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PODCAST

Ask a Bookseller

Minnesota Public Radio

Looking for your next great read? Ask a bookseller! Join us to check in with independent bookstores across the U.S. to find out what books they’re excited about right now. One book, two minutes, every week. From the long-running series on MPR News, hosted by Emily Bright. Whether you read to escape, feel connected, seek self-improvement, or just discover something new, there is a book here for you.

arts books

All Episodes

00:02:14

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Red Notebook’ by Antoine Laurain

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/11/22

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.What would the contents of your purse or backpack say about you? Bev Newton of Innisfree Bookshop in Meredith, N.H., recommends a novel about a Parisian bookseller who is so taken by the contents of an abandoned purse, he sets off on a quest to find its owner. Newton calls it “the biggest little book you’ll read this year — a delightful

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00:02:10

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Burner: And Other Stories’ by...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/11/15

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Feeling too busy lately to finish a book? Kimberly Daniels of The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, North Carolina, would like to make an argument for reading short story collections. Specifically, Katrina Denza’s new collection "Burner: And Other Stories.” Daniels raves about these tightly crafted contemporary short stories, in

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00:02:22

Ask a Bookseller: ‘I See You’ve Called in Dead’ by...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/11/08

Christina Tabereaux of The Snail on the Wall, a bookstore in Huntsville, Ala., recommends the novel “I See You’ve Called in Dead” by John Kenney. The book's dark humor evokes Richard Russo’s “Straight Man” or Fredrik Backman’s “A Man Called Ove,” and Tabereaux says the story, with its well-developed characters, drew her to both laughter and tears. Bud writes obituaries for a living. With his own life down-in-the-dumps, personally and professionally, he drinks too much one night and writes —

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00:02:12

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dominion’ by Addie E. Citchens

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/11/01

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Sarah Gregg of Lemuria Book Store in Jackson, Miss., recommends a novel that delves deep into a family drama in a small Mississippi Delta town.The debut novel “Dominion” by Addie E. Citchens takes on themes of power, patriarchy and sexual repression. Gregg calls it a character-driven novel, and it was the connection between the two main

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00:02:13

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Auditions for the Fox’ by Martin...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/10/25

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Liz Bernoskie of Poor Richard’s Books in Frankfort, Ky., recommends a fantasy novella set in an animal world whose actions offer hope for its human readers. “Auditions for the Fox” is the debut novella from sci-fi/fantasy short story writer Martin Cahill. The tale appealed to Bernoskie because of its focus on the power of individual

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00:02:21

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Coming Up Short’ by Robert B. Reich

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/10/18

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Daniel Wells of Gramercy Books in Bexley, Ohio, recommends the memoir “Coming Up Short” by Robert B. Reich. Wells called it “a beautiful contextualization of the last 70 or so years in American history.”An economist and educator, Reich served as Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton and economic advisor to President Barack Obama

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00:02:07

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Correspondent’ by Virginia Evans

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/10/11

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Are you a letter writer? Are you looking for a book about second chances that feels life-affirming? Cathy Fiebach of Main Point Books in Wayne, Pa., suggests you read the novel “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. Our protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp, is a letter writer. She emails when necessary, but mostly she puts pen to paper to

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00:01:55

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Mafalda: Book One’ by Quino

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/09/27

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Calvin isn’t the only six-year-old comic strip character with deep thoughts about how the world should work. Meet Mafalda, star of the classic comic strip created by Argentine artist Quino. Timothy Otte of Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis says the first book of collected Mafalda comics is now available in English, as translated by Frank

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00:02:05

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Why On Earth: An Alien Invasion...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/09/20

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.All this month, Ask a Bookseller is featuring books for kids and teens as we mark the start of school. This week’s recommendation comes from Bunnie Hilliard, owner of Brave + Kind Bookshop, a children’s bookstore in Decatur, Georgia. She’s been enjoying “Why On Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology,” edited by Rosiee Thor and Vania

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00:02:20

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Little Shrew’ by Akiko Mikakoski

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/09/13

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.All September, Ask a Bookseller is marking the start of school by focusing on books for kids. This week’s recommendation comes from Ashley Robin Franklin of First Light Books in Austin, Texas. Ashley adores the picture book/early reader title “Little Shrew” by Akiko Miyakoshi. It's a quiet collection of three stories about Little

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00:02:11

Ask a Bookseller: The Mighty Muskrats mystery series...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/09/06

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.With school back in session this month, Ask a Bookseller is focusing on books for kids. Author and bookseller Rosanne Parry of Annie Blooms Books in Portland, Oregon, starts us off with a middle-grade mystery series, perfect for fans of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. There are five books in Michael Hutchinson’s Mighty Muskrat series,

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01:00:00

Ask a Bookseller: Live at the State Fair

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/09/01

September has begun, and with it, the anticipation of autumn weather, school, and great fall reads. Emily Bright of MPR News spoke with three booksellers about current trends and favorite reads during a live conversation at the Minnesota State Fair. Sarah Brown, manager of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth, which sells both new and used titles; Makkah Abdur Salaam, Lead Bookseller at Black Garnet Books in St. Paul, which is an abolitionist bookstore that sells BIPOC authors; and Lisa Deyo, owner

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00:02:30

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Absent in the Spring’ by Agatha...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/08/30

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.If you were to find an old copy of the 1944 novel “Absent in the Spring,” it would say the author was Mary Westmacott.That’s the pen name famed mystery novelist Agatha Christie used when she wanted to write literary fiction, and bookseller Charlotte Lehigh of WordPlay in Wardensville, West Virginia, says the six Westmacotts were, until

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00:02:13

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Hounding’ by Xenobe Purvis

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/08/23

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Mary Ellen Phillips of Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colo., says her favorite book of the summer is the debut, much-hailed historical fiction novel “The Hounding” by Xenobe Purvis. Set in Oxfordshire, England, in 1700, this story about a rumor gone wild has Salem witch trial vibes. The five sisters at the center of the novel don’t fit

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00:02:14

Ask a Bookseller: ‘You Better Be Lightning’ by Andrea...

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/08/09

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Poet and performance artist Andrea Gibson gained social media fame in recent years with their fierce and vulnerable spoken word videos. Kara Balcerzak, owner of Bonfire Bookstore & Yarnery in Woodstock, Virginia, first encountered Gibson’s poetry when they were the opening act at an indie music concert and held a large audience

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00:02:02

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bat Kid’ by Inoue Kazuo

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/07/26

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.PJ Moon of The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kan., recommends a summer read with elements that will appeal to both adults and children. “Bat Kid” is a recently republished classic manga by Inoue Kazuo, translated by Ryan Holmberg. This is a two-parter: the full 1940’s Japanese manga about a kid who wants to play baseball, followed by an

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00:02:02

Ask a Bookseller: ‘American Mythology’ by Giano Cromley

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/07/19

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.If you’re looking for an outdoor adventure novel about friendship and wonder and — why not? a cryptid — Ellyn Grimm of Dog-Eared Books in Ames, Iowa, has the book for you. She recommends Giano Cromley's novel “American Mythology,” out this week.Here’s Grimm’s synopsis of a book she calls “heartwarming and a bit creepy:”“’American

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00:02:17

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Fox: A Novel’ by Joyce Carol Oates

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/07/12

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.If you’re going to read a book about a dark character or a difficult subject, do it on a sunny summer day, not when you’re home in the cold and dark of winter. That’s the suggestion of Angel Dobrow of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth, who recommends “Fox: A Novel” by Joyce Carol Oates. We start off the novel from the point of view of Francis

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00:02:15

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Sour Cherry’ by Natalia Theodoridou

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/07/05

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.“There are books that you can't put down. And then there are books that, even when you put them down, they just stay with you," says Katherine Nazzaro of Porter Square Books, with stores in Boston and Cambridge, Mass. The book in the latter category — which she’s still talking about months after reading — is “Sour Cherry” by Natalia

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00:02:16

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Pretender’ by Jo Harkin

Ask a Bookseller ·

2025/06/21

David Burton of novel, a bookstore in Memphis, Tenn., recommends his favorite book of the year so far: “The Pretender” by Jo Harkin, which he calls “historical fiction at its very best.”

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