Hello!
Books & Company will be open on July 4 from 9-1 - enough time to pick-up your Sunday papers, weekend reading, and a cup of coffee from Stone Creek! Monday, July 5 we are open 9-7! We wish you a celebratory July 4th weekend with family and friends!
We have a great line up for author events in July. And if that is not enough to choose from, we've highlighted two from our friends at Boswell Books in Milwaukee.
Lots of fantastic new releases this summer. Don't get too far behind on reading those summer books, because I promise, the fall list is AMAZING. Your holiday gift list will be easily filled with books this year!! You might want to encourage family and friends (and yourself) to take advantage of our website wish list service!
Booksellers Chloe, Genavieve, and Kristen are listening to and loving Mike Gayle's All the Lonely People. If this book and our event are not on your radar, I would definitely check it out. You can register for the event and pre-order you copy HERE. For those of you who prefer the audio book, sign up for Libro.fm to purchase audio book downloads. Books & Company receives a portion of each sale when you set up an account through our Libro.FM link. That means you are supporting your local bookstore and local economy instead of sending your support to Amazon/Audiable.com. It's just nice to have a choice.
Speaking of choice, we are so grateful that you choose to support Books & Company. We take seriously our role as a general bookstore providing our community with a wide variety of topics, interests, and choices. In a time when it feels like there are more divisions than additions, we work to build a place that includes a multitude of perspectives and the varying stories they contain, while reflecting the very diverse interests of our community of readers. Our shelves are a place where ideas, whether they compliment, challenge, or conflict, live together cover to cover. The freedom to explore, be curious, and discover is the foundation of Books & Company. We enjoy finding the books you are searching for, making recommendations when you aren't sure, and sharing conversation with you about books and all of the interesting stories they present. This past year has been quite an adventure. Thank you for being there with us.
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Lisa with Katrina, Ken, Chloe, Genavieve, Toni, Kristen, Elisabeth, Beth, Maureen, Jewell, Lynn, Judy, and Sarah
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Current Store Hours
Monday - Friday 9:00 - 6:00 Saturday- Sunday 9:00 - 5:00
Beginning July 1, 2021
Monday - Friday 9:00 - 7:00 Saturday- Sunday 9:00 - 5:00
Masks are optional if you are vaccinated,
required if you are not.
Website ordering, curbside pick up, and shipping available.
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CHRISTINA CLANCY
in Conversation with
LIAM CALLANAN
Thursday, July 8
7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
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Join Boswell Book Company and Books & Company for a delightful conversation between authors Christina Clancy and Liam Callanan for Clancy's new novel, Shoulder Season, a dazzling portrait of a young woman coming into her own, the youthful allure of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and what we lose--and gain--when we leave home.
(on sale 7/6/21)
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MIKE GAYLE
in conversation with
Daniel Goldin & Lisa Baudoin
Thursday, July 22nd
2:00 p.m.
via Zoom
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Please join us for our July Readings From Oconomowaukee event, featuring author Mike Gayle in conversation with Boswell Book Store's Daniel Goldin and Books & Company's Lisa Baudoin for Gayle's new novel. All The Lonely People is a warm and funny novel about a widower in Australia who makes it seem as though his retirement is the time of his life, but in reality it is far from it. When his daughter makes plans to come to visit, he has to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
(on sale 7/13/21)
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MARY ANN NOE
in Conversation with
Lisa Baudoin
Thursday, July 22nd
7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
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Wisconsin author, Mary Ann Noe will be discussing her debut teen novel with Lisa Baudoin, owner of Books & Company.
After working with teens for thirty years teaching middle school language arts, and high school English and psychology, Mary Ann Noe knew teens were flexible, smart, generous, and for the most part, resilient. Yet also innocent. She also knew that the adults in their lives don't always "see" them. Then again, she asked herself, how well can we truly know anyone? To Know Her grew out of that question and Mary Ann's deep commitment to offer a novel that portrays the angst and drama of teen life and their relationships without defaulting to a "troubled teen" story.
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JENNIFER CHIAVERINI
in Conversation with
Daniel Goldin & Lisa Baudoin
Thursday, August 5th
2:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
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and receive 20% off list price!
(on sale 7/27/21)
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Wednesday, July 28th
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Maggie O'Farrell
Wednesday, August 25th
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Robert D. Harris
Registration coming soon.
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Wednesday, July 21st
6:30 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Roshani Chokshi
Wednesday, August 18th
6:30 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Samira Ahmed
Registration coming soon.
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Tuesday, July 27th
6:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Camilla Lackberg
Tuesday, August 24
6:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
TBD
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Sunday, July 25th
3:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Casey Cep
Sunday, September 26th
3:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting
by Tom O'Neill
Registration coming soon
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - hardcover |
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FICTION
New in Hardcover!
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by Karen Tucker
Told in a riveting dialogue between the girls' addicted past and their hopes for a better future, Bewilderness is not just a brilliant, funny, heartbreaking novel about opioid abuse, it's also a moving look at how intense, intimate friendships can shape every young woman's life. Bookseller Katrina says "Wow. This book took my breath away, and it's sad, honest, real. It describes the highs and lows of, as well as the dependence on drugs, friendships, love, and money. I couldn't stop reading and though I could sense what the end may look like, it still gripped me in it's devastating clutches until long after I turned the final page. It will be a long time before I forget Irene and Luce. "
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by Catherine Steadman
Actress and author Catherine Steadman has written a gripping thriller set in a world close to home that asks the question: In a city where dreams really do come true, how far would you go to make the unreal real? Once a year, actors from across the globe descend on the smog and sunshine of Los Angeles for pilot season. Every cable network and studio is looking to fill the rosters of their new shows, enticing a fresh batch of young hopefuls—anxious, desperate, and willing to do whatever it takes to make it. Careers will be made, dreams will be realized, stars will be born. And some will be snuffed out.
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by Helene Wecker
In this enthralling historical epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I— the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Golem and the Jinni—Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world. Bookseller Lynn says "I LOVED this book! Sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, it is the best of all worlds. Think Arabian Nights set in 1900's New York City. Escapism at its very best!"
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NONFICTION
New in Hardcover!
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by Jess McHugh
The true, fascinating, and remarkable history of thirteen books that defined a nation. Surprising and delightfully engrossing, Americanon explores the true history of thirteen of the nation's most popular books. Overlooked for centuries, our simple dictionaries, spellers, almanacs, and how-to manuals are the unexamined touchstones for American cultures and customs. What better way to understand a people than to look at the books they consumed most, the ones they returned to repeatedly, with questions about everything from spelling to social mobility to sex? This fresh and engaging book is American history as you've never encountered it before.
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Bicycling with Butterflies
by Sara Dykman
Outdoor educator and field researcher Sara Dykman made history when she became the first person to bicycle alongside monarch butterflies on their storied annual migration—a round-trip adventure that included three countries and more than 10,000 miles. Equally remarkable, she did it solo, on a bike cobbled together from used parts. Her panniers were recycled buckets. In Bicycling with Butterflies, Dykman recounts her incredible journey and the dramatic ups and downs of the nearly nine-month odyssey. With both humor and humility, Dykman offers a compelling story, confirming the urgency of saving the threatened monarch migration—and the other threatened systems of nature that affect the survival of us all.
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by Denise Huskins
& Aaron Quinn
In March 2015, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn awoke from a sound sleep into a nightmare. Armed men bound and drugged them, then abducted Denise. Warned not to call the police or Denise would be killed. Aaron agonized about what to do. Finally he put his trust in law enforcement and dialed 911. But instead of searching for Denise, the police accused Aaron of her murder. His story, they told him, was just unbelievable. When Denise was released alive, the police turned their fire on her, dubbing her the “real-life ‘Gone Girl’” who had faked her own kidnapping. In Victim F, Aaron and Denise recount the horrific ordeal that almost cost them everything.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - paperback |
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FICTION
Now in Paperback!
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by Christina Clancy
After a disastrous summer spent at her family’s home on Cape Cod when she is seventeen, Ann Gordon is very happy to never visit Wellfleet again. If only she’d stayed in Wisconsin, she might never have met Anthony Shaw, and she would have held onto the future she’d so carefully planned for herself. Instead, Ann ends up harboring a devastating secret that strains her relationship with her family. It is about second homes, second families, and second chances.
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by Ursula Hegi
In the summer of 1878, the Ludwig Zirkus arrives on Nordstrand in Germany, to the delight of the island’s people. But after the show, a Hundred-Year Wave roars from the Nordsee and claims three young children.
As full of joy and beauty as it is of pain, and told with the luminous power that has made Ursula Hegi a beloved bestselling author for decades, The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls is a shining testament to the ways in which women hold each other up in the most unexpected of circumstances.
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by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noem Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find--her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noem knows little about the region. Bookseller Ken loved this creepy novel and says "Moreno-Garcia's shuddery tribute to the Gothic genre. Mold, mushrooms, and mayhem cloud the life of Noemí Taboada as she tried to rescue her newlywed cousin from High Place."
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NONFICTION
Now in Paperback!
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by Matthew B. Crawford
Ten years ago, in the bestselling Shop Class as Soulcraft, philosopher-mechanic Matthew B. Crawford—a University of Chicago PhD who owned his own motorcycle shop—made a revolutionary case for manual labor, one that ran headlong against the pretentions of white-collar office work. Now, using driving as a window through which to view the broader changes wrought by technology on all aspects of contemporary life, Crawford investigates the driver’s seat as one of the few remaining domains of skill, exploration, play—and freedom.
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Introduction by Emma Thompson
How can we begin to talk about what is happening to the world? How can we explain to our children, and to ourselves, what the future of our planet might look and feel like? Letters to the Earth is the beginning of a new conversation. One that attempts to answer some of these questions by listening to the voices of parents and children; politicians and poets; songwriters and scientists. Gathering together over 100 letters written in response to the climate emergency, each entry begins to give language to the unspeakable, and shows how our collective power is present when we are ready to slow down and listen to each other.
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by Eric Jay Dolin
Eric Jay Dolin tells the history of America through its battles with hurricanes. Weaving together tales of tragedy and folly, of heroism and scientific progress, best-selling author Dolin shows how hurricanes have time and again determined the course of American history, from the nameless storms that threatened the New World voyages to our own era of global warming and megastorms. Along the way, Dolin introduces a rich cast of unlikely heroes, and forces us to reckon with the reality that future storms will likely be worse, unless we reimagine our relationship with the planet.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - kids/teen |
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by Vera Brosgol
Freda is devastated when she can’t eat all the delicious blueberries she’s picked. She has to wait a whole year before they’re back, and she doesn’t want to lose them! Then Gran reminds her that they can save blueberries in a jar, as jam. So Freda begins to save all her favorite things. But it turns out that saving everything also means she can’t enjoy anything, and Freda realizes that some things are best saved as memories. A young girl finds a clever way to keep her favorite things--and people--close to her forever in Memory Jars, from Caldecott Honoree Vera Brosgol.
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by Monica Arnaldo
Grub is a lonely racoon. Rumbling in the trash. Looking for food. Seed is, well, a seed! Patiently waiting in the trash. Hoping someone will plant it. When the two finally meet, they realize they might be able to help each other! Grub has just one big question first: What will Seed grow? Could Seed grow Grub’s favorite food, mouthwatering cheeseburgers? Seed isn’t sure what a cheeseburger is exactly, but maybe!
And so begins a hilarious friendship following two unlikely strangers learning more about the other and discovering the pressure that comes with fulfilling expectations.
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by Lidia M. Sigwarth
When Lydia was five years old, she and her family had to leave their home. They hopped from Grandma's house to Aunt Linda's house to Cousin Alice's house, but no place was permanent. Then one day, everything changed. Lydia's mom took her to a new place-not a house, but a big building with stone columns, and tall, tall steps. The library. In the library, Lydia found her special spot across from the sunny window, at a round desk. For behind that desk was her new friend, the librarian. Together, Lydia and the librarian discovered a world beyond their walls, one that sparkled with spectacular joy.
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by Kevin Hart
Marcus is NOT happy to be stuck in after-school film class until he realizes he can turn the story of the cartoon superhero he’s been drawing for years into an actual MOVIE! There’s just one problem: he has no idea what he’s doing. So he’ll need help, from his friends, his teachers, Sierra, the strong-willed classmate with creative dreams of her own, even Tyrell, the local bully who’d be a perfect movie villain if he weren’t too terrifying to talk to. Making this movie won’t be easy. But as Marcus discovers, nothing great ever is—and if you want your dream to come true, you’ve got to put in the hustle to make it happen.
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by Joseph Bruchac
Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation. She's there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There's a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration. Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn't go outside to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian's family knows that he'll protect them too.
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by Mary Alice Monroe
From bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers. Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary—no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
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by Diana Urban
A thrilling debut, reminiscent of new fan favorites like One of Us Is Lying and the beloved classics by Agatha Christie, that will leave readers guessing until the explosive ending. What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill...or else everyone dies.
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by Hannah Reynolds
Seventeen-year-old Abby Schoenberg isn't exactly looking forward to the summer before her senior year. Enter: the letters. And these aren't any old letters; they're love letters. Love letters from a mystery man named Edward, from a mansion on Nantucket to her grandmother. Abby doesn't know much about her grandmother's past. She knows she was born in Germany and moved to the US when she was five, fleeing the Holocaust. But the details are either hazy or nonexistent; and these letters depict a life that is a bit different than the quiet one Abby knows about.
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by Maureen Johnson
Amateur sleuth Stevie Bell needs a good murder. After catching a killer at her high school, she’s back at home for a normal (that means boring) summer. But then she gets a message from the owner of Sunny Pines, formerly known as Camp Wonder Falls—the site of the notorious unsolved case, the Box in the Woods Murders. Back in 1978, four camp counselors were killed in the woods outside of the town of Barlow Corners, their bodies left in a gruesome display. The new owner offers Stevie an invitation: Come to the camp and help him work on a true crime podcast about the case.
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Upcoming events from our friends at Boswell Book Company! |
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Elinor Lipman,
in Conversation with Jane Hamilton
Monday, July 19th
7:00 pm
InkLink Books of East Troy and Milwaukee's Boswell Book Company join forces once again to present an Ink/Well Virtual Event. Join us for an evening with Elinor Lipman, one of America's funniest novelists, for her mischievous novel of political satire. In conversation with her long-time friend Jane Hamilton, acclaimed author of The Excellent Lombards and A Map of the World.
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Kristin Harmel,
A Virtual Event
Monday, July 26, 7:30 pm
The Lynden Sculpture Garden's Women's Speaker Series, sponsored by Milwaukee Reads and Boswell Book Company, hosts Kristin Harmel, author of novels like The Book of Lost Names, for a virtual, BYOS (bring-your-own-snacks) event. She’ll chat about her latest, an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis.
Tickets are $5 plus sales tax and ticket fee, or upgrade to admission-with-book for $28. Books can be picked up at Boswell or, for an additional fee, shipped via USPS media mail. $5 from each ticket will be donated to the Lynden Sculpture Garden. Purchase your tickets now at harmellynden.eventbrite.com.
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