Boswell Sunday Bestsellers, Week Ending February 16, 2013

I can't definitely say what folks seem to be reading in Washington DC. I spotted a Team of Rivals on a Kindle, but only because I was sitting next to that person for a long period of time. Aside from that, I've seen an assortment of older titles. But I do know what was selling this week, at least at Boswell. And I suspect somebody somewhere is selling Tenth of December in the Washington area, even as we speak.

Due to travel, there's a little less annotation this week.

Hardcover fiction:
1. Tenth of December, by George Saunders
2. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
3. Vampires in the Lemon Grove, by Karen Russell
4. A Hologram for the King, by Dave Eggers
5. The Dinner, by Herman Koch

Continuing to see how people fall on The Dinner, J.C. Sutcliffe in The National Post (Canada) says "If you want to enjoy Herman Koch’s new novel, don’t read a single thing about it. To do so seriously reduces its power." I'll stop there then.

Hardcover nonfiction:
1. Pukka's Promise, by Ted Kerasote
2. Multiplication is for White People, by Lisa Delpit
3. Europe and the Islamic World, by John Dolan (event at Boswell, Sunday, February 24, 2 pm)
4. Going Clear, by Lawrence Wright
5. Detroit: An American Autopsy, by Charlie LeDuff

Regarding Charlie LeDuff's Detroit: An American Autopsy, we've found a lot of folks buying both Detroit books. Mark Binell's Detroit City is the Place to Be is also selling well.I think the most recent pop is from Nick Andersen's NPR essay "Dry Bones? Hardly. There's Still Life Left in Detroit."

Paperback fiction:
1. The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker
2. Leon and Louise, by Alex Capus (in store lit group 3/4, 7 pm)
3. The Ginkgo Light, by Arthur Sze (Boudreaux lecture at UWM Hefter Center, Thursday, February 21, 7:30 pm)
4. The Fate of Mercy Alban, by Wendy Webb (event at Boswell, Thursday, March 14, 7 pm)
5. All This Talk of Love, by Christopher Castellani (event at Boswell Wednesday, February 27, 7 pm)

The Boudreaux Lecture this coming Thursday (note time), featuring Arthur Sze, is open to the public. The address is 3271 N. Lake Drive.  Want to sample some poems of Sze? Santa Cruz Good Times Weekly excerpted a few last fall.

Paperback nonfiction:
1. Schuster's and Gimbels, by Paul Geenen
2. Milwaukee Garage Bands, by Peter Roller (event at Boswell, Tuesday February 19, 7 pm)
3. In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson
4. Memoir of the Sunday Brunch, by Julia Pandl
5. The President's Club, by Nanncy Gibbs

We don't often get an event write up in the music column, but Piet Levy gives a shout out to Peter Roller's Milwaukee Garage Bands in the Journal Sentinel. "It's the look of unadulterated joy, a joy author Peter Roller experienced firsthand growing up"

Books for kids:
1. The Infinity Ring Volume 3: The Trap Door, by Lisa McMann
2. The Unwanteds Volume 2: The Island of Silence, by Lisa McMann
3. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
4. Crash, by Lisa McMann
5. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, by Wendy Mass

It's hard to get traditional reviews for teen books--many of the magazines that might have covered these titles in the passed have fallen by the wayside, and I've yet to see a link to Teen Vogue. That said, McMann is beloved by the bloggers. Wanda at Good Choice Reading gives Crash a four. She loves the excitement of Lisa McMann's novels but might have been distracted by the details of the family restaurant. 

But here's the strangest development among the blogger reviews--by far, most of them are for the audiobook. And of course we haven't sold a teen audiobook since...I can't even tell you.

A newly released novel for middle graders (9-13) is review in the Journal Sentinel, where Jim Higgins journey's to 19th century Wisconsin with Amy Timberlake in her novel for young adults, One Came Home. Higgins  notes that the author, who grew up in the state and now lives in Chicago, has written "an entertaining and compelling novel about the value of a single life, be it human or avian."

In the "Paging Through" column, Carole E. Barrowman looks at several new releases of particular interest to mystery fans. This week's selections:

Crashed and Little Elvises, by Timothy Hallinan, two novels that were originally published only as ebooks, which are now available in print editions from Soho. Junior Bender is the protagonist; he's a rogue L.A. burglar.

The Sound of Broken Glass, by Deborah Crombie, follows married detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid with James investigating a crime in her newly assigned district of the Crystal Palace neighborhood of South London. Barrowman compares Crombie favorably to Louise Penny and Elizabeth George. I used to work with a bookseller (Ellen) who was just crazy about this series.

Sara J. Henry's A Cold and Lonely Place is set in the Adirondacks and features a freelance journalist investigating a "gripping" mystery at Lake Placid's Winter Carnival.

Did I note that Higgins also did a write up of just some of the titles of local interest (whether due to content or author) that are coming out in the next few weeks, including several that feature events at Boswell? Among them are Sarah Carr's Hope Against Hope: Three Schools, One City, and the Struggle to Educate America's Children , a former Milwaukee journalist who now writes about education issues in New Orleans and is visiting on Tuesday, March 19, 7 pm, and Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, who cover politics for the Journal Sentinel, and are appearing for their new book, More Than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions, and the Fight for Wisconsin, on Tuesday, March 26, 7 pm.

Saturday Gift Post--New Journals, Page Flags, Magnets.

Before I left for DC, I was grateful to receive some new gift product, mostly so I would have something to post today. We're on a restocking program with Paperblanks, where we get better terms by reordering monthly. Usually this just means bringing back what sold, but twice a year we have new releases and Anne and I were happy to see new designs come in. The most popular new varieties from this journal line tends toward intricate covers with metal clasps and printed edging. Pictured are Gold Inlay, Shiraz, and Kirikane. The folks at Paperblanks take their product very seriously. Here's a post from their own website describing the new designs.

The next shipment that came in was our restocking of Girl of All Work Page Flags and Page Pals. Though a lot of other vendors have entered the market for artsy flags using the 3M developed posting technology, the Girls seem to sell particularly well for us, because I think their designs, packaging and pricing are all quite nice. I'm sad that what with the reflective packaging, this photo doesn't do the Page Pals justice. I think the varieties we have on display right now are flowers, Arctic friends, pets, farm animals, and forest creatures. Or maybe I put out monsters--I can't remember.

A new item that I brought in are Retropet magnets. In the fall we brought in a similar line from another vendor, but I found it hard to find enough other items in their collection to fill out an order (our core business with that line is ornaments) whereas this vendor had a sampler program where we could just buy two of every item. Halley had spotted the catalog and spurred me on to order--she thinks that in addition to having a Westie magnet (Go, Westies), another bonus is that cats are also represented.

Varieties include Lil Stinker Biscuits, Corgi Coffee, and the Whatever Kitty Cafe-Serve Yourself. They all resemble advertising posters and labels. Who wouldn't be this happy with a good dog or cat magnet on their fridge?

Life Beyond Olsson's and Borders--A Day Wandering Around Bookstores in Washington, DC.

I've been going to Washington DC bookstores for thirty years now, ever since I attended my first ABA conference (now BEA) sometime in the early 1980s. In those days, I would head to Dupont Circle and visit Kramerbooks and a branch of Olssons. A lot has changed over the years, and with the loss of Olsson's and a number of Borders, I keep wondering if there will be more stores opening in the area, and in the District in particular, as the demographics have changed quite a bit in the last decade.

I passed by the Books a Million on the Circle, which seemed pretty similar, though they added a Joe Muggs coffee shop, well, at one point. You're not looking for me to tell you what's happening in chain stores in a blog like this, though if I see something particularly interesting, I'm sure to report on it. I stopped in the Hello Cupcake and looked around, one of three cupcake stores I visited on the trip, and it's only been two days so far. The problem is that now that we have Milwaukee Cupcake Company and Hello Cupcake, I have no reason to roam.

I haven't been to Kramerbooks on my last few visits, so it seemed worth it to stop by, as our hotel was not too far away and it gave me a sense of stability and continuity. If my customers visit a bookstore in DC without talking to me first, Kramerbooks is probably the one they'll pick. It's fun to browse while waiting for a table in the restaurant, and even if you don't eat there, any visitor is likely to eventually wind up in Dupont Circle. I am always impressed by the high traffic count and the piles and piles of the titles they sell well. It's the dream of any bookseller--an ideal location with lots of traffic.

Lots of the titles were the best of the new releases geared to indies, but I was impressed that several older titles apparently had legs enough for prominent placement. I asked Maggie to tell me about one book that they sold like crazy that I wouldn't expect. Her answer was Everyone Poops, which proves so popular that tourists pose with the book featured in their store window. There was a time that Everyone Poops sold in big numbers at some Schwartz locations, but in the last few years, it's been pushed off to the toilet training section. It's also timely for an indie to feature, as its owner has spoken out about discounting on Amazon, and actually restricts sales through that channel. And more than that, this tells me that a lot of visitors to our store probably haven't discovered the book, and maybe we should try it again on our impulse table. 

If a bibliophile is more educated about the DC market, he or she is likely to make a pilgrimage to Politics and Prose, a store that is often touted as one of the best bookstores in the country. Things have actually changed quite a bit since my last visit when Jason and I visited several years ago. They moved their checkout desk to a wall, and changed their old cash/wrap to an information station. The former info desk has become the new home of their Espresso Book Machine, which they call Opus. Like many stores working with print on demand, a lot of their focus is in becoming the vendor of choice for locally published books.

We started out with five of us making the pilgrimage, but I didn't really explain that the store isn't exactly in the tourist corridor, and the final visitors wound up being Kirk and my brother-in-law Gus. We had a great time browsing the sections and the new release tables and music and video. Gus and Kirk were particularly fascinated at the great selection of those two categories; I noted that as long as Exclusive Company is around, we'd prefer to keep our selection tight.

I love the new design of their Politics and Prose tee, which Bill told me is also being used on their tote. The artwork came from one of their booksellers. I asked Bill what he was excited about, and he told me that two of his favorite most recent books he read came from the same authors, Jess Walter. He loved both the novel Beautiful Ruins and the recently released story collection, We Live in Water. I was pleased to share that we were hosting Walter on Monday, May 6, at 7 pm, and their are direct flights on Air Tran, though by May that my convert to Southwest. I think he would have preferred that Walter add DC to one of his itineraries. 

After our visit, we walked over and had a very nice lunch at Terasol, a French cafe across the street. I was scheduled to participate in an oritentation talk about helping coordinate a bookseller breakout session on Dan Pink's To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others, at Kansas City's Winter Institute. I wound up going back to buy a copy at Politics and Prose afterwards. Kirk bought a baseball cap, suggesting that a Boswell cap might be a good idea for the future.

We passed another bookstore on our way home from dinner last night in Georgetown, but alas, it was too late to stop by. While several folks in our wedding party had their nails done, I headed over to Bridge Street Books for another lit fix. It's a two story store in a narrow storefront, and what a delightful find it was. It wasn't exactly the store I expected in a neighborhood like Georgetown. According to their website, they've been open for more than 30 years.

Instead it had a serious commitment to academic pursuits that is really hard to find in a store of that size in the last few years. Really terrific and tightly stocked sections on politics, international relations, philosophy, cultural studies, and lots and lots of history. Almost a complete case of film (I immediately thought I should drag Gus back as soon as possible), a women's studies section, the whole shebang. Managing a store like that seems like it's easy--bring in what you like or think is important, and just keep getting it, but you still have to make the hard decisions of what series is worth keeping complete and which ones have to be broken up. And unless you have boundless cash flow, something has to go back eventually. I did notice that there were very few books in quantity, but honestly, what looked like the complete BFI (British Film Insitute) library? That's amazing!

They had also gone big on the Akashic urban noir library. Keeping to my theme of the upcoming Winter Institute, I picked up Kansas City Noir, edited by Steve Paul, a writer and editor at the Kansas City Star, and yes, a former bookseller, which came out last fall. I asked my bookseller who she was reading, and she told me she was currently enjoying the poet Alice Notley, whose most recent collection is Culture of One. And yes, they also had a very good poetry section.

My biggest takeaway from my visit to Bridge Street Books? Imagine if every college supported a bookstore like this.

A Travel Day to DC, Finding a Venue for a Very Special Event with Kate Atkinson, Helping Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine.

I got up at 5:30 for the second day in a row, but this time it was to get ready for a plane trip to Washington DC. Yesterday the cause was a photo shoot at the store. I'm not giving any details yet, but it it should be very exciting.

I'm still reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life--it is over 500 pages, after all. Just learned from Craig Poplears' Algonquin newsletter that the ABA had their first tie at #1 for April, with both Life After Life novels sharing the honors, the other one being from Jill McCorkle. I wondered how that would be resolved--there are many books with the same title, but it is unusual for said books to come out the same month.

Speaking of Indie Bound, we just got our March flyers. We continue to highlight the brochures with shout outs regarding upcoming author events. Authors featured in the March Indie Bound Flyer that have events at Boswell were Mohsin Hamid (March 8) and Jess Walter (May 8). It came out better than it looks below. We give away over 100 flyers a month. I think if I did not have authors appearing, I might do a sticker with a rec from one of my booksellers for a book we wanted to sell more of. It's a relatively cheap marketing idea. And I'm glad to say that Mel has gamely taken over making our Indie Bound shelf talkers and is just as interested as I am as to what color card stock we use each month.

I've been continuing to book spring events, and in addition to that, dealing with logistics for some of our more complicated programs. Brooke at the Milwaukee Public Library and I have been trying to find just the right venue for our "fill the shelves" fundraiser, featuring the very same Ms. Aktinson. I think we've got it ready--we'll certainly let you know. Hope you're looking for something to do in April, as I think we're closing in on 25 events for the month. 

I'm hoping we get to do some bookstore browsing this weekend. I'm pretty sure I will get my Politics and Prose fix at one point, and we're actually staying not too far from Kramerbooks. I continue to be surprised at how few indie bookstores there are in this metro area.  I suspect part of the issue is that DC is still recovering from the loss of both Olsson's and Borders, both of which had strong presences here. I also remember working with the chain of African American interest stores, which I think was called Karibu. And then there was Chapters. I know there is Busboys and Poets, but I'm curious what's in the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs and are any accessible by Metro?

Speaking of indie bookstores, our friends at Longfellow Books in Portland, had severe damage from the recent storm that blanketed the northeast. They are said to have opened today after several days, and worse than that, about half their stock was destroyed.

I've visited Longfellow a couple of times, but more than that, I've bonded with them over the years, because we both were asset purchases of one location of a larger store (Schwartz in our case, Bookland of Maine in theirs). We have shared a lot of the ups and downs of transitioning from being a cog in a large operation to running the show in a small one. It's been a great help to me to have folks who had similar experiences.

Longfellow is having a series of fundraisers over the next few weeks, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance also offers ways you can help. You can donate directly, but of course it always seems like the best way is to support the store with purchases. I just bought some autographed copies of their upcoming authors (Monica Wood, Richard Russo, Ron Currie, Jr., Bill Roorbach) to give as gifts.  Sorry about destroying the surprise, Merrill.

It's Time for Our Women's Leadership Conference Display. It's at the Pfister on March 15, 2013.

I'm pretty sure I have blogged from the Women's Leadership Conference in the past. It's a complete program of speakers and workshops held at the Pfister each March. Last year the keynote speaker was Gloria Steinem, which proved to be popular.

So it's time for folks to start registering for 2013's conference, which is held on Friday, March 15. This year's keynote is from Anita Hill, and unlike Steinem, she actually has a recently published book, which is Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home (Beacon).

After the keynote, the attendees divide into programs that include "Feminine Leadership," "Vision + Passion = Success," and "How to Talk to Your CEO."That is followed by the lunch speaker, Bonnie St. John, Rhodes Scholar, Olympian, and author of How Great Women Lead (Center Street). There's too more sets of concurrent sessions, followed by a cocktail reception.

The fee for the entire day is $329. There is a discount for UWM folks, and a group rate is also available. Contact Jan Allen for more details. Reduced-rate parking is available in the Hotel Pfister garage.

What a Great Week for New Books--Selections from Lawrence Block, Herman Koch, Karen Russell, Tanis Rideout, and Tara Conklin.

I looked at the cart this morning of new releases and saw a huge cart of Random-House-distributed titles. I asked Jason, "Is this all that's coming out?" but it turned out the other cartons hadn't been opened yet. There were key titles fro several other publishers as well.

The big novel from Harper is The House Girl (Morrow), by Tara Conklin, a novel that travels between a young lawyer working on a class action lawsuit seeking reparations for the descendants of American slaves, and a 17-year-old house slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation. Conklin, a litigator-writer (not an odd combination, I've found) lives in Seattle, which might account for a lovely quote from Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette (coming May 1 to Boswell), who calls this "a wise, stirring, and startling debut." The finish is matte--that's my theme for this week.

Jason noted that Morrow is continuing the silhouette profile cover image that was popularized by the success of Little Bee. I should note that at least as of now, Simon is moving away from that image for the paperback of Gold, which is more in the wide-eyed child mode. Marie Clare called The House Girl the book club book of 2013.

From Penguin Group, Jason thought the #1 priority for a bookstore like ours was Above All Things (Amy Einhorn), by Tanis Rideout, whose cover quote is from David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z, which calls it "a fantastic read" and to me, targets it a bit more to men, as that was a nonfiction and somewhat upmarket adventure story. Sometimes you need a quote like this because as many a woman writer has noted before, sometimes men won't buy books written by women, no matter how tough.

The novel is the story of George Mallory's third attempt to climb Mount Everest, told from his perspective and that of his wife, Ruth, who was left behind. Tanis (yes, a woman) is Canadian (another secret we like to keep from Americans) and won the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award for Emerging Writers. I would like to note that while many of you have never heard of Bronwen Wallace, I actually read a collection of Wallace's short stories many years ago, bought while I was in Canada, and liked them quite a bit.

So how good is the book? Well Jocelyn McClurg in USA Today is astounded by its power, nothing that "Above All Things, finally, rises to the historic, even mythological occasion. Rideout's powerful prose about a tragic, brutal end will haunt you." Call it a mashup of Paula McLain and Jon Krakauer if you'd like, but note that I coined this without actually reading the novel.But I can tell you that the book's jacket is textured matte, which is Jason's favorite option for jackets, though it can play havoc if you put a label on it.

How long has Lawrence Block been writing for Mulholland Books, a division of Hachette Book Group? I don't know, but that's who is publishing his new novel, Hit Me, in which Block returns to Keller, whose a drop-dead deadly hit man. Speaking of book jackets, this book is velvet gloss--I don't know if that's the actual name for these things, but that's what it feels like. Publishers have gone crazy for this finish. I don't remember feeling it ten years ago, but now we even sometimes get it on advance copies. Some folks love it, some don't, sort of like flan, right Halley?

So this Keller, under the alias "Nicholas Edwards" is working as a house flipper in New Orleans, whose hobby is, wait for it, stamp collecting. In between he kills people. Bruce DeSilva writes in the Associated Press, with the Greenfield, Indiana Reporter offering us the link, "In the hands of a lesser writer, the philately passages would be insufferable, but Block makes them interesting in their own right as well a window into the soul of a hit man who can dispatch innocent bystanders without remorse but won't cheat on his wife and insists on being scrupulously honest in the buying and selling of collectible stamps."

You've already read about Vampires in the Lemon Grove, by Karen Russell, at least twice, as she got the front-page New York Times Book Review spot (from Joy Williams) plus a great review from Mike Fischer in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  He writes, "As is true throughout this collection, 'Proving Up' exhibits the gorgeous writing that has characterized Russell's work from the beginning. And without quoting the passage (can't you trust Mr. Fischer?) can I also say that he calls Russell "a writer who has once again mapped the dark country between our everyday and more primal selves?"

All this, plus we received autographed copies in our initial shipment. I think she signed the books too, and not just sheets, as the book was flapped to the full title page. Leave it to Knopf to know where to sign. The book jacket is matte, it's set in Bembo, the edges are rough cut (unlike the previous titles) and the great Jordan Pavlin edited. It's always nice to see a shout out to the publicist, and even better when you've worked with them--we may have a very exciting event coming up booked with publicist Kate Runde (who is thanked in the book), and though not Russell, we're as excited as if it were Russell. I'll let you know who it is when it is booked, but you all have to promise to come, 'kay? (Note--I cleaned this up a bit. Much as I would love Kate Runde to come for an event, it's with one of her authors).

Also with rough-cut edges, but with a gloss jacket (showing it's trying to straddle two genres, more on that below), is Herman Koch's The Dinner (Hogarth), the Dutch novel that's had a lot of pre-pub buzz, including a great rec from our own Stacie. As Gillian Flynn (who?) notes, "The Dinner begins with driniks and dark satire, and goes stealthily and hauntingly from there." It starts with a dinner between two couples in Amsterdam, and I guess ends there two. But these couples are connected by their 15-year-old sons, who are "united by their accountability for a single horrific act." I am immediately reminded of another dinner in Amsterdam from Ian McEwan. I wonder if there is some homage there?

Carol Memmott writes in USA Today: "The Dinner is the sixth of Koch's seven novels, but the first to be translated into English. As with the works of other internationally celebrated writers including Stieg Larsson, Camilla Lackberg, Jo Nesbo and Oliver Potzsch, American readers may demand access to all of Koch's books. If they're half as good as The Dinner, we'll want to devour all of them."

And for those of you who like a good backstory ,this Wall Street Journal piece offers a good one, and the division between whether the book is mystery or literary fiction. Janet Maslin's not a fan, alas. These things happen. I should note that The Daily News was disappointed by Russell, but I'm not going to link to them--do your own work to unsell yourself. But this book, which has been a huge international bestseller, has been compared to The Slap (which you know I love) and the best work of Michel Houellebecq, which like everything else here, I've never read.

As I mentioned, there are several more good Random House-distributed titles that came out today. M apologies to Jim Crace and his new novel Harvest (Nan Talese), with whom I many years ago shared a dinner at the home of David and Carol (the Schwartz owners), but sadly, I have other things to do today. I can post a bit more about new titles later this week, as I'll be in DC for my nephew's wedding and won't be able to chatter about what happened to our event sign in the front door. 

This Week's Events--Lisa McMann at the Shorewood Library, Karen Thompson Walker, Ted Kerasote at the Wisconsin Humane Society, and the Florentine Opera.

Monday, February 11, 6:30 pm, at the Shorewood Public Library, 3920 N. Murray Avenue, 53211:
Lisa McMann, author of Infinity Ring Book 3: The Trap Door.

From the folks that brought you the internationally bestselling, multi-platform series The 39 Clues, comes an alternate-history, time travel adventure adventure for young readers. It will combine books with an interactive map feature and a fully-immersive online game experience. The first installment penned by James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner, each installment in the Infinity Ring series is written by a different notable children’s author.

Dak Smyth and Sera Froste, with their key to time-travel, are part of a secret society whose mission is to keep history on the right track in order to avert a disastrous fate for all of mankind. From a 1492 mutiny on Columbus’ ship to a Viking invasion of Paris, they attempt to stop an evil organization, known as SQ, from taking over history. Now, the year is 1850, and the nation is divided over the issue of slavery. In these dark days, the Underground Railroad provides a light of hope, helping runaway slaves escape to freedom. But the SQ has taken control of the Underground Railroad from within. Dak and Sera are left wondering who to trust . . . while Riq risks everything to save the life of a young boy.

Tuesday, February 12, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Age of Miracles.

Named one of the best books of 2012 by People, O: The Oprah Magazine, Financial Times, Kansas City Star, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and recipient of immense praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire and The New York Times.

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life--the fissures in her parents' marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

Karen Thompson Walker was born and raised in San Diego and is a graduate of UCLA and the Columbia MFA program. A former editor at Simon and Schuster, she wrote her New York Times-bestselling debut novel in the mornings before work--sometimes while riding the subway. Walker currently lives in Iowa with her husband.

Here's the Shepherd Express book preview for this event.

Tuesday, February 12, 7 pm, at the Wisconsin Humane Society, 4500 W. Wisconsin Avenue
Ted Kerasote, author of Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs.

This event is free, but registration is recommended and a $5 donation is encouraged. Visit here  to sign up for a seat at this event.

“Pukka's Promise is without question the most intelligent, most comprehensive book ever written about extending the lifetimes of dogs. Not only that, but it's riveting. After years of flawless research plus a life of valuable experience, Kerasote has produced a masterpiece that everyone should read. From pet owners to professionals such as breeders, shelter-workers, and veterinarians, those who think they already know about dogs are in for a real surprise." —Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Lives of Dogs.

Note that this event is almost fully registered.

Wednesday, February 13, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Florentine Opera Insights' preview of "Albert Herring" with Corliss Phillabaum and the Florentine Opera Studio.

Enjoy a glimpse into the Florentine Opera Company’s upcoming production of Benjamin Britten’s 20th century comedic British masterpiece, Albert Herring. Opera Insights feature behind-the-scenes trivia, a look at the synopsis and the opera's place within the repertoire, and live performances by Studio Artists.

Endlessly witty, poignant, and beautifully layered, Albert Herring highlights the misadventures of a lonely shop-boy in a small English village that is teeming with colorful and wickedly amusing characters.

Albert Herring opens at Vogel Hall on March 8 and runs through March 17. Buy your tickets here.

Sunday Bestseller Post--How Many Times Can I Mention Karen Thompson in a Post? Have I Mentioned She's Coming on Tuesday?

Hardcover fiction:
1. A Hologram for the King, by Dave Eggers
2. Tenth of December, by George Saunders
3. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
4. Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, by Jennifer Chiaverini
5. The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers

Alas, in the world of sales pops, there's not one this week among the new releases in hardcover fiction. George Saunders (and at a smaller level, Jennifer Chiaverini) have continued their sales momentum. You can read an exuberant review of the collection of Tenth of December pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey style, but Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker didn't break into the traditional book page in a big way, relying more on blogs word of mouth, and a little movie called "Lincoln." Here's a review in The Washingtonian by John Wilwol, which calls the book "enlightening" and calls attention to the details that Chiaverini "does so well." But maybe it's not so bad to just have non-review stories written about your book--I've got to think this New York Times article on Elizabeth Keckley helped.

Hardcover nonfiction:
1. Far from the Tree, by Andrew Solomon
2. Pukka's Promise, by Ted Kerasote
3. My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor
4. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, by Jeanne Theoharis
5. The Plan, by Lyn-Genet Recitas

Several folks have wondered if Jeane Theoharis might be visiting Milwaukee on her tour for The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, a new book that's gotten a lot of attention from an author with Milwaukee ties.  One of the things folks don't always understand about how authors make bookstore appearances (we get a lot of requests from customers to host particular authors) is that either the publisher or the author need to front the costs for a visit, and for many authors, that also involves waiving speaking fees. Alas, we simply don't have the budget to pay those fees, and we're incredibly grateful to all the authors and publishers who supply us with wonderful (and almost all free) programming. And while we love working with Beacon Press, as a nonprofit, they can't generally finance traditional tours. But I can tell you that Beacon author Anita Hill will be at the UWM Women's Leadership Conference on March 15. Buy your ticket here!

The great news is that according to Ms. Theoharis's father, the renowned historian/professor emeritus at Marquette Athan Theoharis, it's likely that either UWM or Marquette (or both) will be bringing the author to town in the coming semester. If it's an open event and we get the details, we'll be sure to let you know about it. For more about the book, read Charles M. Blow's op-ed column in The New York Times.

Paperback fiction:
1. The Hunters, by John Bolger
2. The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker (event is Tuesday, Feb. 12)
3. Leon and Louise, by Alex Capus
4. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
5. What is the What, by Dave Eggers

We had a wonderful event with John Bolger on Friday (signed copies of The Hunters are available), but our Eggers' signing also peppered our bestseller list with his backlist. Leon and Louise gets a book club pop (which we're discussing on Monday, March 4) and of course we're all gearing up for our great event with Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Age of Miracles, on this coming Tuesday. You can pre-order a signed paperback, or even trade up to a hardcover. Alas, we do not have first editions at this point!

Paperback nonfiction:
1. To Fight Aloud is Very Brave, by Faith Barrett
2. Invisible, by Ruth Silver
3. Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers
4. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
5. When I was a Child, I read Books, by Marilynne Robinson

Ditto on Eggers nonfiction, plus double ditto on a great event with Faith Barrett on Saturday. And it's nice to see folks picking up When I Was a Child I Read Books off the front table (and possibly for a book club). If you are picking book club selections, let me quote from Roxana Robinson's review in The Washington Post: "Taut, eloquent and often acerbically funny, these essays present a formidable response to slack scholarship, an indignant refutation of the policies of punitive frugality toward the poor and a challenge to anyone who denies the power, mystery and significance of the human soul." Robinson's new novel Sparta arrives in June, and we had a great response to posting her essay on vanished New York bookstores on Facebook so I'll link it here too.

Books for kids:
1. Game Changers Book 2: Play Makers, by Mike Lupica
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 7: The Third Wheel, by Jeff Kinney
3. My Brother's Book, by Maurice Sendak
4. Pride and Prejudice, A Counting Primer, by Jennier Adams and Alison Oliver
5. Good Night Wisconsin, by Adam Gamble and Mark Jasper

Said to be the last book Maurice Sendak finished before his death, My Brother's Book is dedicated to his brother Jack, with whom he credited his passion for writing and drawing. If you haven't read Stephen Greenblatt's essay in The New York Times on the connection between Maurice Sendak and William Shakespeare, he notes that "it is still more a secret sharing, an instinctive fascination with some of the same half-hidden springs of human aggression, fear and longing."

In today's Journal Sentinel, Karen Thompson Walker shares her reading list with Jim Higgins, offering selections from Ray Bradbury, Virginia Woolf, and Nathaniel Philbrick.  Did I mention she's coming on February 12?

Contributing reviewer Mike Fischer weighs in on the heavily praised story collection from Karen Russell, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, calling her a writer "who has once again mapped the dark country between our everyday and more primal selves." Just last night, our friend Rose Ann came in with Mr. Fischer's review of Detroit City is the Place to Be, which is why we love reviews so much.

And finally Jim Higgins reviews the new edition of Mikhail Bulgakov's A Country Doctor's Notebook. According to Higgins, there's also an interesting introduction from translator Michael Glenny. Higgins calls this a worthy choice for Melville House's expanding Neversink Library.