Greetings!

What a bounty of new releases!  Here are just a few of our favorites.

With questions arising about yet another popular book, the timing couldn't be better for Arthur Phillips' new novel, The Tragedy of Arthur (Random House).  The story itself masquerades as an introduction to a lost play by William Shakespeare, and within it is a fictional memoir of Arthur Phillips.  Advance reviews have been great--here's Booklist: "The always-original Phillips has outdone himself in this clever literary romp. Successfully blending and bending genres, he positions himself as a character in a novel that skewers Shakespearean scholarship, the publishing industry, and his own life to rollicking effect." Knowing how much I loved Phillips' novels Prague and The Song is You,  I wish I wasn't writing this email newsletter so I could stay home and read this. (List: $26, Boswell's Best: $20.80).

The beauty of Diane Ackerman's prose shines through in A Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing (Norton).  The author of The Zookeeper's Wife and A Natural History of the Senses tells of her husband Paul West's stroke, the initial dooming prognosis, and their dedicated work together towards rehabilitation. I'm hot on Booklist today. They call Ackerman's new memoir "A gorgeously engrossing, affecting, sweetly funny, and mind-opening love story of crisis, determination, creativity, and repair."  How's that for enthusiasm?  (List: $26.95, Boswell's Best: $21.56).

I bet you're beginning to see a pattern.  In winter, we noticed a plethora of old-fashioned black type on white (or off-white) jackets, sometimes with an accent of navy or maroon, somtimes with a little Malcolm Gladwell style iconic drawing.  It was a stark contrast to the blues and turquoises of 2010.  But it's spring, and that means color.  In particular, brightly colored type, but still on white and cream backgrounds.  In addition to the two titles above, we just received our copies of Demetri Martin's This is a Book (Grand Central), which I joyously salute in the latest Boswell and Books post. Be aware that it's also Boswell's Best (List: $24.99, Boswell: $19.99) 

Congratulations to Emma Donoghue, whose novel Room probably started this whole bright colors on white craze and was recently was awarded the American Booksellers Association Indie Choice Book Award for favorite novel of 2010.  It's also still Boswell's Best ($19.99), and likely will be until the paperback comes out, later this spring.  It's that good!

What's Coming This Week? Opera, Art, Food, and Fantasy.

I can't emphasize how wonderful these performances are. Corliss Phillabaum's talks are humorous and insightful, the Studio performances are both grand and accessible, and if you're thinking this will take as long as a Ring cycle, you're wrong. It's packed into an hour of opera goodness. While the performances attract a lot of opera fans, I'd also recommend the Florentine Opera Insights for folks who think they are culturally well-rounded, but in fact have a hole in their resume. The opera will be performed May 13 through 22. More on their website.

Our commitment to the fine and performing arts continues on Thursday, April 21 with an appearance from R. Tripp Evans, acclaimed author of Grant Wood, at 7 pm. This recent biography sheds new light on the artist known for American Gothic. Behind his carefully cultivated facade was a very different persona, a gay man struggling with his identity. Art Winslow in the Chicago Tribune gave the biography five stars. This is a big deal, so let's get out and show our support. Evans was just awarded the Marfield Prize for National Arts Writing, and will be honored on May 12. Much thanks to the Cream City Foundation and the Joseph Pabst Infrastructure Fund and also Will Fellows for making this possible.

On Friday April 22, we're teaming up with Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast to welcome Kurt Michael Friese, chef/owner of Iowa City's Devotay, who, together with Gary Paul Nabhan and Kraig Kraft, collaborated on Chasing Chiles: Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail. This environmental and culinary travelogue explores the regional wonderfulness and numerous varieties of chile peppers, and what environmental change is doing to their diversity and distribution.

Want to read more? The New York Times profiled Gary Paul Nabhan in their April 7 issue. And Aram Bakshian, Jr. reviewed Chasing Chiles in the Wall Street Journal.  The event starts at 7 pm, but there is a reception sponsored by Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast, starting at 5:30.  Happy Earth Day!

Saturday April 23 at 2 pm, we're delighted to be the launch event for Bradley Beaulieu's epic fantasy series, The Winds of Khalakovo. Civil war breaks out in a society that is part Cyrillic, part shaman. Publishers Weekly praised its poetic prose while Library Journal lauded its strong characters and tense plot. Our buyer Jason read The Winds of Khalakovo and loved it. Let's hear more from him.

"I grabbed a copy to read and was instantly hooked. The world is incredible: ships that fly, elemental spirits, blight, famine, and characters that try to get their lives right, but are so very flawed. This is not a book where the author creates the world as the story goes along, rather he immerses the reader into a fully realized world, and it is breathtaking. There are the 'Landed', represented by the Nine Dukes and their type of magic that harnesses the elemental winds to fly their ships between the islands, the Aramahn, who wander the world, never settling down but also practice a different type of elemental magic, and then there is the Maharrat a fanatical group looking to stir up unrest. Beaulieu weaves these different cultures together to give the reader a unique, complex world to experience. It is a world that is unraveling, with blight and disease, and political uncertainty."  

Come celebrate with us this Saturday at 2 pm.

P.S. Apologies for the font inconsistency in this section.  What's a Boswell e-mail without a little glitch?  Of course, it's how you know it was created by a person and not a web-bot. 

After School Specials--Events for Kids

If you miss the days of "Mighty Moose and the Quarterback Kid" and "Daddy, I'm Their Mama Now!" (actual titles from the long-running ABC series), you're in luck.  We've got a series of great kids programming of our own over the next month.

Wednesday, April 27, 4 pm, at the Shorewood Public Library, 3020 North Murray Avenue:

Blue Balliett, author of The Danger Box, Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, and The Calder Game.

Balliett's novels are mysteries inspired by historical events, and The Danger Box is no different.  A young boy, Zoomy by name, is given a notebook that may or may not be Charles Darwin's, and it may or may not have been stolen.  The story is inspired by Darwin's actual lost notebook (though the book being Darwin's is only hinted at).  Balliett's other books have been inspired by artists and architects, which is Balliett's area of academic expertise. 

Here's a bit of what the folks at School Library Journal had to say: "Balliett demonstrates how danger boxes are all around us--not just as containers of physical objects for which people will hazard a great deal, but as vehicles that expose us to risky ideas and dreams. This highly satisfying story will enlighten readers even as it inspires them to think about their own danger boxes."

Special Ticketed Event with Geraldine Brooks on May 12.

Geraldine Brooks is coming to Boswell on Thursday, May 12 at 7 pm for the release of her new novel, Caleb's Crossing.  We are experimenting with $5 tickets for this event.  Buy your ticket now, as it will help us gauge how many books to buy and how much we should order in terms of refreshments.  It's easy, and you can do it either in person, by phone, or on our website. 

Both Anne and Sharon have read the new novel and loved it.  Here's a little bit about the new book from Sharon:

"Geraldine Brooks published her first novel, Year of Wonders in 2001.  She had previously written two non-fiction books, Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. (Editor's note: Her two other novels, March and People of the Book, were awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Australian Book Award for book of the year respectively.)

"I don't know where I was in 2001, but it took me ten years to discover this wonderful author. I am just in time; however, to read and gush about her latest book, Caleb's Crossing.

"This story is built around a tidbit of historical fact. Caleb was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. Bethia Mayfield is the daughter of a minister living on Martha's Vineyard. Caleb is the son of a Wampanoag chieftain, and the two meet when Bethia is twelve. They forge a secret friendship and delight in discovering each other's worlds. Caleb crosses over completely when Bethia's father takes him under his wing, converting him to Calvinism and teaching him Latin and Greek. The young man goes on to study at Harvard.

"Bethia is a fascinating character, as she is interested in learning, although women of her time were not expected or allowed to have much education. The story of Bethia and Caleb is one that will stay with you, whether you are a longtime fan of Geraldine Brooks or a relative newcomer to her work."

Thanks, Sharon!  Hope to see you at this event.  Brooks is a wonderful speaker and reader and this event is sure to be among your favorites. Help us spread the word!  And don't forget to buy a ticket.