Join us for an evening with Patty Yumi Cottrell, author of the stellar debut novel Sorry to Disrupt the Peace, which is quickly becoming a literary favorite. We meet Helen Moran, 32, single and childless, a college-educated, partly employed guardian of troubled young people in New York. Her uncle calls to break the news: Helen's adoptive brother is dead. Helen knows that she alone is qualified to launch a serious investigation into his death, so she purchases a one-way ticket to Milwaukee. Where she faces her estranged family, her brother's few friends, and discovers what it truly means to be alive.

Cottrell's debut is gathering much deserved praise. Helen Oyeyemi, author of  What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours offers: "Patty Yumi Cottrell's prose does so many of my favorite things - some too subtle to talk about without spoiling, but one thing I have to mention is the way in which her heroine's investigation of a suicide draws the reader right into the heart of this wonderfully spiky hedgehog of a book and then elbows us yet further along into what is ultimately a tremendously moving act of imagination." And Jesse Ball, author of How to Set a Fire and Why, offered: " Patty Yumi Cottrell's adoption of the rambling and specific absurd will and must delight!"

Early reviews are great.  Publishers Weekly called Sorry to Disrupt the Peace " complex and mysterious, yet, in the end, deeply human and empathetic." This isn't a book to miss - Boswell's Daniel Goldin called it "a powerfully hypnotic narrative of estrangement."  Celebrate the success of this former Milwaukeean by joining us on Monday, March 20, 7 pm. 

The bestselling author of  White Collar Girl  (about the  Chicago Tribune) and What the Lady Wants  (inspired by the retailer Marshall Field and Company) explores one woman's journey of self-discovery in the world of Chicago blues. Windy City Blues is inspired by the true-life history of Chess Records, a label run by Polish Jews on the South Side of Chicago that helped bring to popularity Chicago blues musicians such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and rock and roll legends Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. 

The story follows Leeba Groski, a budding songwriter whose passion for music  is not lost on her neighbor, Leonard Chess, who offers her a job at his new record company. What begins as answering phones and filing becomes much more as Leeba comes into her own as a songwriter and finds love with a black blues guitarist named Red Dupree.  With their relationship unwelcome in segregated Chicago and the two of them shunned by Leeba's Orthodox Jewish family, Leeba and Red soon find themselves in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement and they discover that, in times of struggle, music can bring people together.

We've hosted Renée Rosen twice before, for What the Lady Wants, a novel about Marshall Field and his store, and White Collar Girl, based on the lives of women at the Chicago Tribune in the 1960s. She always gives a great historical presentation and that's why we've partnered with The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM for this event.  Osher is designed for older adults who share a love of learning throughout their lifetimes.  Members enjoy innovative and enriching programs in a congenial setting with others who share their interests. 

Folks who register with UWM Osher Lifelong Learning for this event will get 10% off their copy of Windy City Blues. And everyone attending will have an enjoyable and informative afternoon with Renée Rosen on Tuesday, March 21, 1 pm.

Boswellian Barbara Katz always has the perfect book to share. Her latest love is Life on Mars , written and illustrated by Jon Agee. From Barb: " Readers will laugh out loud as they follow a young boy astronaut's adventures on Mars. While he is looking for life on Mars, readers will see what he doesn't - a huge creature is following him! Visual jokes are on each page, as the creature's expressions are the same as the astronaut's. Gentle sly humor throughout the book extends to the last page, when the astronaut, and readers, get a big surprise! This captivating book is sure to become a favorite!"

Jen Steele also has a new favorite, and it's  If I Had a Little Dream , written by Nina Laden and ilustrated by Melissa Castrillon, which like  Life on Mars, is a Spring Indies Next Selection from the American Booksellers Association. Jen says " This is a sweet and charming picture book about finding the joy and wonder in the every day. If I Had a Little Dream is one of those perfect read-aloud bedtime tales. The beautiful illustrations add to the wonder of the story." Find more Kids Indie Next Selections here.