Hello!
It is true, I will be Esteban, the Green Crayon this Sunday. It's been a long time since I last sported a book character costume. So long that I can't remember if it was Elephant, Piggie, or maybe Pete the Cat! One of the many perks of life as a bookseller! This special story time will be our first since 2020. We will read Green is for Christmas by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, the duo who brought us the original The Day the Crayon's Quit. Esteban will be stamping books with a green crayon stamp and posing with kids and their families for pictures. If your Santa pictures turned out a little too tearful for Christmas Cards, consider a photo with Esteban! Register HERE.
Another bookseller perk is falling in love with a book, then having the opportunity to be in conversation with the author and one of your favorite co-booksellers. Still Life is that book; Sarah Winman is that author; and Daniel Goldin is that co-bookseller. The next Readings from Oconomowaukee will be with Sarah Winman on Friday, December 16 at 2pm. Sarah Winman will be joining us from London for this virtual event. Register HERE.
This Friday, we are hosting an in-store event with writer and musician Mark Hembree in conversation with John Sieger, also a writer and musician! For fans of local bluegrass and twang music, these two don't need an introduction, but if you haven't been keeping up with the local scene and enjoy a little plucking and twang with your music, then you should to join us! Mark Hembree's new book, On the Bus with Bill Monroe, is about the time he spent touring with the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. The conversation will center around the book , but is sure to include many sidebars into the life of a musician, music, and writing. Sprinkle in a sampling of songs and riffs by these two and you have a wonderful and unique Books & Company experience. Mark Hembree continues to perform locally with The Mark Hembree Band. John Sieger writes the Sieger on Songs column for Urban Milwaukee and performs with the John Sieger Combo and recently with the reunion show for the R&B Cadets.
Live music at the bookstore? One more thing to love about being a bookseller.
Miscellaneous (But Important!) Tidbits:
-Our Holiday Catalog can be shopped on our website or by clicking the image below. Stop by to browse the display in the bookstore, too.
-December 15 is last day to mail packages from Books & Company to arrive in time for Christmas or the end Hanukkah.
-The last day to special order a book to arrive in time for the holidays is Wednesday, December 21 - BUT the book must be available at our distributor. If you want a specific title, I recommend you check with us sooner than later. Older titles may take longer to get, if we don't have them on our shelves.
-Not sure what to give? We can help with personalized recommendations, and we'll gift wrap it for free!
-Gift cards make an excellent gift for the reader in your life.
-If you can, shop early. If not, no worries- we will continue to have a great selection of interesting, unique, and favorite books and gifts on our shelves every day, and we're open every day through and including Christmas Eve.
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Lisa with Katrina, Ken, Chloe, Toni, Elisabeth, Beth, Lynn, Judy, Emma, Lizzy, Connie, Susie, Ava, and Keri
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Current Store Hours
Monday - Friday 9:00 - 7:00 Saturday - Sunday 9:00 - 5:00
Curbside pick up and shipping still available.
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Shop our holiday catalog online! |
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Sunday, December 11th
12:00-1:00p.m.
Books & Company
Registration required-
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Join us for a family-fun day at the store and meet the character Esteban, the Green Crayon from Drew Daywalt's contemporary classic, The Day the Crayons Quit! Esteban will be at the store from 12:00 -1:00 PM saying hello to fans and sharing a new story about his holiday adventures, Green is for Christmas.
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MARK HEMBREE
In Conversation with
JOHN SIEGER
Friday, December 9th
6:30 p.m.
Books & Company
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Local bassist and writer, Mark Hembree is joined by John Sieger for an in person conversation about his latest book, On the Bus with Bill Monroe: My Five-Year Ride with the Father of Bluegrass. John’s experience as a musician and writer will lead us in conversation with Mark on a behind the scenes journey into the world of bluegrass music with the bluegrass icon, Bill Monroe as the center of the journey. John and Mark will bring their instruments along for a taste of music.
Please register for this free event so we have a headcount for seating!
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Readings from Oconomowaukee
SARAH WINMAN
In Conversation with
Daniel Goldin
and Lisa Baudoin
Friday, December 16th
2:00 p.m.
via Zoom
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Readings from Oconomowaukee presents an afternoon event with Sarah Winman, author of Still Life- a captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man. In conversation with Daniel Goldin of Boswell and Lisa Baudoin of Books & Company. Please note, this will be a spoiler-friendly event.
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CLAIRE SWINARSKI
Tuesday, January 10th
6:00 p.m.
Books & Company
REGISTRATION LINK COMING SOON
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Join us for a party celebrating the release of Claire Swinarski's book What Happened to Rachel Riley- an engrossing and inventive contemporary middle grade novel that's Where'd You Go Bernadette? with a #MeToo message, an eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly popular girl is now the pariah of her new school. Please register for this free event so we have a headcount for seating!
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Virtual Author Event
Readings From Oconomowaukee
SUZETTE MAYR
Tuesday, January 10th
7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
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Milwaukee's Boswell Book Company and Oconomowoc's Books & Company present the first Readings from Oconomowaukee for 2023! January's event will feature Suzette Mayr, author of The Sleeping Car Porter- a favorite novel of booksellers from both stores!
When a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend with the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair...
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Books & Company Book Groups |
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Wednesday, December 28th
1:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
Holiday Party!
registration required-
limited seating available
Wednesday, January 25th
1:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Mike Gayle
registration required-
limited seating available
link to come
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Tuesday, November 29th*
*note date changed
by Vera Kurian
Two meetings:
4:00 p.m.
In person at Books & Co.
no registration required
6:00 p.m.
via Zoom
Registration required
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Wednesday, Nov. 30th*
6:30 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Neal Shusterman
*note date changed
Wednesday, December 21st
6:30 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
Choose your own!
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - hardcover |
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FICTION
New and Favorites in Hardcover!
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by Madeline Miller
In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece—the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen—the gift of life. After marrying her, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence.
**A small hardcover edition featuring a new afterword by Madeline Miller**
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by Matthew Quick
Bookseller Lynn says "Eloquent, poignant, and heartrending are just a few of the apt adjectives to describe this extraordinary read. Lucas is writing to his therapist after a devastating tragedy that has occurred in their small town. Gradually revealing the event and those that follow, you travel with Lucas through the emotional rollercoaster of trauma. I will not forget this book anytime soon."
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by Cormac McCarthy
The second novel in the Passenger series!
1972, BLACK RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN: Alicia Western, twenty years old, with forty thousand dollars in a plastic bag, admits herself to the hospital. A doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Chicago, Alicia has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and she does not want to talk about her brother, Bobby. Told entirely through the transcripts of Alicia’s psychiatric sessions.
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NONFICTION
New and Favorites in Hardcover!
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by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress.
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by Patti Smith
With over 365 photographs taking you through a single year, A Book of Days is a new way to experience the expansive mind of the visionary poet, writer, and performer. Hopeful, elegiac, playful—and complete with an introduction by Smith that explores her documentary process—A Book of Days is a timeless offering for deeply uncertain times, an inspirational map of an artist’s life.
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by Steve Martin
Steve Martin has never written about his career in the movies before. In Number One Is Walking, he shares anecdotes from the sets of his beloved films—Father of the Bride, Roxanne, The Jerk, Three Amigos, and many more—bringing readers directly into his world.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - paperback |
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FICTION
New and Favorites in Paperback!
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by Jan-Phillip Sendker
From the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, a moving tale of forbidden love and extraordinary courage in the face of disaster. Eighteen-year-old Niri and his family live a modest but secure life working in the villa of the wealthy Benzes. But when the pandemic comes, they are all let go, and left staring into the abyss of abject poverty.
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by Emily Austin
Booksellers Katrina and Lynn loved this novel. Lynn says this is "The ultimate 'fish out of water' book. Gilda inadvertently takes a job at the local Catholic Church despite the fact that she is gay and not religious. I love the dry humor and characters in this book; and, of course, the title!"
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by Bethan Roberts
Bookseller Ken says this is "An excellent novel set in 1950's Brighton. Based on the relationship novelist E.M. Forster had with a policeman while married to his wife May." My Policeman is a deeply heartfelt story of love's passionate endurance, and the devastation wrought by a repressive society.
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NONFICTION
New and Favorites in Paperback!
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by Jason Guriel
Written during the pandemic, when the world was marooned at home and consigned to scrolling screens, On Browsing's essays chronicle what we've lost through online shopping, streaming, and the relentless digitization of culture. The latest in the Field Notes series, On Browsing is an elegy for physical media, a polemic in defense of perusing the world in person, and a love letter to the dying practice of scanning bookshelves, combing CD bins, and losing yourself in the stacks.
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by Kathryn Schulz
One spring morning, Kathryn Schulz went to lunch with a stranger and fell in love. Having spent years looking for the right relationship, she was dazzled by how swiftly everything changed when she finally met her future wife. But as the two of them began building a life together, Schulz’s beloved father—a charming, brilliant, absentminded Jewish refugee—went into the hospital with a minor heart condition and never came out. Newly in love yet also newly bereft, Schulz was left contending simultaneously with wild joy and terrible grief.
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by Sumana Roy
Hailed upon its original publication in India as “a love song to plants and trees” and “an ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient,” How I Became a Tree blends literary history, theology, philosophy, botany, and more, and ultimately prompts readers to slow down and to imagine a reenchanted world in which humans live more like trees.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - kids/teen |
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by Yuval Zommer
From tiny specks of dust to gleaming rays in the dark, the northern lights travel across the Arctic, uniting every creature in a celebration over land and sea. In this wonderfully festive picture book, Yuval Zommer imagines the northern lights' fleeting journey from space to Earth and how they weave a special magic for the animals and people living in the frozen lands below. With its heartfelt themes of kinship, curiosity, and the wonders of nature, it's a perfectly cozy story for families to read together.
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by Levi Pinfold
When a young girl and her older brothers step into the ghostly Paradise Sands hotel, they fall under the rule of the mysterious Teller. The girl makes a deal with the commanding creature to free them all from his haunting paradise—and let them return to their mother, white roses in hand. But can the girl, determined as she is, hold up her side of the bargain? Bookseller Katrina says "This fairy tale of a book is perfect for those looking for something beautiful and different. A completely unique store with gorgeous illustrations. A picture book perfect for adults as well."
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by Jess McGeachin
When Oliver finds a lost library book fluttering behind a secret door in his bedroom, he knows he must return it. But when he does, a mysterious world opens up beneath his feet, taking Oliver, his new friend Rosie, and the book in tow. What--or who--will they find waiting in this strange new place? And how will they escape? A beautiful, lyrical take on the imaginative power of books and the transformative power of friendship
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by Dav Pilkey
In this innovative graphic novel series, award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey employs a variety of techniques -- including origami, acrylic paints, colored pencils, photography, collage, gouache, watercolors, and more -- to capture the creative and joyful spirit of collaboration. The variety of art styles, paired with Pilkey's trademark storytelling and humor, inspires imagination and innovation for readers of all ages.
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by Gail Carson Levine
This latest novel from Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine about two princesses battling against their fates in the middle of the Trojan War is a must-read for anyone who loves Greek mythology or the Percy Jackson books! With heroines to cheer for and nail-biting adventures, Newbery Honor–winning author Gail Carson Levine once again transports her readers, this time to ancient Troy, where princesses (even cursed ones) will stop at nothing to shape their fate.
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by Meira Drazin
Milla and Honey have been best friends since forever.
Milla envies Honey’s confidence, her charisma, and her big, chaotic family—especially when they provide a welcome escape from Milla’s own small family and quiet house. In their close-knit Jewish community, the two girls do everything together.
So when Honey joins Milla’s school for sixth grade, why is it not as great as Milla expected?
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by Jamie Pacton
The heart-wrenching story of The Radium Girls meets the enchanting world of Howl’s Moving Castle in a story of timeless love and deadly consequences. A powerful and romantic adventure set in a whimsically magical world. The Vermilion Emporium shines a light into the darkest spaces. It’s about healing in a world shrouded with despair and discovering a spark of magic when you need it most.
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by Isabel Wilkerson
In this young adult adaptation of the Oprah Book Club selection and New York Times bestselling nonfiction work, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson explores the unspoken hierarchies that divide us across lines of race and class. Revealing and timely, this work will speak to young people who are engaged more than ever with the world around them, or to anyone who believes in a more just existence for all.
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by Holly Jackson
Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Her best friend - the older brother - his perfect girlfriend - a secret crush - a classmate - and a killer. When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead.
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Upcoming events from our friends at Boswell Book Company! |
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In-Person Event
John Gurda
Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery
917 W Juneau Ave
Tuesday, December 6
6:30 pm
Boswell Book Company, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press welcome John Gurda to Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery, discussing his new book, Brewtown Tales. Enjoy a hot pretzel and a pint in Blue Ribbon Hall as we celebrate this new release from the foremost historian of Milwaukee. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
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In-Person Event
Olena Jennings
In Conversation with Krystia Nora
at Boswell
Wednesday, December 14
6:30 pm
Boswell hosts Olena Jennings, editor of Ukrainian American Poets Respond, a book that encompasses 29 poets' responses to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in the spring of 2022. In conversation with Krystia Nora, of Wisconsin Ukrainians, our event cosponsor. Wisconsin Ukrainians is a nonprofit organization founded to help connect Ukrainians in our state, share and celebrate the Ukrainian culture, and help provide support to important causes in Ukraine.
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If you’re ready to start your holiday shopping, audiobook credit bundles through Libro.fm make the perfect gift! You pick the number of audiobook credits, your gift recipient picks their own audiobooks, and you support Books & Company with your purchase.
Libro.fm audiobook credit bundles are available worldwide, and you can purchase them for yourself in addition to giving them as gifts. If you want to give a specific audiobook, you can do that too!
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Take a look at our previous newsletters, now conveniently archived on our website!
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