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 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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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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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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The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
character driven fiction, feminist literature, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury character driven fiction, feminist literature, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

There were moments at the beginning of the book where I felt that more editing would have been helpful – a little too much book title dropping to establish Beach’s credentials as a bibliophile and set the historical stage, felt forced, but once I got into the story of Beach’s incredible feat – a woman in the 1920s who took on a publishing world largely run by men – I was encouraged to read to the end.

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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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