Boswell bestsellers for the week ending June 15, 2019

Here are the Boswell weekly bestsellers for the period ending June 15, 2019. Happy Father's Day!

Hardcover Fiction:
1. City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. Murder in Bel-Air V19, by Cara Black
3. Ask Again, Yes, by Mary Beth Keane
4. Circe, by Madeline Miller
5. Recursion, by Blake Crouch
6. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong
7. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
8. Fall; or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson
9. The Sentence Is Death V2, by Anthony Horowitz
10. Resistance Women, by Jennifer Chiaverni

We were lucky enough to host Elizabeth Gilbert for her previous novel, The Signature of All Things. I always like to throw in that I read and liked Gilbert's 2000 novel, Stern Men, back when none of you knew who she was. But today's story is about City of Girls, her latest novel winning praise from many reviewers, including Leah Greenblatt in Entertainment Weekly (about to go monthly), who wrote that “Gilbert stays true to her pledge that she won’t let her protagonist’s sexuality be her downfall, like so many literary heroines before her. That may be the most radical thing about a novel that otherwise revels in the old-fashioned pleasures of storytelling - the right to fall down rabbit holes, and still find your own wonderland.”

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. The Second Mountain, by David Brooks
2. Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered, by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Harstark
3. The Pioneers, by David McCullough
4. Educated, by Tara Westover
5. The First Wave, by Alex Kershaw
6. Cocktail Codex, by Alex Day
7. Vegetables Unleashed, by Jose Andres
8. The Making of a Justice, by John Paul Stevens
9. Songs of America, by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw
10. Spying on the South, by Tony Horwitz

There's still an imprint called Caliber at Penguin - who knew? I thought it used to be through Berkley, but it's Dutton Caliber that published Alex Kershaw's The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II. Does this scream Father's Day or what? I thought I had a nice Wall Street Journal review for the book but it's for The Liberator. But Publishers Weekly's reviewer writes: "Kershaw is at his evocative best describing the chaos, courage, and carnage of combat, vividly portraying the bravery of the “greatest generation.” Even readers well-read on the subject will enjoy this perspective."

Paperback Fiction:
1. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
2. The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton (Books and Beer Book Club, Mon Jun 17, Cafe Hollander)
3. Vintage 1954, by Antoine Laurain
4. Milwaukee Noir, edited by Tim Hennessy
5. There There, by Tommy Orange
6. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson
7. The Collector's Apprentice, by B.A. Shapiro (events at Boswell and Elm Grove Library, Mon July 8, 2 and 6:30 pm respectively)
8. Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng
9. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
10. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles

This week's tally - I've read eight of the top ten. This is usually the only category where I have good numbers! This leaves me with nothing to talk about, because I've recently done features on The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creeks. Hope 'bout if I call out the paperback release of The Great Believers? I usually like keeping the hardcover jacket and tweaking it a little - in this case making the orange tones more yellow, but in this case, it feels a little washed out to me. Yes, I think about color every waking minute. I am very excited about my new olive green jacket*. Here's a conversation on WCAI radio (Cape Cod - it's actually part of WGBH) with Rebecca Makkai in conversation with Christopher Castellani, the author of another Daniel favorite, Leading Men.

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda, by Marianne Teitelbaum
2. Writing Fiction, 10th edition, by Janet Burroway (event at Boswell Wed June 19, 7 pm)
3. Last Call, by Daniel Okrent
4. One Summer, by Bill Bryson
5. A Brotherhood of Spies, by Monte Reel
6. Amity and Prosperity, by Eliza Griswold
7. How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan
8. Milwaukee Anthology, edited by Justin Kern
9. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, by Steve Brusatte
10. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan

Here's a paperback at Jason's new favorite price point, $18 - Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, it's about a Pennsylvania woman who fights back when she realizes that the pets and domestic animals, and then children are getting sick in her town after fracking begins nearby. From Jennifer Szalai's review in The New York Times: "...The social effects of fracking start to look truly pernicious, as the environmental fallout and the influx of money splinter a community, thereby dismantling its willingness and ability to act in a way that transcends the cynicism of individual interests."

Books for Kids:
1. Because, by Mo Willems, with illustrations by Amber Ren
2. The Story of Civil Rights Hero John Lewis, by Jim Haskins, with illustrations by Aaron Boyd
3. Don't Let Them Disappear, by Chelsea Clinton, with illustrations by Gianna Marino
4. Dragons Love Tacos, by Adam Rubin, with illustrations by Daniel Salmieri
5. Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, by Jeff Kinney
6. Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Life, by James Dean and Kimberly Dean
7. Restart, by Gordon Korman
8. High Five, by Adam Rubin, with illustrations by Daniel Salmieri
9. Finale, volume 3 of Carnivale, by Stephanie Garber
10. Bold and Brave, by Kirsten Gillibrand, with illustrations by Maira Kalman

Following up her Start Now!, Chelsea Clinton profiles some animals facing extinction in Don't Let Them Disappear. From School Library Journal: "Those familiar with her past works will recognize the format: a collection of factual blurbs rather than one long narrative. A spread is devoted to each animal, always accompanied by a short explanatory paragraph. The text may be sparse, but there is not one wasted word." Kirkus notes that Clinton controversially supports zoos. The line is always changing.

Jim Higgins profiles Kelsey Rae Dimberg's Girl in the Rearview Mirror in today's Journal Sentinel: "Girl in the Rearview Mirror has roots in classic noir films that Dimberg came to love while she was in graduate school at the University of San Francisco. Back then, she was writing traditional literary fiction, including what she called 'my sad guy novel,' full of emotion and angst. But after seeing a noir double bill in 2009 - Dimberg thinks it was While the City Sleeps and Shakedown — she plunged into that cinematic genre." On sale June 18!

From USA Today comes Emily Gray Tedrowe's take on the earlier-profiled Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls: "Whether in her unconventional household or her unconventional relationships, this character never ceases to hold our interest. City of Girls rewards Elizabeth Gilbert’s many devoted fans with a novel that provokes delight as well as thought."

Barbara VandenBurgh of the Arizona Republic, who works with Changing Hands on their First Draft Book Club, reviews Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: "Immigrant narratives and queer sexual awakenings are not unfamiliar literary fodder, even together; look at last year’s excellent America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo. But On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is irreducible by such easy categorization. There is no diagrammable plot here, no villains, no clear conflict. Vuong is pushing the boundaries of the novel form, reshaping the definition to fit the contours of his restless poetic exploration, using language to capture consciousness and being."

*It is very difficult to find a traditional jacket that is neither bomber nor athletic nor outdoors inspired. I'm also not a huge fan of elastic waists and cuffs, though I do have a very nice leaf green jacket that has both of these things, and it's such a nice color that I forgive it. I had two non-elastic, relatively lightweight (enough with the nylon and down already) ones I had kept forever (the gray one had a somewhat noticeable stain on it and the black one, with a subtle red plaid, had a rip that I'd attempted to sew up), but eventually it happened; I left one and then the other behind when I went out to a restaurant and by the time I remembered them, they was gone (on two separate occasions). Don't be smug - I know this has happened to you too, but more likely with an umbrella or gloves. This is another reason I like cold weather - you always go back to get your coat if you forget it.

As heard on Lake Effect - Summer reading with Mitch Teich

Today I'm saying goodbye to Mitch Teich at WUWM's Lake Effect. We're so excited for him for his new gig as station manager at North Country Public Radio, but so sad that we he won't be here in Milwaukee.*

We've still got some opportunities to say goodbye. There's a Lake Effect on location in Cedarburg this coming Wednesday, June 19 (registration is still open) and Mitch will be in conversation for the last time at Boswell on Monday, June 24, 7 pm, with Dean A Strang, author of Keep the Wretches in Order: America's Biggest Mass Trial, the Rise of the Justice Department, and the Fall of the IWW.

But another last has just aired with Mitch, our last book conversation. Mitch invited me to talk about summer reading, and I came up with a list of books I'd read that I thought might work well. But I couldn't think of a good hook for the talk. And then I came up with the idea of the idea of tying in the books to Milwaukee summer activities. Now I'm going to answer your questions before you ask them.

Why nothing for Summerfest? I didn't really think of the theme until the last minute. Otherwise I would have made sure I read a music-related novel. I read a lot of them. But I haven't read anything lately. There were a number of other festivals where I similarly just didn't have the right book, like Polish Fest. And there were several that worked for multiple celebrations. Vintage 1954 is a wonderful book for Bastille Days but since one of the four protagonists works at Harley Davidson, it also might have worked for the Milwaukee Harley Davidson Rally on Labor Day weekend.

Why no Pridefest? No Juneteenth Day? I didn't know when the program would air, and thought these holidays would have been over by the time the segment was featured.

Their intro: "Have you assembled your summer beach reads yet? While there's lots to do in Milwaukee during the summer, there’s always time to read. Daniel Goldin, of Boswell Book Company, put together a list of books perfect for the wide ranging festivals and activities the city has to offer all summer."

Here's what I did come up with

For Germanfest: Resistance Women, by Jennifer Chiaverini

For the Northwestern Mutual Life agents meeting: If She Wakes, by Michael Koryta

For Bastille Days: Vintage 1954, by Antoine Laurain

For the JCC Summer Festival: Inheritance, by Dani Shapiro (event at Boswell, Tuesday, June 18, 7 pm - register here)

For Zoo a la Carte: Save Me the Plums, by Ruth Reichl

For Wisconsin State Fair: Biloxi, by Mary Miller (at Boswell, Saturday, July 11, 6 pm, with Juliet Escoria, Elizabeth Ellen, and Amanda McNeil)

For Irish Fest: Ask Again, Yes, by Mary Beth Keane

For the Black Arts Festival: Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn

For the Democratic National Convention and the year of planning going on: Girl In the Rearview Mirror, by Kelsey Rae Dimberg (at Boswell Thursday, June 20, 7 pm)

For Maker's Faire: Sweeping Up the Heart, by Kevin Henkes

For the Downer Avenue Classic/Tour of America's Dairyland: The World's Fastest Man, by Michael Kranish

I've read and enjoyed all these books, except for The World's Fastest Man, which was Mitch's pick. Listen to the whole segment here.

The great news is that we'll be continuing the book segments on Lake Effect with Bonnie North. Much thanks for letting me gab about books!

What did the In-Store Book Club think of Amy Jones's We're All in This Together?

A family, a barrel, a shark, Finnish pancakes, Canada - I know of no better formula for a novel. One never knows what the In-Store Lit Group will think of a book beforehand. While several folks ahead of time told me they liked June's selection, Amy Jones's We're All in This Together a lot, and a good-sized majority were very positive, our discussion was thrown off a bit because two of the early folks to comment on the book were, well, not positive.

I think my method for conducting the book club talk is a little unusual. I hate when discussions leave out the quieter participants, so we start out each getting two minutes to offer our opening statement. This offers me the advantage of knowing what folks are thinking, and really, nobody should feel left out, except for the occasional latecomer. But there is a disadvantage too. At our Books and Beer Book Club, Jen cautions everyone to talk about the book, but not to put their cards on the table until the end, when everyone rates the book. Yes, with numbers! That's a lot of pressure to me, which is why every book I like on the Edelweiss website gets an eight (the number rating is required), and every book I don't like - doesn't go on the Edelweiss website.

A little backtracking is needed here to discuss Amy Jones's novel. This is her first, following a book of short stories. It was published in 2016, and since McClelland and Stewart is now a part of Penguin Random House Canada, the American sales force brought it over for distribution in early 2019. It was a favorite of our sales rep Jason Gobble (you've got to see him when he does a book club talk on August 6 at Boswell with author Claire Lombardo on Tuesday, August 6 for The Most Fun We Ever Had.* Mr. Gobble is a consummate sales rep in that he has that bookseller knack for matching people with books, only he does wholesale matching or books with booksellers. Jason convinced me to read a number of books that went on to be my favorites - Homegoing, Saints for All Occasions, and The Improbability of Love come to mind. He also put There There on our radar. He knows what he's doing!

So Jason didn't get me to bite, but he did get our marketing/second hand bookseller Chris to read it and his enthusiasm was nothing short of contagious. My reading pile was full of upcoming event books (and the occasional one-off on Charleston or semicolons) but by scheduling it as our reading group selection, I had to read it. I usually like at least one lighter book in the summer - sometimes it's a mystery, but a comic novel will work just fine.

We're All in This Together is a fine specimen of what I call dysfunctional family comedies. Sometimes these turn out to be big hits, like Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest and other times they don't do as well as one hopes, like Joe Meno's The Great Perhaps. They might be structured like short stories, as in the case of Allegra Goodman's The Family Markowitz. And if you're going highbrow, I guess you gun for The Corrections. To fit in this genre of my making, they do have to have multiple perspectives. Neither Chris nor I are above comparing books to projects in the wider world of entertainment, and he struck upon the perfect comparison for this book, Arrested Development. 

At the heart of the story is a mother and two daughters, to paraphrase from a Gail Godwin novel I remember with fondness.** Twins, no less. Finn is the daughter who left the family home in Thunder Bay, Ontario for more glamorous prospects in Toronto. Nicki is the sister who stayed behind to take care of the family. I think that's giving both of them too much agency. Finn lives in a boring suburb and made nothing of her life. Nicki didn't exactly have high-minded reasons for staying behind - she has four kids with three guys and I'm not giving much away to say that the father of one of the kids is Finn's one-time boyfriend.

And their mom? The story opens with Mother Kate having gone over the Falls in a barrel. No, not Niagara Falls, but glorious Kakabeka Falls, just 30 minutes west of town. What was she thinking? It will take about the whole book to find out, because firstly, she's in a coma, and secondly, she's not been thinking that well for a while.

And there's another sibling too, Shawn, who works in a restaurant in what is known as Little Finland. Not that he's Finnish or anything - he just fell into it. In fact, he's not even a sibling. When he was young, he just sort of got adopted into the family by Kate. It was actually originally going to be a grift, but well, here he still is.

The story's other characters include Walter, Kate's husband, who spends more time on his boats, the Serafina and the Veronica (those are the birth names for Finn and Nicki, and unlike the sisters, they still hang out together at the dock) and London, Nicki's oldest daughter, who is obsessed with sharks and particularly obsessed with a shark that might have been spotted in Lake Superior and the glamorous television scientist, Adam Pelley, who is on a mission to rescue it. The story jumps around from character to character, but there's a shorthand to help you keep track - road signs - and I don't know whether this was the idea of the author or designer, but I found it pretty amusing.

As I mentioned, the group was split on the book, but more liked it than not, and a sizable number loved it as much as I did. I really loved this theme of the pull and push of home and family. It's certainly something that authors enjoy meditating on ; I can think of several Anne Tyler novels that have explored this. Jones is like Anne Tyler on a 5-Hour Energy caffeinated high, by the way. Ooh, that's a good shelf talker. I think the book I'm thinking of mostly is Ladder of Years.

There are a lot of messy loose ends, a whole lot of coincidences, and some suspension of disbelief too, but I almost expect that from a comic novel. But there's a lot of poignancy too. As we learn more about Kate, and her developing, we delve into her backstory. Her brain has her memories, but they've become a bit of a swirl, a bit confused. Who is Walter, the man she's known since childhood, the man she made a life with. Is he the love of her life, or is there a secret? And why does she keep running away? And is this how she's tied to both her daughter Finn and Nicki's daughter London?

I should note that our two former social workers really liked the novel, but our nurse did not. I don't think it was because of the hospital scenes. Pretty much everyone agreed that Kate was their favorite character, and I can't argue with that. But I was kind of in love with all of them, except maybe for London's friend Anastasia. She's a snake.

Do you like a good twin novel? I do. I just finished Cathleen Schine's The Grammarians, coming out in September, and I have a whole lot to say about that. They are like sibling novels to the next degree. Do you like Canadian novels? I do. I used to go to Toronto and just stock up on Canadian novelists who weren't published in the United States. And now I just recommend ones who are, like the South-African-turned Canadian novelist Bianca Marais, who is coming back to Milwaukee for her second novel, If You Want to Make God Laugh, on July 19. Register here.

I also haven't read a good fictional book set in a North American Finnish community since Sharon Dilworth's The Long White back in 1988. Yes, 1988 and I still remember it. I had no idea they did a paperback edition of the book in 2009 or that Dilworth had a book come out called My Riviera. This is what happens when you are not the buyer. Not that I'm saying I would have time to read it, but I certainly would have thought about it.

Now I desperately want to go back and read more Jones. She has a collection of short stories from Biblioasis called What Boys Like and Other Stories, but more than that, the second novel, Every Little Piece of Me, just came out in Canada this month. Quill and Quire called the book "Hugely entertaining," going on to say "Every Little Piece of Me makes you think and makes you laugh. Which is sometimes exactly what you need." The Globe and Mail (subscribers only reviewer called it "addictive." In other words, it does not veer too far from the first novel, which to me, is very exciting. Two friends and an intrusive reality show - how's that for a setup? More here. Hoping that PRH imports this one soon. And if Amy Jones visits, I'll make Nanaimo Bars. Seems unlikely but you never know.

Up next for the In-Store Lit Group, we're getting prize-y:

--We discuss Milkman, by Anna Burns, on Monday, July 1. It won the Man Booker and the National Book Critics Circle Award. It's dense and Irish.

--It's a return to Canada - Our August 5 book is Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan. Named a New York Times ten-best book of 2018, it also received the Canada's Scotiabank Giller Prize (as did a previous novel from Edugyan.

--For September, we have our annual Labor-Day dilemma. We're going to meet a week early, on Monday, August 26 for Call Me Zebra. Azreen Van der Vliet Oloomi won the PEN Faulkner Prize for this novel

Our October book is going to be the Pulitzer winner The Overstory. I usually pick one book per year that I've already read. Date is to be determined - I think we have a ticketed event in our normal slot. All of these meetings are at Boswell.

*It might well be the most fun you've ever had.

**called A Mother and Two Daughters

Photo credit of Amy Jones by Ali Eisner.

Boswell events this week: Marianne Teitelbaum, Monte Reel with Meg Jones, Cara Black, plus Michael Moreci to be rescheduled

The first thing we should note is that Michael Moreci, author of numerous novels, comic books, and the Black Star Renegade series, has had to postpone his visit on Thursday, June 13 for his latest work, We Are Mayhem, due to family illness. We're hoping to reschedule this event and should have a new date shortly. We also hope that like our originally scheduled event, Moreci will be in conversation with long-time Chicago bookseller Javier Ramirez, currently at Oak Park's beloved Book Table.

But still happening...

Monday, June 10, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Marianne Teitelbaum, author of Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda: Natural Treatments for Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, and Hyperthyroidism

Marianne Teitelbaum, recipient of the Prana Ayushudi Award, addresses thyroid disease from the perspective of the Ayurvedic tradition. Cosponsored by Bodhi Ayurveda. In this comprehensive guide for practitioners and those concerned with thyroid health, Teitelbaum integrates the ancient medicine of Ayurveda with modern scientific findings. Based on the treatment of thousands of patients, Teitelbaum shares success stories of thyroid healing and the scientific studies that support the author’s Ayurvedic thyroid protocols, showing that optimum thyroid health as well as overall health are within everyone’s reach.

Revealing how the thyroid is the victim of many factors that conspire to create ill health, Teitelbaum focuses not only on treating thyroid problems and symptoms but also on diagnosing them at their earliest, most reversible stages. She outlines the basic principles of Ayurveda, including pulse diagnosis, a key tool for early detection, and explains the successful treatment protocols she has developed over more than 30 years of Ayurvedic practice.

This event came to us through Carol Nace at Bodhi Ayurveda, who will be saying a few words at this event. We really like to have a strong partner for our health and wellness events, and we're grateful for Bodhi to help get the word out. Our Boswell customers are showing their interest too - advance sales have been quite strong for the book, with Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda hitting our bestseller list for three weeks in advance of the event.

Tuesday, June 11, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Monte Reel, author of A Brotherhood of Spies: The U-2 and the CIA’s Secret War, in conversation with Meg Jones

Monte Reel, former foreign correspondent for The Washington Post and author of Between Man and Beast, chats about his thrilling historical narrative of the top-secret Cold War-era spy plane operation that transformed the CIA and brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of disaster. Reel is in conversation with Meg Jones, reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bonus - Thanks to The Safe House, Milwaukee's spy-themed bar, one lucky attendee will get a chance to win a $25 Safe House gift card.

Reviews have been great for this book. Booklist called Reel's history: "A richly detailed, well-researched, and engagingly written book that takes us behind the scenes of one of the twentieth-century's most nail-bitingly tense episodes." And Edward Kosner in The Wall Street Journal offered this praise: "An old-fashioned tale of the American ingenuity, resourcefulness and grit that remade intelligence gathering . . . Casts intriguing light on this familiar history. The rock-steady, nuanced leadership of Ike and JFK in these crises, supported by deeply experienced advisers desperately seeking to avert nuclear war, is a sobering contrast to today's White House melodramas."

Monte Reel's writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Harper’s, and he currently writes for Bloomberg Businessweek as part of its Projects and Investigations staff. Meg Jones is a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and author of World War II Milwaukee. Calling all lovers of Meg Jones's work in the Journal Sentinel - you know this is going to be a great conversation.

Wednesday, June 12, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Cara Black, author of Murder in Bel-Air

We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Aimée Leduc's adventures in Paris with a visit from Cara Black, whose latest mystery novel is Murder in Bel-Air. This 19th installment finds PI Leduc in a dangerous web of international spycraft, post-colonial Franco-African politics, and neighborhood secrets in Paris's 12th arrondissement.

Our evening is cosponsored by Alliance Française de Milwaukee and Crimespree Magazine and will feature blood orange tartlets from North Shore Boulangerie. Pre-register for this event by Tuesday at carablackmke.bpt.me. Reigstration not required to attend the event, but we're grateful for those who did. Also, if you pre-ordered the book, you can pick it up any time before the event itself, at the event, or up to six months afterwards.

Booklist loves this book!: "Aimée Leduc's nineteenth adventure is one of her best, both because the plot is notably rich, incorporating the complex relationship between France and its former colony, Côte d'Ivoire, and because the ongoing domestic drama in the extended Leduc household has become a thoroughly involving serial novel of its own. In a manner similar to how Donna Leon builds Guido Brunetti's family life into the fabric of her series, Black tells a parallel story in every book about single-mother Aimée's relationships in the present and her lingering parental issues, whose roots are in the past and involve both her dead father (killed under suspicion of being a corrupt cop) and American mother, Sydney (vanished for years but now back in Paris, swearing to no longer be a CIA agent)."

Cara Black is the author of nineteen books in the New York Times bestselling Aimée Leduc series. She has received multiple nominations for the Anthony and Macavity Awards, and her books have been translated into German, Norwegian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew. If you love Donna Leon and would like to do more European travel in your mystery reading, Cara Black is perfect for you.

This is where we'd normally list the Michael Moreci event. See top of post for information about its postponement. Here's some info about events early next week.

Monday, June 17, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Victor Grossman, author of A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee

Journalist and author Victor Grossman appears at Boswell to discuss his autobiography, which recounts the circumstances that impelled him to flee a military prison sentence during the icy pressures of the McCarthy Era.

Cosponsored by the Milwaukee Turners,  A Socialist Defector is the story, told in rare, personal detail, of an activist and writer who grew up in the U.S. free-market economy, spent 38 years in the GDR’s nationally owned, centrally administered economy, and continues to survive, given whatever the market can bear in today’s united Germany.

Victor Grossman, born Stephen Wechsler, joined the Communist Party as a Harvard student. He was pardoned by the U.S. Army in 1994 and, in 2003, published an autobiography, Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany.

Tuesday, June 18, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Dani Shapiro, author of of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

Acclaimed memoirist Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass, is coming to Boswell for her New York Times bestselling book. Cosponsored by the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies at UWM and the Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. Publishers Weekly writes: With thoughtful candor, she explores the ethical questions surrounding sperm donation, the consequences of DNA testing, and the emotional impact of having an uprooted religious and ethnic identity. This beautifully written, thought-provoking genealogical mystery will captivate readers from the very first pages."

Registration is free at shapiromke.bpt.me or upgrade to a registration-with-book option for $26.35, including taxes and fees. Registration-with-book upgrade gets signing line priority.

More event info on our upcoming event page.

The Boswell Book Company annotated sales list for week ending June 8, 2019

Here's what's selling at Boswell.

Hardcover Fiction:
1. The Summer Country, by Lauren Willig (signed copies available)
2. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong
3. Murder in Bel Air V19, by Cara Black (Register for event Wed Jun 12, 7 pm)
4. Fall; or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson
5. City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert
6. Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James
7. Normal People, by Sally Rooney
8. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
9. Walking Backwards, by John Koethe
10. This Storm, by James Ellroy

We had a great sales pop this week on Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, perhaps due to last week's front page New York Times Book Review plus profile plus several NPR writeups, including a review from Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air: "Like so many immigrant writers before him, Vuong has taken the English he acquired with difficulty and not only made it his own — he's made it better." Boswellian Olivia Valenza called it her favorite book of 2019.

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Milwaukee: A City Built on Water, by John Gurda
2. Educated, by Tara Westover
3. The British Are Coming, by Rick Atkinson
4. Siege: Trump Under Fire, by Michael Wolff
5. Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou
6. An American Summer, by Alex Kotlowitz
7. Working, by Robert A Caro
8. Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered, by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Harstack
9. Becoming, by Michelle Obama
10. Spying on the South, by Tony Horwitz

Father's Day means the big guns of history come out, and this week we're selling a good amount of Rick Atkinson's The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, the first in a trilogy about the American Revolution. From the Winchester Star (syndicated by the Washington Post) - George Will's take on Atkinson's take: "Atkinson is clear: No George Washington, no United States." And here is Scott Simon's NPR interview - thanks Minnesota Public Radio.

Paperback Fiction:
1. Vintage 1954, by Antoine Laurain (read last week's blog post)
2. The Bostonians, by Henry James
3. Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan (In-Store Lit Group Mon Aug 5, 7 pm)
4. Milkman, by Anna Burns (In-Store Lit Group Mon Jul 1, 7 pm)
5. Milwaukee Noir, edited by Tim Hennessy
6. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
7. There There, by Tommy Orange
8. Ohio, by Stephen Markley
9. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
10. The Overstory, by Richard Powers

Out in paperback this week is Stephen Markley's Ohio, which is one of Boswellian Chris Lee's favorite books of 2018, if not his favorite. He calls it "a portrait of incredible depth that tells the truth of a generation doomed from the start but still swinging for the fences as they run out the strings of their wrecked lives." I still have my copy waiting to be read! From Michael Schaub on the NPR website: "There's a lot going on in Ohio — a sprawling cast of main and supporting characters, and a series of interconnected events that doesn't come together until the book's shocking conclusion. But Markley handles it beautifully; the novel is intricately constructed, with gorgeous, fiery writing that pulls the reader in and never lets go. It's obvious that Markley cares deeply about his characters, even the unsympathetic ones — he treats them with respect, never writing condescendingly about these people whose lives have been battered and bruised by circumstances they don't quite understand."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Calypso, by David Sedaris (signed copies available)
2. Great Lakes Water Wars, second edition, by Peter Annin
3. The Mueller Report, by US Department of Justice and Washington Post
4. Black Theology and Black Power, by James H Cone
5. Theft by Finding, by David Sedaris
6. Revenge of the She Punks, by Vivien Goldman
7. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan
8. The Untethered Soul, by Michael A Singer
9. Healing the Thryoid with Ayurveda, by Marianne Teitelbaum (event at Boswell Mon Jun 10, 7 pm)
10. The End-of-Your-Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe

Osher Lifelong Learning at UWM is doing a summer focus on water, which is possibly why we have three books on water and the Great Lakes in our top 10. I'm actually doing a talk on water books on June 24, so I'll have to go beyond things like Great Lakes Water Wars and Milwaukee: A City Built on Water. I warned them that I will doing a lot of cramming novels into the theme - so expect me to discuss We're All in This Together, by Amy Jones, set on Lake Superior. I should have a blog that talks more about this book this week (if I have the writing time and energy).

Revenge of the She Punks is reviewed on the NPR website by Marissa Lorusso: "There's a thread of messiness that runs throughout She-Punks: songs that could easily slip from one of the book's chapter-defining themes to another...But attempting to encompass the entirety of this broad view of punk — and the diversity of women's lives — in one volume is an ambitious mission. And for it to succeed, that messiness is inevitable; it only further underscores Goldman's central argument that women's contributions to punk are too important and varied to fit neatly into a clichéd article or two about 'women who rock'; that womanhood is too complex and rich to be so easily categorized."

Books for Kids:
1. The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon, by Dean Robbins, with illustrations by Sean Rubin
2. The Littlest Mountain, by Barb Rosenstock
3. Margaret and the Moon, by Dean Robbins, with illustrations by Lucy Knisley
4. Two Friends, by Dean Robbins, with illustrations by Sean Qualls
5. Hollow Earth V1, by John Barrowman and Carole E Barrowman
6. Celebrate You, by Sherri Duskey Rinker, with illustrations by An Kang
7. Through the Window, by Barb Rosenstock
8. Just Jaime, by Terri Libenson
9. Nevermoor V1: The Trials of Morrigan Crown, by Jessica Townsend
10. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs, by America's Test Kitchen

Terri Libenson, who visited Milwaukee-area schools with Boswell for Positively Izzy, is back with Just Jaime, a graphic novel about two seventh graders, one whom is upset that her best friend has found new friends and interests, and the other who thinks that her friend is "positively babyish." Booklist writes: "this story is simultaneously incredibly original and utterly universal. The emotional roller-coaster of navigating friendships as they change shape, particularly in middle school, is portrayed with admirable sincerity, gentle humor, heartbreaking pain, and of course plenty of texts and emojis."

Featured in the Journal Sentinel this week is Amy Schwabe's feature with children's books focusing on women's suffrage. Featured titles:
--Elizabeth Leads the Way, by Tanya Lee Stone
--Around America to Win the Vote, by Mara Rockliff
--Miss Paul and the President, by Dean Robbins
--Marching with Aunt Susan, by Claire Rudolf Murphy
--A Lady Has the Floor, by Kate Hannigan
--I Could Do That!, Linda Arms White
--Lillian's Right to Vote, by Jonah Winter
--Bold and Brave, by Kristin Gillibrand
--Madam President, Catherine Thimmesh
--She Persisted, by Chelsea Clinton
--Little Dreamers, by Vashti Hamilton
--What is the Women's Rights Movement?, by Deborah Hopkinson

Carole E Barrowman rounds up her favorite books of the season. Check out this list!
--Black Jersey, by Jorge Zepeda Patterson
--Recursion, by Blake Crouch
--The Satapur Moonstone, by Sujata Massey
--One Small Sacrifice, by Hilary Davidson
--Bad Axe Country, by John Galligan
--Speaking of Summer, by Kalisha Buckhannon
--The Need, by Helen Phillips
--The Churchgoer, by Patrick Coleman
--Miami Midnight, by Alex Segura

Mark Athitakis reviews Mary Miller's Biloxi, originally published in USA Today: "Miller, with two story collections and a novel behind her, has crafted a Southern version of ’80s minimalists like Ann Beattie and Raymond Carver. Her prose is clear and resonant as a church bell, and her critique of blinkered men like Louis is natural and collected." Note that Mary Miller will be at Boswell for her mini Live Through This tour of the Upper Midwest on Saturday, July 13, 6 pm.

From the Associated Press is Tracee Herbaugh's Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life, a memoir about growing up as a Jehovah's Witness. On how she and her husband tried to reinvigorate their marriage: "Jehovah’s Witness activities are illegal in China, so the pair had to conduct their missionary work in secret. The couple’s proselytizing most often started as an outside-the-faith relationship and this is where things unfurled."

It's crisp! It's fruity! And what a finish! - the refreshing new novel from Antoine Laurain, Vintage 1954, is in bookstores

I am not going to bury the lede here. Antoine Laurain's newest novel, Vintage 1954, has arrived stateside and it's just gone on sale at Boswell.

Here's my rec: "When a resident of an old apartment building gets locked in the cellar that’s been in his family for generations, he celebrates his rescue by opening a bottle of 1954 Beaujolais Nouveau with his new friends, a ceramics restorer, a bartender, and a tourist from Milwaukee(!). They have no idea that this batch of wine was touched by aliens, except the UFO-obsessed bartender has a clue, because his grandfather disappeared in 1978 after a similar fermented encounter. One sip and the next morning they are back in the Paris of 1954, which is only made a little confusing because Paris was in the middle of celebrating Heritage Days. How the heck are they going to get back? And will they learn a little about themselves in the process? Laurain’s latest features a charming quartet of protagonists, a love story, some philosophical asides, and a number of Easter-egged extras, drawn from 1950s French culture. You just have to accept the offbeat time travel theorizing, but having just read Jack Finney’s Time and Again, that’s just par for the genre. In all, Vintage 1954 is positively grapey, which in my book, means it’s a complete delight and a must-read for fans of The President’s Hat and The Red Notebook."

Now a little backstory. Boswell first fell in love with Antoine Laurain with the publication of The President's Hat in 2013. I was able to read it early when it was nominated for the Indie's Introduce program - it had an enthusiastic recommendation from Betsy Burton at King's English, and I take her recommendations seriously. We wound up having six reads (apologies to our customer who hates when I use 'reads' in this manner) and were even able to host a very delightful event with Laurain.

Then The Red Notebook was released and we sold just as many. I think that even sold better in the market, perhaps because on top of everything else, it works as a romance. Both books were so easy to hand-sell and because the books were both in translation and from an independent press, they would be less likely to explode nationally such that the books were in huge displays in chain stores.

We were thrilled to have Laurain return to Milwaukee for his book French Rhapsody, which like his first two novels published stateside, centered on a lost artifact, not a hat or a notebook this time, but a cassette tape. Another great novel, a little darker, but still completely Laurainy. Once again we worked with our great partners, Alliance Française de Milwaukee. (Love Paris? We're working with AF on our Cara Black on June 12, with celebratory blood orange tartlets from North Shore Boulangerie. Register here).

But it was the research project that Laurain set up while he was traveling that was the most interesting. Laurain asked for help visiting the Harley Davidson archive for another book he was working on. With the help of Liam Callanan, who was working on a Paris book of his own (you know how that story ended!), we visited the archive and Jim Fricke helped Laurain find the information he needed.

The result is that the book features a Milwaukee character, Bob, an engineer at Harley Davidson. What I particularly love about this is that when I visited Paris, some 30 (yeeks) years ago, no Parisian knew what a Milwaukee was. I told them I lived near Chicago, which they did mostly know. But when I told them it was the home of Harley Davidson, that they knew. I even passed a Harley Davidson store.

In between, Gallic has released two of Laurain's earlier novels, The Portrait and Smoking Kills. 

One last note on Bob. It was not referenced in the finished book, but in the galley letter, Laurain noted that Bob was vaguely based on two people, one of whom was our good friend and sales rep, John Mesjak. The other model was me. I am nothing if not honored! But I should probably note that when our fearless foursome goes back in time, there's only one person who doesn't get that Paris of 1954 is not the Paris of today. Can you guess who that is?

This is not the last you'll hear of Vintage 1954. I think it's impossible to be sad after reading this book. And who can't use a little happiness?

Boswell events - Dean Robbins, Lauren Willig, plus what you need to know about the free David Sedaris signing after the sold-out ticketed event on Wednesday

Let's get right to the heart of this week, shall we?

Wednesday, June 5, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Reading Portion Sold Out - David Sedaris, author of Calypso

David Sedaris is coming to Boswell. David Sedaris's tickets for the reading portion sold out in the week. Folks who have tickets also get to be first online. Is there an advance waiting list? No, but sometimes seats open up, due to cancellation. Attendees had the ability to cancel through Tuesday. Tickets are $19.00 and include a paperback of Calypso. The ticket link is sedarismke19.bpt.me. Limited to two tickets to order. ID required at check-in.

After Sedaris’s talk (around 8:30 pm), Boswell will open again to the public for a free and open-to-all signing. Anyone who would like to meet Sedaris, get a book signed, or just say hi is welcome to do so free of charge. We will stay open as long as it takes to get through the signing line. Yes, long into the night! Sedaris spends quality time with every attendee who waits in line.

You'll have to wait whenever you arrive, but we can pretty much guarantee he'll still be signing at 9 pm. You can call us (414) 332-1181 and ask how long the line is.

Can you bring books from home to be signed? Yes. Can you bring Sedaris a hand-made card? Absolutely? That said, Mr. Sedaris does not pose for photos and there are no photos or videos allowed at his events. Please use your inner camera for this event - it's called a memory.

Tuesday, June 4, 6:30 pm, at Boswell:
Dean Robbins, author of The Astronaut Who Painted the Moon: The True Story of Alan Bean

Madison-based childrens book author Dean Robbins comes to Boswell to take a journey to the moon with Alan Bean, the fourth astronaut to walk on the lunar surface and the only one to paint its beauty firsthand. Kids are welcome at this event, but the talk is targeted to adults - educators and parents and science geeks and Dean Robbins fans.

As a boy, Alan wanted to fly planes. As a young navy pilot, Alan wished he could paint the view from the cockpit. So he took an art class to learn patterns and forms. But no class could prepare him for the beauty of the lunar surface some 240,000 miles from Earth. In 1969, Alan became the fourth man and first artist on the moon. He took dozens of pictures, but none compared to what he saw through his artistic eyes. Alan's paintings allowed humanity to experience what it truly felt like to walk on the moon.

Robbins's tale of this extraordinary astronaut is masterful with illustrations that are whimsical and unexpected. With back matter that includes photos of the NASA mission, images of Alan's paintings, and a timeline of lunar space travel, this is one adventure readers won't want to miss.

Thursday, June 6, 7 pm reception, 7:30 talk, at Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W Brown Deer Rd:
Lauren Willig, author of The Summer Country

Milwaukee Reads presents the Lynden Sculpture Garden's Women's Speaker Series, featuring Lauren Willig and her sweeping, dramatic Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados. Tickets cost $31, $26 for Lynden members, and include an autographed copy of The Summer Country, light refreshments, and admission to the sculpture garden - come early and stroll the grounds. Tickets are available online, at lyndensculpturegarden.org/laurenwillig or by phone, at (414) 446-8794. Online registration usually closes out the day before the event.

In 1854, Emily Dawson and her cousin arrive on the island of Barbados in the British West Indies, he to secure contracts for the family shipping company and she to take possession of Peverills, the plantation she unexpectedly inherited from their late grandfather. Publishers Weekly says, "The physical and emotional passions of the characters keep the stakes high and the pages turning, making this a powerful exploration of slavery and reformation on Barbados."

Love Lauren Willig? You'll also want to register for Beatriz Williams's Lynden appearance on July 14. Info at lyndensculpturegarden.org/beatrizwilliams

sneak peek at next week -
Monday, June 10, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Marianne Teitelbaum, author of Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda: Natural Treatments for Hashimoto's, Hypothyroidism, and Hyperthyroidism

Marianne Teitelbaum, recipient of the Prana Ayushudi Award, addresses thyroid disease from the perspective of the Ayurvedic tradition. Cosponsored by Bodhi Ayurveda.

In a comprehensive guide for practitioners and those concerned with thyroid health, Teitelbaum integrates the ancient medicine of Ayurveda with modern scientific findings. Based on the treatment of thousands of patients, Teitelbaum shares success stories of thyroid healing and the scientific studies that support the author’s Ayurvedic thyroid protocols, showing that optimum thyroid health as well as overall health are within everyone’s reach.

Revealing how the thyroid is the victim of many factors that conspire to create ill health, Teitelbaum focuses not only on treating thyroid problems and symptoms but also on diagnosing them at their earliest, most reversible stages. She outlines the basic principles of Ayurveda, including pulse diagnosis, a key tool for early detection, and explains the successful treatment protocols she has developed over more than 30 years of Ayurvedic practice.

More upcoming events on our upcoming events page

Photo credits:
--Lauren Willig - Amanda Suanne

Boswell bestsellers, week ending June 1, 2019

Sorry friends. I'm having trouble uploading images to the blog. Hope to add them later.

Hardcover Fiction:
1. Beneath the Flames, by Gregory Lee Renz (also paperback)
2. If She Wakes, by Michael Koryta
3. The Sentence Is Death V2, by Anthony Horowitz
4. Resistance Women, by Jennifer Chiaverni
5. Cara Mori, by Thomas Harris
6. Normal People, by Sally Rooney
7. The Flight Portfolio, by Julie Orringer
8. The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake
9. The Farm, by Joanne Ramos
10. Ask Again, Yes, by Joanne Ramos

New this week is the second installment featuring author/mystery solver Anthony Horowitz, The Sentence Is Death. The book is an Indie Next Pick and has also received raves from the trades, with Booklist notes: "the overall voice of the series is fresh and original, Horowitz writing with the effortless élan that distinguishes all his work."

Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. A Good American Family, by David Maraniss
2. Tribe, by Sebastian Junger
3. Under Pressure, by Lisa Damour
4. Educated, by Tara Westover
5. Braving the Wilderness, by Brené Brown
6. Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, by Yossi Klein Halevi
7. Fraternity, by Alexandra Robbins
8. Spying on the South, by Tony Horwitz
9. The Second Mountain, by David Brooks
10. Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered, by Karen Gilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Several Boswellians are fans of the comedy true crime podcast My Favorite Murder so they've been gung ho on Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide. Barbara VanDenburgh writes in USA Today: "It feels less like reading a book and more like hanging out with your cool aunts, who will slip you a wine cooler or two and listen without judgment while you spill your guts."

Paperback Fiction:
1. Beneath the Flames, by Gregory Lee Renz
2. A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
3. The Overstory, by Richard Powers
4. There There, by Tommy Orange
5. Milwaukee Noir, edited by Tim Hennessy
6. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
7. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Michele Richardson
8. Vintage 1954, by Antoine Laurain
9. Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan
10. Paris by the Book, by Liam Callanan

It's here! Vintage 1954 is the new novel from Antoine Laurain and I love it. Hope to have a full blog post on this in the next week or two. From Eric Patterson in Foreword Reviews: "The book’s descriptions are a must for any Francophile, who will be able to meet Dali, Edith Piaf, Audrey Hepburn, and other luminaries in these pages. A character’s walk through the legendary market of Les Halles at a time when it was in its full glory, all on the way to dinner at Au Veau qui Tete: such scenes are written beautifully, entering fully into the busyness of their settings."

Paperback Nonfiction:
1. Can Francis Change the Church?, by Thomas Sweetser
2. When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss
3. The Mueller Report, by US Department of Justice (Melville House)
4. The Mueller Report, by US Department of Justice and Washington Post (Scribner)
5. Black Theology and Black Power, by James H Cone
6. How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan
7. Writing Fiction, 10th edition, by Janet Burroway (event at Boswell Wed June 19, 7 pm)
8. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan
9. At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden, by Yossi Klein Halevi
10. Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda, by Marianne Teitelbaum (event at Boswell Mon June 10, 7 pm)

We're celebrating the release of the 10th edition of Writing Fiction with a conversation with Janet Burroway and Kim Suhr.  Here's a taste of what you might hear in this interview by Julianne Hill in TriQuarterly for an older edition. On what writer Burroway has learned the most from: "George Eliot, above all. I’ve learned that depth of emotion can come out of minute observation and that repetition and motif are hugely satisfying to the reader."

Books for Kids:
1. The Place for Pluto, by Stef Wade, with illustrations by Melanie Demmer
2. The Land of Permanent Goodbyes, by Atia Abawi
3. Darius the Great Is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram
4. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
5. On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas
6. The Runaways, by Ulf Stark, with illustrations by Kitty Crowther
7. Endling the First V2, by Katherine Applegate
8. The Great Milwaukee Hamburger War, by Paul Bialas
9. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, by Fred Rogers, edited by Luke Flowers
10. Oh, the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss

From Gecko Press comes The Runaways, a picture book from Sweden about a grandfather who wants to leave the hospital and escapes with the help of his grandson Gottfried. Oddly enough, this is also one of the plotlines of the novel I am currently reading, We're All in This Together. Of the kids book, Kirkus Reviews offers this praise in its starred review: "A touching, realistic, gently humorous story of how a sensitive boy copes with his treasured grandfather's decline." Of the art, Booklist observes that "expressive full-page illustrations add color to the pages while supporting the story's tone."

The Journal Sentinel book page features these reviews.

Two girls go missing in in Siberia in Disappearing Earth the "splendidly imagined" (Simon Winchester) thriller from Julia Phillips. Barbara VanDenburgh of the Arizona Republic's take: "It has the makings of a lurid thriller, but first-time novelist Julia Phillips (who has long worked as a journalist, her work appearing in many publications, including the Moscow Times) does something more sophisticated than that and turns her unshakable debut into a meditation on the lives of women in a far-flung corner of the world, spanning generations and ethnicities, in the months that follow the disappearance."

Todd Goldberg from USA Today reviews The Obsoletes, a novel from Simeon Mills. He writes: "Though The Obsoletes ends up feeling like a book made of too many parts that don’t fit firmly together, there is something inherently charming about the effort. Mills clearly loves this world he’s created, and if his plot doesn’t quite sustain close examination, the author’s big imagination certainly does."

Ann Levin of The Associated Press writes about Gabriel Garcia Marquez's posthumous essay collection, in which she notes that the author always considered himself a journalist. Levin continues: "That may well be the case. What’s also true is that the 50 pieces in The Scandal of the Century and Other Writings, selected by Cristobal Pera, who helped edit García Márquez’s memoirs, and with an introduction by journalist Jon Lee Anderson, are more than just a little literary."