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 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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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 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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