Sunday, July 7, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 6, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 6, 2024

Hardcover Fiction
1. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
2. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
3. James, by Percival Everett
4. Sandwich, by Catherine Newman
5. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
6. The Cliffs, by J Courtney Sullivan
7. Table for Two, by Amor Towles
8. Midnight Feast, by Lucy Foley
9. All Fours, by Miranda July
10. Same As It Ever Was, by Claire Lombardo

We had a great read from Kim on The God of the Woods, Liz Moore's folow-up to Long Bright River, and the book is the #1 Indie Next Pick as well. She also got eight raves and two positives on BookMarks. Maureen Corrigan compares Moore's latest to The Secret History in The Washington Post: "This summer, I once again felt that all-too-rare sense of being completely possessed by a story as I read The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore. There are some superficial similarities between the two novels: Both are intricate narratives featuring young people isolated in enclosed worlds - in Tartt’s story, a small cohort of classics students at the aforementioned college (modeled on Bennington); in Moore’s, a summer camp within a vast forest in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. A sense of predetermined doom also pervades both books. But the most vital connection for me is the beguiling force of these two literary suspense novels."

Hardcover Nonfiction
1 The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan
2. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
3. The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt
4. When the Clock Broke, by John Ganz
5. Democracy or Else, by Jon Favreau
6. On Call, by Anthony Fauci
7. Challenger, by Adam Higginbotham
8. A Gentleman and a Thief, by Dean Jobb
9. There's Always This Year, by Hanif Abdurraqib
10. There Was Nothing You Could Do, by Steven Hyden

John Ganz's When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s has gotten six raves (so far) on BookMarks. The author of the Unpopular Front column for substack looks at David Duke, Patrick Buchanan, and Ross Perot, among other figures. Jennifer Szalai, in The New York Times, notes of the 1990s: "This smooth hum of stability stands in obvious contrast to our current plight of fracture and chaos. But as John Ganz shows in his terrific new book, When the Clock Broke, the early 1990s were also a time of social unrest and roiling resentments, of growing alienation and festering anguish."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Goddess of Warsaw, by Lisa Barr
2. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
3. A Novel Love Story, by Ashley Poston
4. The Measure, by Nikki Erlick
5. The Searcher, by Tana French
6. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, by J Ryan Stradal
7. Just for the Summer, by Abby Jimenez
8. The Abyss, by Pilar Quintana
9. The Last Sane Woman, by Hannah Regel
10. Cuckoo, by Gretchen Felker-Martin

The Measure, by Nikki Erlick, took two years to go into paperback due to its strong word-of-mouth sales. It was a Read with Jenna Book Club selection too. Booklist noted: "Echoing Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven and Claire Fuller's Bitter Orange, Erlick's debut is a futuristic thought experiment set close to the present day. Using a thoughtful and genuine group of characters to outline society's widely varied reactions to the strings' arrival, Erlick highlights the Herculean efforts needed to look beyond prejudice and predisposition."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Arise, by Elena Aguilar
2. We Had Fun and Nobody Died, by Amy T Waldman and Peter Jest 
3. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
4. Grief Is a Sneaky Bitch, by Michael Finkel (Boswell July 29 event)
5. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
6. What Does Israel Fear from Palestine?, by Raja Shehadeh
7. World Travel, by Anthony Bourdain
8. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
9. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
10. Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin, by Kristine Hansen

A third event has been added to the We Had Fun and Nobody Died tour. In addition to Shank Hall on July 13 and the MPL Central Library event on July 20, Peter Jest and Amy Waldman will also be at the Milwaukee Press Club on July 31. Here's the link to the MPL event.

Books for Kids:
1. Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair, by Lucy Knisley (signed copies)
2. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
3. Reckless V2, by Lauren Roberts
4. Bluey Beach, from Disney
5. Children of Anguish and Anarchy V3, by Tomi Adeyemi
6. The One and Only Ruby V3, by Katherine Applegate
7. The Great Lakes, by Barb Rosenstock, illustrations by Jamey Christoph
8. Powerless V1 by Lauren Roberts
9. What Feelings Do When No One's Looking, by Tina Oziewicz, illustrations by Aleksandra Zajac
10. The Rabbit Listened, by Cori Doerrfeld

Reckless, by Lauren Roberts is the follow up to Powerless, also in this week's top 10. The first book in this series was originally self-published and was then picked up by Simon and Schuster. #3 in the series will be called Fearless. From Shelf Awareness: "Powerless is a compelling tale of darkness and destruction, of a divide carved by a vicious king, and of the lure of freedom, choice, and power."

No comments: