Three special events upcoming: Valentine's Day with Elana K Arnold for Harriet Spies, Edward Chisholm for A Waiter in Paris (virtual with Books & Co and Alliance Française, and Katherine May for Enchantment (virtual with Porchlight)

Elana K Arnold, author of Harriet Spies
in person at Boswell
Tuesday, February 14, 4:30 pm - click here to register! 

Join us at Boswell for an after-school Valentine’s Day special featuring Elana K Arnold, who visits with Harriet Spies, the sequel to her chapter book Just Harriet, which continues the adventures of the unforgettable Harriet. And as a special Valentine’s treat, the first 50 people to register and attend this event will get delicious mini cupcakes from Classy Girl Cupcakes – yum!

There are a few things to know about Harriet Wermer: She always tells the truth. She loves spending the summer on Marble Island, where she is an A+ mystery-solver. And, okay, maybe she doesn’t always tell the truth. Maybe she has a tendency to lie quite a bit. When one of the guests at her grandmother’s bed-and-breakfast finds their treasured pair of binoculars is missing, no one believes Harriet when she said she had nothing to do with it. But this is one time Harriet isn’t lying - and she knows that if she can find the binoculars and figure out who really took them, she can prove it.

This series is perfect for fans of Clementine and Ramona Quimby, with a bold, brash heroine and the comforting, big-hearted, funny tone that resonates with readers. Harriet and her adorable kitty Matzo Ball are sure to be long-enduring and beloved characters.

Elana K Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She is a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program.

Edward Chisholm, author of A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City
in conversation with Daniel Goldin and Lisa Baudoin for a virtual event
Thursday, February 16, 2 pm - click here to register. 

Join us online for the February installment of our Readings from Oconomowaukee event series, presented in partnership with Books & Company of Oconomowoc. This month’s event features Edward Chisholm, author of A Waiter in Paris, an evocative portrait of the underbelly of contemporary Paris as seen through the eyes of a young waiter scraping out a living in the City of Light. Cohosted by our friends of Alliance Française de Milwaukee.

Be sure to order your copy of A Waiter in Paris now as well. Order here from Boswell or order here from Books & Company.

A waiter's job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door is hell. Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter takes you beneath the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world and right into its glorious underbelly. Waiting is a job that’s physically demanding, frequently humiliating, and incredibly competitive. But it doesn't matter when you’re in Paris, the center of the universe, and there's nowhere else you'd rather be in the world.

Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé, says: "A young Englishman’s journey into the merciless world of Parisian restaurants is propulsive, harrowing, and expertly observed. I could practically smell the grease and feel his terror and - ironically - his hunger. I don’t think I’ll dine out in quite the same way again." And from the starred Publishers Weekly review: "A Dickensian tale of a young man’s trial by fire in a French bistro gives rise to biting commentary on Parisian culture in Chisholm’s intoxicating debut."

This review from the Wall Street Journal is well worth checking out. Benjamin Shull talks favorably about the book and highlights Chisholm's method of using blanks to highlight his lack of understanding of conversational French at the beginning of his journey as waitstaff. 

Edward Chisholm was born in England and moved to Paris after graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Chisholm spent four years working all manner of low-paid restaurant jobs, from waiting and bartending, while trying to build a career as a writer. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Financial Times.

Katherine May, author of Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age 
in conversation with Sally Haldorson for a virtual event
New Date: Monday, February 20, 1 pm - click here to register. 

Boswell Book Company and Porchlight Book Company are so happy to welcome Katherine May back for a virtual sequel to last year’s visit! This time the Wintering author joins us for a pre-publication preview event for her new book, Enchantment, which offers an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all.

Books will be available for pickup at Boswell on February 28, 2023, the publication date. Preorders will receive a special art print with an enchanting quote from the book!

Katherine May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly the feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.

And how about this early praise from Anne Lamott: "I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment.She is so smart, tender hearted, thoughtful. It’s actually enchanting, so wise and lyrical, down to earth and mystical, personal and universal. It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times."

This article from Rachel Abrams of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review gives a very thorough and thoughtful rundown of the charms of the book. A particular highlight is when she talks about the Leonid meteor shower of 1833: 

"One early morning, an estimated 72,000 streaks of light fell across the sky in magnificent arcs. The witnesses, who at the time didn’t have the scientific knowledge to explain it, had to reckon with the mystery in their own ways, each one coming to their own uncertain conclusion about the nature of the universe. That very plurality of meaning is the magic of deep terrain. It doesn’t offer a straightforward answer. Engaging with its layers of history and life isn’t a means to an end but a practice in and of itself, one that requires curiosity, reverence, and ceremony. Most importantly, you create your own meaning."

Katherine May is the New York Times bestselling author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Times of London, and Cosmopolitan.

Photo credits: 
Edward Chisholm by Morgane Lequand
Katherine May by Alexa Loy Dent