Sunday, February 9, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 8, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 8, 2025

Hardcover Fiction
1. The Snowbirds, by Christina Clancy
2. The Bones Beneath my Skin, by TJ Klune (UWM Feb 10 event)
3. A Forty-Year Kiss, by Nickolas Butler
4. James, by Percival Everett
5. Onyx Storm V3, by Rebecca Yarros
6. Beast of the North Woods, by Annelise Ryan (Boswell Feb 21 event)
7. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, by Grady Hendrix
8. Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout
9. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
10. We'll Prescribe You a Cat, by Syou Ishida

We had two former Milwaukeeans, Christina Clancy and Ira Madison III, launch their books at Boswell this week, plus another author, Nickolas Butler, visit Milwaukee after a couple of events in Chippewa Falls, with lots more Wisconsin events to come. The Snowbirds was particularly special as Christi had told me years ago she hoped to have a big event at Boswell when her first novel was done, but wound up doing events for her first two books virtually. People Magazine called it "a riveting exploration of midlife yearning." Signed copies available.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Pure Innocent Fun, by Ira Madison III
2. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. Life in Three Dimensions, by Shigehiro Oishi (Boswell Feb 13 event)
4. The Sirens' Call, by Chris Hayes
5. The Harder I Fight the More I Love You, Neko Case
6. Memorial Days, by Geraldine Brooks
7. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
8. The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl
9. The Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt

Goodness, February 4 sure is the first big release date of 2025, at least for the breadth of high-profile titles. Geraldine Brooks's Memorial Days probably won the BookMarks Stakes, with nine raves and two positives. They don't tabulate my staff recs, but I've got one too. From John Warner in the Chicago Tribune: "The marriage of Brooks and Horwitz is both amazing and ordinary, as perhaps most marriages are. It is terrible that it was cut so short, but Memorial Days gives due justice to what it means to live and love and experience loss."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Deep End, by Ali Hazelwood
2. The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray
3. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
4. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler
6. The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon
7. Give Me Butterflies, by Jillian Meadows
8. Dancing with Butterflies, by Reyna Grande
9. The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah (from the winter table)
10. The Second Home, by Christina Clancy

College swimming is the new hockey! Just ask Ali Hazelwood, whose latest is The Deep End. Publishers Weekly notes that "The chemistry between Scarlett and Lukas is volcanic thanks to Hazelwood's crisp prose and molten-hot sex scenes." Another romance to pop into our top ten this week is Give Me Butterflies, out January 21, formerly self-published. Hey, someone's got to fill the STEM-com void if Hazelwood is going to move into sports.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here, by Jonathan Blitzer
2. The Distance Between Us, by Reyna Grande
3. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
4. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
5. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
6. Typhoid Mary, by Anthony Bourdain
7. Wisconsin State Parks, Forests, and Recreation Areas, by James Buchholz
8. Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari
9. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald, by Judith Tick
10. Dopamine Nation, by Anna Lembke

Reyna Grande had a productive week in Milwaukee, appearing at UWM, visiting schools, and keynoting at the WSRA conference, which our friends at Books and Company covered. She's written a lot of books, but per Ingram demand, her most popular is still The Distance Between Us. Back in 2009, she appeared at Boswell for the paperback edition of Dancing with Butterflies, which appeared this week on our paperback fiction list.

Books for Kids:
1. You Are a Star, Martin Luther King, Jr, by Dean Robbins
2. You Are a Star, Jane Goodall, by Dean Robbins
3. You Are a Star, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Dean Robbins
4. Fowl Play, by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
5. A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, by Jasmine Warga
6. Life After Whale, by Lynn Brunelle
7. The Witching Wind, by Natalie Lloyd
8. Brownie the War Dog, by Kelly Nelson, illustrations by Aaron Boyd
9. The Night Librarian, by Christopher Lincoln
10. Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry

We had a bit of a delayed sale to a presenation several of us gave at an area school district. One book I particularly liked was A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, about two kids who try to solve the mystery of a missing painting. Fortuanately they get help - the ghost of the person in the painting has remained behind in the museum. From Shelf Awareness: "A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall is charmingly reminiscent of early- and mid-20th century novels like Half Magic by Edward Eager (Editor's note: squeal!) and Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, as well as those by more contemporary authors like Kate DiCamillo and Erin Entrada Kelly." I would hasten to add that Blue Balliett is a likely influence on this book.

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Boswell bestesellers, week ending February 1, 2025

Boswell bestsellers, week ending February 1, 2025

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Onyx Storm V3, by Rebecca Yarros (both editions)
2. James, by Percival Everett
3. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
4. Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
5. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, by Grady Hendrix
6. Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan
7. Iron Flame V2, by Rebecca Yarros
8. Beast of the North Woods V3, by Annelise Ryan (Boswell Feb 21 event)
9. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
10. All Fours, by Miranda July

As is usual this time of year. most of our bestsellers are leftover from 2024. I remember when more publishers had high-profile January releases, but I don't see as much of that nowadays. One January 14 release that's been a regular here since then is Grady Hendrix's latest, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. Set in 1970s Florida, it's the story of a group of teenage girls who are sent to a home for unwed mothers and get a copy of How to Be a Groovy Witch. From Booklist: "Another stellar novel from Hendrix, a perfectly constructed story that has a strong emotional core, compelling plot, unforgettable characters, and 360 degrees of terror."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Free Birds Revolution, by Miles Emerson
2. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
3. The Harder I Fight The More I Love You, by Neko Case
4. Plundered, by Bernadette Atuahene (Boswell Feb 20 event)
5. The Sirens' Call, by Chris Hayes
6. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
7. How We Learn to Be Brave, by Mariann Edgar Budde
8. The Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
9. Why I Cook, by Tom Colicchio
10. Open Socrates, by Agnes Callard

We have a strong first week for alt country singer Neko Case's The Harder I Fight the More I Love You. From Kirkus: "The alt-rock and country singer recalls childhood abuse, misogyny, and a wayward path to success. Case's memoir is informed by injustice, betrayal, and the serial mistreatment of women...Case chronicles her various career achievements as a singer-songwriter (including three Grammy nominations), but those feel almost secondary to her study of her emotional growth, which she discusses with a rare candor."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, by Jennifer Coburn
2. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
3. The Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler
4. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
5. Fourth Wing V1, by Rebecca Yarros
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune (UWM Feb 10 event - new slots available)
8. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
9. The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
10. Cradles of the Reich, by Jennifer Coburn

Milwaukee Reads put together a successful launch for Jennifer Coburn's The Girls of the Glimmer Factory. We're not used to being the pub date launch for an author who is neither local nor widely known, but the promotion for this event also increased advance sales for her previous novel, Cradles of the Reich. From Pam Jenoff, a previous Milwaukee Reads featured author: "Jennifer Coburn illuminates a tale of once-friends caught on opposite sides of the war against the backdrop of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Vividly researched and memorably written, this book offers an original and unflinching look at loyalty, choices, consequences and redemption."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
2. Struggle for the City, by Derek G Handley (MPL Feb 11 event)
3. The Rediscovery of America, by Ned Blackhawk
4. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
5. The Hundred Years War on Palestine, by Rashid Khalidi
6. Democracy Awakening, by Heather Cox Richardson
7. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
8. King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
9. Doppelganger, by Naomi Klein
10. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond

Nothing new this week. Further down the list is another Robin Wall Kimmerer book I haven't previously noted, though it's been a steady seller for us and probably most bookstores. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses is out of stock at three of the four Ingram warehouses, and there are about 500 copies on order. Also, there's a Spanish language edition coming from HarperCollins later this spring.

Books for Kids:
1. Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo
2. Jayden's Impossible Garden, by Malina Mangal
3. Valiant Vel, by Jerrianne Hayslett, with illustrations by Aaron Boyd (MPL Feb 15 event)
4. Girls on the Rise, by Amanda Gorman, illustrations by Loveis Wise
5. Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, by Dav Pilkey
6. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
7. The Wild Robot Escapes, by Peter Brown
8. The Man Who Didn't Like Animals, by Deborah Underwood, illustrations by Leuyen Pham
9. The Yellow Bus, by Loren Long
10. Old School, by Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman returns! Old School is about a boy who is homeschooled in his grandmother's retirement community until he's sent to public school - the classic fish-out-of-water scenario that works so well in middle grade books. From Booklist: "The narrative is written in first person from the points of view of individual characters, from Dexter to his fellow students to his guidance counselor, whose different reactions to situations help readers decide whom to trust. This quick-paced, absorbing narrative encourages readers to consider different varied perspectives on people and events."