It seems much attention is focused on the U.S.’s southern border. Yet our “other” border, with Canada, is the world’s longest international border and the one with which Minnesotans are much more familiar.
Adult Choice
Carol Jackson, manager of the Ramsey County Library in Shoreview, offers a suggestion for a good read for adults.
In a long-awaited sequel to Dear Committee Members, Julie Schumacher’s Thurber Prize–winning novel ,The Shakespeare Requirement takes readers back to protagonist Jason Fitger’s life as he deals with personal and institutional problems as the newly appointed chair of the English Department at Payne University.
With so many books available, how to choose? Librarian Jim Magnuson came to the rescue to bring us a few of the best books of September for your fall reading.
Books for Adults
In Melanie Heuiser Hill’s The Giant Pumpkin Suite, Rose and Thomas are 12-year-old twins, who are very different from one another. Rose is a gifted cellist, who has her eyes on winning the Bach Cello Suites Competition. While happy-go-lucky Thomas is intent on helping Mr. Pickering with his pumpkin project.
For aspiring authors, getting their work published is a quest that can elicit as many goosebumps as reading a Stephen King novel.
Many dream of being the next J.K. Rowling, but realize after a few rejections that writing a happy ending is much easier than scoring one in real life. On the page, the writer controls their book’s plot from conflict to resolution. Off the page, outside forces in the form of literary agents and publishers are crucial to getting their novel in the hands of readers.
As a novelist, journalist, editor, teacher and actor, Wayzata native Anne Marie Ruff Grewal has spent most of her life capturing ideas and shaping them into stories that have won the hearts of audiences across the globe.
“Growing up in Wayzata, I quite literally learned to write at Widsten Elementary, which no longer exists,” Ruff says. “I remember playing on the playground with an incredible view of Lake Minnetonka.”
The Story of Arthur Truluv, by Elizabeth Berg, is filled with heart and compassion, a perfect escape from the news and politics of contentious contemporary life. It starts with the elderly Arthur who picnics at his recently departed wife’s grave (and those of others), having meaningful conversations. He is overheard one day by Maddy, a truant, detached teen whose mother died when she was born and who is living with a depressed, long-suffering father.
Minneapolis’s Eat Street is a big name in the Twin Cities. When the marketing consultants at Zeus Jones moved into Whittier, they fell in love with the 17 blocks of delicious food. Thus, the cookbook From Eat Street, With Love was born.
Adventurous Reading
White Bear Lake children’s librarian Ann Wahlstrom suggests a great summer read for kids.
Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi follows the adventure of 12-year-old Aru during her school break. While her friends are on vacation, Aru is stuck waiting at the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, where her mom works. While there, Aru accepts a seemingly innocent dare—because curses can’t be real, right?
Joseph Kanon is a master of the nearly-undetectable “slippery slope.” In his novels, both the protagonist and the reader almost miss the spider web beginning to tighten from practically the first page. He is also a master of what I term the “intelligent thriller”—much of the action takes place in the characters’ minds as they investigate actions and motives.
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