Hello!
Happy New Year! Happy New Books!
Thank you to everyone who donated to our Mitten Tree program in partnership with the Oconomowoc Food Pantry! We sold, wrapped, and gave out 240 (!) books to kids and teens visiting the Oconomowoc Food Pantry in December 2022! We are so pleased to be a part of this wonderful way to support our reading community.
Our first 2023 Readings from Oconomowaukee event is coming up on Tuesday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m. We will be having a Zoom webinar with Suzette Mayr, author of The Sleeping Car Porter. You may have heard Bookseller Ken talking about this book, he's a big fan of this compelling novel! Click here to register!
For those that missed our virtual event with Sarah Winman for her novel Still Life, you can now watch it from the comfort of your own home! Click here to watch this virtual event! Books & Company store owner Lisa is still thinking about what a touching conversation it was.
Keep an eye out for a special edition newsletter coming this month with our Top 5 Books of 2022. The booksellers have been busy compiling their lists. It's been interesting to see what made the cut!
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Lisa with Katrina, Ken, Chloe, Toni, Elisabeth, Beth, Lynn, Judy, Emma, Lizzy, Connie, Susie, Ava, and Jewell
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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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CLAIRE SWINARSKI
Tuesday, January 10th
6:00 p.m.
Books & Company
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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, January 25th
1:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Mike Gayle
registration required-
Wednesday, February 22nd
1:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Janet Skeslien Charles
registration required-
limited seating available
link to come
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Tuesday, January 24
4:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Jane Pek
Tuesday, February 28
4:00 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by E. Lockhart
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Wednesday, January 18th
6:30 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Erin A. Craig
Wednesday, February 15th
6:30 p.m.
in person at Books & Co.
by Elizabeth Acevedo
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - hardcover
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FICTION
New and Favorites in Hardcover!
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by Deepti Kapoor
Equal parts crime thriller and family saga, transporting readers from the dusty villages of Uttar Pradesh to the urban energy of New Delhi, Age of Vice is an intoxicating novel of gangsters and lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance, and the consequences of corruption. It is binge-worthy entertainment at its literary best.
**Signed copies available while supplies last!
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by Barbara Kingsolver
Bookseller Lynn says "It is amazing to me that Barbara Kingsolver can write a story that contains so much ugliness and beauty side by side. Demon's life is filled with the hardships of poverty, cruelty, drugs and alcohol. He determines at a young age he must do what is necessary to survive. But he still manages to appreciate the beauty of nature surrounding him. His empathy, his kindness, his moral character exist despite everything he knows."
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by Rae Meadows
Perfection has a cost... With transporting prose and meticulous detail, set in an era that remains shockingly relevant today, Winterland tells a story of glory, loss, hope, and determination, and of finding light where none exists. Bookseller Susie says this is an "Amazing story of a gymnast in the Soviet Union in the 1970's. Heart-wrenching and inspiring. A reminder of the value of democracy."
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NONFICTION
New and Favorites in Hardcover!
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by Buddy Levy
In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame. Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her. As the ship became icebound, Stefansson disembarked with five companions and struck out on what he claimed was a 10-day caribou hunting trip. Most on board would never see him again.
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by Kenneth C. Davis
Fall back into the joys of literature with an extraordinary book for book lovers: a compulsively readable, deeply engaging list of great short novels. A journey into short fiction designed with our contemporary attention spans in mind, Great Short Books suggests fifty-eight excellent short novels, all easily readable in a week or less—a “baker’s dozen” approach to a fun, fascinating year of reading.
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by Erica Hannickel
The epitome of floral beauty, orchids have long fostered works of art, tales of adventure, and scientific discovery. Tenacious plant hunters have traversed continents to collect rare specimens; naturalists and shoguns have marveled at orchids’ seductive architecture; royalty and the smart set have adorned themselves with their allure. In Orchid Muse, historian and home grower Erica Hannickel gathers these bold tales of the orchid-smitten throughout history, while providing tips on cultivating the extraordinary flowers she features.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - paperback
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FICTION
New and Favorites in Paperback!
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by Charmaine Wilkerson
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch. Bookseller Lizzy says "This novel pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the very last page. Beautiful writing."
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by Ann Davila Cardinal
From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability. Bookseller Lynn says this is "A captivating story of one aspect of Puerto Rican culture, the storyteller. Not merely an ability to remember events, this magical gift of reliving past events is both treasured and complicated.
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by Brendan Slocumb
Ray McMillian is a naturally talented violinist, but growing up black in rural North Carolina doesn't give way to success easily. When he discovers that his great-great-grandfather’s beat-up old fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach. But on the eve of the renowned Tchaikovsky Competition, the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Bookseller Katrina calls it a "page-turner that is much more than just a mystery- it deals with race, class, music, and family."
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NONFICTION
New and Favorites in Paperback!
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by Matthew Gabriele &
David M. Perry
The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors.
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by Sian Evans
During the early twentieth century, transatlantic travel was the province of the great ocean liners. It was an extraordinary undertaking made by many women, whose lives were changed forever by their journeys between the Old World and the New. Entertaining and informative, Maiden Voyages captures the golden age of ocean liners through the stories of the women whose transatlantic journeys changed the shape of society on both sides of the globe.
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by Art Spiegelman
Innovative, serious, funny, and many decades ahead of its time, Breakdowns is offered here in its entirety: the long-sought-after collection of the artist's comics of the 1970s, along with an introduction almost as long as the book it introduces—and just as autobiographically intimate and experimentally daring. At once the story of an artist and of his medium, Breakdowns alters the terms of what can be accomplished in a memoir.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS - kids/teen
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by Dianne White
When the family dog trots away from the house at sunset, three siblings tumble out the door to go find him. Soon they find themselves immersed in the luminous colors, shades, and shadows of nature at night—both dark and light. With beautiful illustrations by Felicita Sala and lyrical text by Dianne White that’s perfect for reading aloud, this book invites young readers to step into the wondrous, colorful nighttime natural world.
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by Brooke Boynton-Hughes
Through backyards and neighborhoods, over mountains, and across oceans, this colorful heart string ties us all together. Invisible yet undeniable, it joins our hearts so that we are never truly alone. Follow the thread of this reassuring story to see how, even in a world as vast as ours, there is always a bond that connects us to the ones we love—and to the world we share.
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by Élise Fontenaille
With lush art by NYT Best Illustrated recipient Violeta L piz, a picture book about a boy and his larger-than-life immigrant grandfather, who shares with him the kind of learning that's not taught in classrooms. A loving testament to the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and the breathtaking beauty of the natural world, illustrated with evocative, multilayered.
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by Jasmine Warga
Bookseller Lizzy says this is "One of my favorite books of 2022. So sweet and heartwarming. Like a warm hug of a book. Read it now!" Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name. Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop humanlike feelings. Maybe there’s a problem with his programming...
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by Caroline Brooks DuBois
Before the storm, thirteen-year-old Quinn was happy flying under the radar. She was average. Unremarkable. Always looking for an escape from her house, where her bickering parents fawned over her genius big brother. But after the storm, Quinn can’t seem to go back to average. Her friends weren't affected by the tornado in the same way. As Quinn struggles to find stability in the tornado’s aftermath, she must choose: between homes, friendships, and versions of herself.
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by Jessica Vitalis
What makes a hero or a villain? Can someone be both—or neither?
When the delicate balance between the people of a small country and the mythic rabbits of age-old lore is broken, putting everyone at risk, a young rabbit and a young girl must overcome their prejudices and learn to trust each other. Told from both Quincy’s and Fleurine’s perspectives, The Rabbit’s Gift will enchant fans of Katherine Applegate, Gail Carson Levine, and Anne Ursu.
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by Jas Hammonds
Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.
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by Kiera Cass
Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain. Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.
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by Adiba Jaigirdar
Josefa is an unapologetic and charismatic thief, who loves the thrill of the chase. She has her eye on her biggest mark yet—the RMS Titanic, the most luxurious ship in the world. But she isn’t interested in stealing from wealthy first-class passengers onboard. No, she’s out for the ultimate prize: the Rubiyat, a one of a kind book encrusted with gems that’s worth millions.
Josefa can’t score it alone, so she enlists a team of girls with unique talents
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Upcoming events from our friends at Boswell Book Company!
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In Person Event
Elinor Lipman
in conversation with Daniel Goldin and Nancy Quinn
at Boswell
Tuesday, January 17
6:30 pm
Boswell is happy to welcome Elinor Lipman back to the store for a conversation about her new novel, Ms. Demeanor, which is a delicious and witty romantic comedy about love under house arrest - for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Maria Semple, and Linda Holmes. In conversation with Daniel Goldin of Boswell Book Company and former Schwartz bookseller Nancy Quinn.
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Virtual Author Event
Tim Birkhead
Wednesday, January 18
2:00 pm
Boswell Book Company and Schlitz Audubon Nature Center present a virtual program featuring preeminent ornithologist Tim Birkhead, author of Birds and Us, a book that examines the changing relationship between humans and birds, from the earliest depictions in cave art to the threat of extinction now and in the near future.
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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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