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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On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
#literarynovel, addiction, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, poetry, Sense of Place Fiction, true crime, women's issues #literarynovel, addiction, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, poetry, Sense of Place Fiction, true crime, women's issues

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

McDaniel’s strength lies in her lyrical prose and character development. I cared for the twins and their ragtag family of friends, but I also despaired for their future, and raged at a world where the women were not considered victims, but somehow implicated in their own demise. Women in abusive relationships are often told they deserve to be mistreated and women who use drugs and prostitute themselves to make a living are told they are asking for it. ON THE SAVAGE SIDE is a testimony to missing women everywhere. Bravo to McDaniel for lifting up these silenced voices.

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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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Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver
#literarynovel, addiction, Appalachia, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, addiction, Appalachia, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury

Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver

Demon is resilient, he’s Teflon, he’s going to suffer, and the people he loves are not all going to make it out alive, but Demon, Demon is going to be all right.

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As Long As I Know You: The Mom Book by Anne-Marie Oomen
biography, family drama, Memoir, sense of place, women's issues Lin Salisbury biography, family drama, Memoir, sense of place, women's issues Lin Salisbury

As Long As I Know You: The Mom Book by Anne-Marie Oomen

There are many moments in AS LONG AS I KNOW YOU, that will be familiar to anyone who has been a caregiver of an elderly parent – the power struggles, the heart-wrenching decision making, and the unabashed tenderness and expressions of love that are unbound as a loved one faces the end.

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The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
#literarynovel, Action adventure, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Action adventure, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

THE WHALEBONE THEATRE is a stunning debut – full of adventure and intrigue, Dickensian characters, and a mildewed mansion on the seaside. Joanna Quinn sets the stage for an immersive read, an escape from the doldrums of winter.

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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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Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction Lin Salisbury

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

Whether Dani Shapiro is writing fiction or memoir, her writing is always reflective and wise. Signal Fires, her first novel in fifteen years, follows on the heels of her poignant memoir, Inheritance, and, like that memoir, examines the complexities of family relationships and the secrets that bind them together or tear them apart.

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Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley
#literarynovel, #native voices, addiction, character driven fiction, family drama, generational trauma, Native American Authors Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, #native voices, addiction, character driven fiction, family drama, generational trauma, Native American Authors Lin Salisbury

Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Part thriller, mystery, love story, indigenous fiction, and cultural commentary, Firekeepers Daughter grabbed me by the throat and pulled me along at breakneck speed.

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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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Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

O’Farrell follows Agnes into the woods, into the field, and into the depths of her despair. Her writing is lyrical and layered, her characters are complex, and their relationships are complicated. There will be no easy passageway through this grief, and dear reader, you should be forewarned to have a tissue within reach, but you will be carried along by a mother’s love and a father’s remorse. “There will be no going back,” O’Farrell writes, “Time only runs in one direction.”

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The Net Beneath Us by Carol Dunbar
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Net Beneath Us by Carol Dunbar

Dunbar’s writing is evocative and as lush as the forest. Structured in four segments: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer, we watch Elsa flail and falter and then grow in strength and confidence as each season passes. THE NET BENEATH US is about the promises we make and keep – to ourselves and to others – and the profound work of grief – how it cleaves us in two and yet, we live, allowing the days and months and years that pass bind us back together, the two halves of a split trunk like the before times and the after times, joined in the middle by the heartwood.

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Violeta by Isabel Allende
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

Violeta by Isabel Allende

During a time when laws protecting a woman’s body autonomy are being threatened, reading Allende’s book reminds me that throughout history, women have exhibited great strength and resolve, and when banded together, are a force to be reckoned with.

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The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's history, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, women's history, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

THE OTHER EINSTEIN is a sad commentary on love and marriage in the early nineteenth century. In this age of two steps forward one step back in equal rights for women, THE OTHER EINSTEIN is a reminder of how quickly gains can become losses.

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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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Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close
family drama, feminist literature, fiction humor Lin Salisbury family drama, feminist literature, fiction humor Lin Salisbury

Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close

Bud and Rose Sullivan founded the family restaurant, JP Sullivans in 1979, and in 2016 on the cusp of a great upheaval in American politics and in the midst of another angst-ridden go at the World Series by their beloved Chicago Cubs, the elder Sullivans are ready to retire and pass on the restaurant to their children. But will they want it?

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