Boswell This Week: Brian Selznick, Lincoln Pierce, Robert Habush, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, Richard Fords, Ashley Weaver and "Beer Bible's" Jeff Alworth.

Monday, October 12, 7 pm, at Alverno College's Pitman Theatre, 3431 S. 39th St:
Brian Selznick, author of The Marvels. This event is cosponsored by Scholastic Book Fairs.

We've been telling you this is a special event for a while, but we probably can't say it better than Carole E. Barrowman, whom I will now think of forever as "Carole Emily." She reviewed The Marvels in Sunday's Journal Sentinel. I have no choice but to reprint the opening.

"A long time ago in a land far away a young girl named Carole Emily woke one morning to her legs pocked with peculiar purple bruises and her feet as big as gourds. Doctors poked and prodded and shook their heads."

"'Have you ever?' they asked.

"'Never!' they harrumphed.

"Because in that land far away at that time long ago no one knew what sinister things stirred in Carole Emily's blood. Carole Emily needed to be watched, they said. Carole Emily needed to be studied, they insisted. And so Carole Emily went to a place where other children whose bodies were behaving mysteriously were sent.

"Carole Emily tried to be brave and strong, but her feet ached and the bedsheets itched. Then one day a wise teacher with silver hair and kind eyes sent Carole Emily a shopping bag overflowing with enchantment and wonder, mystery and adventure. For six weeks, Carole Emily survived shipwrecks and sword fights, romances and rebellions, journeys beneath the sea and to the center of the earth, and, in time, she fought off the strange illness that seized her.

"Years later when Carole Emily was all grown up with children of her own, she never forgot about the power of stories to restore a spirit and nurture a soul, but sometimes Carole Emily wished she could once again experience the childlike wonder and awe that helped heal her younger self. Then she picked up Brian Selznick's"The Marvels" (Scholastic Press), and the young Carole Emily appeared in a wave of nostalgia and awe." Read the rest of the review here.

Don't forget. We've eliminated the cost on this event. No book with ticket and no admission charge, but we're still asking for folks to register so we can get a handle on the number of attendees.

Tuesday, October 13, 6:30 pm, at Greenfield Public Library, 5310 W. Layton Ave. Lincoln Pierce, author of Big Nate: Welcome to My World.

Nate Wright’s life is just like his locker--it’s full of surprises. The monstrous Mrs. Godfrey springs a pop quiz on Nate and his grandparents. His horoscope predicts bad news for Nate’s soccer career. And worst of all, he’s forced to cut back on his beloved Cheez Doodles. It’s enough to drive any kid crazy. Luckily, Nate’s not just any kid. He’s the ultimate sixth-grade survivor. When everything’s falling apart, he finds a way to hold it together … but nobody said it would be easy. Welcome to the world of Big Nate!

Here's an interview with Lincoln Pierce in the Geek Dad column. He talks about his first comic: "My first comic strip was actually more like a comic book, and it was called Super Jimmy. I created it in 4th or 5th grade. Super Jimmy was a buck-toothed, dim-witted fellow who had somehow acquired a few random superpowers, and so naturally he made himself into a crime fighter. His costume was a purple sweatsuit that featured a yellow duck on his chest, and his cape was a terrycloth bath towel that he fastened around his neck with a safety pin."

Lincoln Peirce has been drawing the Big Nate comic strip for more than 20 years. Born in Ames, Iowa, Peirce grew up in Durham, New Hampshire. As a kid, Lincoln Pierce began creating his own strips in the sixth grade. Peirce taught high school in New York City and has created several animated pilots for Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. He now lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Wednesday, October 14, 6 pm, at Marquette Law School's Eckstein Hall, 1215 W. Michigan Ave.: Robert Habush, author of Courtroom Avenger: The Challenges and Triumphs of Robert Habush, in conversation with cowriter Kurt Chandler and moderator Mitch Teich, of WUWM's Lake Effect. This event is open to the public, but registration is required.

Courtroom Avenger chronicles the career of Robert Habush, the well-known Milwaukee trial lawyer. Each chapter of this compelling book covers a significant trial in his career. In it you'll find: details on the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries trial, his representation of the survivors of the World Trade Center attack, and an analysis of trial strategy and commentary from Habush himself. This evening, cosponsored by The Jewish Federation, The Jewish Community Center, and Marquette Law School, features Habush with Milwaukee Magazine editor Kurt Chandler and Lake Effect's Mitch Teich, looking at some of Habush's most remarkable cases.

In Trial Magazine's review, writer Stacey E. Burke notes that Habush mastered the art of storytelling. She notes that "Habush largely focused on product liability cases before such claims were mainstream, laying the groundwork for our current ability to hold accountable companies that disregard worker and consumer safety. He was among the first trial lawyers to engage in political activism as president of The American Association for Justice - then The American Trial Lawyers Association..."

Admitted to the bar in 1961, Habush has been recognized by Best Lawyers for over twenty years, and earned a spot in the Top 25 Milwaukee Super Lawyers list for 2014. Limited free parking for this event is available.


Wednesday, October 14, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, authors of All American Boys.

Welcome back to Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, who first joined as at Boswell for their separately written novels When I Was the Greatest and The Gospel of Winter. I'm not sure what led to the spark that created this collaboration, only that the Gentleman's Tour they did in 2014 probably had them together quite a bit, and that led to this brainstorm. Of course since this trip, Mr. Reynolds has won the Coretta Scott King award for his novel and Brendan Kiely received raves for his first novel, including this review in the Boston Globe. "This book has been passed from bookseller to bookseller, such that we now have at least three enthusiastic reads, if not four.

My recommendation also tells you a little more about the story."Rashad Butler only wanted to stop off to get potato chips at a convenience store on his way to a party, having just finished Junior ROTC drills. But when a series of mishaps leads to him being accused of shoplifting by a convenience store clerk, a police officer takes him down and goes ballistic when he decides that he’s resisting arrest. At the same time, Quinn Collins, also on his way to the party, sees the whole thing, but he also knows who the policeman is, and it’s the older brother of his best friend, a guy who has been like a second father to him since his dad died in Iraq. While Quinn doesn’t know Rashad, he plays varsity basketball with some of his buddies. The decision that Quinn has to make isn’t simply black and white, so to speak - will loyalty outweigh his conscience? Reynolds and Kiely deftly alternate voices in this powerful novel, which shows that racism is not just about injustice, but about speaking to those injustices. Great characters, emotionally charged, and enough twists to keep from making the story overly earnest. I teared up more than once!"

Maybe you'd rather here Jacqueline Woodson's take on All American Boys: "At once timely and timeless, funny and wickedly smart, All American Boys is a beautifully written narrative about … about so many things — but most importantly - what it means to be a young man in America - across lines of race — and what it means to be a good person in America — across lines of everything.”

And from the Kirkus Review: "Reynolds and Kiely supply their protagonists with a supporting cast that prods them in all the right ways; Rashad's strict, ex-cop dad provides unexpected complexity. If the hands and agenda of the authors are evident, their passion elevates the novel beyond a needed call to action to a deeply moving experience." There's also a starred Publishers Weekly review, which you can read here.

Thursday, October 15, 7 pm, at Boswell:
A ticketed event with Richard Ford, author of Let Me Be Frank With You. Tickets are $16 and include a copy of Let Me Be Frank With You. A $10 gift card is available in lieu of the book on the night of the event only. Cosponsored by The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM.

About a year ago, the folks at Osher came to me and said we should collaborate together on a project. When the opportunity to host Richard Ford came along, it seemed like just the ticket. Here is a collection that follows one of the great literary protagonists of all time, Frank Bascombe, as he comes to terms with the passing of time.

You probably all know what led to his breakout novel. Ford was a well-reviewed writer who took a job with Inside Sports in the 1980s. It was going to be a competitor to the red-hot Sports Illustrated, but it failed spectacularly. But from that failure rose The Sportswriter, and the rest is history. Michiko Kakutani, in The New York Times, wrote that "Frank emerged in that lucid novel as one of the most self-conscious, self-annotating characters to make his debut in contemporary American fiction since Binx Bolling appeared in The Moviegoer, by Walker Percy, in 1961."

In Bascombe's second appearance, Independence Day, he's divorced from his wife after the death of their child, and left the sportswriting buwsiness. turning to real estate. The novel takes place over a weekend, when Frank plans to pick up his troubled teenage son and visit as many sports hall of fames as they can over two days. Things do not go as planned. Bascombe was praised as one of his generation's most eloquent voices and Independence Day became first novel to win both the PEN Faulker award and the Pulitzer Prize. He turned to Frank again in The Lay of the Land, and now returns with four connected stories set in 2012, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and Frank's own bout with prostate cancer.

Here's that great review from Maureen Corrigan, first heard on Fresh Air: "It's such a goofy title. Let Me Be Frank with You is the latest installment in the odyssey of Frank Bascombe, the New Jersey Everyman Richard Ford introduced almost 30 years ago in his novel, The Sportswriter. Two more Frank Bascombe novels followed, and now this: a brilliant collection of four interconnected short stories of about 60 pages each in which Ford is indeed 'being Frank' Bascombe with us once again, as well as being 'frank' about all sorts of touchy topics in America, such as race, politics, the economy, old age and the oblivion that awaits us all."

Saturday, October 17, 7 pm, at Greenfield Public Library Community Learning Center, 5647 Broad Street:
Ashley Weaver, author of Murder at Brightwell and Death Wears a Mask.

It's Booktoberfest! Your hosts, the Greendale Public Library and the Community Learning Center Writing Studio, welcome Ashley Weaver, a bright new voice in mystery fiction, along with Jon and Ruth Jordan, the editors of Crimespree Magazine, and impresarios of the forthcoming Murder and Mayhem conference (on Saturday, November 7). Murder at Brightwell was nominated for a Best First Novel Edgar, and the follow up is getting similar buzz, with Publishers Weekly calling it "delightful."

Following the murderous events at the Brightwell Hotel, Amory Ames is looking forward to a tranquil period of reconnecting with reformed playboy husband Milo. Amory hopes a quiet stay at their London flat will help mend their dysfunctional relationship after their unexpected reconciliation. However, she soon finds herself drawn into another investigation when Serena Barrington asks her to look into the disappearance of valuable jewelry snatched at a dinner party.

Amory agrees to help lay a trap to catch the culprit at a lavish masked ball hosted by the notorious Viscount Dunmore. But when one of the illustrious party guests is murdered, Amory is pulled back into the world of detection, enlisted by old ally Detective Inspector Jones. As she works through the suspect list, she struggles to fend off the advances of the very persistent viscount even as rumors swirl about Milo and a French film star. Once again, Amory and Milo must work together to solve a mystery where nothing is as it seems, set in the heart of 1930s society London.

This truly is a welcome home, as Ashley Weaver, before her mystery-writing career, worked at the Greendale Library.

Monday, October 19, 7 pm, at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave. in bay View: Jeff Alworth, author of The Beer Bible.

Portland-based Jeff Alworth has been writing about beer for more than 15 years. He is the author of The Beer Tasting Toolkit, and has also written for Draft Magazine, All About Beer, and The Oregonian, as well as his popular site, Beervana.

The Beer Bible is the ultimate reader- and drinker-friendly guide to all the world’s beers. No other book of this depth and scope approaches the subject of beer?in the same way that beer lovers do—by style, just as a perfect pub menu is organized—and gets right to the pleasure of discovery, knowledge, and connoisseurship. Divided into four major families—ales, lagers, wheat beers, and tart and wild ales—there’s everything a beer drinker wants to know about the hundreds of different authentic types of brews, from bitters, bocks, and IPAs to weisses, milk stouts, lambics, and more. Each style is a chapter unto itself, delving into origins, ingredients, description and characteristics, substyles, and tasting notes, and ending with a recommended list of the beers to know in each category. Hip infographics throughout make the explanation of beer’s flavors, brewing methods, ingredients, labeling, serving, and more as immediate as it is lively.

The book is written for passionate beginners, who will love its “if you like X, try Y” feature; for intermediate beer lovers eager to go deeper; and for true geeks, who will find new information on every page. History, romance, the art of tasting, backstories and anecdotes, appropriate glassware, bitterness units, mouthfeel, and more—it’s all here. Plus a primer on pairing beer and food using the three Cs— complement, contrast, or cut. It’s the book that every beer lover will read with pleasure, and use with even more.

And what a great location for this event. Sugar Maple has 60 draft beers on tap with a "diverse and eclectic selection (that) will satisfy the discerned aficionado." Help us brew up a great evening by attending The Beer Bible event at Sugar Maple on Monday, October 19, 7 pm.

A Whole Bunch of Books on Lists That Sold at Boswell, For the Week Ending October 10, 2015

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff
2. Those We Left Behind, by Stuart Neville
3. After You, by Jojo Moyes
4. Purity, by Jonathan Franzen
5. The Secret Chord, by Geraldine Brooks
6. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
7. The Survivor, by Vince Flynn, as channelled by Kyle Mills
8. Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee
9. The Girl in the Spider's Web, by Stieg Larsson, as channelled by David Lagercrantz
10. Wind/Pindball, by Haruki Murakami

I know that Fates and Furies is selling very well everywhere, but I feel some sort of vindication when a little extra handselling on my part helped get the book back to #1, an unintended benefit of working two closing shifts, as we had so much going on last week. Now I just have to focus a little more on a few of my paperback picks, as I think I'm spread too thin, Our friend Sue at The Cottage Bookshop has sold double what we've done of Antoine Laurain's The Red Notebook. I will work harder.

I noticed that we've got a little inconsistency regarding these dead author series being continued by living authors. Do you put the brand author first or the effective ghostwriter, only they are actually the writer that's not the ghost, in this case? Does it make a difference whether the original writer came up with the idea? In the case of The Survivor, from Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills, this past week there was a tribute event at Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. You can read his story here, including how he self-published his first book when he couldn't get a deal.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods, by John Gurda (event 12/2 at Boswell)
2. Courtroom Avenger, by Robert Habush and Kurt Chandler (event 10/14 at Marquette - register here)
3. Once in a Great City, by David Maraniss
4. Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. Two Dollars a Day, by Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer
6. Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson (event 10/27 at Bowsell)
7. Four Things That Matter Most, by Ira Byock
8. M Train, by Patti Smith
9. A Common Struggle, by Patrick Kennedy
10. What the Best College Students Do, by Ken Bain
11. What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain
12. Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande
13. My Kitchen Year, by Ruth Reichl
14. Brief Candle in the Dark, by Richard Dawkins
15. Germany, by Neil MacGregor

While our nonfiction bestsellers are struggling, our hardcover list is going gangbusters, due not just to this past week's events, but also do breakout releases like Patti Smith's M Train, and Patrick Kennedy's A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction . Of the former, Annabel Lyon writes in The (Toronto) Globe and Mail: "You’ll read this book and wish you knew Patti Smith. Wish you could go for coffee with her (she drinks a lot of coffee), talk about books and British crime dramas, wander around with her as she takes Polaroid photographs, and generally be her friend. There’s a warmth to her on the page that the famous proto-punk, rock-star persona might seem to belie."

Of the latter, it was more news than reviews that drove sales. Michelle Smith wrote in The Associated Press (via The Detroit News) that "a new book by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, youngest son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, openly discusses what he says are the mental illnesses and addictions of himself and his family members, and takes on what he portrays as a veil of secrecy used to hide the problems of America’s most famous political family." It's fascinating that this book is coming out at the same time as the two biographies of Rosemary Kennedy.

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Cartographer of No Man's Land, by P.S. Duffy
2. Again and Again, by Ellen Bravo
3. My Brooklyn Writer Friend, by Greg Gerke
4. The New York Stories, by Ben Tanzer
5. Lila, by Marilynne Robinson
6. A Marvel and A Wonder, by Joe Meno
7. The Martian, by Andy Weir
8. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, by Amy E. Reichert
9. Lost Canyon, by Nina Revoyr
10. My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante

Only three of these authors are not riding the momentum of recent Boswell events. You give me a call if Andy Weir, Marilynne Robinson, or whoever is Elena Ferrante want to do an event at Boswell. We've got three editions of The Martian now, not including the hardcover, which is also still available. When possible and by whim, I sometimes combine the sales of the regular and movie-tie-in cover editions for bestellers, but I keep the rack edition separate because of its different price point (and often we don't have the rack edition). It was #15 this week. The film has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. That seems very high to me but I don't generally follow these things.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Best Care Possible, by Ira Byock
2. Dying Well, by Ira Byock
3. When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss
4. A General Theory of Love, by Thomas Lewis
5. Policing in Milwaukee, by George L. Kelling

I know that Policing in Milwaukee: A Strategic History sounds more like an Arcadia series title, and in fact there is one called Milwaukee Police Department, but this is actually a history book from Marquette University Press. From his recent interview on Lake Effect, Kelling notes that "The more police departments adopted new technology and strategies, the more they isolated themselves...police moved from being an integral part of the community to being a response organization, riding around in cars waiting for something to happen." Read the rest of the interview here.

Books for Kids:
1. Orbiting Jupiter, by Gary D. Schmidt
2. Charlie Piechart and the Case of the Missing Pizza Slice, by Marilyn Sadler
3. The Marvels, by Brian Selznick (free event at Alverno 10/12, register here)
4. Hello?, by Liza Wiemer
5. Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, illustrated edition, by J.K. Rowling
7. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, by Rick Riordan
8. The Odds of Getting Even, by Sheila Turnage
9. Big Nate: Welcome to My World, by Lincoln Pierce (event Greenfield Public Library 10/13, 6:30)
10. Dewey Bob, by Judy Schachner

Several high-profile books for kids were released this week. On a side note, I have wobbled betweeen "kids books" and "kids' books" over the years. When I wrote kids without an apostrophe, a reader immediately chastised me. Now that we have Sarah, who know the style guides inside and out, she confirmed that you do not need an apostrophe because "kids books" means "books for kids," not "books belonging to kids." She's also got me getting on the right track for what to capitalize in titles.

Just to give a shout out to one, Rainbow Rowell's Carry On. Joanna Robinson interviewed Rowell for Vanity Fair, where she confirms that Eleanor and Park, like many YA novels, wasn't specifically written with the genre in mind. In a sense, the editor that bought it would determine the slotting (as very few editors acquire both adult and YA). Robinson notes, of her newest: "It’s a lush fantasy based on a fictional Harry Potter–esque book series, Simon Snow, that featured prominently in Rowell’s best-selling Fangirl. The titular fan girl of that book wrote hugely popular fan fiction, Carry On, Simon, based on a love story between Simon (our Harry Potter proxy) and Baz (a vampire with shades of Draco Malfoy). Rowell took her meta-textual interaction with the popular J.K. Rowling series one step further in Carry On, where Baz, Simon, and their friends Agatha and Penelope take control of the narrative."

Over at the Journal Sentinel, Carole E. Barrowman reviews Brian Selznick's The Marvels. Her enthusiastic review: "The Marvels opens in 1766 with 400 pages of mesmerizing sketches presenting the story of five generations of a legendary London theatre family whose chronicle we need no words to follow. The second four hundred pages are in prose, transporting us from London of the 19th century to the city in 1990 with only a handful of clues pointing to the connections between both parts of the book. In the prose narrative, young Joseph Jervis has run away from his stifling boarding school to the Victorian mansion of his eccentric estranged uncle, a man whose heart is frozen with grief and whose life is trapped in the details of the Victorian world he's re-created inside his house. The Marvels is a book about Shakespeare and shipwrecks, families and forgiveness, but more than anything it's a book about how the stories we tell may contain more truth about the world – "its miracles and its sadness" – than anything else we do. Stories matter. They must be cared for, loved and shared." You can still register for this free event here.

Here's an on-the-fence review from Kathy Flanigan, regarding Elvis Costello's new memoir, Unfaithful Music. She writes: "Since 1979, I've carried a torch for the man based on songs that were short but complex; and lyrics so biting they touched on paranoia but were always always clever. His autobiography Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink only fuels the fire. I'm tempted to write 'Mrs. Kathy Costello' in the margins of the book."

From Mike Fischer, a Milwaukee attorney, a review of Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America, from Wil Haygood. Focused on the 1967 confirmations, Haygood uses this is a springboard to Marshall's life's work leading up to this moment, arguing 32 cases before the Supreme Court, and winning nine of them. Fischer opines: "Marshall deserves better. He's no less a hero because he's also flawed; I'd argue his profile in courage would mean still more if offset by a candid account of his failures, presented in clearer prose as part of a better organized story." Bonus! This week's On the Media focused on the Supreme Court, but then they pulled a segment. Read why here.

*In addition to reviewing books and theater.

The Milwaukee-Phoenix Axis: A Visit to the New Changing Hands in Central Phoenix.

Over the years, I have written about Changing Hands, the bookstore in the Phoenix area that serves the Valley the way Boswell attempts to serve Milwaukee. We both share a lot of events, and I've gotten any number of good ideas from Gayle and Bob and Cindy. I still remember the first book I bought from the store, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, back when their sole location was near the ASU campus. I was in the middle of reading it, but lost my copy while traveling.

Years later they relocated to a shopping center on McClintock in Tempe, about three miles from where my sister Merrill lives in Chandler. I think I walked there once, but I'm a little irritated to realize that I'm not quite definitive on the subject, so now I feel the obligation to make the trek next time I visit. Hey, it's closer than my home is to Boswell and I make that walk several time a year. 

For some time, the folks at Changing Hands have been discussing a second location*, in Phoenix proper, with the goal of it being on the new Valley Metro light rail line**. Well, they opened that location, and this past week I had the opportunity to visit the store. It's in an old steakhouse called Beef Eaters that was repurposed into The Newton, a multipurpose structure that houses the bookstore and bar, a restaurant, a gardening shop, offices, and meeting space. Mention the Beef Eaters to a longtime Phoenician and they have a story. I said something to Amie and sure enough, she'd eaten there with her grandmother. I can't wait to hear what my friend Marcy has to say; she grew up in Phoenix where her family had a popular shoe store. 

The store itself is a little smaller than the Tempe location, with more space taken up by The First Draft bar. Having a bar as part of your marketing plan is a relatively new concept, but the bookstores that have them (Book Cellar in Chicago, Bookbar in Denver, various other stores that have liquor on their restaurant menus) are the envy of many others. Hey, it's one of the few things that seem to be immune from internet competition. And if you're into the concept of Third Places, I think bookstores and bars are probably both in the top five for community makers. 

The shelves are low and the ceiling is high, and that gives the place a real open feel. The staff writes on the shelves with liquid chalk, and there are several very clever seating areas that double as photo ops, due to some clever word bubble placement. Changing Hands has a top-notch event program which is featured (Brandon continues to astonish me with his energy and ideas), and they are well known for their gift selection, which has a major presence at the store. Like the Tempe location, the store has a good assortment of second-hand and bargain books, as well as what we'd call first-hand titles (retronym alert), and the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. 

While the retail is in transition since the building of the light rail, there are already a number of established restaurants. Merrill and I ate at St. Francis, which is a reasonably priced restaurant that features locally-sourced ingredients. We also stopped by The Windsor, which is sort of upmarket pub, not unlike Cafe Hollander, only less Beneluxy. And at The Newton itself is Southern Rail, a contemporary take on American Southern cooking.

Does this sound a bit like a sales pitch? In fact it should be, as Milwaukee and Phoenix have many ties, most notably that many branches of Milwaukee families move there, and Wisconsinites make up a substantial portion of the Valley snowbird population. I first noticed it years ago when I spotted the Milwaukee Sentinel at a newsstand. Those newsstand days are gone, but it's still common to see Wisconsin license plates and Badger shirts around town. So for all of you who travel back and forth, make a pilgrimage to Changing Hands and if you've been to Tempe, by all means try the Central Phoenix location.

While I am nothing short of a bookstore obsessive, there are very few stores where I've actually worked the sales floor, but for several years, when my family met at my sister's for Thanksgiving, I put in a short shift at the Tempe store. So I told Gayle that the Thanksgiving gatherings had switched to New Year's and for the first time in several years, I was joining my extended family there. And of course she wasted no time in noting that the Tempe location has their big New Year's sale; did I want to work the sales floor?

*Many iconic bookstores are expanding of late, but I think one store is all I think I can handle.

*I'd taken the light rail once before with my sister, but on this most recent trip, I used it three times, and used the Sky Train connector at the airport as well. That's one fancy system. One wonders why in conservative states like Arizona (and North Carolina, and Georgia, and even Texas), light rail is good for business, no matter the cost, but in a state like Wisconsin, it's a punching bag for the right and is starved of funding.

A Whirlwind Week of Words: Marilyn Sadler Today (Monday) at 4, Amy Reichert at East Library (6:30) Tuesday, Luke Shaefer on $2.00 a Day at Boswell on Tuesday, Joe Meno and Nina Revoyr at Boswell on Wednesday, Greg Gerke and Ben Tanzer at Boswell on Thursday (these last three events are at 7), David Maraniss at Centennial Hall on Thursday (6:30) and Gary D. Schmidt on Friday (7)

Monday, October 5, 4 pm (note time:
Marilyn Sadler, author of Charlie Piechart and the Case of  the Missing Pizza Slice.

It's a delicious story about pizza! It's a mystery! It's a tale of fractions! Kirkus Reviews gives an explanation: "Charlie’s family of five is joined by his friend Lewis, which means that if they order a large pizza, each of them will get two slices. But can they agree on toppings? Four-sixths want nothing to do with veggies, and no one wants anchovies. Pepperoni it is. But between the pizza’s arrival and its serving, one piece has gone missing. Charlie goes into full detective mode (his dog is even named Watson!) and hunts for clues, then turns to his five suspects." Boswellian Barb Katz is a fan of the new book. She writes: "It's pizza night at Charlie's house, but wait -a piece of pizza is missing! Both a mystery and a very clever look at fractions, this is a fun book that will be read over and over." Barb added that kids who don't love math shouldn't be put off by Sadler's book, but if they do love math, Charlie Piechart and the Case of the Missing Pizza Slice will be even more fun."

And yes, we'll have pizza, 2/3 of which will be plain and 1/3 will be pepperoni. If you have 1 slice of the former and 1 of the latter, how fast was your train going at the time? Enjoy Eric Comstock's retro-modern illustration, also featured in this delightful trailer from HarperCollins.




Tuesday, October 6, 6:30 pm, at East Library, 2320 N. Cramer St.: Amy E. Reichert, author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake.

This popular romantic comedy is set in Milwaukee, featuring the owner of a small French restaurant who gets a blistering review from a freelance critic, only to run into him again at a local watering hole.

Brandi Megan Granett interviewed Reichert for the Huffington Post. Usually I find that books set in New York City are encouraged to be very placey, the rest of the coats and possibly Chicago a little less so, and all other cities are played down. To have Milwaukee featured so prominently in a novel from a major publisher is a bit unusual. Granett popped the question: "We would be remiss if we didn't talk about the biggest love story in the book--the one involving your clear love for Milwaukee. How did you decide to imbue the novel with so much of this place you love? What places did you leave out that we should visit as well? Can we actually visit in the winter?"

"When I decided to set my book in Milwaukee, I knew she had to be part of the love story. It's such a special city, that I wanted to share it with everyone. I love that readers are getting a chance to see Milwaukee through my book. There are many more places to visit, like the Harley museum, zoo, and the quirky East Side. And you can absolutely visit in the winter! Cold weather doesn't slow us down, it's just an excuse to head north to watch the Green Bay Packers play or tromp through the beautiful snow in one of the many gorgeous parks. If it's January 1, you can take the Polar Bear Plunge into Lake Michigan."

Being that we're hosting seven cosponsored events with the Milwaukee Public Library this fall, which I think is a new record for us, I would be remiss if I did not like you to their upcoming events page. You can also get more information about their events with Fanni's Viennese Kitchen and Living in the Shadow of Milwaukee.

Tuesday, October 6, 7 pm, at Boswell: H. Luke Shaefer, co-author of $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America.

This event is cosponsored by Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, as part of their "Working Our Way Out of Poverty" series.

My take: "Two academics chronicle the new face of the poor in America, post welfare reform. Edin, a sociologist at Hopkins, and Shaefer, at the School of Social Work at Michigan, look at eight families in four regions of the United States, Chicago, Cleveland, the Missisippi Delta and the Appalachian Foothills of Tennessee, with stories that will remind readers of Nickel and Dimed. The good news is that in a world where there are work incentives and term limits to certain benefits, there’s actually more government money than before reform. The bad news is that virtually no cash component allows poor people almost no flexibility. The lack of subsidized housing has deleterious effects—it’s not a question of doubling up, but of 20 people living in a three bedroom apartment. And heaven help a person with no job who can’t get on disability of some sort. Edin and Shaefer highlight the continuing plight of the poorest of the poor, noting what policites have worked and others that have backfired, offering a few prescriptive solutions for action." (Daniel Goldin)_

Our buyer Jason Kennedy has this to say about $2.00 a Day: "This punches you in the gut, as you read about people living in America making $1-$2 per day to live on. It shows what a broken society we are that we have seven siblings sharing a bed and they all have one outfit to wear day after day. If you growing up in this kind of poverty, what wouldn't you do to get out? Who would attempt to exploit you to get what they want? Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer have done a tremendous job shedding light on a very dark part of our country, one that we ignore in the media , except to bash the all the programs designed to help the poor, and one where generations of poor families are almost doomed to repeat. Edin and Shaefer also offer some possible solutions that could be a good starting point to bring hope."

Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm, at Boswell: Nina Revoyr, author of Lost Canyon, and Joe Meno, author of Marvel and a Wonder.

Joe Meno and Nina Revoyr are touring together for their two books from Akashic. Meno has appeared at Boswell before, while Revoyr visited Next Chapter upon the release of Wingshooters, which has sold about 80 copies at Boswell since its release. The Wisconsin setting certainly helped.

Sharon Nagel offers a recommendation on Lost Canyon: "Four casual acquaintances get together to backpack in the Sierra Nevada. Each of them is looking to escape something in his or her life. Gwen, a youth counselor, is running from job burnout and the suicide of one of her charges, Oscar, a realtor, is fleeing from the depressed housing market, and the pressure of being a single parent. Todd, an attorney, is bored with his job, and his marriage is crumbling. Finally, Tracy, the group leader, is a personal trainer looking for the adventure that she is missing from her regular routine. What starts out as a physical challenge quickly takes a turn for the worse when the group runs into a man who doesn't want to be discovered. Things rapidly go south, shots are fired, lives are threatened, and the struggle for survival becomes a very real thing that has more to do with courage than with endurance or physical fitness."

And here is her take on Marvel and a Wonder: "Jim Falls is a widowed chicken farmer struggling to make ends meet. His daughter is a drug addict who is uncertain of the father of her son. She leaves Quentin with his grandfather often and for unknown amounts of time. The two are as different as can be. Jim is a Korean War vet, tough, hardworking, and no nonsense. Quentin is a dreamer who is constantly playing video games and raising exotic pets. One day, out of nowhere, a horse is delivered to Jim. A beautiful white racehorse that has been left to him by someone he does not know. When Jim and Quentin find out that the horse can run, the neighborhood starts to take notice of this valuable new resident. Then two local losers steal the horse and try to sell her. Jim and Quentin are determined to pursue the thieves and get her back. The white racehorse is coveted by everyone who comes into contact with her. She represents a dream for each one of them, a better and more successful life. Jim and his grandson get to know and appreciate each other on their suspenseful trip across the country to reclaim their rightful property." (Sharon Nagel)

Here's a photo of Revoyr and Meno traveling together on tour that was posted on Twitter.

Thursday, October 8, 630 pm, at Centennial Hall, 733 N. 8th Street: David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story. (Photo credit Lucian Perkins)

We've all been excited for the return of David Maraniss, whose new book has been winning raves. I'm reading it now, and was it too much that I mentioned our event with the Milwaukee Public Library and David Maraniss when I was approved for the Downer BID this morning? Hey, it was braodcast on The City Channel.

Mike Fischer wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "What makes Maraniss' book so compelling is suggested by his title: Even as he foreshadows the troubles to come, Maraniss also vividly — and lovingly — captures the long-vanished glow of that heady time when Detroit truly was a great city."

And Joe LaPointe notes in The Detroit News: "Maraniss examines modern history in the dogged manner of David Halberstam and Robert Caro. Between the lines, he leaves an unwritten thought for both today’s optimists and pessimists. If things could go change so much in just 50 years, what might the next half-century bring?"

Need more prodding to come to our event? Here's Maraniss talking to Kathleen Dunn last week on Wisconsin Public Radio about 1963 Detroit, "a year in which the city was running on all cylinders — and how the shadows of the city's collapse were beginning to emerge."

Thursday, October 8, 7 pm, at Boswell: Greg Gerke, author of My Brooklyn Writer Friend, and Ben Tanzer, author of The New York Stories.

Raised in Milwaukee, Greg Gerke has decamped to New York, the inspiration for his latest work of fiction. As the publisher notes, regarding My Brooklyn Writer Friend, "Neurotic and funny, earnest and obscure, the voices that echo in these short stories resound with a clarion honesty that remains—and provokes and teases and endears—long after the final page is turned."

John Haskell, author of I Am Not Jackson Pollack, writes: "Greg Gerke writes like an anthropologist of love, or like a Brooklyn-based Sigmund Freud, walking down a Mobius boulevard, finding the truth as it flowers in the cracks of the sidewalk. Honest, deadpan, personal and smart, these stories conspire, like a dream, to create a world both uncanny and familiar, delirious and quotidian, funny and sad and completely mesmerizing."

Ben Tanzer is also a midwest migrant, but his New York tales are of small town life, following in the footsteps of such writers as Richard Russo and Joyce Carol Oates. This collection was previously published in three volumes. The publisher notes that the collection features "dark character studies of childhood, middle age, and (lack of) grace under pressure" transporting readers to "the black heart of the American small-town soul."

Chris Tarry in Atticus Review writes that "The stories are interconnected in as much as a beer at Thirsty’s connects everyone in a small town. Characters move in and out and around a place so familiar, it could be your town—or my town, because I’ve never quite forgotten the time I kissed Susan Smith under the bleachers at Homecoming, and the smell of the stagnant air as she bit my lip leaving me surprised at how much more experience she had than me."

Friday, October 9, 7 pm, at Boswell: A Teacher Appreciation evening with Gary D. Schmidt, author of Orbiting Jupiter, and the Newberry-honor title The Wednesday Wars.

Everyone is welcome to this event, but we'll be honoring teachers with giveaways (lots and lots of advance readers copies for kids) and educators who are with schools signed up for our authors-in-schools programs will get a special discount for the evening.

Teacher's favorite Gary D. Schmidt will be appearing. Jannis Mindel is a fan of his new book, Orbiting Jupiter: "Joseph is a withdrawn 13-year-old father to an infant daughter he has never met. He comes to live with Jack and his family on their farm as a foster child after leaving a juvenile detention facility. Although Jack is warned to keep away from Joseph by his peers and teachers, Jack only sees a withdrawn and hurting boy. Eventually Joseph trusts the family enough to tell them his story and his need to find and meet his baby daughter. This is a spare, sad, and beautifully told story of love, sacrifice, and loss."

I just finished reading Orbiting Jupiter and Jannis and I had a chance to discuss the story. It's tricky subject matter. Joseph is a kid whose been through some hard times, including abuse by his father, and a stay in a detention facility. And the fact that he's a father at such an early age - it can be hard to handle that. But through the eyes of Jack, you see the spirit in this kid and Joseph slowly comes to learn that Jack has his back. It's hard for him to accept - he can't be touched, you can't walk behind him, and even the fact that he insists on calling Jack "Jackie", despite protests, sort of is an indication that he's lost basic connecting skills. It's a beautiful story, very sad, and there's much to talk about afterwards.

I don't know how many people caught this but this the second middle grade book I've read in the last month where the protagonist was named Jackson. Name trending alert!

Monday, October 12, 7 pm, at the Pitman Theatre at Alverno College: Brian Selznick, author of The Marvels.

1. The physical book is fabulous. Have you seen it? Gold edging and everything.

2. The insides are beautiful too.

Random Riggs in The New York Times Book Review: "What’s fiction made of? Do true stories “matter” more than invented ones? These are heady questions for any book to ­tackle, especially one aimed at young readers. But Brian Selznick’s “The ­Marvels” takes them on and, like the best children’s literature, doesn’t shy away from complex answers. The book revels in complication, echoes and mirrorings, and peeling back its layers makes for a rich and surprising reading experience."

Brian Selznick on Maurice Sendak in The Atlantic.

Starred Kirkus Reviews: "In the final volume of a trilogy connected by theme, structural innovation, and exquisite visual storytelling, Selznick challenges readers to see."

3. The event is now free! Please register on the Brown Paper Tickets site and tell your friends.

4. Trailer!

Annotation Celebration: The Boswell Book Company Bestseller List for the Week Ending October 2, 2015

Hardcover Fiction:
1. This is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, by Jonathan Evison
2. Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff
3. The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny
4. After You, by Jojo Moyes
5. The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher
6. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
7. The Heart Goes Last, by Margaret Atwood
8. The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
9. X, by Sue Grafton
10. Purity, by Jonathan Franzen

Regarding After You, The Library Journal prepub alert wrote: "In million-copy best seller Me Before You, Louisa Clark becomes caretaker to Will Traynor, wheelchair-bound after an accident and embittered enough to be planning suicide. Moyes initially had no plans to follow up, but readers kept asking what happened to Lou, and Moyes got an inspiration that she turned into this book." And the result? Well, Maureen Corrigan in Fresh Air sang it's praises on Fresh Air, starting off: "Writer Jojo Moyes has a name that lacks gravitas. To be honest, I even feel a bit silly saying her name when I recommend her novels to people — which I do, often and energetically. It's hard to imagine a 'Jojo' ever winning the Nobel Prize for Literature; but Moyes has already won a pretty good consolation prize — that is, the kind of staunch, adoring readership that will follow her novels anywhere they go."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods, by John Gurda
2. Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson
3. Pope Francis Among the Wolves, by Marco Polito
4. How We Got Barb Back, by Margaret Hawkins
5. Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
6. Trisha's Table, by Trisha Yearwood
7. The Making of Milwaukee, by John Gurda
8. The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr
9. Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert
10. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo
11. Owls, by Matt Sewell
12. 1944, by Jay Winik
13. Once in a Great City, by David Maraniss (event 10/8, 6:30, at Centennial Hall)
14. Modern Romance, by Aziz Ansari
15. $2.00 a Day, by Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer (event 10/6, 7 pm, at Boswell)

I never understand the placement of books on The New York Times bestseller list. Surely there have been other books about creativity that have gone on the nonfiction list. Somebody explain to me why The Art of Memoir is nonfiction while Big Magic is advice and how to. On a side note, Gilbert was recently profiled in The Guardian. Here's her take on her TED Talk: "I say this with all love and gratitude to the TED conference, but it’s hell. It’s terrifying. No one does anything to make it less terrifying for you either. No one hides from you that this is probably the most important speech you will ever give, in front of the most intimidating audience you will ever have. It’s scary. I mean, it’s not relaxing! And all of the other speakers I was with – apart from one guy who I think is a legitimate sociopath – each one of us felt we were the one who shouldn’t have been there. That’s a terrible feeling to grapple with."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
2. Euphoria, by Lily King
3. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
4. Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope
5. Dog Songs, by Mary Oliver
6. Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant
7. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, by Amy E. Reichert (event 10/6, 6:30 pm, at East Library)
8. The Martian, by Andy Weir
9. Blackhouse, by Peter May
10. Best American Poetry 2015, edited by David Lehman

We had a great day with Celeste Ng for her Everything I Never Told You visit. While we tend to work our kids' authors a bit harder, or at least the ones who are amenable to school visits, Ng was game for a trip to Nicolet High School and Mount Mary University. Here's Ng at the latter. My suggestion is that someone start a fundraiser to buy the room drapes; they need something to absorb the soundwaves. If we were a nonprofit, I would start a fundraiser campaign to fix our shared bathroom, but alas, I don't think it would pass muster with the IRS.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. The Center Cannot Hold, by Elyn Saks
2. Milwaukee Mayhem, by Matthew Prigge (event 10/20 at MPL's Loos Hall, 6:30 pm)
3. What's Math Got to Do With It?, by Jo Boaler
4. Yes, Please, by Amy Poehler
5. Mindfulness Coloring Book, by Emma Farrarons
6. Fields of Blood, by Karen Armstrong
7. Milwaukee Mafia, by Gavin Schmitt
8. The Enchanted Forest, by Johanna Basford
9. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, by Karen Abbott
10. Silence (Object Lessons), by John Biguenet

Recently out in paper is Karen Armstrong's Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence, a timely book if there ever was one. James Fallows wrote in The New York Times Book Review: "Just after finishing Karen Armstrong’s new book, I happened to hear a discussion on television about the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East. 'We have to hope that this disagreement stays on the political level, rather than becoming a religious dispute,' one of the experts said. “Political differences can be resolved. Religious ones cannot. Fields of Blood can be thought of as a long, wide-ranging and overall quite effective rebuttal to the outlook expressed in that comment."

Books for Kids:
1. Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate
2. All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds, and Brendan Kiely (event 10/14, 7 pm, at Boswell)(
3. Shipwreck Island, by S.A. Bodeen
4. The Graham Cracker Plot, by Shelley Tougas
5. Finders Keepers, by Shelley Tougas
6. Lost V2, by S.A. Bodeen
7. Archie the Daredevil Penguin, by Andy Rash
8. The Marvels, by Brian Selznick (event 10/12, 7 pm, at Alverno, now free registration)
9. Jack, by Liesl Shurtliff
10. Rump, by Liesl Shurtliff
11. Charlie Piechart and the Case of the Missing Pizza Slice, by Marilyn Sadler (event 10/5, 4 pm, at Boswell)
12. Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights?, by Lemony Snicket

You know we're heavily into our authors-in-schools program and fall event calendar when you have to go all the way to #12 to find a book that isn't a recent or upcoming event. Lemony Snicket's Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights? is the 4th (and said to be final) book in the All the Wrong Questions series. Here's an Entertainment Weekly piece on quirky author bios.

Over at the Journal Sentinel, we've got five (updated!) home-grown reviews this week, which is a treat. First up is Mike Fischer's review of Jeanette Winterson's The Gap of Time. He explains the concept: "Next year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, but he's still very much alive, with the latest evidence involving the just-launched Hogarth Shakespeare series, through which the likes of Margaret Atwood and Anne Tyler are writing novelistic riffs on selected Shakespeare plays." He calls it a "wise and wondrous novel" which is a "great opening choice."

Arts editor Jim Higgins reviews the two Rosemary Kennedy biographies just out. As you may know, Kennedy spent much of her adulthood at St. Coletta's in Jefferson. She was also the inspiration for creating the Special Olympics. He writes: "Kate Clifford Larson's biography Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter concentrates on her early years, and reads like a tragedy, with Rosemary's needs and difficulties increasingly conflicting with her parents' social and political aspirations, until her father Joe unilaterally ordered a prefrontal lobotomy for her."

Of The Missing Kennedy, which covers her later years, Higgins writes "Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff's aunt, Sister Paulus, became one of Rosemary's caregivers at St. Coletta. Koehler-Pentacoff's memoir The Missing Kennedy recounts their relationship, and the author's visits with both women. Rosemary's privacy at St. Coletta was closely guarded; this book offers details and friendly anecdotes about the late Kennedy's daily life in Wisconsin." Koehler-Pentacoff appears at the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books in November.

Special to the Journal Sentinel is Cathy Jakicic's review of The Witch of Lime Street: Seance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World, written by David Jaher. She explains: "The book is as much about spiritualism itself — a system of belief based on communication with the spirits of the dead — as it about the showdown between illusionist and medium debunker Harry Houdini and Margery, the so-called Witch of Lime Street, a Boston physician's wife who became one of the country's best-known mediums of the era." Jakicic praises the "meticulous" research and compares it favorably to the "exaggerated" version that was recently aired on The History Channel

Elfrieda Abbe contributes A House of My Own: Stories From My Life, the new memoir from Sanda Cisneros. The Journal Sentinel review notes that the collection of essays "puts a gifted storyteller at your fingertips, one who offers a panoply of life in apartments, rented rooms and borrowed houses, a journey with a curious, lively mind and reflections on cultures, families and traditions."

And from Christi Clancy, there's a review of The Secret Chord, the new novel from Geraldine Brooks. The setup is explained: "We gain access to David through the perspective of Natan, David's prophetic courtier and a lifelong 'pebble in his sandal.' The Secret Chord is the fictional "lost book" of Natan that uses the Old Testament and the scant (but well-researched, as Brooks' legion of fans will anticipate) historical record to provide the scaffolding on which Natan can probe David's complicated psyche." Clancy offers that the story is "studded with action, interesting characters, sweeping timelines and moving scenes filled with drama and conflict." If you'd like to see Geraldine Brooks on tour, she'll be at appearing for Women and Children First in Chicago on October 30. Admission is ticketed - get more information here.

Virtual Boswell Display Tour for Early October 2015.

1. It's Banned Book Week. We talked about taking a full window but we needed that for The Marvels (see below).  Instead we put the books in inaccessible cubes. I did not that the examples from our booklet are mostly about challenges in the United States and Canada, not outright bans.

2, HarperCollins suggested we do a display for Kevin Henkes' Waiting. Carly and Sharon found plush animals that approximated the characters in the book and Carly cut out cloud shapes that matched the cover images. I hate taking pictures of window displays - so much glare! Alas, Mr. Henkes is not coming to the Milwaukee area this fall, but he is visiting Winnetka on October 13, Naperville on October 14, and Madison on October 24, so you can see him there. Please tell him that Boswell sent you.

3. I mentioned we had a window up for The Marvels. Because it's theater themed, we needed curtains, which Anne procured from The House of Amie. Our event at the Pitman Theatre at Alverno College on October 12 is now free, but we're asking you to register. It's going to be a great show!

4. We have two Halloween displays up, one in the front of the store and another in the kids' section. All well and good, but I just wanted to point out that we're completely in love with these zombie products. There are bibs and sippy cups and plate sets and utensils and water bottles. So cute!

I was sad to say goodbye to our novels about math and San Francisco, which I should note are two different displays, but new ones are always coming. Interestingly enough, in the fourth quarter you don't get to be as creative, as calendars, holiday boxed cards, gift books, ornaments, and best of the year selections will fill the space. But come next February or so, we'll have to put our thinking caps back on again.