Recent content from Laurie Hertzel
Review: 'Beeswing,' by Richard Thompson
Musician Richard Thompson mentions a lot of names in his new memoir, but you never get the feeling that he's name dropping. It's just that…
Minneapolis writers win PEN America literary awards
Jonathan Slaght won for "Owls of the Eastern Ice," Kawai Strong Washburn for "Sharks in the Time of Saviors."
A new exhibit argues for the timeliness of famed Minnesota author Sinclair Lewis
New exhibit focuses on life and timeliness of Sinclair Lewis.
Essential Hemingway reading
The essential HemingwayErnest Hemingway's terse prose style might seem clichéd today, but his short, declarative sentences and beneath-the-surface meaning were groundbreaking in his time. Here…
Bookmark: Mary Bly's new novel – her first under her own name – is laced with Minnesota poetry
A poignant scene at the heart of Mary Bly's new novel, "Lizzie & Dante" (the Dial Press, available June 1), takes place on a…
Review: 'The Wild Silence,' by Raynor Winn
NONFICTION: Both sequel and prequel to "The Salt Path," Raynor Winn's new memoir is about the power of nature.
Alexs Pate is this year's Kay Sexton Award recipient
The writer, educator and mentor has devoted his life to teaching, writing and correcting racial imbalances in literature and classrooms.
Bookmark: Eating crackers in bed with a good book
I don't mean to get too personal here, but here I go: What's the strangest thing you've ever found in a book? Maybe in a…
Race and identity fuel Naima Coster's extraordinary stories of everyday lives
"Writing is the thing that gives my life the greatest joy," says Talking Volumes guest.
Helen Oyeyemi, Chelsea Clinton, Kao Kalia Yang among writers at Wordplay festival
This year's Wordplay festival will run from May 2 to May 8. Like last year, it will be all virtual, but unlike last year, the…
Dr. Seuss cut loose: Is letting a book go out of print censorship?
There are so many things in this world to be outraged at. Insurrection, brutality, systemic racism, gerrymandering, child abuse, anti-maskers, domestic violence.So to be outraged…
Bookmark: When readers can't read
Ah. It's not just me — it's you! Or many of you.Nearly 100 of you took the time to respond to my recent column…
Quarantine Read: Alexander McCall Smith
"Pianos and Flowers," by Alexander McCall SmithEvery picture tells a story, right? So when the Times of London asked Alexander McCall Smith to write…
Minnesota children's author/illustrators team up on prize-winning books for early readers
Mike Wohnoutka and David LaRochelle are this year's Geisel Award winners.
These 10 exquisite picture books for children focus on family, friends and nature
It's the simple but crucial things that matter in these wise and beautiful picture books for young children.
The Puppy Chronicles: A cold snap changed the length of Angus' walks – and intensified their beauty
A stretch of days with highs below zero meant Angus' daily walks were truncated. He embraced the torpor.
Club Book to bring in a cool dozen writers for spring
The spring lineup for the free, now-virtual writers series includes 12 renowned authors.
Special spring Talking Volumes series to focus on race
Four writers of color will discuss their work in the context of race in America.
Bookmark: 9 books for Valentine's Day about love gone wrong
I like chocolate, and I like roses, but as with most of you (I'm guessing) my hapless Valentine's Days make better stories than my romantic…
Bookmark: Getting through the pandemic, one book at a time
On one of those weird, melty days in January, I took a walk around the lake with an old friend. We talked about the pandemic,…
Minnesota Book Award finalists include Yang, Erdrich and a host of newbies
Names both familiar and new populate the list of 36 finalists for this year's Minnesota Book Awards, announced Saturday. Minneapolis writer Louise Erdrich, winner…
The Puppy Chronicles: Long winter walks with Angus are filled with peace and hooting owls
Long walks in the cold with Angus are filled with peace — and hooting.
Minneapolis writer drew on Hawaiian boyhood for debut novel beloved by Barack Obama
"Sharks in the Time of Saviors" ended up on former President Barack Obama's list of best books of 2020 and is up for multiple awards.
10 books that will bring color back into this drab winter
As I write this, I'm sitting at my computer on a small enclosed porch in the upstairs of my house. I am, essentially, in the…
Bookmark: Fireside Reading Series moves to everyone's fireside
The annual midwinter Fireside Reading Series is back for its 27th year, but this year it will be held at your fireside. And mine.Hosted by…
Bookmark: 15 books to look forward to in the first part of 2021
Put on your sunglasses, folks. It's a shiny new year out there.Say what you will about 2020, it was a great year for books. How's…
The Puppy Chronicles: Readers offer scores of suggestions for getting Angus to take his pills. Guess how many worked.
Readers had scores of suggestions for getting Angus' daily pills inside him. Angus scoffed at them all.
Reviews: 'The Twelve Dates of Christmas,' by Jenny Bayliss
The Twelve Dates of ChristmasBy Jenny Bayliss. (G.P. Putnam, 368 pages, $16.)Here it is, almost New Year's Eve, and nobody has ever been happier to…
Mpls. photographer offered free porch portraits to connect isolated neighbors
The photographer's pandemic project is now collected in a self-published book.
The Puppy Chronicles: Every day a new behavior
Just before he turned 3, Angus reverted to old puppy behaviors — some endearing, some downright dangerous.
The Puppy Chronicles: A few hours of peace
Medication is not the answer to every difficulty with an anxious dog, but the right drug can help a lot.
The Puppy Chronicles: Better living through chemistry
After three years of training and tears, Angus' anxiety is starting to ease, thanks to something I vowed I would never do.
Looking for a good book this winter? Here are more than 50
Our holiday books section highlights something for everyone on your list, and yourself.
5 showy big books just perfect for holiday giving
Next Sunday brings our annual holiday selection of books — more than 50 titles for adults and children. Today, though, I have other recommendations —…
Carol Connolly, St. Paul's first poet laureate, dies at 85
With her red bob haircut, trademark round eyeglasses and black turtleneck sweater, Carol Connolly was a welcome and unmistakable fixture at literary events around the…
Bookmark: As we zoom toward the holidays, think about books
As we head into the season of gift-giving, I’m here to urge you to buy books as gifts, buy local books as gifts, buy local…
Renowned Minnesota teacher Charles Baxter retires from U but not from writing
Charles Baxter finds material for his mysterious novels on walks through Minneapolis and conversations with people he meets.
Minneapolis' Coffee House Press 'parts ways' with its longtime leader
After starting as an intern 26 years ago, Chris Fischbach rose to become publisher in 2011.
Bookmark: Releasing books is a joyous thing to do
It all started with a crack in the wall. Years ago, during a remodel, my husband and I moved a doorway. Now, 20 years, later,…
Review: 'Miss Benson's Beetle,' by Rachel Joyce
FICTION: In this swashbuckling adventure, a middle-aged schoolteacher upends her dreary life in 1950 England for a dangerous quest to find a rare beetle.
The next Minnesota book club pick: Louise Erdrich's 'Plague of Doves'
E-books and audiobooks are available for free downloads from the public library.
Bookmark: Readers love tips on what to read – mostly
It was a joy reading your responses to my column a few weeks ago about the perils and pleasures of recommending books. Some…
St. Paul poet Michael Kleber-Diggs wins national poetry prize
Kleber-Diggs won the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, which awards him $10,000 and publication.
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REVIEW: 'Field Notes From an Unintentional Birder,' by Julia Zarankin
NONFICTION: A novice birder finds beauty in nature along with a new way to live.
BOOKMARK: Twin Cities Book festival turns 20, turns virtual
Nineteen years ago, Rain Taxi held the first Twin Cities Book Festival at Open Book in Minneapolis. It was just weeks after the Sept. 11…
Review: 'The Searcher,' by Tana French
FICTION: An American cop runs into a wall of secrets in this new mystery from Tana French.
Everything keeps changing, but books remain a constant
Laurie Hertzel Star Tribune Books are still books, in this age of COVID, which is a reassuring thing, and bookstores have not disappeared and…
Minneapolis writer's debut book on longlist for National Book Award
“Owls of the Eastern Ice,” a nonfiction narrative account of a scientist’s search to find and conserve a rare owl in far eastern Russia,…
Pulitzer-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson joins Talking Volumes lineup
The author of "Caste" will close out the virtual series of literary conversations Oct. 13.
With an all-woman lineup, this year's Talking Volumes book series goes virtual
The annual series will deliver authors Yaa Gyasi, Helen Macdonald, Claudia Rankine and Sarah Broom via Zoom.
5 Minnesota literary organizations receive critical COVID grants
The grant money will help them ride out the economic downturn brought about by COVID-19.
Yaa Gyasi talks about the tension between science and faith in new novel 'Transcendent Kingdom'
Yaa Gyasi's second novel sprang from a friend's research, and her own interest in love, science and religion.
Bookmark: The tricky art of recommending books
A friend texted. She was at a bookstore, about to go camping. What should she buy to read on the trip? Um … I know…
Review: 'Dear Ann,' by Bobbie Ann Mason
FICTION: In Bobbie Ann Mason's spectacular new novel, a woman looks back on her life, her first love and the choices she made.
Author Yaa Gyasi cancels appearance in Talking Volumes series
A fourth writer will be added to the series soon.
In a new novel, Minneapolis writer imagines Hillary Clinton's life if she hadn't married Bill
Her new novel--her second about a prominent political woman--names names and reimagines a life.
Bookmark: Missing the State Fair? These books will transport you
Missing the midway? The giant hogs, the smell of grease, the ironic artwork made entirely of seeds? Here are 10 books that take place at…
The Puppy Chronicles: A bunny in our garden keeps Angus enthralled
When a bunny takes up residence in the garden on the side of our house, Angus is riveted.
Bookmark: Where to begin downsizing when you have thousands of books?
My husband and I might move. (Then again, we might not.) As we spend more and more time in our house, thanks to pandemic…
Bookmark: This fraught summer has changed the way you read
Readers share what they're reading to get through the pandemic.
Review: 'Owls of the Eastern Ice,' by Jonathan C. Slaght
NONFICTION: A Minnesota biologist heads to the forests of Eastern Russia to track the world's largest owl.
Time to read but trouble concentrating? Try these 10 tips
Here are some ways to shut the world out and help you focus.
Mayo Clinic employee became main character in new James Patterson novel
A patient advocate at the Mayo Clinic winds up in James Patterson's latest novel.
Hulu options rights to Minneapolis writer's novel about Hillary Clinton
Curtis Sittenfeld hasn’t heard from Hillary, but she has heard from Hulu, and that might be even better. The Minneapolis writer is the…
Hot town, summer in the city: 10 sizzling books to read right now
These 10 books set in hot weather or steamy locations just might help you cool down.
10 new kids' picture books that celebrate family, love and the great outdoors
This diverse new crop of books celebrates family, friendship and the great outdoors in stories that range from Minnesota to West Africa
The Puppy Chronicles: What is Angus afraid of? Easier to ask what he isn't afraid of
Even something as benign as a misplaced broom can strike terror into the heart of our overly sensitive dog.
Bookmark: When you're stuck at home, books can transport you
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a weekend in a small town in Sligo. Obviously I didn’t physically travel there — COVID-19 is keeping…
Review: 'Becoming Duchess Goldblatt,' by Anonymous
NONFICTION: A book by the creator of a beloved fictitious Twitter character is flawed but offers a hopeful message.
When will my library open again?
Hennepin County and Ramsey County public libraries remain closed for the time being. But some services are available.
Sci-fi, mystery lovers remember the 'Uncles' (Hugo and Edgar) lost to fires in rioting
In the middle of the night, as the roaring fire consumed his business, all Don Blyly could do was go home. He couldn’t bear to…
Next book in the statewide book club? A collection of essays on race
"A Good Time for the Truth" will be read and discussed across Minnesota.
Is art of letter writing actually lost? Readers write about their love for letters
It’s been four months since I wrote here about the lost art of letter-writing. I didn’t mean to wait so long to revisit…
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Bookmark: Little Free Libraries carrying more than books these days
There are many Little Free Libraries on my regular walking route. I’ve never stopped to count them, but it’s at least a couple dozen, and…
In her new mystery, Minneapolis writer Mary Logue writes about the Irish immigrant experience
Mary Logue's new mystery looks to the influence of her immigrant grandmothers.
