Expect some great reviews for the newly-released novel, The Marrowbone Marble Company. His previous novel, The Ballad of Trenchmont Taggart, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction. 

 

Publishers Weekly offers this praise for the new novel: "Taylor's socially astute and fast-moving sophomore novel is earthy, authentic, and a testament to his literary talent."

 

Read more about Glenn Taylor's three Milwaukee-area events on the recent Boswell and Books post.

Have you ever felt suddenly overwhelmed upon walking into a bookstore? The sheer volume of paper, illustration, photography, words, titles, and furniture is enough to make anyone dizzy. I see a certain look when many customers come in, their eyes glaze over, and a caption bubble appears over their heads: "Where do I begin?" Don't worry, it's perfectly normal.

 

Here's a good place to start if you're "just browsing": near the front of the store. Booksellers generally put lots of good stuff at the front, like staff recommendations, books that have recently been reviewed, books selected for and by book clubs, and books that are discounted for a certain amount of time--like our Boswell's Best titles.

 

Chances are, if you've recently read or heard about a book, we have it on a display in the front. (My coworkers are grimacing as they read this; we don't promise to carry everything that's covered in the media, but we'll do our best to help you find it or order it.) It's our way of organizing the newest and best books and, I like to think, keeping them within reach.
 
Here are three books currently on our Boswell's Best shelf this month-just to the left of the register desk as you enter.

 
Private Life, a novel by Jane Smiley (Knopf). Set in post-Civil War Missouri, and spanning the decades leading up to WWII, Private Life is the story of Margaret Mayfield, a woman who finds that her marriage and life do not turn out exactly as she expects, even after marrying the most famous man in her small town: Captain Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early, a celebrated naval officer and brilliant astronomer...who is harboring dangerous and dark secrets. Margaret soon learns that she must balance her dreams and longings with the realities of her world. Our price: $21.56
 
Hitch 22: A Memoir, by Christopher Hitchens (Twelve). Christopher Hitchens, commentator, intellectual, essayist, and author of God Is Not Great, has written a memoir about what he calls "A Life in Contradictions": a life that, in addition to noteworthy literary accomplishments and career experiences, has included serious and complicated dimensions. He writes about the roots of his famous convictions, from his opposition to the war in Vietnam and his support for intervention in Iraq to the influence of friendships with notable thinkers Noam Chomsky and Martin Amis. Here, for the first time, he shares joys and traumas from his childhood, and he talks about the authors and writers whose ideas have impacted his work. At 422 pages, with photographs, footnotes, and an index, Hitch 22 is truly a remarkable resource for anyone wanting to know more about this extraordinary man. Our price: $21.59
 
The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, by Dan Ariely (Harper). Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational set off a wave of books on behavioral analysis and got a greater audience of readers interested in what exactly it is that makes people act they way they do. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he extends his insights to the workplace to discuss the ways irrational thinking can have both negative and positive effects on our everyday lives. He suggests ways to break patterns of negative thinking in order to make better decisions, and he also examines interpersonal relationships beyond the workplace. Our price: $22.39