Sunday, September 10, 2023

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."

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