1. The Paris Express, by Emma Donoghue (signed copies)
2. The World's Fair Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini (signed copies)
3. Say You'll Remember Me, by Abby Jimenez
4. 33 Place Brugmann, by Alice Austen
5. James, by Percival Everett
6. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry, by Elinor Lipman (signed copies)
7. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
8. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
9. A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett
10. The Snowbirds, by Christina Clancy
Our buyer Jason and I were talking about the fantasy/mystery hybrid series like Robert Jackson Bennett's Shadow of the Leviathan series, which combines speculative worldbuilding with the procedural plotline of a thriller. He expects to see more of them. Marlene Harris reviews A Drop of Corruption in Library Journal: "This Holmes and Watson-like investigative duo are compelling to follow, and the truly epic fantasy world where the series is set, with its falling empire, corrupt politics, and magic pharmacopeia engineered from monster blood, takes the familiarity of mystery and creates a truly fantastic fever-dream of a world and a story."
1. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
2. Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
3. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
4. Miracles and Wonders, by Elaine Pagels
5. Funny Because It's True, by Christine Wenc
6. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
7. The Little Frog's Guide to Self Care, by Maybell Eequay
8. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El-Akkad
9. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
10. The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, by James Marten (Boswell April 8 event)
I'm proud to say that not only did Boswell once host Elaine Pagels along with the Milwaukee Public Library, but also I drove her around! Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus has received four raves, four positives, and a mixed on BookMarks. From Adam Gopnik's rave in The New Yorker: "Pagels’s larger point is that the most improbable Gospel tales serve to patch a fractured narrative - using familiar tropes and myths to smooth over inconsistencies that believers struggled with from the beginning. We repair the rips in memory’s fabric with the filler of fable. (And so, within a decade of George Washington’s death, his undocumented childhood produced the enduring myth of the chopped-down cherry tree.)"
1. Cemeteries and Galaxies, by John Koethe (signed copies)
2. The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley
3. Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar
4. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
5. The Museum of Lost Quilts, by Jennifer Chiaverini
6. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
7. Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini
8. Any Trope but You, by Victoria Lavine
9. The Secret War of Julia Child, by Diana R Chambers
10. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
This week, in between our other events, I did a book club talk at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on Kilbourn. I'm doing a fairly similar talk at the bookstore on April 17, which is open to the public - you can register here. I like to read at least one book especially for the talk, and since I've had my eye on The Secret War of Julia Child, and I know the audience there likes historicals, that was my focus title. The thing you have to remember is that because the files are not public, Chambers had to speculate on what Child's life might have been during her World War II service. Officially she was a file clerk.
4. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
5. The Museum of Lost Quilts, by Jennifer Chiaverini
6. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
7. Switchboard Soldiers, by Jennifer Chiaverini
8. Any Trope but You, by Victoria Lavine
9. The Secret War of Julia Child, by Diana R Chambers
10. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
This week, in between our other events, I did a book club talk at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on Kilbourn. I'm doing a fairly similar talk at the bookstore on April 17, which is open to the public - you can register here. I like to read at least one book especially for the talk, and since I've had my eye on The Secret War of Julia Child, and I know the audience there likes historicals, that was my focus title. The thing you have to remember is that because the files are not public, Chambers had to speculate on what Child's life might have been during her World War II service. Officially she was a file clerk.
Cheryl McKeon at the Book House, an Albany-area independent, praised the book in Shelf Awareness as "a riveting novel set in World War II's Southeast Asian theater imagines critical contributions by the United States's most unlikely intelligence officer...well-documented historical fiction that pays credit to Child's brave and clever intelligence work for the Office of Strategic Services."
Paperback Nonfiction:
1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
2. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
3. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
4. Mutual Aid, by Dean Spade
5. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins (Boswell April 23 event)
6. Grief Is for People, by Sloane Crosley
7. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Ferris
8. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
9. Judaism Is About Love, by Shai Held
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Madison-based Dean Robbins is a very popular author of books for kids. We've hosted Robbins at area schools for many of his titles. Now he has a book for adults - Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me. This is from Tim's staff rec: " I've watched Dean use his picture books to gracefully teach groups of young children about heroes like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. I sat with stunned admiration for his ability to explain the complex. This book is my new reason to admire Dean Robbins. It's moving, inspirational, and so much fun!"
Books for Kids:
1. Risky Game V2, by Alyson Gerber
2. Sunrise on the Reaping V5, by Suzanne Collins
3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins
4. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd
6. Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
7. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Good Night Gorilla board book, by Peggy Rathmann
9. The 13-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths (Boswell April 12 event)
10. The Deadliest Spider, by Eleanor Spicer Rice
Peekaboo Dog is the latest board book from the team of Camilla Reid and Ingela P Arrhenius. And I quote: "Peekaboo doghouse, peekaboo pup, peekaboo tail wag, peekaboo up!" We love this series, which has all the excitement of a lift-the-flap book but with a much lower chance of tearing the pages.
1. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
2. Poverty, by America, by Matthew Desmond
3. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
4. Mutual Aid, by Dean Spade
5. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins (Boswell April 23 event)
6. Grief Is for People, by Sloane Crosley
7. A Fever in the Heartland, by Timothy Ferris
8. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel
9. Judaism Is About Love, by Shai Held
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Madison-based Dean Robbins is a very popular author of books for kids. We've hosted Robbins at area schools for many of his titles. Now he has a book for adults - Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me. This is from Tim's staff rec: " I've watched Dean use his picture books to gracefully teach groups of young children about heroes like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. I sat with stunned admiration for his ability to explain the complex. This book is my new reason to admire Dean Robbins. It's moving, inspirational, and so much fun!"
1. Risky Game V2, by Alyson Gerber
2. Sunrise on the Reaping V5, by Suzanne Collins
3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins
4. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. Giving Good, by Aaron Boyd
6. Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
7. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
8. Good Night Gorilla board book, by Peggy Rathmann
9. The 13-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths (Boswell April 12 event)
10. The Deadliest Spider, by Eleanor Spicer Rice
Peekaboo Dog is the latest board book from the team of Camilla Reid and Ingela P Arrhenius. And I quote: "Peekaboo doghouse, peekaboo pup, peekaboo tail wag, peekaboo up!" We love this series, which has all the excitement of a lift-the-flap book but with a much lower chance of tearing the pages.
