Welcome to our first newsletter of 2011.  My head is spinning with information to tell you, and I'm sure I'm going to forget something important.  Why am I preoccupied?  It's because we're having a physical inventory this Sunday, January 9th and there are lots of things to do to get ready.  One thing I need to do is remind you that we're closing early on that day, at 4 pm instead of our usual 6. 

 

One exciting part of a new year is that, after a December drought when it seems like we've been talking about the same books for months, there are new books out.  Our Boswell's Best had a lot of turnover, and here are some of the best of the Best.

 

Annie Proulx's Bird Cloud (Scribner) is her first work of nonfiction in twenty years.  Bird Cloud is the name she gives to the tract of land on the North Platte River, the place where she wound up building her home. This memoir is the story of that endeavor. Bob Minzenheimer praises Proulx's "Wit as sharp as the winter winds of Wyoming" in this USA Today review.  Yes, I also like alliteration. And here's a link to The New Yorker's review of Dwight Garner's review in The New York Times.  How's that for convoluted? (Publisher's Price: $26, Boswell's Best: $20.80).

 

My new obsession is authors who tour the country before their books come out.  We're selling books at Bethenny Frankel's visit to the Pabst Theater on January 27th.  Here's the ticket info; be aware that only VIP ticket holders will meet the author, and I believe those are sold out. We'll have both Naturally Thin and The Skinnygirl Dish for sale, but her new book, A Place of Yes, is not coming out until March.  So that leads into Patton Oswalt's Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (Scribner), which just arrived in the shop.  In this case, Oswalt's book was timed to coincide with his theater tour but was delayed.  Worth it though--here's his B+ review from Entertainment Weekly.  This stew of biographical vignettes and standup comedy bits include "Chamomile Kitten Greeting Cards" and "Those Old Hobo Songs, They Still Speak to Us."  And they do, they do. (Publisher's Price: $24, Boswell's Best: $19.20).

 

One of publishing's breakout books of 2009 was Lisa Genova's Still Alice.  With a doctorate in neuroscience, Genova was able to create a wonderful and enlightening story about a woman with early-onset Alzheimers.  In her new novel, Left Neglected (Gallery), she documents another illness, a condition where the patient is unable to perceive anything coming from the left side of the body.  USA Today praised Genova's latest as "a well-told tale from a keen medical mind."  But these are not dry diagnoses wrapped in a novel skin.  Sarah Nickerson's story is a triumph of sorts, as is this novel, which Booklist praised as "irresistably readable and moving fiction." (Publisher's Price: $25, Boswell's Best: $20.)

It's time for a rec!  Carl is hot on the new release from Colm Toibin, The Empty Family (Scribner), a story collection that jumps countries (and centuries), moving between England, Ireland, and Spain. "Toibin seems to be able to effortlessly breathe vibrant life into diverse plots and call forth strong emotion at will.  Also adept at conveying the nuts and bolts of daily life.  An essential treasure trove."  I felt like the last person to read Brooklyn, but maybe I'll get to this faster. And my apologies for leaving off Colm's accents on his last name.  I can't seem to figure out how to do this easily on Constant Contact. (Publisher's Price: $24, Boswell's Best: $19.20).

 As I'm on the subject of books I haven't gotten to yet, I was surprised and excited to see Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love (Atlantic Monthly) show up in the store.  The story is set during the Civil War of Sierra Leone, focusing on a gifted young surgeon, a staff psychologist, and one of the patients.  Kiran Desai called the novel "profoundly affecting" and Monica Ali called Forna "a writer of great talent who does not shy from tackling the toughest questions about why humans do the things they do."  Fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie should eat this up.  Hey, that includes me! (Publisher's Price, $24.95, Boswell's Best, $19.96).

 

Our events start up again this coming Monday, January 10th, at 7 pm, and I'm very excited about our collaboration with the Brew City Bombshells Burlesque, who will be appearing with Karen Abbott, the author of the new biography of Gypsy Rose Lee, American Rose.  Both Jason and Stacie loved Abbot's new book.  As she did in Sin in the Second City,  Abbott takes history and writes it in a way that reads like fiction.  Stacie tells me that if you like Erik Larson, Abbott should be next on your list.  The founding Bombshells (Vee and Raven) will be on hand, as will several of their troupe members--more in this Journal Sentinel piece, which includes a fun pic of the Bombshells.  I love the way that old and new burlesque comes together at Boswell--there's a tagline I thought I'd never write.

 

On Monday, January 17th, we've got an amazing double-header lined up for you.  It's honor enough to host Christine Sneed, author of Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry, which was awarded the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction.  But then to have Jaimy Gordon, author of Lord of Misrule, recently awarded the National Book Award, is something I can't even fathom.  Well, I better fathom it because it's happening.  The novel is set in West Virginia, at a small-potatoes racetrack filled with assorted nebulous sorts.  The writing is beautiful, the characters bold, and the races are actually quite exciting.  The Los Angeles Times praised "writing so textural it seems three dimensional" while the Kirkus starred review enthused over the "exceptional writing and idiosyncratic characters."  Post time is 7 pm!

 

Just added!  We're hosting a signing with figure skater extraordinaire Johnny Weir for his new memoir, Welcome to my World, on Tuesday, January 18th, at 7 pm.  It's a signing only, with all the usual restrictions like no memorabilia, no personalizations, and no posed photographs.  That said, we are not ticketing this event.  The line is first come, first serve, and he's got to get to Madison by 8 pm for another event.  I can't tell you much about the book because it's got a strict laydown date of January 11th.  That said, advance word says you will get to know the real Johnny Weir, inside and out.  Just what you wanted!

 

On Wednesday, January 19th, we are hosting a group poetry reading with Poets Ink.  Members include Barbara Colignon, Cary Fellman, Elizabeth Lewis, Mary Lux, Peter Piaskoski, and Caroline Vargo. The verse rings in at 7 pm. 

 

Jacqueline Hansen Maggiore has written a new spiritual biography called Vessel of Clay: The Inspirational Journey of Sister Carla, and she will be reading at Boswell on Tuesday, January 25th, at 7 pm. Carol Piette was a Maryknoll Sister who gave her life for "God's poor, old, beat-up people" in Latin America.  She carried her earthly possessions in a small bag and lived among the refugees.

 

The UWM Student-Faculty Readings rotate through bars, parks, and other bookstores.  Right now it's too cold for a park, so we're hosting the next group of readers on Friday, January 28th, at 7 pm.  This time Aviva Cristy and Rob Verhein will be the featured students and Peter Blewett the teacher.  His poems have appeared in Cream City Review, the Wisconsin Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Poetry East, and my personal favorite, Die Young!

 

We've got a packed February filled with events,and I'm hoping that the next newsletter will detail them fully.  I just finished a conversation with Jennifer Chiaverini, whose new novel, The Union Quilters, debuts on Tuesday, February 22nd, at 7 pm.  We'll be cohosting the launch event at the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove, along with Patched Works quilt shop.  The event is free, but we've got a great incentive for buying the book from us, a commemorative pin commissioned by Chiaverini herself.  I don't know what it looks like, but having seen the pineapple for The Aloha Quilt, it should be lovely.  If you're attending, why not RSVP on our Facebook page?

 

Things are coming along on our collaboration with the Milwaukee Ballet for Jennifer Homans' Apollos Angels: A History of Ballet, for which she'll be appearing on Thursday, February 3rd, 7 pm.  Today I'm meeting with Alyson, the Ballet's education director, to see how we can lay out a floor for the event.  Yes, it's a talk and mini-performance.  Remember how wonderful our paperback event was with Manette Ansay and the Wisconsin Conversatory of Music? I'm aiming high!

 

And finally, a special word about our Friday, February 11th lunch at Lake Park Bistro with Chris Bohjalian for the paperback release of his newest novel, Secrets of Eden.  We really need to sell out this lunch if we want to have these kinds of events in the future.  The good news is that we're 20% there. I've just started reading his latest, a story set near our friends at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center.  A minister has just finished baptizing a woman, who then went home to her husband, who strangled her and shot himself.  In the wake of the tragedy arrives an inspirational author who has survived a similar experience with her parents. But all is not what it seems, starting with the minister's relationship with the victim.  Yikes!

 

Bohjalian is one of the nicest authors I've ever met and will be sure to spend some quality time with each attendee.  Our three-course meal includes salad with goat chese, your choice of chicken, halibut, or cheese ravioli, and a delicious apple tart, all while overlooking Lake Michigan.  The $60 ticket includes a copy of the book, tax, tip, and nonalcoholic beverages.  Email Stacie to reserve your seat.

 

And I haven't even mentioned Wade Rouse, Paul Harding or T. C. Boyle. Get more details about upcoming events on our website or RSVP on our Facebook events page. 

 

As always, thank you for your patronage and hope to see you at Boswell in 2011.

 

Daniel, with Amie, Anne, Beverly, Carl, Conrad, Greg, Jason, Jocelyn, Mark, Pam, Sharon, and Stacie