Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 19, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 19, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Pirate Queen, by Ariel Lawhon (signed copies)
2. Hollow Bones, by Jodi Picoult (Pabst October 8 event)
3. Exit Party, by Emily St John Mandel (UWM November 7 event)
4. Dead Beat V3, by Leigh Bardugo
5. The Disappearers, by Marlon James
6. Our Noble Selves, by Kate Atkinson
7. The Rouse, by Chia Mieville
8. Taipei Story, by RF Kuang
9. We Chase Shadows V2, by Richard Osman
10. The Buter's Masquerade V5, by Matt Dinniman

So many new books! I have read a lot of Kate Atkinson over the years, but I'm afraid I haven't yet gotten to Our Noble Selves, which got six raves and two positives on BookMarks. From the starred Booklist: " Atkinson deftly blends the tragicomic spirit of Evelyn Waugh's post-WWII novels with the cringe comedy of The Office in her latest history-mystery...Excellent characterization and telling historical details in a wonderfully invigorating read."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Great Bakes, by Martin Sorge (signed copies)
2. End Times Fascism, by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
3. The Green and Gold Standard, by Thomas M Nelson
4. How to Eat an Elephant, by Sarah Longwell
5. Wisconsin Supper Clubs: One for the Road, by Ron Faiola
6. Redwood, by Ben MacIntyre
7. Protocols, by Andrew D Huberman
8. This Is the Plan, by Ben Wikler
9. One Day Everyone Will Always Hav Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad
10. Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green

Top debut on this list is End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World, by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, which some have called a follow-up to Klein's The Shock Doctrine. The book has three raves and three mixeds on BookMarks, and I should note that that's with clearly conservative review organs do not seem to be covered on BookMarks - correct me if I'm wrong. But I read at least one of the mixeds and I would have categorized it as positive. From the raves, Kirkus called it "An astute, original-minded analysis of the apocalyptic thinking that links tech, politics, and religion." And from Damon Linker's mixed NYT review: "I’m even more skeptical of Klein and Taylor’s decision to accept the premise, affirmed by so many players in our politics, that we are living through a time of unprecedented crisis. I can’t help wondering how much of this widespread conviction follows from a dispassionate, historically informed analysis of the state of the world and how much is a product of the way we get and share information today."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Fruit Fly, by Josh Silver
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman
4. Your Behavior Will Be Monitored, by Justin Feinstein
5. The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
6. May We Feed the King, by Rebecca Perry
7. The Wayfinder, by Adam Johnson
8. The Lion Women of Tehran, by Marjan Kamali
9. A Resistance of Witches, by Morgan Ryan
10. Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones

If I had combined hardcover sales with paper, Fruit Fly would have edged out Theo of Golden for the top spot. With all the deluxe hardcovers out there, separating out cloth and paperback sales is more complicated, especially because many "hardcovers" are really paper-over-board format. Fruit Fly just came back into stock after surging demand - it's got blurbs from Caro Claire Burke and Ocean Vuong too (and they put them on the book jacket). From Publishers Weekly: "A struggling author co-opts the life of a young gay drug addict for her new manuscript in YA novelist Silver's jaw-dropping adult debut (after Traumaland)...By turns suspenseful, provocative, and touching, this bold thriller burrows under the skin."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Stone Age Astronaut, by Liam Callanan (signed copies)
2. Finding Freedom, by Ruby West Jackson
3. Lambeau Ladies, by Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic (Boswell September 27 event)
4. The Best of the Wurst, by Jesse Brookstein (signed copies)
5. Mother Mary Comes to Me, by Arundhati Roy
6. When Driving Is Not an Option, by Anna Zivarts
7. Crossing the Wine Dark Sea, by Emily Wilson
8. Enshittification, by Cory Doctorow
9. Trees of Wisconsin Field Guide, by Stan Tekiela
10. Wisconsin Idols, by Dean Robbins

I'm guessing this is a first for us - Wisconsin Historical Society Press has our top four books in this list and five in the top ten! It helps that they have such a strong regional list this fall, with two recent and one forthcoming event books. I'm told that Lambeau Ladies is selling particularly well throughout the state - it's a unique take on the subject. From the publisher: "Lambeau Ladies, mother and daughter Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic tell the remarkable, largely untold story of the women who helped to keep the Lombardi-era Packers performing at a championship level. From preparing game-day sandwiches, nursing injuries, and reviewing game film to managing households, hosting social gatherings, and providing emotional strength to their spouses, these women were a driving force behind one of the greatest teams in football history."

Books for Kids:
1. That You Are Here Is No Small Thing, by Traci N Todd and Vashti Harrison
2. War, by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano
3. Peekaboo Pumpkin, by Camilla Reid and Ingela P Arrhenius
4. Room on the Brook, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
5. Big, by Vashti Harrison
6. Neverfear V3 Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell
7. One Mad Cat and the Missing Book, by Vicky Fang
8. The Leaf Thief, by Alice Hemming
9. Rite of Passage, by Richard Wright
10. Peekaboo Dog, by Camilla Reid and Ingela P Arrhenius

 
Meteorological fall started September 1 and astronomical fall begins on Tuesday, but bestseller fall has already begun, with three autumnal titles in our top ten and one more (It's fall) at #11. There are many format variations of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Room on the Broom, but the one we are selling best is the push-pull-slide board book, which translated into Camilla Reid speak, would be Peekaboo Witch's Broom. This #1 bestseller was named one of the best children's books of the century by Book Riot.

This blog is not proofread by anyone but me. Let me know if you spot any typos.

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 12, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 12, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Under Story, by Chloe Benjamin
2. The Disappearers, by Marlon James
3. Taipei Story, by RF Kuang
4. Pirate Queen, by Ariel Lawhon (Wilson Center September 14 event)
5. Big Little Truths, by Liane Moriarty
6. Switzy, by Emma Cline
7. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
8. Lost Lambs, by Madeline Cash
9. Tempest, by Victoria Aveyard
10. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans

Like many books nowadays that flirt with genre, both Taipei Story and Tempest have deluxe limited editions in their initial print runs. Sometimes the initial edition costs more money, but rarely more than $3 (The Correspondent is an outlier) but in these two cases, the limited and regular editions are the same price. In a way, this is similar to they way paper quality might decrease on a future printing of a title, only this is a more publicized. Taipei Story has four raves, three positives, a mixed, and a pan on BookMarks. From Kirkus: (a positive) " As ever, Kuang raises uncomfortable questions about history, ethnicity, and identity and leaves it for readers to determine whether Lily has come to the right conclusions and how much growing up she still has left to do. A visceral exploration of language as a bridge and a barrier."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Lorafied Cookbook, by Lora McLaughlin Peterson
2. Wisconsin Supper Clubs: One for the Road, by Ron Faiola (signed copies)
3. The Art of Fighting, by Priya Parker
4. How to Eat an Elephant, by Sarah Longwell
5. The Wisconsin Supper Clubs Story, by Ron Faiola
6. All the President's Wars, by Peter Bergen
7. The Gales of November, by John U Bacon
8. American Scoundrel, by Kai Bird
9. The Castle, by Jon Ronson
10. I Eat the Stars, by Sarah Wilson

Look at all the new books on the list! The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict is from conflict facilitator Priya Parker, whose The Art of Gathering was also a hit. It comes from a long heritage of books about interpersonal disagreements, and who doesn't need some advice in this area? From Publishers Weekly: "Parker's advice is friendly and candid, and her central insight - that fighting done right can help heal and reinvigorate relationships rather than end them - is persuasive. The result is a wise manual for clashing with care."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Breathing Under Water, by Jacqueline Friedland
2. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman
4. Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus
5. James, by Percival Everett
6. The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett
7. Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
8. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
9. Bunny, by Mona Awad
10. I See You've Called in Dead, by John Kenney

Publishers have been trying to break out New Yorker contributor John Kenney's fiction for years, and it doesn't help that he only writes a novel every six years. The I See You've Called in Dead paperback from Zibby is now his bestselling book at Boswell, including novels published in hardcover and paperback, and also his poetry, which has done well too. It's about an obituary writer who accidently posts his own death notice. It happens! From the starred Booklist: "Kenney's vivid prose transforms the mundane - chats with neighbors, bad dates, office rivalries - into unexpected hilarity. I See You've Called in Dead is a witty and heartwarming reminder of the bottomless despair, limitless absurdity, and undeniable joy of the human experience."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. As a Jew, by Sarah Hurwitz
2. Stone Age Astronaut, by Liam Callanan (Boswell September 17 event)
3. Crossing the Wine Dark Sea, by Emily Wilson
4. A Philosophy of Walking, by Frédéric Gros
5. Replaceable You, by Mary Roach
6. A Marriage at Sea, by Sophie Elmhirst
7. Poetry Unbound, by Pádraig Ó Tuama
8. Recipes for the Melting Pot, by Nora L Rubel (Boswell October 7 event)
9. The Book of Lives, by Margaret Atwood
10. 111 Places in Milwaukee That You Must Not Miss, by Michelle Madden

Riding the Odyssey wave is the paperback (original, I think) edition the essay collection of Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature from Emily Wilson, which is already out of stock at all of Ingram's warehouses and has six raves on BookMarks and is marked as Instant New York Times bestseller. From Jennifer Szalai in The New York Times (keeper of the bestseller lists): "Wilson elegantly braids together close, line-by-line readings with larger arguments about how much is often at stake. A chapter on ancient Stoicism and its latter-day interpreters shows why it has become so popular in Silicon Valley: Stoic tips on how to find equanimity in a troubled world appeal to powerful, privileged people who have an interest in maintaining the status quo."

Books for Kids:
1. Art Attack: The Sherlock Society V3, by James Ponti
2. That You Are Here Is No Small Thing, by Traci Todd and Vashti Harrison
3. Let's Find Yaya and Boo at the Park!, by Andrew Knapp
4. Who Says Moo, by Axel Scheffler
5. Rite of Passage, by Richard Wright
6. Where's the Leaf Thief, by Alice Hemming and Nicole Slater
7. A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation, by Pablo Cartaya
8. The Sherlock Society V1, by James Ponti
9. Neverfear V3: Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell
10. Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Selling off the autumn display is Where's the Leaf Thief?, in which squirrel and bird try to solve the titular mystery. This board book is adapted from the picture book The Leaf Thief, which as spawned many sequels - The Pumpkin Thief, The Sun Thief, The Snow Thief, and so on. The Egg Thief drops next January. Kirkus called the original "A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors."

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 5, 2026

Boswell bestsellers, week ending September 5, 2026

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Under Story, by Chloe Benjamin (Boswell September 8 event)
2. The Disappearers, by Marlon James
3. The Three Graces of Pearl Street, by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins
4. The Knave and the Moon V2, by Rachel Gilling
5. Whistler, by Ann Patchett
6. The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett
7. Land, by Maggie O'Farrell
8. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans
9. Big Little Truths, by Liane Moriarty
10. A Trade of Blood, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Our two biggest debuts this week come from the Penguin division of Pengun Random House with Chloe Benjamin's Under Story coming from Putnam (8 years after The Immortalists) and Marlon James's The Disappearers from Riverhead. Both authors used to live in the Midwest (Benjamin in Madison and James in the Twin Cities) but now are on the coasts, one on each. And I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out the Dwight Garner spectacular review of The Disappearers in The New York Times: "Why not just say it? With this novel about gay experience and murderous homophobia in Jamaica and elsewhere during the 1980s and ’90s, James has written a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Origin of a Leader, by Curtis Manfredo
2. The Green and Gold Standard, by Thomas M Nelson
3. Holding It Together, by Jessica Calarco
4. Everyday Eats, by Alex Snodgrass
5. Regime Change, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
6. Biological War, by Annie Jacobsen
7. American Scoundrel, by Kai Bird
8. Hiroshima 815, by Kiyoshi Tanimoto
9. This Is the Plan, by Ben Wikler
10. Milwaukee Flavor, by Visit Milwaukee/Ann Christenson

New this week is American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump, the latest biography from Kai Bird, the coauthor of American Prometheus, the inspiration for the film Oppenheimer. The book got seven raves and two mixed revies, with one of them from the Wall Street Journal, which would makes sense, except their book reviews tend to be pretty independent of the editorial page. Jennifer Szalai in the New York Times is one of the ravers, noting: "Bird calls him (Cohn) 'the ghoul of our nightmares, a man whose personal immorality planted the seeds of America’s descent into the political folly of the 21st century.' A Prometheus steals fire for humanity; a scoundrel takes everyone for a ride."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi
2. Angel Down, by Daniel Kraus (Boswell-run book clubs)
3. James, by Percival Everett
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl V1, by Matt Dinniman
5. Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher
6. Lonesome Dove V1, by Larry McMurtry
7. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
8. The Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
9. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
10. The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett

Nothing new on this list, so I will shout out the Lit Group that met this past weekend for Audition. Opinions were all over the place, which made for a great discussion. I may have to pick some less popular books to get the attendance down, but I don't think Lonesome Dove (October) or Angel Down (December) will do the trick.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Stone Age Astronaut, by Liam Callanan (Boswell September 17 event)
2. How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein
3. Kitchen Confidential, annotated edition, by Anthony Bourdain
4. A Flower Traveled in My Blood, by Haley Cohen Gilliland
5. Friends with Words, by Martha Barnette
6. Poetry Unbound, by Pádraig Ó Tuama (poetry is dealer's choice for categorization)
7. Lambeau Ladies, by Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic (Boswell September 27 event)
8. Fall of Civilizations, by Paul Cooper
9. What If We Get It Right, by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

I miss listening to A Way with Words on WHAD on air. I know I could still access the podcast, but I am still a "I will listen to it if it happens to be on" kind of person. Glad to see we are selling Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland off our new paperback table. I might be the next customer for it. From Publishers Weekly: "With a conversational tone and an infectious sense of curiosity, Barnette makes a strong case for the mundane magic of words. It's a joyful account that will delight fans of Lynne Truss." Remember that one?

Books for Kids
1. That You Are Here Is No Small Thing, Traci Todd and Vashti Harrison
2. The Neverfear V3, by Katherine Rundell
3. The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan, by Jasmine Warga
4. City Spies V1, by James Ponti
5. A Rover's Story, by Jasmine Warga
6. A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, by Jasmine Warga
7. Penguin Picnic, by Liam Frances Walsh
8. Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee, by Barbara Joosse and Renée Graef
9. The Amazing Generation, by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price
10. Elf Dog and Owl Head, by MT Anderson

Katherine Rundell's The Neverfear, the latest in The Impossible Creatures series, is our top non-event debut, and has been the case in the last few years, one book is not enough for her. Her nonfiction book for adults, Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise, is also getting a lot of attention. Kirkus called her latest kids book "brilliant," as well as describing the book as "perfectly paced, mythology laced tale of action, adventure, and heart."