Sunday, September 1, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 31, 2024

Boswell bestsellers, week ending August 31, 2024:

Hardcover Fiction:
1. A Season of Perfect Happiness, by Maribeth Fischer
2. Eagle Rock V4, by Ian K Smith
3. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
4. The Dark Wives V11, by Ann Cleeves
5. Spirit Crossing V20, by William Kent Krueger (St Marks September 7 event is at capacity)
6. James, by Percival Everett
7. Familiaris, by David Wroblewski
8. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
9. Sandwich, by Catherine Newman
10. Funny Story, by Emily Henry

To my knowledge, the Vera Stanhope novels from Ann Cleeves no longer work in tandem with the Vera series. But reviews for The Dark Wives are excellent - this installment would probably make a great episode, perhaps a two parter. From Kirkus: "In the north of England, DI Vera Stanhope and her team labor to uncover the connection between a teen missing from a children's care home and a pair of murders...An excellent character-driven entry that highlights major problems in Britain's child welfare system."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Eastern Front, by Nick Lloyd
2. What's Next, by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack
3. Land Rich, Cash Poor, by Brian Reisninger
4. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
5. Hitler's People, by Richard J Evans
6. The Wide, Wide Sea, by Hampton Sides
7. The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan
8. The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple, by Jenny Rosenstarch
9. A Gentleman and a Thief, by Dean Jobb
10. A Walk in the Park, by Kevin Fedarko

The Eastern Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918 leads this week's list  Nick Lloyd's The Western Front came out in 2021. From William Anthony Hay's rave in The Wall Street Journal: "Mr. Lloyd’s harrowing narrative in The Eastern Front reminds us that the fighting in Eastern Europe shattered empires and normalized violence there, fostering an instability that has lasted for more than a century. Indeed, today’s war in Ukraine follows in some ways from the catastrophe of 1914."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbaeck (Boswell book club selections)
2. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
3. Austerlitz, by WG Sebald
4. Trust, by Hernan Diaz
5. The Postcard, by Anne Berest
6. Good Night Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea
7. The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston
8. A Court of Thorns and Roses V1, by Sarah J Maas
9. The House of Earth and Blood V1, by Sarah J Maas
10. My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante

The New York Times best 100 of the 21st century has three entries this week - My Brilliant Friend at #1, Demon Copperhead at #61 (which was the readers' #1 choice) and Austerlitz at #8, which is our November Lit Group selection. From John Banville in The Guardian: "His masterpiece, and one of the supreme works of art of our time."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
2. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
3. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama
4. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
5. King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild
6. The Girls of Atomic City, by Denise Kiernan
7. Cream City Chronicles, by John Gurda
8. Random Acts of Medicine, by Anupam B Jena and Christopher Worsham
9. Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
10. Going Infinite, by Michael Lewis

After four years, Crown released A Promised Land in paperback on August 13. Looking back at its 2020 reviews on Bookmarks, I note how many more there were compared to a major 2024 release, in part due to the disappearance of regular reviews at a number of city papers. Ron Elving on NPR: "Whatever one's feelings about this man, they are likely to be brought to the surface by this book. We hear his voice in every sentence, almost as if he were physically present and reading the book aloud."

Books for Kids
1. Shot Clock V1, by Caron Butler and Justin A Reynolds (Racine Public Library September 11 event)
2. We Are Big Time, by Hena Khan (Milwaukee Public Library September 15 event)
3. Daphne Draws Data, by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic (Boswell September 4 event)
4. How We Play, a board book by Dolisha Mitchell
5. Peekaboo Lion, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
6. Hello Hands, a board book by Aya Khalil
7. Bear's Lost Glasses, by Leo Timmers, translated from Dutch by David Colmer
8. A Dictionary Story, by Oliver Jeffers, illustrations by Sam Winston
9. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
10. Happy Halloween, by Harriet Stone

Bear's Lost Glasses is one of Jenny's picture book picks for fall. Kirkus loves it too: "This comical charmer, originally published in the Netherlands, will engage children as they laughingly correct Bear's misnomers. Set against white backdrops, the caricature-esque illustrations capture the expressive protagonists' close friendship. A humorous, delightful tale about finding wonderful new ways to see the world."

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