Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal
author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Feel good fiction, fiction humor, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Feel good fiction, fiction humor, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB will feel like home to Midwesterners – grab a stool at the bar and settle in for a warm and witty read.

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The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
#education, Black Lives Matter, essays, generational trauma, Global politics, historical, Minnesota interest, nonfiction, political #education, Black Lives Matter, essays, generational trauma, Global politics, historical, Minnesota interest, nonfiction, political

The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura

The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and our American Narratives by David Mura should be required reading in all high school and college classrooms – and for all Americans. Mura presents a cohesive, comprehensive, and uncompromising look into how white stories about race erase our true historical narrative and foster racism in the present.

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Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, feminist literature, Global politics, historical fiction, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, political, political fiction, sense of place, social justice, women's issues #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, feminist literature, Global politics, historical fiction, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, political, political fiction, sense of place, social justice, women's issues

Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan

BROTHERLESS NIGHTS is an engrossing and heartrending read, and Sashi is a heroine for the ages. Ganeshananthan writes brilliantly about a complex subject, casting a spotlight on the forgotten heroes and victims of war.

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The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be by Shannon Gibney
author interview, coming of age, essays, family drama, generational trauma, health care, magical realism, Memoir, Minnesota interest, nonfiction, race, speculative memoir, transracial adoption, women's issues author interview, coming of age, essays, family drama, generational trauma, health care, magical realism, Memoir, Minnesota interest, nonfiction, race, speculative memoir, transracial adoption, women's issues

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be by Shannon Gibney

Transracial adoption is never tidy, and cannot be encapsulated in an individual story, but Gibney does a masterful job of helping the reader understand the complexities of identity and the machinations of the adoption industrial complex. A writer with courage and heart, Gibney lays bare her experience for the benefit of us all.

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Not the Camilla We Knew; One Woman's Path from Small-Town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army by Rachael Hanel
biography, coming of age, family drama, feminist literature, investigative journalism, Minnesota interest, political, sense of place, social justice, women's issues biography, coming of age, family drama, feminist literature, investigative journalism, Minnesota interest, political, sense of place, social justice, women's issues

Not the Camilla We Knew; One Woman's Path from Small-Town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army by Rachael Hanel

A shocking and well-researched portrait of a pastor’s daughter from St. Peter, Minnesota, whose life took a radical turn when she joined the Symbionese Liberation Army, ultimately dying in a shootout with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1974.

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Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon
#native voices, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Native American Authors, Native Voices, sense of place Lin Salisbury #native voices, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Native American Authors, Native Voices, sense of place Lin Salisbury

Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon

Cash Blackbear is one of my favorite anti-heroes — a brash beer-drinking, pool-playing Ojibwe woman who has aged out of the foster care system.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer
#education, #native voices, historical, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices Lin Salisbury #education, #native voices, historical, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices Lin Salisbury

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer

Living on the North Shore of Lake Superior, a mere twenty miles from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, commonly known as the Grand Portage Anishinaabe, I have a responsibility to learn and understand more about the first people that inhabited this area. They are my friends and neighbors, and I often don’t verbalize the questions I have because I don’t want to say anything offensive or reveal my ignorance. Treuer’s book is a straightforward path through what could be a minefield, one that to be honest, creates anxiety and for me and impairs genuine connection and communication.

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The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye
#literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Nature, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Nature, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye

Geye writes with a musicality that soars above the complex plot of The Ski Jumpers. The novel moves back and forth in time and place – moving from Duluth, where Jon and his wife currently live, to the North Woods of Minnesota where he visits his daughter and her partner, and to Minneapolis, where Jon and his brother Anton grew up skiing in Theodore Wirth Park and jumping from the Highland Ski Jump in Bloomington. If you’re a fan of arresting family dramas with a bit of a twist, complex and provocative characters, breathtaking landscapes wrapped in luminous prose, The Ski Jumpers is your next read.

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Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Minnesota interest, mystery, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Minnesota interest, mystery, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury

Carolina Moonset by Matt Goldman

When Joey Green returns to North Carolina to take care of his father who suffers from dementia, his father’s long-lost memories of a murdered friend may implicate him in a murder.

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The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee

Lee is one of a handful of American journalists who have been granted a visa to North Korea since the Korean War. Her book is carefully researched and the sections on Yungman’s early life in Korea, as well as his return, are layered with historical truths and emotional impact. It isn’t an easy thing to sustain momentum in a four hundred plus page book, but Lee’s ending is pitch-perfect and will resonate with readers for a long time.

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When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, fantasy, feminist literature, Minnesota interest, political, political fiction, social justice, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, fantasy, feminist literature, Minnesota interest, political, political fiction, social justice, women's issues Lin Salisbury

When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS is an evocative tale about gender, gender roles, and the politicization of history. Barnhill has written a cautionary tale about what happens when women are silenced and their human right to make their own choices is taken from them.

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Seven Aunts by Staci Lola Drouillard
#native voices, author interview, biography, family drama, feminist literature, generational trauma, historical, Memoir, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, nonfiction, women's history, women's issues Lin Salisbury #native voices, author interview, biography, family drama, feminist literature, generational trauma, historical, Memoir, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, nonfiction, women's history, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Seven Aunts by Staci Lola Drouillard

Reading SEVEN AUNTS, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for these women and the author’s commitment to truth telling. Drouillard writes with such integrity. I cared deeply about the aunties, and I didn’t want to leave them. Extraordinary women leading ordinary lives; they lived in a world that did not recognize their contributions, but the lessons of their lives changed the world for future generations.

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The Last Bookseller, A Life in the Rare Book Trade
biography, Memoir, Minnesota interest, nonfiction Lin Salisbury biography, Memoir, Minnesota interest, nonfiction Lin Salisbury

The Last Bookseller, A Life in the Rare Book Trade

One of the most delightful aspects of Goodman’s book is the footnotes. If you buy the book for nothing but the footnotes, it’s a dollar well spent. They’re hilarious and snarky and reveal more about the author than the subject. For both bibliophiles and booksellers, THE LAST BOOKSELLER is a must read. With humor and great affection, Goodman invites us in for a look behind the curtain before it closes for the last time.

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3 AM Austin Texas by Klecko
Minnesota interest, poetry Lin Salisbury Minnesota interest, poetry Lin Salisbury

3 AM Austin Texas by Klecko

Sometimes the only way to recover from bad choices is to leave them behind, and that’s what Klecko did. His newest poetry collection, 3AM AUSTIN TEXAS, is subtitled Boy on the Run, and it’s an account of a painful time in his life – a time when he hitchhiked from Minnesota to Texas in the middle of winter in search of himself. Along the way, he experienced excruciating cold, hunger, and loneliness. The little things helped: ride, a meal, a twenty-dollar bill, a Pepsi, a book, and even a prayer. But mostly he had to muscle through it.

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The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
#literarynovel, #native voices, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, Native Voices, political fiction, race, sense of place, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, #native voices, Black Lives Matter, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, Native Voices, political fiction, race, sense of place, social justice Lin Salisbury

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Erdrich has written another masterpiece. THE SENTENCE is a compelling read that serves as a time capsule. Maybe one day we will look back and remember the Summer of 2020 – not just as a period of loss and trauma – but as the antidote to it. E.B. White famously wrote that a writer must not only reflect and interpret the world but must also sound the alarm. THE SENTENCE does just that.

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Reeling by Sarah Stonich
character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Reeling by Sarah Stonich

Stonich has a gift for revealing vulnerability in the most unlikely places. RayAnne’s first interview in New Zealand is with Ellie Mann, a tough-talking, tuna trawler captain who puts her to work throwing bait out the back of the boat. Donning a helmet with a visor to protect her from the fish frenzy that follows, RayAnne feels an unfamiliar squeamishness at reaching into a pail of live bait.

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We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World, Edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura
#native voices, Black Lives Matter, essays, Global politics, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, nonfiction, poetry, political, race, social justice Lin Salisbury #native voices, Black Lives Matter, essays, Global politics, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, nonfiction, poetry, political, race, social justice Lin Salisbury

We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World, Edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura

At the dawn of summer 2020, with the world spinning from the Covid 19 pandemic, Minneapolis went into a nose dive after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. In the weeks and months that followed, Minneapolis became the epicenter of worldwide demands for justice. In a compelling new collection, WE ARE MEANT TO RISE, edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura, Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of the most unsettling years in the history of the United States.

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