Summer means cozying up in the sand with a beach read in hand. Here are Kerri's picks.
Books of the week
Love romance? Here are three new romance writers
Think of this like a blind date: You know what you like in romance reading but you’re open to something new.
Here are three novels from freshly minted romance writers you shouldn’t miss.
I’m a fan of the “there’s no place like home” setup and Haley Pham’s “Just Friends” reunites two friends-not-yet-with-benefits together in their hometown.
Mariam Rahmani’s “Liquid: A Love Story” published last year but it’s so unique I want to highlight it here. An Iranian-American scholar creates a spreadsheet to categorize her dismal dating life in L.A. even as her family in Tehran urges her to marry soon before she falls into the dreaded “old maid” category.
And can I resist a retelling of Jane Eyre? Absolutely not! Read Melodie Edwards’ first novel, “Jane & Edward” for a contemporary setup and sizzling dialogue.
Email sstroozas@mpr.org to have your literary event added to the list.
🤔 What's the newsroom reading?
I loved "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore. It’s a page-turning mystery that weaves together the disappearance of two children across different timelines, but it’s so much more than a thriller. The story is packed with memorable characters and deep emotional undercurrents –--grief, privilege, longing, family dysfunction.
The writing is immersive and vividly descriptive but never feels overdone. It’s one of those books where the setting (at a summer camp in the Adirondacks) lingers as much as the mystery. It’s a slow burn, but in the best way. You keep saying to yourself “just one more chapter” and suddenly it’s way past your bedtime.
I guessed one part of the mystery and was surprised by another, but honestly that didn’t really matter. It’s the writing and the character development that keep you going as much as the plot twists. I am a fan of Moore’s earlier book, "Long, Bright River," but I have to say, this one is even better!
If you’re looking for something suspenseful and bingeable but also thoughtful, layered and beautifully written, this book delivers.
Kate Bowler is not here to tell you how to live your best life. She is not going to push gratitude. She doesn’t even believe in the pursuit of happiness — unless you’re looking to be unhappy. But she does think subversive, counter-cultural, breathtaking joy can happen anyway.
Allie Cesmat of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Ariz., recommends the middle grade fantasy novel “Scarlet Morning,” by ND Stevenson — an adventure story perfect for summer reading.
When a Hollywood producer embarks on a medical experiment and a movie script with an ambitious young writer, her beliefs about ambition and aging are tested.
What happens when a family doesn’t talk about a tragic death? MPR News host Angela Davis talks with former Minnesota Star Tribune book review editor Laurie Hertzel about her new memoir, “Ghosts of Fourth Street.”
A gothic horror tale, a creepy science-fiction romp, a sweeping romance, an intergenerational saga, a book about birds — here are the fiction and nonfiction our critics are most looking forward to.
People serving time in Minnesota prisons are helping choose this year’s Inside Literary Prize, a national book award determined by a jury of entirely incarcerated readers.
Emily Bright interviewed visiting author Tiffany Hanssen about her new crime novel “My Name Was Gerry Sass” in advance of her May 28 reading at Once Upon a Crime Bookstore in Minneapolis.
