Boswell bestsellers, week ending December 23, 2023

Boswell bestsellers, week ending December 23, 2023

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
2. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
3. The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
6. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
7. The Fraud, by Zadie Smith
8. North Woods, by Daniel Mason
9. Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch
10. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
11. The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
12. Starter Villain, by John Scalzi
13. Let Us Descend, by Jesmyn Ward
14. Iron Flame V2, by Rebecca Yarros
15. Absolution, by Alice McDermott

Starter Villain, one of Rachel C.' picks for the holiday season, is also the featured title of our Books & Beer Book club on January  15. Here is the upcoming meeting schedule for Boswell-run book clubs. From Library Journal: "Readers of humorous fantasy are sure to love Scalzi's latest as much as those cats; it's also for those who enjoy seeing superhero stories folded, twisted, and mutilated and anyone wishing for a righteous villain lair surrounded by intelligent sharks. Highly recommended."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Wager, by David Grann
2. Why We Love Baseball, by Joe Posnanski
3. World Within a Song, by Jeff Tweedy
4. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl
5. Wisconsin Field to Fork, by Lori Fredrich
6. Prequel, by Rachel Maddow
7. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
8. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
9. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson
10. My Name Is Barbra, by Barbra Streisand
11. Wisconsin Supper Clubs 2E, by Ron Faiola
12. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
13. The Globemakers, by Peter Bellerby
14. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
15. Start Here, by Sohla El-Waylly

We usually see a nice pop on cookbooks in the fourth quarter and there are two on this week's list. Wisconsin Field to Fork has been strong all season, what with its seasonal ties, and it's nice to see Start Here from Sohla El-Waylly, Jason cookbook pick on Lake Effect. We got a very nice note back from Aly Miller, the book's Wisconsin illustrator. Very nice to have a local tie-in to this great cookbook.  From Publishers Weekly: " As tasty and appealing as it is informative, this is the ideal handbook for those starting out in the kitchen." Listen to the Lake Effect interview here. 

Paperback Fiction:
1. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
2. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan
3. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
4. Wizard's Dream, by Louisa Loveridge Gallas
5. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by VE Schwab
6. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt (per Jason, trending on Tiktok)
7. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
8. Best American Short Stories 2023, edited by Min Jin Lee
9. The Maid V1, by Nita Prose
10. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
11. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q Sutanto
12. Shady Hollow V1, by Juneau Black
13. Godkiller V1, by Hannah Kaner
14. Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, edited by Lisa Unger
15. The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

Selling off Jen's rec shelf is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Jesse Q Sutanto, who is based in Indonesia, Singapore, and Oxford, has written a cozy mystery set in San Francisco's Chinatown. You don't usually see paperback original mysteries getting indexed on LitHub, but with one rave and three positives, I'm glad to see it got that extra help. 

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. John Gurda's Milwaukee, by John Gurda
2. Secret Milwaukee, by Jim Nelsen
3. A Year in the Woods, by Torbjorn Ekelund
4. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
5. Cream City Chronicles, by John Gurda
6. Brewtown Tales, by John Gurda
7. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
8. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke
9. An Immense World, by Ed Yong
10. Penny, by Karl Stevens
11. Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, by Nick Offerman
12. The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine, by Michael Scott Baumann
13. Murdle V2, by GT Karber
14. Lyrics, by Paul McCartney 

15. How We Live Is How We Die, by Pema Chõdrõn

The outdoor world continues to captivate Boswell customers, at least on the new and noteworthy tables. I still can't understand why other stores haven't put piles of A Year in the Woods and A Philosophy of Walking on their front tables or displays. We're not the only store selling these books week after week, but it appears that a lot of stores that could sell these books well without much work are carrying either one spined out in a section or not carrying them at all.

Books for Kids:

1. Chalice of the Gods V6, by Rick Riordan
2. How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
3. Dogtown, by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
4. Cat Kid Comic Club V5: Inflencers, by Dav Pilkey
5. The Snowy Day board book, by Ezra Jack Keats
6. The Eyes and the Impossible McSweeneys edition, by Dave Eggers
7. How to Catch a Polar Bear, by Stacy DeKeyser
8. Heartstopper V5, by Alice Oseman
9. Murtagh V5, by Christopher Paolini
10. What You Need to Be Warm, edited by Neil Gaiman
11. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, by Mo Willems
12. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Renée Graef
13. Diary of a Wimpy Kid V18 No Brainer, by Jeff Kinney
14. Winter Turning graphic novel editionV7, by Tui T Sutherland
15. Peekaboo Car, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius

A late add from a Neil Gaiman collab is selling well off our impulse table. What You Need to Be Warm. With the help of multiple illustrators, Gaiman, Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, has taken responses to the question and woven them into a poem. From Booklist: " A moving meditation on what it means to be safe and warm in a difficult world. "