Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 24, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 25, 2026 - hoping everyone had a great Independent Bookstore Day

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Wilderness, by Angela Flournoy
2. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke
3. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans (regular and deluxe)
4. The Patchwork Players, by Jennifer Chiaverini
5. Go Gentle, by Maria Semple
6. American Fantasy, by Emma Straub
7. Cherry Baby, by Rainbow Rowell
8. The Ending Writes Itself, by Evelyn Clarke
9. The Night We Met, by Abby Jimenez
10. The Keeper, by Tana French

I read several of the current book club features - Yesteryear and Upward Bound, but I only read a chunk of Oprah's current pick, Go Gentle. I think I will finish it eventually as I did enjoy it, though I apparently didn't get up to the part where it turns, per Ron Charles, into a thriller. It's got eight raves, four positives, and two mixeds on BookMarks. From John Warner in The Chicago Tribune (one of the raves): "Some of what unfolds perhaps strains the limits of believability if you pause to consider the sequence of events, but don’t pause, just keep going ... Go Gentle is a fun, rollicking read, but it’s not only that. It’s a moving portrait of an interesting person that may also make you reflect on yourself."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Well-Educated Child, by Deborah Kenny
2. Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else, by Steve Phillips
3. Whirlwind, by Bill Kurtis
4. Famesick, by Lena Dunham
5. London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe
6. Strangers, by Belle Burden
7. One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, by Omar El-Akkad
8. The Future Is Peace, by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
9. How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, by Jenny Lawson
10. Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism, by Stewart Reynolds

It's the second week in the top ten for The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land, by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon, which got three raves and one mixed review on BookMarks. From Fintan O'Toole's review in the New York Times: "The achievement of Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon's short but immensely poignant account of a shared journey across Israel and the West Bank is that it remains true to the horror while refusing to be defeated by it. It is raw with pain and rage and yet bravely insistent on the imperative of hope."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Turner House, by Angela Flournoy
2. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
3. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
5. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
6. Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim
7. Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline
8. The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett
9. Strange Pictures, by Uketsu
10. James, by Percival Everett

Annie Hartnett has a strong second week out for The Road to Tender Hearts, which had a nice run in hardcover, and was an NPR best book of the year. From Publishers Weekly: "In Hartnett's enchanting latest, a lonely and broken man hits the road in hopes of finding a new lease on life...Hartnett leavens the heavy subject matter with a lighthearted tone and comic relief from a therapy cat named Pancakes, who escaped from an assisted living residence and goes along for the ride. Readers will fall in love with this bittersweet tale of new beginnings."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
2. Flip the Tables, by Alencia Johnson
3. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
4. A Walk in the Park, by Kevin Fedarko
5. Black AF History, by Michael Harriot
6. Thirty Two Words for Field, by Manchan Magan
7. Murdoku, by Manuel Garand
8. On Democracy, by Walt Whitman
9. Cream City Chronicles, by John Gurda
10. Human History on Drugs, by Sam Kelly

Selling off a staff rec shelf is Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous But Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence. We're ranked #12 on Edelweiss for this one. From Publishers Weekly: "Kelly, who runs a TikTok account under the same name, debuts with a nonstop, eye-popping panorama of famous and influential individuals who each changed the world, or their perception of it, through their use of drugs...Brimming with enthusiasm for history's nooks and crannies, this charms."

Books for Kids:
1. Good Night Escargot, by Dashka Slater
2. A Potion A Powder A Little Bit of Magic, by Philip Stead
3. Escargot, by Dashka Slater
4. A Book for Escargot, by Dashka Slater
5. It's Cool to Be Smart, by Mojishola Mason
6. A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip Stead, illustrations by Erin Stead
7. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustratons by Renée Graef
8. The Warriors Adventure Game, by Erin Hunter
9. A Snow Day for Amos McGee, by Philip Stead, illustrations by Erin Stead
10. It's My Bird-Day, by Mo Willems

For over twenty years, readers have been loving the adventures of Pigeon, and now comes It's My Bird-day, which was released a month ago by Mo Willems from Union Square, formerly owned by B&N but now part of Hachette. From Kirkus: "Even as it walks in the footsteps of its predecessors, there's no denying the fun to be had. Familiarity breeds a birthday for the ages in this party worth attending."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 18, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 18, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke (Boswell May 21 event)
2. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
3. Transcription, by Ben Lerner
4. The Faith of Beasts V2, by James SA Corey
5. The Keeper V3, by Tana French
6. The Patchwork Players V24, by Jennifer Chiaverini (Greenfield Library April 20 event)
7. Monster in The Moonlight V4, by Annelise Ryan (Boswell May 8 event - new date)
8. The Dark Time V9, by Nick Petrie
9. Between Two Fires, by Christopher Buehlman
10. Cherry Baby, by Rainbow Rowell

Second week out and second week in our top ten for Ben Lerner's Transcription, which has 29 reviews on BookMarks, the most I've seen in a while, including 20 raves, eight positives, and a mixed, including two New York Times write-ups, which happens less frequently since they consolidated weekday and Sunday reviews. On of them is from Alexandra Jacobs: "...Slim as an early-model iPad, so slim it’s technically a novella - palpates this ever-more-tender boundary between human and machine. As talky and thinky as a memory play, sweeping up Kafka, Covid, glass flowers and much else in its narrow, rushing stream, it’s about how technology can sustain as well as stultify life." Lerner has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for previous titles.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Outrageous Startup Growth, by Colin Hodge
2. Burn the Haystack, by Jennie Young
3. Famesick, by Lena Dunham
4. Strangers, by Belle Burden
5. What Do You Do When You're Lonesome, by Jonathan Bernstein
6. London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe
7. The Future Is Peace, by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
8. Another Kind of Freedom, by Pema Chodron
9. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee, Ann Christenson, Kevin Miyazaki
10. How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, by Jenny Lawson

Conversation partner to Rob Miller (see below) Jonathan Bernstein had a nice sales pop with What Do You Do When You're Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle. No BookMarks score, but Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and Library Journal are all great. From Bill Baars in Library Journal: "Bernstein's excellent biography of the late Justin Townes Earle (1982-2020) is a raw and honest portrait of the talented and tormented troubadour... Bernstein provides a meticulous, unflinching illumination of the tortured life and lasting legacy of a remarkable singer-songwriter, gone far too early."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
3. The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali
4. On the Calculation of Volume V4, by Solvej Balle
5. The Resurrectionist, by A Rae Dunlap
6. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
7. Emily WIlde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries V1, by Heather Fawcett
8. Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim (Shorewood Library April 23 event)
9. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
10. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman

Kensington did a sprayed edges edition of The Resurrectionist in paperback, following its success in hardcover and the follow-up release of The Dreadfuls. Unlike many of the "deluxe" editions, there doesn't appear to be a regular edition available, so perhaps a future printing will simply forego the spray. From Publishers Weekly: "Dunlap's clever debut explores medical history, queer love, and the cost of progress in 1828 Scotland... Dunlap melds comic, tender, and macabre moments in her well-plotted tale, and makes hay with embellished historical facts. Readers will be entertained."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Dead Man Walking graphic edition, by Helen Prejean
2. Bird Friendly Gardening, by Jen McGuinness
3. Dead Man Walking, by Helen Prejean
4. The Hours Are Long, but the Pay Is Low, by Rob Miller (signed copies)
5. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
6. The River of Fire, by Helen Prejean
7. The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben
8. We Will Be Jaguars, by Nemonte Nenquimo with Mitch Anderson
9. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
10. Your Brain on Art, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

Sister Helen Projean visited Mount Mary University and both the original text and newer graphic edition of Dead Man Walking made our top ten. Should this be combined, the way I would for a regular edition and the movie-tie-in cover? My feeling was that they had to adjust the text for the graphics, and so they are different books, much the way I've been keeping separate the 1818 and 1831 editions of Frankenstein. At one point, what with the films and the its public domain status, I was sorting through five different editions of Frankenstein at one point. But back to Dead Man Walking's graphic edition. Some of the reviewers focused mostly on the text - wasn't this already reviewed? But Publishers Weekly writes: "The ephemeral, sometimes sketchbook-like art includes striking color spots and fanciful touches (birds and other creatures occasionally deliver some of the text) that occasionally distract, but the central narrative remains strongly argued and generously told."

Books for Kids:
1. A Potion, A Powder, a Little Bit of Magic, by Philip Stead (Elmbrook April 23 event - open to the public)
2. Captain Underpants, the first epic manga, by Dav Pilkey
3. Good Night Escargot, by Dashka Slater
4. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. While We're Here, by Anne Wynter, illustrations by Micha Archer
6. It's Spring, by Renée Kurilla
7. Grumpy Monkey Mom for a Day, by Suzanne Lang
8. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
9. The Escape Game, by Marissa Meyer
10. When You Dream Big, by Peter H Reynolds

You will see more of Dashka Slater in the coming weeks, as she visited nearby schools for her new book Good Night Escargot, but these sales were out of the bookstore. This is Escargot's fifth outing. From Kirkus: "Methinks the gastropod doth protest too much. Grab your pjs, toothbrush, and sleeping bag, because everyone's favorite snail is inviting you to a soirée pyjama...Magnifique! An ideal choice to share before a child's first sleepover."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 11, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 11, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke (Boswell May 21 event)
2. The Keeper, by Tana French
3. Last Seen, by Christopher Castellani (signed copies)
4. American Fantasy, by Emma Straub (signed tip-in copies)
5. Transcription, by Ben Lerner
6. The Night We Met, by Abby Jimenez
7. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
8. Rites of the Starling V2, by Devney Perry
9. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, by Ilona Andrews
10. Between Two Fires, by Christopher Buehlman

Because I don't buy and I don't generally read in the genre, it's only when I need to look something up that I learn about pseudonyms. So This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me author Ilona Andrews is a husband-and-wife team based in Texas with what seems like more than thirty books. It's hard for me to tell on Fantastic Fiction because a listing like 5.5 in the series - is it a short story or something else? From Library Journal: "Andrews (Ruby Fever) launches a series that is a love letter to fantasy, exploring both the world of Rellas and characters' backstories in a fully immersive story. Fans of isekai fantasy, doorstopper reads, or authors Samantha Shannon, Danielle L Jensen, and VE Schwab will love this."

Also, it led me on a deep dive as to whether it is appropriate to capitalize "not" in a title. I went with yes.

I cannot leave out that we still have some preorder fanny packs that are free with purchase of American Fantasy. Plus I so enjoyed the novel - my rec is on the item page. If you buy one for shipping, you must upgrade to USPS Ground Advantage.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Burn the Haystack, by Jennie Young (Boswell April 14 event)
2. London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe
3. How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, by Jenny Lawson
4. Planet Money, by Alex Mayyasi and Planet Money
5. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon
6. A World Appears, by Michael Pollan
7. The Meaning of Your Live, by Arthur C Brooks
8. In a World of Surprises, by Cleo Wade
9. One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, by Omar El-Akkad
10.Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism, by Stewart Reynolds

London Falling arrives with 18 reviews on LitHub - 16 raves, a positive, and a mixed. Also much publicity, including at least one profile that I might have dreamed up whose thesis was that the author was popular with media people, which feels like a snake eating itself. From Laura Miller's rave in Slate: "The best true-crime stories use a particular event as a key to unlock a world, and Patrick Radden Keefe’s latest work of investigative nonfiction, London Falling, does just that. At first glance, I winced a bit at the book’s title...Using a pun off an old Clash song seemed an overly cheeky way to refer to such a tragedy. In the end, however, Keefe’s choice makes perfect sense." I also liked it a lot!

Paperback Fiction:
1. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
2. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie (Agatha Christie Festival at Milwaukee Rep)
4. A Woman's Guide to True Crime, by Mary Thorson
5. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
6. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
8. A Death in Door County, by Annelise Ryan (Boswell April 17 event)
9. The Paris Match, by Kate Claybourn
10. Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim (Shorewood Library April 23 event)

I am amused by the title of The Paris Match, which coincidentally is our top paperback debut this week, because it's a good pun referencing the classic French magazine, and also because of the memory that just came to me that we subscribed to it for a year when my mother was taking French classes. But is the memory true or not? I have no proof either way. The plot? A doctor falls for the best man at her sister's wedding. From Kirkus: "The result is a tremendous love story that's never overshadowed by its immersive Paris setting but poignantly accentuated by it, proof that Clayborn only gets better with every book. The City of Light provides a beautiful backdrop for this stunning slow-burn romance."

It's too bad that Remarkably Bright Creatures didn't get a limited run in theaters - I can imagine that Netflix would have done pretty well in theaters. I mean, Sally Field!

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Black in Blues, by Imani Perry
2. Making a Life, by Kate Ward
3. Communicative AI, by David Gunkel
4. South to America, by Imani Perry
5. Absolute Justice, by Chris Chan (signed copies)
6. Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula, by Kristen Radaich (Black Husky Brewing June 5 event)
7. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
8. Playing Possum, by Susana Monso
9. The Hours Are Long, but the Pay Is Low, by Rob Miller (Boswell April 15 event)
10. Thirty Two Words for Field, by Manchan Magan

We had several nonfiction paperback evens this week, but we actually sold out of books on several so no signed copies. I always feel a bit guilty about this, but one author did say he'd never seen so many copies of his book at a talk, so that made me feel better.

Strong sales off the new paperback table for Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death. It looks like Princeton did the paperback run as print on demand, which is only weird because the hardcover, which was traditionally printed, is still in stock, so our nearest warehouse stocks the hardcover but not the paperback, because they have no POD machine in Indiana. This review in Choice seems to indicate that not all interested readers will make it through: ". This is a fascinating book that can be difficult to follow at times, especially for readers who find philosophical texts challenging. Still, it offers valuable insights not likely found in other texts. Reading it is made easier by the relaxed and welcoming writing style Monsó uses."

Books for Kids
1. A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic, by Philip Stead (Elmbrook event April 23 - open to the public)
2. The Liar's Society V1, by Alyson Gerber
3. A Risky Game V2, by Alyson Gerber
4. A Secret Escape V3, by Alyson Gerber
5. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga, by Dav Pilkey
6. The Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay
7. Now I See Spring, by Mac Barnett
8. Now I See Summer, by Mac Barnett
9. Now I See Fall, by Mac Barnett
10. Now I See Winter, by Mac Barnett, all illustrated by Jon Klassen

Board books that are not direct adaptations of a picture book often come in series (letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and so forth), but it's rare that we see more them have bestseller pops, but when Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen collaborate on the seasons, it's another story. Or rather four of them - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Here's Publishers Weekly: "Frequent creative collaborators Barnett and Klassen capture a year's rhythms with stunning subtlety via a standout board book quartet that - across volumes named around the four seasons - matches spare text, identical in each work, with varying images that relay the passage of time...the series models quiet satisfaction across an annual cycle, reassuring that whatever the weather, individual perspectives can stay steady."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 4, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending April 4, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Keeper V3, by Tana French
2. Vengeance in Venice V7, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (signed copies)
3. Kin, by Tayari Jones
4. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
5. The Night We Met, by Abby Jimenez
6. Heart the Lover, by Lily King
7. Python's Kiss, by Louise Erdrich
8. The Dark Time, by Nick Petrie
9. The News from Dublin, by Colm Tóibín
10. Lost Lambs, by Madeline Cash

Only two leftovers from 2025 on this list. Top debut is Tana French's The Keeper, the third (and final?) entry in the Cal Hooper series, which received six raves, four positives, and a mixed, from Publishers Weekly. I saw there is a rave from Bob Hoover in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "Tana French offers no answers herself, only us giving clues to follow. So enjoy her musical language, told in the Irish vernacular funny and profane, and wash it down with a pint of Guinness." The review is paywalled, and when I tried to access it, it offered me a deal - 99 cents for eight weeks. The only catch? The paper is shutting down in a month."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Anatomy of Awakening, by Sue Morter
2. Strangers, by Belle Burden
3. How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, by Jenny Lawson
4. The Best Dog in the World, edited by Alice Hoffman
5. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon
6. The World Appears, by Michael Pollan
7. The Meaning of Your Life, by Arthur C Brooks
8. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee/Ann Christenson
9. Judy Blume, by Mark Oppenheimer
10. Unsettling Territory, by Douglas Metoxen Kiel

Several new releases this week have good first week sales, but let's focus on Jenny Lawson, because she once visited Boswell and she also owns a bookstore in San Antonio. From Library Journal on How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: "Thanks to Lawson's humor, frankness, and insight, her book ends up being much more than just another standard self-help guide. Lawson's words will likely bring comfort and aid to readers with anxiety, chronic illness, ADHD, and depression in the times when they might be struggling the most."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
2. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3. Fever Beach, by Carl Hiaasen
4. Two Bodies Are Better Than One, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (signed copies)
5. Nightmare of the Embryos, by Mariella Mehr
6. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
7. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
8. The Lion Women of Tehroan, by Marjan Kamali
9. City of Rats, by Copi

10. A Woman's Guide to True Crime, by Mary Thorson  

We had a strong first week for Nightmare of the Embryos, with more special orders on the way, and its one of two New Directions in our top ten. While you might not be familiar with Mariella Mehr, a groundbreaking Swiss German Yenish writer, you might know the translator Caroline Froh, a former Boswellian. From the starred Publishers Weekly: "Historical trauma, unusual figures, and marginalized outsiders shape this kaleidoscopic volume of vignettes, prose poems, and fables from Swiss writer Mehr, who died in 2022...Mehr bears witness to the traumas suffered by the Yenish community and immortalizes their enduring joy and resilience in this masterfully translated collection. It’s not to be missed."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Letters from Clara, by Janet Newman

2. Absolute Justice, by Chris Chan (Boswell April 7 event)
3. The Beginning Comes After the End, by Rebecca Solnit
4. The Pastor as Gardener, by Matthew Erickson
5. The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
6. We Will Be Jaguars, by Nemonte Nenquimo with Mitch Anderson
7. After 1177 BC, by Eric H Cline
8. Native Nations, by Kathleen Duval
9. Plant This, Not That, by Elise Howard
10. A Walk in the Park, by Kevin Fedarko

The big news this week is that the New York Times has reduced its nonfiction paperback list to once monthly instead of weekly. I've been heartbroken in the past when some of my favorite nonfiction hardcovers never got a paperback release, and this probably won't help. We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People, by Nemonte Nenquimo did get a paperback release, being that it was a Reese book club pick. From Kirkus: " An essential memoir of Indigenous resistance to economic subjugation and cultural extinction."

Books for Kids:
1. Be You, by Peter H Reynolds
2. Zip Zap Wickety Wack, by Matthew Diffee
3. Lulu and Rocky in Milwuakee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
4. Peekaboo Farm, by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius
5. A Natural History of Mermaids, by Emily Hawkins, ilustrated by Jessica Roux
6. Tell Me a Story, by Hannah Fleece
7. Myths and Legends for Fearless Girls, by Samantha Newman
8. Nightmare on Nightmare Street, by RL Stine
9. Queso Just in Time, by Ernesto Cisneros
10. The Lions' Run, by Sara Pennypacker

Released earlier in March, Queso Just in Time is a follow-up to Efrén Divided and Falling Short. From Publishers Weekly: "A tween receives a second chance to commune with his late father in this heartfelt time travel tale with Back to the Future flair...It's a gentle and thoughtful story brimming with familial love."