Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 24, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 24, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Fair-Weather Friend, by Jessie Garcia (signed copies)
2. This Is Where the Serpent Lives, by Daniyal Mueenuddin (signed copies)
3. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
4. Twelve Months V18, by Jim Butcher
5. The Hitch, by Sara Levine (signed copies)
6. Heart the Lover, by Lily King
7. Half His Age, by Jennette McCurdy 
8. Departures, by Julian Barnes
9. Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. Anatomy of an Alibi  by Ashley Elston

Jim Butcher returns with Twelve Months in his Harry Dresden series, urban fantasy about a professional wizard in Chicago. Both Booklist and Publishers Weekly had reviews, which seemed unusual for me for #18 in a series. From Booklist's starred write up: "Series fans will be intrigued by the new characters and changes in Harry's life as Butcher deftly explores the impacts of loss and grief." But PW warned new readers to not start with this book.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Your Roots Don't Define You, by Chris Appleton
2. Attensity, by Friends of Attention
3. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, by Walter Isaacson
4. Football, by Chuck Klosterman
5. Original Sins, by Eve L Ewing
6. Backlash Presidents, by Julia R Azari (Boswell Feb 16 event)
7. One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad
8. 1929, by Andrew Ross Sorkin
9. Mother Mary Comes to Me, by Arundhati Roy
10. Dead and Alive, by Zadie Smith

Two great reads on Football from Chris and Jason. Jason said this is the first book he's read about football that reads like a book about baseball. They're different, he notes, and you can ask him to tell you more. BookMarks is two raves, a positive and a mixed. From Publishers Weekly: " Approaching the subject with rigor and drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Klosterman sheds light on football's "outsized and underrated" role in shaping contemporary culture. The result is a transcendent appraisal of America's favorite sport."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Heated Rivalry V2, by Rachel Reid
3. We the Animals, by Justin Torres
4. Passing, by Nella Larsen
5. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
6. Tangerinn, by Emanuela Anechoum
7. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, by Milan Kundera
8. Mockingbird Court V6, by Juneau Black
9. The Shred Sisters, by Betsy Lerner (Boswell-run book clubs)
10. When the Cranes Fly South, by Lisa Ridzén

Selling off the new paperback table is Tangerinn, by Emanuela Anechoum, translated from Italian by Lucy Rand, and winner of the Città di Lugnano Debut Novel Prize, the Mastercard Debut Novel Prize, and the Bancarella Select Prize. Mastercard has a literary prize? Three raves and two positives on BookMarks, including this from Joumana Khatib in The New York Times: "Tangerinn is the kind of story I hope to encounter more often. In a novel where almost every character is a migrant, changing countries is practically a fact of life. It sounds like being human."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. How to Tell When We Will Die, by Johanna Hedva
2. How to Know a Person, by David Brooks
3. How the Other Half Eats, by Priya Fielding-Singh
4. Murdoku, by Manuel Garand
5. While You Were Out, by Meg Kissinger
6. The 388 Tattoos of Captain George..., by Amelia Klem Osterud (Boswell Feb 13 event-new date)
7. Don't Say Please, by Sahan Jayasuriya
8. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer 

9. The Name of This Band Is REM, by Peter Ames Carlin
10. Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom is one of several books in our top ten that are current book club picks (and several that begin with "how") - it's the selection of the Cactus Book Club. Winner of the Amber Hollibaugh Award for LGBTQ+ Social Justice Writing, Michelle Tea on Hedva's book of essays: "A tremendous work of thought and feeling, packed with profound insight and illuminated throughout with a radical vulnerability that transmutes before your eyes into phenomenal power. Important and revelatory."

Books for Kids:
1. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
2. We Are Black Americans board book, illustrated by Tequita Andrews
3. I Affirm Me, by Nyasha Williams, illustrated by Sóf'ya Glushkó
4. Where There Is Love, by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Letícia Moreno
5. Knight Owl, by Christopher Denise
6. Wrong Friend, by Charise Mericle Harper and Rorey Lucey
7. Brown Sugar Baby Sweetest Love, by Kevin Lewis, illustrations by Jestenia Southerland
8. Busy Builders: Dinos at Work, by Stacie Bradly, illustrations by Damien Barlow
9. Dream Big Little One, by Vashti Harrison
10. Follow Your Dreams Little One, by Vashti Harrison

Selling off our new graphic novel and nonfiction display is Wrong Friend by Charise Mericle Harper and Rorey Lucey, from the authors of Bad Sister. From Kasey Swords in School Library Journal: "This graphic novel (editor's note - though it's really a memoir), perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale, explores what happens when a BFF is no longer a forever friend...Featuring a tween girl's experience with friendships and personal discovery through the middle school years, this timeless book is a first purchase for all collections."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 17, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 17, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Wildwood V2, by Amy Pease (signed copies)
2. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
3. The First Time I Saw Him, by Laura Dave
4. Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan
5. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai
6. What We Can Know, by Ian McEwan
7. This Is Where the Serpent Lives, by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Boswell January 20 event)
8. The School of Night V4, by Karl Ove Knausgaard
9. Shadow Ticket, by Thomas Pynchon
10. Anatomy of an Alibi, by Ashley Elston

For those reading multi-volume Norwegian novels, there's another option besides On the Calculation of Volume. Karl Ove Knausgaard's Morning Star series, translated by Martin Aitken. The School of Night is a take on Doctor Faustus, and the English reviews on BookMarks are three raves, three positives, a mixed, and three pans.  One of the raves, from Layla Sanai in the Spectator (Australia): "I put down this book only to eat and sleep. Knausgaard has produced another addictive psychological thriller – by turns exciting, entertaining and tragic."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon
2. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee, written by Ann Christenson
3. The Other Side of Change, by Maya Shankar
4. 1929, by Andrew Ross Sorkin
5. Bread of Angels, by Patti Smith
6. A Marriage at Sea, by Sophie Elmhirst
7. Good Things, by Samin Nosrat
8. Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thomson
9. How to Be a Rich Old Lady, by Amanda Holden
10. Strangers, by Belle Burden

We've got three January 13 debuts this week, let by The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans, by Maya Shankar, cognitive scientist. From the starred Booklist: "Following the premise of her podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, Shankar, who has had her share of life disappointments, including the end of a promising career as a violinist and the loss of an expected child, extensively interviews a cast of survivors in this heart-breaking yet affirming study." And Publishers Weekly notes: "Though not all of Shankar's insights are groundbreaking, her explanations of the cognitive science involved are lucid and memorable."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Heated Rivalry V1, by Rachel Reid
2. Game Changer V1, by Rachel Reid
3. The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali
4. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
5. The Long Game V6, by Rachel Reid
6. When the Cranes Fly South, by Lisa Ridzén
7. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
8. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
9. Slow Gods, by Claire North
10. The Housemaid V1, by Freida McFadden

Slow Gods, by Claire North, is the February Science Fiction Book Club selection, and since most attendees really liked January's pick, Service Model, it helps that the new book has a blurb from Adrian Tchaikovsky. And this from Kirkus: "The pseudonymous North's latest is a deeply philosophical standalone SF epic that brilliantly and subtly utilizes elements of cosmic horror to complement its metaphysical speculations." And I now learned she also writes under the names Kate Griffin and Catherine Webb. Attendance is way up at our in-store groups, but I think that's a January resolution thing. 

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Experiencing God, by Jon M Sweeney
2. Genesis, by Henry A Kissinger, Craig Mundie, Eric Schmidt
3. Healing After Loss, by Martha Hickman
4. On Our Best Behavior, by Elise Loehnen
5. Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari
6. Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
7. How to Tell When We Will Die, by Johanna Hedva
8. The 388 Tattoos of Captain George, by Amelia Klem Osterud (Boswell January 23 event)
9. Milwaukee: A City Built on Water, by John Gurda
10. The Manuscripts Club, by Christopher de Hamel

On Our Best Behavior: The Price Women Pay to Be Good is another podcast success, this analyzing the Seven Deadly Sins and its affect on women's behavior. Elise Loehnen is the host of Pulling the Thread and the former Chief Content Officer of goop. From Kirkus: "An analysis of society's behavioral expectations for women...An engaging work that offers an opportunity for pause and reflection regarding our daily choices.

Books for Kids:
1. The Sausage Race Chase V22, by David A Kelly
2. The Rose Field V3, by Philip Pullman
3. If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone, by Gideon Sterer, illustrations by Emily Hughes
4. Dragonborn, by Struan Murray
5. Beth Is Dead, by Katie Bernet
6. Lady's Knight, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
7. A Walk Through hte Woods, by Louise Greig
8. Buffalo Fluffalo, by Bess Kalb, illustrations by Erin Kraan
9. Zip Zap Wickety Wack, by Matthew Dieffee
10. A Sea Monster Conundrum V3, by Lisa Yang, illustrations by Dan Santat

Since I don't own any copyrights, I love celebrating public domain day, when books and other artistic endeavors are free for reinterpretation, which is also, by the way, long after the passing of the creators. Little Women actually entered public domain in 1924, so Beth Is Dead has been a long-time coming, a YA thriller about the March sisters. Publishers Weekly called it "an electrifying thriller," also noting that "One need not be familiar with Louisa May Alcott's work to appreciate debut author Bernet's brilliantly snappy contemporary riff on Little Women, which centers high school senior Jo March and her siblings - 15-year-old Amy and Harvard freshman Meg - as they investigate the violent murder of their 17-year-old sister Beth."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 10, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 10, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
2. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
3. Heart the Lover, by Lily King
4. Shadow Ticket, by Thomas Pynchon
5. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai 

6. Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan
7. Katabasis, by RF Kuang
8. Mona's Eyes, by Thomas Schlesser
9. Skylark, by Paula McLain
10. Wildwood V2, by Amy Pease (Shorewood Library January 14 event)

2026 releases are starting to pop, led by the celebrity book club announcements. Paula McLain is the GMA pick for Skylark, a dual-timeline, historical novel featuring Paris's underground tunnels. From Booklist: "With fine-tuned historical detail, McLain's latest is a compelling tale of human will, resilience, and connection"

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Skylark is one of three Atria titles in our top ten this week. The others are My Friends and Wildwood.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. 1929, by Andrew Ross Sorkin
2. Milwaukee Flavor, from Visit Milwaukee/Ann Christenson
3. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon
4. Good Things, by Samin Nosrat
5. Bread of Angels, by Patti Smith
6. The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins
7. The Separation of Church and Hate, by John Fogelsong
8. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad
9. The Look, by Michelle Obama
10. Capitalism, by Sven Beckert

While The Look did not sell quite as well as Michelle Obama's Previous books - it is after all a $50 fashion book - according to Edelweiss, many stores ran out during the holiday season. We were able to scrounge some copies for post-holiday sales, but there are still an awful lot of books on order at Ingram. I'm guessing that will be adjusted down. Kirkus called it "a canny upbeat volume."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim (Shorewood Reads)
2. The Savior, by Eugene Drucker
3. Heated Rivalry V2, by Rachel Reid
4. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
5. The Long Game V6, by Rachel Reid
6. Tough Guy V3, by Rachel Reid
7. Joan Is Okay, by Weike Wang (Boswell-run book clubs)
8. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
9. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
10. The Shred Sisters, by Betsy Lerner

I'm continuing my rule following the British music charts of limiting an author to three titles in the top ten, but if I didn't, there'd be another two Rachel Reid (link to her titles on Boswell website here) books present. So yes, Heated Rivalry is still hot. I always wondered if they adapted #2 in the loosely connected series, because it's two hockey players instead of a hockey player and an outsider. I will leave it to others to give their opinions.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Experiencing God, by Jon M Sweeney (signed copies)
2. The Inextinguishable Symphony, by Martin Goldsmith
3. Alex's Wake, by Martin Goldsmith
4. The 388 Tattoos of Captain George and the 389 Tales of How He Got Them, by Amelia Klem Osterud (Boswell January 23 event)
5. Realm of Ice and Sky, by Buddy Levy
6. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
7. Cold Crematorium, by Jozsef Debreczeni, translated by Paul Olchváry
8. Murdoku, by Manuel Garand
9. What Sheep Think About the Weather, by Amelia Thomas
10. Open Views of Latin America, by Eduardo Galeano

I don't think of paperback reprints dropping in November and December, but apparently St Martin's Griffin is all for it - Realm of Ice and Sky, a "narrative of polar exploration via airship," and Cold Crematorium, a Hungarian journalists recovered memoir of life in the Nazi labor camps, were published on November 25 and December 23, respectively. Both popped off our new paperback table.

Books for Kids:
1. Iceberg, by Jennifer A Nielsen
2. The Free State of Jax, by Jennifer A Nielsen
3. Uprising, by Jennifer A Nielsen
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid V20: Partypooper, by Jeff Kinney 

5. The Amazing Generation, by Jonathan Haidt anc Catherine Price
6. Peekaboo Zoo, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
7. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
8. Lucky Red Envelope, by Vikki Zhang
9. A Snow Day for Amos McGee, by Philip Stead and Erin Stead
10. Scarlet Morning, by ND Stevenson

The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World, cowritten by the author of The Anxious Generation, came out December 30. Despite its late pub date, it was still named a School Library Journal best book of the year. From SLJ: "A book of tips, tricks, and the science behind smartphone and device addiction that completely respects its audience. This brilliant volume is filled with hard truths that still ring with positivity, and the design and comic-style illustrations will keep readers' interest while making a case for the importance of unplugging."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 3, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending January 3, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
2. Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan
3. Flesh, by David Szalay
4. Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan
5. Alchemised, by SenLinYu
6. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai
7. Shadow Ticket, by Thomas Pynchon
8. Heart the Lover, by Lily King
9. The Strength of the Few V2, by Matt Islington
10. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman

Nothing new yet debuting here, but I will note that we have a rare occurrence of a book on both the hardcover and paperback lists with volume one of Dungeon Crawler Carl. As every retailer and website follows the James Daunt-driven book of the year trend, this Dinniman's was the inaugural selection of Books-a-Million. The adaptation rights were bought by Universal Studios and Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions in 2024. It's only gotten bigger.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee and Ann Christenson
2. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green
3. Good Things, by Samin Nosrat
4. Something from Nothing, by Alison Roman
5. A Marriage at Sea, by Sophie Elmhirst
6. A Long Game, by Elizabeth McCracken
7. Buckley, by Sam Tanenhaus
8. Salt Fat Acid Heat, by Samin Nosrat
9. We the People, by Jill Lepore
10. Nobody's Girl, by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

Welcome to the top 10 for Elizabeth McCracken's A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction, which released on the unusual pub date of December 2. From Rob Schmitz's interview with McCracken on NPR Weekend Edition: "It's an entire book about how you shouldn't take anybody's advice, and it's crammed full of advice. I wanted to because, you know, I've taught writing for a long time, and my feeling as a teacher is that I can't teach anybody to write the work that only they can write. And that's what any writer should be writing is the work that only they can write. But I want to help them think the most interesting thoughts that they can."

Paperback Fiction:
1. When the Cranes Fly South, by Lisa Ridzén
2. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3. Heated Rivalry V2, by Rachel Reid
4. Frankenstein (multiple editions), by Mary Shelley
5. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman
7. Game Changer V1, by Rachel Reid
8. Role Model V5, by Rachel Reid
9. Sunburn, by Chloe Howarth
10. In Your Dreams, by Sarah Adams

Game Changers is a six-book series (starting with Game Changer) and we've got three in this week's top ten, topped by Heated Rivalry, of course. Not appearing (yet) is The Long Game, which is the direct sequel to Heated Rivalry. I did notice that most of the other books in the series (more like a mystery series than fantasy - with the exception of the direct sequel) are romances between a hockey player and someone who is not a hockey player, and I'm wondering if having two athletes kicks it up a notch for readers. I will aske the fans on staff. And you should take a look at what the covers looked like before they were cartooned for mass consumption.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Experiencing God, by Jon M Sweeney (Boswell January 9 event)
2. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before, by Julie Smith
3. Meditations for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman
4. The Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift
5. The Artists Way, by Julia Cameron
6. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord, by Daniel J Levitin
7. The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson (UWM ticketed March 11 event)
8. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
9. Mega Milk, by Megan Milks
10. On Love, by Joseph Campbell

Unlike the other lists, we've got a number of new titles hitting this week, with a bit of a swing to the personal growth area. Leading the pack is Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? a reprint of 2022 hardcover that didn't have reviews attached to the ipage listing. Usually they aren't there for the paperback reprint, but you can find them if you go to the older edition. But I digress. What I did learn is Dr Julie Smith is a popular TikTok therapist.

Books for Kids:
1. Sunrise on the Reaping collectors edition, by Suzanne Collins
2. Howl's Moving Castle limited edition, by Diana Wynne Jones
3. Rock Paper Incisors V3, by Amy Timberlake
4. Winging It, by Megan Wagner Lloyd with Michelle Mee Nutter
5. Nimona anniversary edition, by ND Stevenson
6. Dinosaurs, by Rachel Ignotofsky
7. My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda, by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Annemarie Van Haeringen
8. Dog Man V14: Big Jim Believes, by Dav Pilkey
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid V20: Partypooper
10. Refugee graphic edition, by Alan Gratz

Winging It was released in October and was featured on the November-December Indie Next List for kids. It's been selling steadily, but with the drop in bestseller picture book numbers after Christmas, it was able to make the top 10. From Amy Ribakove in Luna Juniper Wright-Evans moves with her father from California to DC to be closer to her grandmother. From School Library Journal: "Featuring authentic friendships and a diverse cast of characters, this is a must-have for upper elementary and middle school readers who enjoy heartfelt, slice-of-life stories."