Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 23, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 23, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger (signed copies)
2. The Last Devil to Die V4, by Richard Osman
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. Dead Eleven, by Jimmy Juliano
5. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
6. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
7. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
8. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
9. The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
10. Holly, by Stephen King

Today's top debut is Richard Osman's fourth mystery in the Thursday Murder Club series. The Last Devil to Die has four raves and a positive, but of those five reviews are British and one is from Air Mail, which I had never heard of before. It's a mobile first, subscription based newsletter from Graydon Carter and Allesandra Stanley that started in 2019. Where have I been? From the Jenny Colgan review: "Overall, the real strength of these books is that they are genuinely funny. It is a truism that people who aren’t funny think that writing funny books is easy. To wear it as lightly as Osman does is a gift; these books read like champagne."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Book of (More) Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 Boswell event)
2. Never Givin' Up, by Kurt Dietrich (signed copies)
3. Elon Musk, by Walter Isaacson
4. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
5. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich (Register for October 3 Boswell event)
6. Of Time and Turtles, by Sy Montgomery
7. Astor, by Anderson Cooper
8. The Death of Public Schools, by Cara Fitzpatrick (Register for October 20 Marquette Law event)
9. Slaying the Dragon, by Ben Riggs
10. Sure I'll Join Your Cult, by Maria Bamford

We got a nice first week pop in sale on Ross Gay's The Book of (More) Delights, a combination of pre-orders and some sales as part of a special program we're doing. We're all looking forward to our October 4 event. In the non-event category, we had a nice first week pop for Sy Montgomery's Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell. From Kirkus: "Melding science and memoir, naturalist Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus, The Hummingbirds' Gift, and other celebrated nature books, shares her experiences as a volunteer at the Turtle Rescue League, in Massachusetts, where, along with wildlife artist Patterson, she worked laboriously to care for 'the most imperiled major group of animals on earth.'" 

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Artful Bargain, by Audrey Lynden
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (signed copies)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 Boswell event)
4. Murder at the Mena House, by Erica Ruth Neubauer
5. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner
6. Blood to Rubies, by Deborah Hufford
7. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
8. The Ninth Metal V1, by Benjamin Percy
9. A Court of Thorn and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
10. Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune

It's the second week out for Godkiller in paperback, and Hannah Kaner's series debut was helped by a featured staff-rec spot at our booth for The Awkward Nerd Book Fair last Sunday. We have several fans on staff. From Jen Steele: "Hannah Kaner has created a fantastical world full of wild gods, political intrigue, and danger around every corner. Can a godkiller, a knight, and a young noble girl with a god of white lies entwined within her soul work together, let alone trust each other?" And From Charlie Jane Anders in The Washington Post: "Kaner writes action that’s both fun and intelligible - no mean feat - while keeping the story moving forward nicely. If The Last of Us didn’t slake your thirst for stories of a grizzled fighter taking a tough kid on the road, then Godkiller should be your jam."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Let's Summon Demons, by Steven Rhodes
2. Holy Food, by Christina Ward (Register for September 29 Boswell event)
3. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
4. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
5. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
6. A Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
7. Vagina Obscura, by Rachel E Gross
8. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
9. Hollywood Standard, by Christopher Riley
10. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros

Local author and publisher Christina Ward is doing a number of events in Milwaukee and across the country (Quimby's in Chicago, Book Larder in Seattle, among others) for Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat - An American History. From Tea Krulos in Milwaukee Magazine: "Each chapter of Holy Food discusses the history of various religious food rules on what can go into your mouth and when. The book serves as a guide of religious development in this country... What makes Holy Food a unique reading experience is the collection of recipes – over 75 of them – found at the end of each chapter and adapted from Ward’s extensive collection of religious-themed cookbooks."

Books for Kids:
1. Autumn Peltier Water Warrior, by Carole Lindstrom, illustrations by Bridget George
2. The Ghost Book, by Remy Lai
3. Pawcasso, by Remy Lai
4. Fly on the Wall, by Remy Lai
5. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
6. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
7. The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
8. The Tale of Despereaux deluxe anniversary edition, by Kate DiCamillo
9. Nimona, by ND Stevenson
10. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, by Deya Muniz

Our public kids events are back, with the best schedule since before COVID, but we continue to also bring authors to schools without a public component. Often the issue is that the publisher uses the public event time to get the author to the next city for schools - there's a lot of evening travel. Remy Lai was here last week, as you can tell from our bestseller list. Her newest is The Ghost Book - here's the publisher's take: "July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren't real. So she pretends they don't exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it's Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world."

From the starred Booklist: "Lai is a master of middle-grade sensibilities, mixing pus-spurting tumors with slapstick and genuine concerns about friendship and family. Her artwork elevates each scene to its fullest potential as wacky and disgusting ghosts float through panels (and walls and floors), their luminous forms lighter than the saturated physical world, and the friends discover how their fates are deeply entwined. An unforgettable adventure full of surprises, laughs, ghosts, and dumplings."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 16, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 16, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
2. The Vaster Wilds, by Lauren Groff
3. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
6. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
7. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
8. Holly, by Stephen King
9. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
10. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

Top fiction debut goes to Lauren Groff's latest, The Vaster Wilds. It's the #1 Indie Next Pick for September and has eight raves, three positives, two mixed, and two pans. That said, I would have rated the Ron Charles review in The Washington Post more mixed than pan. One rave from Judith Shulevitz in The Atlantic: "Groff’s fiction is usually identified as ecological and feminist, which it certainly is, but it is theological too. Lately, the religion has come out into the open. Groff’s previous novel, Matrix, centered on a historical figure, the 12th-century French poet Marie de France, imagining her as a lesbian abbess and visionary, a proto-feminist of sorts. In The Vaster Wilds, Groff all but asserts fealty to God - her god, the god of nature, who dwells everywhere and in everything."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. England's Jews, by John Tolan
3. Elon Musk, by Walter Isaacson
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. How Far to the Promised Land, by Esau McCaulley
6. The World Central Kitchen, by Jose Andrés
7. Never Givin' Up, by Kurt Dietrich (Register for September 23 East Library event)
8. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
9. The Death of Public School, by Cara Fitzpatrick (Register for October 20 Marquette Law School event)
10. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich (Register for October 3 Boswell event)

The highest profile release of the week is surely Walter Isaacson's Elon Musk, despite not making too much of a splash at Boswell. The big question when I see the BookMarks roundup is whether critics are reviewing the book or the subject. The book has three positives, three mixed, and two pans to date, and reading the reviews, I think it's hard to separate the two.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Code Name Sapphire, by Pam Jenoff
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 Boswell event)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 virtual event)
4. The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff
5. The Woman with the Blue Star, by Pam Jenoff
6. Something More Than Night, by Kim Newman (Upcoming Boswell-run book clubs here)
7. Carte Postale, by Anne Berest (Register for October 12 Boswell event here)
8. Nona the Ninth V3 Locked Tomb, by Tasmyn Muir
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
10. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner

Nona the Ninth, the third volume in the Locked Room series, hits the top 10 in its first week out in paperback. In hardcover, it was a Hugo and Locust Award nominee. From Oli Schmitz: "Where many dystopian and sci-fi books fail when it comes to a 'how we got here' storyline, Muir handles it as expertly as the character dynamics and truly, perfectly unhinged humor. Now is the perfect time to dive into The Locked Tomb series!"

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Invitation to Impact, by Wendy Steele
2. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
3. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
4. Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe
5. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. One Hundred Saturdays, by Michael Frank
8. The Philosophy of Walking, by Frederic Gros
9. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
10. The Book of Delight, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 Boswell event here)

First week on sale for One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World, which hit the equivalent list in hardcover last year. The book had four raves and two positives on BookMarks, including a rave from Helen McAlpin which helped it become one of the Wall Street Journal's top ten books of 2022. She wrote: "In relaying her life story, Mr. Frank has pulled off something special: One Hundred Saturdays is a sobering yet heartening book about how friendship, remembrance, and being heard can help assuage profound dislocation and loss. It is also a reminder that the ability to listen thoughtfully is a rare and significant gift."

Books for Kids: 

1. The Secret Letters V1 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
2. The Ghostly Photos V2 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
3. Legendborn V1, by Tracy Deonn
4. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. The Dreamatics, by Michelle Cuevas
6. Miles Morales Suspended, by Jason Reynolds
7. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
8. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
9. Hooky V3, by Miriam Bonastre Tur
10. See the Cat, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka (Register for October 19 Greenfield Library event)

While I didn't get to see Margaret Peterson Haddix on her recent visit to Milwaukee, I have escorted her to schools on previous visits, so I know what a treat it was for the kids she visited. From the starred School Library Journal for The Secret Letters: "Two sets of friends, separated by 50 years, are the heart of an engrossing -historical fiction and mystery tale [that] seamlessly integrates the history of the modern women's rights movement into the character-driven narrative. Master storyteller Haddix is in top form, weaving a complex tapestry of different genres, time lines, and generations of characters in a can't-put-it-down novel. VERDICT A winning start to a new series and a first purchase for all middle grade collections."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 9, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 9, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
2. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
3. Killingly, by Katharine Beutner
4. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
5. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
8. The Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros
9. Crook Manifesto V2, by Colson Whitehead
10. The Postcard, by Anne Berest (Register for October 12 event)

It's the first week out for Zadie Smith's The Fraud, but she just couldn't outpace The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which increased sales 50% over last week. Fraud was the best-reviewed book on BookMarks last week (with 16 raves out of 27 documented reviews). From Ron Charles in The Washington Post: "As ever, Smith continually works against expectations. Although The Fraud lacks the dazzling energy of her celebrated debut, White Teeth, it excels at sleight of hand. The syncopated arrangement of these short chapters jumps back and forth in time, placing Ainsworth’s youthful popularity in contrast to his later years of panicked self-doubt. But the focus remains on the mysterious Eliza Touchet - so externally polite, so internally acute - struggling till the end of her life to divine what to believe when the human condition is essentially fraudulent."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
2. Don't Panic Pantry Cookbook, by Noah Galuten
3. The Great Escape, by Saket Soni
4. Owner of a Lonely Heart, by Beth Nguyen
5. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
6. What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman
7. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
8. King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
9. The Water, by David Grann
10. Sure I'll Join Your Cult, by Maria Bamford

It's the first week out for Maria Bamford's Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere, which has a suitably self-explanatory subtitle. Bamford is well-known for her stand-up specials, and I particularly enjoyed the first season of her Lady Dynamite series. She has six raves and positive on BookMarks including Zack Ruskin in The Washington Post: "Bamford has created a work destined to shine much-needed light on mental illness. Illuminating those serious moments with humor is her true triumph."  Bamford also has many blurbs from fellow celebs like Rachel Bloom, Nick Kroll, and, Tig Notaro.

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
2. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Register for September 20 event)
3. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 event)
4. Alcestis, by Katharine Beutner
5. Big Swiss, by Jen Bergin
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. A Court of Silver Flames V5, by Sarah J Maas
8. A Throne of Glass V1, by Sarah J Maas
9. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna
10. The Things We Left Behind, by Lucy Score

It's a six-month hardcover-to-paperback release for Big Swiss, the novel from Jen Bergin, which I'm a little surprised about, because the hardcover was still selling steadily for us. I know we had at least one read on the book, but I can't find a rec on our web page. Be right back. Ah, the rec card is from the now missed bookseller-turned-teller Parker, who wrote that "Big Swiss is a big win. I loved this oddball book. Recommended for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh." Eight raves and six positives on BookMarks. From Sandra Newman at The Guardian: "A fluffy sex comedy with a dark underbelly. In fact, its dark underbelly has a darker underbelly, which is then startlingly fluffy. There are multiple trauma plotlines."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
3. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
4. American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin
5. Seeing Red, by Michael John Witgen
6. The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
7. How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith
8. Jews in the Garden, by Judy Rakowsky
9. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 event)
10. All About Love, by bell hooks

Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America is nonreturnable if a bookstore buys through Ingram, but our sales, are not a school order, but are individual sales. This reprint, which was returnable in hardcover but then was short discount (don't ask!) got a good Publishers Weekly write up: "Historian (Michael John) Witgen, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe (and now a Professor at Columbia University), examines in this searing account the 'massive transfer of wealth from Native peoples to white American settlers' that occurred in the Northwest Territory in the 19th century...Witgen's incisive and deeply researched study lays bare the mechanisms of this historical land grab." I should also note it is a Pulitzer Prize finalist!

Books for Kids:
1. Mona Lisa Vanishes, by Nicholas Day
2. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. See the Ghost, by David LaRochelle, illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka (Register for October 19 Greenfield event)
4. This Winter, by Alice Oseman
5. Hooky V3, by Miriam Bonastre Tur
6. It's Fall, by Renée Kurilla
7. Mexikid, by Pedro Martín
8. Ghost Book, by Remy Lai
9. Heartstopper V2, by Alice Oseman
10. A Super Scary Halloween V8, by Ben Clanton

Our kids buyer Jen hasn't written a rec for Mexikid, but when I told her it made our bestseller list, she told me some great stories and noted that she better write something up right away. This graphic memoir is about the family trip back to Mexico to pick up Abuelito. From Booklist: "Martín packs each page with self-deprecating observations about himself and his family, and while they're nearly all wry, they're also touched with genuine affection. His bright and colorful artwork is also a sheer delight: while mythologizing his abuelito, he switches to a classic superhero-comic art style, complete with benday dots, while more somber scenes are rendered in a softer palette and line quality. There's much to savor here, from the thoughtful exploration of bicultural identity to the good-natured snarky teasing of siblings to pivotal moments of growth amid guileless kidhood. It's a tightrope balancing act of antic humor and genuine pathos, and Martín pulls it off with tremendous flair."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 2, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 2, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
2. The English Experience, by Julie Schumacher
3. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
6. The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese
7. Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim
8. Canary Girls, by Jennifer Chiaverini
9. Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead
10. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin

The GMA book club pick for September, Happiness Falls, is the follow-up to Angie Kim's Edgar-Award-winning Miracle Creek. From the starred Booklist: "In Kim's latest, Adam Parson goes missing, leaving behind his wife and children, including 15-year-old Eugene, who has autism and a rare genetic disorder called mosaic Angelman syndrome and is nonverbal. Narrated by hyperanalytical 20-year-old Mia, Eugene's sister, Happiness Falls follows this biracial Korean American family - mother, Eugene, and Mia's twin, John - as they try to figure out what happened to Adam."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1 What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman

(Register for September 6 virtual)
2. Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
3. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Egan
4. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
5. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
6. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
7. France on Trial, by Julian Jackson
8. Tasting History, by Max Miller with Ann Volkwein
9. The Wager, by David Grann
10. Never Givin' Up: The Life and Music of Al Jarreau, by Kurt Dietrich (Register for September 23 East Library Event)

Jane and Rachel R. are already big fans of The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession so what's another reader (we have at least one more on staff, maybe two, so I would be either #4 or #5?) Sometimes it can make a big difference, especially when we know other stores are selling a book well (it was July's #1 Indie Next Pick) and our sales are maybe not what they could be. The key is that while we have the book officially sectioned in true crime (which is a fair designation), I think the art people are the true market for that (museum goers, docents, collectors, and just all-around fans). That this twenty-something unemployed Alsatian could have stolen $2 billion of art with just his girlfriend as his accomplice is stunning. It's all in the book!

Paperback Fiction:
1. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Register for December 14 event)
2. All This Could Be Different (Register for September 20 event)
3. Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher
4. The Nix, by Nathan Hill (Register for October 23 event)
5. Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney
6. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
7. The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon
8. Tatami Galaxy, by Tomihiko Morimi, translated by Emily Balistrieri
9. The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
10. Legends and Lattes, by Travis Baldree

More on Tatami Galaxy, in which, per the publisher, "An unfulfilled college student hurtles through four parallel realities to explore the what-might've-been and the what-should-never-be." The novel is the basis for a popular anime series. From Publishers Weekly: "Morimi's delightful campus novel follows the quixotic adventures of an unnamed student dreaming of the perfect college experience... Objects of repetition include castella cakes, fish burgers, a luxury scrub brush, and the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In their recurrence, Morimi instills comfort in the familiarity of his hero's routine. Light and sweet in its confection, this satisfies like a spongy piece of castella." Visit the updated Boswell-run book club page here for our latest discussion books.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Path Lit by Lightning, by David Maraniss
2. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
3. The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay (Register for October 4 event here)
4. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
5. When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
8. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
9. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
10. The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants, by Neil Diboll

First week out! The blockbuster hardcover bestseller An Immense World had a paperback delay, but not the 18 month cycle that we sometimes see for fiction titles. The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer on the staff of The Atlantic also received the George Polk Award for science reporting, per the publisher. The updated bio should also note that he won the Carnegie Medal (or as I like to call it, the Newberry for adults) for this book.

Books for Kids:
1. Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret
2. The Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis
3. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
4. The Egypt Game, by ilpha Keatley Snyder
5. The Gold Cadillac, by Mildred Taylor
6. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Patterson
7. This Winter, by Alice Oseman
8. How to Catch a Polar Bear, by Stacy DeKeyser (Register for October 24 Wauwatosa Library event)
9. Hello Wisconsin, by Martha Day Zschock
10. Rite of Passage, by Richard Wright

So you might notice that Scholastic's This Winter had a bestselling week, even though it was originally a street-smart title for September 5. That's a little insider talk. Scholastic waived the on-sale date requirement for the pending UPS strike, which (fortunately for us and bookstores and publishing) didn't happen. With Heartstoppers now a hit show on Netflix, demand for this novella that takes place during volume four of this series is high.