Staff Recommendations, Week of April 28, 2026

 Three quick recommendations to keep you reading this week!

Daniel suggests Ghost Town, the latest novel by Tom Perrotta. Daniel says: "On hearing that his father has been memorialized in his hometown of Creamwood, New Jersey, Jimmy Perrini, now writer of the popular Ghost Teacher series for kids under the name Jay Perry, is madeleined into recalling the fateful summer after his mother’s death. Fast cars, Ouija boards, and strong weed all play a role in this powerful story about grief, prejudice, and the complications of adolescence. A joy to read!"

McKenna recommends Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About, the new memoir from dogstagrammer Isabel Klee. McKenna writes: "Isabel, Simon, and her cohort of foster dogs have my entire heart! Isabel recalls her experience of living in New York during her twenties, her constant triumphs and failings of dating, and the COVID pandemic with such vulnerability and introspection that you begin to feel that you are a close friend of hers. As she begins to tell the stories of her many foster dogs and the lessons she has taken from each of them, I constantly found myself looking at my own dog and being reminded just how much he has taught me and how many trials and tribulations I have been able to get through because of him."

And finally, Kay is a fan of Sanctuary, the apocalyptic new thriller by James Cleary (aka James DeVita). Kay opines: "Brandt’s bug-out place in a Nebraska nuclear silo is near completion when climate change hits a tipping point. Brandt barely gets his family and a few security team members to Sanctuary before the grid fails. A parade of trucks brings squatters who take control of the house outside the silo. It’s a war between the haves and have nots and a couple in-betweens."

James Cleary (DeVita) is coming to Boswell with this very novel this week! He'll be here for a conversation with Wisconsin native Christina Clancy on Thursday, April 30, 6:30 pm. Click here for more info at boswellbooks.com/event/2026-04-30/devita-cleary-sanctuary.

And those are the recs! Until next time, read on!