Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 18, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 18, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Parisian Heist, by Jo Piazza
2. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
3. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke
4. Land, by Maggie O'Farrell
5. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
6. The Shampoo Effect, by Jenny Jackson
7. The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
8. Things We Never Say, by Elizabeth Strout
9. Love You More, by Emily Giffin
10. Villa Coco, by Andrew Sean Greer
11. Lost Lambs, by Madeline Cash
12. Ransom V26, by Daniel Silva
13. Carl's Doomsday Scenario V2, by Matt Dinniman
14. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook V3, by Matt Dinniman
15. Country People, by Daniel Mason

New this week is The Parisian Heist, which had a delightful pre-pub event last Sunday. We came very close to selling out, but we have a couple of signed copies. Publishers Weekly and Booklist gave it very nice reviews; Kirkus reviewer thought it worked better as a historical fiction than a contemporary thriller, but I've heard that historicals are having some trouble finding shelf space, which, needless to say, affects sales. If positioning it as a contemporary thriller overcomes that, go for it!

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Stop Making Stupid Investments, by David Letter
2. Regime Change, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
3. The Land and Its People, by David Sedaris
4. Burn the Haystack, by Jennie Young
5. The Book of Birds, by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris
6. A Vast Horizon, by Anna Thomasson
7. The Table Where We Meet, by Jess Janz
8. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee/Ann Christenson
9. Great Bakes, by Martin Sorge (Boswell September 15 event)
10. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon

No advance reviews on The Table Where We Meet: Lessons Learned from Dinner with 1000 Strangers and I don't recognize the folks who blurbed it. But folks heard about it somewhere and they bought enough to get in our top ten. From the publisher: " What started as a casual idea in a hair salon soon became Dinner With Strangers: a growing movement where guests gather around a table, introduce themselves without ever mentioning work, and share who they are beyond the job title. No scripts, no expectations - just curiosity, courage, and a seat at the table."

Interesting aside: The Toronto Star separates out Canadian bestsellers from general bestsellers and The Table Where We Meet hit that list. But notice a weird discrepancy - Carley Fortune appears on the general list, but Elle Kennedy, who appears above Fortune on the Canadian list, does not appear on the general list. 

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman 

3. The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
4. Story and Song V7 Adventure Zone, by Griffin McElroy
5. The Sicilian Inheritance, by Jo Piazza
6. Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus
7. Apostle's Cove V21, by William Kent Krueger
8. Yellowface, by RF Kuang
9. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
10. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver 

11. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones
12. The Bookshop of Secrets, by Kerry Barrett
13. The Memory Bookshop, by Song Yu-Jeong
14. A Woman's Guide to True Crime, by Mary Thorson
15. Scrap Book, by Nick Martino (Boswell July 29 event)

Apostle's Cove has a nice paperback pop in its second week of sale. If you're hoping to see William Kent Krueger when he's on tour for his new novel, God's Country, I think the closest he's coming is Dubuque, Iowa for an event hosted by River Lights Bookstore at Steeple Square on October 1. I don't think there is registration, but you might want to check with them. More info here. Worth a road trip!

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. When Lambs Become Wolves, by Rasul T Freelain
2. A Marriage at Sea, by Sophie Elmhirst
3. Forest Euphoria, by Patricia Kaishian
4. Murdoku V2: Back in Time, by Manuel Garand
5. Midwestern Death Trip, by Meaghan Garvey
6. Frank Lloyd Wright's Illinois, by Kristine Hansen
7. Penelope's Bones, by Emily Hauser
8. There Is No Place for Us, by Brian Goldstone
9. Brick Through the Window, by Steven Nodine, Eric Beaumont, Clancy Carroll, David Luhrssen 

10. To Life, by Joel Greenberg (Boswell July 19 event - today at 4)

I'm glad to see that Frank Lloyd Wright's Illinois continues to sell after Kristine Hansen's event here. I've toured the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio, Robie House, and The Rookery, but this guide points the way to buildings all through the Chicago suburbs (though many are not public buildings) plus Rockford, Decatur, and Kankakee, the last of which is open for tours. Next up? Arizona.

Books for Kids:
1. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
2. The Deepest Blue, by Shauntay Grant, illustrations by Daniel Minter
3. Heartstopper V6, by Alice Oseman
4. Makers, by Christa Yelich-Koth (Boswell August 19 event)
5. Pete the Kitty: Five Pawsome Tales, by James Dean
6. Peekaboo Love, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
7. The Wise Pickle, by Sarah Howden, illustrations by Sabina Hahn
8. The Last Day Pool Party, by Emma Steinkellner
9. Animals: Touch and Feel First Words Book, by Wendy Kendall
10. The Gilded Blade V3, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Wise Pickle is a July/August Indie Next pick for kids, plus it's got a staff rec from Jason here. It's also out of stock at all Ingram warehouses!   From Booklist: "Prospective Samuel Beckett fans--or any readers open to receiving inscrutable life lessons from a pickle--will find much to chew over in this droll slice of deadpan dilly-dally." It just goes to show that pickles really are the everything bagel of 2026.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 11, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 11, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Love You More, by Emily Giffin (signed copies)
2. The Shampoo Effect, by Jenny Jackson (signed copies)
3. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
4. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke
5. Country People, by Daniel Mason
6. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
7. Land, by Maggie O'Farrell
8. The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
9. Things We Never Say, by Elizabeth Strout
10. John of John, by Douglas Stewart
11. Villa Coco, by Andrew Sean Grer
12. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
13. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, by Ben Reeves
14. Contrapposto, by Dave Eggers
15. The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy V2, by Brigitte Knightley

Country People is our top non-event debut this week and it's the GMA Book Club pick for the month. It's a change of pace from North Woods, though one good argue his previous novel also had country people. 11 reviews on Bookmarks, including five raves. One of the raves is from Sarah Crown in The Guardian: "The surface structures in Country People may be sugar-spun, but the novel's foundations are solid, and its roots - the tangled and interconnected web of stories that gave rise to its new stories - are deliciously deep."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Antisemitism, an American Tradition, by Pamela S Nadell
2. Regime Change, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
3. The Lost Cities of El Norte, by Peter Stark (signed copies)
4. Courage Can Save Us, by Rye Barcott
5. The Land and Its People, by David Sedaris
6. Beautiful Struggle, by Sharon Chubbuck and Cynthia Ellwood
7. The Wreck of the Mentor, by Eirc Jay Dolin
8. Make Believe, by Mac Barnett
9. All We Say, by Ben Rhodes
10. The Feather Wars, by James H McCommons

All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches is the third book from Ben Rhodes, a speechwriter himself. It came out in May, but is one of the many titles that tie into the current 250th celebrations. From Kirkus: "The book consistently enlivens its source material, complementing the text of speeches with memorable anecdotes and difficult truths about what men, as different as Obama and Reagan, termed America's 'experiment in democracy.'"

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Supper Club Saints, by Claire Swinarski
2. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3. The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie Country, by Claire Swinarski
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman
5. Sunburn, by Chloe Michelle Howarth
6. God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
7. The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
8. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
9. Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus
10. Audition, by Katie Kitamura (Boswell-run book clubs)

Selling off either our movie/TV/screening tie-in table or the separate all things Odyssey table is Emily Wilson's Odyssey translation. The film opens July 17. Here's the Hollywood Reporter piece from Lexi Carson with Christopher Nolan's response to some of the criticisms about the film, like why the dialogue isn't in ancient Greek. That was a joke.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. For the Good of the Game, by Bud Selig
2. Frank Lloyd Wright's Illinois, by Kristine Hansen (signed copies)
3. Raising Hare, by Chloe Dalton
4. Elledge's Nontrivial Trivia, by John Elledge
5. Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin, by Kristine Hansen
6. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. A Marriage at Sea, by Sophie Elmhirst
8. A Flower Traveled in my Blood, by Haley Cohen Gilliland
9. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
10. Milwaukee: A City Built on Water, by John Gurda

Selling off the new paperback table is A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children. The book had ten raves on BookMarks, and was a Pultizer Prize finalist. This from David Grann: "There is so much to read but don't miss this supremely well-researched and powerful new book. Very grateful to have finally read it."

Books for Kids:
1. Heartstopper V6, by Alice Oseman
2. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations by Renée Graef
4. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
5. What Happened to Rachel Reilly?, by Claire Swinarski
6. Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
7. Summer Pops Up, by Aurore Petit
8. The Odyssey Graphic Novel, by Home/Gareth Hinds
9. A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic, by Philip Stead
10. Garlic and the Vampire, by Bree Paulsen

Alice Olsen's sixth volume of Heartstopper came out Tuesday. It's the final installment, or so we've been told. Here's what she told The New York Times in the By the Book column: "Honestly, I don’t have any plans for spinoffs at the moment. I’ve adored spending time with these characters, but it’s been a pretty long time since I’ve been able to create some new characters and new stories, and I miss it!"

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 4, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending July 4, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
2. Land, by Maggie O'Farrell
3. Blood River Witch, by TJ Martinson
4. Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke
5. The Shampoo Effect, by Jenny Jackson (Boswell/WCW July 10 event - see below)
6. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
7. The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
8. John of John, by Douglas Stewart
9. Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep, by Paul Tremblay
10. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook V3, by Matt Dinniman

 
Despite Emily C Hughes in The New York Times writing Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep will likely be a divisive novel, even among the Tremblay die-hard," there seems to be no divisiveness from critics, as Paul Tremblay's latest novel, with the title referencing Philip K Dick, got six raves on BookMarks.

I want to give a shout out to The Shampoo Effect, but which I am excited to now be reading for the second time, so I can do the best conversation I can with Lauren Fox when we speak to Jenny Jackson at the Woman's Club of Wisconsin on Friday. Tickets are still available but I they will be closing out shortly.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Obstinate Daughters, by Denise Kiernan 
2. Regime Change, by Maggie Hoberman and Jonathan Swan
3. The Creative Act, by Rick Rubin
4. The Land and Its People, by David Sedaris
5. What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking, by Caroline Chambers
6. The Lost Cities of El Norte, by Peter Stark (Boswell July 7 event)
7. Famesick, by Lena Dunham
8. America USA, by Eddie S Glaude Jr
9. Spain My Way, by Jose Andres
10. The Book of Birds, by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris

More American history than we usually see on a bestseller list, from Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution to America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries to The Lost Cities of El Norte: Coronado's Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resistance. Peter Stark's Young Washington was source material for the current film of the same name, showing at area Marcus Theaters and the AMC at Mayfair. 

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
3. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
5. Sunburn, by Chloe Michelle Howarth
6. The Mysterious Affair of Judith Patts V5, by Robert Thorogood
7. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
8. A Death in Door County V1, by Annelise Ryan
9. The Someday Garden, by Ashley Poston
10. The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant V1, by Liza Tully

We did a preorder campaign for Robert Thorogood's The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts (some goodies still available - ask a bookseller), the fifth installment of The Marlow Murder Club, now on PBS. This from Kirkus: "The fatal shooting of footballer Gary Wise, late of the Wycombe Wanderers, in the woods near the Hurley Manor House serves as a starting gun for crossword puzzle designer Judith Potts, dog walker Suzie Harris, and vicar's wife Becks Starling... Fiendishly clever in all the most decorous ways."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Wager, by David Grann
2. Is a River Alive, by Robert MacFarlane
3. Forest Euphoria, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
4. All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley
5. The Möbius Book, by Catherine Lacey
6. The Reverse Center's Guide to Life After AI, by Cory Doctorow
7. The Tonality of Thought, by Byung-Chul Han
8. Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow
9. Frank Lloyd Wright's Illinois, by Kristine Hansen (Boswell July 8 event)
10. Beer Hiking Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula, by Kristin Radaich

Several fresh releases showed interest on the new paperback table including Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature. From Publishers Weekly: "Kaishian, a mycology curator at the New York State Museum, debuts with reverent celebration of the natural world's diversity. Highlighting 'queer' animals, fungi, and plants that complicate 'our ideas of what is normal versus what is deviant.'...This will leave readers in awe of nature's many splendors"

Books for Kids:
1. Pete the Kitty: Five Pawsome Tales, by James Dean
2. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid, illustrations by Ingela P Arrhenius
3. Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhhà Lai
4. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
5. The Heirs, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
6. Wombat Waiting, by Katherine Applegate
7. Breakout, by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
8. Baseball for Breakfast, by Judy Campbell-Smith, illustrations by Maggie Carroll
9. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse, illustrations, by Renée Graef
10 The Warriors Graphic Novel: New Prophecy V1, by Erin Hunter, adapted by Gibson Twist, illustrated by Sammy Savos

Wombat Waiting, Katherine Applegate's latest is a stand-alone middle grade novel in verse about a stray dog in the California wildfires, based on a true story. From Booklist: " The stirring story is told via urgent, elegant verse, alternating between animal and human viewpoints as the Santa Ana winds and wildfires sweep across a Californian community. The mounting tension and moments of grief are countered by familial affection, burgeoning community, and flashes of levity (Wombat's increasing annoyance with the disembodied voice is particularly amusing), while occasional sketches are adorable. Animal lovers and Applegate appreciators alike will adore the gripping, gorgeous story."