Still Life at Eighty, The Next Best Thing by Abigail Thomas
biography, essays, feminist literature, Memoir, nonfiction, sense of place, women's issues biography, essays, feminist literature, Memoir, nonfiction, sense of place, women's issues

Still Life at Eighty, The Next Best Thing by Abigail Thomas

You won’t find the secret of life buried here among the sentences and paragraphs, what you will find, however, will be transparency and authenticity – you’ll find a woman who has come to terms with being referred to as elderly  … because, frankly, Abigail Thomas’s eighty is nothing you’ve experienced before.

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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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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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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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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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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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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
#literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

Whitehead has a way of making us think we’re looking through a window into another world with his novels, and then shifting the light so that we realize we’re looking in a mirror.

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A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
#literarynovel, historical fiction, mystery, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, historical fiction, mystery, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

This story of an unlikely pair of detectives, inspired by one of literatures first detectives, is a window into the world of mid-nineteenth century women living in a male-dominated world and the rough and tumble world of prospectors, sailors, and the Wild West of a bygone era.

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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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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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Jordermoder: Poems of a Midwife by Ingrid Andersson
immigrant experience, Nature, nature writing, poetry, sense of place, social justice, women's issues Lin Salisbury immigrant experience, Nature, nature writing, poetry, sense of place, social justice, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Jordermoder: Poems of a Midwife by Ingrid Andersson

Andersson understands that life turns on passion, as much as breath. It is this capability, this lesson learned at her mother’s elbow and reinforced at the dovetail of delivery, that makes Andersson’s tender poems linger.

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The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
Action adventure, character driven fiction, historical, historical fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury Action adventure, character driven fiction, historical, historical fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

Ken Follett is the massively successful author of 36 books – selling over 178 million copies worldwide. He writes thrillers and mysteries but his most popular books are the Pillars of the Earth Trilogy. That first book, PILLARS OF THE EARTH, was published in 1989 was about the building of a medieval cathedral. It was number one on best-seller lists everywhere and turned into a major television series in 2010. Full disclosure: I have not read the trilogy – HOWEVER, I did just read the prequel to the Pillars of the Earth that came out in September 2021: THE EVENING AND THE MORNING. The prequel is set in the Dark Ages, which may explain my following comments.

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Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury

Groundskeeping by Lee Cole

GROUNDSKEEPING is about that messy time in young adulthood when you are deciding what to pack up from your old life to bring into your new life. Cole’s writing belies that of a debut novelist. His characters are complicated and nuanced; their relationships are messy and there are no easy answers. Just like in real life.

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The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan

In Stephen Harrigan’s big-hearted coming-of-age novel, LEOPARD IS LOOSE, five-year-old Grady’s tranquil world is upended when a leopard escapes from the nearby zoo. It’s 1952 and Grady and his 7-year-old brother Danny live with their widowed mother, Bethie, in a two-bedroom backyard apartment across a small patch of yard from her parents and siblings. For most of Grady’s life, the family compound has created a sanctuary where they could each heal from the devastating trauma of the war.

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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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Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
#education, #native voices, essays, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, nature writing, nonfiction, sense of place Lin Salisbury #education, #native voices, essays, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, nature writing, nonfiction, sense of place Lin Salisbury

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Kimmerer writes lyrically, with the heart and eye of a poet, and the mind of a botanist. BRAIDING SWEETGRASS should be required reading. How do we get back the connections we have lost? Whatever it takes, I feel as though Robin Wall Kimmerer’s BRAIDING SWEETGRASS will be an element in that confluence, that coming together again, for me. The problem and the solution both laid out before us in this beautiful collection.

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Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen
character driven fiction, fiction humor, Global politics, mystery, political fiction, sense of place Lin Salisbury character driven fiction, fiction humor, Global politics, mystery, political fiction, sense of place Lin Salisbury

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen has a long career as a journalist and his fiction has often reflected his concern about climate change and invasive species in Florida, but he coats his commentary with a huge dusting of comedy. Hiaasen’s books seem to pick the easy targets – cultural and social commentary on the outrageous extravagances of the twenty first century – whether that be reality television, politics, or overdevelopment and its impact on our environment – it is a truth to be acknowledged that you can’t make this stuff up. But yet, Hiaasen does. Mocking cultural icons and putting an air hose to the absurd— the President has a tanning bed tester instead of a taste tester, for example – Hiaasen knows how to make us laugh, so that we won’t cry.

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Little Faith by Nickolas Butler
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, midwestern fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction

Little Faith by Nickolas Butler

Butler masterfully examines the tenuous bonds of family against the backdrop of faith. The emotional landscape fittingly mirrors the physical as we progress through the seasons. LITTLE FAITH explores the significance of lifelong friendships, the fickleness of the seasons, and the capriciousness of romantic and familial love. In Butler’s world, as in real life, nothing comes without a price.

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