What's with the pre-publication events? Katherine May and Matthew Desmond

One change that a lot of our customers may have noticed over the last few months is that we have several pre-publication, open-to-the-public events. This is not to say that this didn't happen in the past, but for the most part, these kinds of programs would be by accident. In one case, a book's publication was delayed several times, and we finally came to the conclusion that we should just hold the program and take pre-orders. It worked, but we try not to make it a habit.

With the rise of virtual programs, pre-publication events have become more common. I think there are several reasons for this:

1) Publishers are already doing pre-publication virtual events for bookstores and media. They are already in the groove.

2) Website pre-orders are much more common than they used to be. Independent bookstores realized that our online competitors did a great job of soliciting these orders, and many bookstores have active pre-order campaigns. But it was COVID that really exploded the practice. And that means publishers aren't as worried about losing sales.

3) The virtual event itself is only the first part of the marketing plan. Especially if the event is a unique conversation, we're generally about to record the program and use the recording to solicit book sales. When the book comes out, we'll do another round of marketing for the book.

That's the case for our joint Porchlight Book Company program for Katherine May's Enchantment. Our conversation with Katherine May and Sally Haldorson was last Monday, but the book comes out on February 27 (or tomorrow, for those reading this blog in a timely fashion). Wintering was a phenomenon when it was released, and it's likely that Enchantment will follow suit. Booklist called May's latest, "Beautifully written and profoundly reasoned, this introspective search for meaning will appeal to readers seeking wholeness and community." Here's the link to watch the enchanting Enchantment conversation.

If you'll remember, our first virtual event (also with Porchlight) was for The Electricity of Every Living Thing, which was actually the paperback edition of May's first book, which was published by Melville House. The paperback came out after Wintering, which is still in hardcover, and is published by Riverhead.

This brings us to this week's virtual event with Matthew Desmond. The author of Evicted returns with Poverty, by America. Evicted was and is a phenomenon, having been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the subject of many community reads programs, and the bestselling book for Boswell the year it came out. We were lucky enough to host Desmond, who then returned to town several times speaking to nonprofit groups.

Matthew Desmond's new book enlarges the scope of Evicted to look at not just the unhoused, but the unfed, the unjobbed, and the unsupported. It's a little different in terms of structure, as it is not based on fieldwork - more thesis, less stories. And unlike Evicted, it has a detailed prescription for improvement. I mentioned the difference to one Evicted fan, and she said, "Doesn't matter. I'm reading it anyway."

Matthew Desmond is not coming to Milwaukee this time, at least that we know of. I won't be surprised if he's in town eventually. There are certainly a lot of people who'd love to see him. But for now, we're lucky to have this prepublication event as part of the Random House Spiritual Thought series, that looks at what faith groups can do to combat poverty. For this event, Demond is in conversation with Esau McCaulley, whose own book, How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South, will be published by Convergent (like Crown, Desmond's publisher, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group of Penguin Random House) next September. We're not running the program, the way we do for so many virtual events, but we are the designated bookseller.

And when Poverty, by America comes out, we'll make sure you get a copy. As a bonus, we're getting 80 signed bookplates for the first folks who preorder either through us or from the Eventbrite ticketing site.

Here's a nice quote from the Time Magazine website: "[Poverty, by America] shows how wealthy and middle class Americans knowingly and unknowingly perpetuate a broken system that keeps poor people poor. It's not an easy problem to fix, but through in-depth research and original reporting, the acclaimed sociologist offers solutions that would help spread America's wealth and make everyone more prosperous."  

Register for the March 2 event here.

(Some) Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 25, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 25, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai
2. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
3. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Victory City, by Salman Rushdie
5. How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
6. Someone Else's Shoes, by Jojo Moyes
7. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
8. Really Good Actually, by Monica Heisey
9. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
10. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews

Our big debut this week is Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You, which follows up her prize-winning The Great Believers. Makkai is the featured speaker of the Milwaukee Public Library Literary Lunch on April 27. Tickets are going on sale in early March. According to Book Marks, this was also the best reviewed fiction book of last week, with nine raves and three positive reviews. And we're not talking review organs you've never heard of, but Tom Nolan in The Wall Street Journal, who called the book "enthralling," and Ron Charles in The Washington Post, who wrote: "All of this makes I Have Some Questions for You a kind of meta murder mystery that deconstructs its own tropes. Bodie’s voice, so nakedly candid and bravely confessional, is absolutely convincing. I felt as captivated as though someone were whispering this whole novel just to me. By the end, it’s not the brutality of Thalia’s case that’s so terrifying, it’s the commonness of it."

We'll have the live ticket link on our upcoming events page.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Great Escape, by Saket Soni
2. It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism, by Bernie Sanders
3. The Climate Book, by Greta Thunberg
4. Young Forver, by Mark Hyman
5. The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama
6. Beaverland, by Leila Philip
7. B.F.F., by Christie Tate (Register for March 10 in-person event here)
8. The Half Known Life, by Pico Iyer
9. Wintering, by Katherine May (Enchantment comes out on Tuesday!)
10. Iron and Blood, by Peter H Wilson

Bernie Sanders, with the help of Madisonian John Nichols, offers in It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism, per the publisher, "a blueprint for addressing and changing the growing income and wealth inequalities in America." Zoe Williams in The Guardian writes "...his book is easily as frustrating and depressing as it is galvanising and uplifting; reading one story or statistic after another, about growing inequality, child poverty, financial insecurity – 77% of Americans are now anxious about their financial situation – one’s very lack of surprise reinforces a sense of hopelessness."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Adventure Zone V5: The Eleventh Hour, by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Justin McElroy, with illustrations by Carey Pietsch
2. Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
3. The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
4. Night of the Living Rez, by Morgan Talty
5. The Paris Apartment, by Lucy Foley
6. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka
7. The Maid, by Nita Prose
8. The Thursday Night Murder Club, by Richard Osman
9. The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
10. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna

When I'm writing up titles, our inventory database includes the lead writer but no featured cowriters or illustrators. I would update our info on The Eleventh Hour, the latest Adventure Zone entry, but I simply don't have enough room. Per the publisher: "Based on the blockbuster podcast where the McElroy brothers and their dad play a tabletop RPG, and illustrated by cartooning powerhouse Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour is a thrilling new chapter in this #1 New York Times bestselling series." About this entry, though you'd hardly start here: "The Bureau of Balance has located yet another Grand Relic, and this time it’s...time? A small mining town called Refuge has been locked away behind an arcane bubble, and somewhere inside it the Temporal Chalice is causing unknown mayhem."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan (The March 7 event is at capacity)
2. Brewtown Tales, by John Gurda
3. The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
4. All About Love, by bell hooks
5. Dancing with History, by George Lakey (Register for February 27 in-person event here)

Yes, we're at capacity on Dan Egan's Schlitz Audubon Nature Center program for The Devil's Element. Needless to say, interest has been reawakened in Egan's previous book, The Death and life of the Great Lakes. In just two months of 2023, we've sold more than half of what we old of the book in all of 2022. We're hoping to be able to announce another program soon.

Books for Kids:
1. The Assignment, by Liza Weimer
2. City of the Dead V4: City Spies, by James Ponti
3. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
4. Legendborn V1, by Tracy Deonn
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Easter Egg Hunt, by Eric Carle (Register for Very Hungry Caterpillar visit on March 8 here)

This week's list includes older bulk orders and combining that with not a great weather situation, several of this week's bestseller lists are abbreviated. One series that popped well this week with a new release is James Ponti's City of the Dead, volume four in City of Spies series. He's visited Milwaukee for school visits for a past entry, and it looks like he'll be back for the newest. I don't think there will be a public event, but we'll let you know if that's changed. Of the series, People Magazine's reviewer called it "Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight." I should also note that Ponti is an Edgar Award winner!

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 18, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 18, 2023

Hardcover Fiction
1. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
3. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
4. Babel, by RF Kuang
5. Big Swiss, by Jen Beagin
6. Victory City, by Salman Rushdie
7. How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
8. House of Eve, by Sadeqa Johnson
9. Lapvona, by Ottessa Moshfegh
10. Someone Else's Shoes, by Jojo Moyes

New this week if The House of Eve, by Sadeqa Johnson, the Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine book club pick. We've started featuring four of the book club picks in our book club case - Reese, Oprah, Jenna, and GMA, which doesn't have a person's first name attached. Carole V Bell reviewed The House of Eve in The Washington Post: "Johnson’s talents are in full bloom in this layered story with two distinctive and compelling young Black women at the center — both ambitious and talented strivers, who face a minefield of challenges in pursuit of their dreams."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. How to Lead Your Family Business, by Julie Charlestein
2. The Climate Book, by Greta Thunberg
3. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
4. A Waiter in Paris, by Edward Chisholm
5. A Random Walk Down Wall Street 50th Anniversary Edition, by Burton G Malkiel
6. Feels Like Home, by Linda Ronstadt
7. The Wise Hours, by Miriam Darlington
8. Rest Is Resistance, by Tricia Hersey
9. The Lives We Actually Have, by Kate Bowler
10. What's for Dessert, by Claire Saffitz

Greta Thunberg's The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions, was postponed from its original publication and is finally out now. This is a pretty common occurrence. From the publisher: "In The Climate Book, Greta Thunberg has gathered the wisdom of over one hundred experts - geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and indigenous leaders - to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster." From BookMarks, two raves, four positives, and a mixed from The Guardian. The starred Kirkus called it "brilliant and alarming."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
2. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka (We're now #12 on Edelweiss)
3. Heart Bones, by Colleen Hoover
4. Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5. A Marvellous Light, by Freya Marske
6. Dead Silence, by SA Barnes
7. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, by Megan Banen
8. Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez
9. Bookworm, by Robin Yeatman
10. The Maid, by Nita Prose

Rachel C. and Oli are both crazy for Freya Marske's new series, which starts with A Marvellous Light and continues with A Restless Truth. Our Romance Book Club read Marske's first and plans to read the second when it goes into paperback. #3 is A Power Unbound, and let's just say we're hoping to put together a virtual event in conjunction with that release. On BookMarks, A Marvellous Light has six raves plus a positive and a mixed (from Locus), from trade and specialty reviewers. Library Journal writes: "Marske’s debut is a delightful blend of Edwardian fantasy and romance, with enough twists and questions to have readers clamoring for the next in the planned series." This is a Tordotcom book, but I wonder if the series will move to the new Bramble imprint.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Brewtown Tales, by John Gurda
2. We Don't Know Ourselves, by Fintan O'Toole
3. Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
4. How the Word is Passed, by Clint Smith
5. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
6. Happening, by Annie Ernaux
7. These Precious Days, by An Patchett
8. Tools, by Phil Stutz and Barry Michaels
9. A Short History of Queer Women, by Kirsty Loehr
10. Hit Girls, by Jen B Larson

The UWM Festival of Films in French is playing this week and the opening film was L’événement, based on the Nobel Prize winner's Happening, her 2001 memoir. More on the film at the UWM website. The rest of the schedule is here. From Emily Eakin's 2001 New York Times review: "Ernaux's books are unsparing in detail, pitiless in tone. In contrast to those of so many of her confession-minded peers, her shock tactics feel principled, driven less by narcissism or the need for self-justification than by some loftier impulse: a desire to capture the past as it was, undistorted by faulty memories, moral judgments or decorative literary flourishes."

Books for Kids:
1. Just Harriet, by Elana K Arnold
2. Harriet Spies, by Elana K Arnold
3. Every Day's a Holiday, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Husna Aghinya
4. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Melanie Demmer
5. A Boy Called Bat, by Elana K Arnold
6. Moving to Mars, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Erin Taylor
7. Eric Loves Animals, by Eric Carle (Register for Very Hungry Caterpillar costume visit on March 8 here)
8. How Do You Live, by Genzaburo Yoshino
9. Three Questions, by Jon J Muth
10. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef

Just out this week is Eric Loves Animals (Just Like You). From the publisher: "Explore the animal kingdom through the eyes of Eric Carle with this alphabetized treasury of animal illustrations, featuring beloved classic characters as well as exclusive, never-before-seen art...This impressive collection of art has been crafted with those young fans in mind, as an alphabetical offering of creatures in all shapes and sizes, with peek-through holes, gatefolds, and other surprises to discover. Fan-favorites, like the famous Hungry Caterpillar and Grouchy Ladybug, sit alongside never-before-seen hippos, ostriches, and jellyfish. With 172 pages of sketches, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and collages to pore over, and narrated in Eric's own words about animals, nature, and art, children and children-at-heart are sure to lose themselves in the rich visual world of Eric Carle's animal oeuvre."

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 11, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 11, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Victory City, by Salman Rushdie
2. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
3. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
4. Big Swiss, by Jen Beagin
5. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Don't Fear the Reaper, by Stephen Graham Jones
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
8. How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
9. Liberation Day, by George Saunders
10. Exiles, by Jane Harper

Our top debut is the latest from Salman Rushdie. Per the publisher, Victory City is "a big, wonderful, epic novel that follows the life of a legendary woman: Pampa Kampana, a poet/goddess who created an empire from the mud and wrote an epic account of the 3 centuries of her life. Styled as the translation of a texts like the Ramayana and Mahabharata." BookMarks gave it 13 raves, 4 positives, one mixed, and one pan. I should note that I've never heard of the pan review, from Drift Magazine. 

From Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal (a rave): "We don’t yet know whether Victory City was finished before he was nearly killed by a knife-wielding fanatic in August or whether he completed it after the attack. But the novel’s levity and friendliness seem profound in either case. Amidst horrific violence he has brought forth a work of cheerful fabulism that puts far more emphasis on 'magic' than 'realism' - a warm space in which we might imagine a better world than our own."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Come Up for Air, by Nick Sonnenberg
2. Reading for Our Lives, by Maya Payne Smart
3. The Wise Hours, by Miriam Darlington
4. A Waiter in Paris, by Edward Chisholm (Register for February 16 virtual event here)
5. Steeped in Stories, by Mitali Perkins
6. Master Slave Husband Wife, by Ilyon Woo
7. Dinners with Ruth, by Nina Totenberg
8 I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy
9. What's for Dessert, by Claire Saffitz
10. Fresh Midwest, by Maren Ellingboe King

From the publisher, on Master Slave Husband Wife: "Winner of the prestigious Work in Progress Whiting Award, this is the remarkable story of William and Ellen Craft, an enslaved husband and wife, who successfully escaped slavery in Georgia by passing as a sickly white man (Ellen) and 'his' slave (William,) traveling openly by rail and steamship until they reached the North - a story unparalleled in the history of American slavery." Three raves, three positives, including W Caleb McDaniel in The New York Times, which called it "a suspenseful, sensitively rendered account of their four-day journey to the North, interspersed with flashbacks to their earlier lives."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka
2. Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason (Info about our Lit Group meeting times here)
3. Night of the Living Rez, by Morgan Talty
4. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune
7. Stolen, by Ann-Hélen Laestdius, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles
8. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, by Megan Bannen
9. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
10. Foundryside, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Stolen won the Adlibris Prize for Best Fiction Novel, hitting #1 on bestseller lists. From the publisher: "This spellbinding Swedish novel follows a young Sámi woman as she struggles to defend her reindeer herd and indigenous culture amidst xenophobia, climate change, and a devious hunter whose targeted kills are considered mere theft in the eyes of the law." From Fredrick Backman: "Stolen is an extraordinary novel. A coming-of-age-story you'll get lost in, about youth and heritage and the never-ending struggle to be allowed to exist. Although set in the coldest and most northern part of Scandinavia, I'm convinced it’s a universal story to be loved everywhere in the world." Film soon to be on Netflix.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, edited by Nicholas Carnes and Lilly J Goren
2. Brewtown Tales, by John Gurda
3. How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century, by Louis V Clark
4. Rebel Poet, by Louis V Clark
5. Milwaukee Jazz, by Joey Grihalva
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
8. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan (Register for March 7 Schlitz Audubon event here)
9. All About Love, by bell hooks
10. We Don't Know Ourselves, by Fintan O'Toole

We Don't Know Ourselves was named one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times for 2022 and that led to a shortage of copies during the holiday season. The publisher moved up the paperback to this week, and that led to a spot in our top ten. On BookMarks, it received 17 raves, four positives, a mixed, and yes, one pan, this time from The Baffler, which at least I've heard of - we even carry it! From Claire Messud in Harpers (one of the raves): "We Don’t Know Ourselves...may appear a daunting doorstopper of a book, but it is leavened by the brilliance of O’Toole’s insights and wit, and by the story of his own life, which he expertly intertwines into a larger historical narrative."

Books for Kids:
1. This Is a School, by John Schu, illustrations by Veronica Miller Jamison
2. The World's Loneliest Elephant, by Ralph Fletcher, illustrations by Naoko Stoop
3. Magical Black Tears, by Decoteau Irby, illustrations by Dominique Duval-Diop
4. I Don't Care, by Julie Fogliano, illustrations by Juana Martinez-Neal
5. What Feelings Do When No One's Looking, by Tina Oziewicz, ilulstrations by Aleksandra Zajac
6. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
7. Peekaboo Sun, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
9. Fry Bread, by Kevin Maillard, illustrations by Juana Martinez-Neal 

10. The Assignment, by Liza Weimer

Just about every book this week in this category placed in our top 10 due to the Wisconsin State Reading Association. Attending were John Schu, Ralph Fletcher, Decoteau Irby, Juana Martinez-Neal, and Liza Weimer. But it turns out that the other books on this list - What Feelings Do When No One's Looking and the Peekaboo books, were the bestsellers of titles we featured at the show. The World's Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue has great reviews from the trades, with Kirkus calling it "sad, sublime, and surely something special."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 4, 2023

Boswell bestsellers for the week ending February 4, 2023

I've been told that this coming Tuesday is a bigger on-sale week for new titles. Let's hope it makes for a more exciting bestseller list next week.

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
2. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
3. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
4. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Matthews
5. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
6. How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
7. The World and All That It Holds, by Aleksandar Hemon
8. Foster, by Claire Keegan
9. Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
10. Age of Vice, by Deepti Kapoor

This is the best week yet for Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, a cheeky Australian murder mystery that's been compared to Knives Out. No LitHub Book Marks for this one, but there are reviews, not just PW (liked it) and Kirkus (not so much) but The Guardian (eh) and Laurie Hertzel at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where honestly, it's hard to tell what the reviewer thought. 3.95 stars on Goodreads, which is pretty good. It's on display at Boswell as a February Indie Next title. So it's either that title or good word of mouth.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. 8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go, by Jay Shetty
2. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
3. The Indigenous Continent, by Pekka Hamalainen
4. Spare, by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
5. A Waiter in Paris, by Edward Chisholm (Register for Feb 16 virtual event here)
6. The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama
7. Half-Baked Harvest Every Day, by Tieghan Gerard
8. Atomic Habits, by James Clear
9. The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow
10. Against the World, by Tara Zahra

Why is February 7 the big laydown for February instead of January 31? I feel like it used to be otherwise. One book that did come out last week is 8 Rules of Love by Jay Shetty. We had and then didn't have a virtual event for Shetty's last release. Deepak Chopra's a fan, as is the Publishers Weekly reviewer, who writes "Shetty combines spiritual wisdom and down-to-earth guidance in a surprisingly seamless way, making for lessons that have real staying power."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson
2. Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
4. Legends and Lattes, by Travis Baldree
5. The Maid, by Nita Prose
6. Sorry Bro, by Taleen Voskuni
7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
8. It Ends with Us, by Colleen Hoover
9. A Marvellous Light, by Freya Marske
10. Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune

I love that we have Sorry, Bro, a queer Armenian romance in our top ten. Great reviews from all the trades, including a starred Booklist: "In between expertly enhancing the book's slowly simmering romance between its two captivating protagonists with plenty of quippy banter, Voskuni conjures up a marvelously memorable cast of supporting characters and crafts a fascinating plot enriched with insights into Armenian culture and history. With this radiantly ravishing debut, Voskuni beautifully illustrates the courage it can take to be your own true self and risk everything for love."

Shorts!
--Rachel and Oli are crazy about Freya Marske and we're hoping to have a virtual program for A Marvellous Light and its sequels
--Jen just read the new TJ Klune, In the Lives of Puppets, and says it has top-five-of-the-year potential

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Good Country, by Jon K. Lauck
2. Brewtown Tales, by John Gurda
3. Empire of Pain, by Patrick Radden Keefe
4. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
5. How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith
6. Come as You Are, by Emily Nagoski
7. Giannis, by Mirin Fader
8. Say Nothing, by Padrick Radden Keefe
9. The Good Life Method, by Meghan Sullivan and (former Boswellian) Paul Blaschko
10. Evicted, by Matthew Desmond (virtual event March 2 - registration coming soon!)

Hey, I've read five books on this list! I just went back and finished Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe's history of the Sackler family and their involvement in the opioid crisis, having bought the book when I went to see the author at Bookstall in Winnetka. I already got one other person to read the book. Our sales are good but could be better - working on it! The Netflix series Painkiller is based on The New Yorker article from the author that led to the book.

Books for Kids:
1. Every Day's a Holiday, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Husna Aghniya
2. A Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Melanie Demmer
3. Moving to Mars, by Stef Wade, illustrations by Erin Taylor
4. The Assignment, by Liza Wiemer
5. Wings of Fire V1: The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland
6. Magic Tree House V1: Dinosaurs Before Dark graphic novel, by Mary Pope Osborne and Jenny Laird, illustrations by Kelly and Nichole Matthews
7. Last Hours V3: Chain of Thorns, by Cassandra Clare
8. Cat Kid Comic Club V4: Collaborations, by Dav Pilkey
9. Bird and Squirrel on the Run V1, by James Burks
10. Mr. Wolf's Class, by Aron Nels Steinke

I'm not going to lie - these are mostly student and school orders. One book, however, that is a bonafide, one-sale-at-a-time besteller is Cassandra Clare's latest, Chain of Thorns, the third and concluding volume of the Last Hours cycle. Publisher note: "All copies in the first printing only will include a full-color reverse jacket, 10 black and white interior illustrations, and a short story, and will say "Collector's First Edition" on the front cover. As with previous books in this series, this special content will not be available for future printings, so readers should preorder to guarantee their copy!" You don't usually see trade reviews on subsequent volumes of series, but Kirkus called this "Fiendishly romantic from start to (eventual) finish."