners)- visit Shapiro's website for details.

Demon Copperhead is a retelling of David Copperfield and I guess that I am taken aback that the consumer reviews are more mixed than the trade - that could account for the debut that was a bit less than my expectations. Molly Young writes in The New York Times: "Of course Barbara Kingsolver would retell Dickens. He has always been her ancestor. Like Dickens, she is unblushingly political and works on a sprawling scale, animating her pages with the presence of seemingly every creeping thing that has ever crept upon the earth." 

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Bad Vibes Only, by Nora McInerny (signed copies available)
2. Sondheim and Me, by Paul Salsini
3. And There Was Light, by Jon Meacham
4. Slenderman, by Kathleen Hale
5. Confidence Man, by Maggie Haberman
6. How We Live Is How We Die, by Pema Chödrön
7. The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, by Paul Newman, edited by David Rosenthal
8. I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy
9. A Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
10. Life Is Hard, by Kieran Setiya

Jon Meacham returns with And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. Why no Book Marks for this one? Does the publisher have to pay for this? So confusing. All four advance reviews are raves  (that is, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus, and Booklist) with Kirkus writing: "While there are countless books on Lincoln, one of the most studied and written-about figures in history, Meacham's latest will undoubtedly become one of the most widely read and consulted. An essential, eminently readable volume for anyone interested in Lincoln and his era." 

Paperback Fiction:
1. It Starts with Us, by Colleen Hoover
2. The Book of Extraordinary Tragedies, by Joe Meno (signed paperbacks and hardcovers)
3. Once Upon a December, by Amy E Reichert (Register for November 30 event here)
4. It Ends with Us, by Colleen Hoover
5. The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
7. Verity, by Colleen Hoover
8. Crossroads, by Jonathan Franzen
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
10. The Witch's Heart, by Genevieve Gornichec 

 Colleen Hoover broke records (from Publishers Weekly)  with It Starts with Us, the most pre-ordered book in Simon and Schuster history. Why should you be surprised? She has completely dominated paperback fiction bestseller lists for the past year. Reviews were certainly not needed for this one, but the Kirkus critic wrote: "Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over."


Paperback Nonfiction:
1. To Be a Water Protector, by Winona LaDuke
2. Owning Grief, by Gael Garbarino Cullen (Register for November 11 event here)
3. All Our Relations by Winona LaDuke
4. A History of Milwaukee Drag, by BJ Daniels and Michil Takach (Register for October 24 event here)
5. The Milwaukeean (Klassik), by Joey Grihalva
6. Recovering the Sacred, by Winona LaDuke
7. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
8. Empire of Pain, by Patrick Radden Keefe
9. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
10. It's Okay to Laugh, by Nora McInerny

Both Winona LaDuke and Nora McInerny were in town on Thursday (McInerny at Boswell, LaDuke at UWM); both authors came to town last in 2019. From the publisher: "To Be a Water Protector explores issues that have been central to her activism for many years - sacred Mother Earth, our despoiling of Earth and the activism at Standing Rock and opposing Line 3." We have a few signed copies.

Books for Kids:
1. The Truth About Mrs. Claus, by Meena Harris
2. Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo
3. Our World of Dumplings, by Francie Dekker, illustrations by Sarah Jung
4. A Rover's Story, by Jasmine Warga
5. Everywhere with You, by Carlie Sorosiak, illustrations by Devon Holzwarth
6. This Is Not About a Kitten, by Randall de Sève, illustrations by Carson Ellis
7. The Three Billy Goats Gruff, by Mac Barnett, illustrations by Jon Klassen
8. Ghosts Are People Too, by Peter Ricq
9. The Official Heartstopper Coloring Book, by Alice Oseman
10. They Both Die at the End, by Adam Silvera

Everywhere with You is a picture book that came out in May, but it's been gathering steam since - this was its best week for sales since publication. From the starred Booklist: "The narrative flows well and tells a moving story. One magical aspect of the book is that although the dog doesn't understand the girl's language, after she reads or tells him imaginative tales, he has vibrant dreams in which the two friends share adventures. With warm colors, curving lines, and rhythmic repetition of forms, the mixed-media illustrations beautifully portray the setting as well as the main characters and their growing friendship, while the richly detailed dream scenes have a more otherworldly quality. A heartening picture book."

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